Ms. Minnelli has left the building

After having my bikini wax lady ask me if anyone ever told me I looked like Liza Minnelli, I thought perhaps it was time for a change. So I spent about 3 hours at the salon Thursday and am now a blonde. I wanted platinum, but my hairdresser told me if he "bleached" my hair, it would turn into cat fur. That sounded a bit scary to me and besides, my son is allerigc to cats. So the best he could do was this beige-y blonde that took almost an hour under the dryer to finally get to a color I could live with, for now.

Less than 12 hours after my hair transformation, I had 2 "blonde" moments. Dropped my daughter off at school, only to realize I had forgotten to give her her medicine. Had to head back home and take her back to school. Then I couldn't find my phone and remembered leaving it at the salon the night before. Needless to say I was late for work and logged about 15 extra miles that morning.

2 days into my new look and so far I'm not having any more fun. But both my kids like the new look. Ells told me I look like PINK. She's cool, right?

What the Poop?

Since I started this blog, I haven't really put myself out there, been honest, or self-deprecating - NOT! So let's continue on this journey while I share some of my bathroom neuroses and (as I believe to be) their root cause.

When I was in kindergarten, I pooped in a urinal. Here's how it all went down. Nature called, I got excused from class, after a good 10-15 minutes of trying to remember my teacher's name. Not sure why I couldn't just pull on her pant leg and ask to go. I guess when I was 5 I had more than a modicum of manners that required me to address a teacher by name when requesting leave of the classroom. So I entered the co-ed bathroom with 3 stalls, picked the one farthest from the entrance and discovered this newfangled big-girl toilet. It wasn't the kind of urinal that went all the way to the ground with a big trough or anything. It was a pretty little white wall unit that sat about 2 feet from the floor. I didn't really have time to marvel at the contraption, so I quickly dropped trou' and fit my tiny bottom on the ledge and did what I had to do. Just realized that I used the words "my" "tiny" and "bottom" all together in the same sentence referring to myself - I guess there's a first time for everything! Sorry, back to the business. . . I have no recollection as to whether there was toilet paper in the stall or whether I used it. All I remember is looking down at what I had produced thinking, how it that going to flush properly with all that screening underneath it? Oh well. Not sure how it all went down (no pun intended) I'm guessing it never did - so sorry Mr. Taylor (Ursuline's Janitor at the time). I never copped to it, and no one ever asked me about it. I think I realized I had messed up because I never, ever went back in to that particular stall the rest of the school year.

Funny story, OK. But I think it has traumatized me for life. I have recurring nightmares about using the bathroom. The troublesome themes include lack of privacy, lack of seating and overflowing toilets. Most times, I have to go and enter a public bathroom that looks more like a ladies locker room, with about 20 "toilets" built into wooden frames (think a super-tiny hot tub big enough to just fit your bum). So all the toilets are out in the open. All of them are filled with water, pretty much to the top, and they don't really have seats. So you have to straddle this wooden box and do your business in front of everyone. I never end up actually "going" in my dreams. I just keep looking around for the normal looking toilet with a door, and everyone is looking at me like I'm nuts.

While we're on the issue of privacy why is it that I cannot go #2 in a public bathroom unless the entire bathroom is empty? Please tell me that other women have this same issue. I've talked to my husband about it, and he thinks I'm crazy. He does whatever he needs to do in public bathrooms no matter who's listening or what sounds he's emitting - and he doesn't give it a second thought. When I'm at work and have to go and there's someone in there, I either wait for them to leave and pray no one else enters in the meantime, or I go to another floor that has an empty bathroom. I sometimes try the "go-when-someone-else-is-flushing" method, but the damn commodes at work have a really fast flush. The "go-when-someone's washing their hands" is sometimes adequate. I've even gone so far in a crowded bathroom, where no one's flushing or washing their hands, to create a toilet paper "nest" placed ever-so gently on the top of the water to essentially "catch" my product so as not to make a splash. You have to be careful collecting the toilet paper and if you have one of those squeaky dispensers, or the ones where you can only break off like half a square per tug, it becomes problematic. The ultimate goal is to not only conceal the poop, but conceal the act of concealing the poop.

I'm a professional poop concealer. If you shit in a urinal, you would be too!

P.S. The irony of all this is that in front of my husband or kids - I can do anything and everything on the toilet - no closed doors, sound camouflaging or t.p. nests. They're so lucky aren't they? I do request sometimes to be left alone, but it's really just because it's nice to be able to tell your kids to get away from you without having to feel guilty about it.

The Ink Shot

So here's the final result of months of planning, 4 hours of sitting and several days of discomfort - all worth it. I love my new tattoo!

The Ballet Obsession Continues

I'm still dancing! It's been awhile since 3 consecutive posts have actually been about the same thing. Consistency has never been my strong suit, but since I got my ballet mojo back, it's in full effect and there is NO sign of burn out up ahead!

I found a Tuesday night class that is 90 minutes long and a superb workout both physically and mentally. The teacher is very scientific regarding body placement and technique and really takes the time to explain corrections. I love it when she starts out by saying something like, "Now remember, when you're on stage . . ." Now, no one has told me I'm going to be on stage, but just the fact that she's teaching us like we might be getting out there is pretty awesome. If she taught a class every day, I would find a way to get there.

Saturdays are going well also. Ells is taking her class. She's not in love with it, and I'm pretty sure she'll be in gymnastics by the new year instead, but I gotta give her a couple more weeks, selfishly, to ensure I get my Saturday class in.

Another exciting development . . . I got my Marianna Rhyzkina Kitri tattoo!!! I had my last sitting last week and it is BEAUTIFUL! Completely covers up my former tribal sun tramp stamp and the black and red coloring is exquisite! For those who aren't familiar, Marianna is a verteran ballerina once with the Bolshoi Ballet (great Russian dance company) and Kitri is the lead role in Don Quixote. It's my favorite ballet and I've performed a few variations from Don Quixote in the past. It's one of the few that includes 32 fouette and some interesting allegro that is right up my alley! As soon as I lose another couple of pounds, I'll post a picture - the mini-love handles are not that attractive right now! What's so crazy about getting tattooed is that once you get one, you want more. I am already thinking about getting my next one - the phrase "L'art de ballet choisit le danceur" in script somewhere. It means, "the art of ballet choses the dancer" Ain't that the truth.

I have also found a great pilates instructor that I can visit once a week to help with my turn out and flexibility. She used to work with PA ballet dancers so she knows exactly how to help me. I would like to go more often, but at $65 a pop, and according to my darling husband, that's not going to happen. So I'm asking anyone who wants to get me a Christmas present to call Mara at Vital Pilates and hook me up!

Next week, I'm buying pointe shoes!!!

Gotta Dance!

So I've taken about 4 ballet classes so far. The first class, my feet started cramping up after a few minutes of basic barre exercises. I almost threw up after a sequence of chaine turns.

The good news is, I could do pretty much everything and all the terminology and basic moves came back to me very naturally. I have a perma-grin on my face throughout the whole class, and I even rocked a triple pirouette on Saturday. I've also run into a bunch of people I used to dance with when I was actually really good. I got to see a woman who was in her early twenties when I was a pre-teen dancing way back when. Great to see her still dancing and looking great. Other ladies who "knew me when" have said such sweet things to me about how they love watching me dance, and how great it is to see me again. Does wonders for the ego, and let's face it, whose ego can't use a little boost every once in awhile?

One side effect of all this ballet is now that I'm in a leotard and tights at least once a week in front of a very large mirror with lots of other people, most of whom are smaller than me, the diet is going pretty well. Talk about motivation to look your best!

Here are my beefs (because let's face it, no matter how good things are, I always think they could be better!)

1. Classes are only an hour long. I'm just getting warmed up around the 45 minute mark - wish they were 90 minutes long. I did find out that another school has a 90 minute class on Tuesday nights - I may check it out.
2. Classes are only 3x a week, and realistically, I can only make 1 or 2 at best. Wish I could take one every day. It's hard to make progress while taking class just once a week.
3. I want to be on stage! One of the reasons I love ballet so much is because I crave the performance. So I have to figure out how to get back on stage. Let's take the Nutcracker for instance. The only parts I'm going to get are in the party scene and dammit, I want to be at least a snowflake!! Have to figure this one out. Suggestions are welcomed.

I'm filling in some of my ballet-less nights with yoga, trying to increase my flexibility and get those feet stronger for the pointe shoes!

Sugar Plum Fairy - Here I come!

It's been 17 years . . .

My daughter, now age 5, is starting ballet classes at FSTB school at The Grand in Wilmington. It's a serious ballet school. No tap, no hip hop, no crazy 8-hour long recitals where your kid points her toe, spins around and exits stage left. I know, I'm such a snob when it comes to dance, I just can't help it. Ells has expressed an interest in ballet and has clearly stated she doesn't want to do tap or anything else. Is she my kid, or what? I'm really excited for her to be exposed to such a beautifully technical and disciplined art form. I hope she loves it as much as I did back when I was 6. She's all ready to go with her pink slippers, classic pink tights and black leotard. She's ready - and so am I . .

I bought ballet slippers and leotard for myself about a year ago, thinking I would take a class last year, but there was never a good time, and there were at least 10 others excuses I pulled out that prevented me from committing. No time, too expensive, I'm too out of shape, it's too far away from home, etc. Well, last week, all my excuses disappeared. Once I enrolled Ells, I looked at the class schedule and discovered there is an open class across the hall from where Ells will be at the exact same time. So I can either sit in a hallway for an hour and chat it up with some other moms, or I can take the open class. Kind of a no-brainer.

I am so excited I can barely concentrate on anything else.

Will I know anyone from my previous ballerina life in class? Hopefully.

Will I be the fattest one in the room? Probably. I don't even care!

Will I know what I'm doing? Absolutely!

Will I be able to walk on Monday? Definitely not!

Will I get strong enough to take the class en pointe sometime during the year? Hell yeah!

It's been 17 years since my last ballet class, and I'm just 5 days from my next one.

Giddy up!

So after many false threats to get back on the P90X wagon, I've actually gotten on board. I've completed 3 days with 87 to go, but I'm thinking it's a promising start! (It's 2 days longer than any recent start of late.)

Tonight is Yoga night. Always a hard one for me for a couple of reasons: It's a 90 minute workout. It's physically challenging. When I'm bending and twisting, my belly pudge often gets in the way, sometimes even hurts! I WILL do it tonight - I must. I haven't weighed myself in a few days, and I'm going to try to avoid the scale for at least 2 full weeks. Been drinking lots of water and being careful eating, so hopefully this will continue for another 87 days and I can fit back into my clothes from last summer. I plan to check-in here more frequently - perhaps it will help keep me focused to stay on track.

What else is new? Got a new job at work. Really looking forward to a change of scenery with new challenges. We are staying with friends at the beach this weekend. First beach encounter of the summer - should be fun. Looking to add an animal to the family. We're thinking cat. I checked one out at the local SPCA that looked promising, but I want to wait until the first week of Aug when the whole family is off to help with any animal adjustments into our home. Poor Dewey - he has no clue he's about to get a feline sibling.

Vet bills and working out

Lots going on.

Took my adorable, 4 year old Golden Retriever to the vet Saturday for a vaccine, to get some more flea/tick green stuff, and while we're at it, I figured he'd get a check up. He has been drinking more water than usual, panting in the middle of the night, and just recently limping a little bit. He also has a cut over his eye that he keeps scratching that's not healing very well. So after a few minutes on the internet, I've decided that he either has hypothyroidism or something called Cushing's disease. I decide to get his bloowork done, they treat his eye, test his poop & pee, check for Lyme's disease, etc. $340 later, I get the phone call that his bloodwork is totally normal and he's probably pulled a muscle in his leg and just extra thirsty from all this heat and I should really have him wear one of those humiliating Elizabethan collars to keep him from scratching the cut on his eye so it can heal. Why must these little, incidental ailments hit all at once and cause me to jump to a serious diagnosis? I don't like that one bit! He looks totally pathetic with that stupid collar on. Grateful that he is fine, but I'd really like my $300 bucks back, please!

Since this blog is really supposed to be about how I'm going to get back into shape, I should probably let you know how that's going. Oh right, NOWHERE! After completing 11 weeks of P90X last summer, looking fabulous and swimming in my size 6's, I quit smoking (very awesome) and stopped working out (not so awesome). I spent the last half of 2009 and the first half of 2010 yo-yo-ing, doing a little bit of exercise here and there, but nothing consistent. I have recently fallen in love with 600lb Gorilla-branded ice cream cookie sandwiches (360 calories a pop) and rediscovered the Rita's Cherry Gelati. I have no clue how many calories in one of those, nor would I like to know. Now that I'm tipping the scales, still not smoking and squeezing into my 8's and 10's, I decided to get back on the P90X wagon starting tomorrow. This way, even if I can't stop the indulgent sweets as a substitute for the cigarettes, at least I'll burn some calories. I have a friend at work that's been doing P90X for about a month now and she's looking fabulous and feeling great and I'm so jealous! I am going to do my best to workout in the mornings and stop feeling like a slug. I am also going to update this blog more frequently in an attempt to keep me motivated.

PS Update as I'm writing this: I also vow to never let my son go on the treadmill by himself anymore (he decided to run at 10mph and bit it just now while I was up here on the computer - I just went down to scold him for putting it up too high only to find him on the ground with some serious "burns" on his knees and tears in his eyes.) Instead of my knee-jerk reaction of "told you so", I set him up in front of the TV with frozen veggies on each knee. I'm thinking I'm disqualified from the Mother of the Year award. Oh well, I was never even nominated!

So here's to healthy dogs, consistent workouts and no treadmill wipeouts. Carry on!

The World According to my 5-year old.

5 years ago today, we welcomed Elliana Rose Scherer to this world. She was a schedued C-section at 37 weeks and was a whopping 7 lbs 15 oz. I imagine if she went full term she would have been just as big as her 9lb 4 oz brother.

I took the day off from work today so we could spend some time together. I try to do that for both kids on their respective birthdays. So once we got Braedon off to school, Ells and I headed to the pediatrician for her annual well-visit. She was bouncing around the waiting room telling the receptionists that her Daddy "sent" her a note for her birthday. In actuality, my husband "left" her a note on the kitchen counter since he normally is up and out in the mornings before the rest of us even get out of bed. Chris has also wrapped a few presents I'd left on the counter the night before. Ells told everyone that her "Dad" got her some presents. The way she put it, it sounded like Daddy doesn't live with us and I just couldn't let that stand. So I corrected her (out loud) several times, since she repeated the story more than once to anyone who would listen.

On the way there I asked if she had brushed her teeth. She said no, and asked if we could go back home before her visit. I just let her know that she'd be fine and although she need not announce that fact that she hadn't brushed her teeth, she should answer all of the doctors questions honestly. Once in the room with the nurse, the first thing out of her mouth was that she hadn't brushed her teeth. Then she told the nurse that she didn't want anyone cutting her neck, because if that happened she would die. I'm sitting there thinking, get me out of here, now! Later on, the doctor asked Ells if anyone in her house smokes. After a long uncomfortable pause, she said, "My mom." I quickly interjected stating I quit smoking last August. Then Ells declared that her brother smokes. I ask, "Do you even know what that means?" She gave me a puzzled look and said, "Isn't that like fire?" ugh. I'm pretty sure that everyone in the office is now convinced that everyone in the house chain smokes, except for Dad, because he doesn't even live with us!

The day has only just begun. We are going to have lunch with Mom-Mom Schiavelli, my grandmother, and then off to her pool party this evening with 50+ people - Yikes! What was I thinking? I'm sure Elliana will give me more blog-worthy material the rest of today and for years to come. I'll keep sharing. Love you Ells.

Day 3 Ouch & Grumble

I’m well into my 3rd full day of healthy living and I’m sore and hungry. I’ve been doubling up on workouts and my food intake and been very “clean”. Lots of lean meats, fish and egg whites. Only complex, high-fiber carbs and lots of water.

I made the fatal mistake of getting on the scale last night. I need to try and avoid the scale at all costs. It’s hard not to see progress in the form of numbers on a scale, even though I know that I am doing well and on my way. Over the past few months my weight has been creeping up to about 150. I was 135 at my lowest point last summer after 12 weeks of P90X. To have gained it all back and then some in less than a year really sucks.

What’s worse, I got rid of all my size 10’s last July vowing I’d never need them again and guess what – I need them. I didn’t just move them to the spare room closet, I removed them from the house, donated them, threw them away, they are GONE. May I remind you that I’m only 5’2” tall? 15 pounds on my frame could mean the difference between and size 10 and a size 4!. So I’m squeezing into my 8’s and I only bought maybe 2 pairs of 10 jeans just to get me through Spring. Actually, that strategy has probably worked out for me since I can’t stand how tight and uncomfortable everything is. It may be exactly what I needed to get my head back in the game.

I'm Baaaaack!

The mind is an amazing organ. Most of the time it works against me, sabotaging all my valiant efforts to get healthy, eat right, work out regularly, etc. But I’ve realized that I get just a few opportunities a year when my mind is weak, or maybe actually strong, whatever, something’s changing and I feel like I’m back on the fitness wagon. Realizing that this probably won’t last forever, I need to hold on and enjoy the ride while it lasts. So here I go!

I did 3 miles on the treadmill last night while watching the Miss USA pageant. Wow – I never thought I could feel so smart and pretty. Now I’m nowhere near pageant pretty, but I can put my face on and look halfway decent, but my brain? Thank God for that. Those girls, as stunningly gorgeous as they were, couldn’t put 2 coherent, intelligent sentences together. One of the finalists actually said that birth control pills were a controlled substance. Huh? She may have even been the winner! Anyway – back to my workout. Stuck with the oldie but goodie Body for Life interval cardio for the first 20 minutes, then kept a steady pace for the rest of my 45 minutes.

The other exciting piece of news for my Sunday night activities is that I was in bed ASLEEP before 10pm. That never happens. I have decided to temporarily give up facebook and actually dedicate my evenings to sleep. They say you need at least 7.5 hours of sleep each night to most effectively burn fat, so sleep has become my new best friend! Part of me wants to put on my “wall” that I won’t be back on facebook until I’m ready to post pictures of me in a bikini, but I’m not quite brave enough for that declaration just yet.

Fast forward to Monday morning. I got up at 5:30 and worked out – AGAIN! I know scary huh? Like I said, I’m just riding the wave. You never know how long my psyche is going to continue to cooperate with me, so I’m milking it for all it’s worth! This time I decided to break open the P90X tapes and do a little Core Synergistics. I kept up for the entire hour and only skipped a few exercises that I can’t stand. For those diehard P90Xers, those pesky moves would be walking push ups, the last half of steam engine and table leg raise dips. I need a few weeks under my belt before I can totally HANG. The morning workout didn’t feel as productive as my treadmill workout the night before, but I’m certain it will count for something. At the very least, it got me to examine my bare gut hanging down while doing planks. It’s like I have a third boob on my waist. Super gross and I am totally going to get rid of that ASAP! One of the benefits to working out at home is that I can wear barely nothing, which is so motivating, yet disturbing when you get to see things jiggle that are just so totally wrong! My poor husband gets to see me mid-workout when he leaves for work, and I’m not sure how he can even witness the sweaty mess that is me in a jog bra and shorts, and still be attracted to me. I’ve said it before – he’s a saint!

So the plan for the rest of the day is clean eating and another workout – already had my Myoplex Lite breakfast. Packing egg whites, whole grain English muffin, chicken breasts, melon, an apple, water and another shake for work. I’m planning to get in another treadmill workout early enough to hit the sack by 9:30. Less than 2 weeks until the pool opens – Yikes! That and a full length mirror should be all motivation I need!

Bad but Good.

I know I wrote in a few entries back about staying positive and focusing on the good, but sometimes the bad stuff is just more interesting to talk about, and certainly more interesting for you the reader. So as a tribute to you the small handful of folks who actually read this blog, I give you some humor around a not necessarily positive experience.

In celebration of Mothers’ Day, we went to the Phillies game. We had great seats, 8 rows off of third base. My 7 year old son was so excited to be seeing his first major league game. My daughter was not really that interested in going at first, but as soon as I told her about the Phillie Phanatic, she was in, and started referring to him as Mr. Pickle. Come to think of it, I probably could have just told her there would be cotton candy and she’d be good to go. My husband is a Braves fan, so he was looking forward to seeing his team play in person of course. We decided to go up early to watch batting practice and maybe get an autograph and just take in all that a ballpark has to offer.

Game time was 1:35. At around 12:45 the camera man comes out and is talking to some folks up front. I think to myself, if my outgoing 4 year old daughter can use her wily charms on the camera man, maybe she’ll get some footage on the big screen or even on TV. So I convince her to go down and talk to him.

She heads down on one side of the aisle that’s pretty crowded, so my husband calls out to her to come back up and go around the other side. Just then she does a 180 and splat – flat on her chin on the concrete steps. What few people were in the stands this early gasped and sort of froze. My husband and I remained seated, exchanged rolling eye glances then he slowly rose to scoop her up and get her some ice at the first aid station.. You see, my darling daughter is a major clutz and is constantly falling down, and she tends to be a little over-dramatic at times, so we naturally used our low-key response as a way to ensure she didn’t freak out over a little bump on her chin.

Little did I know that the little bump on her chin would require 3 stitches. Did you know that the emergency personnel at Citizen’s Bank Park are not equipped to put in sutures? What an outrage! The game hadn’t even started yet and we had to go get stitches? Unacceptable. Turns out with a clean laceration, you can wait up to 12+ hours to get stitched. So or course we stayed until the 6th inning when her bloodiness starting seeping through her bandaid, and I felt pretty confident no one at the Park was going to give us any special treatment as a result of this unfortunate accident. When the usher had asked us for our exact section and seat numbers, I thought for sure he was going to send the Phanatic over or maybe get us some freebies. Well, besides a little Phanatic figurine (Mr. Pickle) and 2 “First Game” certificates, we got nothing. My brother is convinced that if I call management and complain we’ll get free season tickets for life.

We headed to the ER and were brought to a room right away. True to form, she kept the ER nurses amused with her post-sedation antics. Slurred speech, seeing blue everywhere, trying to show them her “Robot Dance”, and just trying to move around on the bed, falling over and cracking her head on the bedrails. She was a laugh and a half.

I must say it was a really great experience. No tears at the hospital, lots of laughs, she’s got purple “chin hairs” to play with and I got my sushi for dinner after all. Happy Mother’s Day.

Mother May I

May is one of my favorite months of the year. The rain and cold give way to longer sunny days. I get to spend more time outside enjoying the weather. This is also around the time each year that I start to get serious about my diet and exercise regimen. The bathing suit season is right around the corner, and even though I can get away with not swimming at our health club with the kids for now, once the outdoor pool opens, I gotta get in and play.

So it's another infamous Sunday night. I've sent my husband out to Wawa for some Ben & Jerry's. I'll eat a pint tonight and get serious tomorrow.

What's been going on since January you ask? I've spent a few days at Disney with the family, gained 5 pounds, still not smoking, got some botox, made some new friends, ditched some other ones, tried not to spend money on things we don't need, been ice skating a few times, put the family cat to sleep, went to the Westminster Dog show with my father and my 2 kids, met my newborn nephew who lives in NJ, spent Easter at the beach, watched WAY too much television, spent too much time on my Macbook both working AND playing, turned 37, got a sunburn, got a Droid, laughed a lot, cried a little. Best of all I'm enjoying my life and not complaining.

Now I'm going to try and update at least once a week. I may just publish my weight and workouts, or I may have something clever or interesting to say. We'll have to wait and see.

Attention all my 30-something girlfriends

I have found the answer to the question I feel like so many of my friends and coworkers struggle with. "I'm doing cardio almost every day and I'm eating well. Why can't I lose any weight or see real results?"

Know what the answer is?

Wait for it . . .WEIGHT TRAINING.

I swear, it is most often the critical missing link to all of our workouts. I think of the 2 programs I've done in the past that have really TRANSFORMED my body. P90X and Body for Life. Both promote a balance of cardio and weight training with 6 sensible meals per day.

Don't be afraid of the weight, ladies. Muscle is your friend. The more muscle mass you build, the more efficiently your body burns fat. I know everyone is afraid of getting too bulky. Trust me, if you're doing just 20 minutes of challenging interval cardio just 3 days a week, eating 6 sensible meals per day packed with lean protein, whole grains, fruits and veggies, and lifting HEAVY weights 3 days per week - I promise you, you will NOT get bulky.

At first, you may actually GAIN some weight. I'm not talking double digits or anything, but typically, when I start a new weight training program, after slacking for months, I typically gain 3-4 pounds the first 1-2 weeks. You CANNOT let this discourage you. You are working hard to build a fat-burning body, and you will gain a few pounds at first. This is a GOOD thing.

If you continue with this routine, you can even take 1 day a week to relax the "diet" and eat the pizza, ice cream, doughnuts, chocolate - whatever your weakness is. It is so important to take advantage of this "cheat" day. It gives you the opportunity to not deprive yourself of your most guilty culinary pleasures. It's also a great mental milestone to help you get through the week. If on Monday you're craving the M&M's, just think to yourself, "I get to have some on my cheat day on Saturday". Knowing you can have them eventually, gives you the strength to avoid them on your 6 non-cheating days during the week.

So let's get into the weight training. You really should be trying to lift some actual weight - not 5 or 8 pounds, I'm talking 4 sets of 20-15-12-8 reps respectively and each set you should be really struggling on the last few reps - so make sure you've got 15's. 20's and even some 30's handy. And if you're feeling really adventurous, do a fifth set back at 20 reps with the weights you started with. I recommend working 2 body parts per session. Chest and triceps one day, Shoulders and back another day, biceps and legs a third day. Switch it up - change is good.

Your workouts with weights should last about 45 minutes total. You should perform 3-5 different exercises per body part and rest 60 seconds between reps and up to 2 minutes between sets.

Some other tips:

1) Take the time to work with a professional to learn different exercises with proper form

2) Drink water, drink water, drink water, drink water

3) Don't forget to eat. 6 small sensible meals every day (1200-1800 calories a day)

4) I love Myoplex Lite shakes as a meal replacement since I never have enough time to cook

5) I love www.myfooddiary.com to track my meals, exercise and body transformation progress

6) If you feel like you are starving, you probably are. Starving won't get you in shape.

7) You are worth 60 minutes a day!!

Stay tuned for progress on my transformation!

Bring on the MUSCLE!

It's OK in 2010

Buh-bye 2009. My immediate family had a great 2009. My hubby and I have jobs, the kids are doing well in school and everyone is relatively healthy. Many friends have new babies, new marriages, new pregnancies, new jobs, new schools - all very exciting and positive. Others are struggling - losing jobs, losing homes, getting divorced, being diagnosed and dying.

I've decided to make 2010 my year of love and positivity. I am going to do my best to stop complaining or focusing on what I don't have. I am going to love my kids more, love my husband more and love myself period. I will put my family first in all instances. The rest of the junk I obsess over - the hair, the body, the face, the clothes, the keeping up with the Jones's, etc. will all have to take a backseat.

I know I'm not the prettiest, the wealthiest, the skinniest, the wittiest, the most popular, the sexiest, the smartest, the most organized. That's OK. I will be my very best and that will include some version of pretty, wealthy, skinny, witty, popular, sexy, smart and organized. Some days will suck and others will be awesome. That's still OK.

Now, the 2009 version of me would spend time reminding everyone what I DIDN'T do last year, like taking ballet classes (even thought I spent $100 on supplies), like finishing the second P90X workouts, like entering a 5k race, keeping up with my blog, etc. But I'm not going to be negative anymore, (that much). Only positive, (most of the time).

So on that note, I'll tell you the top 10 things I DID do in 2009:

1) I quit smoking (not even a puff since 8/11/09).

2) I baked desserts with my kids.

3) I reminded my kids how proud I am of them - often.

4) I dated my husband - almost every week.

5) I had a sleepover in my family room.

6) I watched Forrest Gump with my six year old.

7) I was a very good friend to many.

8) I gave my money, belongings, time, and blood to a wide variety of charitable organizations.

9) I joined the National Bone Marrow Registry.

10) I added more fiber to my diet.

Here's to continuing the good stuff and eliminating the bad stuff in 2010!