Motivate myself

Hey!  Spring is in the air.  I’m hoping to recommit myself to what I love and believe about exercise and fitness.  I’ve been off on my blogging for quite awhile now and last night after caving in on the Easter candy, I once again decided I needed to get my butt in gear.  I looked up my own blog for motivation!  I’m not even close to knowing how to make my blog look all sweet and professional, but I know how to find stuff by typing in key words or remembering when I did something.  About a year and a half ago (I can’t believe it’s been that long) I did a super strict 21 day Les Mills Grit Challenge with my good friend.  People may say this is a fad diet and too extreme, but as I reread my posts and feelings about how I felt, I couldn’t believe I did it!  It makes me happy to do something hard and achieve it.  So, for the next 21 days, which happens to be how many days I have until my trip to Key Biscayne, I’ll be following this program to a T!!!  ABS will be my goal (:  To stay on track and for my own reference, I’ll check in often to post workouts, recipes, and more.  I can’t wait. DAY 1 starts tomorrow!

The JOY of Christmas!

Besides my crazy obsession with health and fitness, I have an equal passion for beautiful and inspiring music.  As Christmas approaches my heart is reminded of the REAL meaning of Christmas!  Take a break from the holiday rushing and festivities and enjoy two of my favorite Christmas videos this season and #sharethegift.

What’s on my mind

New month!  I always like to change up my picture and background!  I have a lot on my mind these days.  I don’t know how I organize my brain sometimes!  I have thoughts about EXERCISE, NUTRITION, and FASHION today.

EXERCISE:  My gym is revamping the personal training department, which is GREAT!!!  It will be a lot more organized and professional.  I’m looking forward to being more involved and increasing my clientele.  I also decided to start up my MOM workouts again.  I volunteer and teach a boot camp class at my church.  I thought about dropping it, but I miss seeing my friends and I enjoy putting together workouts!

NUTRITION:  Ahh, my nemesis!  Currently, I have a very determined spark in me!  I’m doing a 4 day cleanse right now and already on DAY 3.  I LOVE it!  That is very crazy to say because I’m starving, but sometimes I really need a kick in the pants.  I’ve been a slacker for too long.  Healthy eating this whole month!  One treat day on…HALLOWEEN!!!  I’m a candyaholic!  I’ll post the details of my cleanse on SATURDAY when I’m all done!  Good nutrition is REALLY the MOST important healthy impact you have on your body!!!

FASHION:  I follow this cute girl’s blog called Pink Peonies.  She has great style and the way she displays her blog is so pretty.  One problem with her site is most of what she models is WAY over the top expensive!!  I was shocked when I liked one of her tops

and discovered it was only $36.00.  The website is called ShopSosie.  SOOOOOOO cute!!!!  Here are a few things I LOVE!  I’m wanting long tops lately to wear with leggings and boots.  They have tons!

I also want to change my hair color soon!  I’m not a blond nor do I wish to be one.  I found this color from a friend of mine who is amazing at coloring hair.  She will have to try it out on me!!  Slightly daring?

 That’s all for today!!  I have a busy night with kids all over the place.  Enjoy the fall leaves and breathe the yummy air.  Life is beautiful!!

I love this!!  My LIFE!

Week of workouts and what to eat

Hello!  We woke up to more snow!  February has pretty much been like January around here.  I was able to shovel my driveway first thing this morning for a pre-workout workout!

So, the other day a fit chick (Christmas Abbott) caught my eye on the Yahoo news page and I looked her up.  Of course she’s a Cross Fit girl.  I admire the hard work and effort it takes to stick to those workouts and strict eating.  Impressive.  I want her abs!

I’ve never really tried Cross Fit long term.  I do live in a VERY fit town.  We have several cross fit gyms along with a half a dozen regular gyms.  When spring and summer hit we have several great running and biking roads and trails.  I can’t wait to hit them!

I’m RARELY an excuses girl.  I have to say though that being a Mom of 5 kids at this stage in my life makes it pretty hard to keep up my “wanna be a rockin’ cross fit girl” physique.  Here’s to reality!  However, I do believe that one can achieve amazing results with sheer stubbornness and dedication.  We did this workout yesterday and all my friends were telling me how sore they were today.  Give it a try!

Hit it Hard Tabatas

20 seconds on and 10 seconds off of each exercise.  8 rounds of each exercise before moving to the next.

Burpees

Dumbbell stiff leg dead lifts

RUN (2 sets of ladders in the gym)

Jump Squats

Ab twists holding a weight

RUN ladders

Push Ups

High Sumos

RUN ladders

Mountain Climbers twisting knee to opposite elbow

Reverse lunge with front kick

RUN ladders

Butterfly sit ups

Curtsy side jump lunges

RUN ladders

THE END!

I have 1 week to lose 3 pounds.  Today I weighed 130 and that was before any workout.  I thought I’d share what I’ve been eating.  I don’t think you need fancy and complicated recipes to eat well.  This is what I’ve been loving lately.

BREAKFAST: 1 egg, 2 egg whites with veges and ham sauteed up or a protein shake.

LUNCH: Salad with cottage cheese, veges, chicken, EMERGE drink from MAX MUSCLE.

SNACKS: Cottage cheese and greek yogurt with stevia, cinnamon, and blueberries, nuts and raisins, ZONE bar, pear or apple.

DINNER: chicken and veges.

I found this pre-cooked chicken at COSTCO the other day and it is SOOOOOO good!  10 minutes in the oven.  So easy!

I like being strict and seeing results.  Workouts are more fun and I have more energy when I’m eating well.  Here are my workouts for this week:

MONDAY: 7 mile run

TUESDAY: Jamie Eason Live Fit Legs and Back workout

WEDNESDAY: Tabatas and 5 mile run

THURSDAY: Body Combat and Jamie Eason Arms, Abs, and 20 minute sprints

FRIDAY: Shoulders and 30 minute sprints

SATURDAY: 7 mile run and body combat

Does that seem like a lot?  Advice: Find what you love and do it!  I haven’t modeled any workout clothes lately so I thought I’d add a pic.  GOOD workout clothing is ESSENTIAL to me 🙂  This outfit is very comfy!

TOP: Albion 

BOTTOMS:  Lululemon

Hope you all have a Terrific, Magnificent, Beautiful, and Awesome day!  

Where do I begin…???

Happy Thursday to you*!  I feel like I have been in a time warp.  Last week I survived a half marathon, a move, and a nasty ice storm!  We are  definitely being initiated into our new house and driveway this year!  I feel so accomplished though now that I have computer, t.v., phone, and laundry all hooked up!!!

However, the list is still VERY long for what needs to be done.  We are having a FUN adventure!  The kids were in heaven when we went through the frozen food section and loaded up the cart with foods I never buy!!  I can’t tell you how easy and fast it is to whip up some mini pizzas and a can of green beans!  Everyone is getting adjusted and I’ve never been more crazy determined to get everything situated.  My workouts for the last few days have been going non stop, moving and organizing everything in the house.  Everything has to have a spot.  Here are a few pics of the house in progress!  I LOVE IT!!!!

As for the FIT side of life.  Me and my girlfriends had the BEST time on our half marathon road trip.  The weather was beautiful!  45 degrees felt like 75!  I would have liked to have ran faster.  I finished in 1:52.  Pretty good considering my circumstances lately.  We wished we could have stayed longer, but mostly ME wanted to get back to pack, move, and clean!  Here we are:

The yummiest!

Long live girl trips!

I’m missing my usual workouts and eating schedule.  Eating has been o.k. since my choices are limited and I have so much to do, but I MISS the gym and RUNNING!!!  This has been a crazy winter.  We usually run all winter long and it’s been near impossible this year.  Hang in there…this too shall pass (:

I love winning…every time.

Hi ALL!!

I have never talked about my LOVE of winning!  If you’ve read my previous posts it’s pretty obvious I’m a little competitive.  I’ve learned to REALLY like football!  I think if girls played football I would SO be all over that!  I used to like basketball, but football is my favorite to watch now.  That being said, my little nephew (I always call him that and I don’t know why because he’s a HUGE 18 yr. old) played his LAST high school football game today!  The team made it to the semi finals and got knocked out by the undefeated team!  I hate it when that happens.  I’m a fan of underdogs ALWAYS!!  Here are a few pics.  He’s a “hiker”.  I don’t know if that’s a real position name.  So he runs in and out a lot.  He’s number #54 on the bright blue team.

Hanging with his buddies!

I’m still sick about Romney losing and then this!  Ahh, my boys better win both games on Saturday!

Well, I’ve also been in a little lack of exercise and not eating healthy funk.  Yes, ME!!!  I’ve been missing several workouts and succumbing to my sugar addition one too many times!!  I’ll get back at it I know!  I’m going to take a break from the blog world for a little while too.  It is a time sucker and I don’t have too many spare moments right now.  I’ll be back I’m sure.  I’ll probably set it up more for my personal training business in the future.  I might blog about how to get a “competition ready” body which would help get me out of my own lull.

In the mean time, I think playing at the park and in the leaves sounds like a relaxing past time!!

Remember this?

Beautiful November leaves!

And last but not least*

Go Braves!

Follow youR dreaMs!!

How to rebound from a wicked chocolate day

I write this post as I eat a Crunch bar, Kit Kat, and a Mounds.  It’s kind of sad that I can take A LOT of chocolate without getting real sick!  It is also the end of a month and that means I like to start new goals!!!  So, I bought a prize for me!  It will sit with the tags on them until Nov.30 is over!!  For one month I will have NO sugar (meaning no white flour or white sugar).  I get ONE day off, THANKSGIVING of course.  Which is by the way, my favorite holiday!  Here is my cute prize:

Lululemon studio crops

I have these in red and I love them!  Another totally CRAZY challenge I’m kicking around is to compete in a body building contest.  I can’t believe I actually said that!  I’ve wondered about them off and on but never thought I’d really do it and then I was talking to a girl at my husband’s work who just competed in one and is going to do another one in March.  It sounded exciting and if I can have her show me how it’s done, I think I’d be fine.  Plus, it would help in my personal training expertise.  So, I might have my work cut out for me in the next few months.  I think it would be WAY COOL to do something like that before my big 4-0 birthday!!

Today is not really a workout Wednesday since it’s Halloween.  It’s a jabber day.  Tomorrow I’ll post a seriously sweaty workout to help us burn off all this candy!  I was thinking about wearing a costume for Halloween.  I don’t do that very often.  It made me think of some old dresses I’ve kept over the years.  Maybe one of them could be a good Halloween costume?  Every few years or so I try on my old prom and choir dresses to see if they still fit!  I even snapped a picture of me in this one!  A very SWEET choir dress from high school!

Don’t you love the shoes?  I hadn’t changed yet from my run!  I don’t know how to make this into a costume though.  What would I be?  This is who I would like to be:

EPHABA, green and all!  One day I’ll have to do that.

 

I also pulled out an old photo from a Halloween past.  This is me (yes, I’m blonde) and my 4 brothers.  I’m sure I’m mad that my Mom made me wear the “hand me down” clown costume!  I’m such a pouter!

Hope everyone has a safe and fun Halloween with the kiddies!

We will be enjoying a Super Pleasantly sunny and Bright day.  SMILE (:

Stubborn and Dilligent

This post will be quick since it’s from my ipad.  Just a few thoughts about weight loss.  I was listening to my friends talking the other day about trying to lose weight and different diets that others have tried. They mentioned some girls they knew who’d lost a lot of weight on some diet.  Then they said when they went back to eating normal they gained it all back and MORE!  Shocking!  What was funny was my friends quickly said, “Why lose weight then if I’m going to gain it all back and then some!”  Really?  It’s not the diet that made them gain it back.  It was going back to old eating habits.

Keeping weight off is hard for 99% of the population.  You have to decide which one you want more because it’s a lifestyle change you have to do FOREVER!  I’m so completely stubborn and dilligent that I refuse to use that excuse.  I work hard for a hard body 🙂 It’s not easy and I love sugar and flour but I love how I feel more without it.  I save sugary goodness to once a week and it works for me.  Keep at it.  It does work!

I don’t know how to post pictures too well from the iPad but here is the cutest pic. I had to share!  These are 2 boys from my 10 year olds team.  The lineman looking out for his running back!  Both are great players!  Football rocks!

The “I’ve never been more sore in my LIFE” workout!!

Today is usually not a post a workout day, but all I can think about is what my LEGS workout did to me because I can barely walk!  I thought I’d post it while it’s fresh on my mind and BODY!!!  I’ve been following Jamie’s workouts for several months now.  She has an amazing 12 week program!  It’s divided in 3 phases, progressively getting harder.  The workout I did was DAY 57 (Day 1 of Phase 3).

I’ve done this lower body workout many times.  I hadn’t done it for several weeks though and I went heavier.  I did it on Tuesday evening.  Wednesday I was a little sore and when I woke up Thursday morning it was KILLER worse!  I still LOVE being sore and I’m sure every gym rat feels the same way.  So, I’m happy to SHARE!  I suggest doing this workout at the gym unless you have a pretty sweet set up at home.  I only rest 30 seconds-1 minute between sets.  When it says active rest, I don’t rest at all.  Here it is with a few alterations (in red) and side notes on what I did exactly:

Superset:

•  
  

  Leg Press (shoulder stance) I put two 45 lb. weight plates on each side.

  3 sets of 15 reps

•  
  

  Freehand Jump Squat Make sure you squat LOW!

  3 sets of 15 reps

Working Set + Active Rest:

•  
  

  Smith Single-Leg Split Squat I put 30 lbs. on each side.

  3 sets of 15 reps, per side

•  
  

  Rope Jumping It’s easier for me to count to 100.  It’s about the same.

  3 sets of 1 min

Superset:

•  
  

  Walking Barbell Lunge I used a 50 lb. bar.

  3 sets of 20 reps, 10 steps down, 10 back

•  
  

  Long Jump  Killer, squat low and jump far.

  3 sets of 20 reps, 10 steps down, 10 back

Superset:

•  
  

  Leg Extensions I set the weight at 80 lbs.

  3 sets of 20 reps

•  
  

  Lateral Bound (side-to-side single leg hops) I do 40 side curtsy jump lunges instead of this.

  3 sets of 20 reps

End of superset; resume normal sets

•  
  

  Smith Machine Squat I don’t put weight under my heels and I used 25 lb. plates on each side.

  3 sets of 30 reps, place a plate under the heels to emphasize quads

Working Set + Active Rest:

•  
  

  Standing Calf Raises I use a sitting calf press and I set it at 80 lbs.

  3 sets of 20 reps

•  
  

  Rope Jumping Same as above.  100 jumps.

  3 sets of 1 min

Working Set + Active Rest:

•  
  

  Calf Press On The Leg Press Machine  I did not do this last set.  I really don’t like working calves.  One set was enough (: 

  3 sets of 20 reps

•  

           Rope Jumping

3 sets of 1 min

I’m supposed to work legs again on Friday and at this point I don’t know how that will happen!!  In a couple days I’ll post my results from my body fat test and weight.  I don’t know if I’ll make 129 by the 20th.  I might need to run 20 miles tomorrow!  We’ll see.

I do have ONE Thursday thought!  I saw a quote the other day at a restaurant that reminded me of my political and life values.  I am not a political guru but of course my mind and everyone else’s is on the presidential election right now.  I wish Abraham Lincoln was running for office or Galt and Rearden.  If you don’t know who they are you are missing out!  Read ATLAS SHRUGGED.  Good quotes to remember:

You cannot help the poor by destroying the rich.

You cannot strengthen the weak by weakening the strong.  

You cannot bring about prosperity by discouraging thrift.

You cannot lift the wage earner up by pulling the wage payer down.

You cannot further the brotherhood of man by inciting class hatred.

You cannot build character and courage by taking away people’s initiative and independence.

You cannot help people permanently by doing for them, what they could and should do for themselves.

 

~~~Abraham Lincoln

 

Who do you think I’m VOTING for?  ONE candidate believes this same way!

Crack yourself up!

Much of my blog is devoted to motivational and inspiring quotes and thoughts.  Today I need to LAUGH!  Enjoy a few quotes from DEEP THOUGHTS by Jack Handey.  You’ll remember them if you are OLD.  They are funnier on video.  He puts the words to a soft song and a nature scene in the background.  Pretty much making fun of everyone’s serious quotes and philosophies.  I love it!!  I did have a few ideas to philosophize over today but I’ll save it for another day!  I will say, LIGHTEN UP AND ROLL WITH IT!

Here’s a few I found most funny.  I don’t know why!

If you ever drop your keys into a river of molten lava, let’em go, because, man, they’re gone.

If I ever get real rich, I hope I’m not real mean to poor people, like I am now.

Children need encouragement.  So if a kid gets an answer right, tell him it was a lucky guess.  That way, he develops a good, lucky feeling.