Man hands, a day in the life

I'm beginning to notice some semi-serious calluses on my hands this morning. Despite this appearingly large step towards man-hands I must admit to a bit of self-admiration. I feel uber-impressed with myself lately. Man hands, new muscles, looser pants and a new hair cut to boot! I feel like I'm evolving into the person I have wanted to be. And it's come along with a whole new positive outlook, the way I used to be when I was liberated from my past bad relationship. When the world was mine for the concurring and I walked around with the air of a carefree goddess. When I look back to the changes I've made recently, I would list the origination with sitting on an exercise ball at work instead of a chair. I had to ask my branch manager at work for approval and when she gave it to me, it felt more like she just gave me permission to cash-in her $1 million dollar ticket rather than just to stabilize my spine and strengthen my core.

Soon after that, or around that same time, a co-worker asked me the question, "have you ever heard of Cross Fit?" and that has turned into my recent obsession with high-intensity exercise. That and the research I found at Healthyhabits.com - the words HIRT & HIIT that have hit me with vigor. I kept feeling baffled by the fact that I couldn't lose weight despite all my long hours of running/jogging and yoga and tennis. Through my superficial research, all I read was to check your thyroid, well then what? I checked my thyroid & it is now being medicated. Now what's next, f/u WebMD and your thousand affiliates. Every morning, I wake up and pop my little white pill and big pharma thanks me for being a part of their experimentation. One minute we're all hypothyroid & the next we have no ability to absorb calcium and our bones are breaking. But what can you do? My primary goals in the last few 3 years of my life (since meeting my hubbo) have been this:

1) Have family, i.e. get prego and birth a child or two or three
2) Lose weight

Simple one would think: two goals, despite their VERY opposing nature which are seemingly simplistic and only required one other person's cooperation: enter Mr Kinzer. Besides, it's not like I was asking to go to space here, common!!

I will address both separately: The weight loss aspect, should be easy really. Especially since I was exercising about an hour a day, most days of the week. I didn't eat like an anorexic girl but I didn't eat fast food junk, I wasn't a freak for fried food like most fattie Texans and I don't drink sodas, EVER. Still, I had a genetic sweet tooth (AKA The Johansen extra stomach) which carried with me most of my whole life and was rarely deprived.

Here is a list of my recent changes which resulted in compliments, good cheer and a desire to shop for smaller clothes (yippee)

1. Sprints - running sprints gets your body to produce more HGH, human growth hormone. You can tell it's working when you are gasping for air. Where you once thought this was a bad thing, you were soo very wrong young slow grasshopper.

2. Flax Oil - Yes, drinking nasty fish based oil with protein drink in the morning will be supplying your body with good fats. GOod fats help absorb bad fats. They also help fill you up so it takes less food to fuel you. there are many other benefits to list here -including balance hormones and decrease inflammation

3. High intensity exercise : I live by Cross Fit. It was like this secret underground world from which beautiful buff bodies are emerging before my eyes. It exploded in front of my now that i know it's out there, it's everywhere.

4. Mostly, it's about eating. Exercise is like 30% of the fat loss pie, and food/eating habits are the 70%. Don't eat late at night, don't eat sugar, eat protein with every meal, don't eat processed foods. Simple! Just remember you are propelled forward in your eating habits in either direction. If you eat well, it's easier to keep eating well. Get off the eating well train and it's easier to stay off the train.

As for the other goal: Get prego and make a baby before age 30.

Well, when Kinzer and I were serious, we discussed it. He knew probably since he met me that I was a woman on a mission for a baby. I don't think I hid that very well. I still hoped we would miraculously just get prego even when we didn't have sex near my ovulation time. when Kinzer asked what the goal was, I said I want to have a baby when I am 30, not be pregnant with one. We both thought that was a fair goal and worked very hard to achieve it. We officially started trying about May 2009, but we were officially NOT being careful once we were engaged in February 2008.

The baby situation has been heartbreaking for us both to say the least. I never thought we would be part of the 1 out of 6 statistic of couples who have fertility issues. I blame myself mostly - my thyroid issue which I kind of suspected would solve itself, never did. Unfortunately, it keep on a downward spiral until I could barely keep my eyes open in the evening at which time I agreed to be a part of the never ending pill popping group of people who take a daily medication. Yuck! I put this off for years and all it did was make me exhausted. I hoped that when I started to take it, I would at least drop ten pounds, I mean comm'on, I am the one suffering to take a pill every morning at the same time, and prolonging my fav meal of the day. I should at least get compensated with some weight loss. No such luck. I saw no change in my scale... F you big pharma, billions of dollars you make & you can't make a pill that does 2 tricks?

It doesn't help that my hubbo is a complete freak about exercise and weight loss, and I don't mean in a normal way. Here's his completely honest weight loss schedule:

His first 8 pound loss happens after he: Decides to lose weight. Usually prompted by a vacation
somewhere sunny

His next 5-lb loss,when he drives to 24-hr fitness & hands girl his membership card

Next 12lb loss: He places left foot on pedal for the elliptical machine, cha ching!

last push for another 5lbs: His 2nd workout at 24-hr and a bead of sweat falls down when he
does a chest press.

Thus my precious husband has lost 30-lbs in 3 days (suck on that Lemonade diet) just from 2 visits to 24-hour. He comes home to examine his new body in the mirror next to me & I swear he does it just when I am noticing that I think my pants are tighter, despite my hour long or two hour long run I did that day.

Gotta love the metabolically gifted. He'd better share some of that with our little Wolfgang...