Brie Fit

Another fairly uneventful pregnancy week in the books.

This week, we bought a dresser for the nursery!

I found this at a most excellent antique market a friend clued me into.  This bad boy was $127.50, is solid oak, and will be refinished.  I’m thinking of painting it either white or charcoal gray, with fun red knobs.

Other stuff:

• Movement is pretty regular now, and if I don’t feel him, I can usually poke or shake my stomach a bit to feel something.  It’s reassuring.  They are getting stronger every day, too!  Not to the point where they’re painful or uncomfortable, but they do occasionally make me pause and say, “whoa.”
• Craving: hard boiled eggs.  Random?  But okay, easy enough.  And healthy!
• We picked a pediatrician this week.  It was easy enough; a friend recommended theirs and I looked them up.  They accept our insurance, and I really like that they have an on-staff lactation consultant and a breastfeeding support group.  Done and done.
• Daycare continues to frustrate me.  I dragged my feet on this decision for awhile, but we ultimately decided that me going back to work makes the most sense.  And now, I’m looking for spots in JANUARY, and am already being waitlisted!  What the hell.  It’s hard enough to make the phone calls, and then to hear “sorry, we’re full” makes me want to scream.

Physically, I feel pretty good.  I usually have a numb right buttcheek by the end of the work day, though.  I definitely feel like my mobility is getting to be limited—twisting is a no-go, and stretching out at CrossFit is interesting because my belly gets in the way.

On to week 26—last week of the second trimester!  Holy crap!

I don’t know what’s gotten into me today—I am exhausted and it’s only 7:30!  I even fell asleep on the couch after work, something I haven’t done since I was pregnant. 

It was a cold, rainy morning at CFN.

The WOD was thus:

(Hi Dustin!)

Since that’s kind of messy, it was a three parter:

Part One

• Spend ten minutes finding your deadlift one rep max.  Mine was 165#, which I was excited about until I saw the guys lifting 300+.  Balls to them.

Part Dos

• 55 sit-ups
• 5 pull-ups
• 45 sit-ups
• 10 pull-ups
• 35 sit-ups
• 15 pull-ups
• 25 sit-ups
• 20 pull-ups
• 15 sit-ups
• 25 pull-ups

I finished this one in 12:30.  It was kind of a pain because my back hurt (in a good way) from the deadlifting.

Part Three

Work with a partner; AMRAP shoulder to overhead for 5 minutes.  (Shoulder to overhead just means that you can do a shoulder press, a push press, or any other means necessary to move the bar that way.)  Rx for women was 25#, which we did.  My awesome partner Shannon and I cranked out 166 reps, 96 of which I did.

There were a record-setting five ladies in the morning class today.  Me likey.  Usually it’s a big old sausage fest.

It was a long and boring day at work.  There’s very little going on this week.

After work I napped and had another paper-plate dinner:

Two eggs with some cheese, Canadian bacon, a slice and a half of wheat toast and some homemade cranberry applesauce.

Tomorrow will hopefully be a short day!  The last two years, we’ve been sent home early, and I’m seriously hoping the same happens again this year.

Do you work tomorrow?  What about on Friday?

Today was another day where I felt almost normal, aside from being insanely sore thanks to returning to the box after my too-long CrossFit hiatus.

The only thing that’s thrown me off was a comment Tim and I got yesterday.  Someone who knew about the miscarriage made a comment, and followed it with, “Wait until you have kids!”  I know it was an accident, but it was kind of a punch in the gut.  I have a feeling those are going to happen here and there from now on.

I didn’t go to CrossFit this morning—I was doing some local traveling today and it didn’t really work with my schedule.  There’s no morning class tomorrow, so I might go in the evening, and I WILL go Friday morning.

Tim’s working late tonight so I had a little breakfast for dinner.

We also got this totally sweet care package from my sister.

In case you can’t read the post-its, they say “peanut butter chocolate buckeyes,” “double chocolate peanut butter chip cookies,” and “just in case there’s not enough peanut butter chocolate treats.”  Love her.  There’s WAY too much for just the two of us, so I’ll be sharing with my co-workers.

My mom and sister are actually flying down to help us move (and my mother-in-law is driving up the same weekend).  I can’t wait to see them!  We have lots on the docket…not just moving, but some horrid wallpaper stripping and painting, and Christmas decorating, and shopping.  Three weeks to closing!

In other moving forward news, I purchased 25 cheap pregnancy tests from Amazon today.  This morning, I took one that I already had on hand, and although I’m still pulling up a positive, it’s much fainter than it was a few weeks ago, which is good and means the hormones are fading.  I’m ready to go.

I also purchased an argyle dog bowtie for Milhouse’s official Christmas photo.

Also, I currently want to spend way too much money at Lululemon.  I’m trying to be fiscally responsible since we’re, you know, buying a house, but I really could use a little retail therapy right now.  I honestly can’t remember the last time I bought myself a piece of clothing.  I’m very tempted.

What have you bought lately?

It’s been a few days since I’ve foodcasted, so to speak, so here goes!

We woke up reasonably early and had breakfast before church.  I’ve been into smoothies lately, so I made one with frozen strawberries, blueberries, peaches, yogurt, and milk, with a Babybel on the side!

After church, I made lunch!

(one egg + one slice bacon + goat cheese on a multi-grain English muff, sliced apple with almond butter + Nutella for dipping)

It’s been chilly and dreary and rainy here today, so we spent most of the afternoon relaxing around the house.  I did several loads of laundry.  Milhouse snoozed.  A lot.

I did manage to make it to Sephora to purchase an eyeliner brush and brush cleaner, and got a 500 point gift filled with skincare samples to try.

And I snacked on some cherries and a square of this Ghirardelli chocolate, which I received from Foodbuzz as part of their Tastemaker program.

This Sea Salt Soiree stuff is off the hook.  Between the two of us, um, this bag is almost gone after just a few days!  I love sweet and savory together and this stuff is delish.

For dinner, I decided to embrace the soup weather:

I found this crockpot creamy chicken with wild rice soup recipe on Pinterest and knew it would be perfect.  I made some homemade whole wheat bread to have on the side, along with a spinach salad.  It hit the spot on such a chilly fall day!

Are you watching the Emmys?  Who are you rooting for?

Thanks, everyone, for your advice on my running dilemma last night!  Honestly—I was so frustrated with the travel arrangements today I very nearly threw in the towel.  However, I was able to find a reasonably cheap hotel room near the start of the race that is accessible by public transit from the airport, so I’m feeling a little excited at long last.  Let the record reflect: I WILL do a long run on either Thursday or Friday while I’m in Toronto.  I’m not going to hardcore train for this, but I don’t want to make a fool of myself either, so I’m going to go middle of the road.

Anyway.  It was an early CrossFit morning today!  It’s tough getting out of bed, but once I’m there and moving I don’t regret it.  I just need to remember that when the alarm is blaring at 5 am!

Today we started with 4 sets of 5 front squats.  I started with the 45 pound bar, but quickly moved up to 55 pounds for two sets and finished with 65 pounds.  I think I can definitely push this further next time, too! Today’s WOD was:

• 4 box jumps/8 jump squats/12 air squats
• 4 air squats/8 box jumps/12 jump squats
• 4 jump squats/8 air squats/12 box jumps

We did this twice.  My first time around I finished in 2:50; the second was 3:08. 

I had to do five burpees for not being faster the second time around.  Boo.  Anyway, it was fun and my legs are trashed.

Here is unflattering photo proof that I was there, poached from my box’s Facebook page:

(We were stretching.  Not pooping.  Every time we do this stretch I think about birthing babies.  It’s a weird association.)

Anyway, I hightailed it home to shower and prepared for the onslaught of CrossFit hunger with a breakfast cookie. 

(Ingredients: old fashioned oats, peanut butter, chocolate whey protein, milk, a sprinkle of coconut and a few chocolate chips for fun.)

I also brought a hardboiled egg for a morning snack.

I think I got a whole lot of fruits and veggies in at lunch. 

Afternoon snack: a new bar that was delicious.  I just wish Kind bars were kinder to my wallet.

Dinner was slightly decadent, but I was starving to the point of a headache and the shakes by the time I got home.  We had homemade garlic bread, and pasta with Italian sausage and a creamy tomato sauce.  (Jarred.  Mixed a little alfredo with arrabbiata.)

I think it will be an early night for me tonight.  Tomorrow morning it’s back to morning CrossFit and I think Tim might join me!  My legs are tired and I think I need to get it on with the ol’ foam roller.

What’s your favorite kind of pasta?

Happy Labor Day!  We are obviously not laboring today, which is quite nice. Tim’s new job starts tomorrow and we’re both pretty excited.

Anyway, I’m going to start this post off with something of a conundrum that I need your help with.

I just don’t like running anymore.  I’ve talked a bit before about how I have major fitness ADD.  Specifically, here is a list of things I’ve really gone bananas for since I’ve started being a Fit Person.

• June 2008-August 2008: Workout DVDs
• September 2008-December 2008: Running
• January 2009-May 2009: New Rules of Lifting for Women
• June 2009-October 2009: BodyPump/kickboxing/yoga classes
• October 2009-April 2011: Running
• April 2011-August 2011: Swimming
• August 2011-Present: CrossFit

I just tend to get really into things, and eventually drift away from them to explore something new.  And that’s okay!  (At least, I think it is.)  As long as I’m moving and active, I am thrilled. 

But..back in February, I registered for the Nike Women’s Half Marathon on October 15th.  And since then, I literally can barely make myself run more than 4 miles at a stretch.  My longest run since April has been 5 miles.  I just don’t enjoy the long runs very much these days—I’d rather be doing CrossFit or a short, fast run.

Anyway, I’ve paid for this race and booked a plane ticket and my sister’s going with me.  It wasn’t cheap.  I feel like that should be motivation enough, but it’s not working.

So.  What do I do?  I see my options as follows:

• Suck it up once or twice and attempt to finish training since I have a good running base.  I could feasibly do long runs of 6, 7, 8, 9, and 10 miles the next few weeks before the race.  Hope that the crazy hills in this race don’t kill me. Run the whole thing.
• Write it off as a fun adventure.  Run what you can, walk up the big hills, don’t worry about your time.

Not attempting it is NOT an option, but I guess I just don’t know how to approach it. I feel obligated to give it a good shot, but part of me just wants to say “what the hell?” and really ENJOY a race without feeling like a failure for walking some of it.  Though I’m not sure that’s in my DNA.

Anyway, this morning I did this:

And then this:

(Super duper hill run.  I actually finished 3 miles in 35:00 flat, but didn’t stop my Garmin while I walked a bit to cool down.  I hated pretty much every step of it.)

Southie and Buckley are angry that we’re cracking down on strict mealtimes lately.  Doesn’t she look surly?

Then there was lunch (egg+white, bacon, homemade bread that didn’t freaking rise, cherries):

Then I took my husband shopping for his first day of work and ended up buying more than he did.  Whoops.

Pulled pork in the crockpot + corn on the cob for dinner:

Plan for tomorrow is to hit up 5:30 CrossFit again. 

PS: I’m selling one of my lululemon jackets on eBay at a discount here.  I love love love how it looks, but on second thought, the fit just wasn’t quite right on me and I’d like to get a different style!  Check it out.

What do I do?  Force myself to suck it up and train, or just have fun and wing it on race day?

I get a full unicorn sticker today!

I also win an award for self control.  My newly adopted, “If it didn’t walk in the door in your lunch bag, it’s not walking out the door in your tummus” rule worked its magic again!

I was invited to a breakfast this morning, and instead of going and eating delicious greasy biscuits and eggs and sausage, I ate my cereal beforehand and settled for a cup of coffee.  (Which totally does not count, because I would have had my own personal coffee, and this was a mere substitute, and whatever, it’s just coffee.)

I also resisted delicious breakfast leftovers all day, and was happy with my decision around noon when the grease congealed in the sausage pan and turned the whole thing into a Jell-O-esque brick.

Lunch:

Nothing exciting, but fresh and delicious.

Also, I joined DailyMile.  Follow me, or whatever you call it.

Snack:

After work, I went to the gym.  I felt like lifting, but also had a bit of a running itch, so I decided to run sprints between supersets.  I did:

• 400 m sprint: 2:07
• Superset: 3X deadlifts (12 @ 80 lbs) and shoulder press (12 @ 30 lbs)
• 400m sprint: 2:05
• Superset: 3X lunges (24 @ 50 lbs) and lat pulldown (10 @ 60 lbs)
• 400m sprint: 2:04
• Superset: 3X overhead squats (12 @ 40 lbs) and upright row (12 @ 40 lbs)
• 400m sprint: 1:59
• Superset: 3X dumbbell snatch (12 @ 25 lbs) and bicep curls (12 @ 20 lbs)

And that was that.  Pleasantly taxing.

And then it turned into the best day of my life when I got home.

Okay, so that was a bit of hyperbole.

Tim…is kind of a quintessential lawyer.  He follows rules, and this extends to his food preferences.  He is what I refer to as a strict constructionist.   This means that, if you are out of hamburger buns, and hamburgers are on the menu, well, it just does not belong on a slice of bread instead.  This also means that you eat breakfast for your first meal of the day, and never again.

(He also claims to be traumatized by school lunch breakfast for lunch—soggy eggs and the like.)

But I love breakfast.  I eat breakfast for lunch all the damn time.  And I would eat it for dinner all the damn time too if Tim didn’t have this rule.

So, last week, I made puppy dog eyes and stuck my lip out a bit and he agreed.

And I think he liked it!

I had an English muffin, eggs over medium, bacon, and watermelon.

Tim had bacon, peanut butter toast, and poached eggs (his new obsession).

Speaking of which, he has requested that I ask the blog world if anyone knows how to poach eggs without excessive amounts of white foam appearing.  Any ideas?

Did you eat hot lunch at school?  What were your favorites and least favorites?

Yeah.  You read it.

Breakfast was meh.

The Greek yogurt was extra tangy today and it wasn’t sitting well in my stomach.

Lunch.

Spinach salad with craisins and goat cheese, carrots with hummus, hard boiled eggs, peach, mini cheese.  I like hardboiled eggs, but I think two is too many.  I was getting a little gaggy by the end of the second one.

Then there was more bad news.

And I cried in my office with the door shut and ruined my eye makeup.

Then I opened my door and cried a little bit again.

Then I calmed down, and my co-worker asked if I was okay, to which I replied, “I’m fine,” which, hello, is universal code for “STFU”, and then she followed me into my office and I practically had to yell “I DON’T WANT TO TALK ABOUT IT” in her face to get her to leave.

Or, wait.  Not practically.  I did. 

Unprofessional?  Wildly.  Thank god my boss was on vacation today.

When I was in kindergarten, I used to cry every day because I missed my mom until she made me a no-crying chart in which I got a unicorn sticker for every day cry-free at school.  I think I may need one of those now.  Even though I would not get a sticker today.

Snack.

After work I ran 3 miles.  It was angry running.  I pinned this today and it was all I could think about:

This song, that was played at my dad’s funeral, came on at the two mile mark and I cried on the treadmill. 

I came home to a no-effort dinner. 

We grilled chicken last night, so I heated that up with a microwaved baked potato and a side of watermelon.

It was a pretty healthy day of eats.  I am proud, I guess, that amidst all the insane stress today I didn’t stress eat once.  And I worked out my not-nice feelings and it felt good.  Baby steps, I guess?

However, there will be a small slice of ice cream cake in my very near future.  FYI. 

This, too, shall pass.

Tell me something good in the comments.  What made you happy today?  Bonus points for links of adorable cat pictures.

One hundred and eight degrees today.  I’m not even kidding.

Seriously, I like winter, and spring.  Fall and I are kind of on the outs because I am allergic to trees and their leaves, but I can deal. 

I cannot deal with one hundred and eight degrees.  I am eternally thankful that I have a job in which I do not have to go outdoors, ever.  The five minutes spent in my car before the A/C cooled things down was bad enough.  It is a ghost town around here.   

(Note: for those of you who were like, “OMG!  House prices in KC are so low!” in my post last night,  maybe this hellish weather will explain why.  I like KC okay now, but it is not exactly desirable real estate as compared with the rest of the country.  Also, thanks for the advice!)

But enough complaining.  Greek yogurt for breakfast, with berries and shit.

Lunch was much better than yesterday.

Two actually hardboiled eggs, cantaloupe, a whole wheat English muff with PB, and a nectarine.

Snack was one of my favorite bars—a Clif Mojo PB Pretzel bar.

Since it was ri-damn-diculously hot out, I decided that swimming was the only sensible option for working out.

So I did.  1200m in 35 minutes. 

And then I went to shower, and in the usually pristine showers at the gym, I swear there was a tiny poop nugget, like the size of a dime.  I didn’t get too close to determine that was ACTUALLY what it was, but…ew.

Dinner was my lover, creamy taco mac.

So damn good.  Except I think I’ve had enough pasta this week.

Also, I realized today that I have 3.5 personal days that I’ll lose if I don’t use by mid-October.  So, I’m officially going on a staycation August 24-28!   I may get a kiddie pool and a plastic coconut to drink out of. 

In all seriousness, I might. 

Unrelated: If you need a good laugh, read this installment of TJ’s Cosmo Cliff Notes from my buddy Temerity Jane.   I chortled. 

What’s your advice for having a good staycation?  Any fun ideas for me?

iPhone pictures today, guys.  I forgot my camera.

While I’m dumping iPhone pictures in a post, check out our display of Hs.  I think I finally have them in a configuration I like!

Anyway, last night, I experienced something I’d been dying for for the last several years…television in bed.

There’s nothing like watching a movie late at night under the covers, or catching a trashy TV marathon and snoozing on a sick day.  But for the last several years, we’ve been TV-less in the bedroom!

But then, we won a 32” flat screen at a charity raffle, so…now we have one.

The funny part is that we’re actually in the process of canceling our cable + Tivo.  We are cutting our cable bill in half by going down to basic channels ($1 more than it would be to just have internet!), and watching Netflix streaming on our Wii (which has plenty to keep us busy anyway.)

We may also get Hulu Plus and/or a Roku player at some point.  I am kind of excited about the savings!

Anyway, lunch today was a lot like yesterday’s.

The Larabar was my snack.

Anyway, I planned to run after work.  I went to the gym and ran a mile and my legs were seriously trashed from yesterday’s mini-tri, so I chilled out on the elliptical for another twenty minutes and then called it a day.

Dinner was done by the time I got home!

I threw some beef, mushrooms, garlic, red wine, and chicken broth in the crockpot and let it cook all day and served it over whole wheat noodles.  Not too shabby for a zero-effort dinner.

Also, when I came home, Tim was poaching an egg for fun, and had destroyed my last hardboiled egg in the process.  This is apparently “experiment with eggs” week in our house.

What’s your favorite thing to do with eggs?  Do you have a TV in the bedroom?