A little over a week ago I decided to have a little giveaway. It was fun and may be something that happens again. We had a drawing and Allison pulled the lucky person’s name out of a bowl. So…
Tamara, send me an email with your address and I will send you a copy of “The Book Thief”. Much better than stealing it.
Even if you didn’t win, you should still give the book a read. It is well worth it. Thank you to everyone who participated!
Here’s our menu list for the next couple of weeks. Last time there was an abundance of recipes from The Pioneer Woman’s website. This time around there are many recipes from Cooking Light. Most of them are new so we’ll see if there is anything that becomes a fast favorite. I’ve tried to find dinners that either cook fast, or make a bunch so portions can be set aside for other meals. All of the meals we have been having lately have a huge helping of salad and a vegetable side dish.
Black Bean and Tomato Quinoa I heard about quinoa from this blog I’ve been reading related to my current workout. I had never heard about it and knew that it wasn’t something that was sold around here. I checked when we went to McKinney for our friends’ wedding and found some in a grocery store there. Looks like it is healthy, and Greg doesn’t really love rice or pasta. We’ll see how it tastes.
Tuscan Lemon Chicken recommended by Shan
Sweet and Sour Chicken
Crunchy Asian Chicken Salad
Chicken Enchiladas with Salsa Verde
Chicken Corn Chowder – Allison has been asking for us to try some chowder some time. I found a light recipe so we’ll give it a shot.
Chicken and Lemon Pot Stickers with Soy-Scallion Dipping Sauce
Fettuccine with Caesar Salad
Chicken and noodles
Marinated Chicken with Naan Bread
Cuban Pork from Foodie with Family
My workout for now is Jillian Michael’s 30 day shred. I guess she’s a trainer for “Big Brother”. It’s a show I haven’t ever watched. I heard alot of hype about her workout sometime last year and ordered the DVD. Then it sat around for many months before I actually dug it back out to give it a try. It is almost impossible to workout every single day. Some days we have family outings and other days I just need a break from Jillian. On the days I need a break, I just do some games on the Wii fit. This is part 2 in a series of a healthier, happier me. Go here for part 1.
Day 15 (March 12)
Day 2 of level 2. Not as sore today as I was after the first day of level 1. Maybe because I am in better shape? Who knows. We have a heart rate monitor that I haven’t been using. I was curious to see if I was overdoing it or if I am within the proper range for losing weight. It was nice to be able to monitor. I fluctuated between not pushing myself enough to way over-exerting. The monitor really helped keep me at a more steady pace. So far the iron butterflies or whatever they are called kill me. Thanks to the wii, the plank positions aren’t really that bad.
Day 16 (March 13)
(level 2, Day 3) Feeling pretty good about myself. I haven’t slacked. I’ve worked out every day. I’ve been fixing myself a big helping of salad and a small helping of whatever the main meal is. So you can only imagine my surprise when this morning, my lovely 5 year old told me that it looked like I had a baby in my belly. Thanks kid, I love you too.
Last Friday I got to take a day off because we had an impromptu camping trip. This weekend it is pouring rain. No easy escapes this time. It was a hard choice between doing some steps on the wii fit or doing the workout. The workout won. Part of its appeal is that it can be done in about 25 minutes. I would have to step twice as long to get the same amount of benefit. Double crunches and iron butterflies are completely not my friend.
Day 17 (March 14)
(level 2, Day 4) Nothing new to report here. Did the workout. V flies or whatever they are called still wear me out. I’ve noticed that if I tighten my core muscles (abs, thighs, and glutes) when doing most of the exercises, it makes a much bigger difference.
Day 18 (March 15)
(level 2, Day 3) Today did Greg’s yoga and the shred. I can tell that the workout is working. Even if the pounds aren’t melting away, my belly looks flatter. When am in plank position, I can’t see it poking out past my boobs. Since we are our own worst critics, I’ll take my own word for it that I look better.
Day 19 (March 16)
(level 2, Day 4) Level 2 feels more like strength training for the upper arms rather than aerobic workout to burn calories and lose the weight. Feeling a little crazy tonight so followed the shred with 30 minutes worth of stepping on the wii fit. We’ll see how that treats me in the morning.
Day 20 (March 17)
(level 2, Day 5)
I thought you were supposed to have higher energy levels and want to work out more as your body got used to the idea. Completely not the case with me. Could be working out later in the night.
Day 22 (March 18)
(level 2, Day 6)
Doing both back to back two days in a row may have been a little ambitious. Today I’m just doing some stepping on the wii fit. My arms are killing me from the butterfly, v lift, whatever they are called. I tremble when I do them. Guess that means they are working but wow are they killer.
Day 23 (March 19)
(level 2, Day 7)
Really have to workout today since I am going to miss 3 days worth of working out. It can’t be that bad to take a day or two off every once in a while. The only thing is, I know I will be eating out and shoveling it in. I can feel the pounds I’ve lost already inching their way back onto my body just thinking about this weekend.
Days 24 through 26 (March 20-22)
Did absolutely nothing. Went to a friends wedding out of town. Man am I going to be sore after Monday’s workout.
Day 27 (March 23)
(level 2, Day 8 ) So, I weighed in, just to see what damage I did this weekend. All told, gained 1 1/2 pounds. Woo! Much better than I thought. I am so not looking forward to this. Time to get back into it though. Ever have times when you are working out, you must be doing something wrong because you just don’t feel it? This is not the case. I can tell even as I am doing it that I am going to be sore tomorrow. I stick with the modified plank movements. Again, no reason to risk damage to the knees.
Day 28 (March 24)
(level 2, Day 9) One more day of this one and then it will be onto the next. I read an interesting note over at Motherhood Uncensored‘s Shredhead site that makes sense. She says if you work out in the evenings, your basically just burning the calories you took in that day. Harder to see results that way. I may try switching to morning workouts just to see more benefits. If I can make myself wake up 30 minutes earlier, it might be worth it.
Day 29 (March 25)
(level 2, Day 10) Last day of this routine. I’m curious to see what level 3 holds. If it has the butterfly lifts, I may just die now. Tightening muscles (like glutes and thighs) on the plank moves really makes a difference. My legs can really feel it towards the end of the workout. I’m ready to move on though.
So, that whole waking up earlier completely didn’t happen. Drizzly morning outside and it was still dark. I just couldn’t make myself get out of bed. There is always tomorrow I guess.
Day 30 (March 26)
(level 2, Day 11) 6:30am. Woo! managed to wake up early. Sure to some of you that’s not early at all, but for me it completely is. Even just 30 minutes of sweet sleep is hard to give up in the mornings. I think I am going to keep this up. Besides maybe better benefits, the time us just so much more convenient. With baseball and softball games starting next week, we will be luck to get home by 9 most nights. There is just no way I will be motivated to keep working out the later at night it gets. Plus, this way, If I do want to do some extra working out (like steps on the wii fit) I can still do it in the evenings.
Sure I should have started level 3 today, but since it’s the first of a morning routine, I thought I would stick with one I know until tomorrow. I could just see myself showing up to work dead on my feet if I didn’t. Tomorrow morning, level 3 and I have an appointment.
I think I’ll end this post here and finish up when I’ve done the last 10 days of the shred. I’m excited to see final results and then find a morning workout that I can keep doing. The reason I haven’t quit this one (besides wanting to look great) is that it is just under 30 minutes. It is hard to make excuses when it really isn’t that long to just do the workout.
Along with the playing catchup…
A couple of weeks ago, the weather was perfect so we packed up the car with our camping gear and headed out. The leaves on the ground make the pictures look deceptively like it is fall. It was clearly spring. The temperatures were in the 60′s at night and mid 80′s during the day. We were a little more organized this time As I’m sure we will be a little more each time we go. All of our camping gear (minus sleeping bags) fits nicely into two plastic containers. A camping checklist is being fine tuned to laminate and tape to one of the containers. When it’s closer to finished, I’ll post it on here (then I’ll always have a copy).
I thought about reserving a campsite, but when I called the lady at the office told me there would be plenty of spaces. When we got there, we realized that wasn’t really the case. We ended up at the same spot as last time. If we ever want a waterfront spot, reservations will have to be made. We spent plenty of time walking around the camp ground scouting out spots we all liked for next time.
I don’t know what it is about my kids, but they love to jump over things. Greg was pretty brave to let them try leaping over him in a single bound.
Most of our time was spent relaxing, playing frisbee, and hanging out at the jungle gym. You can see all of the pictures (we didn’t really take many this time) by visiting the Camping March 09 flickr set.
As soon as we have another free weekend, and the weather cooperates there will be more camping. Next time I think we are going to try canoeing.
These are from little over two weeks ago (yes, I’m behind). It’s amazing to see the difference two weeks makes. Then there were hardly any leaves on the trees, now they are bright and bushy.
Allison was insistent they she get to spend her allowance on a kite. Because there are so many trees around, it doesn’t usually get that windy. Also, there isn’t much space to fly a kite. She could not be convinced to save it, or spend it on something else. A kite it had to be!
She was in luck because it was a perfect time to fly kites when we got home from the store. Greg helped get her set up, while I snapped a few pictures. She concentrated super hard on keeping that kite in the air.
This week is spring break. No school or ball practices. I’m going to give them a chance to cook a couple of the meals.
Burgers
Carrot Soup
Spaghetti
Lasagna
Fajitas
Kay’s Parmesan Chicken
Pastor Ryan’s Spicy Orange Garlic Shrimp (or chicken for some of us)
Chili from Posie Gets Cozy
Grilled Chicken with sweet potatoes
Caesar salad with chicken
Just a quick shot of Zoey’s artwork. These are what she sent off to the others in her little swap. Sometimes I’m amazed by how talented my kids are.
Don’t forget to comment for your chance to win!
I’ve mentioned it before but haven’t really followed up on it. Starting in January, Greg and I decided that it was time to get back into good shape and lose a few extra pounds. Now is the time to be healthier.
For Greg, things went excellently. He changed his diet to fish and veggies most nights and when I cooked something extra healthy for the rest of us, he would join in. He also cut out almost all sugar. It really worked. He lost between 20 and 25lbs by the middle of February. Well into the “normal” weight and bmi according to the Wii.
For me, things have gone a little more slowly. Sure, I was only “just overweight” so had fewer pounds to go. Didn’t make it any easier when the pounds just really didn’t come off as quickly. Instead, I decided to go by inches. Although it sure would make a girl feel better to see the scale drop down a bit as well. I didn’t change my diet much, only eating slightly smaller portions than before. I put away the food as soon as the kids were done eating so that Greg and I weren’t tempted to snack on the left overs that were supposed to be lunches the rest of the week. I didn’t really have much sugar to begin with, so when I did, it was already a treat.
As far as workouts, through January and most of February, my routine was doing some wii fit (yoga and strength with Greg, then free steps for 30 minutes while watching TV). Not too bad, but nothing that really pushed me to do better. With the Wii Fit, it’s easy to slack. Plus, who knows if the things I was doing were really a good and strong workout? On February 25th, I started the 30 day shred. I took my measurements before starting as it turned out, through January and February, I lost 6 lbs and dropped into the “normal” bmi and weight range on the wii! Woohoo! Plus, I lost 1 inch around my fatty middle. Not too shabby. Guess that Wii fitting was doing me some good after all. Here’s my progress through the 30 shred. I’ve been keeping my notes daily but will probably just keep it to two or three posts.
Day 1 (Feb 26)
Still feeling effects from cold passed on to me by my loving children, but that won’t be an excuse for not starting. Working out supposedly helps you feel better. So, here we go. Holy crap. Kids keep asking me if I am ok throughout the workout. I’m breathing hard, beet red, I must look like I am dying. Mental note to keep kids out of room while working out from now on. When it’s over I sit and don’t move for 20 minutes. It also takes me about this long to finally cool down.
Day 2 (Feb 27)
Okay, not feeling too bad today. Some of my body is stiff from working out yesterday. Going up and down the stairs at work was tough, but I am not dead. My cough and stuffy nose aren’t much better, but aren’t any worse either. So again, no excuse. Kids are sent outside to play. Time to work out. This time I made sure to drink plenty of water before starting. I think this made a huge difference. I had to wimp out and do the girly pushups, but other than that, it wasn’t nearly as tough as day 1. Actually, I feel better already.
Day 3 (Feb 28)
It’s a weekend. Let’s see if I can stay motivated. I am definitely feeling it in my thighs and upper arms. Nothing serious, but no pain, no gain, right? My cough and stuffy head are slightly worse today. It’s not helped by the plenty of yard work done this morning. Pulling weeds, digging out saplings to close to the house, and hand tilling up a flowerbed. That should count? Right? Wrong.
Since I’m trying to set up a routine, I wait until 5pm, that’s about the time I have started the other two days. Zoey really wants to try the workout with me and I tell her that she can, as long as she doesn’t try to talk to me. Again, not quite as hard to make it though as days 1 and 2. Even less red faced. The DVD comes with 3 workouts. You start with the first and as you progress and to make it more challenging, you move up through the third. I thought I would give myself 10 days of each. The only problem with this theory is that Workout 1 is getting pretty easy. Since I still had to do girly pushups for part of it today, it isn’t quite time to move up to workout 2.
Day 4 (March 1)
Nothing new to report. Did half regular, half girly pushups. As soon as I can do both sets with full pushups, I’m moving on to workout two.
Day 5 (March 2)
Again, Nothing new. Came home from work, changed and did the workout. Pushups still kick my butt.
Day 6 (March 3)
Oh man. Had to change workout time because of baseball and softball practice. Instead of 4:45 or so, started at 8:30. What a huge difference. Completely worn out at the end of it. Did the first set of pushups all the way through. Counted them the second set at 15 I switched to girly style only to have the time be up at 17. ARRGGGHHH! So very close. Also, so very tired.
Day 7 (March 4)
Another busy day. Workout had to wait until after kids are in bed. Looks like this is going to be the newly scheduled workout time. Needed a change so did 20 minutes of play on Wii Fit followed up by 45 minutes of stepping. Still worked up a sweat, so hopefully that counts for something.
Day 8 (March 5)
Did I mention that I still have a cough? Can’t seem to shake this thing. Worked downstairs today so there wasn’t constant running up and down to my office. Doing the shred again tonight. Guess I’ll stick with workout 1 for the next couple of days (or if I am like Jillian I will say “a couple” but really mean 5-7)
Day 9 (March 6)
No time to work out. As soon as I got home from work the car was loaded and we set off for a camping trip. Does setting up camp count? Yeah, didn’t think so. Good news is, cough is finally gone.
Day 10 (March 7)
Still camping. Went on two pretty long walks around the campgrounds today so I am going to say that counts for calories burned.
Day 11 (March 
Home again. That means it’s time to work out. Deciding to be gung ho today and do not only the shred, but also Greg’s p90x yoga work out. I did mention up there how calming and pleasant it looked, right? Holy crap! Was I crazy? It was a work out. Cindy, how do you do it!??!? To be honest though, it felt as good as I thought it would when I watched Greg last week. Totally worth it.
Day 12 (March 9)
Ugh, I so do not want to do the workout tonight. My body is sore from yesterday. Daylight savings and late ball practices have kicked my butt. Excuses I know, but it’s hard to stay motivated at 9:30 pm. Jillian is not my friend tonight but, I workout anyway.
Day 13 (March 10)
I want to be able to do full pushups before moving on to level 2. I did them tonight so tomorrow we’ll see how level 2 is. Heard terrible things about it. I am frightened.
Day 14 (March 11)
Last night I started to get a little down. I feel great. Better than I have in a long time. But, with weight fluctuations, I’m not seeing any results on the scale. I know that I am in better shape, just hard to realize it when there are is no number shrinkage going on. Instead of waiting until the end, I measured myself today. Definite results. I’m still going to wait until the end for the big reveal. So, today was also the big step up to level 2. Exhausting but so much more fun. The workout flew by today. I had to do some modifications to make the crazy knee lunges lower impact. That won’t change, I’m sure that I’m getting enough cardio with the modified version and I don’t want to risk blowing my knee out. It already does some nice cracking and popping on its own.
That’s it so far! Don’t forget to stop by my give-away post if you haven’t already for your chance to win!
Zoey recently participated in an online swap. The object was to make art on something the size of a playing card. She loved it. Each day (before all 5 came in) was filled with watching the mail box. When a card came in, it was a special treat. Excitement was wrapped around receiving things in the mail. New friends have been made. Some emails have been exchanged and a few letters have been swapped. Ten year olds are so fun. They are both witty and clueless at the same time.
Sometime last year (or maybe the year before?), Britt started hosting the SDBBE (super duper blogger book exchange), 4 people grouped up, read a book, marked it up, then sent it to the next person. I’ve always loved reading books, but sometimes get caught up in other things and forget to pick one up. The exchange made me read books that I never would have chosen for myself. As soon as it was time, I started watching the mail. When the next book arrived I was thrilled to rip open the packaging to start reading and writing in a book.
These are the days of quick communication, when most people talk on the phone, text, or send emails. It is easy to forget how exciting the anticipation of waiting for something as simple as a letter in the mail really is. In fact, I think I’m going to host a little give-away just so I can mail a package to someone else and spread the excitement of receiving something via snail mail.
What am I giving away? A copy of my new favorite book, “The Book Thief” by Markus Zusak. I don’t think I would have ever heard of it had it not been for other people in the SDBBE talking about it. Because I don’t get that many hits on my little blog, I’m going to leave the give-away open for a week. All you have to do is leave a comment on this post sometime between now and March 18th. The winner will be selected randomly and then I’ll email you to get your mailing address. Only one entry per person, please.
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