MAKING IT WORK

Here I am...in the middle of my second month of working out and eating healthy.

I've been working out 6-7 days a week.  For a couple of weeks, I worked out 7 days but then I realized I really did need one day off a week.

I really enjoy my long walks each Saturday and Sunday and I really didn't want to give either one of those up.  There is something energizing about a long walk outside.  I always feel better when I get home from my walks. It is a mood lifter to say the least.

That being said, I decided to take Mondays off.

It makes perfect sense...right?

This is my rationale....Monday mornings arrive too soon and too early. It's so hard to get out of bed, put on work out clothes and get on the treadmill for 30 minutes and then go to work.  I would rather just pull the covers over my head and go back to sleep for several hours...or at least another 30 minutes. 

It's a win-win!  Taking Mondays off allows me to sleep in on Monday mornings (if you consider 5:30 a.m. sleeping in...) and I get to keep my Sunday walks (outdoors and longer cardio time and calorie burn)

I know it doesn't sound like a big deal, but to a woman who has given up Girl Scout cookies this year, an extra 30 minutes of sleep is a big deal. 

It's been a good trade-off. 

MY FAVORITE APP

I have several really great Apps on my Droid phone, but my all time favorite is one called 'Out of Milk'.  (Apple has a similar one for IPhone).  It's a FREE grocery list application and lets you create multiple lists in case (like me) you shop at more than one place. 

I currently have three lists--Grocery, Costco and Walmart.  I can move items between my lists, add them from my history (when you delete them from your list, they go into your history).  As I place the item in my cart, I can line it off on my phone and the item goes to the bottom of my list. 

Since I have my phone with me everywhere, whenever I remember something we need, I can simply add it to my list on my phone.  No more scraps of paper floating around my house, at my office or in my purse!

When you start typing in an item, there are default items in the database that will pop up and you can just add (saving you time).  You can customize and specify your own brands or items that are not in the database too!

Bonus!  It also has a Pantry list and Spice Rack with numerous items that are found in your pantry and spice rack.  You can also customize those items/list to fit your family's tastes or cooking style and add from the pantry and spice rack lists to your shopping lists! 

It also has a barcode scanner to use to add items to your lists!  There are some other bells and whistles that I am not using but you may love.  You can check them out. 

And that's not all... *drumroll*  It has a To-Do List! 

Did I mention that it's FREE?  It does have a Pro version for $2.99 that has gotten stellar reviews too, but I have the free version and am quite happy with it.

This App has truly made my shopping more organized (and me less crazed).  No more hunting for a pen to cross off my list, or cursing myself for leaving my list sitting on the kitchen counter!  You know you've done that! 

Now if I can just remember to bring my shopping bags from the car into the store with me...is there an app for that?

SUPER SUNDAY

Yes, it's Superbowl Sunday.  I am less interested in the actual game, but I love the stories behind the players.  It's fascinating and gives me a greater appreciation for the game and the heart of the players.

I also love the commercials...my favorite part.

I made sure to get my 4.31 miles walk in earlier today and we're planning healthy snacks to eat during the game...after all Superbowl is also about the food.  But you don't have to go crazy to join in the party.

We have huge spread of fresh raw veggies (cucumber, brocolli, red peppers, green peppers, yellow peppers, carrotts, grape tomatoes, and celery.  We're serving it with a fat free sour cream dip. 

I also made a homemade bean dip with drained and rinsed pinto beans, lime juice, garlic, cumin, chili powder and salsa all mixed in the food processor.  Serving with pita chips.

We're making homemade "hot wings" using baked chicken breast tenderloins, coated with Franks Buffalo Hot Pepper sauce.

Lastly, we are making cheesy jalapeno peppers with seeded jalapenos, cream cheese, shredded cheddar cheese and crushed garlic and then baked.  Just making enough for one serving each, so we are not gonna go off the grid with our calories!

Lots of healthy choices and good food to snack on--now just waiting on the game! We're ready!

Feeling good with my 13 pound weight loss for January and more motivated than ever to continue getting into better shape and more fit this month too!

A BIRTHDAY AND NEWS FROM ME

Today is my son, Taylor's 23rd birthday! This is one of my favorite photos of him that I snapped when we were in Tennessee.  He drove from Virginia to spend the weekend with us!  We had a great visit together!

 This is another photo of him, but he is at work and he's holding his friends' twin daughters when they came to visit him on the ship.  Cute, huh?

As for me, I am still in gear with my exercise and eating healthy gig. 

We ordered our bikes (yay!) and will get them in April.  I am so excited about it!

We are both getting Electra Townie Balloon 8i bikes.  This is the mens.  And this one is the ladies.  Then we can join the local bike club for some rides and hit the beach on our own!  I can't wait!  But I have to.  So, then I guess I can wait.  But I don't want to....oh heck, you get the idea.

My lunch was a disaster today.  Some asian noodle bowl that just had way too many green onions in it.  Blech.  I tried to avoid them, but they were these tiny pieces (and there were millions of them in this one container!)

Ewwww...and I like green onions.  Just not millions of them for one meal. 
I ate an apple afterwards and that helped. 
And then I ate a granola bar because I was still hungry. 
Hope your lunch was better than mine!

THURSDAY ALREADY?

 Where the heck has the week gone? 

I haven't been posting this week, because I think the posts would be repetitious (and boring) to you all.  Why, you ask? Because, I have been focused on working out and cooking dinners (so we can continue to eat
healthy and stay in our desired calorie range) and not much else, really.

Okay, I take that back.  I have been working on a small crochet project to get my feet wet again with my crochet skills.  I confess that I resorted to googling You Tube videos to help refresh my memory on how to complete ANY of the stitches.  How pathetic is that?

But it has come back to me and I am so thankful for You Tube and Knit Witch.  If you want to learn to crochet (or remember how to crochet, like me) go to the Knit Witch videos on you tube.  They rock! Or rather, she rocks!  She has a website and a blog too.  http://www.knitwitch.com/

I finally got my yarn (in the mail) for my granny square afghan I want to make but in the meantime, I got antsy and got yarn for this other little project and have been playing around with it.  I don't want to switch gears until I get this one finished.

We've been looking at beach cruiser style bikes, too, so stay tuned for news on those.  Since we live close to the beach, we can definitely get our use out of them and there is a local electra bike club that has monthly rides we can participate in, too.  Bonus! I am trying to come up with some fun ways for us to stay active and this looks like a winner! We are getting enough of a tax refund back to buy our bikes and add some bling! 

That about sums up our news for the past week.  We've been catching up on shows we have DVR'd and I get some crocheting done (and undone) while we watch!

I will take some photos when I get projects completed enough to photograph!  In the meantime, enjoy the sunrise photos.

TRIED AND TRUE -- AND A CHANGE

I'm progressing in my cardio routine and feeling like it's becoming easier in the sense that I can hop out of bed and get out into our (cold) garage and workout in the morning without dreading it.  Instead, I look forward to the way I feel afterwards. 

I'm still not ready for the hard core HIIT program taped on the dashboard of my treadmill.  But I mix it up between a fast walk and jogging.  I'm still not really running yet.  I have a ways to go to get there, but I will!

I watch the morning news and listen to music on my Ipod Nano.  I need to download some more (and new) tunes this weekend or rotate them out. I begin on my water and drink a 16.9 oz bottle while I work out.  I down my second 16.9 oz bottle while I get ready for work.  By the time I start sipping my morning coffee, I am 4 cups of water into my day! 

This is what is working for me.  I took a long neighborhood walk on Monday (3.28 miles in 52 minutes--3.8 mph) and it was a good change for me.  I want to do that once a week and find new places or routes to walk. 

Getting up and working out first thing in the morning is also what works for me.  I start my day off with a workout and I feel good.  I am ready to face the challenges that await me.  I haven't been tempted to stray from my eating plan (though the chocolate in a candy jar did try to lure me to take a piece yesterday), I quickly turned away and guzzled some water.

I know that piece of chocolate would not have been worth the way I'd feel later.  I want to plan for my chocolate.  I will be having chocolate. I do not believe in restricting any particular food or food group (dessert IS a food group, right?) from my food plan. 

Anyway, I have digressed a bit from my original train of thought...I'm doing what works, the tried and true.  I'm seeing results already in the way my clothes are fitting and that brings me to the change.

I am not using a scale to gauge my progress.  How many times have I gotten discouraged because the scale didn't reflect how hard I have been working?  Or inched up a pound due to water weight?  There are too many variables to using the scale as my compass on my journey.  I decided it has too many emotional triggers for me and that's not good.

My clothes will not lie to me.  If they are tight, I'm getting bigger.  If they become looser, I'm getting smaller.  Period. 

This journey is about becoming a healthier, more fit person.  My goal is to make exercise a daily part of my life. To keep my health in check.  Not something I do to lose weight and then stop.  Nope.  I must make it a part of my day as natural as brushing my teeth.  Not something I have to think about.  It will be a priority.  I will not make excuses. 

Exercise will be my tried and true.

OH SAY, CAN YOU CROCHET?

I can.  I just haven't in a very long time. I used to crochet a lot and I want to get back into it.  I find it very relaxing and will give me something productive to do while doing nothing in front of the TV.

I got some new crochet hooks for Christmas and now I need to get out and get some yarn.  I'd like to make some coffee cup cozies and scarves to start and see how that goes.

I started to learn to knit, but haven't stuck with it long enough to really pick it up.  There is a place here in town that has lessons and times for ladies to get together to work on crochet/knitting projects.  That sounds like fun to me and I may try it out soon.

I hope to start a crochet project this weekend...since it's a long weekend off of work for me and I will have to down time.  We're also supposed to get some rain on Sunday and I think crocheting would be a perfect activity to do while the rain is coming down outside and we are all cozy inside with a nice fire in the fireplace.

Anyone else knit or crochet?  Any tips on what type of yarn to get?