Obsessions

Ahhhhhhh yeaaaaa, boi! It's Hump Day, y'all! Not that you did not already know this. I know you dolls are just like me and love knowing we're half way through this week! 

And woah, holy last day of July, am I right? It's almost August and you know what that means....we're almost to my birthday month, September, bay bay! But for reals, I love Summer and all, but mama also loves her scarf/legging/boot weather. Fall is my FAVORITE. Hands down. If you've been a long time follower, I shall spare you the repeat on facts. Y'all know I love it already. (Side note: should I do a Q&A about myself for the newbies? Maybe a refresher course for the long time followers?)

So this is a topic I've been mulling over for a bit: Body image and what exactly I want. Im gonna link this up with Miss Skinny Meg (Now known as Preggy Meg) since this is workout related.....

Let me start from the beginning real quick: In 2007/2008ish I started my weight loss journey. I  started walking on my treadmill @ my apartment complex every morning for about an hour. Then started the workout Dvds such as 30 Day Shred (Silly Jilly is my bestest frenemy), Biggest Loser Bootcamp, Yoga, etc.  I signed up with sparkpeople.com to track calories & joined a gym, did cardio and some light weights. I lost about 25-30lb's. 

Now, fast forward to today. I am a bit more educated in the nutrition and workout department. I got my PT certification and became passionate about working out. It changed my life. Now, I am in the gym switching up my cardio between HIIT and steady states of cardio and Im lifting heavy 3-4 times a week. My diet is what I'd say 80/20 clean ratio because its what works for me. 

As y'all know, Im on Instagram (follow me! ktaylor84) . I follow a lot of VERY motivational women and accounts that are sure to make me push it harder in the gym with their images burned in my brain. A lot of these women are figure/bikini competitors and are ON POINT with their diets and workouts. Their meals are calculated to the 'T' and there are no days off for them. If I was going to be on stage, I would be making sure no crap passed my lips either. But here's the thing....Im not going on any stage (this was decided after a talk with the hubs...I would like to do it one day, but he's just not ok with it and I can respect it). So these women, I get MAJOR workout tips from. I also would get eating ideas from them. So I started to eat SUPER healthy just like them. Think: lightly seasoned ground turkey, tilapia, broccoli, asparagus, sweet potatoes, oatmeal, egg whites, brown rice, etc. And while I STILL do eat these things on a weekly basis, it became an UNHEALTHY addiction for me on how much I stressed. I was so concerned over making sure I ate only these things, that it was becoming an obsession. I was also becoming cranky because I felt like I could never eat crap food and sorry Im not sorry, I love me some junk. 

Nick would want Chinese food or Taco Bell or pizza (things I LOVE) for dinner, and I would get anxiety because I felt like all my hard work was going down the drain & I was going to ruin those abs, and I was going to gain 10lbs, and blah blah blah. Obviously these things are TOTAL & COMPLETE splurges/cheat meals/gut bombs or whatever you wanna call them, but they're foods I will be faced with my whole life. My husband isn't a gym rat like me & I love him, so why is it fair that I be a stick in the mud because I want to eat uber strict and he doesn't? Plus, I really did want that pizza! That's when I had to have a little heart to heart with myself about the anxiety. I had to be practical. I am NOT a competitor, never will be (unless Nick has a change of heart haha), I could NOT go without having wine or beer (hello, Im a MOM! Need something to take that edge off the day), I LOVE eating and I LOVE Taco Bell. I will never ever stop eating that. Sorry if that makes some people cringe, but I love it. I also work my ass off in the gym and eat really clean on the weekdays. I eat what those competitors eat M-F, but my dinners are something Nick will like, and I sometimes have a glass of wine or a beer.  And if Nick wants junk food or if, gasp, *I* want those junk foods during the week? I have them! In moderation, but I have them. The life I lead, doesn't require me to have minimal body fat, so Im not too worried about it. Would it be nice to have those bodies I see? Sure! But how I eat/workout now, I dont feel deprived or stressed out, which makes momma a happy panda.

So realizing all these bullet helped me sort of calm down. I think some of us tend to get so wrapped up in what other people are doing and seeing so much success, that we fail to realize what's happening in their life, doesn't pertain to ours. What works for someone else, may not work for you. Its all about balance. 

Last Friday Night....

...I danced on table tops and took too many shots, last Friday night..... KIDDING! Mom, put down the phone, there was no table top dancing. But there WAS hanging off a giant horse statue in public. Don't believe I'd do such a thing?! Lets roll the footage into Sami's Weekend Shenanigans Link Up....

Friday Night Shenanigans

Feelin sassy & ready to hit the town. We went to the movies & dinner with our besties

 I forgot to take a picture of my juice box I snuck into the theater, but this is a stock pic I found online. This beauty = 3 glasses of wine and yours truly drank every drop. 

This was PRE wine & before the movie started. Told you, Im a bucket o' fun. Just trying on some brunette locks. I've gone brunette a couple of times and Im telling you - I have WAY more fun as a blonde

 

After the movie and my 3 glasses juice box of wine, I thought it'd be hilarious to try to ride these giant horse statues. THey're really tall and I obviously couldn't climb up, so this had to do

Moving right along to Saturday...

T Money woke up with a wicked fever. It started as a 100.4 degree fever and quickly escalated to 102-103 degree range. It wouldnt break 102, so Kool packs on the forehead and neck and tylenol was the best we could do....that and an early bed time. 

So I did what any parent on call would do: Opened Netflix and a bottle of wine....

He woke up on Sunday and you would never have thought anything was wrong with him. I'm He's a big Doc McStuffins fan, so he thought he needed another "checkup" aka, me checking his temp. 99.6, so not too bad considering it was just 102/103 for 3 hours straight. 

We still decided to take it easy, so Nickmesiter worked outside for the morning and then in the afternoon, I took a solo trip to the grocery store. Im crossing my fingers that I dont get sick, but I did my grocery shopping a day early just in case I get what he had. 

Can't wait to read what you hooligans got yourselves into this weekend!

Ps...isn't it crazy school is starting for the REAL hooligans (aka kids)!? I feel bad they dont get Summers like we all had growing up. 

To the Windooooows, to the Walls!

If you can't get down with the camel, I dont know if we could be friends. 

Hump Day, Woo hoooo!!! So during my hiatus, I started following SkinnyMeg. Where the bleepty bleep have I been? And Mama Laughlin? Apparently, these gals are all the rage via the internet. Glad I found them! I secretly want to live in Texas (or maybe its not so secret?) and these ladies reside there so I like to live vicariously through their shenangigans in the Lonestar state. So SkinnyMeg does Workout Wednesdays where you run down your workout to help inspire, give ideas, and what not. So, Im doing what all the cool kids are doing, and linking up!

So my workouts are split up during the week to look something like this: 

Mondays: crank the heat up and do Arc Trainer for 20-25 minutes w/30+ resistance, Legs, Stair Climber 20-25 minutes

Tuesday: Arc Trainer, Back, Delts & abs, Stairclimber 20-25 minutes

Wednesday: Arc Trainer, Shoulders, StairClimber 20-25 minutes

Thursday: Take it off or just hop on a couple different machines and do cardio for an hour

Friday: Arc Trainer, Legs, Stairclimber 20-25 minutes

As you can see, I hate love to finish up my workouts with the Stairclimber.

This bad boy used to be at my old gym pre T Rex, so Im familiar with it. My new gym has finally gotten with the program and got one. Luckily for me, since I go so early (we're talking 4AM, people!), its always free. My gym is on the small side, so it can be tough to get anything done (weights included) during a busy time. 

Anyone who has a stairclimber at their gym? GET ON IT!! I challenge you to do 20+ minutes on it at more than a snails pace and NOT feel like you're going to die. The beauty ass-kicker about this machine is the fact that you cannot step off it like you would a treadmill. This little devil keeps moving, there is no side bars to step off on when you need a break. It's grit your teeth, keep your head up and breathe! What I also like about this machine is it is low impact on those knees and joints. Personally, I feel like I get just as good of a sweat and workout on the Stairclimber in those 20 minutes as I would doing a HIIT workout on the treadmill. Its definitely the icing on my workout when Im already exhausted after weights. Proof it makes those fat cells cry (Yes, these are Instagram pics and Im posting again on le' blog. You love it ;) )

 Check out that sweaty back! Only thing dry is my sports bra apparently 

Life as of Late...

Woah, hey now, Karli is actually going to post! So guess what all my lovely 190 followers? As my good friend Ricky would say, "Lucy..you have sum es'plain'n to do". So yeeaaaaaaaaah, about that absence. Well...well...I stopped. Yup, no regrets. Just poof the magic dragon, gone (or is it Puff the Magic Dragon?)! I seriously had writers block all the friggin time, I felt like a broken radio saying the same thing all the time and even tho this here blog is *MY* diary, Im not going to sugar coat it, I want people to enojoy reading it. I mean, I have 190 followers, Jack, obviously one of you 190 likes to be entertained by you read. So that being my main reason. My 2nd reason is a long story but Ill keep it short and direct: *clears throat* I have an ex family member (your loss, my family is AWESOME!), that we were think was stalking my family via the ol' internet. So, I was like, "What the French, Toast!?" and I hightailed it outta Blogland. It is what it is, if you ARE reading this Mr. Asshat, you're lame and pathetic.

 Anywhoooot, moving on...

Ive still been following all you ladies and it does make me miss blogging. Honestly, Im all over Instagram and that became my new outlet. Be sure to go follow me! My screen name is ktaylor84 .

Since it would take entirely too long to explain exactly what Ive been up to, here are some pics (because lets just be totally honest, all us followers love seeing pics). Seriously, grab a glass of your poison or a cup of coffee depending on when you're reading this.....lotsa pics!

In May we left T Money @ my parents house and we hightailed it to Yosemite to celebrate our 8 year Anniversary

Of COURSE "Tebowing" in the Redwood National Forest 

 Have I blogged since we got a puppy? His name is Peyton, he's a lab, he is now 8 months old. Anyone who's had a puppy knows about all the things that go with having one....like the "joys" of potty training. After much wine and tears, we made it through the woods with that one!

Our first family camping trip with our Besties. 

 Mothers Day with this little heartbreaker

 I've been dabbling in "living off the land". Tastes pretty good

Been murdering each workout still...le' duh!

Quad rides

 In June we made our first "momma bought his own seat and it was worth every friggin dime!" trip to North Carolina to see my better half...my sister

 Cousin Time XOXO

Sister tattoo's FINALLY.FRIGGIN.HAPPEND! This has been a must on my list for a very long time, you guys. Its on the top of our feet and more shall be added to it the next time we see each other. 

 A momma bird laid her nest behind an outside flower arrangement. You can bet your bottom dollar I had so much fun oo'ing and awwing over them...until they got to be annoying

 T Money is finally old enough to run around Bouncetown and I love it. He loves it. He sleeps for hours afterwards. Everyone's happy.

This Summer can be summed up with 2 words: Swim & Sun

My oldest dearest friend...THE Lisa Marie!

Besties being Besties on our movie date. The Heat was HILARIOUS FYI. Melissa McCarthy & Sandra Bullock never disappoint me.

 Keeping it fresh and exciting with this hunka hunka burnin love. At home date night with a fort....and wine, there was wine. 

 Lord help me, someone has a gotten his crib taken apart and is now in his Toddler bed. Its been 2 nights so far and its getting better, but any suggestions on how to keep him in the bed would be much appreciated! We have a baby gate in front of his door so he can't get out, but as of now he's getting out of bed, opening the door and calling for us 2-3 times before he stays in bed. The first night it was more like 4-5 times. So maybe it just takes time? I really dont care if he plays in there, but keep that door closed, child!

 Who can resist this little Harry Potter?

Glad to be back in bid-nezzzz!