Expect Nothing. Look Forward to Everything.

In the next 2 months, Matt and I will be moving to Goodyear, AZ for the Reds Spring Training.  I know that I will deeply miss my newfound oasis here in Austin, TX but I have so many things to look forward to...


Looking forward to:


Warmer temperatures which means,


More brilliant sunshine and

Some sweet, sweet color on my skin again which means I'll be

Busting out the shorts and tanks and swimsuits!

Spending time with my grandparents who'll be less than an hour from us and

Hanging with my lovely cousin, Samantha, and her fiance, Luke, who live in Phoenix!

Seeing familiar baseball wives and girlfriends whom I love dearly and have missed this off-season and

Being around girls again! ...its pretty much been 24/7 guy-time for the past 3 months... uuugh.


Heading up a Baseball Wives Book Club for spring training- yay!- our first book: The Pilot's Wife by Anita Shreve aaaannd


Getting a Baseball Wives Body Weight (BWBW) Bootcamp started so that I can get back to doing what I love- teaching, training, positively affecting and interacting with people, and helping them change their bodies and minds.

Meeting new people, in and out of the baseball world.


Seeing our dear friends Cynara and Darnell McDonald (former Reds teammates who live in Phoenix) and their beautiful daughter Jiana AND soon-to-be-born baby girl!

Being a mere 15 minutes away from one of my best friends, Samantha Rhew, who'll be in Peoria with her man, David Pauly, for the Seattle Mariners Spring Training... this means


Spending lots of time with her and her 8 month old daughter, Emme, whom I absolutely adore!

Exploring another new city and everything it has to offer.


Learning to appreciate a new and different landscape, new plants, and new scenery.


Visits from both our families (Maloney's & Basting's) during March!

New restaurants to try and


A new fitness center to work out in AND


A new Bikram Yoga Studio to practice in!


Outdoor workouts.


Touristy to-dos like


Visiting the Grand Canyon,


Driving up to Sedona,


Las Vegas perhaps... to see one of the Cirque De Soleils!


Checking out Tempe- they tell me I'll love it!


Another visit from my best girlfriends- Kelly, Kate, Amanda, and Dana- at the end of March!

Living in another new home and 


Being oh-so-close to where Jared and Audrey (a Reds teammate and his girlfriend whom we are very close with) are living, which means

Walking Lucy, Gus, and Ruby (Jared and Audrey's new Boxer pup) with Audrey each day!


Catching up with teammates we haven't seen in a while.


The beginning of BASEBALL SEASON and 

The crack of the bat and


That lovely sound of the ball smacking the catcher's glove and


Watching Mo DO WORK! Woo hoo!

So, here's to the beginning of another adventurous season, with good friends to share it with, great families to support us, a clear head and a positive mindset to work with, a renewed sense of love for what we do, a healthy mind and body, a commitment to make a difference in the world, an intense desire to give ourselves completely to everything we do, and a deep faith that the Universe is unfolding as it should.  Cheers!

If I were your trainer...

I'd tell you this:


The following advice comes from my personal life experience. These are rules I follow to get and stay in shape. I also touch on the subject of why most women fail at it...


You're probably not eating enough- EAT MORE.  If you are beginning a workout regiment, in the middle of one, or a workout guru, you should be getting plenty of good food to fuel your body.  An extremely common mistake mostly women make is cutting out too much food which in turn makes it very difficult for your body to work to its full potential.  This means you won't be able to burn as many calories or build the lean muscle you need to boost your metabolism.  Now, I am not saying go hog wild and eat a 2,500 calorie diet every day, but you should not feel deprived during the day.  Eat when you are hungry and become familiar with the feeling of your body feeling full.  A healthy eating routine consists of LOTS and LOTS of h2o (waaaaay more than you think!), high fiber, low sugar (check those labels- especially cereal!), low fat, high protein, and many, many fresh vegetables and fruit.  


Breakfast is your most important meal- eating breakfast boosts your metabolism right off the bat so don't skip it!  Eat a good breakfast within the hour you wake-- water and fiber first thing in the morning help flush the body of all the toxins you may have previously consumed.  Yes, you might be running to the bathroom a few more times than usual in the a.m., but its worth it, I promise. 
Your diet (and when I say diet- I don't mean the preconceived notion of a restricted food regiment- I simply mean "what you are eating") is 65-70% of weight loss- yes! Working out is important, but if the diet is not in check, it is almost impossible to slim down.  So, eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince, and dinner like a peasant.


Remember the no eating past 8p rule?  Forget it.  During the nighttime hours, you are literally fasting- you are not consuming food.  Therefore, your body can go into "starvation mode"- which means it thinks that you are starving it and being the incredible machine that it is, it in turn  stores fat in an attempt to help save your life.  So, instead of eating dinner at 7p and then not eating again until maybe 8a, have a little something half hour before you go to bed- half a small apple and a few slices of cheese, or half a cup of cottage cheese or lowfat yogurt- something low in sugar and carbohydrates.  This helps your body rest easier through the night, recover from any hard work you've down throughout the day, and prevents the starvation mode cycle.  This is also why it is so important to eat breakfast right away (to break the fast!!)


Familiarize yourself with correct portion sizes.  The average person probably eats 2-3 times the recommended portions of food.  If you're serious about changing the way you eat- measure your food!  It might sound silly but until you feel like you have a good grasp on what is half a cup, one cup, a small apple vs. a large apple, number of chips per serving, etc., etc., get out your measuring cups, food scales and tablespoons and measure out your portions.


Don't get stuck in the rut.  Whether you're a calorie counter or not, each day, your eating should be tweaked just a bit to keep the body guessing.  When your body becomes familiar and comfortable with your eating routine- thats when you run the risk of plateauing.  For example, if you do count calories, you want your counts to "rollercoaster" throughout the week, i.e.- if you eat 1,800 calories on Monday, Tuesday you should drop to 1,300, Wednesday back to 1,700, Thursday and Friday could be 1,500 and Saturday- 2,000 and so on and so worth.  This will keep your metabolism high and prevent you from halting your progress.  Its also important to give yourself one or two (max!!) cheat meals per week.  This means forgetting the calorie count and chowing down.  This not only keeps you sane and satisfies your urges, it can also jump start your metabolism back up after days of eating very healthy food that your body becomes accustom to.


Lose the booze or you won't lose- I promise you this.  If you're drinking all the time or binge drinking on weekends, even if its only vodka & water, it will be extremely difficult for you to lose weight.  A couple drinks (2-3) once or twice a week won't do too much damage but you must remember it is not only the calories in alcohol that inhibit weight loss- it is the affect they can have on your metabolism days after you drink them.


Get on a regular sleep routine.  Your body cannot take care of itself if its constantly getting too little or too much sleep.  7-8 hours is PLENTY of sleep!  7-8 hours is also required!  Sleep is so, so important in keeping your body healthy.  Try your best to stick with the same sleep routine each day- even the weekends!  Remember this, it is much better to get up the same time you normally would and then perhaps take an afternoon nap than it is to sleep until 10 or 11 on weekends when your body is accustomed to getting up at 8 on the week days.  I, personally, am an early morning gal.  I feel my best when I can get to bed by 10 or 11 and awake at 6 or 7.  This allows me plenty of time to get up, let my body wake up, eat a good breakfast and have 1-2 cups of coffee before I workout and get on with my day.


Get on a good multivitamin!  It is almost impossible for an average person to get all the nutrients they need from just diet alone.  Find a high quality (yes, brand and quality matter!) multi and get in the routine of taking it every day.  I take one twice a day- one after breakfast and one after lunch. 


Don't be a stranger to strength training...  and use heavier weights!  Lifting weights 2-3 times per week will help you build lean muscle ladies!  And lean muscle boosts your metabolism- which means you'll be able to eat more without gaining weight.  Do not be afraid to pick up a weight thats heavier than a 10 or 12 pounder.  It is nearly impossible for a woman to "bulk up" like our male counterpart unless you're using a steroid or medical supplement- we simply don't have the testosterone to do it.  So, don't be shy, grab a 15 or 20 lb dumbbell and get cranking.  With that said, do start slow and listen to your body.  Push yourself, but don't overdo it so much that you won't be able or want to ever do it again.


Get a heart rate monitor.  Besides a personal trainer, it is your best investment for working out.  Learning about your heart rate and using a HRM during your workouts will help you determine if you're working hard enough.  You'll be able to push yourself harder and avoid cheating yourself out of time and effort.  If you only have an hour to work out, using a HRM will assure that you're getting the most out of that hour.  There is a long explanation and many facets that come with using a HRM.  Get in touch with me if you are interested or have more questions.  I use a Polar F6.  I don't go anywhere without it and its on me during every workout or Yoga session.


Water, water, water.  Simple as that.  The more you drink, the better you'll feel.  You'll be less bloated, your skin will look younger, and you will be flushing your body on a regular basis.  I might be the biggest advocate of h2o you'll ever meet.  I believe it is the cure for almost everything and it is certainly one of the most underused, underestimated weight loss tools.  It is, without a doubt, at the top of my list of secrets to staying slim.  And its FREE and right at your finger tips!  


Get sweaty.  Real sweaty.  If you're not sweating during your workout, you probably aren't working hard enough.  Whether you like to run, walk, dance or play sports for your cardio- you MUST work up a sweat.  Cardio should be done 3-4 times (or more) per week and that is particularly dependent on where you are in your fitness journey and varies greatly from person to person.  If you're doing a lift and cardio in the same day- do your cardio LAST!  This is one of the most common mistakes I see women making at the gym all the time.  Your body needs that fresh energy at the start of your workout in order to perform best while lifting.  You will work harder in the weight room if you save your cardio for afterwards and you will then burn more fat when you do do your cardio.  Interval training (speed up, slow down) is one of the most effective ways to do cardio.  It blasts fat and calories faster and more effectively, keeps your body guessing, and gives you more visible muscle tone than steady state cardio (i.e., running miles and miles and miles).  With interval training, you can burn double the amount of calories you would during steady state cardio in HALF THE TIME (...if you're doing it correctly)! Interval training is another lengthy explanation and must be done right to get the benefits, so please study up on it or get at me if you have questions. 


Take a day off.  Give yourself one (or two if you're just starting a workout regiment) days to rest, recover, and relax.  


Practice Yoga.  I have babbled enough in previous posts on the benefits of Yoga so I won't go into detail here but I will tell you that if you practice regularly, you WILL become longer, leaner, more flexible, stronger, more focused, less anxious and more appreciative of the body that you have and all the amazing things it is capable of.


Love yourself.  Love your body.  You'll never be happy in the body you have until you learn to love it FIRST.  This takes years and years of practice.  I haven't even fully mastered this one yet.  Pat yourself on the back when you overcome challenges, repeat mantras to help you accept your body (ex: "I love my body exactly the way it is" or "I have a beautiful and strong figure"), don't be too harsh or judgmental when you have a slip up or can't quite fit into the size you'd like to be in.  Your body will work with you- but you have to give it love and take care of it in order for it to respond to your hard work.  If you're always unhappy with your body, no matter how thin, or ripped, or strong you get, you'll never be satisfied.  When you're constantly degrading yourself and thinking negatively about your body, you will literally project that self-image to not only you, but the world around you.  Self love and love of your body has so much to do with your mind and the way you think about yourself.  Loving your body will give you confidence.  And when it comes down to it, looking good is all about confidence. 

"Can't Stop Partying"

Today is the first day we've had without company since last Wednesday!  It was quite a whirlwind of a birthday week/weekend we celebrated no doubt!  But I must admit, it feels excellent to get back into a (sober) routine...
We did a lot of partying (obviously) and a lot of sight-seeing activities as well.  It felt so good to have my best girlfriends here to catch up and hang out and have girl time!@#!@#%!#@$!! Yeeeah! I am surrounded by males 24/7, so this past week was much needed.  A few photos to fill you in... (many more via my facebook page if you're interested)

So, needless to say, the TRI HOLI-BIRTHDAY FESTIVUS was hugely successful and buckets of fun.  But ooooooh, the detoxification and recovery period- what a bitch.  I am currently trying to swing myself back into equilibrium- slow and steady, isn't that what they say? 
You must know that the period after a long party-binge is always the worst, whether it be a day, a couple days or a couple weeks (depending on how long you partied), it can be painfully spirit-breaking, a bit depressing and physically taxing all at the same time.  Refer to my July '09 post on beating a sugar-hangover to see how I cope with getting back to my normal (well, if that even exists...) self.  The tricks to beating post-partying depression are right in the same arena as getting over a sugar-hangover... so y'all know what I'll be working on the rest of this week and quite possibly into next week.


On an absolutely separate and unrelated note, I ran across a favorite quote today during a mobile twitter check (follow me!-- kaleeJmaloney).  It is one that my mother deeply and firmly instilled into her children during our years of adolescence and I can't express how much I appreciate her for that and how much I still strive to remember and recognize this every single day.  The quote is from Deepak Chopra (@DeepakChopra for you twitterers) and it is this:

"No one is wrong.  In the eyes of love, all people are doing the best they can from their own levels of consciousness."

I truly, truly believe in this.  I was just recently having a discussion with Matt about a few different people in our lives and the frustrations we come across because of that fact that friends, acquaintances, even family are sometimes so different than our own ideas of what is normal or correct.  I am always preaching away at Matt to remember not to be too harsh in his judgments and opinions of others because of exactly this-- each individual was brought up in a different environment, with a different set of values, with a different set of parents or guardians... this makes a HUGE difference in the way a person perceives the world and reacts to every situation.  We are products of our environment- period.  And you have to believe that all people are doing the best that they can, with what they have, and what they know.  We are all on a different part of our own journey in life.  It is easy to forget this though, and get angered or annoyed or frustrated with people that don't do the things we do, or believe the things we believe, or agree with us on certain issues.  But I believe it is so imperative to remind ourselves that this other individual that we may be feeling angst or frustration, even hate towards is coming from a completely different path and perhaps they are not as far along their journey as we might be.  They may have experiences yet to have in which lessons will be learned that we already know... what makes perfect sense to us might actually be unknown or undiscovered to another.  

I am a firm believer that all people, deep down at the core, are of good and with good intentions.  So, I try to remind myself of this in times when I feel I can't understand the actions or words of another person. I remind myself that, although this person may not agree with me or understand me (or me understand them), they are doing the best they know how to do.  I genuinely believe this and it is an important part of who I am.  It is also such an important idea in my marriage and understanding the differences between Matt and I and coping with these differences.  And it is most certainly something the entire world could benefit from recognizing and practicing.

Time Waits for No Man

Although the hours of my day fly by so fast, sometimes without me even noticing, it still feels like an eternity since I've sat down to blog.  So much has happened in just one week, lets see if I can accurately recap the week while keeping your interest...

I flew back to sunny Austin on Tuesday.  My visit home was absolutely what I needed to start 20-10 off right.  I really enjoyed spending time with my lovely family and getting to catch up with Kim and Joe (Matt's parents) a few times too.  The trip was also helpful in reminding me of how much I love and appreciate the company of my #1-- Matt.  I really started to miss him after the first couple days and I was like a child on Christmas morning when he picked me up from the airport Tuesday night.  It was a grand moment in time when I got to give him a big hug and a kiss and tell him how much I missed sprawling out in bed next to him... 


The residents of 2715 Stacy Lane (if you don't know the gang yet-- Mo, D-Ray, and myself) decided to finally go see Avatar last week... we'd all been wanting to go see it, just hadn't made the time to get all geeked about actually going.  We didn't bother trying to go to a regular theater now, no, no, we bought our tickets early to see it at the IMAX theater downtown Austin in 3D.  I cannot even begin to describe how AMAZING it was.  The screen was 3x the size of a normal theater and we were 2 rows from the front, dead center, in a completely sold-out show.  I was, literally, nudging Matt every 5 minutes loudly whispering comments such as, "CAN YOU BELIEVE THAT?!!" and "GEEZ! DID YOU SEE THAT?" and "THIS IS JUST INCREDIBLE!"  
The color and effects and detail in the film were just simply unbelievable.  It was like all of your senses were diving into a pool of rainbow colored hot and cold water.  The story was terrific too- very deep, very interesting, well-depicted, very true (unfortunately) and controversial no doubt.  I loved it.  I absolutely loved it. 


D-Ray left for San Francisco Friday morning for the weekend.  So, Mo and I were left to entertain just our little family of 4.  It was a pretty quiet Friday night for us... yes, we're growing lamer by the minute.  Saturday we had planned to take a little trip to a friend's house on the river in Wimberley.  So, we headed up there, Lucy and Gus in tow, for a fun night with drinks and food and new friends.  We had a great time- played a lot of games including Taboo, Home-made Charades, and Beer Pong.  As partners, Mo and I dominated (for the most part) in Taboo.  It was definitely a fun Saturday.


Onto Sunday, we met up with Matt's Aunt Melissa and Uncle Joey with little cousins Molly and Boston to have dinner at the Oasis on Lake Travis in Austin.  It was a phenomenal place! I wish I would have taken more pictures but... we had a great time catching up with family and checking out this incredibly large place (which has the capacity to seat 600 guests!!).  The below photograph was taken by Joey with the gorgeous sunset in the background... he tampered with the photo a bit before forwarding it to me... LOL, I'll post the real one here soon.

We've been experimenting with the Toy Helicopter too... if you follow me on facebook at all, you probably know what I'm talking about.  Matt was very excited to get this special toy at Hobby Town... and the first day with it was filled with colossal victories... and colossal failures.  What fun we had trying to get the thing to stay up in the air and land perfectly on the homemade landing pad we created (aka the dining room table).  It really is the small joys, eh?


So, here I am then.  Monday again.  Trying to get back into my routine of early bedtimes and early rising (10ish and 6ish- respectively).  Because that is where I find my best self.  That is where I feel the most content and that is where I am able to start my day completely fresh and full of life.  Its amazing, when you find that rhythm that fits YOUR body, what can then unfold and the newfound happiness you can take time to enjoy.  Because I will admit, it does scare me a tad bit how fast the years are going now.  And I don't want to miss a moment of the experience. 


This week will be a good one...  Matt turns 26 on Saturday... and I have four other friends flying in from oHIo to celebrate.  I'm throwing a Tri Holi-Birthday Festival (Tri because Mo and 2 other close friends have birthdays this month... Holi for Holidays because I don't believe Christmas ends after December 25th, I celebrate it all January as well and Festival, of course, because what better way to celebrate my favorite loved ones than with a 3-day (or 4 or 5) event- which in my book, qualifies it as a "festival").  The festival will kind of kick off on Wednesday when some of the guests arrive from Ohio and it will continue until Sunday and even beyond that I'm sure... We are VERY excited to see our friends and can't wait to show them just how FABULOUS Austin is!

This is our song.

For your listening pleasure...

and the lyrics are beautiful too.

Mo and I's song...
(click the title to hear song)

HOME
 by Edward Sharpe and The Magnetic Zeros
Her: Alabama, Arkansas

I do love my Ma and Pa

Not as much as I do love you

Him: Holy roly, me, oh my
you're the apple of my eye
Girl, I've never loved one like you

Her: Man, oh man, you’re my best friend, 

I scream it to the nothingness

There ain’t nothin’ that I need

Him: Well, hot and heavy, pumpkin pie,

 chocolate candy, Jesus Christ

There ain’t nothin’ please me more than you

Both: Ahh, Home

Let me come Home

Home is wherever I’m with you

Ahh, Home

Let me come Home

Home is wherever I’m with you

La la la la, take me Home

Baby, I’m coming Home

Him: I’ll follow you into the park, 

through the jungle, through the dark

Girl, I’ve never loved one like you

Her: Moats and boats and waterfalls,

 alley ways and pay phone calls

I’ve been everywhere with you

That’s true

Him: We laugh until we think we’ll die, 

barefoot on a summer night

Nothin’ new is sweeter than with you

Her: And in the sticks we’re running free

 like it’s only you and me

Geez, you’re something to see.

Both: Ahh, Home

Let me come Home

Home is wherever I’m with you

Ahh, Home

Let me come Home

Home is wherever I’m with you

La la la la, take me Home

Baby, I’m coming Home

“Jade?”

“Alexander?”

“Do you remember that day you fell out of my window?”

“I sure do, you came jumping out after me.”

“Well, you fell on the concrete and nearly broke your ass and you were bleeding all over the place and I rushed you off to the hospital. Do you remember that?”

“Yes, I do.”

“Well, there’s something I never told you about that night.”

“What didn’t you tell me?”

“While you were sitting in the backseat smoking a cigarette you thought was going to be your last, I was falling deep, deeply in love with you and I never told you ‘til just now.”

“Now I know.”

Ahh, Home

Let me come Home

Home is whenever I’m with you

Ahh, Home

Let me come Home

Home is when I’m alone with you

Home

Let me come Home

Home is wherever I’m with you

Ahh, Home

Yes, I am Home

Home is when I’m alone with you.

Alabama, Arkansas,

 I do love my Ma and Pa

Moats and boats and waterfalls and pay phone calls

Ahh, Home

Let me come Home

Home is wherever I’m with you

Ahh, Home

Let me come Home

Home is when I’m alone with you