Time To Ask An Expert
Hello & Happy Hump Day!
Its been another busy week at work, we haven’t had to work late but each day is packed with a lot work. It seems tedious at times but that’s ok.
This week I’ve decided to try something completely new and terrifying at the gym. I’ve ventured into the weight room. I feel embarrassed and dumb in there with all the big muscle men, but whatever. Yesterday, one guy had to explain how to use a leg press machine, he was very friendly but I was still embarrassed. Today the cable machine was very popular and I got sick of waiting, so I looked up an alternative for the move.
I’ll share more about my new plan once I’ve done it a little more. I can tell you that its kicking my butt!
I’ve also been dead tired this week. This isn’t new information, how many times have I complained about having no energy? I can’t understand why I’m so tired all the time. I get plenty of sleep, plenty of exercise, enough calories, lots of water, typically one cup of coffee per day. I just don’t get it. I think its time to ask my doctor. I’ve been postponing my yearly appointment anyway so I just need to get done and over with.
All and all, I’d say I’m just trucking along! I’m really looking forward to the long weekend, plus my second 10k. Hope you are having a great week!
Family Time
Good day!
Mondays really give me headaches. I’ve been tracking my headaches and I get one almost every Monday! At least this weekend was quite enjoyable! We sure packed a lot into two days.
Saturday started with a super yummy breakfast for some pre-run fuel.
Sadly, I ate it too close to run time, so I had a stomach ache for 5 whole miles! My run was just….meh. They were slow miles and I had heartburn plus the stomach ache, but it felt great when I was done!
The view wasn’t too bad though! Plus I rocked this awesome new shirt.
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We planned to check out the farmer’s market which just opened for the season, but silly me thought it closed at 3 PM when it really closed at 1 PM…Whomp whomp.
We still had to do some grocery shopping though, so off to the store!
It was actually kind of fun, because we had not been shopping in weeks! For meals this weeks I’m planning greek yogurt with fruit and granola or eggs for breakfast. Turkey sandwiches for lunch and salmon (bunless) burgers with veggies and a rice and quinoa medley. Nothing fancy, but everything healthy and delicious! I also found some fun, new stuff to try like this Justin’s Maple Almond Butter!
So good with just a hint of sweetness from the maple. Perfect for an afternoon snack before my workout today.
We also scored these Honeycrisp Apple Shock Tops.
I’m not sure if I’ve expressed my love for honeycrisps apples, but I love with with everyone once of my heart. The only apple that matters. We’ve been on the lookout for this beer for literally weeks, and it did not disappoint.
Saturday night we had dinner plans with our friends, and I totally enjoyed a prime rib dinner with salad, green beans, and a baked potato. We also saw Star Trek, Into The Darkness in 3D and I really liked it. It’s the first movie that I actually thought was worth the extra price for 3D. Good food, good movie, good company…excellent night.
Sunday was spend snoozing late, and spending time with the family! We a little BBQ at my mom’s house and it was nice to see my family, especially this little beauty!
Miss Lyllian Riley hanging out on Uncle Blake’s lap! She is now 9 days old with a seriously full head of hair. Here hair is the same color mine was when I was born: greyish, dirty blond!
After the BBQ we did a quick round of mini golf, and then Blake offered to tackle the spare room, which was packed full of junk and you have move stuff around just to move in there. It took a little while but now we have neatly organized junk! I also came across old jeans, of course, I had to try them on.
Crazy! This was nice little reminder that I really have come so far from the beginning! This makes me appreciate my hard work and dedication. I’m not always perfect, I haven’t lost weight super fast, but I’ve worked hard and I’ve really changed. That’s what matters.
This was such a great weekend, I loved spending time with family!
And I’m pleased to say that I did not overeat and I did not gain weight over the weekend! Score.
Workout Plan 5/20
Hello all, I hope your weekend was fabulous! I’ve had an awesome week that included a 5 mile run, prime rib dinner, Star Trek Into the Darkness, family time and organizing our spare room. I’ll go into detail tomorrow. Tonight I am ready for an early bed time, but I needed to plan out my workouts so I’m prepped for the week to come. <—super important aspect of success!
This week will be somewhat easier, because I have a race on Saturday and I don’t want to be sore. Lately, I’ve been experiencing quite a bit of DOMS. So I want to be fully recovered with fresh legs on Saturday.
Workout Schedule for Week of 5/20/2013
Monday: Legs + some type of cardio
Tuesday: Arms + cardio
Wednesday: 3-4 mile run
Thursday: RIPPED
Friday: walk or shake out run 2ish miles
Saturday: Spring Fest 10k
Sunday: REST
I’d also like to thank you all for your love and support about yesterday’s post! I feel so lucky to have people who can understand, your comments and emails are such a comfort to me.
Don’t forget to tell your enter KLUCTH Club giveway!! Tell your friends, too!
Surviving
This will be hard post to write, but I need to do it. I need to get it out and continue to heal.
In August of 2011, my cousin Amy passed away at the young age of 25. I was devastated. We were very close growing up, even lived together for a little while. Of course, we didn’t always get along, and for while grew apart for occasionally , it didn’t change anything. In fact, one day I was looking through my phone contact and randomly decided to call her to see if she had the same phone number, and we chatted for like 2 hours. We were cousin and friends.
Amy’s death changed me. My cousin’s life was cut short, and there were so many things she didn’t get to do. She had wishes, dreams, and plans. I decided from that moment, that I would not waste anymore time waiting for things to happen to me. When you want something you have to make it happen.
After this, I decided to start a family, I wanted to have a baby. It took a long while to get the ball rolling, due to the type of birth control I had been using and getting myself & Blake ready. In September of last year, after 4 crazy pregnancy tests I excitedly text Blake you’re going to be Dad!
As any first time mother would, I called the doctor right away! At 8 weeks I was scheduled for my first ultrasound, to say we were excited is an understatement, but we were really excited. Sadly, nothing came up on the ultrasound, the technician could see the “sack” but no actually baby. I’m pretty sure my heart stopped for a second. The technician told us that there was no baby and I could barely walk out of the hospital. How could this be. I felt broken.
There was a series of more doctors appointments, tube after tube of blood work, and two more ultrasounds. The whole time we were in limbo, we didn’t know if there was a baby or not. My hormones levels were super high, but then dropped rapidly. After 4 weeks of not hoping and praying that there really a baby, we found out there was definitely not a baby. I had miscarried at 6 weeks. (I ended up having a D&C.)
After the miscarriage, I wanted to lay in bed crying. And I did for while, but I knew deep down that if I didn’t do something I would end up in worse shape emotionally. I have a long family history of severe depression and have fought with it myself for a long time.
So I forced myself to run even though I was slow and would end up crying mid run. I forced myself to hang out with friends, even though I cried when I held my friend’s baby. I worked out, tried out recipes, visited the library….anything to help me try to gain a routine.
I threw myself in to weight loss, and I credit how far I’ve come to that moment. In this moment, and maybe still to this day, I felt like this happened because I was over weight and unhealthy. It had to be my fault, I knew it. So I promised myself to be as healthy as possible whenever “next time” came.
Now I am so thankful, that I was able to turn things around, I lost another 20 pounds. I made fitness my hobby. I changed. I wouldn’t have gotten this opportunity if I had the baby.
That doesn’t change the fact that It still hurts me that I am not a mom. Today is May 17. The day my baby was due. To tell you the truth, I’m a little mad. The last few weeks have been seriously hard. Friends have had baby showers, my sister-in-law and brother had a baby (due only the day before me). And I am so happy for them. Its just hard to watch what could have been unfold.
I thought by now I would be pregnant again and happily waiting for my baby’s arrival but of course it didn’t pan out that way. I also thought I’d be down to 160 lbs by now, so that I would know deep down that its not my fault, and I’m not. The two things together have made the last few weeks so hard. And probably the reason why I’ve struggled to commit to my weight loss. Expectations have a funny way of slapping you in face, don’t they?
I’m at the point where I want a baby so bad, but I’m not where I need to be physically and I don’t know what to do about it. But I know that writing this will help me. Writing this is letting some of my tears and fears outs.
We just have to take it one day at a time. That’s all it takes to survive.
KLUTCH Club Review & Giveaway!
Finally Friday!
This was a long week, I am currently enjoying some much needed time to relax at home. I might head to the gym here pretty soon, or do a workout video.I planned to run 4-5 miles but the sky is black with storm clouds, so I opted out of that one. After work I did a little shopping instead of hitting the gym right away. I have one run, one bootcamp type workout, and one yoga workout planned for this week (today-Sunday) so I will get something in tonight, even if it’s a just a yoga DVD. Although, Blake and I are planning to hit up the town late tonight so maybe I should burn a bunch of calories so I can have a cocktail.
We shall see.
Today, I’m giving away an awesome prize!
A few weeks ago there was a Living Social deal, for a KLUTCH Club subscription box for only $4 so it was $6 off! I bought two and hoped for the best. I’ve only tired one subscription box in the past and I was not happy with it. None of the samples were anything I would use on regular basis. But the KLUTCH Box looked like it would be packed with stuff I would actually use and enjoy, plus it was only $4 plus shipping. (It was on sale with the living social deal, typically $10 plus shipping.)
My box was delivered by FedEx a week or two ago and I’m so happy with it! I’m definitely going to order another one! Plus I bought one for one of you! Trust me you will love it.
Here’s everything that came in my box…
1. Cremo Shave Cream
2. King Arthur Flour Whole Flax Meal
3. yurbuds headphones
4. c.booth Honey & Almond Body Butter (Love this stuff!)
5. Natural Vitality Calm Drink Mix
6. Nature’s Gatue Papaya Body Wash
7.SOYJOY Chocolate Cherry bar
8. Seaweed Mud Cellulite Formula
9. 1-month Luminosity.com Gift Card
So far I’ve tried about half of the stuff and I’m loving it.
The body butter is the best! Its super thick and feels great on my super dry skin. The scent is light which its perfect, I hate overbearing scents. I also loved the Body Wash, I’m planning on buying a full sized bottle when my current body was runs out. The smell is perfect for the mornings, fruity smells always perk me up mid yawn!
My hubby took full advantage of the luminosity card! It’s a fun website with brain teasers and things to make you think!
I was also really excited to see the yurbuds in my box because a few weeks ago I almost bought a pair but I recently stole my hubs new apple earbuds so I passed, so it was really cool to get a pair.
I have to admit, I didn’t love them the first time I tried them out. First of all, you have to twist them into your ear, it takes some getting used to. They were also a little uncomfortable when I was using them sitting at my desk. I decided to give them a second try during a run and I changed my mind about them! They did not fall out nor did sweat drip into my ear. Perfect for workouts. Although, they go into the ear canal, they didn’t block out all the outside noise, which I actually prefer, because I like to know what is going on around me.
I haven’t tried the Flax meal, but I am totally looking forward to try it out! The back of the box has directions for subbing it into baked dishes! You can bet I will be trying that. Honestly, I’m looking forward to trying everything!
All in all, I’m so happy with this subscription box! Its only $18 per month (shipping included) so its totally affordable considering all the stuff you get. The headphones alone were $30 at Dick’s Sporting Goods, so this box was a steal! If you are interested in trying out a subscription box, I would totally recommend KLUCTH Club! The have boxes for Women, Men and even exclusive boxed for Mom’s! Everything in this box is designed to keep you healthy! Perfect for all types of people.
But you can also win one here! Just leave a comment on this here post to win! Extra entries for following Living Made Healthy on Twitter, Instagram or Facebook! Just leave a separate comment saying you did so. So there is a total of 4 ways to enter. (If the winning comment isn’t really following, I will pick another winner.) Winner will be annouced on May 24th! next Friday.
Also check out this list of the 100 Most Inspiring Weight Loss Bloggers complied by Diet-to-Go here! Some of my faves are on there!
A Couple New NSVs
Hellllllllo!
Lately, I’ve been little bit down because of a number of things. One of the main reasons, it because I feel like failure for not losing any more weight recently. I know why I’m not losing weight, its not hard to figure out but getting to right point again mentally has been a struggle. This week I’ve really put my blinders on, its definitely helping and now I can share you with some non-scale victories (although the scale is moving in the right direction!).
Eating Out:
I had lunch out three times this week. All three times I picked healthy and delicious meals! This is a big deal! I often find that when I’m eating out I either want to eat what/how my hubs eat…with fries and coke. Or I want to “indulge”…we eat out way too often for it to a special treat worth indulging in.
Two delish salads! The right was a Cashew Chicken Salad and the left was called a Rudy Salad.
Today I had a sushi date with two friends from work! I ordered a Spicy Marqui- it had yellowtail and avocado plus a little siracha on top. (Should have take a picture!) I also had Vegetable Yakisoba, although it was probably a little higher in calories, I feel like I made great choices!
We have one more dinner out planned this weekend! (And then we are going to see Star Trek!)
Running:
Running has been tough lately! I’m pushing my self to run faster and keep a steady pace but I’ve had to take walk breaks occasionally because I’m getting stomach aches (uhm…tmi…gas). I think because I am running after work when I really want to be eating dinner…I’m still working on figuring this schedule stuff out.
Well yesterday I worked extra late and was not feeling so hot so I hit the hay early and skipped my workout. I’m all about being flexible…but I still wanted to get in a double workout this week and today was the only option because there are no classes Friday nights. First I did bootcamp, then got ready to do 3 easy miles on the treadmill. The first treadmill I got on was super bouncey and I couldn’t handle it….the next FOUR I tried didn’t work! Two wouldn’t turn on completely….and two kept saying start up error! The universe was telling me to go home but I shut it up…tried the last open treadmill & it worked! Those three miles were brutal and slow…like really slow…but I did it even though I wanted to quit the whole time. I’m pretty proud of this, my brain kept saying you’ve already done enough tonight, but I pushed through. I burned 928 calories tonight!
Overall Feeling Good:
This morning I woke up and I just felt great! I’m with only 3 pounds of my lowest weight! If Heidi Klum complained to me about being up 3 pounds, I’d give her the crazy eyes….so I’m officially giving myself the crazy eyes. I felt skinny this morning…I think I look pretty skinny in this picture even though you see my belly outline…which is mostly due to those pants being to small (long story short: I tried on two different sizes and kept the wrong ones). (Please forgive this gross bathroom picture, I promise to never post one like this again!)
I’m trying to remember this feeling so I when I’m looking at menu, I can remind myself that just a few days of good, healthy food makes me feel fantastic!
Its not all about the number on the scale! In fact, I’d say its mostly not about that…its about feel good and loving who you are!
Lastly, I’d like to give a shout out to my friend at Losing With Cooper! Check out her blog! She lost weight while on vacation!!!!
Alright I’m out of here! Check back with me tomorrow because I’m having a giveaway!! And it’s a good one…!
Ladder Workout
Hi-di-ho!
So I was supposed to go to Bootcamp tonight but I had to work late. Work trumps workouts right now, its sad but I will enjoy those paychecks! I left work a little after 7 pm, headed to the gym only to realize they gym bag I packed last night was still at home. Lame sauce.
Well a few weeks ago I won copy of the Turbo Fire starter pack so I decided to give that a try tonight. I will write a review after I try it a few more times but I will say I enjoyed it. After that I decided that I needed to get some weight lifting in tonight, so I whipped up this little workout!
Its pretty self-explanatory. You can look on you-tube or google to find explinations for each move you are unsure. Cardio can be any thing that gets your heart rate up like running, elliptical, walking, jumping jacks…whatever floats your boat.
Its fun but tough! My legs totally gave out in the last wall sit! For my cardio, I did some boxing…so. much. fun.! I need to use my punching bag way more often!
Disclaimer: I am not an expert or personal trainer, I just have a passion for sweating it out! Please use your own good judgment when attempting this workout. I don’t want anyone to get hurt! Feel free to contact me via the contact page if you have any questions.
And now I’m off to bed! Adios!
Pretty Darn Good
Hello everyone!
I’m going to keep this short & sweet…or at least short.
Today was a pretty darn good day. Nothing cool happened but I stuck to my plans and that’s what really counts. Why bother making plans if you aren’t going to stick to them?!
Here I am looking like a train wreck after a vicious 4 miles on the treadmill. I planned to do my run outside but the weather had other plans, so I passed the miles watching Kitchen Nightmares on my phone. Those four miles were brutal…proof that I took too many days off from the gym.
I only had one piece of chocolate today, a Caramel Macadamia Nut thingy that my co-worker brought home from Hawaii! (Thanks, Kelsey!) I did have a chocolate pretzel protein bar for a snack, but mostly because it’s the only thing I had with me to munch on. For the whole day I was right at 1637 calories. Not too shab, considering I burned 436 calories during my run.
Right now I’m about to fold my a load of laundry and pack my gym bag for tomorrow.
Thanks for reading!! Nighty Night!
Set Up For A Great Week
Hola!!
Bad news: I forgot to blog yesterday! I’m so disappointed, I thought I would totally make it every day this month. Bummer. Yesterday was such a weird day, I slept in late and then worked at the Central Washington Home Expo. It was terribly boring, but I’m looking forward to having extra money.
To tell you the truth this whole week was kind of wonky. I did not stick to my workout very well or follow my tips to making better use of my time. I could totally go on forever telling you all the things I did wrong. But that sounds boring and will just make me sad and depressed.
I’m tired of feeling like a failure. I really don’t want to get into this right now. I’m just tired of making excuses.
Tomorrow is the start a fresh week. I’m going to forget about the mistakes I’ve made and just do better from this moment on.
This is what my workout schedule looks like for this week:
Monday: 4 mile run
Tuesday: Bootcamp
Wednesday: RIPPED + 3 mile run
Thursday: Bootcamp
Friday: 4-5 mile run
Saturday: Yoga
Sunday: rest
As for meals- I’ve been eating a ton of sweets like chocolate and donuts. This week I’m gonna work at eating more clean meals, meats, fruits and veggies and some healthy grains. I really need to limit my chocolate consumption to once per day rather than once per hour meal.
No more excuses. None.
In other news! I was blessed with another beautiful little niece this weekend! Miss Lyllian Riley! I’m totally in love with her!
Diet-to-Go Review
Happy, Happy Friday!
I’m totally ready for the weekend. Its been a long week, that’s for sure. However, some exciting new….my brother’s wife is about to have a baby! I can’t wait to be aunt again for the third time.
Luckily, my long week was totally made easier with the help of Diet-to-Go! I recently became a Diet-to-Go brand ambassador and when they offered to send me a week’s worth of meal, I jumped at the chance!
Let’s start with, what exactly is Diet-to-Go?
Well, it’s a diet delivery service that send healthy, nutritious, and delicious food right to your front door. They offer three different menus to chose from- traditional, vegetarian, and low-carb with 1200 calorie or 1600 calorie options.
I was sent the 1600 calorie traditional menu! Spoiler Alert: I’m totally impressed.
Diet-to-Go is all about the Common Sense approach to weight loss which is totally in line with my approach. I’ve tried several “fad” diets. I can never stick to it. The Diet-to-Go plan is not some wacky fad diet. Its real food, just like you would cook at home, but they do all the prep work and calorie counting for you. You can rest easy, knowing you are getting the right amount of calories. I never once felt like I was on a “diet” this week, I felt like I was trying out new meals.
The breakfasts were totally my favorite!
Greek style burrito with chicken sausage! This might have been my favorite! The burrito was full of egg and spinach. Talk about moist, I’m not a big breakfast burrito fan but I would totally make this for myself.
Pancakes with turkey sausage. These pancakes we so light and fluffy. I wish I had like two or three more plates.
I also had a yummy cranberry scone, French toast and an egg & broccoli pie!
For lunch, I was sent a variety of sandwiches. This is the turkey and Swiss melt with blue chips and a VS splash. I also had a tomato flatbread melt, turkey cutlet sub, and a turkey salad sandwich that came with a Dannon Danimals yogurt! Fun!
For dinner, I enjoyed this heaping bowl of shrimp curry. I have trouble remembering to take pictures of my dinner! oops.
This was another fav though…Turkey & Chicken Brunswick (said with a British accent please) and a corn and lentil loaf! Look at all that veggie deliciousness, this was my first time eating okra! The lentil loaf was super delicious…I’ll admit I was a little leery but one bite and I was hooked. (I actually ate this for lunch…somehow I got mixed up! haha!)
What I love most about this meal plan is the variety! Since my hubby works the swing shift, I’m usually cooking for one…so I tend to eat the same things over and over again. I also loved that they sent me things I wouldn’t usually pick like French toast! Let’s be real, French toast is usually off limits on most “diets.”
If you are interested in giving Diet-to-Go a try, they are offering a sweet discount code for a limited time only, so take advantage right away! Just use the code summer25 when you check out!
I’m fairly certain you will love this food as much as I did! Seriously, go check out the menu…everything looks deeeelish.
Which Diet-to-Go meal would you like to try?
