cornelia

Week 1 update: Not a total fail, I did 2/3 workouts, and cut out my skirt pattern. My husband was away for work, kiddo got sick, and I am beat!!! (My daughter is a night owl and won't go to sleep until 11pm, but my son gets up most days at 5am!! DH and I usually switch off who gets up early but he's been away... gah!) Tonight though, he's back, so I really hope to get a night's sleep :-) And I'm back to around 92.5lbs, which is where I usually hover. I've been researching a bit about ectomorph body shapes, and what foods to focus on to gain. Good carbs and protein mostly. I'm excited to start over this coming week, and work on my food plan. As Anne Shirley would would say "Tomorrow is fresh, with no mistakes in it yet!"

So excited to be starting the second challenge of 2018! I crushed 2/4 of my goals for the last challenge, and am raring to up my game this time. From the last challenge I learned that one main goal works best, and then a couple little goals to round it out. Main goal: Eat more food!! Aiming for 1700-2000 calories/day. Goal is to weigh a steady 95 lbs at the end of this challenge. Gulp! Starting weight: 93.5lbs. I need to pre-plan my food and make sure I eat throughout the day. 6/7 small meals or snacks. I think a good idea would be to plan out my meals/snacks and prep them in the morning after I do the kids lunches, since I'm in the kitchen anyway :-) As a SAHM, I'm in and out all day- so, I'm going to put alarms on my phone to remind me to eat. 2ND Goal: Continue BBWW, but up it to 2 circuits. Also add in one more posture exercise. 3RD Goal: Oil pull with coconut oil every morning for dental health. 4th Goal: Sew an Edwardian walking skirt. This year I have no excuses to not sew fun things to wear. The only person stopping me, is me. So- every challenge from now on will have a sewing aspect. I was soooo pleased with my 1795 dress from the last challenge, I had the epiphany that I can actually do this and not suck! Lol! Reward: If I complete this challenge satisfactorily, I will reward myself with a brand new Harry Potter workout tank. I really want one that says ' My Hogwarts obsession is Ridikulus!' Good luck everyone!!

Thank you so much!! Hubby is such a good sport, lol. Excited for the next challenge :-) See you there!

Just wanted to wrap up this challenge. Big win was doing the BBWW 3x/week. I think, in total, I only missed 3 workouts, which is awesome! I still am only doing 1 circuit, but I'm feeling that I could ramp it up to 2 pretty soon :-) Food was less successful, but It's going to be the focus of my next challenge instead. I finished my dress in time, and was whisked off to the charity gala last weekend. We had a lovely time, and I'm thrilled with how my dress turned out! Thanks for all the encouragement and help! See you at the next challenge!!!

Hehehe :-) No worries! There is so much out there about losing weight, I know I am definitely in the minority, needing to gain weight! I am all done nursing my kiddos, thank goodness-(not that it's a bad thing, I think nursing kids for as long as you can, if you can, is the most important thing we can do for their early years health!) they extended breastfed until they were each 4, when they naturally stopped. All in, I breastfed for 7 years straight - and that was definitely a factor in how low my weight got. Before kids I was 98lbs. I'm a sahm, but I'm out and about a lot- walking to run errands, get groceries etc. (I don't drive.) It's a good idea to take a snack with me when I'm out. Homemade Trail mix maybe? Or a big breakfast cookie that's filling and portable. Easy to sneak in nuts/seeds and nut/seed butters in those. Today I'll make a big batch and freeze 'em. As for what's stopping me? I always say it's because I'm not very technically inclined, but! I know it's just an excuse!! I can be taught, lol. Goals for this coming week- finish my website, record one podcast! Killed my workout on Friday, yay! I think this is the longest I've ever stuck the working out :-D

Working away on my dress!

I'd like to do a historic/vintage homemaking podcast. It'll have #vintage 'hacks' from old manuals, funny and gross recipes from old cookbooks, chat about bringing old methods to modern living etc. I just have to make it a priority (and my yt) and DO it!! I have been procrastinating on it for years- gah! As for food intake- well.. I weigh about 92/93 lbs. I know I need to increase my caloric intake if I want to reach that magical 100lbs, and I am not a huge eater- so little snacks, more often, is better. However, I get sidetracked or busy and just plain forget to eat. Or I can't be bothered to make something for myself after feeding and looking after the kiddos. I just want to sit down! :-D I already meal plan dinners, but I think I need to prep snacks ahead of time so I actually eat'em! Lol. I recently was in a video for my husband's youtube, and I really noticed how small I am when I watched the vid. I mean, I've always been this way, but since having the kiddos, and nursing them for years, my weight has gone down 5-7lbs. It's noticeable! I'll look into intermittent fasting- is it just for folks looking to loose weight?

Yep! Walking across England (in the north, narrow part!) is totally a thing. There are paths, nice places to stay every night, and some really varied country side to walk through. It's been a definite bucket list goal!

Update time! 1. Completed 2 workouts last week, and so far just one this week. My knee has been giving me trouble (it doesn't like squats and lunges!) so I rested it, and it's doing better today. I walked a ton yesterday though, so I'm counting that as a bonus! I find the farther I walk, the more surprised I am at how far I can walk. Things that seemed way too far to walk to, seem a lot more attainable. One of my long term goals (within 5 years) is to walk across England, so upping my walking game is awesome! 2. Still struggling with food but trying to add little things here and there. I think on my next challenge, I'll make this the focus goal. 3. Not much progress on podcasts or yt. 4. Cut out the good fabric today and am starting to sew :-) Hope everyone else is rocking it!!

End of Week 2 update- Super proud I did all my workouts! Everything else is less successful, but I'm trying!

Tuesday night update- Work-outs are going well but they've finally hit my body, and I am zonked. Just totally exhausted physically. I don't get enough sleep - (I have one night owl kiddo and one early bird kiddo that pulls me out of bed at 5am) but I'm kind of used to it, but now with the extra exercising I'm really feeling it! I'm going to try and get to sleep early-ish tonight, I hope. Eventually I know exercising will give me more energy, but I hate feeling so weak right now :-( My other goal I'm already having trouble with is eating every meal plus snacks. It's just a ton of food for me. And I've already skipped or eaten something very small instead. I think I may have to tweak this goal a little to make it achievable. Being so tired doesn't make me want to cook or eat either, lol. Any suggestions to help me with this? I used to get told to drink shakes, but they would fill me up too much and then I wouldn't be hungry for meals, gah! Perhaps I should just add something very small to eat, but calorie dense? Almonds? Something else? I pulled out all my fabric and my pattern, going to start cutting out my dress tomorrow! Yay! I've also been working on my first podcast, which is going to be really fun.

Yay! Thanks! I really want to sew more this year. I'm not a pro, but I really want the costumes so I plow through the best I can :-D So far, so good! I volunteer at a historic manor, so I wear my costumes at events and doing tours. Last year, I made a big 1867 dress and hoop. It was a hoot! I will post pics if I can figure it out (I am sooo not as computer literate as I should be!) The mayor's gala is a fancy fundraiser in our town and all the proceeds are going to the manor this year, so I thought, 'what the heck, I'll dress me and hubby up regency style and we can talk everyone's ears off about the museum'. Lol, I have no shame about wearing historical costumes- I love them! End of the week report: 1.Complete! But totally exhausted, lol. 2. Check! I've been really good about planning and cooking this week. A couple times lunch got pushed back, but I'm working on it. 3. No progress. Waiting for kiddos to go back to school. 4. No progress, just completed a bit of research to figure out the open robe. I'm making the round gown from an internet tutorial and the open robe, I'm tweaking a pattern I already have. I added a couple pics as examples of what I'm aiming for!

Back again and ready to crush my goals!! I want to be strong and have more energy this year- and crack that 100lb mark that has always seemed so out of reach. (I'm a slender 92lbs, and gaining weight is tough!!) So, let's make these goals easy and achievable! 1. BBWW 3/week, minimum 1 circuit with added back/posture exercises. First thing in the morning! (exercise) 2. Eat meals 3/day, plus two snacks. No skipping, or forgetting! Put alarm on phone if need be :-) Prep snacks/meal plan. (food) 3. Post 3 podcasts, and 4 videos to YT (career) 4. Sew a 1790s round gown to wear to the Mayor's gala. (fun) Taa daa!! I'll check in at the end of the week, good luck everyone- 2018 is going to be awesome!

Fourth Challenge!! Huzzah! It's my first time joining with the Assassins group (waves goodbye to the Rebels, good luck everyone over there!) and I’m super excited to get started on the next challenge. So.. here we go! 1. Continue upping the challenge with the BBWW. This time I will do 2 circuits 3x/week. I will also continue to add posture exercises at the end of each circuit. (Fitness) 2. Oil pull with coconut oil every morning while waiting for my tea to steep. Yay for healthy teeth and gums! (Self-care) 3. In bed, lights out by 11pm. I'm looking at you harry potter fanfiction, your late nights are numbered! (Wellness) 4. Start on my 1790s red and white dress or my 1920s house dress. I can't decide! (Quest) Gotta go help my daughter build her Harley Quinn Legos... more updates soon :-) Cheers, Cornelia

Update! So, last challenge I did really well on everything but fitness, and this challenge I've done well on fitness but abysmal on all the others, lol! Last week, and this week I've done two bbww each week. I only managed one circuit but it's already getting easier. This coming week I'm going attempt 2 circuits :-) I'm getting better at going to sleep earlier- but it's a work-in-progress. I haven't managed to start Konmari yet, but hopefully tomorrow! As for swishing with coconut oil, I think I need to put a jar of it in the front of my tea cupboard, so I remember to do it every morning when I am waiting for the tea to steep!