Oh my...Day 2 of Level 3

I got a very pleasant surprise when I woke up this morning and found out that I lost 2 lbs yesterday. So now I am down to 176.5.

No major gym workouts. Just Jillian Michaels and then a 3 mile walk last night with my neighbor S.

Plus I had some wine, crackers, cheese and roast beef for dinner after the walk. Not the healthiest, but my body must have liked it. LOL

Ok so in my haste to get downstairs to work out this morning, I forgot to put on my HRM. Dang it! So we will figure that level 3 is just over 200 calories. Tomorrow I will try to remember to wear it.

I got level 3 done today and I didnt realize I was sore until I went to do some of the moves. She really knows how to work an upper body. And because you arent using weights all the time for the strength exercises, the whole workout just flys!

I think I screwed myself with the wedding bloat and that I am not going to see any results BUT I am not gonna let life get in my way. Once I am done with all 10 days of this dvd, I am going to move on to Ripped in 30 and review that one with before and afters. I REALLY want a flat stomach! LOL. Thinking about getting her 6 week 6 pack too to do as well. Crazy I know.

So my workout tonight is at the gym. 3 mile run, CX, Body Flow and RPM. A long night but a great night.

On a personal note...please say some prayers for me. As much as I would like to say I am past the tornado, I am still feeling after shocks. Last night we had a storm roll in. I used to love thunderstorms and I still do...unless there is wind. And last night was VERY windy. I really didnt sleep at all. The wind scares the crap out of me. I kept thinking I should get up and make sure none of our stuff was blowing away outside. Ugh. So now my temper is a little short today because I am so tired.

So this may make no sense when I say that another tattoo I would consider would be a tattoo dedicated to wind on my arm. The best way to face your fear is to face it head on. I think it would be a great reminder when I need reassurance from all that my family and I have been thru. I originally thought about a tornado tattoo, but really the root of the problem is wind.

Here is what I am thinking about for the phoenix:

And something similar to this for the shoulder tattoo for wind...I love the colors but I dont want a full arm. I love how the clouds are stylized but I hate the seagulls. LOL. Who knows...maybe I could be talked into a full arm. I think this whole piece is beautiful.

No copying please...Just kidding.

Tip of the Day: 
 (I apologize if I have been redoing some of these. I seem to have gotten lazy and not looked thru magazines for new tips BUT I got some new magazines yesterday so new tips will be coming soon)

Recap of weekend and wedding photos

<---- my sister and her new groom.

The reason for my weight gain this weekend. JUST KIDDING! Seriously though I did gain weight but it wasnt there fault. I celebrated too much. The food was excellent and I drank way too much. LOL.

So my weight this morning was 178.5. No surprise but honestly I dont really care. It was a celebration weekend and most of the weight is probably water gain.

Last week I will be honest and let you know I skipped 30 DS that night. After driving back from up north, unpacking, laundry, repacking, nails, speech, etc I was just WAY too exhausted.

I did however do it Friday morning. It was my last day at level 2.

That night we got up to Frankenmuth and checked in. We had rehearsal dinner (though we didnt have anything to rehearse- just drop off decorations) and later that night Joelyn and I went and had this drink we saw on the menu during dinner called a lava lamp. This is my new favorite drink and I MUST try to make it at home. It is Raspberry Stoli, Sierra Mist and floating fruit flavored jello (read jello jigglers). They mix it all up and your stirrer is a glow stick. Awesome and easy to suck down.

Saturday was no exercise because of the wedding- though I have to admit, running up and down the stairs at the brewery was good exercise. We had to set up the ceremony which was on the third floor then set up the reception which was on the first floor. Plus running up and down the stairs, before the ceremony to hide my sister, back down to check on stuff for her, back up again...well you get the picture. My legs were pretty sore.

Sunday the whole family met for lunch at Tonys in Birch Run. If you havent heard of Tonys, they have been featured on Food Network. If you order their egg, meat, hashbrown, toast breakfast (Like I did) you get 3 eggs, thick homemade bread that is lightly toasted, a huge amount of hashbrowns and over a pound of fried bacon (trust me...you can pick a different meat but you WANT the bacon!) plus their homemade strawberry jam. Oh so yummy! And I had plenty of bacon for leftovers.

Another favorite at Tonys is the BLT, their steak sandwich, and their banana split. The banana splits use a gallon of ice cream- not kidding.

Here are some pictures I found online of their different food. I forgot to take pictures myself. LOL

 A typical egg, meat, hashbrown, toast breakfast. This shows regular toast- not their normal thick cut italian

BLT- Look how thick the bread is!

Banana split. Frightening isnt it??

And you wonder why I gained weight? LOL

Last night I was way to exhausted to exercise. We even napped on the couch.

This morning I was back at it early though. Today was day 21 of 30 of 30 DS. Woo hoo and holy crap all at once.

Lots of hard cardio in this one. I definitely dont think the strength training is as hard as level two. And this one seems to go much quicker than level 2. Maybe it is because it is new. Cardio was mostly old but this time they have you do jumping jacks with weights, punches with weights, etc. Oh my! Lots of compound movements using the abs. Very interesting and I cant wait to see if there are any results- though the wedding weight gain may hamper any visible results.

I did wear my HRM but I dont think it is very accurate because I had to take some breaks and watch how they were doing the moves before I could do them. SO I will wear it again tomorrow to get a more accurate calorie burn reading.

Tonight is probably gonna be a run or a walk if a neighbor wants to join in. We will see and play it by ear. I am going to clean the house from top to bottom too. It needs it. Might take a couple days to do it right, but it is what I want to do.

So here are some wedding pictures...I dont have too many of just me yet. These were ones my uncle took.

 I had switched into sandals at this point but it is a good picture of me and my dress.

 Xavier dancing to Thriller

If I get any great ones of my sister and I, I will be sure to pass them along. Good news is, that I dont have to worry about wearing this dress again until November so I have plenty of time to make it fit better. LOL. It was still a bit snug. Kept me from eating too much though!!!



Tip of the Day:

Day 18 of 30 DS, Day 3 of Military Diet

<---- That is what I always feel like after Jillians workout. LOL

So yesterday I did day 2 of the Military Diet which I outlined the food for yesterday. Yesterdays calories were 923 (not including a cheat thing).

I also did the 30 DS and went for a walk last night with my neighbor S. K was going to go but got a horrific migraine (which she must of caught from me because I had one all day yesterday) and went home. In fact, I was up at 2 am because my headache was SO bad I thought I was gonna throw up. So I got up, took 3 Aleve and went back to bed. Feeling better today though.

So anyways, I got up this morning and weighed myself....170.0!

Down 1.5 lbs from yesterday.

And I did cheat (just a bit) by having a few jellybeans. I just felt like my body needed the sugar. I had just a few and sucked on them to eat them instead of chewing them. And as I mentioned yesterday, I didnt eat hot dogs. Instead I had some roast beef lunchmeat.

Todays Menu:

Breakfast: 5 Saltines, 1 slice cheddar (I ended up eating a yogurt that Landry didnt want and I didnt want to just throw away), and 1 small apple

Lunch: 1 hard boiled egg, 1 slice toast

Dinner: 1 cup tuna (that is two cans...dont think so.) 1/2 banana and 1 cp vanilla ice cream

I will be altering things a bit today. I think the calorie intake is going to be way too low...

Hold and let me check it with MyFitnessPal...

Just as I thought. Even with my cheat of the yogurt instead of a piece of cheddar cheese and also eating two full cans of tuna, the calories for today are only 778. Not enough.

So I will need to be supplementing a bit- probably at dinner because we will be heading up north today.

I also got day 18 of 30 DS done. Circuit three is the hardest but I think it is my favorite as far as strength and abs go. Circuit two is my favorite cardio with jump twists and skaters. And though I am finding the moves a bit easier (with the exception of the strength in circuit 3), I still get a great dripping sweat on.

You probably wont be hearing from me until Monday now but dont fret. Just busy with the wedding. I will be back next week like normal. And also I will be keeping up with 30 DS. Only day I will be missing is Saturday which works out perfect because that is the day I am supposed to switch to level 3. So instead I will be switching to level 3 on Sunday night and doing that for 10 days.

Tip of the Day:

Versatile Blogger Award

Hi Everyone!!

How fun is this?

The beautiful Safire from Grace Dishes- A Healthy Weight Loss Blog nominated me for the Versatile Blogger award! This is the first award I have been nominated for so a HUGE thank you to her!!

Here are the rules: * 

Nominate 10 fellow bloggers who are relatively new to blogging * 

Let them know you have nominated them * 

Share 7 random facts about yourself * 

Thank the bloggers that have nominated you * 

Add the versatile blogger award to your post

I read so many blogs and enjoy so many, but here are a few of my stand outs: 

Holly from 300 pounds down

Czesia from Czesia Lives

Linda at Frickin Fabulous at 40

Carbie Girl

Drazil from It's Just Me, Drazil & Sheniqua

Lucy from Lucy's Blog (Something More than Skinny)

Susie from Salads and Sparkles

Former Fat Bride at I Was A Fat Bride

Krystle at Skinny Jean Dreams

Katie at Girl on a Mission to Lose the Cushion

My Random Facts:

1. I am the oldest of two girls in my family. My sister is four years younger than me. Though we fought when we were young (who doesnt), we are really close now. I love that!

2.  The tornado hitting our house is one of the best things that could have happened not because of the displacement and the house, but because it gave me a sense of community and a whole bunch of new friends that I really cherish.

3. I have no tattoos- yet. I really want a phoenix tattoo (a non traditional one) that symbolizes my rebirth into my new body. I have worked really hard for this body and I want to show everyone how I feel about it now. Yes my mother would kill me, though my sister has many tattoos but I dont think she realizes that I have wanted a tattoo for many years. I just didnt know WHAT I wanted one of until now. And I didnt want to get one until I was absolutely sure of what I wanted. I definitely dont want to regret the decision to get one.

4. I have not done extensive traveling though I did see plenty of states as we drove thru them when my husband (newly married) and I were moving out to Arizona. I have been to Jamaica twice and I love it there!

5. I consider myself a really artsy crafty person. I love drawing and painting though I dont do enough of it. Growing up (and still now), if I saw something that I liked, I could recreate it.

6. I always said I would never have kids. Never thought I would have the patience for them and lots of times I dont. LOL. and now I have two boys! My husband and I waited until we were married for 5 years before starting our family.

7. My mom and my mother in law are two of my best friends. I feel sorry for those people who dont get along with their in laws. I feel very blessed that I do!

Thanks again to Safire for nominating me for my first award! I am humbled every day at the people who take the time to read my blog and support me thru this journey.

Day 17 of 30 DS and day 2 of 3 day Military Diet

Lets do a quick recap of yesterday and then I will move onto the fun of today...

Yesterday was Day 16 of 30 DS...burned 260 calories.

Then I started day 1 of the Military Diet or 3 day diet I found on Pinterest. If you are interested in what I ate, see yesterdays blog.

Then last night I went for a walk with my friend K who did the color run with me. It was a sweaty walk. Heart rate didnt get up too high, but we burned 339 calories.

Total calorie burn for the day: 599

I stuck with the Military Diet verbatim. I didnt supplement or skip anything. I kept the ice cream until after my walk. I didnt exercise crazy.

This morning my scale read at....171.5!! A 3.5 lb loss from yesterday!!

Woah! Maybe there is something to this diet even if it is water loss...

So I went and completed day 17 of 30 DS. I had one interuption because Landry isnt feeling the best today. The heat has been getting to him (I think). We are on day 4 of him having the runs and I am sick of wiping butts. He even tried to throw up multiple times this morning but I think it was because he was hungry. I have been trying to shove the binders in him...bananas, cheese, crackers...giving him gatorade...childrens immodium AD....nothing is helping.

Of course this comes at the busiest week of almost the whole summer.

I need to go to Bed Bath and Beyond today and Michaels...

Tomorrow we go to the cabin til Thurs.

Friday we head north for the weekend for the wedding.

Not to mention the packing, the cleaning, the laundry that has to get done before we go...

UGH! I am tired already!

Tonight is another walk with K. Gotta keep up the routine while I am not able to hit the gym this week!

So diet today:

Breakfast: One egg (anyway but I had mine hard boiled, no salt), 1 slice toast (no butter), 1/2 banana

Lunch: 1 cp cottage cheese, 1 HARD BOILED egg, 5 saltine crackers

Dinner: 2 hot dogs, 1 cup broccoli, 1/2 cup carrots, 1/2 banana, 1/2 cup ice cream

I will be substituting for the hot dogs. I just cant stomach one let alone two. Instead I will be eating some roast beef lunch meat that I had yesterday for lunch.

One thing I have to note about the meal yesterday...

I entered it into MyFitnessPal app that I use to track my food and I was REALLY surprised to see that the calorie intake was 1200 calories. So this is not a starvation diet. I still need to enter todays menu and see how it compares.

Here is also what the site says- and please remember to consult your doctor before starting this diet!

DIET WORKS ON CHEMICAL BREAKDOWN AND IS PROVEN. DO NOT VARY OR SUBSTITUTE ANY OF THE ABOVE FOODS. SALT AND PEPPER MAY BE USED, BUT DO NOT USE ANY OTHER SEASONING. DIET IS TO BE USED THREE DAYS AT A TIME.

IN THREE DAYS, YOU SHOULD LOSE 10 POUNDS. AFTER THREE DAYS OF DIETING, YOU CAN EAT YOUR NORMAL FOODS, BUT DO NOT OVER DO IT. AFTER YOUR 4 DAYS OF NORMAL EATING, START BACK ON THE 3 DAY DIET. YOU CAN LOSE UP TO 40 POUNDS IN A MONTH IF YOU STICK TO THIS DIET. IT IS A SAFE DIET.

REMEMBER: DO NOT EAT BETWEEN MEALS!

NOTE: COFFEE OR TEA THE FIRST TWO MEALS OF DAY ONE ONLY. WATER ONLY FROM THEN ON.

 Tip of the Day:

Days 14, 15 and 16 of 30 DS and Color Run photos!!

Had a most excellent weekend. I am VERY proud of myself with the fact that I have yet to miss a day of my 30 DS challenge. Even completed day 16 already this morning!

However!

My weight is back up to 175.0. Part of that I think is muscle gain...
Part is water retention due to Aunt Flow coming for a visit. Go figure the week of the wedding. BUT my dress still fits fine so I am not fretting it MUCH.

So today in preparation for the wedding THIS WEEKEND, I am starting a 3 day diet that is from a diet that is used in the military. We will see if it works. It is an experiment and because I wont be getting much working out done this week but Shred, it will be good.

So day 1 menu:

Breakfast: 1/2 grapefruit, 2 tbsp peanut butter (I used natural almond butter), 1 slice toast, coffee

Lunch: 1/2 cp tuna (I am not putting anything with it like mayo), 1 slice toast, coffee

Dinner: 2 slices meat (any kind), 1 cp green beans, 1/2 small banana, a small apple and 1 cp vanilla ice cream (oh yummy!)

Tonight I will be going for a power walk with K. After yesterday (see below) she wants me to help keep her motivated. Hopefully it doesnt rain!!

Ok so back to the Color Run.

If this comes to your town or a town near you DO IT! And dont plan on running. Plan on walking it. Trust me! This is something you will want to SAVOR!

My friend K came with me at the last minute after I promised her I would walk it with her. She initially wanted to do it but when she went to sign up, it was sold out. I had been hearing rumors on the Color Run Facebook page about late registration so when I picked up my packet I asked. The answer was yes. She could register late! SCORE! She is a very talented photographer and is the person who took most of the photos you will be seeing. She was going to come to just take pictures but decided that I couldnt have all the fun. LOL. SO glad she changed her mind!! This is something to definitely do with at least one other person!

The first one at the top of this post is a self portrait I took at 5:30 am waiting for K to get here. I usually dont like how my photos turn out but I like this one a lot.

We got there early so we could get her registered. It was perfect timing. We got a great parking spot, didnt have to pay for it either (lol) and was able to almost immediately get her registered without much of a line. So get there early!!

We found out later that just because the packets say a color, it doesnt mean that is the color in it. Many people who had "yellow" packets actually had green or purple dye in them. Kinda cool! Mine however actually had yellow. These were saved until after the race when the festival was going on for the grand finale.

Lots of crazy dressed up people were there. It was SO much fun!

I couldnt keep the grin from off of my face!

LOVE this picture! Just look at my calves! LOL. I guess the running is starting to pay off!

This is one of my favorite pictures she took. I got a lot of compliments on my running tutu I made.

Me waiting in line for the potty. K thought this was hilarious. She loved how I was standing. LOL

The starting line was all the way up by those little flags you can see in the distance. And K and I were by far towards the front of the pack. The line went down at least a mile behind us!

Some more characters waiting in line to start. They have underwear on their heads. LOL

K and I waiting to start. The picture is hazy because I took it thru a plastic baggie

Getting close to starting. We were the next wave

I caught K unaware and I love this pic of her!

Need I say more? Ready to start!

First color coming up. Can you see the yellow haze in the sky? Again- the picture was taken thru a baggie to prevent the dust from killing my phone. A great tip!

After the first color, this is about all I had on me. I learned to wait for the people with the squirt bottles and to ask for more color. LOL

This is what the ground looked like as we were running thru the spray zone.

Second color was ORANGE!

Third and favorite was BLUE! 

I got sprayed good!

Check out the BLUE volunteer! This is what they all looked like in whatever color zone they worked. Orange looked like oompa loompas

Fourth color was Salmon pink

People literally rolled on the ground to get more color on them

 K got sprayed pretty good with the Salmon pink. She wanted a LOT!

Crossing the finish line. It was over way too soon!

Pink arm

K and I color coated!

Grand Finale! Every 10-15 minutes there would be another color explosion where everyone got to throw up the dye from their packets

Spotted hair. Wish it would have stayed this way. Except for the wedding. LOL. My scalp is still pink!

Tip(s) of the Day for those who want to run a Color Run:

1. If The Color Run isnt coming to your town, you can add your towns name to their website as a suggestion. Check it out The Color Run Locations  Scroll all the way down where it says..."Dont see your city? Vote for new locations"

2. If The Color Run isnt coming to your town, check out a run called Color Me Rad. They are coming to Detroit in May and I plan on "running" that one with K too!

3. If you have a white sports bra, dont plan on the dye washing out of it. LOL

4. Wear old running shoes

5. They say to spray your shirt with white vinegar and iron it before washing to set the dye, but it didnt work very well. I still have a bit of dye on mine but not much

6. Some people wear handkerchiefs over their mouths. I didnt really see the necessity in it.  Just another way for them to try to sell swag.

7. Bring lots of towels to cover your carseats with so the dye doesnt rub off on it. Better yet- bring a change of clothes and a lot of plastic bags to put your dye covered clothes in.

8. The colors will go thru your clothes! See the pictures below:

9. This is IMPORTANT!!! When you go to take a shower, take your clothes off in the tub or shower before turning the water on. This allows any loose dye to go into the tub or shower and not onto your floor

10. The blue and pink are REALLY hard to get off. I used two different scrubs and shampoo before I was finally able to get MOST of it off.