Yeah, I've Been Bad

I haven't written in forever. MLG Nashville came and went and I sometimes think I had never decided to go. It messed up my schedule royally. The only good thing that came from it was Eric's visit. That was a blast and I can't wait to journey to Virginia and repay the favor. ;)

Working out has been slow, but good. Matt and I have been venturing beyond our backyard a bit. We've been hiking with some friends out at Pocket Wilderness. This past weekend we dared an 8 mile hike. Though there were times I would have given anything to just let it be over - I still fared better than the 8 mile hike Matt and I took with his family in GA. THAT was an experience... and not in a good way.

I've still been on my personal push to try new/get better at old things. I've been cooking more and trying to finish my quilt. I've been thinking about trekking into the world of embroidery again. I haven't picked that up since I was 11 or 12. I thought about creating something for my mom and mother-in-law for Mother's Day. We'll see I guess.

But here are some happenings lately:

My Julia Child's Omelet!









Spring at my house. I adore trees. And these are a couple of my beauties!









The waterfall we hiked to this past weekend:









Me playing at MLG Nashville:

Yard Work

For the past week I've been busy outside in my yard working on getting it cleaned up. I've done a lot of bending over picking up brush, lifting heavy fallen branches, and squeezing clippers over and over and over. And doing all that for at least 4 hours a day has left me exhausted by the end. So I skipped my workouts because I had worked out so much already. And there's nothing wrong with that!
The problem is I've gotten out of routine already. I finally had my evenings back; and I loved it. Last night was the first trip back to the gym in a week. And almost didn't even go! I did 20 minutes on the elliptical with no weightlifting (I'll talk about this a little later). But it took so much energy just to get my butt down there. :( I'm not giving up. I'm just afraid going to the gym is going to be as hard as it was that first month!
So yeah, no weight lifting. I have arm muscles. I have lots of arm muscles!! It was great when my weight loss was slowing down and not giving as many results; I had weightlifting to give me something to focus on. But now I have these semi-well defined upper arm muscles. And I haven't lost too much fat in my arms. Well I take that back - I've lost a LOT of the jiggly hang down arm-y stuff. :p But these huge upper arm muscles just make my arms look fat again. I don't like it! I guess my next course of action is to pay attention to the machines that work that muscle and don't do as many. I shouldn't fore-go all of them because of one muscle. Duh. Thanks for helping me work that out! :p
Anyways, I'm starving. Time for breakfast. Oh btw - I snacked on grapes last night and they were DELICIOUS! (I've never been a huge fan of grapes - mostly because of the pulp)

See-ya!

P.S. I had a dream last night that I was walking with my dad and brother. At one point towards the end we started jogging and I did too! I didn't even notice that much and it didn't kill me in a few feet, lol. We ended up jogging a mile. I was so happy and told my mom all about it. Nice dream.... totally my goal. It felt so good! It was like a little sneak-preview to my future. hahaha.

New Pants!

Welcome March!
Not a whole lot to report lately. I've been working out regularly and adding more weight training and slightly less cardio. I've also been stretching my legs every night before I go to bed - trying to focus on my hip movement.
I've been getting arm muscles! YAY! My brother actually noticed without me saying anything! I've been doing the circuit machines; going arms, legs, arms, legs, etc; anywhere from 40-100 reps per machine depending on the muscle worked. I do the most on my quads (I think it's them). I chose to focus on that one because it not only works my legs but specifically my knees. And I hadn't really noticed till today that I've almost eliminated my knee soreness. And my range of motion is greatly improved as well!! You have no idea how big a deal that is for me!!
And I saved the best news for last - I've gotten into a new jean size!! :o I mean, I really had to squeeze into it, haha - but it's on! I've got them on right now! A new size! Hallelujah! One down - 2 more to go. ;)
So I'm so excited right now and wanted to share with the world. So now that that's done I think I'm going to go look in the mirror and check out my new pants!! And my new arms!! And knees!!! And butt... did I mention that it's lookin' fly lately? ;)

Updates, Challenges, and Changes

Hello strangers. I've been too busy to think straight lately. But I've still pushed myself not to slack on my gym time - which is an awesome accomplishment in itself!! I don't have any more weight loss lately - but I'm not that concerned about it. My mind set has been shifting from "results, results, results" to "I'm healthier today because I worked out like I should." This has also led me to not being as diligent with my logging of workouts and of this blog. Every now and then I find the time to catch up my logging, but it's not as it was before - where I was so excited to log each and every little thing I did. I'm thinking this is a good thing. Going from 'diet' mode to 'lifestyle' mode as my friend Melody would say. ;)
Random thought - I'm so excited for it to get warmer so I can switch up my workout routine with a little swimming. Plus get a good tan while I'm at it. ;) (not too dark - lots of sun is bad for you. :p)
I knew for this new challenge (the MLG one) I wanted to step it up a little, but wasn't sure how. I read an article today about how to keep moving throughout the day. It could burn as much as 350 extra calories! I was like, "hot dog! I can do that!" So my little mini-challenge to myself is to not be sedentary. To be constantly moving in one way or another. Right now I'm simply tapping my feet or swinging my legs. And it's not that hard at all. Once I get used to it it may not be that hard at all to remember. But I can feel my muscles getting slightly tired as if I were were working out, granted it takes longer. Imagine if we were capable of working out constantly all day! Oh the benefits, lol.
So I'm out - keep it up!

MLG Challenge

I'm getting started slowly on this new challenge. We've been so busy this week, on top of which I've been sick. I've worked out one day so far this week. :(
I have started a new challenge. It's 36 days and ends the day before MLG Nashville. I call it my MLG Challenge, lol. No specific goals, the same as before, just to stick with it, get more "fit."
I've started a small group Bible Study with Matt and our Sunday School class. It's focused on 'passing the baton' to the next generation and holding leadership roles with Godly intentions. Very interesting and I've learned so much in only the first class. Can't wait to go to more.
Not much to write about lately! Hopefully I'll have more news to share later on.

I DID IT! I WON!

My Challenge is Over! I WON!!

So this will be a post dedicated to my success and progress!

1. I beat my referee "challenger" 136 points to 130 points. (Facebook App)
2. I've lost 15 pounds (averaging in fluctuating water weight)
3. I've lost 2 inches in my waist.
4. I've lost 3 inches in my hips.
5. I've lost 2 inches in my thighs.
6. And most of all - I STUCK WITH IT FOR 28 DAYS!

My dad has told me he is proud of me. My brother beams when I talk about my progress. My mom is so happy for my results. And my husband is loving everything about this. Remember my first post? I wanted to surprise everyone and make my family proud of me? I think I did!! ^.^

My first post.

I am so glad I decided to keep a record of all this. It makes everything so much more fulfilling; to be able to look back and see my triumphs, my hard work. This makes it all sink in a little more.

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So I'll be hammering out the details of my next 28 day challenge. (you didn't think I was stopping here did you?) I'll start tomorrow. I'm still so excited!

So Busy!

I haven't had time lately to blog anything. Yesterday was my "peak" of busy-ness. So today should calm back down.
I've been working on stuff for DSO from sun-up till sun-down practically. Along with meetings, practices, etc. I don't even get to play for fun anymore! O.o
MLG Nashville is coming up next month and I want to go one way or another! But I'm so concerned about money. Hopefully Matt gets promoted this month (we hear at the end of Feb.) so we can have some extra cash. Won't be much more, but anything will help.
For some reason Matt's pay check was shorter than what it was supposed to be this month. I don't know if it was an accident or what. Lots of people's were. Seemingly innocent but guess what? NOW we can't spend hardly any money for Valentine's Day without possibly putting us in a bind. Whoop-a-dee-do. Thanks Bryan. 'Preciate it. Happy friggin' Valentine's Day to you.
My mom's birthday was yesterday too. I had to ask her stop by my house so I could give her her gift. I was too busy to go to her. [fail]
I had to skip out early from my Bible Study last night because of a DSO meeting. I felt so bad. I haven't seen everyone in forever. And the one time I do - I've got to leave.
And because of all that stuff I didn't get to workout yesterday. Sucks so bad. :(
AND to top it all off I'm getting sick. All this drama and stress is catching up to me and I'm sick... [sigh]

To end this on a happier note - I weighed myself two days ago and saw a number 20 pounds lighter. Haven't seen that number in ages. WOOHOO!

Ok, I'm going back to bed. Wake me up when it's warm outside....