Day 105

I'm just now seeing that my post from yesterday didn't publish and is still a draft, so I'm going to publish that at the same time as this post.

I just got off of the elliptical trainer for the second time today. I just did 35 minutes and this morning I woke up and did 30 minutes.

One day at a time. One choice at a time.

I can do all things in Christ who gives me strength.

Day 260 (day 1 / week 37)

Today was a much better day :). I got a good night's sleep and got my sanity back. Whew!

Walking a puppy is a lot harder than it looks... I read some leash training tricks, and they worked, but it took too much brain power to walk Pebbles and push the stroller at the same time (lol). I read to put the leash on and let the dog run around w/ it for a while to get used to it. Once she didn't realize it was there anymore, I just picked it up. The site also said that if she pulls or wont walk, to just stop and not pull, that the dog will see they are not going forward and will fall through. She is young so this will take a little time w/ other dogs around, but it worked for the most part. I had a handful of training treats and dropped one by my side, while walking, every 4-5 steps or so, to show her that it's a reward to walk next to me..and that was it! She walked next to me for about a 1/2 mile before I put her in the bottom of the stroller. It was hot out and I didn't want to burn her little baby pads.



We walked only 2 miles. It took me over an hour to do this with all the stopping and such, but it's probably a good thing. I don't want to exercise too much, because I don't want have to eat anymore than I am already supposed to.

			Calories	Carbs	Fat	protein
			2,090 - 2,440	263 - 380	52 - 91	60 - 205

I forced myself to pick up my hand weights and do some bicep curls. I haven't used those things in a long time. I need to do more strength training, like I mentioned last week.

Ooh! I think we have Pebbles potty trained for the most part. It's been much easier than potty training the Monkey Boy lol. We got her Saturday and the first night potty training was hard, but the day after was a breeze, and has been since. We just use the treat system again, and don't make a big deal about the accidents because I don't want to accidentally reinforce a bad habit with attention (I read this and it seems to work with bitting and with jumping also).

When my son calls the dog, it sounds like he calls her "bubbles" so that's what I have been accidentally calling her. I keep forgetting her name :).

Anyway gonna try the walking thing again tomorrow. I would have gone earlier by myself today, but my hubby had to be at work early so I couldn't get out. I will try to get out tomorrow before he leaves by myself, but we will see how that goes. I liked being able to sleep in till 6 today :).

Exercising with a job, toddler and puppy is possible! Anything is better than nothing. I hear these excuses a lot at work, with family and friends, and I guess my point is that if I can do it, anyone else can too. There isn't anything different about me. It is hard, but SO rewarding, and when it's done for the day, it's done! Don't have to worry about it or feel bad that nothing was done or attempted. I think it has a lot to do with comfort zones and it being so much easier to put off until tomorrow. The problem with that is that tomorrow turns into yesterday and the cycle passes by pretty quickly, especially with so much going on (kids, work, dog, family, school, etc). It's possible, you just gotta do it! Five minutes here and there counts! It really, really does!

Have a good day. See you tomorrow! Get it over with early and make it count :).

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

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 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 141 (day 1 / week 21)

Today I woke up early again, but decided to take Logan with me again for another power walk. We went for a 3 mile walk (3.27 miles to be exact) and I finished in a little over 60 minutes. I probably could have finished sooner, but Logan and I were playing through his little "peek a boo" window on his stroller visor, and I stopped to take a picture with my phone, of a house that had been vandalized in the backyard (the only house on the street with a low wall).

My heart rate stayed between 130-142 for an hour, for the most part, so this isn't too bad of a workout :). I'm excited because I am seeing my weight drop (195.6 this morning!!!) and my semi-fat clothes are starting to fit looser :) :) :).

I have finally drilled in my head that "food is for fuel--not friends, fun or feelings." This really helped me to change my eating habits permanently. I guess I just needed to hear it in a certain way, ya know? I can't remember where I read this originally, but I have been trying to make it a mantra since and it's starting to become one.

I am one happy mama! :) :)

I hope everyone has a wonderful Thursday! Make it count!

I can do this. I am a star!