Connecticut Primary

Today is the Connecticut Primary - we'll soon know who will be running against Dick Blumenthal for the Senate seat (my guess is Linda McMahon) and who will be running for governor. I gotta say, this is when I get most frustrated with living in New England. People are SO liberal. And they follow liberal candidates blindly. One would think it might bother people that Dicky B. lied about his military service and made it look like he fought in Vietnam. To me, that says something seriously negative about his character and integrity. However, people don't seem to care. Amazing.

Day 14

I didn't post for a couple days... but I DID work out! Day 11 was 100 Burpees for time, and it was bad, but I did it in 14 minutes, 6 seconds. I thought that would be the worst ever, but I hadn't done Day 13 yet - 5 rounds for time of 20 Burpees, 15 Squats, and 10 Sit ups. I did it in 17 minutes and 4 seconds. Today I have to run 5k. Not sure how I am going to get that in... I got up at 5:30 to do it, since my hubby was going to be home until 6:15, but it was raining and the baby decided to be up then, too. I may be able to work it in tonight when my husband gets home.

As of yesterday, I was not even close to fitting into my pants. It's frustrating that I really don't have that many pounds to lose, but they're all in my stomach! I am contemplating something drastic, like the cabbage soup diet:)

Days 7, 8, and 9

I was right - Day 7 sucked. I have a hard time doing 15 burpees in a row. The first round, I did them all. The second and third rounds, I did 10, took a breather, and did the other 5. Anyways, it was good once it was over!

Day 8 was a rest day - much needed!

Yesterday was another tough one, but I am starting to feel stronger. I had to do 3 rounds for time of:

50m sprint

10 burpees

50m sprint

10 squats

50m sprint

10 sit ups

I did it in 12 min 30 sec.

Believe it or not, the hardest part for me was the sit ups. My abs are still so weak! I made myself do full sit ups instead of crunches, and it was hard.

I also went for a walk with the husband and baby this morning and attempted a pull up. I did one. Last summer, I could do 3, so I have a ways to go!

Days 5 and 6

Day 5: This day sucked. In fact, I think it was the worst yet, but that's only because I haven't worked out today yet. Today's is going to be a kick in the pants, as my husband would say. Day 5 was 2 rounds of a 400 meter run and 50 lunges. We live on a hill, so the run was 200 meters uphill, and 200 down. The first run wasn't too bad, but the second was awful. After doing 50 lunges, my legs were burning. Day 5 was not timed.

Day 6: Yesterday I had to do 100 push ups for time. I only got through 10 of them doing real push ups. The other 90 I did from my knees. I took several breaks and was finished in 5 minutes and 30 seconds. This was not the hardest work out ever, but I'm sore today.

Today, I have to do 4 rounds of:

15 burpees

25 squats

35 sit ups

The burpees are what kill me.

Overall, I am not sure how much progress I'm making. I feel like I'm doing well and then I try to put on some clothes that I feel like should fit me and I can't even get them over my ass. Or I catch a glimpse of myself in the mirror at some unflattering angle and realize how much stomach is there where there didn't used to be any! I think I probably need to be running on top of Crossfitting, but it's pretty tough with a baby. I don't have a lot of time every day to devote to working out.

My husband and I just celebrated our 1 year wedding anniversary on August 1st. One year ago, I was in the best shape I have ever been in! Today, I feel like I am in the worst!

Crossfit Days 3 and 4

Yesterday (Day 4) I had a wonderful day off from working out. The day before (Day 3) I did 5 rounds for time of 10 tuck jumps and 15 back extensions. The tuck jumps were pretty hard - it's hard to pull your knees up in front of you instead of behind. The back extensions were a little tough, too, because I got an Abmat and used it. It definitely targets your lower back! I did it in 3 minutes and 35 seconds.

Crossfit Day 2

12 minutes to work out today - and I have Jell-o arms already.

Today was:

8 rounds of push ups, sit ups, and squats.

You do each exercise for 20 seconds, then take a 10 second rest and move onto the next exercise. You do the whole 8 rounds without stopping. Sounds easy, right? Not so much. The push ups actually got really hard the last few rounds, and the squats were tough because I'm sore from yesterday. Overall, not too bad!

Shared by Lindsey: Federal Judge Blocks Key Portions of Arizona Illegal Immigration Law

Federal Judge Blocks Key Portions of Arizona Illegal Immigration Law

A federal judge on Wednesday blocked some of the toughest provisions in the Arizona illegal immigration law, putting on hold the state's attempt to have local police enforce federal immigration policy.

I know I already posted on immigration, but this really exasperates me. For one, I am certain that the Constitution gives Congress the power to set NATURALIZATION law, but does not mention anything about illegal immigration. In my opinion, according to the 10th amendment, Arizona should be allowed to pass laws that punish illegals. It is appalling to me that our government is going to such lengths to ensure that illegal aliens are not punished for breaking our laws. The most alarming part of this whole story is that the federal judge made her judgment based on the fact that identifying illegals in Arizona would place "undo" stress on the Federal Government, because they would have to prosecute and possibly deport them. Because there are so many, the judge has deemed it too big a problem to deal with. To me, this is like going to work and deciding that because so many of the students read below grade level I just shouldn't teach them. It's as bad as the policy of some states to let criminals out early because the prisons are overcrowded. Not because they no longer pose a threat to society, but because the prisons are too crowded. When will our government pony up and admit that the lack of border security truly poses a threat to national security and keeps open a drain on our economy? President Obama claims to make the "right" decisions, whether they are popular or not. If this were true, he would secure the border. The reality is, however, that he needs the Latino and Hispanic votes. He won't fix the problem because it looks like his party is taking a nose dive in November. We can only hope.

Crossfit Day 1

My husband has been Crossfitting for a while, so I decided to give it a try. It's quick and I've already learned a lot of the basics from the Boot Camp he runs. I found a two week program for beginners that doesn't require any equipment. I figured that was smart, since I should probably ease into the weights. I have mostly recovered, but I'm a little nervous about lifting heavy weights. My abdomen still gets sore.

The whole idea behind Crossfit is to do short, but intense, work outs that constantly challenge you. You have to change up the work outs and are always doing different stuff.

Today's work out was:

3 sets of (for time):

10 burpees

20 squats

30 sit ups*

*I can't do full sit ups yet (abs are not strong enough post c-section), so I did crunches.

I did it in 7 minutes, which I figure is not too bad a start. I did hold an 8 pound medicine ball for the squats, but that was all the weight I used. I forgot how much burpees will kick your ass! My quads are already sore, and even typing I can feel it in my forearms. Overall, a good start I think!

Dinner tonight: Haddock over a salad with Light Balsamic and Basil dressing. Mmmmmm....

New Work Out!

Today's work out:

5 sets of 10 jumping jacks, 10 push ups, 10 crunches, and a run up the hill and back.

I'm not going to lie - it sucked! It's been so hot and humid, so I had to wait until the evening to do it. Still no scale - probably tomorrow.

As far as the diet goes - not too bad. Last night we went to a party and I was pretty good. We left before the cake!

The baby had his 2 month check up and weighed in at 15 lbs 6 oz!! He's a big boy.

Day 2 of Post-Baby Diet

Ok, so I didn't run today, but I walked about 3 miles relatively briskly. My legs are a little sore from the run yesterday, and I didn't get up early enough to run before it got hot. The baby slept until 5am and my husband took care of him when he got up again a couple hours later, so I took advantage and slept in.

Diet - going well. No sweets today, and no carbs:)

I need a new scale - apparently I broke mine while pregnant!! That might be a purchase for tomorrow...

Burn the Baby Fat!

Ok, so it has been almost 9 weeks since my c-section. This morning I went for my first run. I will be tracking my progress (let's hope I make some!)

Current weight: 143 pounds (down from 170 at the birth of my son in May)

Weight before pregnancy: 135 pounds

Goal weight: 128 pounds

I know, I know, it might be a bit lofty to want to weigh less than before the pregnancy, but I have reasoning. I was in awesome shape when I got pregnant and had a lot of muscle mass. I was a 135 pound size 2. Now, I'm only 8 pounds away from the same weight, but am much larger. I lost a lot of muscle mass and replaced it with fat, which as we all know, takes up more space. I figure 128 will put at about the same size. So here we go...

Today I ran 1.5 miles and it sucked. But I did it. So it's a start.

Tomorrow I will run again and do some weights... and report on what I ate (that's the worst part for me!)

Hello! Ok, so I have completely neglected my blog for almost a year... The good news is, I'm back. It's been quite a year - I got married last August and had a baby in May. He's almost 9 weeks old. So I think I have a bit of an excuse for not posting. Also, the political climate has been so sickening that I would have had a hard time typing about it without vomiting. Especially when you consider the morning sickness.

Anyways, there's much too much material for me to really comment on our illustrious administration, so I will pose one question, pick one topic, and move on.

Question: Is anyone else enjoying watching Obambi self-destruct as much as I am? When polls show that, were the election tomorrow, he'd be in a dead heat with Sarah Palin, that's quality stuff.

Topic: Illegal Immigration. Perhaps someone can enlighten me. Now, I am a confessed Conservative and I may even be a little extreme in some of my views. However, most of the time I can at least see the Liberal side of an argument, even if I don't agree. Not so with illegal immigration. I can see absolutely NO good reason for not completely securing the border and using force if necessary. This is our safety we're talking about. Furthermore, our laws. It is a violation of our laws to be in the United States illegally. And don't give me that crap about "They're the gardeners and housekeepers and cooks - they're not criminals." Wrong. By virtue of the fact that they are ILLEGAL, they are criminals. That's what illegal means, jackass. It means AGAINST THE LAW. I cannot, for the life of me, understand why anyone would not understand this. I can see why there might be some debate about what to do with the ones already here, just because deporting them all would be a logistical nightmare, even though it's what I support. But the border itself? Build a wall, and if the idiots trying to climb it fall off and die, it's a consequence of them choosing to commit a crime. Send troops down there with orders to shoot on sight. I guarantee we'll see a decrease in illegals coming across. The reality is, it's not just housekeepers and gardeners coming across. Drugs and violence are coming across, too. In large quantities. It's time for politicians to consider the country's best interest for once and stop courting the Hispanic vote. SECURE THE BORDER!