Conquered Friday

Yesterday was a success in my book.

I did my Ripped- which you all knew if you read my blog yesterday.

And last night I walked for 2.5 miles and did zumba. I had planned on running HOWEVER because of how sore I was yesterday, it just wasnt happening.

BUT I got on the treadmill and did 45 minutes on the "Fat Burn" setting.

And between that and zumba, I burned 845 calories.

Nice!

Then K and I went to the Friday night concert. We didnt stay for the whole thing because we saw that one of our neighbors "checked in" on Facebook at Aubreys so we thought we would go crash.

We ended up running into a couple of K's friends and chatted with them for a while in the bar area of Aubreys. By the time we left them, our friend who "checked in" had left. Oh well! We will catch up to her soon.

I did really good last night. I had one tall Oberon beer and K and I shared an order of traditional buffalo wings (I think I ate 6 of them and she ate 2), and we shared feta bread (which she took the leftovers home from) and she ordered a reuben which she MAYBE ate half of.

Then I came home and margaritas were calling my name. I have a really easy recipe for them. I made them last weekend for my party and I still have quite a few limes and simple syrup left over and I didnt want them to go to waste. LOL. So I made up some margaritas for Aaron and I and munched on some frosted mini wheats for "dessert".

Aaron had a rough go last night. Not sure why. Not sure what he ate...

But his stomach seized up on him about 4:30 this morning and he was in the bathroom getting sick for a while. So I didnt get much sleep either because I was worried about him. In fact, he is still upstairs sleeping and it is 9:15. Usually he is up by 5am. Poor guy.

I, however, was very surprised when the scale said 174.5 today! Woo hoo!

Not only did I NOT gain weight, but I LOST weight. I would say that is a huge accomplishment for me.
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Onto today...

I have not yet done Ripped. I will. Probably will go downstairs pretty shortly.

I also realized when I went to make the kids breakfast with something other than cereal, that we are lacking in the breakfast making department. No sausage or bacon. No good veggies for omlets.

So I think I am going to try to take the kids with me and go to the farmers market today. I havent gone yet this year and want to check it out before it is done. They are open from 8-1pm so I need to get my butt in gear.

Tonight I am not sure what I am going to do. Aaron was supposed to go to the Woodward Dream Cruise today with his brother, but I am not sure how he will be feeling now. In fact, I was going to go and see my sister and take the boys with me overnight til tomorrow, but with Aaron not feeling well, I dont want to go.

SO...if Aaron goes to Dream Cruise, I wont be able to go running tonight because I will have to get the boys to bed and stay at the house. So that means either running on the elliptical or maybe doing my cardio party zumba dvd. I keep saying I want to do my zumba dvd so tonight might give me the excuse.

IF Aaron stays, then I will probably go for a run tonight. Or maybe a walk with S if she wants to go.

And I have left over turkey burgers from the other day, so that will be my dinner for tonight. Set up for success for the day.

Have a great Saturday everyone!
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Tip of the Day:

OH THE HUMANITY!!

Let me say it again....

OH THE HUMANITY!

If I had any doubts (and I didnt) that yesterdays workout on week 2 of Ripped in 30 was any good, this morning proved that it was.

I am sore from my neck down to my ankles. My back, my biceps, triceps, abs, quads, hamstrings..everything HURTS!

And yet...I still went back for more this morning.

And I was DRIPPING with sweat.

Down my legs...

My arms....

My back....

I guess that just shows that I am in it for the long haul huh?

Lots of people if they woke up this sore would say "oh I am going to take a rest day". But not me.

Guess I am glutton for punishment.

Or maybe I am glutton for change.

Either way, I think it is a good thing.
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Yesterday I stayed on plan with my eating. I was very impressed with myself.

My mother in law texted me to say she was going to make a cake so I didnt have to. But I still went and picked up lean ground turkey and Kopplingers hamburger buns. The Kopplingers are the cleanest I can find on the market.

So last night for dinner I ended up having 1 big lean turkey burger on my bun with onion, light mayo, ketchup and lettuce. I also had garlic hummus with fresh veggies (carrots, celery and cherry tomatoes), and some cottage cheese. I didnt even put cheese on my burger. Nor did I have baked beans and hot dogs. Nor did I have cake and ice cream. Seriously. AND the cake was the Funfetti kind. I LOVE that kind!

I did have one beer though. And I said no to a second one.

Baby steps.

I never did get to exercise that afternoon when the boys went down for nap. My Pampered Chef orders came in from my party and I had 5 boxes to sort thru. So I did that instead so I could drop off orders.

So I was very pleasantly surprised when the scale said 175.0 at me today.

Yes. Yes it was a very good day.

And I think that is part of what drove me this morning to come back to Jillian.
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This morning for breakfast I did something a bit different.

I had be drinking a protein smoothie every morning and yesterday I ran out.

Dang it!

And of course my spinach was yucky that I had in the fridge.

SOOOOOO...

I blended some almond milk, frozen strawberries, quick oats, natural peanut butter and a banana up.

Tasty!

You really cant taste the peanut butter at all. I added it really for the protein.

Anyways...something you might want to try...
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We all know what today is.

Friday.

My favorite day of the week.

Not just because it signals the end of the week and the upcoming weekend. Really...do I care? I dont work. I stay at home with the kids...

Naw.

It signals my night out with my girlfriends.

Though this week we will be sparse. I think it will be just K and I. Which will still be MOST excellent.

I will let you all know what the scale says tomorrow.

Have a great weekend everyone!!
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Tip of the Day:

Few day recap and the devil I know

Hi everyone!

Because I missed writing an entry yesterday morning, I just wanted to do a recap of the past couple days.

Tuesday night I never made it to the gym because Aaron got home from work late. That is ok. I was fine with it because he lets me go out SO often. So instead I contacted K and S to see if they wanted to walk at 8pm. S couldnt make it but K said yes.

So 8 rolls around and no K. Hmmmm....So I texted her and didnt get a response. I finally told Aaron I would go get her. And she wasnt at her house. That is ok. Things come up. So I came back to the house to see if she called. She didnt. I didnt want to go off by myself and have her show at the house so I took my cell and told Aaron that I was going for a run. About 1.2 miles in, K texted me saying that she ran to Lowes without her phone and the time got away from her. I understand that one. Lowes does that to me too. It is like a big black hole. LOL. So I continued my run to her house and we walked about another mile or so. I burned 414 calories in just under an hour. Pretty good.

Wednesday morning I did my last day on week one of Ripped in 30. I was happy and scared at the same time. I mean- week 1 was rough and it is only the beginning! Last night I was supposed to do another wrap. HOWEVER my "aunt" is trying to visit and they dont recommend doing a wrap while "aunts" are in the house.

I have been using the defining gel on my stomach though and I have noticed that it is a bit less wrinkly. AND I am starting to see a bit of definition in my upper abs. VERY EXCITED! So next week will be wrap two. I also will be placing an order for more defining gel (I just got a sample size) and  fat fighter which is supposed to block some fat and carbs when you go off plan...which is what I did last night (hangs head in shame).

Pizza.

Pizza is the devil. The delicious, greasy devil.

Especially Pizza Hut. And Jets...and Aubreys...

Well really any pizza.

We had gone to the Toledo Zoo yesterday (the boys, my mother in law, and I) and were there from 11 or so until 5. We packed a lunch so I did good there. And I pushed a double stroller around with the coolers in it. The boys walked for the majority.

But then.

We got back to Aarons grandmas house and it was time for dinner.

Aaron and his mom went and got pizza. Pizza Hut pizza. With all the good toppings on it...well except onions. They dont like onions. I do though.

And they got breadsticks.

And cinnamon bread sticks.

And at this point I knew I was going to eat WAY more than I should and I was wishing I had some of that fat fighter. LOL. We ALL know what CARBS do to me. And I just cant say no. I try not to keep them in the house. I cant. say. no.

After two pieces of pizza, and I dont know how many breadsticks, I left feeling way too full and bloated. Good thing is that I only gained a 1/2 pound. I am sure it is because of all the walking we did yesterday. Saved by the zoo.

We didnt get home til 8:30 and I was feeling way too full to exercise so I stayed up and watched Big Bang Theory and read my book. And I drank some water with natural cranberry juice to help flush out what I ate.

Today was the start of week two of Ripped. OH MY!!! In this one she definitely makes you bring it. I am talking about push ups while you bring your knee to your elbow. Now I have a hard time doing push ups anyways. My right shoulder has a screwy range of motion. Pretty sure I am going to need to have my rotator cuff worked on at some point. So I didnt really do much of a push up but I did do the leg bend. Holy crap.
Then in one of the circuits she has you do plank jacks and go right into mountain climbers....seriously? Holy crap again. Pendulum lunges make a comeback from 30DS with a twist. Oh my. My arms are already sore. My calories burned is a bit high because I forgot to turn it off until I was up and making my smoothie, but regardless it is an awesome workout at 286 calories burned. Yup thats right. Her 30 minute workout (with warm up and cool down) gives you an awesome start to the day.

Tonight I cant make it to the gym either. It is my brother in laws birthday SO we go back to Aarons grandmas house tonight for a party. This time I learned my lesson and am fixing myself up for success. We are doing hot dogs and hamburgers. So I will be picking up ground turkey for me and my clean Kopplinger hamburger buns. Also I am in charge of the cake so I will be picking up a cake mix and frosting that I dont like. Cherry. My mother in law always used to make that for Aaron and his brother growing up and it just isnt my thing. But I will be making a molten lava style cake in my Pampered Chef Deep Covered Baker.

During the boys nap, I may try to get in some zumba. Just bump up the cardio again before dinner tonight.

Tomorrow is Friday and you know what that means.... Feta Bread Friday. LOL. My favorite day of the week. Not sure who all is coming yet but I always look forward to it.

OHHHH and I didnt get a chance to tell you all yet.

But if you read my blog a couple weeks ago you will know that I talked about self discovery and self image. About how I want to do things for me because I like them (ie tattoo). I didnt want to post anything because my mom reads my blog and I didnt want her to find out on here. LOL. BUT...

I went and got my nose pierced. It is something that I have wanted for years. I have other piercings but this was going to be my first "non-normal" face piercing. I wasnt sure how my mom was going to take it. She came to my Pampered Chef party and didnt even notice for a while. LOL. When she did she said "Really?" I said "Yes, I have wanted one for a while" to which she replied "Good luck with that". LOL. That was it. My friend C interjected that really it is pretty discrete. I mean my mom didnt even notice it for about 45 minutes. LOL.

I did warn my mom by text that my blue hair pieces were clip in. LOL. I really want to dye my hair but I have decided that as much as I would like to, it is much more fun to get clip ins to be able to change the color whenever I want.

What do you think of my piercing? And my blue hair?

This is right after it was done which is why my nose is red. LOL

Tip of the Day:

More wrap pictures

I am just so tickled with these wraps that this morning I decided to put some of the Defining Gel that I received as a sample on too. It is supposed to enhance the wrap and you can use it inbetween doing them (wraps).

I will get to more wrap pictures in a minute.

Yesterday though I got back on track with Ripped In 30 after missing it on Sunday. Then I went walking last night with neighbors K and S. It was really nice and we got sprinkled on a bit which was quite refreshing.

I even made an excellent dinner. I had eggplant, zucchini and yellow squash left over from a veggie relish I made for some crispy polenta this past weekend, so I cooked up some brown rice, sauteed onions, eggplant, zucchini, and yellow squash together. Added in some left over chicken breast, some thai curry seasoning and then added the rice. After that I cracked a couple eggs for a fried rice type of meal and topped it off with some low sodium soy sauce. Really yummy! And I think I will have that for lunch to get some good carbs in me before the gym tonight.

This morning I have already done my Ripped dvd. My weight? 177.5. Coming down after the wraps and the detoxing.

Tonight is my crazy night with running, CX, Body Flow, and RPM. By the time RPM rolls around, I am usually pretty exhausted so I think I am going to buy a cliff bar tonight to help me get some energy for class. Not the cleanest, but I dont have any Lara Bars hanging around.

Ok onto the wrap pictures- day 2. I do have to say that my measurements really havent changed at all, but the pictures have. In the "front" picture, the distance from my belly button down to my excess skin seems to have shrunk. And the "side" picture speaks for itself.

LOOK! You can actually see a mole (at the bottom by my shorts) in todays picture that you cant in the other two pictures!

This one speaks for itself I think.

Have a great Tuesday everyone!

Tip of the Day:

It Works! Wrap Review

Good Monday morning everyone.

Last night I did my first wrap and while I wasnt sure this morning to be impressed or not, after seeing the pictures, I was won over.

Here is what I did...

This weekend you all know was not a good eating weekend for me. I knew it and I planned to do this detox with the wrap because of it.

So last night I took a good hot shower to open up my pours. I used my loofah and scrubbed hard where the wrap was gonna be.

I also made sure to take pictures and measurements which I will share with you in a minute.

Before applying the wrap, I drank two glasses of water. You have to drink A LOT of water over the 72 hours because it helps flush out the toxins that the wrap releases. Think half of your body weight in ounces. So I made sure to put about three quarts of water in my fridge so I can make sure I drink all that I need in a day.

Then I undid the wrap and put it on. I loved the smell of it. Eucalyptus scent and it made my skin tingle- in a good way. Then I wrapped it with saran wrap to hold it into place. You can leave the wrap on for a minimum of 45 minutes but I wanted to leave mine on over night. You arent supposed to wrap the saran tight. You still want it to breathe so your body absorbs the lotion on the wrap into your body. If you wrap it too tight, your body will sweat and that wont help ya.

After that you do nothing but drink water. Lots of water. LOL. No exercising. No nothing.

So after I drank a bunch of water I went to bed. This morning I got up, undid the wrap, threw it away and rubbed the remaining lotion in. That was it. Seriously.

I came downstairs and took my after pictures and measurements before doing Ripped in 30. I did get Ripped in on Saturday before my Pampered Chef party but not yesterday so I missed doing it.

Ok here are my measurements from yesterday and so far today.
I will take another picture and more measurements tomorrow. Wednesday I will be doing another wrap. I think the most impressive picture is the side view one.

Before Measurements:
Waist at belly button: 40"
2" below belly button: 42"
2" above belly button: 39"

Morning after measurements:
Waist at belly button: 38"
2" below belly button: 41 1/2"
2" above belly button: 37 1/2"

I cant wait to see how this progresses over the next 72 hours.

What do you guys think? Impressed or no?

Only thing I have to change diet wise for this is no alcohol, or caffeine or artificial sweetners. It defeats the purpose if you put toxins back in the body while you are trying to detox. So this helps me stay on track with my clean eating too. Good incentive I think.

Have a great Monday.

Tip of the Day:

Review of Day One of Ripped

Ripped in 30 is awesome. Seriously awesome.

If you didnt read my review on the new page that I created, I have to share.

Jillian is more herself in this video. No more sugar coating. She pushes you hard. Even her "Badass" version she pushes even further. She harps. She talks sternly. She is how she is in the Biggest Loser. I love it!

Also in this video- instead of a 30 second strength move then a 1 minute strength move (then repeat) she does (3) 30 second moves. It makes the video FLY by.

Some of the moves are the same but she mixes it all up. She also promises that you wont see a single move repeated thru any of the 4 weeks. Nice.

It is another quick 20 minute workout and within the just over 20 minute time with warm up and cool down I burned 273 calories! That is more than what I did on level 2 of 30 DS and this is the entry level, beginning week! Wow!!

If you want a great work out that is quick and effective, check out Ripped in 30.

PS...this morning when I woke up, I was sore!! This was the first time I have gotten "sore" from one of her videos. Before they got achy but this is the true sore you look for. When you feel this way you KNOW you got a good workout. And my abs are sore. Never before from her other video did I get sore or even achy abs. My legs are sore, my abs are sore, my back and shoulders are sore. Weight this morning: 176.5
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Yesterday I finally went and bought a mattress for our bedroom. We have been sleeping on an air mattress and while it is comfy, it just isnt the same.

Aarons mom came over to watch the boys while I went.

Then we went to Dexter Pub for dinner. I didnt make the healthiest choices, but I am not sweating it. I had a french dip and some fries.

Then after we got the kids to bed, I headed over to K's house with one of the mini kegs of Oberon Beer. She was moving back in yesterday and I thought we would be spending lots of time unpacking.

Well I think she and I were both surprised yesterday when her contractor said that there must have been a lack of communication. He thought she was just moving her stuff in. Huh?? Her lease is up on her rental. LOL. She had to move home.

But anyways...her clothing was delivered. So we spent the evening unpacking boxes, going thru clothes, shoes, etc so she could decide what to keep and what to donate. We got her room done. It was a start. It wasnt quite the workout I envisioned with heavy lifting (lol) but we did burn probably 300 or so calories. I did wear my HRM but forgot to turn it on until later in the evening. And we did have a couple beers after I was able to figure out the stupid keg tap.

Today she gets more things delivered with next week being the big stuff. I know she is feeling overwhelmed but I found for us it was easier to stagger the delivery of everything so it didnt feel so claustrophobic in the house and well...overwhelming!

SOOOO I wish her lots of luck today!!! And hopefully the rain will hold off until her things get delivered!
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 Thats right. Tonight is ZUMBA! I love zumba!

Then it is off to the Beer Tent from Dexter Days for girls night. Dont know if we will actually be making it for feta bread or not. Who knows. Maybe we will order take out and bring it over to the tent. Regardless it is sure to be fun.

K isnt sure how long she is going to be able to stay for, but I really want her to come for an hour and eat some dinner and just decompress from her crazy days.
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And finally-
I received my It Works wrap in the mail yesterday for my review. I am SO excited. I cannot wait to try it. Sunday night will be the night and I will be sure to take before and after pictures as well as measurements to post on Monday.

Have a great weekend everyone!!
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Tip of the Day:

New Challenge Today

Morning y'all.

Today starts a new challenge for me. I am continuing with the beast that is Jillian Michaels and will be starting her Ripped in 30.

I also will be using my final picture from 30 DS as my beginning picture for Ripped.

ANNNNDDD...I will also be creating a new page for Ripped like I did for Shred to document my day by day workout. It helps me stay accountable that way.

Today my weigh in was 174.5. That is my final weigh in number for 30 DS. Unfortunately I forgot post my beginning weight so I dont know how much I lost. What really matters though is that I can SEE some results from it.

So Jillian- Bring it on!

I also would LOVE to try her meal plan BUT I cant get the pdf to load onto my computer. Frustrating. If someone has it and can share it with me, please let me know!

Today will be quite interesting. I have to take Xavier to camp, then come home, work out, and go to the grocery store.

My mother in law is coming over today to watch the kids so Aaron and I can go and look at mattresses. We still havent replaced ours after it was totaled from the tornado. I have to say that the air mattress is REALLY comfy but it will be nice to have a regular mattress so when Aaron gets out of bed, I dont fall off of it. LOL.

Tonight instead of going to RPM like I normally do, K is moving back home. SOOOO I told her I would come over and help her unpack the house. There will be a few of us girls there and I will be bringing beer. Dont know that I will have any, but it is a good housewarming gift and helps ease the pain of work. LOL.

And I will probably be a nerd and wear my HRM to see how many calories I burn loading and unpacking. LOL. AND she knows she can use me for lifting the heavy stuff so I should get a pretty good workout.

K- Bring it on! LOL

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Last night S and I went for a walk around the neighborhood. Had a good time but I forgot to start my HRM until partway thru. Bummer.

And on a personal note...Finally met a new pediatrician for the kids that is local instead of driving them an hour to their old one. And I set up dentist appts for us with a new dentist that is local too. I finally feel like I am beginning to settle in and it has been a year already! LOL.

Ok everyone...have a fantastic Thursday! Almost to the weekend! Hang on!

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Tip of the Day: (hope you can read it!)