Impulse Buys

We went to the new Sam's Club yesterday. While we were there, we grabbed some apples for an apple crisp recipe I wanted to try from Pinterest (it turned out to be a total Pinterest Do by the way as we made it twice in 12 hours). Some lady told us we had to peel the apples for the apple crisp. Lo and behold, a man came around five minutes later handing out little orange tickets that said to go to the booth in front of the frozen food section for a free stainless steel produce peeler. So I was in. I had apples to peel!

Well, before you get your free peeler you have to watch the five minute presentation on the stainless steel food slicer, which I will admit was pretty snazzy. After it was over, we got our freebie peeler and headed toward the checkout line. Next thing I know, I've been tricked by Ken into talking to a girl that was selling a flat iron I didn't want (didn't he notice me deliberately flirting with the floor so I wouldn't have to talk to her?) and he disappears. What does he come back with? An impulse buy. The snazzy food slicer that slices food like a mother (take that how you will). Guess what else it slices?

Fingers.

Yep, it slices fingers so well that I was asked to look for the rest of Ken's thumb in the cabbage he was just cutting. I found it resting on the underside of the slicer blade...

Guess I'm glad we got it because my apples were sliced to perfection. Can't say the same about Ken's thumb.

Happy 80th Birthday!

Sky's Gift from the Feline Gods

I'm a million percent sure I will not be able to walk tomorrow...

Finally decided to start working out again! Because of that, I will be crippled tomorrow. And for most of the next day. I worked out so hard to fit into my wedding dress. I ate well and drank water like it was my job. And, guess what? I felt amazing! I slept better, I felt better, and never felt the 3:00 slump. 

Here's what happens when you go balls-to-the-wall in an effort to squeeze into your wedding dress and the all-important day is over: you stop working out and start pigging out. There's absolutely nothing wrong with that if you want to feel like crap again! And feel like crap I did! I went back to eating nothing but sugar and processed foods in addition to a cup of coffee in the morning and a Diet Coke in the afternoon. No water. That was it. My sleep patterns are screwed, I feel awful, and have no energy. 

The goal of working with a trainer before the wedding was to lose inches, which I did. However, I just felt really lean. The goal now is to develop my muscles and get really strong. I plan to lift heavy, eat well, and let the rest take care of itself!

Strong is the new skinny!

I have officially started Jamie Eason's LiveFit program. I started it 2 weeks ago and wasn't able to be consistent so I am starting over with the workouts. The first month is just about gaining strength, so there is no cardio - just weights. The second month is still about gaining strength, but you add in some moderate intensity cardio here and there. The third month is about leaning out to show off all the hard work you put in so there is a lot of high intensity lifting/cardio. I'm excited to be working out again! 

I don't plan on following the diet plan though. I'm simply going to eat healthy the way that works best for my lifestyle. I can't exactly eat fish and broccoli on the road. Besides, the diet plan required too much thinking/prep/planning for me so it was an ultimate fail when I tried to stick to it. It was also too much food - I can't eat 6 oz. of meat every 3 hours, plus veggies, plus a carb. Once again, you have to figure out what works for you so that you can stick with it. The last month involves counting calories and macronutrients to ensure you get the proper combination to retain muscle while leaning out as well as carb cycling - all of which is too high maintenance for me. I do believe in the diet program she provides and know that I would probably get better results if I followed it, but it's just not something I am not willing to think so hard about. 

Anyway, here's to sticking to a healthy lifestyle!

You better believe I pulled it today.

Bahhh....

Happy Halloween!!

Better late than never, right? Our fabulous friends and their fabulous little one came over Monday afternoon to show off the cutest little costume! I couldn't stop taking pictures with such a perfect little model. Prepare for picture overload:

This is the deep-in-thought-because-I'm-so-pretty-pose. You know, like real models...

If you look close enough, you can almost see her gangster sign for the I'm-tough-but-cool-in-my-sunglasses pose...

She pet our albino raccoon very nicely...

Winner for best ghost costume:

Back to the raccoon to say hi...

Taking a little break with mom...

Ready.....set......

......GO!!!!!

Her mom was mumbling some nonsense about "not over the concrete" but I think there might have been something wrong with the guys' ears (*wink*wink)...

I may or may not have shown her where the magical rock garden was (full of rocks so sparkly clean that you could eat gumdrops and lollipops off them while watching unicorns dance over the magical rainbow that keeps kiddos from turning white clothes into brown clothes).  

Try keeping that outfit of whiteness white...

But a face this cute never gets in trouble...

Happy Belated Halloween!!

Warrior Wednesday: Adding Yoga

As you may have noticed from past posts, I have been working on becoming a runner! Woo-to-the-hoo!! I started the Couch-to-5K program almost two months ago and have been pleasantly surprised at how I have been doing. Don't get me wrong, it's still incredibly hard to keep jogging but I've realized that jogging is just a mind-game. It's a cruel one but it's still nice to know that you can overcome the pain (it's all mental anyway) and conquer the 30 minutes. I actually just jogged for 38 minutes last week!

I started the program because I was looking for a way to be active and get into shape without having to think about it too much (which is a bit ironic because all you have time to do when you run is think about how hard it is and how nice it would be to walk).

The program goes from way too easy to way too hard in like, a day. However, I like how it's making me feel mentally. Doing the program three times a week has given me a new challenge and something to look forward to. Life was a bit stale before I took up this jogging deal but now I have this thing that I can only do by myself and for myself. It's pretty empowering and provides a nice escape from the mundane things in life like work.

I think it's important for people to realize that getting into shape and getting healthy and losing weight isn't something that happens overnight. You can't go balls to the wall and expect yourself to be able to keep up. If I tried jogging for 30 minutes straight, I'd give up immediately and feel bad about myself. However, running for 30 minutes started as a goal and I've taken small steps to come closer and closer to it. Now it's a reality for me and I feel good about myself and the work I've put in. Since reaching my goal, I am working on creating new ones to add in!

There are many different types of workouts that I'd love to incorporate and bundle up into a pretty little "ideal-active-lifestyle" package with a big-a$$ bow on it, Lady Gaga-Style:

But like I said, if I go balls to the wall and try to do strength workouts on Tuesday and Friday, yoga on Wednesday and Saturday, and runs on Thursday and Sunday, I won't keep up the habit. It's too much at once for me to take on and I would never "make it work" as Tim Gunn would say. Which leads me to the whole point of my post: adding yoga.

Anyone else think this is just weird?

Now that I have reached my goal of jogging for 30 minute 3 times a week, I am going to incorporate yoga as well. I picked yoga because it's something I used to love a couple of years ago but got away from, and because my flexibility stinks!

Stretching after jogging is getting me nowhere fast and spending so much time in the car has caused my hamstrings, hips, lower back, and shoulders to get really tight. It is my hope that incorporating yoga a couple of times a week, in addition to jogging, will gain me greater flexibility as well as allow me to be more mindful when it comes to making choices like eating the chocolate bar or eating the chocolate bar and the cupcake and the ice cream. I love me some sweets, but at some point in time, I should probably be semi-adult and make smarter choices. Besides, if my mom is going to live forever, she's going to need someone to keep her company. (Wanna hear something funny? I'm eating tootsie rolls right. this. second.) ((OMG!! Wanna hear something even funnier??? I just wrote the previous sentence and was feeling pretty pleased with my funniness and accidentally put the tootsie roll wrapper in my mouth instead of the tootsie roll I just unwrapped! I die....)