Mamavation Week 35

It was a good week, not stellar, just good. Here's my recap.

Exercise: Cardio 6 days out of 7. I'm training for my first 5k, so I'm running three days a week. I'm up to 6 min run/1 min walk. I'm feeling strong in my running and I'm really enjoying it. Don't get me wrong. It's still challenging, but I really do enjoy running! On alternate days I did a combination of Pilates, the Walk & Tone workout (see my review & giveaway!), or a power walk.

Thanks for all of your input last week regarding running within my neighborhood or running out on the road. Because sunrise is getting later, I've decided to stay within our neighborhood until I can get more reflective running gear. Need to stay safe!

Food: For the most part, it was a good week of eating. I did allow myself a few cookies as Aunt Flo made her presence known. I love SparkPeople's new summary calendar feature. I challenged myself to get a gold star every day meeting my minimum calorie intake. I got a gold star 6 days out of 7! I also started to measure my food again. Just making sure I don't fall back into the bad habit of portion distortion.

Here is our healthy menu plan for the week.

The Scale: I didn't go near the scale this week. With Aunt Flo, I know I've been super bloated, so I'm saving myself some grief.

A friend stopped me at church yesterday to say that she noticed that I've lost weight. It's nice to know that other people notice, but she was also checking to make sure nothing was wrong. I shared about the changes I've made in my eating habits and that I'm exercising and training for a 5k. It's so much fun to share that with friends!

Hope y'all had a good week! I'm looking forward to reading everyone's posts. Congrats to Janice (@fitcheerldr) for being chosen as Sista of the Week! (I'm using her 5k training plan and she is such an awesome encourager!!) Janice rocks!

Thanks for your support and encouragement!!

Things I Love: Walk & Tone Workout

This giveaway is now closed and the winner has been notified. Thanks for stopping by!

Now that I have finally reached a phase in my life that I enjoy fitness (why did it take me so long?), I am on the hunt for workouts that will challenge me physically and that won't leave me bored. I love doing intervals on the exercise bike, I love Pilates, and I love running & walking.

I knew I needed to add upper body strength training to my repertoire. I have limited equipment and I don't have it in the budget to buy anything new. So when I saw that my Twitter friend and virtual running coach Janice the Fitness Cheerleader (@fitcheerldr) had recorded an mp3 toning workout, I was excited!

The Fitness Cheerleader's Walk & Tone mp3 workout is definitely challenging so there is no chance of getting bored with it. Janice gives great instructions on how to do the five different toning arm exercises while you walk. She talks you through three sets of the exercises and gives encouragement along the way. The background music is upbeat and keeps you moving at a brisk pace so that you get a cardio workout as well. I can be a bit obsessive about reaching my daily step goal on my pedometer, so I'm glad that this is a workout that gives me steps AND gives me upper body toning.

The only equipment that you need for the Walk & Tone workout is your mp3 player (I use my smartphone) and light hand weights. I have 2 lb weights. And if you have a carrier or a clip for your mp3 player, that is helpful too since your hands are busy with the weights.

The Walk & Tone workout is great for anyone of any fitness level. Janice has a special introductory price of $3.99 (regular price is $4.99). (That's an affiliate link.) But she would also like to give one away to one of my readers!

So if you would like to enter the giveaway, simply leave a comment below telling me WHY you want to win this mp3 workout. Make sure that you leave your e-mail address in the comment as well. This giveaway will end Friday, September 3, 2010 at midnight, and we will choose a winner (thanks to the assistance of random.org) on Saturday, September 4. The winner will be notified by e-mail and will have 48 hours to respond.

The Fitness Cheerleader's Walk & Tone mp3 workout is definitely something that I love!


Disclosure: I was given a free copy of The Fitness Cheerleader's Walk & Tone mp3 workout in return for my honest opinion and review. The opinions in this review are my own.

One Word: Children

I've been wanting to post for the One Word at a Time blogging carnival, but it always slips past me. I love today's One Word!

Ladybug (3 years old) will be starting preschool next week! She's excited, I'm excited, we're all looking forward to it. So I've been working with her a little bit to make sure she's ready.

She knows her upper and lower case letters. She can count to 30 by herself (higher with prompting). She knows shapes and colors. And she loves books.

I "caught" her reading yesterday. (She has the story memorized in many of her favorite books and uses the pictures as reminders so she can "read" the story.) I'm so proud of my girl!

Mamavation Week 34

Crazy week. Let's recap, shall we?

Exercise: Cardio 6 days out of 7. Three days of "wunning," the rest was a mix of Pilates and the Fitness Cheerleader's Walk & Tone mp3. Wow. The Walk & Tone workout is an awesome way to add upper body strength exercises while getting cardio. Fitness multi-tasking! (Review & giveway coming soon!) I ramped up the Pilates and the running as well. I increased running time: run four minutes/walk one minute. That was a challenge at first, but by the second run of the week, I was feeling strong.

Our new subdivision is a half-mile circle. I could easily do four laps and call it a workout. But I like different scenery, so I run one lap, then go out of the subdivision onto the road. It's not a main road, but there are houses/neighborhoods along it so there can be a fair amount of morning traffic (like one car per minute). I'll run about half mile on the road, turn around and come back, then run another lap around our neighborhood.

On Friday, there was one idiot driver who blew his horn at me. It wasn't dark, but the sun wasn't up yet. I run facing traffic, have reflective shoes and wear light colored clothes. I guess this particular driver didn't want to share the road with me. If there was a sidewalk, I'd be on it. But there isn't. Hubby thinks I should run the whole time within our neighborhood to stay safe.

What do y'all think? Stay within the neighborhood and run four laps? Keep doing what I'm doing?

Food: I love a new feature on SparkPeople that is a summary calendar which gives you a gold star for days that you stay within your calorie range. Believe it or not, I have a hard time meeting my minimum caloric intake some days. I have been trying to retrain my brain and eat intuitively. I've slowed down when eating, eating only when hungry, etc. I am eating less but eating better. So I am making it a daily goal to get a gold star!

I am going to keep focusing on veggies. I have a HUGE container in the fridge that I've started keeping all kinds of cut up veggies in. Carrots, celery, broccoli, cauliflower, cucumber. I don't usually care for dips with my veggies. But I found a spinach/herb dip mix that is all natural and I have mixed it up with my nonfat yogurt. Very good! And here is my healthy menu plan for the week.

The Scale: No movement. I know I really ramped up my workouts with the running and extra strength training, so I'm hoping that weigh in reflects more muscle. Hubby keeps telling me I look good, but it's so hard to see that myself, ya know? Anyway, I'm not going to stress about the scale. I feel good. I am enjoying my workouts. And I am eating well. (I did allow myself a few treats this week, but kept portion sizes small.)

Earth Footwear is the sponsor of this week's Mamavation blogging carnival. Woohoo! I would love me some Earth Footwear!

Thanks for all of your continued support and encouragement!

Because I'm Curious

Question: if you could go back and relive any one day of your life, what day would it be?

Would it be a happy day? Would it be a day that you want to change? What if those changes impacted who you are as a person today?

If I were to go back and relive a happy day, it would be my wedding day.

If I were to go back and relive a day that I want to change, it would be the day our daughter Susie died. But the problem with that is, could I have done anything different that would have saved her? Maybe not.


What about you?

Ten Random Things on My Mind

Here's my brain dump. Just sharing what's on my mind.


1. I can't believe I ran out of garlic! I wanted to make pesto this weekend. I had plenty of basil from my herb garden, but no garlic. Fail.

2. I found out yesterday that there is a Biggest Loser 5k Challenge in our area in September. I would love to run it! But it is the weekend that we might be camping. And I've started training for the 5k in October. Would I be ready a month early to run? I know I'll be ready for October. But September?

3. Where has the summer gone? My baby starts preschool in TWO WEEKS!

4. Hubby and I are learning to share. He likes to listen to sports radio in the morning, which is my prime blogging time. He can listen, I can type. Good for us.

5. Will I ever unpack all these boxes????

6. I think I've had too much coffee today. Yet, here I sit, sipping on another cup.

7. I love my Pilates workouts. I love feeling sore because I know I worked. My obliques are killing me. :-D

8. "I'm on a horse."

9. Will I ever reach zero unread e-mails in my inbox????

10. I am so glad to be back to regular blogging! Lack of home internet was a pain and blogging from my phone was cumbersome.


Told ya it was random. For much more interesting and informative Top Ten lists, visit ohamanda.com

Menu Plan

Don't forget to hop over to my recipe blog to check out our weekly menu plan. I shared about a new menu planning service this week as well!

Mamavation Week 33

A much better week! We got our internet hooked up last Tuesday, so I've been trying to play catch up, not only with Mamavation posts, but with everything. It's amazing how much of "life" is online these days. (and not just the social aspect)

Here's my recap of the week:

Exercise: Cardio 6 days out of 7. I ran Monday/Wednesday/Friday. I'm up to running for three minutes and walking for one minute. Woot! On the alternate days, I took it easy with either a Pilates workout or a Leslie Sansone 1 or 2 mile power walk. Saturday was house cleaning and I worked in squats and lunges as I cleaned. Believe it or not, that makes house cleaning a little more enjoyable for me! Here's a pic I took with my phone on a run this week. I love the quietness of the morning.
Food: Back to keeping a food journal on SparkPeople. I really think that keeping a food journal this year has helped me stay focused and see results. It holds me accountable for every bite that goes in my mouth. I need that! I've been focusing on my veggies, but also my protein. I find that if I fall short, it's usually with protein. And starting my day with some protein is really helping keep me fueled, especially after a run.

The Scale: Down 1 lb this week. I'm happy with that. I finally remembered to recheck my measurements too. Down 2 inches in the last five weeks. An inch in my waist, and an inch in my bust. I've lost 9.5 inches since starting Mamavation at Christmas.

This week's Mamavation blogging carnival is sponsored by Boogie Wipes. They're not just for kids! Thanks, as always, for your continued support & encouragement! I could do this without you!

Making a House Into a Home

I moved a lot during my 20s. A lot. At one point, I counted up that I had moved 18 times in seven years, including moving in and out of dorms and apartments during college and grad school.

Then I married a wonderful man and after he finished grad school (his first Masters Degree), we settled in to our own home. We've been there for six and a half years. That's a long time. A lot transpired while we lived there. And now, after a whirlwind month of July, we are settling into a new home.

You know one of the first things I did as we started unpacking at the new house? I set this up on the dresser in our bedroom.
A house could never be a home for me with out seeing the reminders of our Susie, our first daughter in heaven. I admit it. I cried when I packed away the tiny urn that holds her ashes. That was hard. We were leaving the house where she was conceived. Leaving the house that still has bumblebees painted on the walls that were to be her bedroom. Leaving the house where we grieved.

Lots of melancholy feelings flooded me as I packed that box. But there was lots of joy as I unpacked it at the new house. A new beginning. A new chapter in our lives. We don't leave behind the memories, only the place where those memories happened.

December 6th marks six years since Susie left us. And we have our beautiful Ladybug who will be starting preschool in less than a month. Time moves on.

There may still be boxes everywhere in our new house. But it instantly became a home when I knew that we had both our girls with us.

Wordful Wednesday

Mamavation Week 32

Still no internet connection at our new house. It's inconvenient, but I am getting a lot done around the house. :-)

Quick update again since I am posting this from my phone.

Exercise: cardio 6 days out of 7, feeling strong. This week, I officially start training for my FIRST 5k race! I've been running already, so I am excited about being "in training." I will run 3 times/week, and alternate with days of a combination of exercise bike and Pilates.

Food: I did well this week, back to cooking, using minimal processed food items. I haven't been using my food journal on SparkPeople because it takes too long on my phone. I've been trying to watch portion sizes as well. As soon as our internet is up, I'll get back to daily food journaling.

Scale: can I blame a 2 lb gain on the different floors between the old house & the new? I had a tile floor with small tiles & interfering grout lines. Now I have a linoleum floor & no grout lines. Whatever. I am at a total of 19 lbs lost since Christmas. Trying not to be down about that since my last weigh in was down a total of 22 lbs.

I'm not sure if I can comment on many Mamavation posts yet. I miss catching up with y'all! Thanks for your support & encouragement! I'll share the love as soon as we get reconnected to the interwebz.

Mamavation Week 31

I think this is week 31 for me. I am posting this from my Palm Pixi so it will be short & sweet. We got moved into our new house this past week & internet service won't be up & running until later in the week.

We also had Vacation Bible School this past week. So the combination of playing with the kids & moving kept me on my feet. Most days my step counts were over 17,000. I didn't do much organized exercise but I was vey active obviously.

Eating was tough because we had dinner at church every night. That made my life easier for the week but the nutrition wasn't the greatest. And then we did eat a fair amount of fast food too. I tried to make the healiest choices possible it wasn't always easy.

I haven't weighed in yet so I'l wait until next week for that. Not being tied to the scale during this whole move has been great.

thanks for your support & encouragement