When you fall (off the wagon) dust yourself off and get back on...

The slayer in me has slowly stopped slaying Twinkies and started enjoying their creamy centered yumminess! But, just as the title reads, I'm dusting my workout gear off and getting back on the treadmill! I've slowly watched my muscle soften and flab increase!!! Time to shed this weight and feel better again. I'm surrounding myself and filling my mind with good, inspiring materials, people and events! I'll be participating in the Susan G. Komen 5k Race for the Cure this weekend! Nothing is more motivational than walking with these amazing men and women to raise money and awareness for a cure for Breast Cancer! To realize that life's about more than lbs, stress, and heartache! It's about living, loving, and enjoying life to the fullest!

Food Addiction

I had an important epiphany yesterday. I like food. I like food a lot. It's not just that I like cookies or ice cream, I love broccoli too. In fact, I love to eat most vegetables and fruit, and incorporate them into most of my meals. We buy whole grain bread and I try to eat food that is less processed than others. But . . . I also like to eat at fast food joints, I love milkshakes, and cookies, and cake, and hershey kisses with coconut cream filling.

I type this as I am suffering a massive cake hangover. The story here is- took home leftover cake from party. This is costco cake- the out of this world good kind with cream filling. I ate one piece for dessert, exhibiting what I thought to be extremely diligent self-control. Then I fell asleep on the couch around 9 pm. Slept until 5 am, when I decided I should probably make it to bed. But then I remembered I had cake.

So my shameful moment came at 5 am this morning, me in my state of dishabille, standing in the kitchen with a fork, eating cake in the dark. I couldn't even see the cake. I was just standing there half awake, eating way too much, by the forkful.

I don't even actually know how much I ate. I just know that this morning I woke up with a total stomach ache, and the desire for nothing more than a strong cup of black coffee, and maybe a piece of dry toast for breakfast. Cake hangover. Remorse.

This morning I have decided to take a serious look at my eating habits. I've tried (unsuccessfully) in the past to monitor what I eat, calorie intake, eat more lean protein and fiber, etc, etc. All that good stuff you are supposed to do. But I inevitably come back to craving that Carl's Jr. burger, or a whole bag of chocolate, or cake at 5 am.

What to do, what to do? I just like food, and I like to eat a wide variety of food, from the totally-good-for-you stuff, to the totally-good-for-your-tastebuds-but-nothing-else kind of stuff.

James has taken after me in this aspect, and this worries me. He loves veggies too and will eat them raw, (and straight off the grocer's aisle if I don't watch him), but he is also a total sugar-holic like me. He would eat candy 24/7 if I let him. I have of course instituted rules governing his use of sugar, but we do eat a lot of it still. I can try to keep it out of the house, but when cravings run high, will power is at an all time low, and the car is just outside.

So how to fix this dilemma? I've been exercising more, but of course, the more I exercise, the hungrier I am. I need to figure out a lower calorie, craving satisfying, yummy fix that doesn't cost a fortune and will get me off the sugar. (Yoplait yogurt desserts seem to be helping)

My Hero

Today I have to tell you all about my hero in my town. I don't know her, have never talked to her, but I see her almost every day when I am driving James to or from daycare. She is always running along the main road of town, with a stroller in tow, and I can only assume, taking her daughter to and from daycare or preschool as well. I see her year round, rain or sun, jogging along twice a day. I think she is awesome!

I aspire to be like that. To be organized and in shape enough that I can jog James to daycare and back. One of these days, I really just want to talk to her. I love how she incorporates exercise into regular daily routine. To reiterate- I think she is awesome!

MOMMA DVD

The Momma Wants Her Body Back DVDs came in the mail the other day. I have officially been working out to them for a week now. THEY ARE AWESOME!!! It's similar to the Jill Michaels DVDs, but Momma breaks her workouts down into 5 different intervals instead of 3 in JM's. Plus, the Momma DVD uses a workout band instead of free weights, its WAY more intense this way because you have to control your movement in both directions!!! It's intense and I'm huffing and puffing the entire workout!
I have started doing both the JM and Momma DVDs daily and have lost 5LBs in one week! If you wanna drop the LBs I recommend these two workout DVDs for you!!! Good luck and let me know about your progress!

Just Checking in

So how is everyone out there doing on fitness goals? I can't figure out if I am doing well or not. Ok, maybe if I don't know, the answer is "not so good." But I do feel like I've been doing a good job of mixing regular life with activity. No, I didn't get out and exercise this weekend, but I moved my refrigerator out and thoroughly cleaned it and the floor underneath, followed by a thorough cleaning of my oven.

Yesterday I didn't work out either, but I walked 4 blocks to jury duty, then walked 4 blocks back later. I went on an epic grocery shopping trip, and by the time I was done with the packing and the moving, and the loading, I was literally out of breath and sweating. And for the rest of the day I was exhausted. So that means something, right?

I think I need to definitely decide what I want to accomplish. Saying I want to lose weight is vague and unhelpful. I think my goal for this month is to build more muscle tone and stamina so when I start working at the farmer's market in April it won't take me 3 days to recover from that.

I also know I want to look better and more toned when summer rolls around. I really want to take James to the pool this year, and its much easier for me to do that if I actually feel comfortable in a swimsuit.

What are everybody's fitness goals? I think a good way to keep track is to have a monthly goal, and maybe a long term goal. What are your thoughts on this?

Aspiring Gardener

Has anyone tried those upside down tomato planters? Do they really work? I've seen the same thing for strawberries too. Also, if I put one on my covered balcony in Las Vegas, would they grow well and would that keep them safe from the bugs? I guess these questions are mostly for Inger-Lis, but if anyone else knows anything, that would be useful.

Interval Training

I saw this on Discovery News and thought it was so cool. Maybe I should be a guinea pig and try this out.

Interval Training Can Cut Exercise Hours Sharply

One hour a week of steep intervals? Maybe followed by a few days of walking or yoga. . . hmmm.

I have added on yet another reason to get in better shape today- I said I would go back and work at the farmer's market again. 12 hours of heavy lifting, walking, etc in all sorts of weather. The first day is April 3rd, so I think I will try this interval training, with a little weight lifting in between and yoga. I am interested to see how it works and if it helps make Farmer's Market less destroying to my body.

Lemon Pepper chicken and Roasted Veggies

I developed this recipe last week out of laziness and a strong craving for lemon pepper. It is super fast to put together, and only requires a casserole dish (and food of course). I loved this recipe so much I tried to make it two nights in a row, only to discover I was out of chicken! Its still pretty good sans meat.

The amounts listed will feed about two adults and a child, but the beauty of this recipe is you can easily add more chicken and vegetables to feed an army if you needed to. This recipe makes a well rounded meal of lean protein and vegetables high in vitamin C, potassium (good for workout recovery), fiber, and beta-carotene. Spinach salad goes great as a side dish.

Due to the "throw together" nature of this recipe, exact quantities are hard to guess. This is a pretty forgiving recipe though and can be easily adjusted to suit taste

Ingredients:

2 potatoes or parsnips
3 carrots
1 large orange yam (technically a sweet potato)
2-3 chicken breasts

Seasonings:
Lemon pepper
Salt
2 T olive oil or butter Note: I love the butter, but olive oil really is the healthier choice here.

Preheat oven to 350. peel and cube all vegetables into fairly uniform size- about 1" cubes. Cut chicken into slightly bigger chunks. Place together in shallow casserole dish. Drizzle with olive oil, or cut butter into pieces and spread through out.

Liberally sprinkle lemon pepper over chicken and veggies and sprinkle salt to taste. Bake in oven for about 30 minutes or until chicken is done and veggies are cooked to desired tenderness, stirring casserole once or twice during the cooking process to mix spices and oil.

*if you are a little short on time, you can always cut the meat and vegetables up smaller to speed up baking, but they will turn to mush quicker too. I like the veggies a little al dente and the 1" size seems to cook them uniformly with the chicken.

Bon appetite!

Exercise, Exercise, and more EXERCISE!!

I've been working out to the Jillian Michael's dvd "30 Day Shred" for well, almost 30 days now. I have noticed that it's helping me drop lbs and it makes me feel better, but I can't help notice that my arms are still flabby! UGH...does anyone else have this problem and if not, how do I mend it without lippo? I work on toning my arms, shoulders, biceps and triceps with the Jill dvd, but is there something else I should be doing? I'm open for suggestions...so lay 'em on me!

First Order of Business

We need a name and a few more friends! Becky and I were discussing what we wanted this blog to be about, and chiefly, we want it to be about everyone! We want a place where we can chat about healthy living, weight loss, and finding a balance between living on carrot sticks or Big Macs.

First order of business, we need a blog title. Any suggestions?