Selfish Blogging

Tonight, I was at my weekly get-together-to-sing-a-little-and-talk-A-LOT night with my girlfriends. It was the first time we've gotten together since before Christmas, and it was great. It's our "singing practice," but we didn't even sing a single note tonight. We talked, and laughed, and relished in the beauty of away-from-home-and-kids time.

Four of us are pregnant, and listening to the two that are still in their first trimester made me SO GRATEFUL to have those 13 weeks of you know what behind me. All night vomit fests should be enough to force every woman to never have a second child, but somehow we forget.

One of my so-miserable-she-hasn't-washed-her-hair-in-five-days friends asked me how in the world I manage to keep working out when I'm pregnant. Honestly, when I wasn't feeling good for those few months, working out was the only thing that made me feel better.

A few nights ago, I was feeling sorry for myself. I had just watched Julie & Julia and was wondering why in the world I even write this silly fitness blog. I definitely don't have the knowledge or skills MizFit has, or the organization SimpleMom has, or the 365-day plan Julie Powell had.

But tonight, after talking to my lovely friends, I realized why I blog. I've started and failed at a lot of things in life. I've dreamed big dreams I've yet to accomplish. But I've somehow mastered the art of fitting fitness into my occasionally chaotic life. If I accomplish NOTHING else in a day, I can almost always (as long as the last two weeks don't count) say that I exercised in some way. And somehow, blogging about it keeps me motivated and accountable.

So for those of you who stop by and read what I have to say, thank you! YOU are my inspiration! I can't wait to share 2010 with you!

Traveling Fitness

My family decided to take a road trip to visit some family. This was supposed to be a vacation. It still has potential, but is hard to classify as such when the 12-hour journey begins with a 13-month old vomiting all over the place. But we made it, everyone slept through the night, the vomit appears to have ceased, so the vacation can officially begin!

This morning, I did a quick workout in the hotel room, with no equipment. Here's what I did...

Lunges: 2 sets of 50 on each leg

Push-ups: 3 sets of 30

Wall-squats: Hold on wall for 2 minutes. Press arms against wall, and do bicep curl with no weights...the entire time (about 150 reps)

Tricep Dips: 3 sets of 20

Plank: Hold for 90 seconds

Stretch!

Total Workout? 20 minutes! Mood? 1,000,000 times better than when I went to bed last night.

How do you fit in your workout while traveling?

Draining vs. Energizing, and one of my insecurities...

Last night, we attended a family party. I got home and caved. I ate a cinnamon roll. I won't go into how gooey, soft, and moist it was. I enjoyed every. last. bite. I also won't go into the guilt I felt afterwards. But what's done is done. I ate a cinnamon roll. Moving on, right? I'm still fasting from sugar until August...that was just one of my "exceptions." Hopefully the rest of my "exceptions" will be better planned!

ANYWAY, about the family party. I had a blast. We left, and I felt totally energized. I loved sitting, chatting with my cousins who I don't see very often. I really cared about what they had to say, and felt like they cared about me. Such a great feeling!

In general, I think I'm a pretty social person. I love people. I love talking to people. I love talking with my husband. I love talking with my good friends. I love talking to my family. I even love talking with my 2-year old. They energize me. I laugh. We each contribute to the conversation. We care what the other person has to say.

Occasionally, however, I'm in a social situation where I'm not exactly myself. This usually happens when I'm with a group of people who love to talk and talk and talk and talk, without stopping to catch their breath, listen for a response, grunt, nod, nothing. I totally clamp up. I don't say a word. I leave feeling drained. Drained from too much listening, and no contributing. (I sound like such a brat...sorry!)

Does this mean that I need attention? I'm not sure. I actually think I'm a pretty good listener. I just also like to be heard. I think we all do. And I don't think the non-listeners intentionally talk and talk and talk. But for some reason, when I'm with certain extroverted people (usually ones I don't know very well...I open up over time), I pretty much have to spit out whatever I have to say in response to what they said in about .05 seconds before they're on to the next topic. And if I'm in a group with several of these people? I can pretty much count on not even having those .05 seconds to say what I want to say.

I actually really do love extroverts. They make me laugh. They have lots of good things to say. I just can't compete, because (as much as I hate to admit it), I turn into shy, insecure Robyn. And, I'm a bit jealous...wishing I could be the one stealing the show! I just need to chime in. But I don't. And I hate that I don't!

Anyway, it's funny that NOT TALKING is a small example of something that drains me. I need to talk! Don't we all?

It's no secret that life as a mom is draining enough without added drainers. For this reason, I try (not always successfully) to complete at least a few energizing activities a day to help me find balance! Here are a few of both that come to mind...

DRAINING

• not talking
• big grocery shopping trips
• spending money
• shopping, in general, for more than an hour
• getting kids ready to get out the door
• making dinner
• going anywhere with the kids by myself
• potty-training
• getting kids to eat!
• watching the news
• Sunday mornings (by the time we're off to church, I'm frazzled, and our house looks like a tornado hit!)
• talking on the phone (I'm not a good phone-call returner)
• my kids

ENERGIZING

• talking
• EXERCISE!
• friends who care what I have to say!
• friends I care about
• spending money (I love it AND hate it! Probably depends on what I'm buying.)
• eating a good meal
• getting out of the house
• going places with my kids AND husband
• running
• sunshine
• singing
• movies
• church
• reading
• blogging (I get to say what I want, even if no one's listening!)
• Saturday mornings
• talking on the phone (love/hate again)
• my kids
• my husband
• nap time
• sleep
• pedicures
• massages
• girl's night out
• fit me pink!

I guess some draining activities have to be done in order to get to the energizing ones. What drains/energizes you? What situations make you feel unsure of yourself?

EDITED TO SAY: Tina made an excellent point! Some "draining" activities are the ones that make us feel the best. Church can be draining...but it is spiritually energizing. Big parties are draining. But seeing good friends fills us emotionally. And exercise can DEFINITELY be draining. But it feels so good when you've done it!