word to the wise

It fits!

I spent the weekend at my parents house over the weekend and came across my wedding dress.  I decided to be brave and see if the dress still fits.  I weighed a little less than I do now on our wedding day and after having kids the body changes so I wasn't sure if I would be able to get it zipped.  Well 6.5 years and 2 kids later - it fits! 

Proud Mama

Taking a break from the health/fitness posts today to share that my oldest graduated preschool today.  He picked out his own outfit this morning.  I swear he has more style than me.

Do it

Try it Tuesday

This weeks Try it Tuesday is brought to you by Garnier Fructis and BzzAgent.  I've been participating in a BzzAgent campaign for Garnier Fructis Triple Nutrition Shampoo and conditioner.  With this campaign, I received both the shampoo and conditioner to try.  Let me tell you, my hair has not felt as soft as it does now in such a long time.  Seriously. I was not blessed with a good hair texture.  Some parts are spiral curls, some waves, some straight with an overall poofyness (yes that is a word lol).  All of that requires me to straighten my hair nearly every day.   Since using the triple nutrition shampoo and conditioner, my hair has a bit of a shine again.  And guess what?  It all started with just the very first use.  So here is another product that I do highly recommend. 

Despite not getting a workout in over the weekend, I think I did pretty good.  I had the sweet tooth a few times but I didn't give in.  Ok I say I didn't get a workout in, but really that's not the truth.  I didn't get a formal workout in, but I did a lot of gardening/housework and that  burns calories.

This morning I started the week off on the right foot (literally since that is the foot I always start my runs with) with a 2.75 mile run.  The route I chose today has some inclines and I conquered those.  Normally I slow down with inclines, but today I took them on strong.

Here is how the week is hopefully going to pan out:
Mon - Run
Tues- arc trainer + upper body
Wed - am run + hopefully pm Zumba
Thurs - circuit training + elliptical
Fri - rest
Saturday - run
Sunday - rest

Funny Friday

So guilty of this! 

Schedule ... what?

This week I'm so off with my planned workouts.  So far it has looked like this.

Monday- nada
Tuesday - nada
Wednesday - I made up for my slacking and did back to back classes at the gym - kickboxing & zumba
thursday - run - 3.4 miles

Last night was my first time taking a kickboxing class and I fell in love.  The teacher looked like Billy Blanks from Taebo.  I used to do Taebo all the time back in my younger days so I felt like my tv came to life.  I absolutely plan on doing more back to back classes. 

This morning I woke up and got my butt out of bed for a run.  I love that the sun is rising earlier because it makes my early morning runs a little safer.  So today I decided to try a new route.  I liked it, but it's completely straight and I felt like it took forever to get to the turn around point.  My legs were not having the run at first.  Around mile 2 is when I felt like I started to come alive. It took a lot of talking to myself to keep going, but I did.

Try it tuesday

I used Jergens Natural Glow express last week to get rid of tan lines that I had going on that looked ridiculous with the dress I chose to wear.  It worked wonders.  Highly recommend! 

Weekend recap

Over the weekend I did waayy too much eating and drinking and not enough exercise.  But I did have a blast.  I have never seen so much delicious food as I did at the wedding that I attended.  Wow.  At least I spent a few hours out on the dance floor burning up some calories right?  Here are a few pictures from the night.  The first is a comparison using my "Oh my god I need to lose weight" picture.

My self pic

 While we were waiting for cocktail hour to start.  I need to work on my arms.

This week looks like it will be a fun workout week.  The zumba instructor that I love is starting a new class and it looks like I should be able to make it to at least 1 of those.  This morning was an alarm clock fail.  I'll have to figure something out to do later.
Monday- something
Tuesday-run/upper body/zumba
Wednesday- elliptical/zumba
Thursday- arc trainer/upper body/possible zumba depending on when kindergarten orientation is over
Friday-circuit training/walk
Saturday- run
Sunday- off

Funny Friday

Measurements

I finally remembered to do body measurements this morning!  So here they are.  I thought it felt like my hips were getting smaller. (what is in parenthesis = total lost since I started measuring).

Right arm: 11" (-2.0")
Left arm: 11.0" (-2.25")
Right Thigh: 22.755" (-4.25")
Left Thigh: 22.75" (-4.25")
waist: 32.75" (-6.75")
chest: 37.75" (-5.25")
hips: 38.75" (-5.25")

Here's a math equation for you

cool weather + rain+warm blankets = what?

The answer to that would be turning the alarm off and missing the gym.  The bed was so nice and cozy this morning I fell right back asleep before I got out of bed.  Oh well.  I'll get my workout in later tonight. 

Here is how the week is playing out in the workout world:
Mon - treadmill walk/ARC trainer/upper body
Tues- 3 mile run (it felt great!)
Wed- was to be elliptical/upper body but will now Zumba dancing while watching something on tv
Thurs - JM 30 day shred
Fri - Zumba kinect or Kenpox
Sat- wedding reception --> dancing my butt off
Sun- rest!

This is one of my favorite songs right now.  They play it at Zumba and the dork that I am I start doing the zumba moves when I hear it here at home.  Really how can you not at least start tapping your feet? 

Try it Tuesday

A few weeks ago I found out about a great deal on Blueberry Vanilla granola bars at Monkey Brains Store.  It was $1/box and free shipping.  You have to order in batches of 9 boxes.  I ended up ordering 18 boxes.  My boys can be picky about their food, but I knew if they didn't like it the husband or myself would eat them.  The other day a huge box arrived by UPS.  I totally forgot I ordered these  and was pleasantly surprised when I opened the box and found all that was in there.  In addition to the 18 boxes that I ordered, they also included 6 boxes of oatmeal and 2 other flavors of granola bars.  The oldest, Mr. Picky whose food choices vary hour to hour wasn't a fan, but my youngest loves them as does the husband and myself.  The best part about Monkey Brains products?  "Monkey Bars and Monkey Brains are 100% natural: no additives, no preservatives, no high fructose corn syrup. You’ll love how clean our ingredients lists are!!"  Go check it out!

Joggers have a longer life span

When I was at the gym today I was watching CNN (exciting I know).  There was a segment about how joggers have a longer life span.

"Jogging and longevity: Joggers live longer than non-joggers -- by an average of about six years, say European researchers who followed 20,000 people for up to 35 years. One intriguing twist: Deaths rates are lowest, they say, in people who jog lightly -- running at a slow to moderate pace for 1 to 2.5 hours each week. News accounts and a press release about the research do not say how closely the researchers examined other differences among joggers and non-joggers that might contribute to longer life spans. But one researcher proclaims: "We can say with certainty that regular jogging increases longevity. The good news is that you don't actually need to do that much to reap the benefits."

I knew being a slower runner would come to my advantage at one point!  Coincidence maybe, but as that segment came to an end, I saw 2 people go from walking to jogging.

1086

Last night I remembered to take the HRM to Zumba so I could see how many calories I actually burn in one class.  Everything I have read said anywhere between 600-1000 calories could be burned in 1 class.  I got to the gym early so I did 30 min on the elliptical for a warm up.  That registered in at 303 calories.  After 55 minutes dancing my butt off - the HRM registered in at 783.  So grand total of 1086 calories burned for the night.  I wish it was always so easy and fun to burn as many calories as I do at Zumba. 

What are you waiting for?