Category: Toning

Challenge Accepted Day 4

Well here we are, day 4 already and I’m yet to see any results! Too soon you think? I know, I know, it won’t happen overnight, but bloody hell, I’d really like it to! I’m a bit over Shawn T. “In and out,” “Feel it in your core, are you good?” No I’m not bloody good, my core is telling me to stop torturing it! And you and your fit sidekicks can all piss off! Ok, that only happens for about 24 minutes, the rest of the time I love it! 😜

I did notice this morning a big scratch on my neck that stung when I was doing my morning R+F Redefine routine, but it wasn’t from the products, obviously either my kids, or my dog, or myself during sleep, someone/something scratched me and man did it sting when I was cleaning my face. Anyway, I did put a little bit of the Soothe Sensitive Skin Treatment on the scrape so in the interests of keeping you guys informed, I just wanted you to know of any products I use. I’ll let you know how it feels tonight when I do my nightly Redefine routine, but I was once burned quite badly by a woman in Colorado Springs when I bought a Groupon for laser hair removal and unfortunately in this instance, cheaper isn’t always better, I honestly thought I was going to be scarred for life, my Dad told me to sue her, it was all crazy, anyway, my friend Sue suggested I use the Soothe Sensitive Skin Treatment for the burns so I did and that combined with vitamin E, completely got rid of my burn marks. 

  

  
 
These marks were immediately visible when I got home from having the laser hair removal, I wasn’t happy and it hurt like hell, but thank god, my skin healed after about 3 weeks. Here is a more recent photo of my yucky, white, hairy legs (please forgive my candidness) I wish they were tanned and lovely but I feel like my winter has been never ending with living in Colorado where it snowed up until June (with some nice days in between) then we went to Australia in July/August and had just a tad more winter, followed by Autumn (Fall) upon returning to Colorado, with Winter starting all over again in October (yay! – Oh how I wish sarcasm could come through in writing without having to point it out!) at least we had some nice days where light jackets were ok. To top it all off, we saved to go on a cruise before moving to South Korea and Texas decided to go from 80 odd degrees Fahrenheit the day before we got there to 40! Houston had the coldest, windiest, most overcast miserable day it had had, the day we boarded our ‘warm’ cruise! (Ok, maybe a little exaggerated) but you can see how rugged up we were! 

  
 
So back to today, my son & I went on our first adventure together here in South Korea, it was only over to the Airforce base at Osan to get our visas for our extended stay here, but we did park the car at the gate and wander through the market that is at the front of the AFB. We had some wonderful Thai food from an authentic Thai restaurant there and I got to practice my very little Thai with the lovely hostess/waitress named Juree. On top of that, I got to eat one of my most favorite meals in the entire world, Tom Kha Gai – the scrumptious Thai soup with lemongrass, coconut milk and chicken and it was made to perfection! I’ve attempted it many times and it just never tastes as good. 
We wandered around, ate Baskin Robbins ice cream (oops) and had a lovely time together. Then it was time to get back to our little village to get Madison from the bus. We’re also only allowed one car here unless we can prove we need another one (we can’t just yet ), so I had to be back for child pickup, hubby pickup, dinner prep, you name it! Unfortunately that didn’t end my day; we all (the kids and I) need to follow up on our Japanese Encephalitis Vaccination (JEV) so we went to the immunization clinic on post, thinking it couldn’t be too difficult (but knowing in my heart of hearts that nothing’s ever too easy either) only to be told that they don’t see dependents there! What? Why would you have dependents here and not vaccinate them? “Ok, so where do we go to get vaccinations?” “I think Osan takes dependents…” You think? Seriously, you’re not sure? Oh my. Oh well, luckily I haven’t dragged my three children to the immunization clinic, waited for 20 minutes only to be told after telling them the entire way there and parking the car etcetera, etcetera, that they were going to get another shot! Luckily, winter has ended and it’s a balmy 3C  (37.4F) outside, so the kiddos frolicked in the warm gusts blowing in the carpark….not! But, such is life.

I know, I know, this is an exercise/makeup regimen 60 day challenge, but my life is literally ‘always an adventure’ and as I’ve already said, there hasn’t been any changes yet so I’m not going to inundate you with pictures of my face or body, instead, I’m going to take you on my adventurous journey on a daily basis and throw in the challenges that I face daily! Hopefully you’ll stick with me as I’m thoroughly enjoying this side of it (the writing that is, not necessarily the exercise) & I can’t wait to see not only where the exercise and Rodan + Fields regimen take me, but where each day takes us! Sweet dreams! 

PS I didn’t run today! But I did say 5 days/week! 

PPS My abs are killing me!

Challenge Accepted Day 3

So, I have to start today’s blog with the funniest thing that came out of my son’s mouth this morning; but you’ll need a little bit of background information first. In Australia, doodle is another term for penis. In America, doodle means to scribble on a piece of paper (same thing in Australia) but it is also the name given to a dog that is a mix of two breeds, one of them being poodle. We have a dog who is half poodle, half golden retriever, ergo, a golden ‘doodle’. I have used the name doodle interspersed with penis when discussing my son’s private bits with him ever since he was a baby (he’s now 3.5). He walked into the bathroom this morning as I was about to get in the shower and said, “Mummy, I can see your doodle!” Giggle, giggle. I then told him I didn’t have a doodle because I was a girl, his response: “I can see your golden doodle!” OMG! I cracked up! I am still laughing as I write this down and it hurts! 

Why does it hurt? Because T25 is kicking my butt! I so didn’t want to do it today! And my run was very slow and I’m fairly sure I looked like Eddie from Ab Fab as she attempted to run and I use the word attempted very definitively! Seriously, everything is sore today! As I was doing total body circuit, I wanted to beat every last one of those buff people, including Tania and her ‘I’ve just had a baby and I’m still fit and kicking your arse’ body! When is my day off? Oh crap, not for a little while and if memory serves me correctly, there’s a double workout on Friday! NOOOOO! 

Let’s talk about something a little more fun than that now, let’s talk about needling! Never heard of it? Have heard of it, but not really sure what it is? Have had it done? Well I’ve not had it done but I’ve heard about it and the amazing results that can be achieved after 4-6 micro-needling procedures. Unfortunately, each procedure costs anything from US$250 – $1000! You also bleed after having it done, then there’s the risk of infection when using products that haven’t been tested as post needling serums. Rodan and Fields offers their own, at-home version of a needling tool. It is called the Amp MD and I have one. It is part of the treatment I am using over the next 57 days. Every night I am rolling the Amp MD over my face & neck for approximately 1 minute, followed by the night renewing serum or ‘liquid velvet’ as I like to call it. The Amp MD feels a bit weird at first, and you should be delicate when using it for the first time and follow the guidelines as to how to use it very closely. I started on Monday night and am incorporating it into my nightly routine. I have honestly seen some incredible before and after photos, and I want some of those results, hence my dedication to giving this full commitment for a total of 60 days. It sounds scary, I know, but it’s not, it’s just weird. But when you get to a certain age, you want results, well I do anyway, without scary, invasive surgery type treatments!
So, here’s cheers to getting fabulous results! By the way, lunch today was similar to yesterday, though not as good as I didn’t have any avocado! Insert sad face here! Here’s a photo of it for you to enjoy anyway, just in case you’re hungry right now 😉

  
I didn’t sleep much again last night but this time it was because of silly Vonage! Don’t get me wrong, I love it, we’ve moved all over the USA and now the world and still have our same Texas phone number, but it also means people call it thinking we are on Texas time zone, so the first time it rang at 0140 local time with a recorded message telling me I’d won a cruise, yes ok! Sure! The second time it rang it 0530 telling me Fedex was delivering a package today that needed a signature! Yes, that’s great, unfortunately the package we are expecting isn’t coming to our house here in South Korea, it’s going to my Brother-in-law’s house, and I don’t have a pen on me when it’s 0530 to be able to take note of the tracking number and what to do if no one is there. Most people aren’t home during the day, they do this thing called working. Anyway, I guess they attempted delivery and he wasn’t home so they’ll attempt delivery again tomorrow and again he won’t be home, so we’ll continue to play this game of cat and mouse until Fedex can give me the tracking number again, when I’m in a state to receive it. It’s an important package too and one we’ve been trying to get sent to us here in South Korea ever since we found a house, but obviously there are some anti-us-receiving-it, forces at play, and it’s not going to happen any time soon! 

Alright, I’m calling it a day as my iPad has gone into funky slow motion mode and looks like a ghost is typing on it. I think that’s a sign for me to stop! Have a great day/night, wherever you are! 

Challenge Accepted Day 2

Well, what a weird morning! Oh and OH MY GOD! T25 was a killer last night! I had forgotten how hard it was, all I can say is thank god for Tania! The fact that I could modify saved me.

Now, where to begin? I guess a little background information on me. I have hypothyroidism. Not too severe, but there are definitely side effects and it’s definitely not fun! What really pisses me off about having this disease is the way people treat me after they find out I have it; “but you’re too thin to be hypothyroid.” “Oh, you only have a mild case of it, that explains it.” What the hell! Seriously! I was diagnosed with it in early 2002, after moving to Bahrain and working as a flight attendant for Gulf Air. All of a sudden, I started putting on lots of weight. There was no particular reason, I wasn’t eating more or partying more than usual but everyone kept saying to me that all the new girls put on weight when they come to Bahrain, it’s normal. Not for me it wasn’t, especially when there was no real reason. We’re not just talking a couple of pounds here or a kilo or two, we’re talking 13 kilos (25+ pounds) in a six month period! I hated myself! I started feeling down about everything! My Mum and Dad came to Bahrain to visit my sister and I and were shocked when they saw me. It was truly awful & you know in your heart of hearts when you’re at fault for putting on a lot of weight and when things are going on in your body that you cannot control! I took exercise pills (dodgy things from various local stores and some I bought in South Africa) I even went to the gym (if you knew me at all at that time, this was a huge deal) but nothing worked. I started smoking 2 packs a day hoping to just not eat at all & still the kilos piled on. Finally I went to the Bahrainy Gulf Air appointed doctor and told him about it, thank god for him is all I have to say! The first thing he said to me was he thought I may have been hypothyroid. I had no clue what that was but read up on it. The results of the blood tests were back within 3 days and yes, my thyroid gland was not functioning as it should be. I went on 50mcg synthroid and within 5 months, had lost all the weight I had put on and was finally feeling like me again, just in time to move to Italy after hubby proposed (but that’s all for another day). This is when people started asking me what I did to lose all that weight and when I told them, they were like “oh, I need to go and get tested, maybe that’s my problem,” or “is that some sort of miracle diet pill?” “Can you get some for me?” Unfortunately they didn’t see all the other things that went with it, my lethargy on days, not wanting to get out of bed. My unexplained sadness that I thought was related to the weight gain, my irritability and mood swings. On top of everything else, I have suffered from insomnia since I was 17. I have tried every ‘natural’ thing out there on the market, I saw a doctor about it finally only a year ago and her advice was to take Benadryl. So that’s what I do, now I take Benadryl every night but unfortunately, it seems to be not working anymore too!  So that’s how last night and the night before went. I really didn’t sleep but had that Benadryl tiredness over me that makes me cranky if the ‘drug ‘ hasn’t done its job. I took two last night thinking that I’d hardly slept the night before so surely they will work tonight, then at 11ish, I got up and had two melatonin because I knew I needed to get some sleep. At about 1am, I finally fell asleep, awoken by my hubby having a very weird dream and looking like he was writing on the headboard (he has never done anything like that before since I’ve known him) and that was it, sleep finished again for a while. I played on my phone and finally drifted off again to be awoken by my alarm going off.

Ok, so about my weird morning; I got up this morning and just felt drained, I felt cranky. And I’m not really on any diet right now so it’s not anything like that, but it was a drained to the core feeling! I got the girls ready for school and thought I had better go and run whilst I had a little bit of energy, so I did. One mile and man was that tough! My hubby was home with the little one (we’re talking 7:30am by now) & I finished running, with the good intention of starting T25 day 2 & promptly closed my eyes & fell asleep. He came up to tell me he was going to work, so I came downstairs and told the little one to come into bed with me & play on his tablet or I could put Netflix on, and he and I both fell asleep, I awoke at 10:30am feeling better but not great! Very bizarre but one of the combination of things that sometimes seems to happen to me to me due to where hypothyroidism meets insomnia! 

So here I am, it’s now 11 & I’ve still got to do my morning R+F regimen and T25! So, I’m going to go and do those things and come back to writing this when when I’m done and can report to you that I’ve done what I need to do for the morning 😜

Ok since starting this, I have now done my morning R+F regimen and T25 Speed 1.0! I actually really enjoyed this day, though the fact that I am not in shape did make it a tad more difficult than it should have been!  My skin feels lovely and my body is aching. I did also have a marvelous lunch if I must say so myself! I’m going to include a photo of it because it was that good!

  
Doesn’t that look wonderful? I never take the time to make myself a yummy lunch and to be honest, I’m a bit of a fuss pot so there’s a lot of healthy food that I don’t really like, but everything on this plate was so simple to put together and tasted amazing and filled me up! I think that’s a pretty good win for a Tuesday! The chicken is from the cans of chicken meat from Costco, not something I’m normally into but who has time on a weekday to cook up a fresh breast of chicken? Not this lady, I can assure you! Anyway, with a little drizzle of balsamic vinegar over it, the whole thing was not only yummy but good for you too! It’s taco Tuesday, so I thought I’d better eat something to fill me up until dinner and something that doesn’t have a whole heap of calories in it, not that I’m dieting, let me make that very clear, I’m just trying to eat a little better because for over two months we did nothing but eat out! Hence the extra rolls I am now trying to tone down. 

Ok, so I think that’s me for the day, tomorrow I’ll focus a little more on the skincare side of  it, particularly the Amp MD roller as I think this really needs some extra time and focus, but for right now, I must keep unpacking so that chaos does not surround me! I hope you have an amazing day and I’ll see you on day 3! By the way, the photo below is the only one I have access to right now that gives a bit of an indication as to how big I got during that time. Of course it was the same time as one of my dearest friends got married!