Live Fit Challenge!

I have been sick!  I got a vicious stomach bug at the end of January and then a miserable cold a week ago. Thankfully that's all done and now I'm back on track with my nutrition and exercise.

  I'm super excited to be doing Jaime Eason's Live Fit challenge. 

It is great for me. You get to eat every 2-3 hours and the exercise starts off easy. (Except for the push ups.)

The other cool thing is that it is free!  She gives you the workouts, the food and suggests some supplements, but not in a pushy way. 

This is the day 1 workout. Each day is different. 

The food prep day has been a real life saver for me. I've read about people who prep on Sunday, but I had never done it before. I believe that the food prep day will be the difference between success and quitting for me. It's so hard for me to stick to a plan if I'm at work and too tired to put effort into cooking. 

Jaime is awesome. So kind and inspiring. She is almost 40, has a child and has great arms and shoulders!  I just watched her on the TV show "mission makeover". She's the new co- host. The show is on lifetime but I watched the full episode online. No commercials!

I'm using her recipe for:

egg white muffins for breakfast, 

Chocolate protein bars for a snack, and

Turkey meatballs for afternoon snack.

Lunch is chicken breast, sweet potato and veggie. 

Dinner is fish, salad and veggie. 

I haven't tried a dessert yet, but may do that tonight.

And for the big reveal!  Here are my starting pictures!

Eek!  Goodbye muffin top. 

I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. 

Philippians 4:13

1st weigh in

I lost 3 pounds!  Which is kinda nuts because I did very little cardio, mostly I did lifting!  I'm enjoying this program. I was getting bored with so much cardio. It's great to do something new!

Burning the Ship

 The saying burn the ship struck a  cord with me today. it means to make a way so that you can't go back the way you came.   Or for me, to make a change and not go back to the way I was. 

I joined Lee Labrada's Lean Body Challenge. It's free and they give you a strength training program to follow.  There are prizes that you can win, but I'm not worried about that. I just want to feel better and get rid of these terrible mood swings. 

Here are the essay questions that I'm supposed to answer. 

What are your fitness goals at the beginning of the lean body challenge?

My goals are to fit in my jeans better, increase my muscle strength and lose 10 pounds. 

What made you decide to participate in the lean body challenge?

I needed to make a change and this seems like a good way to do it with the training guide and the motivational emails. I can't go back to the way I was yesterday. 

How do you feel the challenge will help you grow?

I'm hoping that it will help me increase my self-confidence and ease my depression. 

What do you want to accomplish by participating in the lean body challenge?

I want to finish without quitting. I NEED to finish. For me and for my family. 

How will you measure your success throughout the lean body challenge?

-weighing myself on a scale

-pant size

-waist measurement

Hot Minute!

Phew!  It's been a hot minute since I last wrote a post!  But since my only follower is my sweet sister-in-law, I guess that's no big deal!  LOL

To make a long story short--I read a great book, Potatoes, Not Prozac and another by the same author, The Sugar Addict's Total Recovery Program.

These books have changed the way I have thought about food and dieting.  My new plan for this blog is to write once a week about how I am doing as I move through the steps.

There are seven steps, and I am somewhere in the middle.  I am currently working on changing my "whites to browns."  That is what she calls changing your foods that are made with white flour to foods that are made with whole grains-complex carbs.

I have a feeling that this will be tricky at dinner time and afterwards.  Wish me luck!

Day 30

YEA!! I lost two pounds!! Woo Hoo! Finally! I've really had to push myself to eat lots of veggies every day and exercise for 60 minutes. Sometimes it's 9:00pm before I'm done, and then there's laundry and kids and dishes and all of that work moms do. SO, I'm very excited that all the hard work has started to pay off. I was getting worried that I'd never lose weight. The thing that finally got me over the hump was starting the South Beach diet. It goes really well with the Resolutionary Challenge because of the 7 servings of veggies that we need to eat. I know I'm working hard though because I slept for 12 hours last night. When was the last time I've done that?! Now I just need to keep motivated and not slip back into my old ways.

Day 24

Whew! This is sooo hard when added to a full time job! I really have a hard time trying to fit all of this in with work and the kids too. I need to leave work earlier and stop staying so late so that I can do all this exercising!! So, with that in mind I went to school yesterday morning while the teenagers were asleep. Trying to get caught up on my work so that i can get home and work out. I hope it will be worth it!

Day 16- Thankful

Since I already have my resolutions all lined up for the coming year, I decided to think about the past year and make a list of things that I am thankful for- good and not so good. Even the things that I think are difficult often end up turning into the best opportunity for change and improvement.

1. New skylights! Thanks to Mr. Ricotta for putting in my new skylights! I can now scratch that worry off the list!
2. My beautiful children- it's been a year with a lot of changes at our house, and my children have been amazing.
3. The basement flood- a massive pain in the neck, but maybe it was the universe's way of cleansing the basement of, well, that's sort of another story, but let's just say that it needed cleaning out!
4. My family- they have supported me this year through all the challenges and let me know that they love me no matter what.
5. A clean and fixed chimney! I'm looking forward to a cozy fire this winter without worry of causing a chimney fire! (again with the worry-are we seeing a pattern here?)
6. My friends- I discovered that real friends also love each other through thick and thin.
7. My coworkers- I work with the best women ever. They are smart, kind and hard-working. A lot of people are negative about schools and teachers, but if they knew these ladies, they would change their tune and thank their lucky stars that their child is in their class.
8. The library! At the li-brary, l l l librarrrreee. Remember that song from Sesame Street? I COMPLETELY love the library. I'm there all the time picking up books and CDs.
9. My health and my children's health- we're blessed to be healthy and able to do all the things we want to do.
10. My Mudgie! I love my doggie so much, he's sweet and soft and squishy. All he has to do is look at me with tose big brown eyes and I'm mush.

happy new year!!