challenges Week #5 10/30/11

No new challenges this week...

I do however want you to focus on this:

Following your challenge cards-- Get your exercises in every day.. this is very important!

and

PLAN your week out in advance.

Good things are ahead my friends!

Month 1 Down!

Ladies,

Today was GREAT!  We missed a few of you but had a wonderful workout and some good results.   Today marks exactly 1 month since you surrendered you jeans to me!  With one month down lets refocus tomorrow morning on starting Month #2 with a big bang!  Get your workouts in and continue making good healthy food choices.   Reaching your goals will follow-- I promise.   Follow your challenge cards and be sure to get the daily exercises in as this will help change your body composition and increase your metabolism.
Today's workout was very simple but good.  We used all our daily challenge exercises and added some intensity to them and more reps.  The idea is to teach you how to exercise at home with a good amount of intensity so you are maximizing your workouts.
Today's workout also included pumpkins---  Try carrying a 10lb pumpkin down the track, setting it down, then sprinting back!  Sweat inducing as well as festive :)
I'm wishing you all a very Happy Halloween and remember that part of your challenge is to say no to the sweets-- You don't need them and I guarantee you will only feel the ill effects of the sugar if you give in.  Try to stick with it and I hope that being challenged to "not have any sweets" will make it easier than if you were allowed to have a "few".  If you are going to hand out anything to trick or treaters you can always buy stickers or rings so that you don't have to have the candy in your house.  
Cheers!

Sierra

Fitting Physical Fitness Activities Into Your Schedule - FamilyEducation.com

Fitting Physical Fitness Activities Into Your Schedule - FamilyEducation.com

Month 1 progress

Ladies,

Do you realize that in 3 days it will be 1 month since you started this program?  I do not want to speak for you so I would love to hear your comments and thoughts as you reflect on the past month as well as how your feeling now?  My observations is that we have made some great changes in 1 month and I cannot wait to see you all reach your goals.  If there is anything more I can do to help keep you on track please let me know.  I appreciate all you lovely ladies-
Sierra

Struggling

So, this week has been a bit of a bust, I think it started because I missed class on Sunday and just haven't gotten back into the swing of things. I just don't seem to be able to find the time to do the things I need to do for this, for work and for home. I know that we are supposed to make the time, but I just don't seem to be able to do it right now.

Is it because I'm not getting enough sleep (still nursing twice a night) and then there is work! I just don't know where to start with that... Christmas season is coming up and I'm so behind in making the candles for the Bazaar at the expo, trying to juggle the kids for child care whilst Shane is working as well and run the house at the same time. I've been working til around 11 every night just trying to catch up on paper work and all the other fun stuff that goes with running your own business.

Don't mean to ramble on, but I'm just not feeling it this week and I know I need to get back on track! I WILL see you ladies on Sunday and hopefully by then I will not be feeling so sorry for myself!

Liz

Thanksgiving walk/run

Hey Ladies,

Last year my family started a tradition and I'm wondering who else might want to join us?

Check it out:  www.givengobble.com/ 

You can run or walk and it is for a good cause!  A great way to start your turkey day-
Who is in?

Great start to the week...

So on Sunday, we had a parent social in the early evening. It was one of those usual events with lots of bad for you appetizers and wine...

I was thankful for two things - 1. Christy was there to lend support!!! :-) and 2. We had talked about what to do early that morning. It really helped! Turns out, I had a couple of appetizers, but nothing that violated a challenge. I chose to not indulge in the wine because I have other events coming up this week that I am saving for... :-) All in all, it was a successful evening!

Workouts have been good so far too. BUT, the real work is just beginning... tomorrow is Diwali (Indian New Year), so that means lots of decadent food temptations, and then this weekend are the parties... it's not the sweets that are tempting me, it's the fried foods that are so difficult to resist. But I will try... I'll try mostly to remember Liz's post about how she felt after she ate the pizza and cake, and realize hopefully that I don't want to invite that!

Hope everyone else's week is going well. See you all on Sunday!
Kunjan

Less of me....

So exciting to start the week LIGHTER!  After 36 hours of work in a 3 day period, I found it very difficult to fit exercise in.  I kept to my nutrition plan and took the stairs at the hospital and DID IT! 

I'm looking forward to the challenges this week...THANK GOD I can have 2 glasses of wine.  You know I'm going to plan those moments out! 

Hoping you all are having a great week too--
Stefanie

Tried a Cheat Day...

Ok, I thought since I've been sooo good with my diet I could allow myself a "cheat day."

I tried this out Sunday after our workout. My daughter had a birthday party to attend at Chuck-E-Cheese. I didn't go completely crazy and eat a whole pizza to myself. I started with the salad bar. BUT then....

We ordered bread sticks (something Maddy likes to teeth on) I "helped" her eat them. I had a slice of pizza, and then of course came the birthday cake. I wasn't even craving cake but there it was, being handed out to everyone and I thought, why not? 1 slice won't kill me. The real killer was the goody bag. Why did I open it? Who knows, because it was sitting in front of me I guess. Had a few pieces of candy to top of my cheat day.

The end result? I FELT LIKE CRAP! I wasn't feeling so hot by the time we left and all that night I tossed and turned with a stomach ache. I was like the kid who ate all their Halloween candy in 1 night making them sick.

Lesson learned? Crappy pizza, birthday cake, and candy are not worth it!

Thankfully this has put me back on the right track for the rest of the week. Hope everyone else is doing well and I'm excited to see some more results Sunday!
~Liz M.

11 lbs lighter

Ladies, 

We do not have the final pounds lost for the week yet (waiting for 2 more weigh ins) but we do have some of the results...

Together... between 6 of you ----   you have lost 11 lbs!    This does not take into account the amount of muscle we have gained... Remember that the scale is helpful to track our progress but ultimately it is what changes we are making within that are most important!  

Lets make this 4th week as good as the first.  Keep motivated and remind yourself that you can do anything--  Especially if it is good for you.  This 3 month challenge is about YOU!  

Week 4 Challenges

Week 4 Challenges:  10/23/2011

1. NO SWEETS 
2. No eating after 7pm unless you have medication that requires it.  Water and a Apple or Grapefruit are an exception.
3.     NO Fried foods (this includes chips because they too are fried)
4.   No white carbs (bread, pasta, and rice)
5.   No more than 2 glasses of wine this week.
6.   Keep your meals @ 400 calories.
7. PLAN your meals & snacks ahead of time.   
8.   Stretch for 5 minutes every day.  (when you get out of bed  is the BEST time to do this) 

1.   RUN/WALK/BIKE/ELLIPTICAL 7 miles this week.  
2.   50 crunches a day
3.   50 squats a day
4.   25 push ups a day
5.   60 seconds plank on elbows, 30 seconds side plank on each side.   
6.   Keep reading--- must be inspirational

GREAT NEWS! West Hills Vision has donated a fun prize!!

Ladies,

West Hills Vision has donated a pair of "running/walking" sunglasses and a free eye exam!  Check out our  Local Business Page for more details.

West Hills Vision

Sunday

Ladies,

Please remember that we will be having a raffle for those of you that have found some friends to Surrender to you!
I will need e mail addresses and names and will add them to our blog.  When they have handed you their jeans (literally) you will let me know that you have them in hand and I will send them a card for a free class.   In addition they will be able to come every Sunday for weigh in between 840-850am if they want (this is free).

Looking forward to Sunday!  If you are not able to be at class Sunday you can still be in the raffle as long as I have the names of all your "Surrendered Folks".

Also I have changed the format of our blog so you can now add items on the other pages.  If you have a fun recipe idea please post it on our food page.  I'll start posting some information about local events related to health and fitness.   Perhaps we will all join a walk/race event together?


Sierra

Keeping up with your program during the holidays

keeping on track during the holidays


Ladies,

Read the article above and we will talk about this on Sunday!

Accountability

So far this week I'm staying on track with my food and my workouts.... However, I feel a cold coming on and tonight my energy is nonexistent. I found myself thinking maybe I'd just order a pizza for dinner cause I don't want to cook and some chocolate sounds good too.

I DIDN'T DO THAT, I thought if I put these feelings out there (on our blog) it would help hold me accountable for what we signed up to do.

I may be feeling sick and have no intention moving the rest of the night but I'm taking control of the urge to break my diet because I "don't feel like it" tonight. (I did workout with Sierra for the noon class today)

Hope everyone else is having a great week. I think I'm going to take it easy Thursday and my goal is to get to the 5:30am Friday class to end this week on a sweaty note.

Dinner!

This is what I created for dinner tonight...

3 eggs
2 mushrooms
thinly sliced onion
Red bell pepper
handful of spinach
Reduced fat Feta cheese

So yummy and can be eaten anytime of the day!

Stickin' with it!

Just a quick note to say that I'm feeling good about all of this!  I kind of feel like I have a good plan to follow and I remain committed to showing up for it all.  The workouts are really hard, but I feel SO GOOD afterwards and it's like I have an annoying little cheerleader in my head all of a sudden! 

I'm making a grocery list right now with hopes of fine tuning the nutrition aspect of things.  Appreciate the article with the lunches at 400 calories Sierra.  It helps to have a plan for lunch-- it's my hardest meal to figure out. 

Keep up the great work everyone!
Stefanie

Blog issue

Hi everyone!  I can post, but I can't comment on other people's posts for some reason.  Anyone know why this is?  I really enjoy reading the other entries and feel bad that I can't give a positive reply or cheer gals on.  Know I'm reading them and pulling for you all!  -- Stefanie

Feeling discouraged!

First of all, I hope the rest of you are doing better than I am...

I did SO well after the 1st week & even showed a weight & inch loss for my efforts so I was feeling pretty awesome but when the second week rolled around this veggie lover wanted to almost puke at the sight of veggies. Looking back to the first week I have to ask -- did I go overboard the first week and that's why I'm already sick of my beloved veggies?

Second week questions -- Maybe I should've stuck to pita pockets, veggies & hummus instead of buying those pre-made frozen lunches? Did I not walk enough? Is it really hurting me that bad not having Sierra kick my butt in classes? Can I DO this?

Halfway through 2nd week I was still doing well... I lost another inch from my tummy & my total weight loss was 5 whole pounds! Come Sunday though, I was up about 1.5 pounds, dang it! This morning I'm up another pound! What in the world?

So here I am facing my downfall and telling you all about it so I can be accountable. It was 'Girls Night Out' Saturday night and I splurged, big time. The night was amazingly fun & I danced my ass off. BUT I knocked back about 10 too many vodka crans and the hangover I've had since Sunday is screaming at me, reminding me of all the reasons I don't drink... or when I do, it's only 1/2 a glass of wine.

With all that, I LOVE that one of our additional challenges this week is 'No alcohol' - Guess what? I can DEFINITELY do that one & I'll willingly accept it!

Here's to Week 3!

Lunch ideas under 400 calories

Here are some fun lunch ideas:  When you click on this link just click on "Continue to Destination" if it doesn't come up instantly!

lunch ideas under 400 calories

Sore muscles?

Hey Ladies,

How are you feeling after Sunday's workout?

Who exercised today?  With this beautiful sunshine I recommend that you get outside this week.  Go walking, jogging, running-   It is so energizing.

May Tuesday be another great day for you and remember to stick to your challenge cards  :)
Let's rock week 3!

Week 3--- YOU CAN DO THIS

Ladies,
We are entering week 3 and I want all of you to have an amazing week.  Do not let yourself forget why you have joined our program.   Keep that end result in mind and your challenge cards handy.    Plan out your week ahead of time and stick to it.

Be Strong, Able, Determined and you will make it happen!

Week #3 Challenges 10/16/2011

Week 3 Challenges:  10/16/2011

1.   No eating after 7pm unless you have medication that requires it.  Water and a Apple or Grapefruit are an exception.
2.     NO Fried foods (this includes chips because they too are fried)
3.   No white carbs (bread, pasta, and rice)
4.   No alcohol 
5.   Keep your meals @ 400 calories.

 PLAN your meals & snacks ahead of time.   

1.   Stretch for 5 minutes every day.  (when you get out of bed  is the BEST time to do this) 

1.   RUN/WALK/BIKE/ELLIPTICAL 7 miles this week.  
2.   50 crunches a day
3.   50 squats a day
4.   25 push ups a day
5.   Find a book that is inspiring.  Read at least 1 chapter a day.

The Agave article I was talking about

http://www.foodrenegade.com/agave-nectar-good-or-bad/

Here is the lik to the article I was telling you about this morning.

I have to admit, I'm a tad jealous

You know what would be awesome? If I knew what Sierra's bootcamp workout consisted of! Does anyone feel like sharing this with me? I'd be so grateful!

In other news, here's a quick picture taken inside my truck on the way to see my brand new baby niece yesterday afternoon. Yes, that's a ziplock bag full of fresh veggies beside a jug of water.

Seeing my 2.5 day old niece was awesome, in fact it was so awesome that I was suddenly glad I got 'spayed' a few months ago. ha!

In other, OTHER news -- I'm getting real sick & tired of all vegetables all the time and I personally LOVE veggies.

Can anyone help me out with this? I need ideas & I need them fast because my eyes have been wandering away from the healthy stuff and towards the things I miss like pasta, bread, rice and chocolate.

Journal Your Fitness Goals And Achievements | Fitness4Her

Journal Your Fitness Goals And Achievements | Fitness4Her

Ouch!

Not sure how much I love Wednesdays.... they consist of TWO workouts for me... Sierra's 5:30am Bootcamp class at Bonny Slope Elementary and the 12:00 noon Bootcamp at Kinetics.  First off... not bragging, but I simply am doing this because it's what my schedule permits.  Today, I'm definitely suffering (which looks like me having trouble sitting down on the toilet seat and completing my 50 squat challenge) but it played out....

Doubling up on workouts kind of reminds me of high school sports when you did 'Daily Doubles' (anyone else relate to this?), not to a mother of 3 needing to lose some weight.  Okay, I'll admit, I was still sitting in front of my computer working in the office at 11:30, thinking to myself.... "I guess I don't have to go to the noon class, after all, I already did the class this morning.... I do have a headache.... and the 2 year old is happily playing, why bother that?...."  BUT.... the NEW me put the brakes on that!  I reminded myself of my commitment and got myself out of my chair, scrambled to get my kid into some clothes and out the door! 

The door is the 2nd biggest burden of all (the 1st is the mind).  Once I was driving, I was fine!  Sure, I thought the workout was great and my body was getting two fantastic ass-kickings, but after they were over, I celebrated more about the sense of accomplishment I felt and how I remained faithful to my commitment.  Yesterday was more about the mental workout than the physical.  Time to remember that we can all DO this!
 -- Stefanie

Great Workout, Bad Day

My morning started off good. Had my smoothie, got my oldest off to pre-school and headed to our office to get a few things done. Sierra gave us an AMAZING workout at the Wed noon class. All was going good till I loaded the girls up and headed home.

My toddler decided she didn't need a nap and I had to take her to a dr. appt at 4pm. Turns out, I'm not the only one that needs to change their diet. She's not getting enough fiber and causing tummy aches.... So after the major melt down at the dr. office, (the tantrum was of epic size) I got her home. She was bouncing off the walls leaving a tornado size mess in her path everywhere she went. Cranky baby on my hands since the toddler was making too much noise for Maddy's afternoon nap. I wasn't able to get any sort of dinner prepared much less cook anything.

My dinner ended up consisting of some frozen packaged meal. (def not healthy) and 2 glasses of wine!

Thankfully I'll I can say is that since I sweated so hard earlier with Sierra the scale didn't go up when I got on it this morning!

My other conclusion from yesterday? I really need to hire a cleaning lady!

Kicked Week 1's Behind!

I survived the first week. I really busted my rear knowing I was heading for a road trip to Boise on Friday.

I'm ecstatic to report that I haven't lost this much weight in a single week unless I was doing some crash diet. I feel so good knowing that I worked hard, ate healthy (and abundantly) and still saw some real results!

I followed Sierra's meal plan she handed out for the first five days. While I was out of town I hit up Subway for meals, and packed lots of fruit and veggies. The hardest I'd say was going out to a Mexican restaurant for my husband's B Day.... I didn't order a Margarita and I got a veggie fajita salad minus the sour cream and fried shell. Not gonna lie a big burrito sounded sooooo good but I was really full from the salad and felt like I was accomplishing something by making that choice for ME.

Hope everyone else had a great week and I'm pumped to get week 2 going!

1lb of body fat

DRUM ROLL PLEASE...........

Total pounds lost this week (still missing 1 weigh in).............


23lbs!      Between 8 of you ladies you lost 23 pounds.. That is absolutely inspiring and motivating to keep it up.   Wow, imagine what 23lbs of body fat looks like....  Now imagine is gone.

Love the progress Ladies-  KEEP IT UP!

Stretches, Crunches & Squats, OH MY!

I DID IT!  My goal was to stretch, crunch and squat as soon as I got out of bed this morning.  I did this in my closet prior to grabbing my robe, but due to an alarm malfunction, I had to skip the squats.  Kids needed breakfast, etc!  But, I just did 50 squats to Thomas the Tank Engine as my two year old practiced counting with me.  Wow, so simple!  Of course I may have trouble sitting down on the toilet later this afternoon, but all of this babbling to drive one point home to all of you ladies....

It's simple and easy to do an exercise throughout the day while you're going about your daily life.  No need to get changed into workout clothes, right?  Just take a break and stretch or do some crunches or some squats.  I also had a new idea today that I'm going to try the next time I work.  On one of my 15 minute breaks, I'm going to walk the stairwell at the hospital.  There are 9 floors!  I like it.  Thanks for the challenge Sierra!

Lentil and Kale Soup with Turkey

I made this last week, but I substituted Jennie O's Turkey Kielbasa for a different take on the recipe... The nutrition breakdown is at the end. We had enough leftover that I had this for lunch the next day as well... It's low in calories, but is very filling because of the lentils.

If you really want to have some shortcuts - Trader Joe's has Kale washed and ready to go, as well as steamed lentils. You can cut the prep time and cook time in half by using their convenient ingredients... :-)

Ingredients

1 lb ground turkey
1 tsp canola oil
3 cloves garlic
1 small onion, chopped
1/2 cup lentils
2-3 cups Chicken broth (homemade is best, but canned is acceptable)

Directions

Brown the turkey in a tsp of canola oil.
Remove the turkey and saute the onions and garlic, until the onion is soft.
Add lentils, broth, and turkey back to the pot, cover and simmer until the lentils are cooked through. Add the kale and cook until the kale has wilted. If needed, season to taste.

Nutritional Info

• Servings Per Recipe: 4
• Amount Per Serving
• Calories: 234.4

• Total Fat: 9.5 g
• Cholesterol: 80.0 mg
• Sodium: 136.4 mg
• Total Carbs: 11.4 g
• Dietary Fiber: 3.6 g
• Protein: 26.8 g

Article on Spark People...

http://www.sparkpeople.com/resource/nutrition_articles.asp?id=1400

It's about the 4 most fattening fall foods... :-) I love pumpkin, but I don't actually like pumpkin bread. I like to use it in a turkey chili with beans and tomatoes... it's really yumm, super easy, and my husband and daughter love it too.

My goal this week is to get them to give up the fried foods. Like I said on Sunday, I always thought that I don't eat a lot of fried foods, that is until Sierra asked us to give them up!! Just because I don't fry anything at home, doesn't mean that I don't eat it!!!

Anyway, have a great week ladies! I think I may head to Zumba today for my workout!

Weekly pounds lost!

Ladies,

So happy to say that our group (minus 3 pending weigh-ins) lost 14.6 pounds this week! Stef, Liz, and Michelle how much can we add to that? :)
Keep it up ladies-- week 2 here we come!

Xxoo Sierra

Getting Organized

Wish me luck... I've actually WRITTEN DOWN on my calendar my workouts for the week ahead!  Whether it's an organized class at a location or Stefanie doing a Jillian Michael's DVD during Rocco's naptime, it's scheduled in!   I'm hoping this will help hold myself accountable.  In fact, I just read Sierra's challenges for the week and now am thinking I will do stretching, crunches and squats first thing in the morning---straight from bed!  Who can fail at that, right?  Perhaps it will cut down on the amount of coffee I drink afterwards??

Also, I've broken down, "ONE DAY AT A TIME" into, "1/2 DAY AT A TIME"!  Funny?  Yes, but mentally, it's going to do a lot for me.  I saw a sign in a gift shop that said, "It's never too late to start the day over", and how true is this?  As a mother, it's really easy for me to get overwhelmed with the day at hand and when something doesn't go as planned, throw in the towel and commit to starting anew the NEXT day.  Well, I'm re-vamping this and am vowing to just pick myself back up off the floor and try again, right there on the spot.  The same day.  Maybe this will speak to some of you out there as well. 

And lastly, I've planned a week of dinners out for the week ahead.  Concentrating on *simple* for the two soccer nights and my late work night, I hope to be successful. 

Wishing everyone success!
Stefanie

How did your 1st week go?

Hi everyone!

Well, I survived my 1st week!

I *think* I lost a couple pounds... I honestly can't be sure because my scale showed something different than the one Sierra used. Mine read about 2.5 lbs lower than Sierra's, but still, I believe I may have lost 2 pounds. I also think I lost 1 inch around my waist, yay, right? Wish I knew for sure though!

One thing I know for SURE is that I am feeling so much better mentally! I feel SO good about what I'm doing and my friends are feeling inspired too. I keep trying to get at least one person to do what I'm doing too, but man, they're resistant!

Basically I've been eating bran cereal or oatmeal with blueberries for my breakfasts, string cheese & apples or veggies for snacks, a pita with hummus and whatever veggies I have on hand and dinner consists of tons of veggies (I love to steam them with garlic & bragg's amino acids) with whatever protein I'm making for the rest of the family. I've been staying totally away from the stuff I love like bread, rice, pasta, cookies, cake, ice cream, pretzels, etc and it's been HARD but I'm hopeful that as soon as I get a handle on portion sizes & drop some of this icky weight then I'll be able to slowly introduce a few other things here and there.

As far as exercise goes - I know you all are getting more than I am since you're attending Sierra's classes so I bet you've got some serious inch & weight loss going on but down here in Salem, I'm getting out there as much as I can to walk. There's a little track right behind my house at the elementary school so I try to go there before the kids get out and walk at least a mile. I have been slacking on the crunches though, I admit it. I have Fibromyalgia so it takes me longer to recover from repetitive motions BUT I'm trying!

One thing really cool that I wanted to share with all of you was this: Yesterday I went with another photographer friend to Vancouver to help her with 2 high school senior shoots she was doing and I thought it would be a pretty relaxing day but boy was I wrong! We probably walked at least 6 miles all together and I forgot my Fibro medication and snacks in the car so I was extremely exhausted a couple hours into our shoots. The thing that's cool is that normally when I do something like that I'm really stiff, sore & in a lot of pain for at least a few days because that's what Fibro does to me BUT since I had already been walking during the week, that didn't happen to me! I mentally thanked Sierra a million times this morning when I woke up & realized I could actually move! So, since Sierra can't hear my mental thank you's, I'll tell her now - THANK YOU SIERRA! The plan this week (on top of whatever additional challenges I've been given) is to break out a pilates CD I have & see how that works out for me.

How did you all do? Excited for week 2? Anything really cool/interesting you want to share?

Faith 

Challenges Week #2 Oct 9, 2011

Week 2 Challenges:  10/9/2011

1.   No eating after 7pm unless you have medication that requires it.  Water and a Apple or Grapefruit are an exception.
2.     NO Fried foods (this includes chips because they too are fried)
3.   Keep your meals below 400 calories.\

 PLAN your meals & snacks ahead of time.   

1.   Stretch for 5 minutes every day.  (when you get out of bed  is the BEST time to do this) 

1.   RUN/WALK/BIKE/ELLIPTICAL 7 miles this week.  
2.   50 crunches a day
3.   50 squats a day
4.   Find a book that is inspiring to start reading.  Read at least 1 chapter a day
5. Find one person who will surrender their jeans to you-  I’ll explain this to you at class and on our Blog. 
6. Sign up for our blog if you have not done so.  Start using it--  I promise it will help keep you on track. 

Getting ready for the weekend! Stay on track my friends!!

Tomorrow is our first Friday of the program so lets make it GREAT!  Keep on track over the weekend.  Here is a good article:

keeping on track during the weekend

New Class on Friday's at 530am

Hi Ladies,
I have adjusted the schedule and will now have 530am classes at Bonny Slope El. School on Wednesday and Friday's.
See you all on Sunday at 845am.
Yippie!
Keep up the good work.
Sierra

What happens after you take Sierra's Class

All tired and sweaty from our boot camp class today at the gym, I was scrambling to get the kiddos in the car and locked my keys inside!!!

I'd say it was a good workout.

TV Fire department were kind enough to break in for me!

Stef's post this morning!

I can't seem to post!  But this is what I'd like to say to the group....

Hello everyone!  I appear to be having some technical difficulties with the
blog.  My intent is to post this as a new heading, "Inspiration", but I'm
not sure if this will work....

I'm very excited!  I left after the Launch Party for a nursing conference in
Sunriver for 3 days.  It wasn't ideal timing, as hotel living doesn't really
allow for healthy meal planning, etc. but I must say that I didn't
completely circle the drain!  I walked a lot, relaxed, and shared good times
with girlfriends.  Food for the soul.

A note on inspiration.... I had the opportunity to listen to a motivational
speaker, named Kurt Bauman.  http://www.kurtbauman.com/ He shared his
amazing story of being diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes at the age of 35-- he
was married with 2 children.  Later, his 10 year old son was also diagnosed
with diabetes as well as Celiac disease.  He committed himself to running a
marathon and after 18 weeks of training, completed his first.  He went on to
set a goal to complete 50 marathons in 50 states and 7 marathons in 7
continents.  He's on #33 and has done them in 3 continents so far!  What an
inspiration, right?  In his talk, he kept repeating the following...."Expect
the Unexpected, Do the Unbelievable".... I think I might just write that in
lipstick on my bathroom mirror!  

Also while on my trip, I visited the cutest little shop and bought a small
treat for myself.  It's a glass jar with the following saying..."She packed
up her potential and all she had learned, grabbed a cute pair of shoes and
headed out to change a few things".... my plan is to put money in the jar
whenever I exercise.  When it's full, I'll do something special for myself
with it.

Today is "National Walk to School Day" and I began my morning doing just
that.  I walked with my 3 boys to school and then the baby and I walked
home.  Fun energy walking in a group!  So, I must go put some money in my
jar :-)

See you at the noon workout....
Stefanie

ways to eat healthy on a budget

simplemom.net/11-tips-for-eating-healthy-on-a-budget/


Ladies,

This is a good article about keeping it real and how to really do this healthy food thing amongst all the other things we have going on in our lives :)
Let me know what you think.

Week one challenges

Hi Everyone,

So I've been doing okay, but I have to say, when I looked at Sierra's week 1 challenges, I thought - no big deal, I've got this covered! HA!!! No such luck!!! There are some things that are easy to do - no fried foods, hitting the 6 miles, signing up for SparkPeople, reading, and paying attention to calories... BUT, those 50 crunches are hard to get in! And the not eating after 7 is a real challenge... I have a sedentary job, where I start my conference calls as early as 6:00 some mornings, and will be on the phone until 5:00 p.m. Getting in a workout and then making dinner and eating before 7 is proving to be very difficult. On days when I get done earlier, I can do it (like yesterday), but on others, I'm faced with either skipping dinner or not hitting the goal...

On another note, in order to keep those goals in front me me all the time, I've created a spreadsheet that allows me to check off the days when I hit the goal and when I don't - there are points assigned to the goal, and then I figured if I make it, I'll look at a reward ($5 in a pot towards a new outfit come January!).

I have enjoyed planning my meals (which took me by surprise). It's been fun picking out whole food recipes and options that didn't leave me feeling deprived... :-)

I went shopping!

Taking Sierra's advice, I went shopping yesterday to stock up on all kinds of healthier choices. I had a talk with my husband, who is a meat & not even potatoes kind of guy, seriously -- the guy won't eat ANY veggies unless it's corn on the cob & that's not even a vegetable, right? is it a grain?

Anyway, we had a talk about what I'm doing and I wanted to make sure he was taken care of too. Ugh, being a Mom is hard -- WHY do we insist on making sure everyone else is taken care of before ourselves? I told him that I'd basically be eating veggies and veggies and more veggies with some lean protein thrown in there too so wanted to know what I should make for him as a 'side' to the 'meat' I'd already be making for them for dinner. I was actually surprised by his answer because he actually said to me 'You do what you need to do & I'll just figure something out for myself' -- What in the world? Why did I not ask him this a long time ago? Here I am making rice or pasta or serving bread for side choices when all I really wanted was veggies. Of course I ate all that rice, pasta & bread because it was there. It kinda makes me sad to think that maybe I'd be 30 pounds lighter if I had just put my foot down earlier, ya know?

OK, so back to ME. I went shopping, here's the picture & I'm happy to say that I've been gladly munching on all this 'rabbit food' (that's what my husband calls it) since Sunday.

How are you all doing?

Yummy soup!!!

Sierra- you were right the Roasted Red Pepper Soup was soooo much better than the regular creamy tomato! I also added a half cup of cut up spinach to the soup, I think next time I'll put them in the blender together or cut the spinach a little smaller, I didn't care for the big "chunks".

I wanted to just check in and say that I am doing my 50 crunches a day and boy are my abs sore! Who knew you used your abs in so many different ways all the time? I didn't get out and run today like I wanted. One step at a time right!

Walking

Ladies, I wanted to let you know that Liz Tandy and I are in a moms group and we are walking every Wednesday at 9:30am at Summerlake Park in Beaverton. If anyone is interested in joining us, we meet at the big playground passed the dog park. We do the loop twice which is about 2 miles.

SORE!

So, they always say the 2nd day after is the worst! Well my legs are killing me, in a good way, as I know I must have done something right at the weekends work out :-) I did get the foam roller out and used that this morning and it has helped.

Love the idea of this blog that we can all just get on here and talk about the work outs to keep up the motivation! Just need to remember to record what I'm eating and not get side tracked with the 3 kids!

Feeling Motivated

I just finished a workout this morning. Feeling good to keep on track with the meal plan and hopefully BOTH kids will nap this afternoon so I can get a mile or 2 in for the 6 mile challenge.

Is anyone going to the noon class on Wednesday?

This is my first post so kinda curious how this will work with everyone.

Bragg's Liquid Amino Acids and Apple Cider Vinegar

Ladies,

Here is a link that gives you some fun ideas for your new bottle of Bragg's AA and Vinegar.   I encourage you all to start making your own dressings with it.  You will save so much in $, it is healthier, lower sodium, and much more environmentally friendly.   I make a great dressing using apple juice, braggs, ginger, and vinegar.  Very simple and you don't even need oil.  You can add a little olive or sesame oil but it isn't necessary and probably only costs  .50 cents to make a jar of it.   Check out this website and when you make something w/ the Braggs tell me about it!  I want you to share your ideas w/ each other.

Wonderful Recipes With Bragg Liquid Aminos from Ellen Wood | BRAGG LIVE FOOD PRODUCTS

October 2, 2011

Today was our first workout with the group.  Wondering what all the ladies are thinking right now.  I know that I'm excited and looking forward to some amazing months ahead.  Last night we had our "Surrender" and I now am looking at a box of pants that all these ladies will be wearing in 3 months.   Just thinking that maybe we should have everyone donate their old baggy pants to a local organization?  They will not need them anymore so I think this might be a great thing to do at our "Try On You Pants Party"  January 1, 2012.