21 Days To Make/Break a Habit

Hello All!

I want to issue you a challenge! I know I challenged you to a 30 Day Valentine Challenge, which is still going as long as you are moving and working out everyday! I just can't post everyday. I don't have the time... well, I do, but I'm not very time... manageable. I am working on that though. I'll let you know when it gets better, actually you'll probably know when that happens even without me telling you. I'll be posting a lot more often.

Today is exactly 21 days until Valentines, minus Sundays. It is said that it takes 21 days to make or break a habit. So! On top of the 30 day valentine challenge to make you look EVEN better for your special someone, or for yourself if you don't have a special someone (or to make some ex jealous, whatever motivates you).

My personal habit I will be breaking is sugar! My mom/personal trainer challenged me to no refined sugar for thirty days, which will actually be the 21st of February, but 21 days is the start of it. Unfortunately that means I will not be having any hot chocolate during these freezing below zero or single digit weather. But if it means I can lose weight and get closer to my goal then I'll do it!

What is your 21 day habit to make or break?

Until Next Time!
Spicy

A Little Ranting And A Challenge!

Alright... here it is.

I didn't workout AT ALL last week. Other then cleaning house and watching LW and playing with him... oh and shoveling the snow out of our driveway a couple times, nothing. Which, I hear you, is still activity, but I need to be working out on a daily basis as well. The problem I've run into lately is that LW does not take a nap at the same time anymore, it's whenever he needs it and that nap, or naps depending on the day, can last anywhere between 10 minutes to three hours. So working out while he is asleep is really hard now.

The Hubs and I want to get up early and start working out before he leaves for work, because once he gets home neither of us want to which then we don't. We end up cuddling on the couch or playing card games together instead. Which is wonderful and fantastic, but doesn't help the whole working out thing. He has decided that he really wants to get the definition in his abs back. He still has the amazing arms he had when we first met, but the definition in his abs is gone. :( I'm all for him getting it back, haha. (wink, wink)

Another problem. I am hard to wake up in the morning before 7:30am. For some of you that might still be early. I used to be the sleep until noon or later kind of girl and stay up until 2am or later/earlier. I get it. That changed after getting married. Plus I didn't ever really like missing most of my day when I was the noon or later kind of girl, but I loved staying up late (still do) so that makes it harder. Then after having school every morning at 8am 30 minutes away plus the Saturdays at 6am (no joke, for over a year) I got over that too. Then the baby and anyway, I'm not a nooner kind of gal anymore. But I'm NOT a morning person. I wish I was though.

The alarm goes off and The Hubs wakes up, he then turns off his alarm and decides to wake me up... well upon making that decision he also decides that he just wants to cuddle or hold me for a few more minutes, LOVE, but then he falls asleep... which kind of defeats the purpose. That happened this morning.

You see my problem? The Hubs and I are determined to break this routine this week!

I'll let you know how it goes.

On a happier note, I wore those size ten pants all day on... I don't remember... but it was a day last week. I think Friday? Maybe Thursday. I don't know. It wasn't comfortable, but it wasn't terrible uncomfortable either. Part of the reason I wore them all day long is because my favorite pair of jeans now has a hole in them... right where all my pants get holes... the inner thigh. Talk about a shot to the self esteem, ugh. Anyway, I do have some other pairs that are bigger then a ten, but putting myself into the tens is actually motivating me.

I want to wear them and be comfortable in them, to where a nice fitting shirt with them instead of one that is loose around the middle. And I'm just getting closer everyday.

I have been feeling great the past couple of days though, thinner, healthier. The thing a week off working out really did for me was help me really focus on my eating! I even told the hubs I wanted to be considered a Nutritarian. He looked at me so weird when I said that. But I explained it to him and he got it! He is against extreme diets (so am I) or being Vegetarian (because he is a manly man and wants meat with every meal, haha, good thing he never reads this or I would be in for it, haha). Me? I've actually thought about being Vegetarian before, not that I hate meat, I just don't care for it most of the time and when we do eat it... it's usually chicken or turkey. I never cook beef or pork or fish (ew). The one time I cooked beef was for a party. Haven't ever done it since. I did cook a lot of ground beef when we first got married but then we switched to ground turkey. However, I do like eating chicken and turkey sometimes and I love eggs and cheese and all that yummy good stuff. Just not a ton of it...

Being a Nutritarian is perfect for me! I get to eat fruits and veggies like crazy learning new fun ways to cook them. Beans (I love beans) are awesome and I get them too! Plus, I can still have meats and dairy products and breads if I want! Just not as much which is wonderful. I've been trying hard to eat this way for a couple of weeks now and it's great. :) If you want to know more about what I'm talking about then check out Dr. Fuhrman's book Eat to Live.

Spunky has read it and I'm just waiting to get it. :) I can't wait!

As for my scale. I probably wont be getting one until February  :( I have found the one I want though! I'll let you know when I get it.

If you've read through all that then you're amazing and awesome and I want to give you a hug, if not... whatev's it's just a rant... with some fun info in it. If you're just wanting the challenge though... here it is!

Valentines Challenge!

Today starts 31 Days (counting today and up to the day before V-Day) until Valentines Day! Now, I know some people aren't really big on this holiday, including my hubby :( , but I love it! It's always fun for me to think of great ways I can show the hubs how much I love him all week long. Yup, you heard me. Our Valentines extends the entire week of Valentines.

These next 31 days are going to be full of hard, sweaty, workouts to help me and you burst through a couple pounds and tone up before then! You have ONE MONTH! I will be posting my workouts daily on the Daily Log Page so you can follow along. If you don't know the name of a workout then you can type it into google and I'm sure you will be able to find it. If not, email me! spicyfrost (at) gmail (dot) com and I'll explain it to you.

Rest Days will be Sundays and I'll let you know when you can an Active Rest Day, which means resting but still doing something active during the day like going for a nice walk or dancing or well... something active!

Just follow the workouts I post on the Daily Log, eat healthy, take a before and after picture and we will see some progress!

Until Next Time!
Spicy

C25K Day 3a.... *tears*

Man, I thought Tuesday was hard....that was nothing compared to today. I just simply didn't want to. I was also tired and hungry. But, I did it anyway. My left ankle that I injured terribly last summer was screaming at me the whole time. So much, in fact, that I had to slow my "jog" down to 3.2! What?! I usually can walk at 3.2.

Tears welled up, I kept going, I ended breathing harder than I normally do (because of the pain) and stretched it out. I am so mad, disappointed, sad, etc.

I think I am going to take Saturday off of C25K and NOT progress to the next level until my ankle can handle this level for longer than 5 workouts.

Day 2b

Wow! I did it! I am so pleased. Today, I got up earlier than a normal work day, worked a full teaching day, coached an hour of cheerleading, came home and got on the treadmill. Yes, I still did my C25K workout. Man were the first 10 minutes hard. I was hurting, tired, and hungry. But, then I decided this was silly. My conversation (yes, to myself) went something like this:

Come on, you can do this! It isn't that bad.
Cute, blonde.
Cute, jogging, blonde.
*smile*
I am strong!
I am powerful!
I got this!
I am a strong, powerful, sexy woman who my husband finds irresistible!
I do NOT feel threatened by anybody! I AM A SEXY BEAST! *huge smile and a giggle*

I finished the last half of the workout strong, and even kicked into a higher speed on the last jogging session. After I finished that last jog, I threw my hands in the air, thanked my Heavenly Father for the ability to work out, and said, "Yes!"

Lesson?  Positive self talk is important! I am so glad I worked out and feel all of those things right now.Try it, it works!

A Yummy Way to Start the Day!

This morning I was shoveling around in my refridgerator hoping to find one of the fruits in there appealing. I love bananas, but so does LW and there was only one left... so he got it. Then I started looking for an orange. Found one! But it was to mushy... not a good sign. After eating an Apple Cinnamon Muffin and thinking about it for a little long I finally picked up an apple.

Apples are hard to eat with braces people! I have to cut them up into bite sized pieces and it's just a pain! I love apples! But since having braces I dread eating them.

I cleaned the apple, took out it's stem, off came the sticker... and I stared at it.k

I grumbled.

I placed a little roughly the apple on the counter and sighed. What could I do with this apple?!

Then I thought of it.

I had seen a recipe long ago for baked apples. I didn't remember it and I didn't really look very hard at the recipe when I had originally found it, but I knew the basic concept.

So what did I do?

I cut off the top part of the apple and dug out the center with a spoon (there's got to be an easier way to do that, btw). The I dropped in a couple SMALL spoonfulls of peanut butter and squished it down with my apple core disemboweling spoon. I then poured honey on top of that and smeared some over the edges of the apple. Then I sprinkled a fair amount of cinnamon over it.

While I did all this I turned the oven on to 350. By the time I was done so was my apple. I slipped it into the oven for 10 minutes and took it out, nearly drooling over the smell. I sliced that apple in half and placed some cool whip in the center. Topping it off with another drizzle of cinnamon.

The outcome was divine.

I still had to cut it up, but with this your supposed to and it was so worth it. :)

You could really put anything you want into the apple. Then bake at 350 for 10 minutes and wal-la! You have yourself a delicious breakfast, or dessert!

Until Next Time!
Spicy

Monday Update - Spicy!

As I'm sure you already know, I don't have a weigh in for you yet. I haven't bought a new scale. However! I do have some fun news for you. I actually think this whole not having a scale thing is helping me. I would so be weighing myself probably everyday which is not healthy! I've decided once I do get a new scale I will only weigh in on my weigh in days. :)

I have been doing really well on my eating though! I feel thinner today, which is an improvement from how I've been feeling lately. (majorly bloated and uncomfortable) I'm learning I need to stay away from dairy products (especially milk) and really limit my intake of breads too otherwise I get really uncomfortable fast and a nasty stomach ache on top of it.

Thankfully I haven't really had much of anything dairy wise and my bready stuff has been way down too! And I have been feeling great!

My workout clothes today were actually comfortable again! I wore the pants all day long! (Hey, don't judge. The pants were actually clean and I was doing laundry.) I was gonna take a picture and didn't, but I was actually comfortable enough to take a picture in them! That's amazing! I also tried on a pair of my size 10 jeans yesterday, FRESH out of the dryer (and you know how tight jeans get once they've been in the dryer)... and they fit! They were uncomfortable at first, but once they loosened up they weren't to bad! I didn't wear them all day and I definitely am not comfortable to do that either. But they weren't too bad. I got them buttoned and zipped and wore them for about an hour and a half. Size 10! Woot!!! :D That makes me so happy. :)

Anyway! That's my update for today. Sorry it's not more exciting.

I'll have a recipe for you tomorrow though!

Until Next Time,
Spicy

Proud Lil Sis

I have to keep a huge warm shout out to my sis Spunky. Man, I love her. She is amazing and incredible. We live a good distance from each other and there are days when it's harder then others to be so far away. Then there are days where it is miserable being so far away. This week I felt both far and near to her. We were able to talk a lot more then normal this week and it was amazing. I am so proud of her for losing 2.4 lbs this week! She is such a strong wonderful woman and I am so very proud to say she is a glorious shining example to me in many many ways.

I'm having a hard time without my scale. It's probably a good thing it's busted I'm  taking a forced break, but not knowing how I'm doing is driving me crazy. I feel like I've eaten really well this week, but most nights this week I have felt bloated and... well... fat.

Not to mention on top of that my FAVORITE and most COMFORTABLE pair of jeans... have a hole now. I discovered it today. It's the same place every time. The rest of the jeans are perfect still... there's just a whole in each pant leg... right on the inside of the thigh. Because they rub together. a lot. Talk about a way to lower your self esteem after having a already not so good outlook on your health. :(

I have to focus on the fact that I did workout four times this week. I've eaten extremely well for breakfast and lunch and I have really been trying to watch portions at dinner (not as well as I should be though).

Spunky posted her goals for this next week and I wanted to copy her and tell you mine!

Continue working on my scripture/prayer habits.
Workout five times this week.
Be more active with LW and the Hubs.
Keep up on the dishes (which I hate) and work harder on a regular cleaning schedule.
Continue my good eating habits and make them even better.

Thanks for stopping in! I'll be posting on Monday, no weigh in, remember my scale is busted, but I guarantee a good post. :)

What's one thing you would like to improve on?

Until Next Time!
Spicy

C25K Day 2a

I weighed in at 214.8 this morning. That is 2.4 pounds lost this week. I'll take it! Today I'm going to be doing C25K outside instead of on the treadmill as I walk somebody's dog. So, I'll make $20 for exercising today! Nice! I think if I got paid to exercise everytime, I'd be more motivated...haha!

Next week I go back to work. Working out is going to be tricky but I am committed to doing it. Here are my goals for the coming week:

*Continue with good scripture/prayer habits I've formed this week.
* Continue with good Sendoutcards habits I've formed this week.
* Finish Week 1, Day 2 and the first time of Day 3 on C25K
* Workout WITH my cheerleaders
* Eat well
* Lose 2.8 pounds

What about you?

Day 1b

I just finished the second time through of Day 1 on Couch to 5k. If you didn't read my last post, I am doing couch to 5k but in double the amount of time. So that means on Saturday I'll be doing Day 2 for the first time.

I am embarrased by my numbers/speed, but happy that I completed Day 1 twice. I decided that when it is time to jog, I need to jog no matter how slow it is. So, I do the walking portion at 2.7mph and the jogging portion at 3.7mph. I tried 4mph and couldn't make it the full minute. Today I went 1.44 miles in a 30 minute workout. I cheated a little and ran at 5mph for about 20 seconds just for fun. LOL!

What was your last workout?

Happy New Year

For whatever reason, I love New Year! I think it symbolizes so much to me and a fresh start is one of the symbols. That always feels good. Clean slate. Here is a picture of me and two of my sisters on Christmas day. We really missed Spicey, LW, RF, and our brother. Hopefully we will all see each other this year at least once. :)

I always make a goal list and this year is no different. Here are my goals for 2013:

* Say goodbye to the 200s permanently
* Go to my brother's mission farewell
* Help 12-24 people set up an account with SendOutCards (ask me if you want to know more) it is the best thing for sending cards/gifts/and photo products!
* Be more spiritually minded and consistant
* Retire!
* Become pregnant (this has been a goal for a long time....we'll see)
* Read as many or more books than I did in 2012 (30)
* Be able to do the splits again and a high kick on both sides

Here is my 16 week plan (don't remember what I had told Spicy, but here is what my 16 week plan is now). I weighed 217.2 on Saturday, Dec. 29, 2012. I'll weigh again on Jan. 5th and hope to see 214.0.

Jan. 1, 2013 I began a 16 week journey.

* Do Couch to 5k in double the time (it is an 8 week program; I'll be doing each day twice since I am more out of shape than I need to be so this will take me 16 weeks)
* Participate WITH my cheerleaders in conditioning!
* Eat fruit for breakfast (usually in my protein shake), HUGE salad, veggies and beans for lunch, anything for dinner (with portion control), and one dessert/week on date night if we get dessert.

Join us on our 1st 16 week journey of 2013! What is your 16 week plan?

Brand New Year

Welcome 2013!!!

That feel really weird to type and to say. It will sink in, but definitely not for a while.

I've been MIA for a while as I'm sure you all noticed. My family comes WAY before this blog and I've been with family since my last post. I do have some super fun, cute, and adorable overloaded pictures though that I will be sharing on here soon!

I have some kind of sad news though. I will not be having any weigh ins for a while because... well... my scale died. I went to weigh in yesterday and it wouldn't tell me a consistent number and then today all it would say was. Lo. I'm not gonna pay for new batteries for it because those batteries are expensive! It's cheaper just to buy a new scale! Plus the one I have isn't the best anyway and I need a new one. So, I will let you know when I get a new one. Hopefully soon because I wanna know where I'm at.

Spunky and I decided to challenge each other though! We each have a 16 week plan. I'll let Spunky tell you about her side of it. I have planned to lose at least 20 pounds in 16 weeks. Workout 6 days a week. Eat SUPER healthy and go off sugary sweets. I had told Spunky I would start it right before Christmas, but after spending a week with family where I had no control over what was being cooked (even though it was wonderfully delicious and I did try to keep my portions down), I decided I'm starting, yesterday! I'll be telling Spunky that right after I post this. More on the 16 week plan later.

With other news; however, I recently was privileged to hear a talk that really inspired me. It was about the new year and resolutions, but it was more then that as well. The woman speaking focused on how many people, including herself and me, tend to look at the past year with regrets of our resolutions we made the year previously. She continued by saying that thinking this way gets us no where. We must look ahead and move forward with renewed strength and gusto!

I have a few resolutions/goals. I actually don't like the term resolutions, don't know why, it just seems to be poisoned so I tend to say my 2013 goals.

Anyway, here are my 2013 plans and goals!

• Have a Great Year!
• Build my spirituality/testimony in my religion and in Christ.
• Lose 30 pounds in 6 months.
• Become pregnant with Baby #2.
• Stay in shape, working out, and running throughout pregnancy.
• Start learning a new language.
• Continue to develop my talents.

What are your plans for 2013?
Any resolutions/goals?

Until Next Time!
Spicy