New Recipe and a New Bike!

I know, newness all around! I posted a new recipe over on the other blog today. It is for the granola I made today. I also got a new exercise bike! FOR FREE! My friend runs a thrift store and she gave it to me as payment for going on a pick-up with her this morning. Heck yeah! I've already been using it, too. That granola requires you stir it every 15 minutes, so I would bike in between. I ended up doing about 26 minutes on the bike (because I didn't have this genius idea until about 30 minutes in lol). And it's pretty quiet, so I won't really distract anyone if I ride it while we watch tv. EXCITED! I had been looking to buy one for a few weeks now, but I couldn't really afford it. I can afford free! I need to look up the instruction manual to see about some of the electronics.

Ok, well, I really just wanted to update you on the recipe. I'm off to a fundraiser!
-J

I'm so Busy!

Jen wasn't kidding when she said I was busy! I'm swamped, today is my only day off and it's spent making sure my husband is ready to wait on the Navy. I was however able to get a 3 mile walk in with my two biggest puppies Ace and Fitz. I also had a weigh in for the competition I'm a part of...and my goal was to be in the 180's but I missed it......by .1 lb. yeah...weighed in at 190.0. I was thinking about doing anything I could to drop to 189.9 because that still counts, that's still in the 180's! But alas, I could do nothing to drop a point. damn. Oh well, I'll give you an updated picture of myself from this week! I'll be going house hunting again tonight with my hubby!

me at 190.0 lbs! 

Alternative Workouts

Ok, so I'm being a total blog hog this week, but Tiff is super busy lately. Glad for her, but that means you get more blogs from me! Yay! :-)

Yesterday was a day full of "alternative workouts." Yesterday I hauled, I dug, and I hoisted. Today I hurt lol. See, this week my brother has been visiting and doing some work around the house. Yesterday was spent "reclaiming the backyard." We had some massive overgrowth of privot and such, so I got to play with the hedge clippers while my brother went to work with the chainsaw. After that, my younger brother and I started raking leaves and throwing them in the compost heap. Then I planted my peach tree. I don't know why, but I have been obsessed with the idea of having a peach tree for like the past month. So yesterday, Mom bought me one (thanks Mom!). But that meant I had to dig a hole and put it in the ground. Then my brother was nice enough to build me a box to put around it so it's easier to mow around. Now I just need to go get some mulch to put in the box. Here is the finished product (minus the mulch):

Isn't it pretty? I doubt it'll bear fruit this year, but maybe next year. Luckily, my co-blogger said that it could count as my workout for yesterday, so that means I accomplished this week's half of my goal. I'm thinking about going for a walk later today, but I don't know. There's some more yard work that needs to be done. I'll get some exercise one way or another!

I haven't been to the gym once this week, but I still got my five exercise days in. It was nice to do something different, and even better to do something that was productive for more than just my health. It was also a nice change of pace. We planted some herbs, vegetables, and melons, too, so I'm looking forward to working with those soon. It looks like I will have a season filled with alternative workouts!

- J

P.S. I also posted a new recipe! Go check it out over here!

Goals and Other Such Nonsense

I have to be honest. I really don't think my 5k-in-less-than-45-minutes goal is going to happen by the end of the month. Mostly because I have not done my training for it in over a month. Well, I've done a few runs in the past couple weeks, but it's been sporadic and my heart's not really in it. I think my problem was that my training schedule was a little too intense for the time I had to commit to it. I was supposed to run and/or walk 6 days a week for 6 weeks. That plus my normal workout just got to be too much.

I hate the fact that I couldn't keep it up. I love running. Not only do I love the endorphins (whoo! Runner's high!), but I also like the act of running. The rhythm of it is awesome... when I can do it. I want to get that feeling back, so I am going to try the Couch-to-5k program. A friend of mine is doing it and seems to enjoy it. Plus there's a Droid app that has the program on it. If there's an app for my phone, I'm there!

I'm doing well on my current goal. I haven't made it to the gym yet this week, but I have done an exercise DVD 4 days this week. Honestly, it makes me sweat harder than most of my gym workouts! Wednesday was my third workout and it was REALLY hard for me to convince myself to do the video again. It's a pretty intense workout! But I finally talked myself into getting it over with. It sucked and I was so sore and tired when I was done, but I did it! And when I did yesterday's workout, it wasn't nearly has difficult.

The DVD has 3 levels of workouts. You're supposed to start on the first one and then after a few days, move on to the next, then eventually to the third. During the first workout she says that if your on the 5th or 6th day of that workout, you can probably feel a big difference in your endurance from the first day. I have to say she's right! It makes me sweat, but it has gotten a lot easier to make it through. Today will be day 5. I'll probably stay on this workout at least 8 days. If level 1 was this bad, I'm scared of level 2! Of course, if I get into it and I feel it's too intense, I can always go back, right? Right!

Ok, so today is gorgeous, so I'm gonna go outside. later all!

- Jen

Weigh-in; Round.....wait, what round is this?

Oh who knows!
So we are halfway into March and since January 3rd, I've lost 20.2 lbs. that's a 9.6% loss in body fat...I am on the cusp of being in the 180's (I'm weighing in at 190.8). My goal for myself was to be in the 180's by today's weigh-in, I failed in that aspect, but I did cross over the 20 pound marker! So I am celebrating that victory!

I've not been setting myself goals either, mainly because I am very busy as of late. I was just promoted to Assistant manager at Smoothie King and will be training to be a manager here in Jacksonville. Couple that with taking care of 4 dogs by myself and house hunting...set in stone goals got pushed out of the picture. I've been making goals that kind of "meh" when it comes to goal making...like being in the 180's, or finally losing 20 pounds or getting to the 10% body fat loss. I got one!!! haha

These next four weeks I am going into beast mode. trying to run harder, longer, faster etc.

Happy Monday!

Hello there bloggers. Welcome back to Monday. I hope everyone's day has been at least as good as mine, if not better. That's not to say that I have had a wonderfully fabulous day, but it hasn't been bad. That's more than I can say for some previous Mondays. Today, my little brother and I went to go see The Green Hornet at the dollar theater. I have to say I was rather good snack-wise! I took some carrot and celery sticks with some ranch dressing mix (just the powder) and a serving of cheerios. I have a weakness for popcorn, so I was especially proud of my restraint.

I have not gone to the gym yet today. I had a hard time getting going this morning. I woke up with a sinus migraine, took some meds, and went back to sleep! When I woke up again, my headache was gone, but I got busy with other stuff and blah blah more excuses. I'm not giving up on going today, though! If all else fails, I can always do a walking video later. The only reason I'm not going rightthisverysecond is because I just ate, and I'd rather not be sick.

I keep forgetting to a) take a picture of my weight in the morning and b) set a new goal. The reason I haven't been taken pictures of my weight is because it's not changing. While Ms. Skinny-Pants has lost almost 20 pounds, I haven't even lost 10. Part of me is really discouraged, but then I think about the amount of stress that I've been under lately. I'm one of those lucky people that holds on to my fat when I get stressed out. I think I could probably stop eating completely (no, I haven't and I wouldn't!) when I'm under pressure and still not lose a pound. So I'm still logging my food, and trying to make it to the gym as much as possible. So my goal for the next 2 weeks is to workout at least 10 times. That's five times a week. I'm including today in that 2 weeks, so I'd better not waste it!

Alright... I'm not quite ready to go to the gym yet, but sitting here blogging isn't working off anything! Later all!

-J

**EDIT** I bought a new exercise DVD tonight after I posted this. I did the workout tonight, and it really kicked my booty! That takes care of today!

Getting Back on Track

I seem to have found my focus. I think it must have been under the couch or something, but I have found it! I finally started running again. I think my motivation on that one was realizing that I had gained 2 pounds. What the heck?? Anyway, started running again on Monday.... and then the world fell apart. Monday was NOT a good day. It started of neutral until about noon and by the time I went to bed, I'd burst in to tears twice, snapped at practically everyone I care about, felt the need to punch a few people I didn't care about, and consumed one or two alcoholic beverages (ok, 2... a glass of wine and a skinny bee mojito from Applebee's which was really good!). Anyway, I was really personally discouraged and low, but I returned to the gym again on Tuesday and ran again. Unfortunately because of some of Monday's events, I was unable to make it to the gym yesterday or today. I really missed it the past 2 days! Hopefully, I'll have no problems going tomorrow.

However, there is a bright spot. If I had been without transportation the past few days, I wouldn't have been able to go to work with my friend. Not only did I have fun hanging out at her store, but she also told me about an Android calorie counting app she uses. As we know, this blog kind of started with Tiff looking at CalorieCount.com. I was doing really well as long as I was tracking my calories on there, but I kept wishing they had an app for my phone so I didn't have to remember to type it in the computer or write it down. They have one for iPhone, but not my Droid. So I downloaded this free app (My Fitness Pal) and I really like it. It's set up pretty much the way Calorie Count is, but it's in my phone! I'm hoping that having this log so close at hand will help me get back to my previous good habits.

I have to admit that I'm really jealous of Tiffany. Not only has she lost nearly 20 pounds when I haven't even broke the 10lb mark, but she has such a great group of workout people around her to keep her motivated. As much as I think our original deal can really help, I wish I had that support system up here. I think running on the treadmill would be much more interesting with someone to do it with. Oh well. That being said, I am thinking about trying a spin class. The gym I go to is about to launch a new spin class, and I'm thinking about going at least once. I'm going to talk to one of the instructors and see what she says about a beginner taking the class. I'm excited to try something new!

Alright. It's getting past my bedtime so I'm getting off of here. Good night all!

- Jen