My body, Biggest Loser, and Exciting changes to be made here

My body tells me nooo! But I won't quit, cause I want more! I want more! ("My Body" by Young the Giant) Have you ever heard this song? It is a great motivator for a workout. It is also a perfect description of what was going on in my life yesterday. So, it wasn't the best of my days. I didn't have a very fulfilling weekend, and I felt frustrated on sunday and it carried over into yesterday too.. I was totally planning on going home after work, having a quick lunch, do a workout, come home and make dinner and clean the kitchen. I got home, ate a sandwich.... aaaand watched the biggest loser for almost 2 hours. Haha... which, totally made me cry! (not the fact that I had sat there for that long, although maybe I should have hahaha!) They had 3 kids on the show who were suffering from childhood obesity. I was a little skeptical at first because I was worried that Jillian was going to be mean, but she was so nice. I guess it struck a chord with me because I was a chubby kid and got made fun of a little bit for it in elementary.

 

Needless to say, after I realized I had been just sitting there watching OTHER people workout and work on their goals, I felt a bit crappy. So I decided to take out my frustrations on a good workout. I went to the stadium and walked/jogged for a good hour and felt much better! Then I came home and made myself some fried eggs cooked with asparagus and feta cheese along with a grapefruit (that tasted like candy, it was sooo good!). I so should have taken a picture to post on my recipe blog, but I didn't...

 

Anyway, so that was my day yesterday! It didn't start out so great, but I put forth the effort to make it better.

 

Something that I am SUPER excited about is that I found this app on my i-pad that I can make VIDEOS!! I just made one, although it is probably pretty amateur lol.. but I will be posting it soon so stay tuned! :)

 

Also, I am considering putting all of my graphic design pictures that I have been posting somewhere so that people can pin them, and use them for motivation. I am not sure how to do it yet, so if you have any ideas LET ME KNOW!

PMS

So, being a girl has its disadvantages. Normally I enjoy being a woman. But when that time rolls around, I literally feel like a different person. This is something that I really need to work through, because too much junk food is consumed. First I get super tired. It takes all my energy just to take a nap. Last week I took hour long naps everyday and fell asleep between 11-midnight. Did I workout? Sure didn't. Then I get emotional. Little things irritate and frustrate me sometimes to tears. Cute little things make me tear up. Then I get cravings for all kinds of snack food (basically anything high in fat, salt, or sugar). I just want to constantly eat. NOT good for weight loss. Then I feel restless! I feel like I need to get out and do things, yet I don't want to go anywhere. Is there a period of time that is more frustrating than this? I seriously doubt it. This is one of my down falls. (I have a lot of downfalls, lol) I am sure that one day, when I have my children I will be grateful that my body has the ability to create them. But for now, it just causes frustration.
So I decided to google PMS and how to reduce the frustration. This is what I found:
1. Improve your diet. (what!? no....I don't wanna!)
2. Exercise. (ok seriously? seriously.)
3. Make sure you get your vitamins. (I think this may be partly the cause for extra tiredness, since your body is using extra nutrients)
4. Get enough sleep. (yay, I did one thing right!)

Those were the most important ones I thought. They had some other like medication, but I just don't really care about medication... But that's a different subject. So, I may have failed this round.. but now I know I will just need to buck up and try even harder! :) Yay for being a girl! Haha

Hiking at Red Cliffs

Something I have been thinking about lately is how being healthy shouldn't be a fleeting moment for a few weeks of your life. Change is hard. It requires discipline and willpower. It requires sacrifice. It requires persistence and courage! Have you ever noticed that? Not just for health and fitness, but life in general. Usually when you strive to become better, it always involves changing your habits. It is always challenging.

BUT that doesn't mean it has to be boring, monotonous, or miserable! I always say if you are not having fun, you are doing something wrong! Do activities you enjoy! Dance, run, bike, hike, box, weight lift, walk, garden, clean, redecorate, do yoga, play outside with your kids, go to the park, window shop (and try not to spend money! haha), swim, ski, snowboard, basketball, soccer, volleyball, wake board, skim board, paint, build something. There are SO many things you can do to become more active. Working out doesn't always have to be a hard core run and a couple hours at the gym.

Since this is a lifestyle change, you need to find things you love to do in order for it to last. This past weekend was my birthday and the weather was a perfect 70 degrees! I wish it could just stay that temperature forever! Something I love to do is hike. I've already mentioned this, but let mention it again. I LOVE nature. There is something about it that rejuvenates me! So we went for a hike out at Red Cliffs in southern Utah. It was beautiful! It is a pretty short and simple hike, which is good but it also has a few little challenges to make you stretch a bit! :)

I left this place feeling so good! If you live in Southern Utah, or visit here there are a lot of trails to go on! Click here for a link of different trails to explore! 

Now go outside and get some fresh air!

new found loves.

Uhm wow. It has been two months since I posted already? Looks like I have been a slacker on my blogging. But here is osme good news! I have spent more time outside exercising, and more time trying to cook healthy! :) So here's the update:

 

My new found love: biking. I always enjoyed spin class, but since the gym is across town now, I went and got my bike and I have been riding 2 times a week. Being outside with the wind in my hair and sunshine on my face has been sooo refreshing! The other day I was out on a bike trail and there was NO ONE else around. And it was a good thing they weren't. Because I sang. On the top of my lungs. It was so liberating! And let me tell you, it made my workout like 30 times more fun!

 

 Another new found activity that I love/hate: stadium stairs and walking/jogging the track. I love it because I KNOW it is working based on the fact that my legs feel like jello when I get to the top. every time. I love getting to the top too because I have a great view of St George. The LDS temple is right down the street, which is a great reminder of the spiritual side of things. My only fear is coming back down because I feel like I might collapse! And I hate it, well because it sucks and it hurts and it is hard.

New found love #3: Bountiful Baskets. I get so much good produce for such a good price. It gives me a variety, and I get excited every saturday to see what I get. My favorites so far: asparagus, purple/yellow tomatoes, strawberries, and pineapple. Not so much: radishes and cabbage.
It has also made us spend less on groceries! The beaskets are $15 for 50/50% fruits and veggies. Sometimes I will get some extra veggie packs or a box of fruit. So good.



As far as results go, I haven't weighed myself in about a month. To be honest, I sorta don't want to. I haven't seen results or maybe I haven't done enough to get any yet but I will say that I have made a bigger effort these past few weeks. Numbers get me discouraged too easily. So instead, atleast here at first I am just going to keep doing what I am doing until it becomes habit. Maybe in another month or two I will check in on my weight.

Something I did start, that has been surprisingly motivating is printing out an adult coloring page. (I'll have to show you the one I chose later, its not on this computer.) But everytime I do a 30 min workout, I can color in a little section! So kid-ish, but hey it makes me want to go workout! When I get it all colored, then I can go reward myself.

One other thing I have started with my family (lots of starting new things here! its good!) is an 8 week WELLNESS challenge with a point system. At first it was just going to be for health/weightloss but then we decided to add in some spiritual things. Each of us who wanted to participate threw in 25 dollars and whoever has the most points at the end of 8 weeks gets the pot of money. It has helped me alot too! Maybe its a little sad that I have to have some sort of reward in order to keep me motivated doing things I should ALREADY be doing, lol but atleast I am doing them now. Even if I don't win, I feel better. I'll give more details on that soon too! :)

me and my husband. :) he makes me happy

So yeah, I feel pretty good about the progress I am making, even if I am not seeing any "physical" changes yet. I sure feel mental and spiritual changes, and it feels so good!

Color Me Rad

I am sooo excited! I just signed up for my second race that I have ever done in my life. The first one was a 4.01k race for my bank several years ago. It was fun, but THIS one will be even better! 
Have you seen the pictures where all these people have explosions of colored powder all over themselves and wondered what sort of event this is? Well, this is one of them! It is a race where you get to throw colored corn starch all over each other! So fun! I will be doing it with my sister and her husband as well as my aunt Julie and whoever else decided to sign up for it. 

It is only a 5k, so I don't think it will kill me or anything! ;) 

November 10, 2012

10 am @ the old St George Airport. 

Helloooo...

Today is a particularly good day. I feel good! Not because I have lost any lbs or reached a major milestone, just simply because I do! I am sure keeping track of my calories and doing some strength training had something to do with it!

I LOVE a good workout. For some reason it seems so difficult to get out there, but once I do and I'm done, I feel so much better about myself! Well, I don't have much to say for now, other than here is the ab workout I did. Pretty sure I should have some sore abs tomorrow!! :) Something I am actually very excited about.

Week 1

Week one of mission slimpossible is over! Wanna know how it went?

Here is the results!

1 lb lost! 

(woohoo!)

I tracked my food everyday and here is what I learned:

The weekends are hard to eat healthy as I didn't get my veggies and fruit in... :/ and ate pizza and hot dogs. oh and movie theater popcorn... haha! Which was okay, but I went over a bit too much on my calories on those days. So next time, I will try to plan those things in to keep better track. 

I did pretty well on reducing my sweets, which was SUPER HARD! I don't know if any of you, except maybe my family, know how much I love them! I let myself finally have a brownie (that I made with applesauce instead of oil)* with two small scoops of ice cream! I loved every little bite. 

How I got through is I bought the dove promises dark chocolate with almonds and allowed myself 2-3 everyday. Trust me, I wanted more than that! But it was just enough to get me through. I usually waited until the evening after all my meals have been eaten to have it so that I could brush my teeth right after and be ready for bed.

One other thing, I felt hungry almost constantly! I guess when all of the sudden you start working out and lowering your calories, your body freaks out and thinks it is going to starve! I asked what other people do when this happens and here are some good suggestions they gave me:

1. Drink lots of water! Sometimes we confuse hunger with thirst. If you are still hungry 20 min after drinking water, eat something with protein or carbs with high fiber.

2. Eat more veggies, nuts, and protein

3. Eat 300 cal meals 5 times a day so that your body always has food to digest.

4. Chew gum

As far are exercise goes, I learned something here too:

DON'T OVERDO IT! 

That is what I did those first 3 days and then I was so sore I skipped my workouts for the rest of the week. I tried to run 7 miles, and walk 2 in between days plus 30 min of abs and arms strength training in 3 days. 

That was a lot for my body to handle all at once, especially when one of those nights I was up until 4 am and then tried to run in the heat of St George the next day!! Not too smart on my part haha! 

I need to learn what my limits are and not push too hard this time! The thing is I am trying to train for a half marathon and I have to train hard in order to make it!! 

Also just a side note, I haven't switched up my running route yet and I can tell my mind and body is ready for something fresh. It's good to switch things up! 

I feel like overall it was a good week. I learned alot! I had my moments of frustration and disappointment, but this is only week one! I have found that I really enjoy taking pictures of this new lifestyle, especially when I am out running and watching the sunset!

The quote on this picture is from Walt Disney, and I think it is very inspiring! here is the full quote:

"Around here, 

we don't look backwards for very long.

We keep moving forward, 

opening up new doors and doing new things, 

because we are curious... 

and curiosity keeps leading us

 down new paths."

  

*btw, I am sure a lot of you have heard this but you can replace oil with applesauce in a lot of cake recipes. It was still pretty good with the brownie, but it did change the texture a little. Just replace the amount of oil with the same amount of applesauce and then add 2 tbs of oil to help the texture. I think it works best with cakes though!

My Running Tips 101

I have run 4 miles twice now! Last night I did it in 57 min 33 sec!  I have to admit I thought I'd be a little faster than that, but its ok. I definitely pushed myself hard, but I also checked my heart rate as I went so that I didn't have a heart attack and pass out! Although it felt like I was going to anyway a couple times!


(Btw, if you are looking for something to help you map out your runs: www.mapmyrun.com is a great website! It even tells you the elevation of your run, and you can write down what kind of route (trail, road, bike, etc) it is! After you run it you type in the time it took and it will give you your speed and minute mile! It's pretty cool, I recommend it!)


My Runner's Advice:
If you are like me, running isn't all that fun while I'm in the middle of it. So what I did yesterday is took pictures while I ran! (Ever seen yes man? I love Zooey Deschanel, and this is what she does on her run in the movie) 


While you are out running, look around! Like this picture says, soak in your surroundings! I love nature and while I am outside trying to break a sweat I feel rejuvenated when I can look out and see the sunset going down behind the mountains. Nature refreshes me! Next time try it out. Breathe in the fresh air and feel the breeze passing as you go. I promise you it will make you feel better!

A silly thing I do while I run is watch my shadow. If i look down and see myself hunched over ready to pass out, I realize I better straighten my body out!


It helps me make sure I have good posture.


I'm pretty sure that when you are pushing your body to change, you need to make sure it is in a good position! You don't want yourself coming out looking like young Frankenstein! (haha, I just had an image of myself looking just like him while trying to run.. I probably look closer to that than I would hope for!) 


For your  information, I found this picture from pinterest. Just some advice on posture while running:

Good luck remembering all that info! ;)

Lyrics from One Day Remains --Alter Bridge

Ok and lastly, this is my most favorite one: Music & Uplifting thoughts.

For me the most important thing that keeps me going is the music I listen to as well as what thoughts I am thinking. if I am thinking how hard this is, how slow I am going, and how hot and sweaty I am; I am going to run out of energy FAST! But if I am telling myself how awesome I am and how much farther I can go, I am much happier. You gotta believe in yourself, and that YOU CAN DO IT! 

take the advice here-------------------->

I love the moment in my run where I realize I am ALIVE and I am succeeding!! It is an awesome feeling. 

The music I listen to has quite an influence on my runs as well. Some of it is just positive lyrics I can focus on, and other times it is either a constant beat or something to get me going my fastest. 

A few songs from my playlist:

One Day Remains - Alter Bridge

Young Blood - The Naked and Famous

Bangarang - Skrillex (for those who like dubstep)

Cinema (Skrillex Remix) - Benny Bennassi (another dubstep)

Kings and Queens - 30 Seconds to Mars

Time of Our Lives - Paul Van Dyk

Song 2 - Blur

Start the Machine - Angels & Airwaves

Shake It Out - Florence + the Machine

Somebody Like You - Keith Urban

Sexy and I know it - LMFAO

Panama - Van Halen

How to train Your Dragon - John Powell (shut up, I like it!)

Soccent Attack - Steve Jablonsky

I Don't Think Now is the Best Time - Hans Zimmer

Fireworks - Harry Potter Soundtrack

(you should seriously try running to intense soundtrack songs. its like you are in a movie!)

Whelp, good luck and happy running! :)

(disclaimer: I am by no means a running expert, I am just telling you what has worked for me.)

Mission Slimpossible!

Alright, here is the part I dread. but maybe if I post my fat pictures it will motivate me more! 

I even edited them to show you just what I'm gonna do!

As you can see I have some work to do! 

This is me checking in at 200.2 lbs. 

Yep. That is THE MOST I have ever weighed ever in my life! 

I have gained 20 lbs since I got home from my mission in September 2011. 

What the heck!?! So frustrating. But I did it to myself! Now I need to fix it. 

A nice side view for you. Yep, gonna do everything I said in this picture. How you ask?

Training for a 1/2 marathon: 

4 days of running per week

Strength training and walks in between!

And my least favorite...

Yuck! You don't ever really see what your back side looks like, and its probably a good thing!

On top of making sure I get my exercise, I also need to revamp my diet.

I am NOT going to go extreme, but I do need to eat healthier.

I haven't totally made a diet plan yet, but in general:

Breakfast options: 200-300 cal

(an hour before I workout)

yogurt, fruit, and toast or bagel

whole grain cereal w/ milk

scrambled eggs with veggies

smoothie with toast/bagel

(basically anything breakfastee protein and carbs)

Morning Snack: 150-200 cal

(usually after a workout)

fruit w/ peanut butter

cottage cheese w/ fruit or veggies

string cheese & green veggies

nuts & dark chocolate/dried fruit

Chocolate milk (reduced fat) & banana

Lunch: 300-400 cal

1/2 tuna sandwich

1/2 pb&j sandwich

strawberry chicken spinach salad

lean burrito w/ salsa

healthy whole grain nachos

homemade pita pizza w/veggies

(carbs, protein, and veggies/fruit)

Afternoon Snack: 100-200 cal

(choice of previous snacks or:)

granola bar & fruit

yogurt with berries

smoothie 

veggie sticks & hummus

whole wheat chips & salsa

Dinner: 400-500 cal

Anything, just keep portion control decently healthy!

Preferably lean meat, veggies, whole grain, and fruit. 

Desserts: no more than 100 cal

(this will be my hard spot!)

1 small chocolate/hard candy a day or a very healthy fruity dessert!

Chew lots of gum to keep me away from sweets!

Total daily calories: 1200-1600

I will stick to this program 6 days a week.

The other day, probably sunday, will be my free day where I will still try to eat healthy but I can allow my mom's rolls and a good dessert! :) 

And it is the ultimate day of rest for my body too! 

I am excited and it is going to take some serious 

motivation, persistence, and discipline. 

I am going to keep this all updated as best as I can.

 I can do this!