Sherri's Daily Dealings
A working mom's musings on life, nutrition, beauty, and home making. Nothing too important.
Thursday, February 4, 2021
New home blog coming soon
Wednesday, September 30, 2020
A Very COVID Summer
As we all have experienced this year, COVID has changed a lot of our plans and normal behaviors. Graham and I already worked out at home prior to the pandemic, but we pretty much stopped leaving the home except for work and random grocery store trips. We have had Zoom dates with friends, we cancelled our travel plans, our kids stopped pretty much all activities outside of the home, Graham did a couple of home improvement projects, and we formed a quaranteam with another family to limit our outside social interactions (the family of my college friend). To be super cheesy, I even came up with a "quaranteam" name for our two families (HallBents or BroadHalls if you really want to know). One of the biggest changes for us is more time with our immediate family and being forced to stay in Washington. We have spent more time sightseeing around WA than we ever have before.
So, here is a brief summary in pictures of our COVID spring and summer here in Washington..
A perfect sunset behind the Olympic mountains |
Our first visit to Staircase in Olympic National Park |
Last part of the Staircase hike |
We visited our little private beach on Puget Sound several times |
We didn't do much on Easter other than take family pictures |
Spring break! |
Another walk to our beach |
When our state finally started to open up, we took a quick weekend trip to the San Juan Islands |
This was our first trip to the islands |
Our first day was spent on Fidalgo Island and Whidbey Island |
We crossed the terrifyingly high Deception Pass bridge. The view was worth it. |
Graham & the kids built a driftwood fort at Fort Casey beach on Whidbey |
We found a new path to our private beach on the 4th of July |
It has a photogenic spot |
Graham was the fireworks master on the 4th |
We finally took a trip to Mount Rainier national park |
We hiked the Silver Falls trail |
We had a great beach day at Point no Point beach. |
We took a summer trip to California and Nevada. The kids and I took old time photos in Virginia City, NV. |
Pope Beach at Lake Tahoe |
First family bike ride in Lake Tahoe. |
Met up with old college friends from BYU |
So fun to have all our kids play together. |
Took a long weekend trip with friends to the Olympic Peninsula. This is Sol Duc Falls. |
Tongue Point outside of Port Angeles |
Lake Ozette |
The whole group on the Dungeness Spit near Sequim, WA |
Friday, June 26, 2020
Exercise Flashback
**Warning**: if sports bra or "mom bod" pictures offend you, look away. Consider yourself warned..
6 months of Bar Method workouts in 2020 |
Before weight loss in 2011/2012:
These are family photos that I never posted because I looked too fat. |
After weight loss in 2012:
Before weight loss in 2017:
Ok, so here is where the comparisons count...
BTW, I know my body will never be perfect. Don't judge me too harshly. My kids have definitely left their mark on me, but I wouldn't trade anything for being a mom.
Me at my lowest weight in December 2012 |
Progress pictures in 2014 after I started lifting weights |
Me at my lowest weight in 2020 (same weight as 2014) |
Anyways, thanks for reading. Maybe I'll do another blog NOT about exercise next time, but it feels like that's all I do (#thankscorona).
Sunday, April 5, 2020
Bar Method Online Review
I am now three months into my Bar Method exercise routine, and I am seriously loving my results. My weight loss has somewhat stalled in the past few weeks as I've been not as strict on limiting my calories. However, here are my pictures and stats below:
Day 1 vs Day 91
3 Month Stats:
Here is also a comparison between 1 month of Bar Method and 3 months of Bar Method:
- Do a barre class at least 3-5 times per week
- Be consistent--don't keep changing the types of workout you do. Commit to at least 1 month (but really, after looking at these results--at least 3 months).
- Try the advanced classes for an even greater challenge.
- If you're looking to lose weight, you definitely need to be careful with how you eat. Most of my weight loss is related to limiting calories.
If you are looking into a new, low-impact workout with significant results in your upper and lower body, definitely check out Bar Method. They have studios all over the country (but none less than an hour away from me), and they have a great online video library (only $20/month).
Tuesday, February 18, 2020
Bar Method One Month Challenge
Avg calorie burn for barre workout
|
3.85 cal/min
|
Overall weight lost
|
4.2 lbs
|
Change in body fat
|
-1.2%
|
Total inches lost
|
6.37 in
|
Sadie joined me for my progress photos |
Here are the before and after pictures for my 1-month challenge. (Disclaimer: this is after 4 weeks. My 5 week photos didn't turn out very well. Note to self: wearing the same clothes helps show the progress better).
Not a HUGE difference, but there is definitely progress |
Here are the overall before and after pictures from April 2019 to February 2020. There is about a 20 pound difference, believe it or not. It definitely shows in the face. I really can't believe how Shrek-like my face looked like, but hey, it was 5 AM.
My weight loss progress over 9-10 months |
Big difference right?
What I have learned from this self-imposed challenge:
- I can still get a good workout from a non-cardio activity. (However, this did mean focusing on getting more activity throughout the whole day to keep burning calories.)
- With lighter weights, my arms have shrunk significantly. In fact, my right arm alone decreased in size by OVER one inch in one month! I had to measure my arms more than once to verify. I would way rather have smaller arms than bigger biceps. Light weights are emphasized in the Bar Method with a focus on shoulders, back, and triceps. I was previously using heavier weights in different workouts that made my arms bigger. I have always struggled being top heavy (an inverted triangle body type), and have been super self-conscious about the size of my arms. I was under the impression that heavier weights would help improve muscle tone, but I just feel like they bulked up my already bulky upper body.
- Even though I only used light weights for upper body exercises, my shoulders and triceps feel more toned than when I was using heavier weights before. For the first time in my life, I actually have definition in my upper right arm. I think it must be related to getting deep in the muscles with small, concentrated movements.
Do you like cheesy workout progress photos? Do you like the old school "duck face"? How about combining the two? Killin' it. |
- Barre workouts require a lot of mental fortitude. When you are deep in a muscle and you are shaking like crazy, it's hard to convince yourself mentally to keep going.
- Doing lower intensity exercise helps me get out of bed easier. When I did cardio early in the morning, I lay in bed for 20-30 minutes every morning before exercising because I wasn't mentally prepared.
- The Bar Method online videos are great! I have really loved them so far. There have been ones so difficult that I am sore right away (usually I don't feel sore until the next day). They vary in difficulty, intensity, and styles of instructors.
- Barre exercises give your glutes and hamstrings super powers. They make me feel like I'm power walking with springs in my legs and booty, and I look like I'm walking with purpose to get to my destination.
- I was afraid that my legs would get bigger because of the lower body focus, but both of my thighs shrunk by one inch.
- Having a wall barre is way better than using a chair as a barre. The stability allows me to work even harder when doing leg and glute exercises.
- One bad thing: I got tennis elbow doing the Bar Method. I've gotten it before from a different exercise, and I'm not quite sure what exactly triggers it. Apparently push-ups can aggravate it, so I'm wondering if the 40-70 push-ups in a 60-minute workout are what triggered it for me.
- I love barre exercises. They are intense without feeling like you're punishing your body. I really really hate running, and I also don't like weight lifting. This type of exercise just fits me much better.
Also, thanks to everyone for the support to my last post about my personal life. 💕
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