Day 212 (day 2 / week 31)

If you haven't already noticed, I changed my background again. I like this one, and think that it represents my blog the best. I said I was going to play with others, but it took me almost all day yesterday playing with other backgrounds and such and I finally got the HTML the way I like it with this one, getting rid of a bright orange at the top and getting my widgets back up--so it's a keeper. What do you think?

This was my favorite choice out of all of them anyway. I like it because I think it represents my blog better. It's peaceful looking--the way I feel when I am in my zone exercising, and there is a trail--my journey, and a reflection in the water of the mountain that I am climbing (my blog reflects who I am), which is perfect and what I wanted! When my hubby first saw it, he said that it was gloomy looking, because I guess it looks like it's going to rain. Maybe that represents my blog too--come rain or shine, I am out there exercising!

I am kind of excited. I took a big leap outside of my comfort zone yesterday and am going to start a "couch to 5K" program. There isn't any 5Ks scheduled for my area that I could sign up for, but one of my walking routes is exactly 3 miles, so that works perfectly. I can just use my timer on my HRM to do that route when the time comes.

There was a thing on sparkpeople that was from couch to 5K but I can't find it! I'm so bummed about that, but I will keep searching. I know it's around there somewhere lol. I ended up joining a sparkgroup called Couch to 5K, for the support there too. That's where I found that link to the cool running program (still bugs me that I can't find the thing I originally found in sparkpeople though).

It suggests that I train 3 times a week, for 20 minutes a day (for the first week, then 25 minutes week 2--etc), no consecutive days. I do consecutive days now and have been, and I do a lot more than 20 minutes a day--sometimes up to 90 minutes a day, so I am confused...am I supposed to go backwards? I am already doing some jogging, and was doing 1 min jogging 1 min walking...I don't know. these are the thoughts that stream through my head. I will probably just follow what it says and do videos at home. That being said...

Today I did Turbo Jam's Cardio Sculpt (45 minutes) and Ab Jam (20 minutes). Before I started getting outside, I didn't mind the videos so much. Now I just feel cooked up in the house. *shrugs* We do what we gotta do to reach goals, even if we aren't too fond of it. What's 60 minutes exercising in the house? I can get over that (I hope) lol.

Well off to take a shower. Tomorrow I am going to start the Couch to 5K thing...although I really want to go for a long walk. Maybe I will try to incorporate the 2 somehow so I can still walk everyday....like only "train" every other day, and just walk, to walk the other day--lowering the intensity of my walk or something. Something for me to ponder over.

Have a good weekend! Make it count!

I can do this. I am a star.

Day 211 (day 1 / week 31)

Today I went out for my usual 2 mile walk, but decided to have some fun. One thing that I have learned, some 200 days into this journey is that things are how you make them. Exercise is work, but you don't have to make it "work." Make it fun! I do little things throughout my workout to make it fun and to keep my interest peaked. I may look like a dork doing it, but in the end it doesn't matter what people think of me as I am exercising. It matters what I think of myself...and I already know that I am a dork :-p.

I noticed yesterday that I am starting to slow down. I don't know if it's because I lost momentum on the day that I gave my shins/calves a rest, but I've slowed down to a 17-18 minute mile (from 15-16). On my way home today, I remembered this episode of Malcolm in the Middle that I saw the other day, where the dad, Hal, took up race-walking (episode 70: Malcolm Holds His Tongue). This episode was funny and I decided to try it. It is so much fun! Wow! I thought I was flying yesterday, I was gliding today! So much fun I am going to have to do it again. It got my HR up well into the 140's too which is nice, since I have been trying pretty hard to keep it in the 130s (guess my body is adapting!). I wonder if those aerodynamic hats are easy to come by? (if you haven't seen the episode you probably won't understand).

I walked 2 miles and including my cool down it took me 40 minutes (445 calories).

I waited until 8am and then went and mowed the lawn so that I didn't annoy the neighbors. That took me 25 minutes (252 calories).

THEN I did my my own quickfire challenge for the day....concentration curls with 10lbs (my 5lb weights doubled up) in sets of 10 for a total of 50. This was tough!

Hope you all have a great day! Make it count!

I can do this. I am a star.

Day 210 (day 7 / week 30)

Today I got out early to walk and decided to walk for 60 minutes since that was all the time I had before my hubby had to leave for work. I don't have any routes that take 60 minutes, and I didn't want him to be late, so I just walked for 30 minutes and turned around (assuming it would also take 30 minutes to walk back).

Well during my walk, a young lady ran passed me and I immediately thought to myself, "I can do that" so I did. I ran like the wind. If my hubby was behind me, he would have yelled, "Run Forest! Run!" (No wait...that would have been me, if I didn't look like a crazy person yelling it at myself lol). I started off pretty slowly and clumsily but then decided to pick up my feet (always a good thing) and I felt like I was flying! I cut 20 minutes off of my time, because I got back to my neighborhood with a little over 20 minutes to spare.

My heart rate monitor was being wonky...it said my HR was jumping from 112 to 165 so whatever. That was frustrating, but I was flying so I couldn't be bothered with the nonsense numbers. lol.

I rapped around and came in through a different part of our neighborhood just to kill some more time and I got back after 55 minutes (3 miles).

Do you ever have a feeling, like when you are talking to your spouse/friend/someone, where you didn't get an answer from that person, but then God answers it for you, sometime later? Well last night I was thinking about this clothes box/pile that we have in the corner of our room. It's clothes that the Monkey Boy and myself have grown out of (in my case shrunk out of lol). I asked my husband, "do you know where I can take those clothes tomorrow? I'm tired of looking at them." He said, "I think there is a drop off station by Albertson's or Smith's somewhere." I'm a little anal and don't care too much for wild goose chases so I asked, "which one, the one on Buffalo?" he says, "sure," which is his way of saying, "I don't know." I shrugged and kind of wished to myself that I knew exactly where to take the clothes.

Well today when I got back from my walk/flying session, I was saying my good-bye's to my hubby and noticed this little yellow bag pushed up against the house, where our garage would be, if we had one (it was converted into a room that we called the wasted space room). I grabbed it and it was from the vietnam veterans, and they were looking for clothing donations--pick up time is THIS MORNING. Isn't that funny? In the last few months that we have lived here, I have never gotten anything for a donation pickup so that just warms my heart, that He was listening and He answered my question. God really does answer prayers. :)

Off to take a shower.

Make today count. Go flying! Run like Phoebe on Friends. If you haven't seen that episode here is a snipit from youtube. It's broken up so you only get the running part of it. So funny!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rfaztVg4kaA

Make it count!

I can do this. I am a star!

Day 209 (day 6 / week 30)

Wanna hear something amazing? Since I started getting outside and trying to jog, I have walked, jogged and/or skipped 89 miles! I think it's been in the last 2 months...I can't remember when I started taking things outside. This is another thing that proves to me that small goals turn into something big. My goal is to walk 2 miles a day. Two+ miles a day turned into 89 miles! Sweet! I can do 2 miles pretty easily now, so I do it on most days, if not more. Some days I walk 4-5 miles. Anyway seeing a bunch of days go by to make such a big number is so inspiring to me and such a blessing. This is what I mean by "make it count!" I couldn't say that I had walked 89 miles, if I didn't get out there everyday and try to make it count. I have a new goal of walking the distance across the United States. How cool would that be, to say that I walked the distance acrossed the US in xx amount of time. I don't know how long that will take me, but I am tracking it on this site:

http://exercise.lbl.gov/index.html

It shows me pictures along the way lol. I am 7.38 mi to Ashland, VA, Hanover County.



It just amazes me that I can say that I have walked 89 miles! In my not so new running shoes! At the rate that I am going at, I am going to have to retire these bad boys soon (I read somewhere to replace your shoes after 200-300 miles).

Anyway, I got up early today, and didn't go walk (go figure). It was almost 90F degrees by 6:15am and I was not about to head out. The first thing I thought was, "Awe man! Now I am going to have to get up even EARLIER to beat the heat!" Typing this right now (it's 110F btw), I kind of chuckled to myself and thought, "Oh well, I'm gonna have to do it anyway!" lol...the downside of going back to work.

Today is another (non)rest day. I didn't really plan for that, but it just turned out that way and continues to turn out that way. I can do that. So can you :). Just don't let it turn into another day followed by another day! Up until this resolution, that had always been my problem (I'd lose momentum). Today I did 20 minutes of exercise, The Firm, Cardio Sculpt. I am still in my exercise clothes because...well because I am a nerd. Part of me is itching to do more and part of me wants to just stop at 20 minutes. I keep telling myself that I will do more when the Monkey Boy goes down for a nap, but it's the middle of the afternoon, and he is showing no sign of sleepiness--he's probably not going to take a nap. Besides, when was the last time that I exercised for only 20 minutes?? It's been a long time. I think I am turning into a workaholic with exercise. If I let it, exercise will consume me the entire day--thinking about it, tracking it, reading about it... Anyway I should probably just leave it at that. :) I think I will :).

I hope you all have a good day! If it's raining in your neck of the woods, do something inside! Sparkpeople has a ton of free videos...yes absolutely FREE! I am thinking about doing the 15 minute ab video (See, there I go again!). Looks fun!

Make it count!

I can do this. I am a star.

Day 208 (day 5 / week 30)

For the last 3-4 days, I have been working pretty hard, and I'm finally starting to feel it. Today (yesterday even, but I ignored it) my calves and shins were pretty tight when I went walking, despite stretching and such. Yesterday I just assumed that it was because I started out with too much intensity (burst of energy) so I slowed down and after about 20 minutes I sped up again. I was fine but I paid for it all yesterday (my lower legs were tight and somewhat sore).

Today I felt the same but the tightness was a little more intense and I had to stop twice. I only went for my 2 mile walk today, but it took me 40 minutes--cool down included. It was a painful walk. Because of this, I am deciding to just take it easy for the rest of the day and start things back up tomorrow, if I feel better. Mid week, last week, I thought I was going to be behind on my weekly goal, and it turned out that I made up for it and then some during those 4 mile walks (burning 2000+ calories OVER my weekly goal). SP increased my food intake because of this and I just don't feel comfortable eating around 2000 calories a day (I can't get anywhere near this, even with a buffet!), so I am going to slow down a little.

If I feel better this afternoon I may do some Turbo Jam (the 20 minute workout) but if I start to feel pain, I am going to stop (that's always a good idea, right? lol). I'll update here if I do anything more. I don't even think I am going to check out what the Quickfire Challenges are for today.

It's Monday! A new breath, for a new week...the month is almost over and before we know it, this week will be too!

Make it count!

I can do this. I am a star.

Day 207 (day 4 / week 30)

I just got back from the same 4.16 walk that I have been doing for the past few days. My numbers are almost identical to yesterday. 4.16 miles, 80 minutes 1095 calories. This makes me feel a little more confident that my HRM isn't giving me wonky numbers. If it is, at least it's consistent to itself.

Last night I went to a buffet with my hubby's family and I didn't enter my food until this morning. I knew before hand that we were going to go out with the in-laws so I saved up some of my calories throughout the day so that I didn't go over during dinner.

I was a little worried, because buffets are scary, but sparkpeople has trained me good! I didn't go over my calorie budget, in fact I actually had 300 more to go to meet my minimum for the day! I didn't leave feeling icky, guilty or full (it's funny how I used to love that full feeling--not it makes me feel not that great). First, I ALWAYS fill up my plate with mixed salad greens (not the premade salads--those are full of sodium and surprisingly a lot of calories!) and eat tomatoes, mushrooms and a few TBs of carrots and a very small drizzle of ranch (less than 1 TB) and get fresh shrimp. Usually after my salad, I'm not as starving, so I am more clear of the danger zone than when I walked in there.

After that the 2nd thing I do is I ALWAYS scope out the buffet, instead of diving right in. I also grab a smaller plate and use that instead of the larger plates (I use the larger plate for salad). I make note of all of the veggies and come back and grab the ones that aren't bathed in some sort of cream sauce or butter. Nothing in any kind of creamy looking sauce is going to be healthy--especially at a buffet. The buffet we went to last night was huge, so there was a big selection.

I grab only a very small serving (few 2TBs) of things that I haven't tried before, and want to try, and even of my favorites, that are easy to over endulge with (like mashed potatoes) I only get a very small serving of as well--like 1/4c-1/2c. I go back only if I really want more. This strategy for the buffet works really well for me. With the little servings, I am able to fit a ton of variety on my plate, and if I don't *really* like it, I don't eat it all, because what is worse than filling up on calories of stuff that isn't worth it? Unfortunately one of my favorites is buffet pizza. I know, so gross, but for some reason I like cheap tasting pizza lol. I grabbed a slice and ate maybe 1/2 of it, if that. This was a HUGE victory for me, becuase I am estimating that each tiny slice is about 300 calories and I used to easily put away 2 or 3 of these little slices of yummy goodness. I had about 2 cups of mixed salad greens and the salad stuff I mentioned previously (tiny bit of ranch, 3 large tom slices, 1/2c mushrooms and 2 or so TB of shredded carrots, 1.5c of fresh shrimp), 1/4c mashed potatoes, 1/2c lime cilantro shrimp rice, 1-2 bites of shrimp fajitas, maybe 2 ozs of grilled salmon, 1/2c green beans (my favs), 1/2 of a small slice of mushroom pizza, and for the end, a reduced sugar banana creame pie. I didn't finish everything on my plate and got a great variety.

I know I don't normally post about these types of things, but I wanted to share my tips for having a successful night at a buffet, without breaking your calorie bank and feeling guilty. It's about a lifestyle change, and lets face it, not everyone in our lives cares what they eat or how much, so we can't avoid restaurants and buffets (especially here in Vegas). If you know that you are going to go to a restaurant/buffet before hand, and are worried that you wont find healthy choices, save up calories throughout the day so that you don't break the bank during dinner. Fill up on salad (not premade ones!) and don't drown your salad with death in a bottle (as my old professor used to refer to salad dressing). Remember that not everything in the salad area is healthy! Use a smaller plate instead of the large one for your 2nd trip (unless you are eating salad), scope out the buffet looking for veggie entres and grab SMALL portions of everything. Stay away from creamy stuff! If there is something you must have a lot of, grab a SMALL portion, and go back for another SMALL portion. I promise these tips will help you. Take tiny steps, just like you do with exercise, and it will soon be apart of your healthy lifestyle.

Hope you all have a great day! Make each day count!

I can do this. I am a star.

Day 206 (day 3 / week 30)

You would think after 206 consecutive days of blogging that I wouldn't forget, right? Well I did, and that's why this post is going out after 10PM! lol.

I had a fairly busy day today, and I think that's why I didn't post. We haven't been home in over 13 hours and I posted my minutes on sparkpeople, but just forgot to blog.

I'm tired so it's gonna be short and sweet. Today I walked 4.16 miles in 75-80 minutes and burned 1090 calories. Same route as yesterday, but did it early this morning, so I wasn't fighting through the heat (it was a nice 82-83F when I left).

Be back in la manana to do this all over again!

Have a good weekend. Hope you are making it count! Remember, 1 day at a time, each day on it's own--that's all that matters! You can do it!

I can do this. I am a star.

Day 205 (day 2 / week 30)

Today I did a lot. I wanted to make up for my busy past couple of days. Boy, did I make up for it.

I went for my usual 2 mile walk this morning (31 minutes, 456 calories) and then got in a little Done Girl dancing (still had my Walkman on) and put on The Firm Cardio Sculpt. It is hard to follow along listening to good music, did you know that? lol I got in only about 20 minutes before the Monkey Boy woke up and came in. He was in a good mood but I could see a glimmer of moodiness in his eyes, so I just stopped and went and snuggled with him (gotta pick and choose those battles now).

After a few hours of really nothing, I decided to go for a walk--my modified 1/2 city block, which is 4.16 miles in 80 minutes 1763 calories. Let me tell you this was a bad idea. Good in theory, but just a bad idea all around. I won't be walking this late in the day again, when it is hot like this.

For those of you that don't know, I live in Las Vegas, NV. It gets hot here. It's not so hot today as it has been (it's been close to 110 and some days ++ for the past week), but it was still hot, 92-93F when I was out there and that is pretty hot to exercise in (the high today is supposed to be 96F). I was about 1/2 way into this walk with the Monkey Boy and I felt like I was going to die. My HRM said my HR was over 150, and so that confirmed my theory that you exercise harder in the heat, and which is why I burned so many more calories today (almost 1800 in 80 minutes!! That's crazy!). I sweated more today, than I have in a long time. It was dripping down my arms, face and neck and even my feet are soggy (so gross, TMI, I know--sorry lol).


Even the Monkey Boy was all sweaty, so I guess it's fitting to have him in the picture (such a ham). This isn't a great picture, but this is us after the walk--it's really hard to tell just how red and sweaty I was (it's late, but here ya go Jen!). Side note: the shirt I'm wearing is a shirt that my hubby and I got at a Scion convention when we lived in Washington about 2.5 years ago. At the time, it was the largest shirt they had (an XL), and I couldn't fit into it. It was too small for me. Now it's REALLY big on me. Closet victory! Woo hoo!

Funny story--the Quickfire Challenges I did yesterday, were actually today's QFCs but posted early! lol. Yesterday's QFCs were actually butt kicks--like Jillian Michaels makes us do in the 30 Day Shred, and computer crunches. I don't think I am going to do anything more for the day.

I think I deserve a treat for all of the work I put in today. I think a No Sugar Added Fudgsicle with only 40 calories sounds perfect! Woo hoo! ....*drool*

Make it count!

I can do this. I am a star.

PS. I am going to be testing out backgrounds in the next few days. My favorite is a little gloomy looking, but represents my journey (not the gloominess)... there is a path and it's peaceful looking and there is a reflection of the mountains in the water. My blog reflects my journey (the path) and is a reflection of who I am at this point in my life (the reflection). I should have it up shortly, if the coding isn't still cooky.

Day 204 (day 1 / week 30)

Yesterday I had such an inspirational and good day, and today I blew it lol. I didn't really blow it, but I had a lot of stuff going on since pretty early in the morning (had to leave the house by around 8am). I should have gotten out early to exercise, but I woke up late. You know how that goes :).

My plan was to exercise when the Monkey Boy went down for his nap, but you know whenever we plan for things to happen during "nap time" they don't take one lol. He took one REALLY late and I was already in dinner mode.

We went to the store and walked around for about 40 minutes, but my heart rate barely peaked over 80. That's not exercise. I decided to make today a (non)rest day, although yesterday was pretty much one as well, I just didn't call it that. Cop out. I know. I did however do my quickfire challenges, so that counts for something. They took me about 25 minutes to do. Today is more of a strength day than a cardio day.

QFCs:

Chair Squats 5 sets of 10 and (50 total)
Seated Leg Extensions 10 sets of 10 (100 total)

I heart squats. I don't know why, but I do :).

I'll be up bright and early and will be catching up on my fitness minutes so I can still eat the same amount of calories. Today was a whimpy day for eating too. I barely got in 700 calories for the entire day--really unhealthy but whatever. I'm over it lol. I'm not hungry but I didn't do much exercise today...(makes sense to me).

See you in the morning!

Make tomorrow count. Do something as soon as you wake up to get it out of the way. That way you don't have to think about it again for the rest of the day!

I can do this. I am a star.

Day 203 (day 7 / week 29)

Today I had a big and VERY exciting day. I don't know if you remember, but I told you last Thursday that I may or may not have some good news today? I will get to this, but first let me torture you with my boring usuals.

I got up early bla bla bla walked 2 miles in yadda yadda minutes (42) burned 473 calories.

There. Done. lol (I am not able to draw out the suspense like Jen does...man she kills me with that!)

Can I just say that God answers prayers (not wishes, but prayers--whether or not in your favor)?

Can I just say that God's timing is ALWAYS perfect (I can't remember the scripture for this)?

God has proved these things to me over and over again, for the past 10 years. If you have unwavering faith in Him, the kind of faith that moves mountains, He helps you push (matthew 21:21).

Last week I was bummed out because of our situation. Nevada Checkup sent us a letter telling us that they wouldn't insure our son anymore because we didn't make enough money to qualify. Isn't that ridiculous???? A state run agency that we had to go to, because we couldn't afford insurance, isn't going to support us anymore BECAUSE WE DON'T MAKE ENOUGH $$$$. That hurt and that's crap. They referred me to welfare and I felt like a part of me died inside and I surrendered everything to Him. I would like to think that I always do surrender, but I am human, and sometimes I think I can control things and He proves to me time and time again, that I don't (Hebrews 11:16).

A few hours after I wrote that blog, I got a phone call from a local hospital here asking me if I could come into an interview. I applied for that job easily over a month before that phone call...I really just thought that they threw my application away, like the other 6 hospitals that I applied to did since January/February of this year (over 20 jobs I have applied for and been rejected for). I haven't worked in over 2 years, and I guess that is more of a problem than I thought. God makes the impossible, possible (Luke 18:27).

My interview was last Thursday. It went VERY well, and they called me in for a second interview which was today. I knew that if someone would just give me a chance, they would see that God put me on this earth to do this and they would hire me.

God promised to provide all that we need, and more (Philippians 4:19)!

Yesterday I found a letter that my husband and I both overlooked...I don't really know how this happened, but it was a letter from the State of Nevada. I always open these, because they are in regards to my son's insurance. This letter was from the welfare offices (I guess nevada check up referred us) telling me that failure to provide the info enclosed by July 20th would cause ineligibility. I opened the letter on July 21st :(. The first thought that went through my head was panic. If I didn't get this job, my last option was gone. If I didn't get the job I would have to apply for Welfare and no that's not even an option for us anymore.

Not even an hour after I opened that letter I got another phone call, from a company that I walked into almost 2 months ago, and they also wanted to interview me. God was showing me that He was going to provide for me and my family. He was reminding me to have strong faith and to not let the drama of this world shake that. To stress over money and things of this world, gives priority over God. Giving that kind of power to something is in a way a form of worship. I am not perfect, and I am often weak, so I forget this sometimes. He knows my weaknesses--He knew my name, thousands of years before I was a glimmer in my parent's eyes (Psalm 139:13-16).

I went in for that interview today as well and it went as equally as well.

Now the rest was up to God. I didn't know what God wanted for me. I think I know, but I don't want to put my will above His. I know that one of these jobs was in His will and I wanted to honor that. I knew that I needed to spend extra time with God to find the answers, so I fasted my computer for 12 hours today to be closer to Him and clear my head of everything else. He gave me the answers, very clearly and blessed me abundantly.

I knew how much the 2nd job offered (I was very happily surprised) but it wasn't in healthcare. I believe that God wants me in healthcare--He blessed me to be good at this, to have the compassion I need to do my job well. I didn't know how much the hospital job paid and didn't think it was going to be as much as the 2nd (I had heard numbers and figures thrown around at job fairs, and was not happy about them). I laid it at His feet and prayed some more and decided--because I feel that He was putting it in my heart--to take the lesser paying job and do what He wants. He blessed me...abundantly.

The hospital job pays more (very surprisingly) and I found this out after I had already made the decision in the back of my mind. While I was in the 2nd interview (with the job that pays more), the nurse director at the hospital called me to offer me the job :).

I HAVE A JOB! God answers prayers. He reigns and when He rains blessings on you, it pours! I have a job!

It's a full time job, working 7am-7:30pm and it's 3 days a week (I can work overtime if I want!).

I know, I know, you all are thinking (besides "woo hoo!" lol), "how are you going to continue to exercise everyday and work a 12 hour shift? That seems impossible!"

You'll see. God makes the impossible, possible. I have absolute faith that nothing will change with my resolution..afterall, my body is His temple, and I am trying to make this a cozy place for Him (1 Corinthians 6:19-20). I believe that we make time for the things we want to make time for, and I may need to modify my minutes a little (30 mins in the morning, 30 mins after work--worst case only 30 minutes a day on the days that I work, instead of 60), but I will get it done. God's timing is perfect and He will tell me when to exercise. I want to prove to all you working peepz, that work shouldn't be an excuse not to exercise. I have faith that God will help me with this. He gives us the strength to do what we gotta do (Philippians 4:13)!!!

I'm tired and am going to sit with my hubby now. I hope you all find His joy in your heart, the way that it lives in mine--even during hard times. If nothing else, God is faithful to provide a smile...we have the ability to smile, whether we want to or not, even if that is all we can do and have.

Make today count. He is faithful to help you, if you ask Him to (1 Corinthians 1:9)!

I can do this. I am a star. Praise God!

Day 202 (day 6 / week 29)

Today I had a friend come along and exercise with me :). I saw she had posted a first blog post on Sparkpeople, and I saw a tiny little cry for motivation in it. She said she wanted to do something today and wanted to be more accountable for her food, but I know, just from previous conversations that we've had, that she needs/wants help and just doesn't know where to start, or how. I promised her that I would help motivate her and so I'm keeping my word. I know how hard it is.

I called her up after reading her blog, and asked her if she wanted to go for a walk with the Monkey Boy and I and...she did :). Way to go! Woo hoo! *running man* *cabbage patch.* The first step for doing something, is saying "yes!" to any opportunity that may present itself. If I were her, before I started this blog and found the momentum/motivation/consistency to do this (all by the good grace of God), I would have found an excuse to say no. I'm sad to say that I probably said "no" a lot. The first step to changing a self defeating habit is to be aware of it, and own it. I used to be a "'no' person" because I didn't think I could do it. Now I am a star and I know I can do this! I am just like everyone else, so if I can do this, then I sure as heck know that you can too!

Anyway, we walked the 4.8 mile route that I once posted pictures of here, and did it in 90 minutes (120 minutes after a cool down). My HRM said that I burned 1524 calories, so in theory she probably burned more, because she is bigger than I am--the heavier you are the more calories you burn becuase you have more weight on you that you have to carry and exercise with.

I am so proud of her for coming and I know she got a good workout because I did, and I exercise everyday! I know I will definitely invite her to come again in the near future. It wasn't so hot today (in the 80s when we left--it's only now barely 91F) so it was a good day to do this. The Monkey Boy gave me a hard time about it at first, but got excited when he saw Erin.

Today was a good day and I am glad that I had my friend come along. It made the time go by a lot quicker and was a distraction from exercise itself (we all know how I need that!). I kept one eye on my HRM to make sure that my HR was in the 130's so that our chit-chat didn't slow each other down and it didn't :).

Today's Quickfire Challenges are to walk fast for 10-15 minutes at a time, 3-4 times throughout the day, every few hours. The other quickfire is to difficult for me to type out so I am going to copy/paste it here, so it makes more sense for you guys lol. I can't do them anyway, because I don't have any access to stairs...

QUICKFIRE Climb Your Way to Fitness!

1. Start out with two trips up and down a flight of stairs.

2. For your next two trips, pick up the pace going up the stairs, and walk down at a moderate pace.

3. For trips five and six, take giant steps by placing your foot on every other step. Walk down at a moderate pace.

4. The seventh and eighth trip you should vigorously pump your arms (think Rocky) as you climb, then walk down slowly.

5. Finally for the last two minutes, perform quick steps up and down on the bottom step (like a football drill).

QUICKFIRE SPECIAL INSTRUCTIONS:
If necessary, hold on to the railing when descending the steps.

A flight of stairs is categorized as a set of steps reaching from one floor to another in a building. Generally, the stairs bend upon themselves to save space. The usual amount of stairs in "a flight" is around 30, though it differs widely

QUICKFIRE CHALLENGE YOURSELF: Space these out to 4 to 5 SETS; spaced throughout the day in order to keep Spiking your Metabolism ALL DAY!

I hope you all have a great day! If you need help with motivation, find a buddy that has motivation! Seeing motivation in someone can usually start a spark in you! Isn't it motivating to see other people motivated? It is for me! Finding someone who isn't motivated can be helpful too, if you are able to motivate each other...but I have found in my life, misery enjoys company and that applies to motivation as well (2 unmotivated people=2 unmotivated people). If you need a buddy, I'll be your buddy! Don't be afraid to ask for help! Motivation creates momentum and momentum creates motivation--it's an ongoing cycle and it's so true!!! You can do this!

Make it count!

I can do this. I am a star.

Day 201 (day 5 / week 29)

Today I got off to an early start, and then the procrastination bug hit me.

I got out at about 6:30 this morning and walked for a while (45 mins including my cool down) and then later on did my quickfire challenges:

Side Lunge with Windmill Arms--100 in sets of 25
Seated Leg Extensions--100 in sets of 20
and I added in some...
Squats--100 in sets of 25

Doing these 3 things took me about 25 minutes with a little bit of rest in between them.

Well if you haven't noticed I changed my blog layout. I want my blog to reflect who I am a little more, and 1/2 way into my challenge, I feel pretty again. This is not what my goal is about, but it is a result of it. I haven't been able to say that for a LONG time. My mother in law bought me this shirt yesterday and it's just so beautiful! I didn't have to buy it in the plus size clothing section either, which made it even better. Yaay!

(I took the picture to ask my hubby which shirt he liked better--this is the one he chose)

Not to contradict anything I just said, but I don't think this layout reflects what my blog is about (exercise/healthy lifestyle goal) so I am going to search out for something a little more fitting. For now I will leave it like this, because it's how I feel :). It's so pretty :).

Hope you guys have a great week! New week, new day, make it count! You can do this!

I can do this. I am a star.

Day 200 (day 4 / week 29)

I can't believe that today is day 200 of my resolution! For 200 days straight I have exercised. For 200 days in a row, I have done this! It doesn't really feel like it's been 200 days, because I have been doing this one day at a time. If I've learned anything it's that baby steps, and taking big goals one day at a time, works. It's not about the bigger picture, until that picture is complete; it's about each individual brush stroke coming together, to make a lasting picture. I am so proud that I have stuck with this, and that I will be able to say soon, that I did something that changed my life, or an entire year straight. In case you guys are wondering, this is probably going to emerge into something more than a 365 day resolution--maybe it will turn into a 2 year resolution...how awesome would that be??

Today I went for a long walk...4.31 miles to be exact (85 minutes including my cool down and 1225 calories burned according to my HRM). I went by myself and brought my CD player. I haven't used this thing in YEARS. I was happy right off, because my belt thingy, that my CD player goes into actually fit me! The last time I tried to wear it, it was so tight that the straps kept falling out of the clip--it just wouldn't stay together. Yaay! I listened to No Doubt's Tragic Kingdom all the way through and then 2 or 3 songs over again. Music really makes the time go by fast. I hadn't listened to that CD in a long time, so it was fun to listen to something that was a "favorite" at one point in my life.

Today's QFC is T-Stands again. I won't be doing those, because....well because I did enough. I did try, but my legs were just to wobbly from the walking. Maybe later (probably not lol).

Off to take a shower. I should take a picture for Jen, the Prior Fat Girl because she was asking for our sweaty exercise pictures a couple weeks ago (you'd be surprised with how pictures of sweaty people exercising prove to be a form of inspiration/motivation lol). I never did it, but I always think about it lol. This girl has lost almost 100...ONE HUNDRED pounds! She is working on her last 10 and we are all so proud of her! Totally amazing and such an inspiration.

I can't wait until I can finally call myself a prior fat girl...now I'm just a semi fat girl doing the "done girl" dance--cause I'm, "done being a fat girl" lol (one of my sparkpeople groups).

Have a great day everyone! Make it count!! Do something everyday and do it for a week (1 day at a time)...then 2 weeks and 3...before you know it, you will see day 200 roll around! woo hoo!

I can do this. I am a star!

Day 199 (day 3 / week 29)

Today I started off feeling a little discouraged because I didn't get up early enough to walk outside (6:30am)...it was already 90 degrees by the time I wanted to get out of the house and the weather channel is predicting a high of 114F today! I know that if I don't exercise earlier rather than later, especially on a hot day, I struggle with it. Not a fan of heat--I'm one of those people that would rather be cold than hot (I grew up in the mountains). Anyway, before letting the procrastination fog rolled over, I went and did something. The Firm's Cardio Sculpt (60 minutes), which I welcomed, because my legs are no longer sore, and this was an indicator for me (yaay!).

I also did and extra 25 minutes of miscellaneous circuit training: concentration curls, triceps extensions, lateral raises (?) and my Quickfire Challenge for the day, squat thrusts. I did 2 sets of 10 regular squat thrusts and 3 sets of 10 modified squat thrusts using my fanny lifter. The other QFC for today is to walk fast for 10-15 minutes, every 2-3 hours, 3-5 times a day. I am not going to do this one--it's too hot outside.

Off to bake a sugar free carrot cake for my hubby's grandmother's birthday (it's today!). Happy birthday Gram!

Make today count! If you are doing that outside, don't forget about sunblock!

I can do this. I am a star.

Day 198 (day 2 / week 29)

Someone out there thinks I'm crazy lol (maybe more than one of you!). Yesterday I called it a (non)rest day, but burned over 700 calories. Let me explain--there is a method to my madness and I'm not really surprised that I haven't mentioned it before!

Since being on my journey and recently utilizing my HRM, my goals have been changing. a lot. I think it could have a lot to do with boredom and just keeping my mind distracted from 365 days of a daily goal. I can do more exercise than I ever have been able to in the last 4-5 years, and I am playing with what my limits are. I can burn A LOT of calories in a day if I wanted to. Before my legs got sore (recently--they are feeling much better today btw), I had found that burning around 900 calories a day, according to my HRM--disclaimer: I don't take these numbers to heart, but I use them as a measuring tool...know what I mean by that?--is the perfect compromise to myself and is VERY doable for me. That being said, I recently made 900 calories a day my goal, despite the minutes (have you noticed that I have been burning right around 900 calories lately?). According to my HRM I can get up to 1500 a day, but I think that might be too much.

Yesterday I burned 700+ so I didn't reach my "goal," so I called it a rest day :). See? Also, my other daily goal is a minimum 60 minutes a day (which I'm pretty sure I did mention here). Yesterday I only did 50 so that was my other factor. I don't think any of this is that interesting, except for to me (it's the science of me!), and probably makes me look a little more neurotic than I would like, so I just don't mention it. Loree called me on it though... lol. ;)

A long explination for a short thought in my head. lol.

Anyway...

Today...today is going to be VERY hot. They have called an excessive heat warning until Saturday night, so I am trying to get up earlier (how successful I am at this is a different story) to walk earlier, so I can avoid the 90F+ temps at 8am. Today I walked 2 miles but fought with my HRM for such a long time, and was annoyed when I got home, that I forgot to stop tracking. All good though, because it took about that long for me to cool down. I got this: 2 miles, 50 minutes 475 calories. I know this isn't right, because my HR went from 145 to 75 and jumped to 117 and stayed there for a good 10 minutes. SO ANNOYING! I need to find my 3 manuals on this HRM and find out what the dealio is, because this is frustrating. It's clean and doesn't need a battery change (I don't even know how I would do that!) and I don't think we are near any radio interference (the other thing that could cause it to trip out) so it shouldn't be acting up. I'm sure a few cars driving by thought they were going to get a peep show, because I kept checking to see if my HRM was making good skin contact (it is/was). I don't know what the deal is but it's frustrating.

After I got home I did Ab Jam, and did the same thing! I totally zoned and forgot to stop it when I was done and I got 25 mins, 167 calories. I give up and I'm done for the day.

My goal for tomorrow is 713 calories burned, to meet my weekly goal of 5400--6days/wk @900, giving me a few days to futz around so I don't get burned out.

Today's QFCs are triceps chair dips which are easily done at work (hint, hint) 100 total in sets of 20-25 and shadow boxing for 5 mins, 3-5 times a day. I am not going to do either today. I will probably do concentration curls (100 w/ 5lb weight) and something else although I don't know what that is yet. Maybe I will do a little "done girl dancing" with the Monkey Boy as well :).

Have a great weekend and see you tomorrow! Make it count!

PS. I haven't forgotten to tell you my exciting news, but I am going to make you wait another week (until next Thursday) since I ALSO have to wait another week for any news. Hopefully I will know for sure by then! God was definitely with me yesterday so I hope I will have good news and not bad. ;) Very exciting!!!!

I can do this. I am a star.

Day 197 (day 1 / week 29)

Today I got out of the house early because I have to be out of here by 9am. I walked 2.61 miles in about 50 mins and my HRM says I burned 715 calories.

I have a busy day today and some exciting news but I don't want to jinx myself first. I am going to wait to see if I hear anything, and when I do, I'll let you guys know my exciting news.

Can't tell you what it is yet, but please keep me in your thoughts and prayers, as this news will bless the socks off of my family, if it doesn't fall through, which it so often does (we really need this--need, not want).

I don't think I am going to do anything else today, exercise wise, so I guess I will call today a (non)rest day. I will get my quickfire challenges in --100 jumping jacks in sets of 20 or 25--but that's a piece of cake! I can do them all in 1 set if I wanted (The Biggest Loser workout has us do 60 right off the bat!).

Anyway gotta go get ready for the day.

Make today count! Do 25 jumping jacks and then do that 3 more times throughout the day! Or go for a 10-15 fast walk! You've got time for 10 minutes right? Do that a few times a day as well (this is the other QFC challenge ;)).

I can do this. I am a star.

Day 196 (day 7 / week 28)

Today I wanted to take it easy because my legs are still a little sore, but I didn't. It's not my fault though, I swear! I went for a 2 mile walk this morning, and I set my HR zone (133-152) alarm, and it would beep at me if my HR dropped below 133. I really like this feature. It made the time go by fast (33 mins 461 calories burned).

When I got home, I mowed the lawn. I fought with that lawn mower for a good 10 minutes before it started! I had my HRM running at this time because I didn't think I would have problems starting it. Anyway it took me 32 minutes, including the time it took me to start it, and I burned 383 calories. Man, my HR was up in the upper 150's! I had no idea I was getting this kind of exercise mowing the lawn!

After I mowed the lawn I came in and did my Quickfire Challenges for the day. This is where I probably killed it--I think the day would have been pretty easy on my legs if I had just left it to walking and mowing the lawn. Today's QFCs were Reverse Lunges, 100 in groups 10-20, but I only did 50 in groups of 10. The other is a Calf Raise with Chair and I did 100 of those, in sets of 25. These took me 15 minutes and I burned 228 calories according to my HRM. I hope I don't regret this decision to do these tomorrow. If my legs hurt (bad pain) tomorrow, then I am going to pull out Slim in 6 and do the stretch and abs, and maybe the Ab portion of The Firm as well. We will see.

Hope you all have a great day! Go spaz out and dance! Dance and skip... and mow your lawn at the same time! That would be a great workout!

Make it count.

I can do this. I am a star.

Day 195 (day 6 / week 28)

Today I did a little bit of everything. I started out walking, but my legs felt tight, so I didn't push myself. I walked 1.75 miles in 25 minutes and burned 247 calories doing that. My hamstrings were just so tight. I made sure I took long strides to stretch them out and they feel better :).

When I got home I did Turbo Jam's Cardio Party with my sculpting gloves (45 minutes, 627 calories burned) and my HRM acted up a lot. I think I figured out what is going on with it, and it's kind of exciting. Get this...it wasn't tight enough! I haven't tightened it at all since I first got and used it. I tightened it up a lot (few inches at least) and it fits better now and I'm getting better contact and a more accurate average on my HR. Yaay!

After that I ate some fruit and then did my quickfire challenge (QFC) Standing Oblique Crunch (1 minute into the video) and the Done Girl Dance for 10 minutes (15 minutes, 130 calories total). LOL you should have seen me. I put some music (Corinne Bailey Rae-Put Your Records On and Jewel) on and danced in my kitchen...wildly. Wildly like Patrick Dempsey in that 80's movie, Can't Buy Me Love. (I guess I would have been called a Spaz in the 80's lol). So much fun! Hey! It's burning calories so I don't care how silly I looked...you probably wouldn't catch me doing it when my hubby was home, or out in public. And, who is the monkey boy going to tell? He can barely talk lol. I wanted to do 5 more minutes of dancing but someone came to my door and wouldn't leave (don't you hate that???). By the time they left I was cold, so I just called it a day.

So my word for the day is to get out there and dance! Put on your favorite songs and dance the entire time! It's great exercise, and a great way to relieve some stress. Make it count!

I can do this. I am a dancing fool star.

Day 194 (day 5 / week 28)

Today I was very productive. I wanted to walk, but the Monkey Boy didn't, so I just did some videos at home, and did my Quickfire Challenges (QFC) for today.

I pulled out an oldie but goodie and did Turbo Jam's Cardio Party and Ab Jam, back to back (65 minutes, 805 calories). I forgot how much fun Turbo Jam is! My legs are still a little sore today, but doing TJ felt like I was stretching my legs more than hurting them. It felt great! All of the kicks and stuff, PLUS I wore my HRM for the first time with it (I think) so I was able to see that it actually was a pretty good workout.

I felt like I had a lot of energy, and when the "turbo" segment came around, I still had energy to go! I felt so blessed when I finished, like God's joy and energy was just radiating from me. If my heart could cry, it would have (tears of joy, of course!).

After TJ I ate something and moved onto the 2 QFCs for today. I did them both back to back, and it took me 15 minutes total to complete them (129 calories). The first is a Side Lunge with Windmill Arms, which I did as fast as I possibly could (for the sake of cardio and burning calories). This also felt like a stretch to my legs, which felt great. The second was seated leg extensions again (no weight), which I could do pretty easily. I did these the other day, and I felt like I needed that rest after my set (25 i think). Today I did 2 sets of 50, of both of those exercises (100 total of each) and felt like I could do more. Maybe I will, if I find myself starting to fall asleep (I swear I can't not sit on the couch, or lie on my back w/out falling asleep).

I have a lot of energy now and it feels great, considering this morning I was tired, cranky and didn't want to exercise. It's funny how getting up and doing something totally changed my moral. If I didn't do something, I probably would have had a blah day, AND I wouldn't have felt God's strength and joy run through me (so awesome!). I am on Stage 3 of the lifestyle changes that Sparkpeople help us work through, and one of the things I had to do was find an inspriational/motivating quote, and I always think of it--especially today. You guys have heard me say this before, "I can do ALL THINGS through Christ who gives me strength." It's my favorite bible scriputre (Philippians 4:13) and my inspriational quote. Man, just think of all of the possibilities! It gets me pumped and gives me energy.

Find a motivational and/or inspirational quote and apply it to your lives everyday. Print it out and put it somewhere that you can see it and read it everyday. I'm telling you, faith like this with something that motivates you can move mountains! It will surely help you to make each and everyday count!

I can do this. I am a star. SO ARE YOU!

Day 193 (day 4 / week 28)

Holy cow, I can't believe how sore my legs are today (good sore, not bad sore). It feels like I have big balls behind my legs where my hamstrings are. I sound like a wolf walking through the house, "oweoooooooo" and look even funnier. My husband and son find it funny. It IS pretty funny :). I can't help but laugh too. My hubby was trying to rub my massage my legs to help them feel better and he laughed the entire time, because he said my facial expressions were so funny. I haven't felt my legs like this since I used to weight train on a regular basis years ago. It's only the back side of my legs too--not my quads. It sounds funny but it feels good to know that I worked my legs so thoroughly, but stinks because, well, I am sore. Pretty sore.

I procrastinated again today, but because I didn't know what I would do with my legs being so sore. All of my cardio uses heavy legs. They are sore when I sit (even as I type this) and sore when I walk or stand. My hubby even makes sound effects when I walk with each step. He is really getting a kick out of this (lol). Anyway, I think it would be a bad idea to do The Firm with the Fanny Lifter today, because I don't want my legs to feel worse tomorrow.

I decided to even out the soreness (lol) and do a ton of upper body:

100 close-arm wall push ups (sets of 25) Today's QFC
100 seated dumbbell concentration curls (sets of 20, 5lb weight)
100 dumbbell wrist curls (sets of 10, 5lb weight)
50 overhead shoulder presses (sets of 25, 5lb weight)
50 pectoral flies, lying on the ground (sets of 25, 5 lb weight)
100 chest presses, lying on the floor (sets of 50, 5 lb weight)

Today was extremely entertaining. By the time I had finished this all (I did it with circuit training), 90 minutes had passed by. You would think I got in a good workout, but I kind of feel otherwise because... well, I asleep. In the middle of exercising! On the floor, after finish the pec flies, before doing a set of chest presses, legs propped at a 90 degree angle--dang I must have been tired, because it's only 1-2 minutes of rest at most! lol. What a douche. Who falls alseep while they are exercising? lol! My hubby woke me up by throwing a blanket on my head lol. He said I slept for 15 minutes, so I really only did 75 minutes worth, I guess. I still can't believe I fell asleep. lol.

After that I couldn't get up off of the floor and my arms and shoulders were sore from what I had just done (minus falling asleep). Today was very entertaining, but I am sore--all around now.

I hope my legs are calm by tomorrow so that I can walk. If I feel a little sore tomorrow, I am still going to walk (provided that I wake up early enough) because I think it will be a good stretch for my legs--unless I am more sore tomorrow than I am today (I don't know why that would be the case). We'll see. I am planning on a walk though.

Oh, I didn't wear my HRM today, only the watch part, because I wanted to give my skin a rest. I wear that thing everyday, and my skin is starting to dry out where the strap goes. It's nice to leave it off for a day, but I have that feeling like I forgot to do something today lol.

I hope you all are having a great weekend! I welcome Monday! (I like Monday's, I don't know why). Make it count, even if you fall asleep trying to do it! lol

I can do this. I am a star.

PS, I knew I did something more yesterday! I did about 10 minutes worth of yoga yesterday after doing my leg stuff. (I remembered this morning after I woke up).

Day 192 (day 3 / week 28)

I procrastinated too long today so I ended up making up my own workout. This morning I woke up late (almost 7 am) and it was already close to 90 degrees out, so there was no chance that I was going to go walk, like I wanted and intended to do. It took me a lot longer to do my made up workout, than it should have--I actually have no idea how long it should have taken, but it seemed like a really long time lol. I ended up combining all of the Quickfire Challenges (QFC) that I can remember, together:

T Stand (from yesterday) (100)
Squats (50) today's QFC
seated leg extensions (100 w/ no weight)--also today's QFC
jumping jacks (100)
Side lunge with knee lift (100)

I keep thinking that I did more, because this took me 84 minutes to do, but nope, I'm just really slow I guess. My HRM says I burned 439 calories. The T Stand and Side Lunge got my HR up into the 130's which I was really surprised with. The side lunges w/ the knee lift really gets my heart rate up there.

I will be surprised if I don't feel this tomorrow. I can already feel my legs kind of wobbly (noodle!) and I can tell that I worked them good.

If I want to go walk this next week I am going to have to make a huge effort, because they are predicting it to be around 110F on most days! Yikes! Not looking forward to that ;).

Hope you all are having a great weekend. Make it count earlier in the day, so that it doesn't loom over you! It's so nice to just get it over with!

Smiles and blessings!

I can do this. I am a star.

Day 191 (day 2 / week 28)

Today I got up and did my usual thing. I decided to give my ankles a rest and made today a (non)rest day by not walking/skipping before my hubby left for work. I decided to do some videos instead. As I was headed into my exercise room, the Monkey Boy greeted me in his sleep "hi mama" voice. Awe shucks, maybe I will be walking today, but with The Boy, instead. I asked him if he wanted to go for a walk and got a "no."

Since he was up so early, I thought maybe he just needed to wake up a little more and ask again later. I had already decided on this walk (since the videos were out of the quesiton now) to pass some time by snuggling with him earlier, rather than later. It was nice.

After some wake-up time, I asked him again if he wanted to go for a walk and this time got a firm, "no." Oh well. (I asked him like 4 more times after that and he still said no lol).

I was disappointed with the time passed that I could have been doing something, but it's all good. I don't want him to ever think that I would rather exercise, than spend time with him. He asked for Spongebob, so I poped the DVD in, and eventually snuck into the exercise room.

Today was more of a low intensity workout, and it was only for 50 minutes (496 calories burned), instead of 60 minutes. I totally forgot about the Quickfire Challenges (QFC) until now, as I am typing this, so by the end of today, I will probably have gotten over 60 minutes in (I just checked and today's QFC are T Stands--50 in groups of 10).

Today I did The Firm's Body Sculpt with the Fanny Lifter. The lower body segment took FOREVER. I really don't like doing the step up things (there are a lot of these, that's probably why). I guess they are kind of like single leg squats in a way or like really tall lunges. Whatever they are, I don't like doing them. My ankles and knees bother me, despite my knee not going over my toe and focusing on my muscle--I think I might just be too heavy for them to be comfortable to me. After I lose some more weight, I'm sure it will feel better. For now I am just going to stick to Ab Sculpt and Cardio Sculpt, although they are in CS also--just not so many of them.

The upper arm section was a bit chintzy too...I don't feel like I got a good upper body workout, not like my legs and compared to the other videos that I have done (Slim in 6, 30 Day Shred, etc). I feel like it was a lot shorter also, because we spent a lot of time doing stretches and junk. Oh well. That's why I am calling this a (non) rest day.

I'm glad it's Friday, aren't you? I hope you all have a great one! Go do something fun! Skip around the house! So much fun... :).

Make it count!

I can do this. I am a star.

Day 190 (day 1 / week 28)

Today I got out the door early again and did my 2 mile power walk (30 minutes, 482 calories), then did The Firm's Ab Sculpt again (26 minutes, 268 calories), 2 sets of 10 push ups, 2 sets of 25 pectoral flies with 5lb hand weights and finished off with my quickfire challenges for the day (for a grand total of 858 calories in 85 minutes).

The first quickfire challenge is an Isometric Bicep Press on each arm. I used a 10lb weight instead of pressing w/ the other hand, for 10 seconds each and I think 20 sets (I started to lose count). I am going to do this 4 more times throughout the day to total of 100. I also did the 2nd quickfire plus which is an Isometric Hand Press, 10 seconds each, 10 sets so far and will strive for 100 throughout the day as well. These remind me of grade school when the girls would say, "I must, I must, I must increase my bust," lol...you know what I'm talking about right? lol.

I have to tell you, my biceps, shoulders and chest muscles are already shaking from these Quickfires today...I'm starting to feel like a wet noodle. Funny "Melissa" fact: a friend of mine growing up, who was Filipino said that my name meant "noodle" in his first language, I think Tagalog--I think he was pullin' my wet noodle (leg) but I think of that every time I say or hear the word noodle lol. I can still remember where we were when he said it. I must have been 10 or 11 years old lol.

Anyway I hope you guys have a great day. Make it count! You have almost an entire day to do so!

I can do this. I am a star.

Day 189 (day 7 / week 27)

Today I walked with the Monkey Boy. We walked a new way that turned out to be 3.50 miles and we did it in just a little over an hour (66 minutes). After a 10 min cool down, I burned a total of 972 calories.

Today is kind of a "blah" day. I'm a little disappointed with a letter that I got from the state of Nevada, telling me that they are disenrolling my son from the Nevada Check Up program because we qualify for Medicaid. I really don't want to apply for Medicaid but you do what you gotta do. My son needs to have medical coverage--this is important and he is my first priority. I just hope that my efforts to find a job pays off soon.

⁴Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! ⁵Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. ⁶Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. ⁷And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 4:4-7)

I've just gotta rejoice that God is doing something that I can't see right now (preparing me for something) and continue to pray. If there is one thing that I've learned in my life, it's that God listens when we pray.

I hope you all have a wonderful day. Have you noticed how many different colors of green there are in the trees?

Make today count!

I can do this. I am a star.

Day 188 (day 6 / week 27)

Today was a good day. I got a lot accomplished before 8am, including an hour of exercise :). I feel good today. I had some alone time and got out for a walk/jog/skip--yes, the skipping fool has returned--before my hubby left for work. I did 2 miles in 29:47 minutes, with an average HR of 146. I was fortunate enough to see my HR dancing around 170-172 while I was actually skipping. Yaay :).

When I came back I cooled down for I guess 7 minutes, he left, and then I went into my exercise room and did The Firm's Ab Sculpt (with fanny lifter) for 27 minutes.

I did a total of 63 minutes and I burned a total of 906 calories (my HRM won't break down the calories burned for each segment).

Not bad if I do say so myself :).

Off to take a shower before the Monkey Boy wakes up. I feel so accomplished getting all of this done already! *claps*

Have a great day and make it count! The earlier the better ;). Don't put off until later, what you can do right now!

I can do this. I am a star.

Day 187 (day 5 / week 27)

Today I went for a walk with the Monkey Boy again. Let me tell you, he did not want to go. He threw the biggest fit as I was putting him in the stroller and even as I pushed him out the door--he wanted to stay home and watch TV, the little stinker.

It was around 8am, and I woke him up so that I could take this walk. I had already decided to walk today, and knew that it was supposed to get to 105F today, so I skipped my video and tried to set out early.

I told him that since he didn't want to go, we could go for a short walk, so that we could compromise--I get to walk and he gets to come home earlier so he can watch Sesame Street.

Not even 1/2 way into our walk, I realized (the hard way) that I drank too much water before we left lol. I had to stop and use a park bathroom on the way. It was a good thing that I did a shorter route this time, because if I had gone my usual route, there would not have been a bathroom as close and I would have had to wait a lot longer (not a good thing after 32oz of water lol).

We walked for 2.80 miles, and it took me 60 minutes (901 calories burned), including my bathroom break, and the few stops I made to take these pictures:



It's amazing how if you look, you can find beauty all around you. God really blesses all of us in that way. There is obvious beauty and then beauty that is there and mostly unappreciated.

The first 2 pictures were the only color that I saw out of gray. They were taken looking up at the sky, because they towered over my head. The streets are dark gray, the walls are medium gray and the sidewalks are light gray. These flowers looked so beautiful next to the dull shades, and the green trees really popped too, if you looked up at them (the sun is too intense for me to look up in the sky when I walk--even the Monkey Boy wants his blanket over his head).

There is even beauty in death, as shown in this tree--there is green tree after green tree, and then this one in the midst of it all. These dead trees sit there in their calming stillness, and they are truly amazing. They lived long graceful lives, and even after they have have turned gray and stopped growing, they make their presence known. It's quite breathtaking if you let yourself take it all in.

I took a picture of a cactus, because when I think of the desert, I think of cactus. I thought this one was very proportionate and symmetrical in it's own way. I like that :).

If the Monkey Boy goes down for a walk, I want to do The Firm's Ab Sculpt video.

I hope you all have a good day. If you are stressed out, or in a bad place mentally, escape from that and go look outside. You can find beauty everywhere--in grass, rocks, the sky even dead trees.

Make it count!

I can do this. I am a star.

Day 186 (day 4 / week 27)

I went into my workout today with the idea in the back of my mind that I wanted it to be a (non)rest day. I told myself that I would do 30 minutes and then turn it off whenever I wanted after that.

When 30 minutes rolled around I thought to myself, "I like this segment, I'll stop when it's over," but then I ended up liking the segment after that too. Long story short, I did the entire video. My (non)rest day, turned into a regular day lol.

I'm really glad that I like The Firm's Body Sculpt with The Fanny Lifter. I find myself getting bored easily with my video workouts so it's nice to find one that I actually like to do. I go into my workout thinking "I'm gonna slack off" or "I'm gonna make it a rest day" and I do the whole thing, and I do it as well as I can. Who does that? Sure as heck not me! At least not the old me. I can remember at the beginning of my journey, doing Slim in 6, and not wanting to workout that day, and not giving it my best. This workout makes me want to do it better. In fact, today I burned 200 more calories than I normally do during this 60 minute workout, because I was trying to do it better (I burned 702 calories according to my HRM). I kept thinking about how I can do this and how I'm getting stronger and that people are actually noticing, and that most importantly I can notice it now. Such a blessing. So much of my daily hard work is paying off. There is nothing more rewarding than that...except for when my son comes and gives me a kiss in the middle of working out and says in his gibberish toddler voice, "love you mama." That is a blessing. He did this today, my sweet Monkey Boy.

Oma and Opa (my hubby's grandparents) are arriving today, from Texas. They are in the process of moving here and we are so excited. They have been on the road for 3 or 4 days and I am so excited to see them. My son has been asking for Oma and Opa since they last visited 2 months ago. They were here for only a few days, but he remembers. He has such a freakish memory, it's funny. He asks for Oma every single time we go to see Nana and Papa (my hubby's parents). He ALWAYS remembers things and we are always saying, "how on earth did he remember that?" Kids are great.

Hope you all have a great day. Make it count! It's worth it, and I promise if you are struggling right now with that (whether it's worth it or not), it will pay off in the long run. I promise, if you are consistant.

I can do this. I am a star.

Day 185 (day 3 / week 27)

I had big hopes for today's workout, but I just couldn't do it all. I decided to stop before I started hating it, cause I have to come back and do it again tomorrow.

The plan:
The Firm, Cardio Sculpt w/ Fanny Lifter (60 mins)
The Firm, Body Sculpt w/ Fanny Lifter (45 mins)

What I actually did:
The Firm, Cardio Sculpt w/ Fanny Lifter, 60 minutes, 504 calories burned
The Firm, Body Sculpt w/ Fanny Lifter, 10 minutes, 79 calories burned (lol).

I wanted to do the extra minutes for my official state team on Sparkpeople (Nevada). We realized that we only rank 38/50 in Spark America minutes (all of the minutes/exercise we put into sparkpeople goes into "Spark America minutes"). I think I am already doing a lot of cardio per day--heck, per week, so I am not going to give myself a hard time about it. I wanted to do more today, because I only did 40 minutes yesterday, instead of what I originally planned on.

All good. :)

Off to take a shower and eat something. Hope you have a great 4th of July, if you are from the US. If you're not, I hope you have a great weekend and get pleanty of rest! (I always talk about "go, go, go" but rest is just as important :)).

See you tomorrow ;)

I can do this. I am a star.

Day 184 (day 2 / week 27)

Today I am posting this REALLY late. It's almost 9pm. I have been at my in-law's house since early this morning and we are about to go home and go to sleep. I haven't even had a chance to check my emails or do any of my daily internet stuff that I do. I didn't even get a chance to check my quickfire challenges for the day and entered my food (haven't entered my fitness minutes yet) on sparkpeople on my mobile application on my cell phone (I got a new one btw...new service, new phone...yaay!). My FIL is kindly letting me us his computer so that I can type my blog.

Today I really thought I was going to do more exercise. My plan was to come here and use my MIL's elliptical trainer, and then when we got home (I thought around 2 or 3 pm) I would do my Firm video. Instead of the elliptical, my MIL asked me if I wanted to go walking at the mall instead, so we did. We walked for 40 minutes on the top level of the Meadows Mall, and I burned 469 calories in that time.

Walking in a mall is not my thing. Not a huge fan of people walking slowly and window shopping. When I go to the mall (hardly never) I want to get what I want and leave. I never go for just "fun" lol. Walking there was ok for the first 2 laps or so, but then I just got bored with the same old stuff, and stayed bored. Our conversation is what livened it up and made the time fly. I had fun (only cause I was w/ my MIL), although I wouldn't choose to go to the mall to walk again lol.

Tomorrow I hope to wake up early and get a walk in and possibly the video in the afternoon. We will see. It's going to be another long day, and we will be coming over here again. Hopefully I will proioritize my time a little better :).

Hope you all have a great 4th of July and a great weekend. If you're going to be outside, make it count! Have a good one!

I can do this. I am a star.

day 183 (day 1 / week 27)

Man these past few weeks have flown by quickly. I am really glad that I have taken advantage of this time at home to exercise and get healthy again. Such a blessing! This must be what God wants for me right now, because He has made it really easy for me to do this (in regards to time and such).

Today they were predicting for rain. They are usually wrong here but sure enough, it did! I woke up early and wanted to be out of the house early to beat the heat, but when I saw that it was overcast I relaxed a little and checked the weather report. Scattered showers throughout the day and T-Storms later in the evening--the high only being 98! Woo hoo!

I opened the door and went outside to use my sniffer to see if I smelled rain (Your nose knows, ya know?) and nada. Went in, packed the stroller, got ready and it sure enough... it started sprinkling. I dilly dallied a little (when it sprinkles it doesn't last long usually) and about 10 minutes later, it stopped. I got the Monkey Boy up, put him in the stroller and started walking. I walked a different route, because I was trying to stay away from the dark sky. If I had gone my normal route, I probably would have been rained on, but I was fine.

I only walked 3.3 miles (felt longer) and did it in 62 minutes. My HR monitor said that I burned 903 calories and stayed in my zone for 38 minutes (133-157). I also started to do "Ab Sculpt" from The Firm series that I have, but got 15 mins into it, before the distractions started, so I gave up for the day. The video is GOOD though. I could feel my ab muscles almost immediately after starting this video.

I took some more pretty pictures too...of the walk, not me exercising--that's not pretty, let me tell you! lol.

Today I did the other 1/2 (more like 1/4) of the city block, that I usually don't do, so I thought I would do something fun today, and show you on the map, where I took the pictures. Fun, right? They are numbered and so are the pictures below :).


1) When I walk the full city block (or this 1/4 of the block) I pass this funny tree. It grows these pink feather looking flowers! So pretty. They were a little wilted here, but still pretty. Wasn't able to get a pic of the full tree because my phone's camera isn't good enough. It looks really neat with all of these pink feathers in it.


2) This is the park that has the water spouts that I take my son to. It's only about a mile away, so it's an easy walk.

3) You can see in this picture how overcast it is here today. The #3 is a little off on the map (my bad--it starts almost right after #2) but here is a picture of the little "trail" (pssht) that I get to walk on, when I go this way. It's not directly next to the street, so that's a good thing and nice, but stops, which stinks because there are CRAZY drivers on Flamingo (lots of accidents). Where the #3 is on the map, is where the trail ends unfortunately lol. Back to the sidewalk for me! (this is the reason why I don't like to walk all the way down Flamingo to Rainbow--CRAZY drivers and lots of accidents on this road).


4) Right as I was turning onto the street to get to my neighborhood, I saw this HUGE sunflower peeking up over this wall and so I took a picture of it...I got that person's backyard in the picture too lol (thank goodness there were no sunbathers present!).


I hope you all have a great weekend, for those of you that have a long one :). If you're going to be outside, make it count and skip around! Sounds funny, but it's great exercise and so fun! Especially if you are around kids! They will wonder what the heck you are doing and probably join in (if they are the cool kind of kid--none of that, "Mom! You're embarrassing me!" junk lol).

I dare you. *wink*

I can do this. I am a star.