40.3 Miles

I hit my goal for the week and a little more. How did you do?

2.3 More Miles and Another Book

Just finished walking 2.3 miles. Total: 37.3/100.

I finished reading "Wicked Lovely" yesterday. This was a hard book for me to get in to. I have tried multiple times and I finally gave it my rule. What is my rule? Read the first five chapters before I quit reading (unless it is terrible language/sex/etc.). I read the first five chapters and then was interested to know what happened. So I finished the book in a day. That means it couldn't have been that boring, right?!

No, it wasn't that boring; however, I don't think I'll be reading the rest of the series. Why? It just wasn't THAT great. I've read some pretty great books and this isn't one I think I'll even remember the title in a few months. There was also more language and intimate desires than I prefer.

Rating: 2.5/5 stars
   Characters: The characters are ok. They clearly have something driving each of them which stays constant, but I didn't fall in love with any of them. Towards the end, I did start liking the main character better, because she became a stronger version of herself.
   Language: Two uses of the F-word, a few uses of the B-word, one instance of text speak cussing. Even one f-bomb is too much for me!
   Intimacy: Nothing described in detail, but it is clear that this is the goal of one of the characters, and a few of them have desires that are described. Moments that would have led to intimacy, but get interrupted for one reason or another, are described. A character finds another's piercings and tattoos arousing. Characters are referred to as lovers, consorts, etc.
Violence/Gore: Some. The antagonist murders and hurts characters, with some of it described along with the pain. Descriptions of screaming and agony.
   Suggested reader age: I would say it is not worth your time. I wouldn't want my children reading this, or my teenager. Like I said, even as an adult, this doesn't meet a high standard of morality or values.

35 miles down

Take another 3 miles off the list today. :)

How Much Are You Eating?

I have a challenge for you! Yes, I know my last challenges haven't gone so well, but this one is TOTALLY on you.

For ONE DAY! Yup, just one day. I want you to eat exactly what you do everyday and record it. Especially the calories.

Before last week I was eating pretty much three times a day. Healthy meals. Lots of water. The way I thought it was supposed to go...

Well, last week I got worried I wasn't eating enough. It's happened before, not on purpose, and I was kind of shocked to realize it. A lot of people have the mindset, "if I eat less I'll lose weight", but that is completely the opposite! If you're not eating enough you're body will fight you and it wont let you lose weight because it will hold on to EVERYTHING!

With that said, I don't have that mindset and didn't the first time I realized I wasn't eating enough either.

It's vitally important to eat enough calories, good healthy calories. You start eating less then what your body needs and things start shutting down. Organs start shutting down.

So for ONE DAY last week I tracked what I was eating. It was healthy, but it wasn't enough. I barely made it to 1100 calories. BARELY! That is BAD!!!

The next day I did something different. I went from eating three times a day to eating five times. This week I have been eating six times a week. Breakfast, snack, Lunch, snack, Dinner, snack. Now I know some of you are looking at this and thinking... THAT IS A LOT OF FOOD!!! But not really. It's a lot of vegetables, but over all smaller portions of everything else.

Let me tell you... I have had more energy in just a week then I have in some time and that is saying something considering I am SO TIRED.

That's my challenge. Look at what you're eating and how much. Change from eating only three times a day to five or six times a day. Look at your 1/4 cup of broccoli and realize it's not enough! Eat 4 cups of broccoli!

Now I'm gonna go eat lunch. :)

Until Next Time!
Spicy

32 and a good book

Walking total: 32 miles/100.

I read a good book last night/this morning. I didn't want to stop until the end and now I want to go buy the next two in the series! The book is "Matched" by Allyson Condie. If you liked Hunger Games, but wish there wasn't so much violence, you will enjoy this book!

Characters: Strong- the characters are well developed.
Plot: Intriguing - like I said, I want the rest! I read it in about 5 hours because I just didn't want to stop.
Language: Clean - not a single cuss word or inuindo
Sex/Violence: Clean - two instances of a kiss (sweet, not detailed), feelings of loving somebody. The antagonist in the story does things that I believe are terrible and wrong, but none of it is described in detail and it must be inferred by the reader (other than a mention or two of poisoning people).

The nest book in the series is "Crossed" and I need it! LOL!

Recommendation: Yes! If I had children, I would allow my 12+ year old to read this book. I may even go as low as 10 years depending on the child and my relationship to the child. I definitely recommend this book for any adult who likes a sweet, if somewhat rebellious story!

30 miles down!

I said I would be at 40 miles by the end of this week and I started it off today by meeting my daily goal (2 miles). I actually went 2.2 which will probably be the norm for now, so I'll be at or above 40 miles after Saturday's walk/jog.

I have to go to the dentist in an hour and I'm dreading every minute of it. UG! Does anybody out there want to take my place? I'll trade you! Anything!

Let's Go For A Run

BAM! Just kidding!!!

This is what I woke up to Saturday morning. I was so excited to get out and go for a 3 mile run and I woke up to 6 inches of snow on the ground. There hadn't been any snow on the ground the night before! And guess what? I kept coming! We had about a foot of snow in one day. Thankfully on Sunday most of it melted. And this week is supposed to warm up a little and actually get into the low 60's! Yay!

Now, I do... did... consider myself a runner. I remember realizing that I was a runner and the high I got from that. As of the moment... I'm building back to being a runner. HOWEVER! With that said I am not THAT kind of runner.

I WILL NOT run in the snow, or when it's below 30 degrees. I don't even like running below 40 degrees, but I did when I was training for my half marathon. I will run in the rain unless it's pouring. But I prefer just a nice easy run/jog. 

I see people running from those windows when there is snow outside and I think they are crazy. They're awesome, because I will never do that, but they are crazy. I prefer not to slip and fall on my butt thanks. 

Needless to say... I didn't run on Saturday. I could have used my treadmill true, but it's started to smell after the first 20 minutes and I'm not fast enough to run 3 miles in 20 minutes. Never will be. Plus we had a lot of other things to get done around the house so we stayed home and cleaned all day long... and may or may not have ordered pizza. :D

Thankfully the snow is mostly melted and I can go for my two mile walk today. I need it. :)

What are you doing today to get moving?

Until Next Time!

Spicy

27.8

My total at the end of this week is 27.8 miles.

I'm on my spring break now, so I plan on hitting 40 miles by next Saturday. That is 2 miles each day plus a tiny bit. Easy to do while I'm home! So excited!

Holy Tiredness!

Okay so, Tuesday I had an AWESOME walk/run and workout. Then out of no where, kind of, I was SUPER tired both Wednesday and Thursday. I seriously felt like this...

picture taken from google/images

I probably could have fallen asleep anywhere yesterday and actually I did end up taking a nap all the way through LW's almost 3 hour nap... ya... that's a long time. I was awake for a good half hour after he fell asleep though so it was probably more like 2.5 hours... still ... I think I needed some sleep.

I'm trying really hard to listen to my body and figure out what it needs and the past two days, my body needed rest. Today however! I woke up with a bounce in my step and I feel great! I had a nice spinach, fruit, and protein smoothie for breakfast and as soon as that settles I'm hitting the weights! To be followed by a 2 mile walk with LW. I'll be running tomorrow so no running today.

Tomorrow will be my first run without LW in a long time and I can't wait to see how it feels. I miss those runs. I mean I love having LW with me, but it does make it so much harder. Well, off to the land of free weights and developing sexy arms! :D

Until Next Time!

Spicy

23.3

Monday, I walk/jogged 2.1 miles. I am starting to enjoy the jogging part better than the walking part. No! I never in my life thought I would ever say that or WANT to say it even! But, I'm done fighting to stay negative and want to embrace that joyful feeling no matter how small it is!

My total is now 23.3/100. 76.7 left to go! I'll be walking another 7 miles this week.

Shout out to Spicy, she looks AMAZING, right?!

7/100 miles done!

Hahaha, I'm looking at that and I am just laughing. That sounds ridiculous. 7 out of 100... oh brother. I've got my work cut out for me.

Two posts in one day!?!?!?! What is happening?!?! Haha, just me getting back in the groove.

Today I was going to do just a two mile walk, but then I realized it is Tuesday! One of my goals is to run Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday. 3 Miles every tues and thurs and 5-6 miles on Saturdays. So, I thought to myself... why not start now?

I didn't run the whole thing. I walk/ran it which is just fine by me! I'm still moving! I did about a 15 minute mile. My walking was really slow. Every time I started walking my calves would cramp up on me. I have a history with charley horses in my calves, their not fun and I don't want another one, so I took the walking slower then I wanted to.

My running was really slow too, but that's okay. I'll get faster again and pushing a heavy stroller with a heavy toddler through wind and up hills is a pain! I do not like running with a stroller... I know it will get easier, but I miss my runs just on my own when I didn't have to focus on anything else but me. I'm trying to figure out how I can do my runs three times a week without the stroller. Of course a running stroller would make it easier too... hint hint, hubs. (he doesn't ever read this, but whatever)

Yup, so that's what's happening! I'll be doing 3 miles every Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday until I can run all three again then I'll start bumping up the distance on my Saturday runs. I'll try to keep up the 2 mile walk Mon, Wed, Fri... we'll see how that goes. Now, I'm off to do some free weights in my workout room!

What are you doing to get moving today?

Until Next Time!

Spicy

Here's What Happening

Hey Ya'll!

So, I'll be honest... I only did four miles like week, but the second two were a walk/run and it felt awesome!

Exercise kind of took a back seat for a while since we started painting, cleaning fell to the back of the list too, but it's back on top now... besides yesterday.

Yesterday was my doctors appointment. Spunky had one last week, so I guess it was my turn ;) haha. The appointment went well. I weighed in at 171, but that was fully dressed and I had been drinking water like a mad woman. So I am probably closer to like... 168? Anyway, I don't really care about that. I am eating well and I feel SO good! Plus... I seriously do NOT look like I'm 170 lbs!

I stepped on the scale and the lady put the first thing to 100 lbs. then started moving the smaller thing... up and up it went... She stopped it first at 130, then moved it to 140... and then 150. She actually said, "hmm..."
and her eyebrows furrowed! I wanted to laugh, it made me feel great. So she moved it to 150 and started moving the smaller one again and it landed on 171. She announced that like she couldn't believe it.

My blood pressure was 112/66. She apologized when she started taking it because she said something that made me laugh right as she started. It was funny. Spunky! You and I are pretty much the same there!

Everything else went well and then I got stabbed... :(

That's the best picture I could get... it looks worse then that...

The guy taking my blood was nice though, he called me an angel. Although, the only reason he called me that is because I told him it didn't matter which arm he took blood from. I've decided I'm calling those people vampires now. They take blood for a living... ew.

Anyway, that is how my day went yesterday and I was going to workout, but after my two appointments (one for my braces), grocery shopping, and doing a massive amount of cleaning (trying to catch up)... I was really tired.

And here is a couple picture from this morning.

Seriously people... who weighs 170 lbs and looks like that? Apparently I do! LOTS of muscle ya'll! And more to come! Sorry about the annoying flash and the baggy pants (makes it so you can't see my muscular legs), didn't think about that until afterward but I was too lazy and stubborn to change and take more pictures, haha.

Until Next Time!

Spicy

21.2

21.2 miles walked/78.8 to go! 9 weeks left.

100 Miles... Um... What Am I At?

As you can probably tell from the post title, I have NO IDEA how many miles I've done! So, I decided to start over! Haha! It wil make me push harder to get to 100 miles and catch up with Spunky. I had originally wanted to surprise her and tell her I did 200 miles instead, but I don't think that is going to happen.

My workouts went out the window for a week because I got super sick. Unfortunately we had family staying with us at the same time, I've been slowly getting back into working out and then last week... Some random urge struck me and I did this...

Yup! We started painting! YAY!!! It's a bout time. EVERYTHING was eggshell! The ceiling, the walls, the doors, the trim, the baseboards! EVERYTHING! Now the ceiling is mostly white and the walls will be a soft yellow color. The doors, trim, and baseboards will be white as well. Everything is still in progress and we need to finish the ceiling, and finish the one wall that I had the random urge to paint before the others, but it's coming along so nicely and it already looks so much better! I can't wait! :D

Anyway! Wow, I got way off topic! Since I am "starting over" or rather, just starting to actually count my miles now, I am currently at two. I just completed a weight training workout and let me tell you... just with a couple weeks off... I feel SO WEAK! I'm excited to get back in the groove of working out everyday. And in a couple hours, LW and I will be going on a walk/run. Two miles will become five by tonight! :D

Don't worry Spunky! I'll have 100 miles by the time we see each other next! Don't you worry! ;)

Speaking of Spunky, isn't she doing amazing!? Keeping up the mileage and look at that heart rate! THAT'S why I threw out the scale! The scale may not say much, if anything, or it might say a lot, but the difference in those results and how you feel is so much more then a number on a scale.

I will however, probably see the number on the scale sometime next week as I too have a doctors appointment. I will let you know how it goes and what the scale says. :)

If you haven't joined Spunky and I on our 100 mile quest, START NOW! It's never to late! Set a date in the not so distant future and go for it! Spunky is on 19 and I am will be on 5!

It doesn't matter what you do, just MOVE!

Until Next Time,
Spicy

Plans?

So apparently I'm not so great at making and keeping plans regarding my "weight loss program". Today, I was thinking about the time when I was most successful losing weight before and how I am doing now. I realized that I need to just make better choices and not deny myself anything. I just need to control it. I don't think I'm doing the $10/week off sugar anymore. Not worth it! I know, I thought it was.....like I said, not good at keeping plans.

Today, I walked/jogged 4 miles. That puts me at 19 miles so far! 81 to go. Are you walking with me?

The Scale isn't the only measurement!

I walked 2 miles today. 15 down/85 to go!

I had a Dr. appointment today and am so excited because my blood pressure was 112/67 the first time!!!! I have incredibly bad white coat syndrome and usually my blood pressure is high and they have to take it again after the appointment so that it is in the normalish range. My walking has been paying off!!

She told me to lose 30-50 pounds as quickly as possible and bump up my workouts to 90-120 minutes 6 days a week!

Bring it on!

2 more

13 down! 87 to go!

I just walked today. My body is achy and my feet are screaming at me. I've got to listen so I can walk every day.

11 and a Surprise

Mark another mile off the total. I'm now at 11 miles walked. I calculated that in order to hit 100 before I go to see all of my family I have to walk about 8.1 miles a week from here on out. So, to do that, I'll be diligently walking one mile a day on weekdays and doing a 5k on Saturdays!

Today, I walked 0.25, jogged 0.3, and walked the rest. Shins and ankles are tight from Saturday, so it was good to walk a short distance and decrease my jog a little.

I was feeling a little left out when Spicy posted her surprise....I have one of my own. I can't wait to get her reaction! Spicy....



I



am


coming



to



visit



you



in



July!

I don't know when in July, but I am coming! We will plan on morning walks/jogs, lots of healthy cooking, taking portraits for you, and so much! Love ya!!!

Day 1 of 14

Have you read Jorge Cruise's book The Belly Fat Cure?

If you haven't, you should! This guy is a genius. He, and many other people and studies, and found and determined that waist/belly measurement is more important then weight because if you have a large mid section it can lead to a TON of health related issues. Many of you look at this and think, ugh another diet. NO! It's not a diet!

Have you ever noticed that the word diet has the word DIE in it?! No wonder diets don't work and people have a hard time with them! This is a HEALTHY way of living and eating and guess what? You can still eat what you want! All you have to do is have no more then 15 g of sugar a day and 6 servings of carbs. Easy! You should look into this book.

On a side(ish) note though... I bought Jorge Cruise's book that is kind of a sister book to this one.

I don't want to give to much away because it's not my book and I'm a firm believer of buying it yourself. :) There is a 14 day menu in this book, along with recipes, and I am following it. I started today. So far so good! I'm currently eating my snack while typing this out. Yummy, pumpkin seeds! I love pretty much anything pumpkin. 

A super quick idea of what I'm doing. I'm basically going completely off sugar and breads/starches for two weeks. I've already gone 30 days without sugar, two weeks is nothing... Breads however... I LOVE breads. But that may be an area where I'm also addicted to it. So, here it goes. I can do anything for two weeks. That is nothing! 

Thankfully this book has substitutes for things though. Because there are a lot of the dinners that I either don't like or wont make. I refuse to buy any meats other then chicken and turkey (and now fish) because it's WAY to expensive. Except for rare occasions. And you can season the chicken or turkey to taste just like beef! I love it. Chicken absorbs more flavor though.

So if you have read this book or are also doing the fast track, which can be done just for 14 days or for a lifetime, don't get on my case about my pumpkin seeds! It's still a snack item. :P

As you saw yesterday, I threw my scale away so I wont be able to tell you how much I lose weight wise, but I will tell you how much in my measurements! If you would like to see my measurements you can check out my New Beginnings post.

Wish me luck! I'll keep you updated on my progress. :)

Until Next Time!

Spicy

Oh Man, Look What I Did!!!

Can't believe I did it!

When my Mom issued me the 30 day challenge of no sugar I was totally gung-ho about it. It was awesome and gave me power to do other things. A little way through the challenge she said, "So, you're going to throw your scale away, right?" I didn't answer her. I couldn't say yes, but I didn't want to say no. So we compromised. I didn't weigh for 30 days. When I did, I was mad at what I saw and didn't understand. I've concluded that my scale is dead. It's been dying for a while and I do not believe what it said. I have not weighed since. My surprise people is this...

My stupid scale...

IN THE GARBAGE!!!

I did it!!! I threw my scale away!

If you have not done this, PLEASE consider it! There are much better ways to track your progress like how your pants are fitting and measurements and just how you feel! I can not tell you the amount of relief I felt when I threw that blasted thing in the trash! It's like a weight (no pun intended) was lifted off my shoulders!

Wow! It felt amazing!

In fact, yesterday I went to go see a book signing by Heather Frost - author of the Seers Trilogy (by the way, she is my Sis-in-law... AWESOME!!!) and when I went to get dressed in the morning I put on some jeans and was mortified! They didn't fit, when the Saturday before they had been totally comfortable! I was sick for a week, eating was out the window and I didn't workout at all... I was so upset. That night I got home and realized, I had tried to wear the wrong pair of jeans! The jeans I had tried on I wore at my healthiest weight. The jeans I had thought they were I am currently wearing and they are perfectly comfortable, in fact they are a little big.

Those other jeans... Thinking back on it... I had those jeans up over my butt and thighs and it was close to buttoning! I mean.. not close enough to force it, I don't like doing that anyway...

Girls and women! wear the RIGHT size of pants! Don't squeeze yourself into a couple pants sizes to small and then complain about a muffin top! Pu-leaze!

Anyway. They are SO much closer though! In December I couldn't even get them over my butt and if I did I was squeezing into them and no where near buttoning them! YAY! I've come so far! Just gotta keep on going! :D

That was my surprise. :)

Oh and here are a few fun pics of my lil guy. This was after the book signing. Isn't he adorable?!

Until Next Time!

Spicy

10 miles down

On Tuesday, I walked/jogged 1 mile just to get a mile in. Did one quarter mile warm up walk, jogged half a mile, and cooled down for one quarter mile. Jogging half a mile on the treadmill is SOOOO much harder than jogging half a mile outside! I just kept looking at the distance and time. When I'm outside I just go until I feel my body telling me it is time to walk. On the treadmill, I felt like it was time to walk before I had even jogged a quarter mile! Wow! I need to find a walking area near by!

Today I walk/jogged 3.4 miles outside. Actually, my pedometer stopped working about halfway through so I'm guessing. Next week, I'll do the same route and have a more accurate number. The great news is that I'm pretty sure I jogged half a mile twice during my walk! Sweeeeeeeet!!!!!

Also, I've made it through the first week without sugar. I've still allowed myself to have starches, fruit, and juice because I am going to gradually take some of those out. The first 4 days this week were SUPER hard. My work had candy and cookies, cake, and other goodies twice this week during those four days! I did NOT give in! Every time I want something sugary, either my husband asks or I ask myself how much I would pay for it. Let me tell you, the answer is NOT $10! Why $10? Because that is the deal I made with myself. $10 for every week without sugar. The first time I have sugar, I will pay myself the sum of all the weeks. I am also paying myself $2 for every pound I lose.

This week I lost 0.6 pounds. So my total money earned so far is $11.20.

Just to keep track, here are my stats.

Beginning: Feb 24th, 2013     Today: March 2, 2013
Weight: 213.8                               Weight: 213.2
Chest: 48.5"
Waist: 43"
Hips: 47.5"

Goals: Weight - 103-115 (based on three different calculation devices; it is just a number to motivate at this point); Chest - 39; Waist - 28 or less (I've learned that waist circumference is more important than weight), Hips - 36-38.

Are You This Person?

(quick side note)

Hey ya'll, I know I said I had a surprise for you two days ago... I got really sick and didn't want to do anything, but curl up in a ball, with a pillow over my head and not move. I'm back now!

A couple weeks ago, when I finished my 30 day challenge and started a new one right away. I saw a quote that said something along the lines of "Most people who begin a workout/healthy lifestyle for the new year, never make it through February. Are you that person?"

I read that and thought... NO WAY! I am not going to be that person!

Sitting out for a week trying to get over this nasty sickness has really made me miss working out everyday. I'm remembering how tired and worn down I felt before working out on a regular basis. I'm so much happier on days I workout! More "bubbly"! I tend to get grumpy when I don't workout!

I'm not giving up again. I'm SICK of giving up and "starting over". NOT AGAIN!

Then I realized... There are a lot of people who are not quite at that step yet...

Are you?

Are you the person the gave up a week into your new lifestyle? Two weeks? A month? Maybe you gave up repeatedly?

Guess what...

I've done ALL of those things.

Do yourself a favor this month and DO NOT be the person who gives up in March!

Keep up with me on the journey to a healthier life and workout regularly. Eat better then you EVER have! 80% of health, fitness, and losing weight is what you eat! I personally think it's more like 90%, but whatever.

I didn't workout today, starting to feel better but still hard to breath and I get dizzy if I get to rambunctious. Plus, I do NOT want to relapse. I seem to relapse into sickness really easily so I'm not pushing it. BUT You can bet your sweet biscuits I'll be back at it as SOON as I feel safe to continue! :D

Don't give up!

Don't give into temptation!

You CAN do this!

I'm right there with ya.

Until Next Time!
Spicy