Sleepless in Jersey

Hello bloggers, I know it's been a while since I've updated, but I've been taking a few days off to try to reconnect with my kids, get some housework done, and try to get some...SLEEP. My kids have discovered now that whenever I open my computer during the day, I'm not going to talk to them for at least an hour, and they start smacking the laptop or tearing the house apart to get my attention. My son, who you all know is their spokesperson, has started saying, "Are you blogging again? I hate your blogging, just get off the computer, we want to go outside." Yes, I can't wait until pre-school starts in the fall.

Other than that, I've been trying to overcome the insomnia I have developed. About eight months ago, I started this blog late at night, around 3 am, when my kids kept waking up and coming into my room. I stayed awake and surfed the net while I waited for them to go back to sleep in my bed, so I could carry them back to their rooms. Over the course of the next couple of months, I usually blogged when they took their daytime nap, but now they have gotten older and don't nap anymore, so I started to steal little pockets of time during the day to blog. Recently, because I couldn't satsify my computer addiction during the day, I had started to stay up late at night after the kids had gone to sleep to blog and surf the net, and would get stuck on the computer until 3 am. When I would finally realize how late it was and get off the computer to get some sleep, I would suddenly look at the clock, realize it's 3 am, and couldn't sleep out of sheer fear that I might see see a demon. Wait a minute, hear me out, I'm not crazy (not in the certifiable sense anyway), but one night when the kids had gone to bed, and my husband was sleeping, I was awake, and decided to watch The Exorcism of Emily Rose on television, which was a BAD IDEA. Never watch a horror flick in the middle of the night, when all the lights are off and you are the only one awake. It will scare the shit out of you. Especially when I saw in the movie that 3 am was the 'witching hour' where all the demons come out and play. Damn it. I know there probably isn't any truth to it, but the thought is scary enough to put fear into you when all the lights in the house are off, and you are the only one awake.

So now, I've been making it a point not to open my laptop at night, and only watch the news (which these days is just as terryifying as the movie) or some Food Network program before I go to bed. I've also started doing Pilates. Regularly. Every night. And I've found I've lost two inches off my waist in two months. The progress hasn't been as fast as some people on the Winsor Pilates testimonials, but it's progress. What also helped is that I've started eating Kashi Go Lean cereal every morning for breakfast. It takes a while to get used the cardboard taste of the cereal, but it really helps get rid of the excess bloat many people mistake for belly fat. (10 grams of fiber in a bowl a day has worked wonders on jump starting my weight loss too, I've lost 2 more pounds in two weeks.)

I'm writing this post right now as my kids are watching the The Lion King DVD. This movie is great, you can watch it a thousand times and still get interested enough to watch it through the end, even though you know what's going to happen. The whole movie plays out like an 80's Bollywood film, actually. Evil uncle trying to attain power, kills the king, the king's son goes into exile only to return 20 years later a young man, and fights his uncle to the end to get the throne back. Meanwhile there's a song and dance routine with his childhood girlfriend, who grows up to be his wife. In the end, the son wins the final fight (there's always a final fight), and they all live happily ever after.

Anyway, today I'm going to take the kids to meet Hello Kitty at Toys R Us, and this weekend we're going to a water park. I'll get back to some more blogging about gossip, fashion, and life next week. Have a nice weekend, ya'll!

UPDATE: I have updated the link for the Winsor Pilates DVD's I've been using. The ones currently available are a little expensive and I haven't used them. I've been using the original set I bought back in 2003 from Target, the Winsor Pilates 3 DVD Total Body Sculpting Workout Set. From this set, I only do the 20 minute Basic workout. I don't have time for anything more than that. From the reviews I've read, the new series uses a circle for the same exercises, but don't buy this new set just for the magic circle. An inexpensive 6 to 8 inch diameter ball (not a soccer ball, but rather the brightly colored plastic balls you find at the supermarket or Toys R Us) can be substituted for the magic circle. You should be able to squeeze the ball a little bit to incorporate resistance into the Pilates exercises. (I learned this from reading Pilates for Dummies.)

Also, the directions on the original DVD set say that you should do Pilates three times a week to get results, but I've found that if I make it a point to do the exercises every night before bed, I do them more regularly, at least four or five times a week. Also, if I feel tired and skip a day, I don't feel so bad because I'll just try again tomorrow. When I tried to do Pilates only three times a week, I ended up doing it only once or twice every two weeks, so making it a daily "to do" has kept me on track much better. Also, I don't wait until my kids go to sleep to do this. I was doing that in the beginning and would end up getting frustrated when they wouldn't sleep and I couldn't get time to do the exercises. So I decided to do the exercises while they were awake, right after I get them ready for bed. I've memorized the routine by now, so many times I just put the Lion King DVD on for them, or some recorded Noggin show, and they sit on the bed and watch that while I do Pilates on the floor. At first they would jump on my tummy but then they started copying me and would do some of the exercises with me. My kids make the reverse crunches look so easy. I wish I had that mindset again. For them it's fun, they're not worried about maintaining proper form and counting reps, it's just natural to them. Actually, I've started learning alot about fitness from them. They don't care whether they've been walking for 20 minutes at 3 mph, they're just walking or running for the fun of it.

But do try the 20 minute Basic Workout DVD if you're interested in getting a tighter tummy. If a lazy ass like me can find time to do it, you can too.