Thursday, March 31, 2011

S2H Replay band review

So I've been using the S2H replay band for about 2 weeks now.  I do have to say that I like it!  After today I will have 900 points, which means I could technically cash in for a $5 gift card, but I will be saving my points up for at least a $10.  I'm hoping they bring back the Amazon gift cards.  I already mentioned my love for Amazon shopping so between this and Swagbucks I would be able to rack up some nice credit for that site!

Other rewards that I think are nice are gift cards to Lowes, Barnes & Noble, Target, Toys R Us, Dick's Sporting Goods, Sports Authority, Best Buy, Borders, GAP as well as an Xbox 360 console.  Check out here for the full list.
 
How it works:  For every 3 minutes of continuous workout you receive a bar.  Once you fill up enough bars to equal 60 minutes a code will be displayed.  You then upload that code onto the site where it tracks your points.  Once you have enough points you redeem for your reward.  Right now, you're able to upload 1 code per day to your account.  On a normal day I don't get enough bars at the gym, so during the day I'll pick it up and move my arms around when I have a few minutes here and there until the code is revealed. 

One tip I have is to wear the band on your ankle.  I bought size L and it fits just fine over my ankle.  My husband wore it once to the gym and he wore it on his wrist, it was a little tight getting it over his hand.  The reason I say to wear it on your ankle is because it's controlled by movement.  If your not one to move your arms the whole time while working out (such as if you hold onto the stationary handle on the elliptical) you won't receive credit for your whole workout.  Your legs are in constant movement.

The only machine I have been on where the band didn't register the workout was the stationary bike.  I guess even though the legs are moving, it's just not enough motion distance wise. 
Soon they will be releasing the S2H STEP.  If walking is your thing then The S2H STEP will Reward you for every 10,000 steps that you walk!

The S2H Replay band costs $19.95+ shipping.  I purchased mine on Amazon using my Swagbuck gift cards.   If you workout enough to get $10 in gift cards/month (which is what I'm averaging), then in 1 year, minus the initial cost, you will be making $100 just for working out!  I'm hoping to put much of those gift cards to use when it comes to buying Christmas presents.  You can purchase also purchase the band directly from the site, as well as Sears.  I think this would make for a pretty cool gift for an older child.  It would be great motivation for them to stay active & and they're able to get all those gift cards?

Better than nothing

This morning when my alarm went off at 4am I thought I hit the snooze button, but apparently I hit dismiss which turned the alarm off completely.  At 4:37am I was awoken by the sound of my youngest crying.  My husband got up to take care of him and I checked to see what time it was.  When I saw that I overslept I was so tempted to just turn back over, skip the gym and sleep.  After doing some math in my head calculating how long it would take me to get ready and drive to the gym I realized that I did have enough time to get an abbreviated workout in.  So out of bed I went and ended up getting to the gym right before 5 (thankfully I only live 5 min away).  I did 30 min on the Arc trainer, lower body strength training and then stretching.  I guess this morning was the best of both worlds, extra sleep and a workout. 

Yesterday I was thinking about this blog and came up with 2 new features that debut in the coming week.  The first is set for tomorrow so be sure to check back then!

"They can because they think they can." Virgil

Wednesday, March 30, 2011

I'm Baaack

To running that is.

After a brief hiatus to let shin splints heal up I hit the treadmill again this morning.  I started the morning off with a 10 min bike warm up.  Once on the treadmill I decided to take it somewhat easy since it's been over a week.  I ended up doing 1 mile running, .25 walk, run 1, .25 walk, run .6 for a total of 3.1 in 37:02.  I then walked until I hit 40 minutes for a cool down.  After that I worked on upper body and some abs.  Then it was time to head home!  It felt so great to be running again. 

This week I'm trying to stay focused and not go over my daily weight watcher points.  On Saturday I'm hosting our next "Book Club" meeting.  This time we're doing a pot luck dinner, so I'm saving my weekly points for that night.  I want to be able to enjoy some of the deliciousness and not feel as guilty.  Though luckily almost all who are coming are either doing weight watchers or another form of weight loss method so the foods will for the most part be somewhat healthy.

Now off to ice again then it's time to start my day as being a mom.

Commit to be fit.  ~Author Unknown

Tuesday, March 29, 2011

Another bondi Band giveaway

Head on over to Run with Jess for your chance to win a BondiBand.  I love mine!

Stomach bug

So my youngest is getting over a stomach bug.  I do have to confess that at one point while changing one of his several diapers over the weekend that I wished I would get it.  Not because of the mother guilt of seeing your child sick, but because it would be an easy way to lose some weight this week.

Monday, March 28, 2011

Confidence

I had so much fun shopping on Saturday.  I found a dress to wear to a wedding that is actually flattering on me.  I also found some cute stylish shirts to wear.  I've been stuck in the mom rut for the past few years.  Before I had kids and I worked I used to shop all.the.time. for clothes.  My favorite place was NY&Company.  Once I made the final decision to be a Stay at home mom when my oldest was 8 weeks old, our budget became tight.  We could survive on my husband's salary, mine was more just for luxuries.  It took about a year for me to begin to like my post-partum body.  Then pregnancy #2 came long, I gained weight.  That was an unsuccessful pregnancy and we immediately became pregnant again which resulted in my youngest child.  I'm still working on getting confidence about how I look back.  Saturday showed me that very slowly it is starting to come back.  I looked at clothes and thought - hey I could wear that.  I didn't do any negative talk the entire time.  It was wonderful and motivating. 

So motivating that we went to TGIFridays for a late dinner where I ordered some greasy food (lol) but I did also start with a salad, didn't eat my hamburger roll and only had a few onion rings and a few bites of the peanut butter pie. 

One part of a healthy lifestyle that I lacked in this weekend was water in take.  I had way to much Cherry Coke Zero and iced coffee. I need to focus on getting back in the water drinking mood. 


Skipped the gym today because my husband surprised me while I was gone by putting in new tile in the bathroom.  He had to grout last night, which meant no showers today and I am unable to go about my day after being all sweaty.  I'll do some kinect or something later on.  Tomorrow I'll have to do the same due to my husbands work schedule.  It's definitely back to running on Wednesday!  I really miss it.

It's not who you are that holds you back, it's who you think you're not.  ~Author Unknown

Friday, March 25, 2011

Learn How To Donate Used Running Shoes

Learn How To Donate Used Running Shoes

Here's another giveaway

It only takes a few seconds to enter and you can enter every day up until April 1st.  It'sthoughtful.com is giving away 200 $10 Amazon gc's.  I LOVE Amazon and do so much shopping on that site, including getting diapers for my youngest. 

Biggest dilemma thus far

I've come across a dilemma and I need to find a way to fix it.  My wedding/engagement rings (they're soldered together) are getting big.  I was around my current weight when my husband proposed to me in 2004.  I lost about 15 lbs before we were married in 2005 and I don't remember my rings being this loose!  My fingers have never been ones to swell or take on much weight.  In fact with both pregnancies I was able to wear my rings the entire time and never once had to worry about them getting too tight.  Now my fingers are shrinking and the rings are becoming loose and on especially cold days it's rather annoying.  So now I need to figure out a temporary fix to keep them from moving all over during the day. I'm not going to think about having them resized until I'm really close to my goal weight.  Ugh.  I love my rings and will not not wear them. 

Today is weigh-in day.  Did just ok this week with -.2 lbs to bring me to 168.8. At least it's a loss right? 

Yesterday at the gym I did 45 min Arc trainer and then upper body.  Today I was planning on running because my leg was feeling better, but when I woke up, got ready and was walking to my car I could feel that today was not a good day.  So when I got to the gym I decided to ride a bike.  I did that for 45 min and went 8 miles.  I thought it would be a nice change up, but man did my butt hurt afterwards.  They need to make those seats a little more cushier.  I finished the morning with lower body and some ab work.

Tomorrow I'll be working out my upper body by carrying shopping bags.  To the outlets I go with some friends.  Living in a house with a husband, 2 boys and a male dog I love when I get to spend some girl time.  I'm hoping to find some new clothes for the gym, along with some other daily clothes.

"And so you touch this limit, something happens and you suddenly can go a little bit further. With your mind power, your determination, your instinct, and the experience as well, you can fly very high."
Ayrton Senna


Thursday, March 24, 2011

Another chance for a giveaway

Running to Health is having a giveaway for the Juno Moving Comfort Sports Bra.  Run (yes pun was intended) on over here and enter for your chance to win.  Hurry you only have until 3/28 to enter!

What have you done to make you feel proud

One thing that workouts do is strengthen me, not just physically, but also mentally.  I feel like I can do so much more on the days that I get my blood moving through my body.  I don't feel meek.  I can feel like I can be who I should be.  I recently came across the song Proud by Heather Small.  Those of you who are Biggest Loser fans will recognize the song as the shows theme song.  (I'm not sure if they're using it his year though because I always miss the first few minutes of the show).  Anyhow, this is one question that I have been asking myself each night - What have you done today to make you feel proud?  Many times the answer deals with my workout or resisting a food temptation.  Other times it deals with motherhood - I didn't totally blow my gasket when the children were working my last nerve.  Then of course there are the other little things here and there.  Even on the worst days I can find an answer to that question.  It has really helped my self-esteem doing a little personal reflection at the end of the day.  I find the song to be inspirational so I'm going to share it with you. 



So ask yourself this tonight before you go to bed: what have you done today to make you feel proud?

Wednesday, March 23, 2011

They button and zip!

This morning my favorite jeans were dirty so I was scouring the closet for something else to wear.  I came across jeans from my pre-pregnancy with my youngest days.  When I lost some weight in the beginning of last year I was able to get them on ... barely.  I wore them once or twice, but with only certain shirts because there was quite a muffin top.  Today however, I put them on very easily.  They zip, they button and they don't hurt my stomach from being so tight!  I'm not sure what I am doing different this time around, but usually I have such a hard time losing inches in the stomach/hips/thighs area.  This time I am really noticing the difference in those areas.  I'm loving it!  Yay for starting to get back into old clothes!

Tuesday, March 22, 2011

Ice Ice Baby

So I've been icing my shin splints and am going to take it easy from running for a few days.  Today I did 45 minutes on the Arc trainer and lower body strength training.  I could kick myself.  I wasn't fully awake this morning (or last night when I was gathering up my gym items) and didn't reset my s2h replay band so those 45 minutes never registered for it.  Ugh.  Now today some time I'm going to have to get in an hour of moving that thing around somehow to get my points for the day.  I'm almost half way to a $5 gift card already! 

This is how I'm hoping the rest of the week plays out:
Wednesday - off from the gym - the husband has to go to a different work location and leave super early in the am
Thurs - Arc trainer - upper body
Fri - depending on how the leg is feeling, run.  If not then I'll do Arc trainer again.  That doesn't seem to aggravate the shin/calf area, but the elliptical does.
Saturday - lately has been my day for an outdoor run, but I'm going shopping with some friends at nearby outlets!  I'll be working out my wallet instead. :)


"When thoughts become action, success is attainable."

Monday, March 21, 2011

breaking in the new shoes

This morning was the first time I was thankful that my youngest woke up at 2:45am.  Before I went back to sleep I realized that I forgot to set my alarm to wake me up for the gym.  If it wasn't for him I would probably still be sleeping. 

I never made it out yesterday for a run so today was my first day with the new shoes.  They were great.  My legs and feet felt amazing.  It was a rough run though because I just could not get into the groove.  I briefly walked twice during the 3.1 miles.  It was just one of those mornings.  Despite walking I ended the run at 35:07.  Afterwards I did some upper body strength training and obliques.

Now that the weather has it's moments of being nice and we're shedding the sweaters and coats, people are starting to notice the change in my body. It's always a nice confidence booster when someone makes a comment.  One of my good friends joined Weight Watchers 2 weeks ago so it's nice to have another person to share exchange ideas.  Actually a bunch of my good friends in the area are currently working at getting rid of our baby fat.  One is doing Atkins, 3 of us are doing Weight Watchers, another is eliminating breads, others are just watching what they eat.  I always find it interesting  the different ways in which people try to lose weight and what works for one person doesn't always work for another.

My oldest and I planted our garden seeds yesterday.  This year we're attempting to grow:  cucumbers, zucchini, sweet corn, lettuce, parsley, basil, cilantro,  garden beans, asparagus, black beans (he chose that one I have no clue how that will turn out), peppers, and pumpkin.  We'll be picking up a tomato plant when we're ready to plant them outdoors.  We're not overly huge tomato eaters in this house so we only need 1 plant and not however many a seed packet can produce.  I also want to pick up some strawberry plants as well as a blueberry bush.  I'm really excited to have so much fresh food growing in our backyard.  Last year we did well with zucchini.  I admit I got lazy with watering and the upkeep to the garden that some plants just didn't do well and my dog dug up the strawberry and blueberry plants.  We have plans to enclose the garden more to prevent that from happening. 

 

" I may not be there yet, but I'm closer than I was yesterday.  "
~ Unknown Author

Saw this guy on the news today

and thought he was awesome.

The Fat Man dreams of running the L.A. Marathon

Sunday, March 20, 2011

Mamma has some new shoes!

Yesterday I went to the local running store to get my new sneakers.  I am so glad I actually went there and didn't just go to any store to pick up whatever sneaker I would normally get.  It was actually very educational for me.  I found out that I have a high arch, my left foot is 1/2 inch bigger than my right, my foot is considered wide and I tend to walk with my weight on the outer portion of my foot.  I also found out that you're supposed to be wearing a 1/2 size bigger in athletic shoes than you were in your dress shoes.  All that being said the shoes I was wearing was too small, which is probably why I've been getting shin splints the past few weeks.  I haven't posted about them in hopes that they would go away.  The guy brought out 3 shoes for me to try on.  I ended up going with Women's ProGrid Ride 3.
When I was walking around the store they felt so comfortable.  I am in love.   While at the store I also picked up 2 Balega Endro running socks.

















On Friday my BondiBands I won from the Runner...Maybe giveaway arrived in the mail.  Now I'm all set with new gear for my next run.  I'm hoping to be able to get an outdoor run in today.  If not, then definitely tomorrow morning at the gym.

Friday, March 18, 2011

Registered

I'm officially registered for my first 2011 5k.  It's April 23rd so just about 1 month away and benefits he American SIDS (Sudden Infant Death syndrome) Institute.  


Today is official weigh-in day, it ends up being the same as yesterday - 169.0.

I'm looking forward to this weekend.  Tomorrow I plan on doing a run outdoors if the weather cooperates.  If not then I'll head to the gym.  Then I'm buying new sneakers!  I'm going to a local running store and am so excited to get quality sneakers and new socks.  One of our friends is hosting a DiGiorno Pizza Party through House Party in the afternoon, so it should be interesting trying to figure out what to eat.  Sunday we're going for our annual free Rita's water ice for the first day of spring.  This year I think I'll try one of their sugar free flavors.

Today is going to be absolutely gorgeous here in New Jersey, which means we can do another family walk after dinner.  We walk around the neighborhood, an equivalent of 1 mile.

Today's gym workout was lower body strength training and 45 min on the Arc Trainer.  I'll have to do some core work later today.

"Our greatest glory is not in never falling, but in getting up every time we do."
~Confucius~

Thursday, March 17, 2011

Goodbye 170's

Hello 160's!  It's been not so nice knowing you 170's and I hope, make that I KNOW I will never see you again.

Tomorrow is my official weigh in day, but like I do just about every morning I stepped on the scale today and was greeted with a wonderful number - 169.0!  I finally made it out of the 170's and have moved on!  I actually got off the scale and did a little victory dance.  The 170's have been plaguing me since well my son was born almost 17 months ago.

We're having a playdate at our house today with some friends.  Yesterday I made little rainbow cupcakes for them since it's St. Patrick's Day.  I confess that I ate 1 before dinner, but I lowered my dinner portions to even out the calories.  Ate the bad and ate less of the good. :)

The husband had to leave for work at 5 so I skipped the gym.  I had every intention of waking up at 5:15 to get an exercise in before the boys woke up, but sleeping felt so great.  I'll try to do something later today.  Usually by the time everyone leaves our playdates I'm exhausted so we'll see. 

Wednesday, March 16, 2011

Getting in the groove

One thing that I've been noticing the past few weeks with running is that I finally hit my groove around the 2 mile mark.  The first 2 miles I keep checking the time and the distance wondering how much longer i have to go.  Any aches and pains are so prevalent in the beginning of the run.  Finally by about 1.75-2 miles I feel like I could run all day, well not really, but at least for a while. 

Today was upper body strength, followed by 15 min Arc trainer to warm up the legs and then 25 minutes of running (2.25 miles).  To fill up my s2h replay band it looks like I'll have to do about 12 more minutes of some type of exercise today.  Today is going to be a busy day here, take and pick up the old from school, grocery store, afternoon playdate, clean up the house for a playdate here tomorrow, cook dinner and hopefully get the boys to bed easily.  I'm definitely going to be sleeping good tonight!

"The will to win, the desire to succeed, the urge to reach your full potential… these are the keys that will unlock the door to personal excellence."
~Eddie Robinson~

Tuesday, March 15, 2011

Tuesday

My s2h replay band came in the mail yesterday.  When I first got it I put it on my arm and moved my arms around to see how it works and was able to fill one 15 minute section.  Today at the gym I did 45 minutes on the Arc Trainer and filled all the sections to get my first code!  Normally on a workout day I do 40-50 minute cardio, but I really think this is going to push me to do the complete 60 minutes so I can rack up my rewards quicker.  Most likely that will mean doing air punches at home when I'm running short on time at the gym.  You get 1 point for every minute of exercise.  A $10 gift card is 1600 points, so doing the math it will take approximately 27 days of 60 minute workouts to reedem. 


"When I thought I couldn't go on, I forced myself to keep going. My success is based on persistence, not luck."
~Estee Lauder~

Monday, March 14, 2011

I know it's absolutely cruel of me to post this picture on a blog that deals with weightloss.  Is there a pile of drool under you?  This is the cake that was looking me straight in the eye last night at my sister -in-law's birthday dinner.  It's the Linda's Fudge Cake from The Cheesecake Factory.  The description on the website is: Layers of Rich Chocolate Cake and Fudge Frosting.  What it doesn't say is that the circumference of the cake has tons of chocolate chips packed into the frosting.  It was good.  I shared a small piece with my youngest and since I'm not much of a fan of icing I scraped it off.  It was a nice little treat.  I did skip on the ice cream though. :)

I was very proud of my will-power last night.  Normally I take a party as an excuse to pig out.  You only live once right?  Well I may only live once, but I want that one lifetime to be as long as possible.  I think seeing my BMI in black and white over the weekend was a real reality check for me.  I never considered myself obese before, overweight yes, but not obese.  I want to be around as long as possible to watch my kids grow and hopefully meet grandchildren and great grandchildren.  My families medical history isn't great by any means, Type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, heart disease.  I don't want to have any of that.  I want to be like my grandmother who is still kicking without any medical issues at the age of 86(?). 

Last night when everyone was chowing down on that cake and ice cream, in the back of my head I kept hearing my voice saying 127 (my newest ultimate goal weight in hopes to be in the "normal" range of BMI) over and over.  Trust me I did want to eat a big old piece of cake like everyone else, but I didn't want to defeat myself.  I was purely happy with a tiny piece and I wasn't even hungry.  I hate when people say "well you ran yesterday and you're going to the gym tomorrow right?"  Yes I did and yes I am, but that's to work off all those pieces of cake and ice cream that I've had the past 32 years of my life.  

Brief synopsis of today's gym:  Oblique and upper body strength training done.  walked 5 min (.25 mi) on the treadmill then ran 1.5 miles (5.5 mph), walked 2 min and ran 1.5 (starting at 5.6 and upped it for the last half just so I could get the run over quicker since I was running out of time).  2 minute cool down.  total time for the 3 mile run today including 2 min walk: 32:52.  The reason I walked halfway through is because my body is just sore.  We did our spring outdoor clean up of the yard both Saturday and yesterday.  I ache. 

"You're never beaten until you admit it." - George S. Patton
 

Saturday, March 12, 2011

I'm a winner!

Yesterday was my lucky day - I found out I won the BondiBand Giveaway over on Runner...Maybe.  I'm can't wait until they come in the mail and give them a try.  Jen is doing another great giveaway - this time the giveaway is for a Handstamped Key Chain from LoreleiRose.  Go over here to check it out and enter for your chance to win!

BMI

I've had 2 weight loss goals in mind:  my pregnancy weight before pregnancy #2 and my weight from 2008.  I just checked a BMI calculator and have now added a few more.  I can't believe how many lbs I have to lose until I'm out of the obese range!  Oy.

I used the Mayo Clinic BMI calculator.

Weight goals:
pre-pregnancy weight for youngest child: 161
out of obese range: 153
summer 2008 weight: 148
Normal BMI range - 127

I have a long road ahead of me.

Speaking of road while I'm on here I might as well mention todays run.  I ran with a friend.  The route that we took included some hills both on the way there and on the way back.  It was nice running with someone else because we both pushed each other.  There were times where we wanted to walk but didn't because the other was running.  We did walk briefly before conquering the final hill.  According to the mapmyrun application on my phone (which worked fine this week) we went 3.43 miles in 42:23.  That included a .3 mile walk warm up, so it was a pretty decent pace, especially considering some of the hills.  The highlight of the run was when we got a few horn toots from a motorcyclist. :)

Friday, March 11, 2011

10 Completely New Ways to Fight Belly Fat

I'm a fan of Self Magazine on Facebook and came across this post in their news feed.  It's from Yahoo Health.  Looks like I need to eat some bananas today!

Belly fat can be annoyingly stubborn: Even when it seems as if you’re doing all the right things—regular cardio workouts, core strength training sessions, cutting back on sweets and fatty foods—that frustrating muffin top can just stick around, like it’s hanging on for dear life. Ugh! Ready for a new approach that really works? Try a multipronged one with these tummy-toning tricks. They’re backed by science and experts, but the best proof they work will be your noticeably flatter, sexier abs!
AVOID:
Stressing out Feeling frazzled and frantic?

Increased levels of the stress hormone cortisol, a result of chronic worry, lead to excess stomach fat, research shows. To de-stress, help lower cortisol levels and weigh less, learn to breathe deeply like they teach in yoga (my new favorite restorative workout). Slowly inhale through your nose, counting to four. Then exhale from your mouth for a count of eight. Repeat until refreshed.

That white-bread basket!
Those fluffy white rolls? They’re your flat-ab foe! When facing a bread basket, check its contents before digging in. If you see whole grain or dark, fiber-filled bread, enjoy a roll or slice—in fact, feel free to enjoy 3 ounces a day. (One slice of whole-wheat bread or 1/2 cup of cooked brown rice are each 1 ounce.) Dieters who ate 3 oz of whole grains a day lost more stomach fat than those who merely cut calories and ate refined grains, a study in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition reveals.

Late-night munching
Your body may not burn nighttime nibbles as efficiently as it does those you eat during the day, a study of people on high-fat diets in the journal Obesity finds. Declare “last call” two hours before bed. “If you’re really hungry, have a healthy 150-calorie snack,” says SELF contributing expert Janis Jibrin, R.D., such as 1 1/2 cups cooked edamame in the shell, a medium orange and 1 part-skim string cheese or 1 small banana spread with 2 tsp peanut butter. If not, sip tea, cut the lights and bid farewell to the fridge until morning. (Final note: If you do give in to a late-night hankering for ice cream, cookies or other sugary treats you were trying to avoid, let the guilt go: Stress such as remorse can actually contribute to the kind of belly fat you’re trying to erase!)

ENJOY:
Avocados
Just half of one avocado contains 10 g of healthy monounsaturated fats, which stop the blood sugar spikes that tell your body to store fat around your midsection. Order guacamole instead of cheese-based dip, or mix some avocado chunks with a little lemon juice and use it a sandwich spread in place of mayo.

Oranges
Supermarket shocker: Vitamin C in the citrus fruit can help you zap up to 30 percent more fat during exercise, research from Arizona State University at Mesa suggests. Other great sources of C include red peppers, kiwi, strawberries and papaya.

Green tea
Three cups daily may rev your metabolism and burn an extra 30 calories, a study in published in the journal Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise shows. (Hey, it adds up over time!) The compound ECGC in the tea makes it easier to burn fat.

Bananas
The fruit packs 422 mg of potassium, a mineral that can help limit the amount of belly-swelling sodium in your body. A few other potassium-packing bloat busters: sweet potatoes, lowfat yogurt and dried apricots.

AND TRY THESE GADGETS:
BOSU
($150; BOSU.com)
Standing on this flat-bottomed dome during strength exercises, like lunges or biceps curls, creates instability, forcing you to recruit more muscles in your middle to stay steady. For a less pricey version, try the Xerdisc, a wobbly inflatable disk that makes crunches and squats more difficult (read: effective); it’s $35 at Spri.com.

Gaiam BalanceBall Chair
($80; Amazon.com)
Lose the La-Z-Boy. Instead, take a seat on the Gaiam BalanceBall chair. Enlist your abs or you’ll topple over while watching the tube or eating dinner. Talk about mindless, but mandatory, middle management.

Core Roller
($15; Power-Systems.com)
This tone-up toy can make a “wheel” difference. Grip the handles and kneel, placing the roller on the floor in front of you. Contract your abs and roll out into a modified push-up position. Hold for five counts, then roll back to kneeling. Repeat up to 10 times.
To discover more flat-belly foods and suprisingly simple stomach slimmers, click on Self.com.
Follow Yahoo! Health on Facebook.

It's your life

I was listening to some music yesterday on Pandora and It's Your Life by Francesca Battistelli
came on.  I know I've heard it on a few tv shows recently.  I love the chorus.  After I found it on youtube I listened to it over and over. 

Oh the bloat!

There's 1 week of the month that I hate weighing in and that would be this week.  I am so bloated, yesterday I even made it a purpose to cut back on the sodium.  Hopefully it goes away soon.  I hate feeling this way. 

Anyways today is weigh in day.  170.8.  I'm crawling to the 160's.  Hopefully after the bloat goes away, I will be there next week! 

I switched things up at the gym today.  I think I will do it for the next week just to give my body a little shake in what is happening.  Today I did 10 bike warm up, then instead of doing cardio like I normally do I headed to the weight section to work on lower body strength training.  After I was done with that I then did cardio.  Today I did a 1 mile run (9:43) and walked at an incline for 12 minutes.  I really liked doing the leg strength training first because my leg muscles were definitely ready to go for a run instead of still feeling a little rubber bandy.  Today was an abbreviated workout because I wanted to do some tanning before I left.  I haven't done that in so long, but with spring time coming up and some events in the future I wanted to get a little color on me.

Yesterday I ordered my S2H Replay band from Amazon.  I had enough gift cards from Swagbucks that I could get it for free.  I wrote about it when I first saw it on the news back in January, but basically you get rewarded for working out.  Every 15 minutes of exercise a bar on the band fills up.  After 1 hour you get a code that you put into the website for points.  You can then cash in the points for gift cards.  I'm excited.  I'm already working out so why not get rewarded for it!?!?

I'm looking forward to the weekend.  I talked a friend of mine who is just getting into running into going with me on my run tomorrow.  She's been having a hard time with distance so hopefully I can push her along and help reach her goal.  Sunday we are going to my sister in law's birthday dinner.  Spaghetti, salad, cake, ice cream.  Oy!  I am making some turkey meatballs to take so I think I'll just have a few of those, salad and a tiny bit of either the cake or the ice cream. 

Don't forget to change your clocks Saturday night!  It's time to spring forward (and lose 1 hr of sleep).  Speaking of sleep, guess who was able to sleep from 9:30pm-4:00am without being woken up several times??  Yuppers that would be me.  Oh it felt so great.  Hopefully it can happen again tonight!

"Even if you fall flat on your face·at least you are moving forward."-Sue Luke:

Thursday, March 10, 2011

I used to be fat

Yesterday while the boys were napping and I was being lazy I was catching on my Tuesday night shows of Biggest Loser and Teen Mom 2. After they were done and I still had some time I decided to watch an episode of I Used to be Fat that I've seen commercials for on MTV. The episode I watched was Gabriella, who lives not too far from me in Egg Harbor Township NJ, so that was kind of interesting. What an amazing transformation she had! I just wanted to slap her mom though. Here's her mom telling her she needs to lose weight, but was still buying junk food (that Gabriella would sneak) because the younger kids in the house shouldn't have to be deprived of cookies and other treats. If your daughter, who you say you're concerned about, is overweight and has issues with will power don't bring temptation to her and sit it on the table while she's trying to lose weight! Then the mom was at first was hesitant to allow her to lessen her work hours for 3 weeks while she finished school so that she had time to workout, sleep, work and do school work. Ugh. So much for a great support in the beginning. But the mom did turn around towards the end of Gabriella's journey.

I really love watching shows like this and Biggest Loser because it helps me find motivation. Speaking of motivation. Here's my I used to be Fat picture.   This was me (10/24/10) at a Halloween Party (Hence the pink wig) weighing 186lbs.  I look at this picture and think how the heck did I ever let myself get this way? 

 This is my skinny girl motivation pic from my first 5k (7/12/08).  I think I was 148lbs on this day. 
Yesterday I had a great day of rest.  I did a few planks and some other core exercises while watching some tv while the boys were both napping (again!). I had a hard time getting up for the gym today.  Last night was another sleepless night in our house.  I'm so glad this final tooth is just about through because I'm soon going to lose my mind (if I haven't already).  When my alarm went off, I was very tempted to just turn it off completely and go back to sleep.  But I just couldn't.  I knew I would be so mad at myself later in the day for doing that.  Afterall today is my "last chance workout" before weigh in day tomorrow.  So I got up got dressed and realized I didn't find my sneakers last night before I went to bed.  The boys both like to walk around the house in them, I guess they want to know what it's like to walk in my shoes. :)  I was tempted to just call that a reason why not to go to the gym, but I talked myself out of that mentality, found them and went on my way. 

Today was to be a running day, but I was already not really in the mood to workout and didn't want to become frustrated at a bad run, so I changed it to doing the Arc Trainer for 40 min then upper body and some oblique workouts. 

On the way home from the gym today I figured out my run for Saturday.  Instead of the park like I did last week, I will run down down my road 1.5 miles, which conveniently is a traffic light, then run back.  The run down will be nice because it's a lot of down hill, the run back will be pretty rough since it is well uphill most of it, including the last tenth of a mile to my house. 


"Don't lose sight of what you want.  Don't lose sight of what you're entitled to.- Bob Harper

Tuesday, March 8, 2011

Off

Today I just feel off.  I think all the disrupted sleep I've been having for 3 weeks now is catching up with me.  The only thing that got me out of bed this morning is knowing that tomorrow I can sleep in.  At the gym I did 12 min warm up on the elliptical then headed to the treadmill.  On the treadmill I ran at 5.4.  I wanted to quit at the half mile.  It took everything I had to keep going.  I was still feeling sluggish at 20 minutes so I took down to a walk for 3 minutes.  I needed to do some self talk and get myself pumped up again.  After the 3 minutes I kicked the speed back up to 5.4 to finish the run.  After 2.75 miles I gradually kicked the speed up until I was at 6.0 at the 3 mile mark.  I ran at 6.0 until 3.25 miles.  The time ended up being 37:03.  I then walked until I was at 48 minutes for a total of 1hr cardio.  The workout was finished off with lower body weights.  I'll do core later today.  All in all I'm glad I didn't give up when I wanted to, but I sure am looking forward to tomorrow!

"A champion is someone who gets up, even when he can't."
~ Jack Dempsey

To cut or not to cut

has been my question for the past few days, as in cut my hair.  My goal was to grow my hair out so I could pull it back in a pony tail.  The problem is that my hair is thick, and well just annoying.  It has lots of body, some of it is wavy, some spiral curly and some just straight. I ended up having to straighten my hair to make it look good.  The odd thing about my hair is that the longer it is, the more curl/wave it has.  Normally it's the opposite.  Anyway, another issue about long hair for me is that I had long hair almost my entire childhood.  I chopped it off in 3rd grade, but then had it grow back.   After I lost weight in high school, I cut my hair short again.  I associate my long hair with being overweight.  I have such a had time getting past that.  

So recently my hair has been at that annoying length when growing it out that it sits on my neck, but not long enough to pull up yet.  It has really been bothering me while working out because it makes me so hot.  I've been going back and forth on whether to cut it short or let it continue to grow.  Yesterday both boys were napping at the same time which is a rarity since the oldest hardly ever naps.  I was playing around with my hair and decided to just do it.  I took the scissors and chopped it off.  I've paid lots of attention to the hair dresser when getting my hair cut and have cut my hair before so it actually turns out nice and not all choppy looking. So I now have short hair and it makes me feel great.  I love the way it makes my face look thinner.

Monday, March 7, 2011

Check out this giveaway

Jen over at Runner ... Maybe is doing a giveaway for 2 BondiBands.  It's for a great cause so go over to Runner ... Maybe and enter for your chance to win!  You have until Friday March 11th when the winner will be selected.

Avoid common gym mistakes: In the end, your body will thank you

The gym I go to is Planet FitnessThis was posted on their Facebook page.  I thought it was nice so I'm going to pass it along. 

Avoid common gym mistakes: In the end, your body will thank you

You’ve been working out for months, but you still aren’t getting the results you want. What’s up?
It might be you’re making one or more common gym mistakes. Trainers say mistakes vary from using poor technique to an inconsistent workout schedule.
gymWEB.jpgRena Sexton of Hanover laughs as she works out with the help of Pro's Gym owner and trainer Randy Howe.
Jim Scott, Ph.D., professor of health and physical fitness at Jackson Community College, says too often people try to fit workouts around other obligations, when exercise should be scheduled first.
“Make it a priority,” he says.
Fitness experts say bringing inflated expectations to the gym is a common and critical error. Losing weight and shaping up should be gradual, they say.
“A realistic expectation is (losing) 1 percent of body weight per week,” Scott says.
In fact, you might gain weight — muscle — before you lose it, according to Kasey Altenbernt, manager of Planet Fitness, 2020 Holiday Inn Drive.
Rena Sexton, 41, of Hanover acknowledged she set unrealistic goals when she joined Pros Gym, 202 E. McDevitt Ave., more than two years ago. She went in thinking, “I’m going to drop weight like crazy,” she says. “It doesn’t work that way.”
But she stuck it out, visiting the gym three to five times a week and losing 40 pounds. With the aid of Pros’ owner Randy Howe, she does both strength and cardio work.
Trainers say it takes anywhere from six to 12 weeks to make anything, including exercise, a habit.
“The body needs to get used to the new program,” says Michelle Woods, a Jackson personal trainer who teaches classes at the Jackson YMCA, 127 W. Wesley St.
In addition, new exercisers must be able to get through setbacks. Missing workouts, overeating, a bout of illness — they all can cause someone to say, “What’s the use?”
Instead, get back to the routine and “do the best you can,” says Drew Cowden, general manager of Powerhouse 24/7 gym, 1901 Horton Road.
Lisa Perkins, 39, of Jackson says she initially dropped out after joining a gym. But she came back committed a little more than a year ago, and her weight has dropped from 251 to 163 pounds.
“I do it because I have to … I want to be healthy,” says Perkins, a registered nurse, who shows up to Planet Fitness every day. Perkins also changed her diet to a healthier one. “I watch my portions,” she says, and gets regular doses of vegetables.
Karre Adams, 38, of Liberty Township says her husband bought her six weeks of sessions with a trainer at Powerhouse a little more than a year ago, which gave her a great start.
“I wanted to do it right,” she says. She does mostly weight training but mixes in cardio. In three months’ time, she went from a size 8 to size 4.
In the end, exercise is a commitment.
“The hardest part is walking through the (gym) door,” Woods says. “Just do it.”
COMMON MISTAKES
Expecting the quick fix: Losing weight and shaping up is a gradual process, trainers say. Unrealistic goals can lead to discouragement and dropping out. It also can cause some to overdo it in the beginning. If you’ve been sedentary for a long time, a good precaution is to check with your doctor before starting out.
Inconsistent training: Trainers say it’s important to be at the gym regularly to progress. Exercising with a partner (or trainer) can hold you accountable.
Not exercising enough: JCC’s Scott advises doing some kind of aerobic activity 30 to 60 minutes each day, inside or outside the gym. Non-gym options range from walking to using in-home fitness equipment. It’s important to mix in strength work, he says, even something as simple as using hand weights or stretch bands during TV commercials.
Unbalanced training: Many gym-goers do either aerobic or strength training, whereas a good, balanced program should provide both. Aerobic work can be done daily, trainers say, but weight training generally should alternate with days of rest.
Poor technique: Before using cardio or weight equipment, get instruction from a staff member. Many gyms provide orientation sessions for new members. Another option: Hire a personal trainer for at least a few sessions.
Pushing too hard: An example is the weekend warrior who overworks on the weekend. It invites injury, personal trainer Woods says. The extreme is the obsessive exerciser who pushes the limit each day and/or several times a day, which can lead to injury or burnout.
Not pushing hard enough: Some gym-goers mosey along, watch TV and socialize — not that there’s anything wrong with that, so long as it doesn’t detract from their (or others’) workout. Specifically with aerobics, the goal is to get the heart rate up.
Not changing your routine: Exercisers can get comfy doing the same exercises at the same level month after month. “The body adapts to a certain routine and you get diminishing returns,” says Cowden of Powerhouse gym. Be sure to mix up your workout.
Incorrect strength training: Instead of using momentum — such as jerking — to lift weights, use controlled motion, says Altenbernt of Planet Fitness. Among other mistakes: relying too much on weight rather than reps and technique, rushing reps and targeting certain muscles such as biceps.
Not changing one’s diet: Working out then gobbling down a fat- and carb-loaded meal won’t do it. Fitness facilities often are sources for nutritional information. “We emphasize portion control,” says Mike Herl of Pros Gym, as well as eating natural foods.
Worrying about what other people think: That can take the form of worrying about your body shape (remember there are diverse body types in any gym) or trying to impress others with your performance (it can lead to injury).
Not stretching: Trainers say stretching is important, but there’s disagreement whether to do “cold” stretching before a workout. Several advise against it, saying it risks injury. Instead, they suggest non-aggressive stretching after a 5- to 10-minute warm-up, and more vigorous “flexibility” stretching after the workout and cool-down.
Not warming up: A 5- to 10-minute warm-up — light walking, general movement — is recommended before light stretching and the workout.
Not cooling down: Scott of JCC says this is more important than many realize. He says exercisers — especially older ones — shouldn’t just sit down immediately after working out. Cool-down activities include slow walking and light swinging of the arms, then some “flexibility” stretching.
Not drinking enough water: The body needs it before, during and after exercising. Water facilitates proper muscle contraction and helps avoid spasms.

 

Measurements

It's been 1 month since I first did my measurements.  These are the original measurements:

Right arm: 13"
Left arm: 13"
Right Thigh: 26.5"
Left Thigh: 26.5"
waist: 39.5"
chest: 43"
hips: 44"

This is as of this morning:

Right arm: 13" (same)
Left arm: 13" (same)
Right Thigh: 26" (-1")
Left Thigh: 26" (-1")
waist: 37.75" (-1.75")
chest: 42" (-1")
hips: 42.25" (-1.75")

I highly recommend for anyone to do measurements as a way to show progress on weightloss, rather than just watching the number on the scale.  I really wish I would have done this at the beginning of the year when I first started doing the Weight Watchers Points Plus. 

Monday Monday

How I despise you. 

Today was one of those Mondays where I just wanted to turn off the alarm and roll over.  We were up a bit with the little one who is cutting more teeth.  I cannot wait for these teeth to be cut through since they are the last until his 2 year molars.  Hopefully we can then get some sleep in this house again.  Anyway I did get up and out of bed.  I'm a very competitive person and was talking to one of my friends at our book club meeting yesterday.  She's running the 5k with me in April.  She said she's doing the Jackie Warner diet right now and has lost 20 lbs.  Now I need to kick it up a notch and catch up to her. lol.

This weeks plan for the gym:

Mon- Arc Trainer & upper body/core
Tues - elliptical warm up, run & lower body/core
Wed - off from gym due to husbands schedule - do something at home
Thurs - Arc Trainer, run & upper body/core
Fri - Arc Trainer, some lower body & tan a few minutes (it's included in my gym membership and I rarely do it, but I have a wedding to go to in a few weeks and I'm so pasty white)
Sat - outdoor run

I made it through the weekend pretty good with eating.  Yesterday at our book club meeting the friend I mentioned earlier was the host, so she had some healthy snacks.  I did it a bit of Tostito's and salsa and can feel the bloat from the sodium today so I'll be drinking lots of water to hopefully flush that all out.  

"If you don't do what's best for your body, you're the one who comes up on the short end." - Julius Erving

Saturday, March 5, 2011

First outdoor run

This morning I woke up and headed down to the park for a run.  I had downloaded an app for my Android that is from mapmyrun so I would know exactly how far I ran.  Basing it off of how long it takes to run the long loop, I'm pretty sure that loop is close to 1 mile.  Apparently during the run I must have hit the pause button and disabled the GPS before the phone locked (I need to get an armband for the phone if I continue to use the phone instead of my ipod during a run) so it didn't fully record the whole run for me.  I ended up running the loop 4 times, so I would say somewhere between 3.5-4 miles.  I did walk 2 times for 1-2 minutes each.  The first time was after 1 loop around.  It was taking some adjusting getting used to being outdoors again, dealing with the grades and headwind.  The second time was after doing one of the small hills.  My legs were burning!  After the second loop around I was feeling great.  I had my form back, especially when going up the little hills and was feeling strong. I'm looking forward to next Saturday when I can do another run outside.

My parents are in town.  I offered a few ideas for lunch and dinner that I could prepare for everyone, but it was voted to eat out for both meals.  For lunch we picked up hoagies from Wawa.  One of my favorite parts of a hoagie is also the least healthiest, mayo.  I ordered a little bit of mayo instead of extra so I consider that an accomplishment. And you know what?  I didn't even miss it on the sandwich.  For dinner we went to a local diner.  I was having such difficulty trying to figure out what to order.  Normally when we go out I have a light lunch such as a salad so I could have those points to use for dinner.  I ended up ordering breakfast.  It's one of my favorites when I go there because they have good homefries.   I had 2 eggs scrambled, some kind of grain/wheat toast (had them hold the butter on the toast) and yummy homefries.  My belly felt full afterwards but I didn't have that "ugh why did I eat that" feeling that I often get after eating out. 

Friday, March 4, 2011

Weekly Weigh-In

171.0  Getting closer to being out of the 170's!

Today at the gym I did 45 min Arc Trainer and then upper body and some core strength training.  Tomorrow I'm going to attempt my first outdoor run since 2008.  This weekend is going to be semi-hard to stay on track.  I'm getting together with some friends for our "book club meeting" and that always involves delicious foods and wine.  I used quotation marks because we really don't talk about the book.  Heck I didn't even read the book this month.  We just use it as an extra excuse for the husbands to watch the kids while we get together for some mommy time.  I'm going to find a new healthy recipe to try out so I know there will be at least one good option.


You've got to say, I think that if I keep working at this and want it badly enough I can have it. It's called perseverance.- Lee Iacocca

Thursday, March 3, 2011

Side Bend Shoulder Press

This is the exercise I mentioned yesterday that I added into my routine.  I saw it in the most recent Fitness Magazine.  It's part of the Fast Belly Blast: Crunch-Free Ab Exercises.  I thought it was a pretty good workout. 

Side-Bend Shoulder Press

What you'll need: a 5- to 8-pound dumbbell
Targets: Shoulders, abs, and obliques
-- Stand with feet slightly wider than shoulder-width apart, dumbbell in right hand by side, and bring left hand to touch back of head, elbow bent out to side.
-- Hinge at waist to side bend to right, reaching dumbbell along outside of right leg toward knee. (Do not allow torso to tip forward.)
-- Return to upright posture, raising dumbbell to right shoulder and then pressing it overhead, palm facing left.
-- Lower dumbbell to shoulder; return to start.
-- Do 30 reps. Switch sides and repeat. Do 3 sets.

2 month weigh in!

 Today marks 2 months since beginning the new Weight Watcher Points Plus program and continuing my exercise regimen.  I weighed myself this morning and the total lost in those 2 months is 14.2 lbs. I'm happy with that.

Today at the gym I did 45 min elliptical and then lower body and some core strength training.
 
There's this old man at the gym, he looks like a grandpa so I'd say in his late 60's/early 70's.  Every day that he is there he is running on the treadmill.  I really hope I can be like that when I'm old.


"Perseverance is not a long race; it is many short races one after another." -Walter Elliott

Wednesday, March 2, 2011

Couch 2 5k completed!

I really thought this mornings workout was going to be a complete waste.  I had a hard time falling asleep last night.  I actually stayed awake for all of Biggest Loser (and cried that Arthur had to go home).  By the time I got myself in bed it was 10:30 and still had to fall asleep.  At 11:30 my oldest had a bad dream and woke up screaming.  Our boys share a room and the downfall to that is that when he woke up screaming, the youngest also woke up.  It took nearly an hour to get him settled back to sleep.  The oldest didn't want to sleep in his bed and ended up in ours.  That makes me, my husband, my son and of course the dog all in our bed, a queen size bed.  Of course everyone was sprawled out, except for me who was struggling to stay in the bed.  I was almost tempted to just sleep on the couch, but I finally managed to fall back asleep.  When that alarm went off at 4am, I did not want to get up.  I was actually very tempted to just turn it off and keep sleeping.  But I got up and slowly got myself ready.

When I got to the gym I did 10 min warm up on the elliptical, then headed over to the treadmill for a run.  I was running at 5.4/5.5, switching it up here and there throughout the run.  It's amazing how that .1 can make a difference in how I'm feeling.  The sound of it really doesn't sound like it's that much of a difference in speed.  Anyways I was running and feeling good the first 2 miles.  Once I hit that 2 mile mark I really wanted to take a short break and walk.  I wasn't hurting anywhere.  I don't even know if I was really tired.  I was just at that mental spot where I've been stopping the past few weeks and really just wanted to stop again.  But I kept telling myself over and over "I am strong"  "I can do this"  "I will not stop.  Once I got to 2.75 miles I upped the speed every little bit until I was finishing the 3.1 at 6.0.  The final time was 34:14.  I then did a cook down walk until I was at 40 minutes.  I was one sweaty mess when I was done.  After cardio was finished I headed over to the weights for upper body/core and did a new routine I saw in the latest Fitness magazine that came in the mail yesterday.  I'll have to look for a link and post it later.  For now it's off to be a mommy and get the kids ready for our day.

Tuesday, March 1, 2011

The President's Challenge

Answer the President’s Challenge by earning your Presidential Active Lifestyle Award (PALA) today! Help the President’s Council on Fitness, Sports, and Nutrition meet its goal to get 1 million Americans active.

What I'll be getting for (almost) free

When I'm not being active, my other hobby right now is saving money.  I'm a huge couponer and LOVE getting something for free, who doesn't?  Right now the deal on Gaggle of Chicks is $10 for $25 worth of Eco Friendly products from Let's Go GreenSign up at Gaggle of Chicks and you'll receive a $10 sign up bonus (and I'm not going to lie, I will also get a $10 referral credit).  What that all means is you get $25 of Eco Friendly products for FREE!  There is just a $6-$7 shipping charge.  Here is what I'll be getting.

For me at the gym ($9.68)
 To put in the Easter basket for my youngest ($16.48)
I left my water bottle somewhere a few weeks ago so I've just been reusing plastic water bottles since then.  Some of our sippy cups have seen better days so this is a good deal for me.  Total for all that including shipping will be under $10.  Check it out here if you want!

I'm taking the day off from the gym today.  My husband had to be at work early again today.  Saturday is supposed to be nice so I'm going to head down to the park for my first outdoor run in a long time.  Since Saturday is a normal rest day for me I'm just doing some switcheroo's this week.  I will be walking down to the park with the kids and chasing them around there today though so it's not a total waste of a day.