Building a Man Cave

A few weeks ago, I made a huge change in our home.  I turned my photo studio into my husband's man-cave! After a year of having my own home-studio, I realized I was wasting a lot of space in our home.  Having only 2 or so sessions per month inside my home (most clients seem to prefer on-location), and considering my entire studio is portable, the space wasn't as necessary as I had originally anticipated.  We were also expecting to put our house up for sale over the next few months...a portrait studio would have been a confusing space for potential buyers, though now I'm not so sure we'll be moving...welcome to the army life!  Anyways, with the hubs headed home soon, I wanted to do something really special for him.  So I took out the studio equipment and flipped the room to a man-cave/home theater.  I began by removing all my equipment and props, painting the walls a more neutral color, hung some photos of my Reds baseball team and other "manly" decor.  I purchased a leather couch and carried it into my home BY MYSELF!-Again, welcome to the Army (wife) life.  Next I purchased a projector, ceiling bracket, and screen.  I went to work for 2 days hanging and hooking everything up.  If you don't believe I did the work, my son so kindly snapped a photo of me hooking up the surround sound (shown below).  Because the basement floor is not level, I had to hang curtains around the screen and place a shelf below.  Basically, the screen was level, but the space surrounding it was uneven...it's a 30 year old basement floor, what do you expect? Anyhow, the hardest part has been hiding all the cords.  I drilled a hole in the wall and fed the cords into a closet where all the equipment (playstation, cable box, surround sound, etc) is being stored.  However, it still leaves about a foot and a half of visible cord going into the wall.  Currently, I have few ideas on camouflaging these cables, but surely I'll come up with something permanent soon.  Anyhow, the hubs was completely surprised and LOVED his new room.  We've spent about 75% of his in-home time in that room, playing video games and watching movies together.  The good news is, our living room upstairs is gathering dust.  So when I book a photo shoot, I'll just bring my equipment upstairs, it's about the same size room.  Thankfully, I still have my office, and NO I'm not turning it into his weight room anytime soon. ;)

Losing my Sanity...again

About 8 months ago I got sick of my tummy flab and started the Insanity Program.  It was a tough 9 weeks, but it made such a difference in my waist line and on the scale. I was thrilled so after I completed the program, I started it all over again.  Unfortunately, during round 2 I had to stop before month 2 began because my sister-in-law came to visit.  I tried to get her to do Insanity with me, but like I said it's a tough program and well, instead I joined the local Y.  Going to the gym didn't produce the same results as Insanity had, but I still lost weight and enjoyed some "me" time while the boy was in daycare.  Well at a certain point I  plateaued and I've been at the same weight for MONTHS!! I've gone up and down in weight, but mainly I'm stuck at 122, just 3 pounds off my initial goal weight.  So, I've popped Insanity back in the DVD player and am ready to shed the rest of this fat!!!  I'll keep an update of my weight loss on here as I go along.  For those of you whom haven't been keeping up, here's a quick and embarrassing reminder of rounds 1 and 2 of Insanity...

My fit test results from day 1

Switch Kicks: 110
Power Jacks: 50
Power Knees: 90
Power Jumps: 29
Globe Jumps: 8
Suicide Jumps: 14
Push-Up Jacks: 17
Low Plank: 50

My most recent fit test results

Switch Kicks: 130
Power Jacks: 72
Power Knees: 102
Power Jumps: 46
Globe Jumps: 9
Suicide Jumps: 16
Push-Up Jacks: 30
Low Plank:  90

Not only can you see the results in the mirror, on the scale, but also in my physical stamina.  As I started back 3 days ago (when I took this recent test) it's been probably a month since I've even been to the gym and I'm still in better shape than when I started the program in November.  I don't huff and puff just going up the stairs anymore.  That's a great feeling.  I've lost over 16 inches and 24 lbs (that's a small toddler people!!!)  Here's my stats...

	weight	waist	neck	hips	upper arm	calf	thigh	chest
week 1	146.4	36.5	12.5	36.5	11.5	14.8	21.5	36
week 2		35	12	36	11.5	14	21.5	35.5
week 3		34.5	12	35.5	11	14	21.5	35.5
week 4		34	12	35	11	14	21	35
week 5		33.5	12	34	11	14	21	34.5
week 6	137.6	33	12	34	11	14	21	34
week 7		33	11.75	34	11	14.5	20	34
week 8		32.75	11.5	34	11	14.25	20	34
week 9	131	34	12	34	10.5	14	18.5	34
week 10		32.5	12	34	11	13.5	20	33
week 11	129	32	12	34	11.5	13.75	20	33.5
week 12	127.4	31.5	12	34	10.5	14	19.5	33.5
week 13	122	31	12	34	10	13.5	19	33.5
									Total inches lost
Total Loss	24.4	5.5	0.5	2.5	1.5	1.3	2.5	2.5	16.3

I'm INSANE!

When my husband deployed 5 months ago, I knew I had put on a few pounds.  When I attended a basketball game a few weeks later, my friend Whitney took a photo of us and that's when I realized just how much weight I had packed on!  I was mortified. Later that night, I weighed myself and was horrified to see that I had put on more than 20 lbs since my husband and I were married.  I've never been in great shape, but this was the first time I was disgusted by what I was looking at in the mirror. I started the Insanity program the following day.  If you follow me on facebook, you already know that I'm addicted to the Insanity program.  For the past 3 months I've been listening to Shaun T yell "Boom" in my living room every morning/night.  My body has shrunk, my face only has 1 chin now, and the scale doesn't scream, "Get off me" anymore.  While I'm not keen on sticking embarrassing weight transformation photos all over the internet, I feel that my before and after photos have certainly been an inspiration to keep me motivated and I shouldn't be selfish.  I've lost 20 lbs and more than 14 inches in 12 weeks.  I've currently taken a break from the program and joined the YMCA, but I think I'm about to start Insanity again.  Honestly, I miss it.  It worked so well and I was so proud of my progress.  No amount of gym time could do for me what Insanity has done.  I am living proof that it works.  I highly recommend you go to the Beachbody Website and purchase Insanity. It's expensive, but it's worth every dime!
The goal is to lose 10 more pounds by the time my husband returns for R&R.

Now for the embarrassing reveal:

The photo that started it all...

3 months into Insanity...

Watch me shrink...