Goals for the Week

Goals for the Week

My workouts have completely ground to a halt.  In the past few weeks I have strained my neck and my back twice.  I've gained some weight back because of this, but maybe in the end it will be a good thing- this is forcing me to focus more on my nutrition.

Last week's goals:

1..  Read Knowing God Intimately by Joyce Meyer.  Awesome book!  I highly recommend it.  I have started Living Beyond Your Feelings, but I'm not finished yet.

2.  Study the Bible 30 minutes each day.  I missed one day and I could really tell.  I ended up having a crummy day.

3.  Workout at least 5 times.  Nope.

4.  Improving my nutrition.   I'm doing a MUCH better job drinking A LOT of water.  As in, 11 cups a day!  I have read in a few places that you should take your weight, divide it in half and drink that many ounces of water a day.  Don't worry though- there's an app for that!  I'm using the app "WAter"  such a creative name.  But I like using it to keep track of how much water I've had.  Plus you get an award for reaching your goal!    

5.  Plan a family photo shoot.  Still working on this one.  

6.  Take Bunny to visit the college she will be going to in the fall!!   What a great time!  I want to go to college again!  The art department had literally everything an artist could ever want.  

7. Enjoy vacation!!  done and done!

8.Health focus:  Each month, I'm going to focus on one aspect of good health.  This month the focus is "Getting God's Help."  This idea comes from the book Good Health, Good Life.  

        I will start each morning studying God's word and saying a positive affirmation, reminding me of his love for me.  I will also strive to pray throughout the day and remember to ask for help when faced with temptation.

This week I'm going to continue on the above and add in:

1.  Finish Living Beyond Your Feelings by Joyce Meyer and Read What Happens When Women Walk in Faith by Lysa Terkeurst.

2.  Study the Bible 30 minutes a day.

3.  Go for a walk at least 5 times.

4.  Improve my nutrition by continuing to say my positive affirmation each morning, drink 11 cups of water AND track everything that I eat into My Fitness Pal app.  I have a bad habit of only tracking the healthy food and then not entering in what I had for dinner and dessert.  No More!  Time to face the truth.  For this week, it's okay if I go over my calorie goal for the day.  My most important goal is that I enter in EVERYTHING that I eat.   

5.  Finish report cards.  Waaaa.  Not my favorite thing to do.  In fact, it's probably the thing I like the least about my job.  But I know the value of parental support, and so I do it.

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things

there is no law.

Galatians 5:22-23

Goals for the Week

This has been a great activity for me!  I didn't accomplish everything that I wanted to, but throughout the week I would think about the goals that I had set and then work towards them.

Last week's goals:

1.  Create something to sell on teacherspayteachers.com.  Well, thankfully, I didn't actually accomplish this goal.  I had wanted to earn money so that I could order some supplements from Herbalife.  On Wednesday I went to my bank account's online bill pay and found that Herbalife had STOLEN $1127 from me!!  After several days of phone calls and trips to the bank, I finally got it sorted out.  My bank will be refunding me this week, and they will go after Herbalife for the money.  

     I'd still like to create something to sell however, but this time so that I can send my Bunny to college!!  Woo Hoo!

2.  Read Knowing God Intimately by Joyce Meyer.  I haven't quite finished this yet, but I'm close.  Well, I'm about two-thirds of the way through.  That's close right?  I did read and finish Good Health, Good Life by Joyce Meyer.  This book set me in the right path for achieving good health forever.  Not a diet!

3.  Study the Bible 30 minutes each day.  FINALLY!  This one I actually accomplished.  Yea me!  Yea God!

4.  Workout at least 5 times.  I strained my neck and hurt my back, so I'm taking it easy.  I went for a short walk today, but that's about it.  But that may be a good thing, because then I can concentrate on...

5.  Improving my nutrition.   I've worked on it, but I wouldn't say that it's good yet.  STill a work in progress here.  (and all the Easter candy isn't helping)

6.  Decorate Easter eggs.  

7.  Plan a family photo shoot.  Still working on this one.  

This week I'm going to continue on the above and add in:

1.  Finish Knowing God Intimately and also read Living Beyond Your Feelings.

2.  Take Bunny to visit the college she will be going to in the fall!!  So exciting.  This is definitely an answer to a prayer that I really never thought would come true.  

3.  Enjoy vacation!!  I'm loving relaxing, reading and being home.

4.  Health focus:  Each month, I'm going to focus on one aspect of good health.  This month the focus is "Getting God's Help."  This idea comes from the book Good Health, Good Life.  

        I will start each morning studying God's word and saying a positive affirmation, reminding me of his love for me.  I will also strive to pray throughout the day and remember to ask for help when faced with temptation.

But those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength;

they shall mount up with wings like eagles,

they shall run and not be weary,

they shall walk and not faint. 

Isaiah 40:31

Goals for the Week

Goals for the Week:

I swiped this idea from moneysavingmom.com.  Crystal Paine is an amazing blogger, writer, speaker, business woman and Christian.  Each week she posts her goals and updates her readers on the progress she made last week.  This seems like a good idea for me, so here goes!

1.  Create something to sell on TeachersPayTeachers so that I can earn enough money to buy the Weight Loss shakes from Herbalife.  I don't know if these supplements will work for me, but I figure that if I'm buying supplements anyway, I may as well try it.  I'm already buying supplements from GNC, so I decided to try this.  If I like it, then I can get it for a discount and if others like it, I could sell it to them.  But I WON'T buy it without having the $$ first.  There's not much room in my budget for this, so I am going to have to EARN the money.  All I could think of was to sell some teacher products on TeachersPayTeachers.com.

2.  Read Knowing God Intimately by Joyce Meyer.  We went to one of her conferences this past weekend and it was awesome!  I loved it.  

3.  Study the bible 30 minutes each day.  This is another challenge from Joyce Meyer, my "new" favorite author/speaker.  (she's 72 years old)  She is challenging people to read and study the bible for 30 days for 30 minutes each day.  

4.  Workout at least 5 times.  Still working on the LiveFit Trainer from Jaime Eason, though I've had to take a break because I strained my neck.  I think I'll have to skip anything where I'm pushing weights above my head.  Ouch.  But I am enjoying the feeling of getting stronger, even if I haven't lost much weight.  Which brings me to goal #5...

5.  Work on my nutrition! Good gracious.  It's getting ridiculous.  I am not a 14 year old boy who can eat whatever he wants and still be a string bean.  I NEED to get it together.  

6.  Decorate Easter Eggs with the kids.  I'd also like to take our little 5 year old friend to an easter egg hunt, just need to talk to her mom!  Maybe we could just make our own for her in the yard.

7.  Plan a family photo shoot.  This is something that I'd really like to do.  I want to decide on a location and what we'll wear.

So we make it our goal to please him, 

whether we are at home in the body or away from it.

2 Corinthians 5:9

What are your goals for the week?

Weigh In Wednesday

    Last week I overindulged waaaay too much. It was Bunny's birthday and we went all out. 2 Cakes, out to eat twice, and lots of diet coke. However I did all my workouts and ended up pretty much even for the week. I am back on track and ready for more muscles and less fat!  

   So overall, I'm down 6 pounds and 6 inches. Looking at my pictures I don't see much difference but I know it will take time.  But I feel like I should be ready for a bikini competition by now!

  I've started Phase 2 of Jaime Eason's LiveFit trainer. We are doing strength training 6 days a week and adding in cardio(elliptical) 4 days a week!  Ag!  I have been super tired. I actually was in bed at 6:30 last night!

  Even though I don't see much progress, I'm happy to have lost 6 pounds and today my pants felt loose!  

We also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope.

Romans 5:3-4

Week 4 Completed!

I feel so good!  I'm proud of myself for completing the first 4 weeks of Jaime Eason's LiveFit Trainer.  I officially ended Phase 1 and I'm nervously excitedly looking forward to Phase 2.

I've been sticking to the workouts- I haven't missed a single one!  Last week my nutrition was off- between my cycle and my daughter's birthday, I didn't do that great.  One thing that has stuck with my is that this is a lifestyle.  If you can't stick to a nutrition plan, then you shouldn't do it.  This is a forever shift in the way I eat.  Basically, it's "clean eating" pumped up with protein powder and LOTS OF CHICKEN.  

Phase 2 is coming at the perfect time.  We're adding in cardio 3-4 times a week.  Medium intensity, nothing crazy.  I think it will be a challenge to just do cardio at all after all the strength training.  I'll be at the gym for over an hour 6 days a week.  That is a bit daunting!!

However, I'm pretty excited with my results, and that keeps me motivated to move forward.  I've lost 6 pounds and 6 inches.  I've never been able to get these kind of results.  EVER.  

It feels nice to be getting confident and getting compliments.  It sounds silly, but this could literally change the way I move through life.  I find myself doing the things that are important to me, things that I value and forgetting about the silly, unimportant things.  

And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him,

 who have been called according to his purpose.

Romans 8:28

Book Review: The Bigger the Hair, the Closer to God

This was a fun, light-hearted book with a great message.  And it had little to do with actual hair, but some meaningful life lessons for this middle-aged woman.

Lessons from The Big Hair Lady:

1. Here are the first sentences of the book:  "Remember the person you planned to be?  Thought you were, in fact, when you were young and innocent and didn't know any better?"  Basically, stop worrying about what other people say about you and just be concerned about the you that God created and BE her.
2. Get and nurture some real friendships.  (Definitely need some work on this one!)
3. Talk to yourself like the little blue engine that could, "I think I can, I think I can..."
4. Mind-blowing quote:  "Even better, you can take a fresh look in your rearview mirror and, with God's help, see a new story-one that's redemptive, perhaps even empowering."  I've learned way more from the difficult things in life than during easy times.  Like my ski instructor used to say, "if you're not falling down, you're not challenging yourself!"  So true!
5. You don't have to have big hair!  "Big-Haired Lady is na attitude!  A cute, darlin', witty, intelligent, passionate, authentic, interesting, 'wow-look at me because I'm God's very best creation,' seize-the-day attitude!"

Are you a Big Hair Lady?  I want to be one!

Weigh-in Wednesday

Good news!  I lost another pound. I also lost an inch and a half on my thigh!  That's NEVER happened before. I'm pretty happy with my progress so far. That is definitely a baby bicep bump growing! Yippee!!

I'm continuing to follow Jaime Eason's LiveFit  Trainer.  This is my 3rd week. I'm working out 5 times this week. I'm sure that I'll be missing 3 days off, but I'm happy to be building muscle and losing fat. This week we only get 2 rest days. 

I got 2 compliments yesterday at work.  It made me feel good that someone is noticing!

I'm still struggling with dinner. Breakfast, lunch and snacks are all on point, but having a healthy dinner when everyone else eats pizza, burgers, and chicken nuggets is so hard for me. I'm thinking that I will need to start meal prepping dinner too.  Either that or make them eat my food (not looking forward to that conversation).  I'll need to make a decision by Saturday when I do my grocery shopping. 

Another plus is finding the BodySpace app!  I'm part of a facebook group set up by Alesha Haley that supports each other while we do this program.  It's a great group, and I had a "dumb" question for the group.  One of the ladies recommended it. Thank goodness she did. It's awesome!  I can enter my program and then it shows me exactly what to do, has video tutorials, rest timers, EVERYTHING.  So great and even better- free!  

Any suggestions for dinners?

Did your desk throw up?

In my classroom last week I learned a valuable lesson. And oddly enough, I discovered it while helping a student clean up her very messy desk. 

Organization has been a problem for this student all year. There is also a bit of a lackadaisical attitude thrown in there for good measure. She would have been a great hippie.   I finally realized that she just didn't have any idea how to start working on this mess. 

How to start a big project

1. Take a deep breath. Okay. This may be a sucky task that you don't want to do, but you know you have to do it.  Whether it is exercise, laundry or a work project, it is your responsibility. Gird your loins. 

2. Get a buddy to help. Everything is better with a friend.  For example, cleaning the house can be fun if it's turned into a friendly competition to see who can get their job done first.  An accountability partner will keep you on track at the gym and a work buddy will be helpful to bounce ideas off of. In the case of the messy desk, I was the buddy!

3. Do the next right thing. Looking at the mess, it did indeed look overwhelming. I realized that she had no idea how to start. So I told her to just do one thing at a time. Gather up the pencils and crayons. Put the papers in the folder. Throw away the trash, etc. This was when I realized that I would probably learn more from this than she would. For her this was just about a desk. For me this was about life.  Trying to lose 20 pounds is overwhelming (20, seriously?) Writing a blog is a bit daunting (what if I run out of ideas?). But I know that it will be worth it, so I keep trying.

4. Keep going until it's done. This step is where a lot of people quit. They realize it is hard work, or worse, that even if they finish, it will never be perfect so why bother?  Let me tell you, my student and I both wanted to quit. But since I'm the teacher, I had to keep going!  We finished cleaning up together. 

Sad to say, I still have to remind her to clean up several times each day. And several times each day I have to give myself a pep talk. No candy!  You want to lose weight. And, go to the gym so that you don't throttle your teenage children. And my favorite, it's okay if nobody likes your blog. You're doing this for you. 

The moral of the story:  encourage yourself to take things one step at a time, even if your desk throws up. 

5 Reasons to do Jaime Eason's LiveFit Trainer

Everyone knows that getting fit and healthy is important, but we've all tried doing that the wrong way at least once.  (Low-carb diet anyone?)  Here are my top 5 reasons for using Jaime Eason's LiveFit Trainer to accomplish your goals.  (no, she's not paying me to say this)

Top 5 reasons to do Jaime Eason's LiveFit Trainer:

1. Lose the "fluff"  I never really considered myself fat, I just had a bit too much fluff.  Perfect for puppies and little kids to cuddle with, but not real sexy.  
2. Only cook once a week.  I meal prep once a week so that my laziness is satisfied.  I'd eat almost anything as long as I don't have to fix that meal.  I love just reaching in the fridge, grabbing my container of healthy food and popping it into my lunch bag.  Cheapskate version of an expensive meal plan- take that Marie Osmond!
3. Save $$ on clothes.  My clothes actually fit now, so I don't need to go shopping for new clothes.  Hmm, maybe that's a negative, I love to shop!  If I lose enough weight though, I could need new, smaller clothes!  Yea!
4. Can do more chores- wait, that's a good thing?  I am able to do more chores- open that jar, haul more laundry, move the furniture, shovel the snow.  LOL- I don't really like to do more chores, but it sure feels good to be stronger.
5. Speaking of stronger...I am also stronger mentally/emotionally.  My confidence is coming back and I'm feeling good about what I've accomplished so far.  

What do you do for exercise?

Weigh -in Wednesday

Let's get right to the good stuff.

 I lost a half of a pound. Not that great, but here's what I'm really excited about:  

I lost an inch on my waist and an inch on my hips!!

Thank you Jaime Eason!  I've never done that in just one week.
She says that the whole idea of Phase 1 (4 weeks) of her LiveFit Trainer is to build muscle.  I think I'm doing that!

Progress pics:

I don't see too much progress yet, except maybe a little in the side view picture. 

I'm glad I took measurements. Otherwise I would have been really discouraged!

Cravings

I have been having a hard time the last two nights with cravings.  I do well until dinner time, and then I want something that I want to eat.  And I don't want more veggies, more water, or gum.

I searched the internet for ideas.  TBH- it just didn't help.  

Maybe I'm tired.
Maybe I'm dehydrated.
Maybe I need more protein, but I doubt it.

I don't have any will power.

You are my refuge and my shield;

I have put my hope in your word.

Psalm 119:114

Maybe I just need to chill for a second, take a breath and be still.  Listen.  Pray.  Relax in God's love.

I'll let you know how it goes.  Tomorrow is Weigh-In Wednesday.  Oh my...

What I'm Eating

I started week 2!  I'm actually quite proud of myself. I have been consistent and not even suffering for it!  Whenever I've done a "diet" in the past, I always felt like I was Suffering with a capital S. This has been much easier and I actually feel better than before. Go figure!

I think that's because of the combination of clean eating, strength training (no cardio yet) and taking my vitamins (need that B12). It seems to be working for me. 

Another BIG part of my success so far -if you can call 8 days success- is meal prep once a week. Yesterday I made all my breakfasts, snacks, and lunches for the week. 

Breakfast is 2 egg white muffins with spinach and chickpeas.  I got the recipe from the blog, Made with Love.  She also does them with tomatoes, but I haven't tried that yet.  I mixed 1 1/2 cups of liquid egg whites, a handful of chopped spinach and 1/2 can of chick peas and poured that mixture into a muffin pan.  Sprinkle with Mrs. Dash and then bake for 20 minutes on 350.

Morning snack is 2 homemade chocolate protein bars.  This recipe is from Jaime Eason's LiveFit Trainer website.  They're pretty good.  I'd like to try the peanut butter protein bar recipe next week.  I LOVE peanut butter.

Lunch is chicken breast, sweet potato and broccoli.  This was probably the easiest to make because I found the steamable bag of sweet potatoes in the produce section at the grocery store.  8 minutes in the microwave!  The broccoli was in a steamable bag and the chicken breast was baked in the oven for 30 minutes with a half a bottle of italian dressing.  Then I just divided it up into four individual ziploc containers and popped it in the fridge.

Afternoon snack is turkey meatballs. They are really yummy!  This recipe is also from Jaime Eason's LiveFit Trainer website.  They look a little nasty, but they are just the thing in the afternoon when I am craving something sweet.  These fill me up and I can make it until dinner.

Dinner is a little different and I hope that I can remain on track.  It's hard to eat this way when the rest of the family is eating their regular food.  My plan is to make what I can eat for the main dish, and then add in something for them.  So tonight we are having chili that I put in the crock pot this morning, and then I also made corn bread so that I won't have a mutiny on my hands.

The workout today was for Chest and Triceps.  My arms are really sore.  I hung up one of our winter coats and it felt like there were bricks in the pockets.  Oy!

THE WORKOUT

Chest/Triceps

•  Wide Push-up
  3 sets of 12 reps
  1 min rest
  Standard or on knees
•  Dumbbell Bench Press
  3 sets of 12 reps
  1 min rest
•  Flat Bench Cable Fly
  3 sets of 12 reps
  1 min rest
•  Narrow Push-up
  3 sets of 12 reps
  1 min rest
  Standard or on knees
•  Standing Dumbbell Triceps Extension
  3 sets of 12 reps
  1 min rest
•  Triceps Push-down
  3 sets of 12 reps
  1 min rest

2 days until I weigh in!  I'm hoping for 2 pounds.  Fingers crossed...

Five for Friday

   

Flex Friday!

I have a teeny tiny bicep bump!  Hopefully the fat will fade and the muscle will grow. 

I'm also thankful for finding Jaime Eason's LiveFitTrainer. It was leg day and I tried out some new machines at the gym. 

This thing looked very intimidating, but the training program had a video to watch to learn how to use it for squats. 

THE WORKOUT

Legs/Calves

•  Leg Press
  3 sets of 12 reps 
  1 min rest
•  Leg Extension
  3 sets of 12 reps
  1 min rest
•  Wide-Stance Barbell Squat
  3 sets of 12 reps
  1 min rest
•  Seated Leg Curl
  3 sets of 12 reps
  1 min rest
•  Standing Calf Raise
  3 sets of 12 reps
  1 min rest
•  Seated Calf Raise
  3 sets of 12 reps
  1 min rest

If you don't know how to do an exercise, then just click on the blue words and a pop-up window opens with a quick video.  It felt kinda cool to be using the "big boy machines."  

I started reading The Best Yes by Lysa TerKeurst. It's so great. The description says "Are you living with the stress of an overwhelmed schedule and aching with the sadness of an underwhelmed soul?"

Um, yes!  I'm looking forward to learning some strategies for setting priorities and my schedule.  I want to spend my time on things that are important to me, and honestly, Trivia Crack just isn't that important!

 We got 5-6 inches of snow on Monday and we ended up getting the whole week off!  Gotta love living in the south!

One thing that I want to make time for in my schedule is daily bible study. I was reading Psalm 23 and remembered how beautiful it is. 

You anoint my head with oil;

My cup overflows. 

Surely your goodness and love will follow me

All the days of my life,

And I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. 

Psalm 23: 5-6

There are only 28 days until Spring begins!!