Just Catching Up

Today's post is just full of small updates

C25K
I have not started yet.  If I was going to give excuses I would say I've been tired.  The truth is that It has been 20 degrees outside when I have planned to go jogging and i just cannot bring myself to do it.  I have just started my off week, so now I'll be able to go jogging midday when it should be around 50 degrees.  50 is so much better than 20.  Therefore, I'm going jogging today no matter what.

New Wii Games
My best friend bought me the Your Shape Wii game.

Amazon Link to game

I'm excited to try this out.  I love my Wii and I easily get excited about new workout games.  This one is not new, but it is new to me, so I'm pumped.  I'll have to let you all know what I think about it later.

Also Zumba 2 is out.  It came out on Tuesday.  The reviews for it are really good and most people are saying it is much much better than the first one.  I already know the graphics are better, you can now pause in the middle of a routine, and you can make your own playlist (those were my 3 biggest complaints about the original game).  I think my sister will get it for me for Christmas.  Yay!
Zumba 2 Amazon Link


Nutrition
My food has been awesome the past couple of days, so I am really pleased about that.  This is the last week for WLB, so although my exercise has not been fantastic I'm glad my food has been on track.  I always feel so much better when I eat the right things.  I'm going to look online for a nice crockpot meal for today I think.

Misc
I'm planning to spend a good bit of the weekend watching holiday movies on The Hallmark Channel.  I have already looked at the lineup and some of my favorites will be on this weekend.  This is the first time all football season that I have no plans for Saturday.  I'm not sure what I'm going to do.  Maybe that's a good thing and I won't eat horrible bar food lol!  Anyway, I hope you all have a great weekend!

Madagascar version of I Like to Move It

Fiber, Fiber, Everywhere

I don't have much to talk about today concerning exercise, so I'm going in a different direction today.  I'm a HUGE fan of fiber!  I know it sounds weird, but I really am.  This week I wanted to actively try to incorporate more fiber into my diet.  I always feel so much better when I am hitting my goal for fiber (25g).  It's great for choloesterol, blood sugar levels, and weight loss.  Don't believe me...check out an the following article below.
Mayo Clinic Fiber Article

You can find fiber in whole grains, nuts, veggies, and fruit.

Things I love with high fiber counts:

I always add extra raisins

a snack food for me...I carry them around in a ziplock bag and snack on them (I always eat my cereal dry.  I hate milk lol)



These taste like candy bars to me.  I buy large packs of these from Sams Club.

Another Fiber One product that I really like

I LOVE WAFFLES...I wish the ones with added fiber came with blueberries already mixed in

I've been eating the apples and cinnamon oatmeal since I was little.  I thought I would hate the reduced sugar, but I actually really like it and I keep this stocked in my house.

I probably get most of my fiber in by eating fruit or Fiber One products.

I Need Sleep

I've been away for a few days, because I have been so stressed out with school.  I could literally fell my neck muscles kind of freeze up instantly at any given moment.  It was painful.  I didn't realize just how far I had pushed myself.  If I am working my typical Wednesday evening through Friday morning or Monday evening through Wednesday morning looks like this:

work from 9pm-730am
class from 8am-315pm
arrive home around 4pm
shower,get settled, and asleep by 5pm
up to get dressed for work by 730pm
work from 9pm-730am

So I get less than 3hrs of sleep.  This is why I complain about being sleep deprived all the time.  I know I make my own school schedule though, so this is my fault, but gosh I'm exhausted.  I have had even less sleep this working rotation though because I had to finish that giant research paper and study for a test.  I won't get any real sleep until Wednesday, and it cannot come soon enough.

I started this week out with the best of intentions.  This is the last week of Win, Lose, or Blog and I really wanted to give it my all.  I was planning to workout everyday and eat clean everyday, and pray for a nice loss.  At this point, I have forgotten about losing and I just hope not to gain lol!  So far I have not worked out this week (I just want to sleep), and my eating has been so so. 

I am sitting here at work typing and I'm thinking I really don't have much to say.  I just want to sleep lol!

Me at work.  I'm attempting to smile, but I think my eyes show that I'm tired.  I'm still amazed that I no longer have a double chin in pictures.  I think I have taken more pictures in the past 4 months than I have taken in the past 4 years.

  I would like to say thanks to all the people who gave me food advice when I asked about cheap healthy food items.  I got a ton of frozen veggies at the grocery store over the weekend.  It sounds silly, but before your advice I had never really thought about buying frozen veggies.  Now I'm wondering how I went without them lol!  I have literally used them everyday since I bought them.

Also, a blogger that I have followed for quite sometime (first on Sparkpeople and now on her own blog) will be on Dr. Oz this upcoming Friday, Nov. 18th.  She has lost 125 lbs and has kept it off for quite some time now.  She looks fantastic and I absolutely love her blogs.  So, check out Katie's Blog and tune in to Dr. Oz on Friday!

Jessie J - Domino

Goals

This will be a short post, because I'm actually in the middle of typing and researching a 16 page paper that's due Monday.  I'm such a procrastinator.  I needed a break though and decided to blog.

I've been thinking about goals lately.  Without Sam, my exercise dedication has been losing steam.  Don't get me wrong, I'm still doing it, but I don't have quite the same amount of joy.  It's like I have nothing to look forward to.  So, I need goals.  For the past year or so I have had dreams of becoming a runner.  I have attempted and quit the Couch 2 5k program twice out of sheer laziness.  With that being said, I am signing up for a half marathon in April 2012.  I am really hoping that 6 months is enough to get me in decent shape.  I will either be doing the Rock 'n' Roll in Nashville, TN or the Oak Barrel Half in Lynchburg, TN.  at the moment I am leaning towards the Lynchburg race.  The Nashville race will feature country music, which I'm not a huge fan of (but if Keith Urban or Kenny Chesney will be there then sign me up lol).

I can currently jog for about 12 minutes nonstop.  At the end of that time I think I'm going to pass out though lol.  So, I am probably going to give the C25K program a shot again.  I'm going to use next week and this weekend trying to figure out just where in the program I should start.  I'll try Week 1 Day 1 and see if it's too easy, or a pretty good fit.  I am going to look for shorter distance races to schedule before the half in order to keep me motivated, but the half is my ultimate goal.  Wish me luck!

On another note, I did a workout from Oxygen Magazine on Wednesday and I am so sore.  The workout I used was from the Jan 2010 issue.  I have close to 5 years of Oxygen magazines at home.  I have read each of them in its entirety at some point, and I am still overweight.  That just goes to show that you can know what to do and have all the right tools, but you will not change until you are ready to do so.  Anyway, it was a full body strength training routine and boy am I feeling it.  The soreness makes me feel alive though, in some odd way...go figure.

I tried to make this pic extra large, so everyone can read the words.  I hope they are not too blurry from my enlarging it.  No song today...Happy Friday!

Slow and Steady

I have to keep reminding myself of this.  Averaging 1 lb per week does not sit well with me all the time, but over time it really is quite wonderful.  I was watching Dr. Oz yesterday and he brought up the fact that those who lose weight slowly, statistically have a better chance at keeping it off.  That made me happy.  I have to remember that I'm only in a race with myself and the only way I lose is if I quit.  I have come to far to quit, so that is not an option.  Let's be honest though...sometimes it is hard.  There are days I don't want to do anything or I only want to do half of a planned workout.  Today was one of those days.  I had an hour of cardio scheduled for today.  I chose the elliptical.  After 10 minutes I was in the zone and feeling great, but at 45 minutes I hit a wall and it took almost everything I had to finish.  Life is like that sometimes, but I did finish and I was proud of myself for doing so.

Am I the only person who takes pride in a sweaty body after a workout?  It's like my badge of honor.  I love it.  It makes me feel like I've really done something.  A soaking wet t-shirt makes me giddy with joy.  It reminds me the pounds and inches are going away, and in the end that's all that matters!

Yeah, I really do have Nsync in my workout playlist...don't judge me lol!
Nsync - Pop

More Rambling...I'm Quite Good at Rambling lol

So....we lost.  6-9 in overtime.  The good news is that we are still #3, so there is a chance we can still go to the championship game!  No worries, I'm not going to go into a football rant lol!

For those who don't know, I am in Tuscaloosa, AL.  In April we were hit by a MONSTER tornado (stick with me...I promise I have a reason for mentioning this).  It destroyed a good bit of the city, including a place almost everyone here loves to eat at, Taco Casa. 

The top pic is before the tornado and the bottom pic is the exact same location afterwards.  If you look on the right side in the top pic you can see Taco Casa's building.  You can also see it's completely gone in the bottom pic.

Well, after 6 months they finally reopened their main building.  I HAD to go.  Well, it made me sick.  You see I have been eating better lately.  This is not the first time this has happened to me.  It happened with fried chicken a few weeks ago.  I'm not pleased at all it happened with one of my favorites places though.  I ordered a beef burrito and felt HORRIBLE after I ate it.  I thought I had a stomach virus or something, but it was just the grease I suppose.  I wonder if things would have gone better if I had ordered it with chicken instead.  I think I would cry if I could never eat at Taco Casa again.  I know each of you has to have some hometown favorite spot to eat.  So, on one hand I am glad to realize that I have made major changes to my nutrition.  On the other, I HAVE to find something I can eat there lol!

I weighed in and I'm not 100% pleased...maybe 85%.  I had gained about 4 lbs during TOM.  I lost 3 of that 4.  I know it could be worse.  So, I'm not complaining too much.  There are only 2 weeks left in WLB and I'm hoping to really make them count.  I had wanted to drop 10 lbs, but it does not look like that is going to happen.  That's alright though.  It was an ambitious goal for me to begin with knowing my average loss per week.  I can still come pretty close though.

I'm not sure what I'm going to do for a workout today.  Well, I just lied.  I looked at my list of options from Sam and I just picked one. 
       
           (x2)
High Knees for 2 min
1 min Mountain Climbers
20 Thrusters 
20 Leg Lifts

Jumping Jacks for 2 min
30 sec Squats w/ Pulse
20 non-modified Pushups
20 Wall Balls

Jog in place for 2 min
15 Alligator Walk  (words cannot express how much I hate this exercise..it is absolutely the hardest thing Sam has ever made me do and definitely my least favorite)
1  min Burpees
20 Squats

I want to go to a zumba class today at 3:30, but we'll see.  I have a test tomorrow and a 16 page paper due next Monday.  Zumba will depend on how much progress I make on my school work.

Oh, I can't remember if I let you all know or not, but I finally had to give the Insanity dvds back last week.  I'm not happy about it.  I really liked them.  Plus, the co-worker has not used them at all.  He has not even attempted to use them.  Okay, okay...I realize they were never mine to begin with, and I sound like a pouting child, but I want them back haha!  I guess I'll either have to save to buy my own or put it on my Christmas list along with the new Zumba on Wii that comes out sometime this month.  According to my sister I need to put new clothes on my Christmas list, because I'm still wearing clothes that are too big and she declares that sometimes I look a "hot mess" lol! 

I almost forgot.  I received a Versatile Blogger award.  So I have to tell you 7 things about myself and give the award to 15 other bloggers.  At the moment, I'm not even sure I follow 15 active bloggers and I know a few of them have already done this.  Some of the links will not be "traditional" blogs.  A few are tumblr sites that I just really like to look at.

1. I bite my nails...not a good habit and I'm hoping to change this
2. I love really good hummus dip.  I mean REALLY love it.
3. I'm obsessed with Christmas.
4. I love scented candles.
5. I have cracked my sternum before...not a pleasant experience AT ALL
6. I hate to work out in front of people
7. I'm a sucker for Hallmark movies

Blogs:
Win, Lose, or Blog (motivation, weight loss, giveaways, competition, etc)
Fitness For the Rest of Us (weight loss, reviews, giveaways)
Avery and Winslow (crafting)
Runs for Cookies (maintaining weight loss, running)
Changing from Fat to Fit (running, weight loss, fitness, etc)
Gina's Skinny Recipes (recipes)
Carbie Girl (weight loss)
Endurance Isn't Only Physical (running)
Girl with Curves (fashion)
Millie's Blog (another client of Sam's) (weight loss, running, triathalons)
365 Weighs (she has not posted in awhile, but it's still good stuff)
Finding Myself While Losing Myself (weight loss)
Fat Girl in a Skinny World (weight loss)
Pril's Place (fashion)
Hourglass Red (weight loss)

There is also a giveaway going on for one more day at Changing from Fat to Fit, so stop by and enter.  Sorry for the super late notice.

I love this song when I'm jogging.
Janelle Monae - Tightrope

Plan for the Weekend

Yesterday, I was a cardio day.  So here's what I did:
42 min on treadmill.
-10 min warmup
-alternating 3 min on incline and 2 min flat (I started with a 5% incline then 6%, 7%, 8%, 7%, 6%)
Went to the track and walked a 15 minute mile
Elliptical for 30 min

I had planned to do at least an hour using the inclines and I wanted to go all the way up to a 12% incline, because I had done that with Sam once, but I just couldn't make it.  The day I did the 12% with him it was part of a lot of other things, so I was on the treadmill for about 5 minutes and he gradually took me to the 12% incline and I stayed there for 3 minutes and then came back down and went to weights.  I remember thinking how good that was for my legs, so that's why I wanted to do something similar yesterday.  I did not do exactly what I wanted to do, but I still got in a good workout.

Since I didn't hit the 60 minutes I wanted to do (my calves and thighs were really at a breaking point) I decided to hit the track.  Walking a 15 minute mile for me is fast walking.  I was planning to stop after this, but I was on an exercise high at this point.  The endorphins had kicked in, so I looked for something else to do and saw the elliptical empty.  I did 30 min on it, and I honestly wanted to do something else, but I decided not to over-do it.

Today this is what I'm planning:
        (x3)
50 Jumpimg Jacks
40 Squats
30 Push-Ups
20 Leg Lifts
10 Burpees
50 Mountain Climbers
40 Lunges
30 Curl to Press
20 Tricep Dips
10 V-Ups

Hopefully, I'll do this as soon as I finish catching up with things online.  A friend told me about a website for core exercises.  The site is Random Abs.  There is no sign up or anything...just go there everyday and get a new core workout.  They also have links to show you how to do each exercise in case you are not familiar with the names.  I'm going to give it a try.

This weekend I'm really going to have to watch it.  Bama is playing LSU, so there will probably be 2-3 bars in my future this weekend.  In case you are not a college football fan like I am, it's a HUGE game!  In my opinion and according to the rankings we are the best two teams in the nation.  It's a shame we are in the same conference and this isn't the national championship game.  The game is Saturday and ESPN has been here since Wednesday and filming live since Thursday.  I was so excited to see the Gameday guys yesterday as I was coming from class.  Roll Tide!
ESPN UA/LSU Commercial

Back to something fitness related lol!  I'm going to have to give away this extra Halloween candy.  I cannot even tell you how many Blow Pops I have eaten.  I'm planning to take it to my parents and they will probably take it to our church to give to the kids there.  I have no idea what I'm going to eat today.  I need to go grocery shopping and I need to plan out my list ahead of time, so I won't stray from it.  So far, I've still been doing a good job avoiding the candy and cookie aisle.

Anyway, I'm pretty sure I won't get any blogging done again until Sunday or Monday, so I hope everyone has a great weekend!


David Guetta ft Usher - Without You