Meeting with the Trainer

I posted about my meeting with the personal trainer on my new blog, The Loss Cause.  Check it out!

I'll be doing the fitness posts there from now on so follow me there if you'd like.

Vacation: Over

Oh hey, it's been a while.  I was on vacation last week (pictures to come) and the week before... well, I was so mad I couldn't blog.

It all began when my husband started getting cold feet about buying the house -- the one we were supposed to close 10 days ago.  Well, long story short, we didn't buy the house.  And I say "we" lightly.  Because I still wanted it.  But it's kind of a thing where we both have to be in on it.  Especially since the one with the job was the one who wanted out.

We are out $2,000.

Me = Angry for days.

There's a lot I could have done with $2,000.

I'm okay now.  I still have my moments but I get it.  I'm sure there will be a time where we'll both be like, "remember when we were going to buy that house?  So glad we didn't."  Someday.

On a happy note, our vacation was awesome!  If you follow me on Instagram (@theturquoisepiano) you already know that we went to Disneyland.  We drove and decided where to stay and for how long as we went.  I can be a planner, but we had no plans when we left except for the dates of Disneyland and Sea World.  It was really relaxing.

I did't watch what I ate the whole time and I don't think I even ate a vegetable, unfortunately.  The crappy thing is that no matter how I look, if I don't eat well I feel fat.  But sometimes (like on vacation) the hassle isn't worth it.  And a big part of traveling for me is experiencing the food.

I have a meeting with my trainer tomorrow and I'm pretty sure I'll be eating egg whites and oatmeal for the next 4 months (until the figure show I'm planning on doing in October).

My Life Likened to a Children's Book

You know the story, The Very Hungry Caterpillar?

  

In case it has been a while or you haven't read it yet, this caterpillar starts out as an egg, then hatches to a tiny and very hungry caterpillar.  Monday through Friday he eats healthy fruits, but then on Saturday he has a junk food binge and gets a stomachache.  Then on Sunday he eats a leaf and feels much better.

Hey, that's my life.  

Actually I hadn't had a treat (besides one bowl of ice cream for my birthday) for two months.  Then last Friday I mentioned that we should go out for sushi.  

So we did.

Then I thought that chocolate chip cookies sounded fantastic.  We made a batch and I ate a ton of cookie dough. Then like a dozen cookies.

Hey, when I make a commitment I go all the way.

That night I had a stomachache.  

And the next morning I had an even bigger stomachache, as well as nausea.  

For some reason I thought that I should try to run off the ickiness -- because running always makes you feel better -- so I strapped Sophie in the jogger and took off.  

You know that for me, what happens in the bushes stays in the bushes... and on the blog.  Let's just say that poor Sophie had to park it at the edge of the road while I was sick in the bushes.  

Right next to an auto expo and a million people.  

Awesome.

I'm not sure if it was the raw eggs or the raw fish but I was pretty much out that day.  

The moral of the story is either to not eat raw food, don't go running when you are about to throw up, control your binges, or all of the above.

But I am going to start my figure show training in June and wanted a little binge treat before then.

National $5 Off of The Color Run

Yesterday I was cleaning our house and I came across something that told me Tom is cheating.

Remember how we tried eating solely vegan for a month and decided to make it a general lifestyle with meat a couple of times a month?  Well, let me tell you that this was Tom's idea.  I was thinking of having meat like once or twice a week and he was the one to suggest it be per month, not week.

Then I saw room service receipts from his business trip last week.  On that list (and these were the only things on it), rack of lamb, crab cakes, and hamburger.

Well duh!  He doesn't need to eat meat more than a couple of times a month!  He's already doing it while he's away!

So I called him and told him I knew of his cheating ways.

And for the record, I don't really care if he eats meat or if we eat it more than a couple of times a month.  I eat eggs almost every day though.  I'm not vegan.  I'm not vegetarian, but I try to eat mostly like that.

Onto a great thing for all of you (who have The Color Run in your states/cities).  I just got a $5 off code for all The Color Runs in the US.  So now you can all get $5 off!

Just go to TheColorRun.com and put in this code:

COLOR5OFF

New Blog

Hey (say it like hey-ay!)!  Do you ever have your mind so full of ideas that you are just overwhelmed?  That's my life.

This idea has to do with the figure show that I committed to doing when I was Blogger of the Week on KSL.  I'm serious about it.  I talked to a trainer who trains people for shows.  He can get me there by the October show... but it costs $1200 for just the training.  Then there is supplements and training on how to stand and spray tanning... you get the picture.  We're not poor but we are buying a house right now so it's not like we have a lot of extra cash just hanging out to be spent on a vain goal.  You know?

So I've been contacting companies, large and small, about sponsoring me with either cash or product.  So far Nike and Gap have turned me down.  But I have some awesome yes's and I'll reveal them when things are finalized.

Anyway, if you know of a company that you think would like to sponsor me, let me know!

Oh, and I have a new blog focused on fitness.  It's called The Loss Cause.  Check it out.  It's under construction but any followers or FB likes I can get are very appreciated.  Sponsors like that stuff.  ;)

LIVE INSANITY

I had such an awesome weekend.  My mom babysat on Saturday while I went to an Insanity certification class, then we took her to see our new house (that we just found out passed underwriting).  On Mother's Day Tom and Morgan made me breakfast in bed, gave me flowers, a gift card, strawberries and a watermelon (Mo's choice).  It couldn't have been better!

I'm on the front row above "FIRST."  Yeah, the pasty white one.  That's me.

Have you heard of Insanity?  Until now it was really only available on DVD like P90X.  Maybe you have seen the infomercials.  Anyway, I bought it through Beach Body a couple of weeks ago and decided to get certified to teach it live.

It focuses on working your body in anaerobic intervals to allow your body to burn the maximum amount of calories possible.

It is a killer workout.

But anyone can do it.  

Don't be discouraged.  You can go at your pace, modify if needed, and push yourself as hard and fast as you want.

Originally it was designed to be a 60 day workout plan, which is what the DVD's are.  The live classes basically are in the hands of the instructor.

Now I just need a place to teach!

If you want to get it on DVD you can buy it here or click on that ad to the right.  Also check out your gym.  There were a lot of cities doing the certification on Saturday so maybe a class is coming to you.

House Update

I'm going to tell you a little thing that annoys me about buying houses.  

But first I'll explain the process because I know how confusing and overwhelming it can be if you have only purchased one or two.

So first you make an offer and that is either accepted, rejected, or the seller makes a counter offer.  Either way, let's say you have a contract signed by both parties, which means you are "under contract."

In your contract you have a list of things that need to be done and the dates you have to do them.  You can choose these things.  For example, we are under contract on a house and on our list are seller's disclosures, inspection, and financing.  We have passed the deadline for inspection and seller's disclosures already and that's fine because things are looking great there.  This list is there so that if something is wrong with the home or the buyer is unable to get financing, the buyer can get out of the contract without losing the earnest money (certain amount put down with the contract).  

Our financing deadline is tomorrow.  The bank got the appraisal back yesterday.  This is where my annoyance comes.

Back in 2006 and earlier, agents, mortgage brokers, investors, and pretty much everyone else had a lot of influence on appraisers.  I remember my agent just telling the appraiser what the house needed to appraise for and the appraisal came back at exactly that.  It turned into a problem where home values climbed way too high and the market couldn't be supported.  You know this.  

Now the bank hires the appraiser.  It's supposed to make it so the appraiser doesn't feel pressured into appraising the house for too high, which is a fantastic theory.  My problem is that, in our case, the appraiser got to see the contract and the price we offered.  The appraisal of the house came back at $*20,000, almost exactly the $*19,000 of our contract.  

It's frustrating to me because I would really love to see what the house actually appraises for, not what the bank needs to have.  I don't think appraisers should see the contract.  It seems like that would make the appraisal more accurate.  

But whatever!  Not that it really matters.  We're buying a house!