purple shorts

These are those purple "athletic looking" shorts I was talking about. THEY of course were on clearance, unlike those UA ones! Just a visual to go with my previous description/blog.

commando?

Ok, I am really excited , I just bought this new pair of under armour shorts and they are soooo comfortable! the white side panel is super stretchy so when u squat or lunge they stretch and don't get constricted or uncomfortable. Awesome!!!! The only drawback... they were $35 ! ouch! I think that's a lot of money for shorts, especially since I am a super-duper bargain shopper. But I tried these on, on a whim with a handful of other items (mostly on sale), and these were so awesome I decided it was worth it to buy them. I love em, and can't wait to wear them to my next gym class to "test" them out. If you ever hear of under armour going on sale let me know so I can get more :) (I never see that brand on sale anywhere!)

Now here's a question... they have the attached inner panty (which some of my other shorts do too) but I always wear underwear with them still. Are you not supposed to? Are you supposed to go "commando" as they say on "Friends" since they have the attached panty? All the info on the tags (breathable fabric etc) makes me think that maybe these ARE supposed to be your panties and then maybe all the sweat will wick away instead of cotton underwear staying all wet and sweaty (Yes, I sweat alot, and it drips down my back onto my shorts and eventually onto my underwear, gross I know, but its life). So what's the deal, tell me your thoughts, should you go commando in this type of pants or not????

new goal

Ok, here's the deal. I'm too tired and something's gotta give. So, possibly its the Zyrtec I'm taking for these crappy allergies. I'll try to stop taking it and see if that changes anything.
The other thing I am going to do is change my daily calorie-burn goal from 1000-1500 to only 700 per day. Maybe if I ease up a bit on the workouts my body will recover. Also, I am not going to log every item I put in my mouth. It opened my eyes, and made me aware of caloric intake, but I don't want to focus on that too much. I just want to eat sensibly, with smaller portions, and enjoy life. Dan and I LOVE eating at nice restaurants, and if I can't enjoy the food, then whats the point in going. We'll see what the scale does after all this because right now it went back up to 145 so I am mad anyway. It'd be nice if I really am "over working", wouldn't it be nice to lose weight be doing less? HA! we'll see what happens.

I've got some pix for you of a cute foal in our neighborhood, so at the end of the month I'll upload those and give you the whole story on that episode as well (lesson: don't stand behind a foal OR NEXT to it, if you don't want to get kicked!) ouch!

Dan is heading to the races tonight, so the girls and I will enjoy an evening bikeride/walk or something, as well as some Survivor and popcorn(maybe).

p.s. I bought a new rubber mat to put under the AMT and it smells so bad like tires, that I think I'm breathing toxic fumes. Now I want to see if I can return it to the store, but I don't know if they'll let me. Makes me think I've got a Goodyear Tire store inside my house-ugh.

exhausted

I haven't wrote in a while because I don't just want to give you a diary of what I eat or what exercise I do. There just wasn't anything that exciting going on to blog about. However, yesterday I did plant my cannas bulbs in the flower garden and did wash the car (beautiful day). W was a lot of help while washing the car :) The cannas are supposed to bloom from June to November, so I am looking forward to getting more color in the flower bed as the tulips have almost all faded away. We also took a walk to the school to see T while she was on recess. We took our beagle Lucy with us, the kids loved saying hi to her. When we got back I was real tired so when I put W down for her nap I laid down on my bed for a few minutes because I just didn't have the energy to go do treadmill. Wound up falling asleep for 1 1/2 hrs! That is unheard of for me, first of all to take a nap, and secondly to miss my workout for no good reason (except exhaustion).
Woke up the morning with no treadmill workout either. Going to try to go to the gym and make it through the classes. Hopefully, will have enough stamina to carry me through.
I braided the girls hair last night after their baths and now they are little frizz-heads, too funny.
Told my husband I should just pack away my "skinny" clothes and chill out. He said I wouldn't be happy. Is that really that I won't be happy or that HE won't be happy? HMMMMM? Although he's probably right , I just want to chill a bit. We'll see what happens. Talk to ya later!

5K and 141

We had beautiful weather today for our 5k run. The rain held off and it was a nice relatively flat course (my favorite ha ha). Had lots of fun running with Jen, and even more fun sprinting to the finish line and hearing my name called as the crowd cheers (am I egotistical to admit that I like that? I don't think so.) That's the reward at the end for all the effort you put into it. I don't know my exact time because I forgot to look at the clock (I NEVER forget to look, I don't know what happened)and I didn't turn off my Garmin timer till after I'd walked over and got my coat&water&walked back to the finish line to cheer on my friends, so I don't have an accurate time there either. I'll look online tomorrow and see if its up yet. May sound silly, but I keep a scrapbook of all my races, so I put all that stuff in there. Bummer though, no medal. (and they were pretty too). Next year I'll have to try really hard in that race, because they even have trophies for first 10 female finishers. A trophy would be cool :) (and there aren't that many participants, so my odds of getting one just went up :) ha ha).
Good news... the scale says 141 today. Only 6 more pounds to go till my goal-yah! I tried on my "goal shorts" last night because I was feeling especially thin yesterday (I had worn my new purple gym shorts in class, and those shorts are inspiring me-maybe I'll post a picture. They are a different style than I normally wear, so I was a bit uncomfortable the first time I wore them (cotton, so a bit clingy). But now I am starting to think they look "athletic" on me, so I like them). Anyway, back to my story. I tried on my "goal shorts" which are a pair of brown bermuda shorts, that fit me slighty baggy at 135. Which is the way I like them to fit. My husband says, the clothes actually look better tighter and that's the way everyone wears them so its more stylish. But I like baggier clothes because they make me FEEL thinner. If something is tight, then I FEEL like I'm bursting out of it like a sausage roll, and that's just NOT attractive to me. Anyway, 4 pounds ago, these shorts were sausage roll status and I was so mad. Today, they fit and are wearable in public (although I still want them a bit looser so they don't hug my butt so much, but that's where the other 6 pounds will come in handy). I am happy to get back into them. With that pair under my belt, I went through my closet and started trying on capris. Got several pair now to choose from to wear comfortably (but still have to get to 135 to get all my "favorites" back on). Slowly, but surely, I AM finally seeing progress though, so I have faith I will be there soon. Hopefully before school lets out and warm weather rolls in for good. Its just so annoying that 4,6,10 pounds can make such a difference in clothes and sizes. That's almost 3 whole size differences in my closet, no wonder I need a bigger closet, I'm housing clothes for 3 body types instead of just one! Tomorrow is Sunday, so no workout, although I am planning on wearing my HRM all day just to see what calories I burn doing nothing. The internet said it would be 1400 for my body/age/etc, so we'll see what the monitor says. These gadgets are so fun!

1pound

Yah!!! I got my pound this morning on the scale. Maybe that thing is listening to me sometimes-ha . 7more to go!

burning calories, but no results yet

I get on the scale every day. A little OCD? Maybe, but I don't care. It is STILL 143, and after burning 1539 calories today (300 step class+400 interval class+109 jog w/dog and bike+360 AMT + 370 3-mile run on treadmill) I would expect a little "love" in the scale department, ya know? Doesn't it understand I just went through H and back, for it to move 1/8 of an inch? But it won't budge. Just one more pound, then in a few days, another pound, etc etc etc, then I'll be on the home stretch to my 135 pound goal (and my clothes will fit). But nooooo, it stays still. I even ate really well yesterday, not just good food (which I'm starting to crave instead of junk food-this means I'm rounding a corner-woohoo!), but I ate every few hours yesterday (and was hungry) so I know my metabolism was getting better. But still... no love from the scale. Maybe tomorrow??
Anyway, did my AMT and treadmill AFTER class today while W was napping instead of this morning before the girls woke up because I was just too tired last night to set the alarm and get up this AM. I think I actually fell asleep for a few minutes on the couch in the back office at church last night, while I was waiting for church to start (I had gotten there pretty early and as soon as I got there I suddenly realized I hadn't sat down all day, so when I did sit down to wait for it to start, I suddenly got extremely tired. I went in the back and laid down to rest for a few minutes-needed my energy since I was going to be teaching the 3yr olds-and whoop, I dozed off!) Guess, my body needed it. So that's why I didn't work out before the gym today, sometimes, U really got to listen to your body and take a break when it tell u too. Tomorrow my friend Ashley is joining me at the gym for 2 classes so I am really excited. Saturday, Jen and I are going to do her first 5K- woohoo! She's all worried about me leaving her in the dust, and the truth is, she's so competitive, she'll probably leave me! I know she'll do great and it will be a lot of fun to do it together. I have to admit, I work out better when she's around. I know she's pushing every inch of the way, so even though I'm exhausted and want to pass out in some classes, I keep going. (Our teacher says not to compete-but you know we ALL do!) Its life and if competition makes you push it to the next level and better yourself, then I think its a good thing. I know for me, when I try to do stuff at home, I'll get tired after maybe 10 reps, and I will push it to 20, but then I'll stop. Whereas, when I'm at the gym, and there is someone telling me to keep going, then I push and push and push and wind up doing 50 or 100 or whatever it is we do. I don't even know because I'm trying so hard to "remove myself from the pain" that I never count from start to end to even know what we really do. There used to be this instructor at the gym about 7 years ago who taught an abs class. He was ex-military. Most people didn't like him because he was pretty abrupt and hard-core. But I LOVED him. That's the kind of motivation that keeps me going. Sick, probably. But yell at me and I'll yell back, all the while finishing the set! ha ha!
It is a beautiful day here so the girls and I are heading outside to play. see ya!

Its a good day and I have good news!

First off, the good news that I alluded to several days ago is that my husband got me the "gem"! Its the Precor 100i AMT and they delivered it today! And no walls were damaged in the process! Double yeah! The extra good news is that he got a really good deal on a remanufactured one through our neighbor who owns a gym, so we didn't pay even close to full price! Triple Yeah! The funny thing is that this thing weighs 450 (per the specs), but of course the guys installing it are trying to tell me it weighs 600 pounds (its like the fish story, it always gets bigger or heavier doesn't it? ha ha) Well anyway, there are only three of them, and none of them are that strong looking (just pretty normal), and they know they had to take it upstairs so why they didn't send more guys-I don't know. But anyway, I volunteer to help, and wind up sweating like a dog in the process. We had to do it one step at a time and it WAS heavy! Wooh! Almost makes up for the calories I missed burning in bootcamp class since I had to leave early and run home from the gym to meet these guys. :) Speaking of calories, I did 283 for 2miles on the treadmill before the gym. Then I kept my HRM on from the gym at 9am till I took a shower at about 2pm and burned 1644 (that included 100 jog with the dog while my youngest daughter rode her bike next to me for a mile, 400 pump/ball class with Shelley, and 500 AMT for 43minutes after it was installed, plus the installation itself and just moving around normally because I was still wearing it and didn't turn it off). Pretty cool. Here is a picture of it, fully installed in my workout room.

Now that's awesome news, and I love my husband for getting it for me, and not much news can top that... except... the scale says I've lost 2 pounds! Quadruple Yeah! :) Is this a good day or what?! :)

Here is a pix of me on the new "gem".

Now here is some interesting news from Easter. Remember I said I was in charge of bringing dessert to my inlaws for Easter Sunday? I decided to be "smart" on my behalf and not bring desserts that I love. So I brought Jello shaped into a cross (see pix), rice crispie treats also shaped into a cross, and chocolate pudding covered in whipped cream and chocolate&butterscotch chips. It looked pretty, but I don't like pudding or jello, so I thought this was a great idea. However, it turns out, most people don't like pudding or jello either, so my desserts were a flop! Not much was eaten (thanks Ashley for not making me feel TOO bad and at least trying it:) ) so I wound up bringing all that food home (except the rice crispy treats which u can always count on to be devoured ha ha). UGH! So now I'm freezing them to see how they turn out frozen. Maybe I'll like them better frozen. I just can't bear to throw perfectly good food away (my mom always taught me about those "less fortunate" when I was a kid), so I'm too frugal and thankful to toss it. So my "smart" plan didn't turn out so smart after all.

I am off to gymnastics class with my oldest daughter, and instead of our usual Tuesday night takeout, I made some crockpot chicken/rice/carrots, so hopefully that will be healthier than the take out fare :) See Ya!

Reeses after Running?

Have you ever heard of it? When Krista and I finished the city run this past fall, we were appalled that they were trying to feed us candy bars! We were like no way, aren't there any oranges or bananas anywhere?! Well , she asked around or did some research and found out that eating something like that after a long run quickly replenishes the water or something in your body (I forget exactly what she said-I even had to ask her twice, and I've forgotten again), but the gist of it was, that after a long run was about the only time it was good for your body to eat a candy bar. So today, after my 10 mile run (I planned on 13, but my hamstring was starting to hurt so I decided to stop at 10 instead of cause an injury that could keep me out of my favorite workouts-classes with Shelley:) ) I ate a Reeses peanut butter egg. I have to admit it was good. And I figured I'd eat some tomorrow anyway, so this is just one I would have ate anyway I just ate it early, and hopefully it helped the muscles in my legs recouperate. Nice thought, hope its true :) I ran off 1287 calories and the egg was only 180, so not too bad. It tasted good too :)

Today we had practice at the church for a short drama we are doing tomorrow on Resurrection Sunday service. It went well so hopefully tomorrow will go well too. The girls and I are going to have a "girls night in" as Dan is back at the track for the drag races. Hopefully, it will go better than last night. Please pray with me that he is always safe while he does this. Honestly, I really don't like it (especially after last night's close call), but he assures me its safer than rock climbing (which we used to do BC (before kids) in the jeep) and he has built a really strong cage/wears a helmet/etc. But he doesn't wear the boots or fireproof suit they recommend (says its not comfortable) and I don't like that either. So please keep him in your prayers that he is always protected by God and comes home safely. Thanks!
Tonight the girls and I are supposed to ride bikes and watch survivor on DVR together. fun fun fun :)

one pound-I think?

Well I think the scale might be saying that I've finally lost ONE pound. My scale has the needle that swings back and forth so unless its over 2 pounds its kinda hard to see any change. Anyway, I'm thinking is it just the needle or have I FINALLY started to break this plateau that I've been on for MONTHS? I hope its breaking. So I pulled out my food log and tallied everything up for the last 2.5 weeks. Taking into consideration my caloric intake(+), my exercise burns(-), and my # of calories supposedly needed just to sit on the couch and breath (-1400 per day per the internet), I have a negative of 5830 calories. Which, I believe one pound is like 3600 calories. So maybe, my one pound loss is true. But u should be able to lose 2 pounds safely in a week and its taking me 2.5 weeks to lose ONE pound. That just doesn't seem fair or right does it?! (And I'm not even really sure if I've lost a pound or not-darn needle). Anyway I'm beginning to feel like I'm on the right track-maybe my legs are getting thinner. But its my butt that's got to start shrinking in order to fit into my summer clothes! AND I'm daydreaming about the Easter candy I bought and I want to eat it----dumb dumb dumb to buy what I like, why did I succumb to the weakness yesterday???! However, I do have good news. I am supposed to bring a dessert to my in-laws on Sunday and I was going to make a cute shaped cake. But I'll eat it. So instead I am going to make pudding and jello desserts that I won't eat. I don't like jello and pudding. Getting smarter every day aren't I? :)
Went to T's school today and helped the kids color eggs. Went to W's gymnastics class-she is actually getting pretty good-very cute! (3.5 yrs old).
I am planning on doing 13 miles tomorrow to prepare for the run in May, so today I only walked on the treadmill this morning while the girls went to breakfast with daddy. Got 398 calories there, then got another 750 at the gym between 2 classes and 16min on the gem. Had a sub AGAIN, in both classes. Surprisingly, it went very well. I actually liked it and it was a decent workout. I think this teacher is happier now than she has been in the past about certain classes, so she does the class with a better attitude now and that helps everything. Anyway-so that was good.
Did you know that trail mix is 170 cal for 3 tablespoons! I was freaking out because when I eat it, I eat it by the handful and I'm thinking HOW MANY tablespoons must be in a handful!!?? Well, I measured it. Its only 2. So that was good news because I thought it'd be like 5 or 6, and at 170 a pop, that just blows your whole day doesn't it?
I'm off tonight to the race track to watch my hubby in the drag races for the first time, I'll fill u in on how it goes later.

Wed and Thurs

Today is Thursday. Had a good day so far, but T is about home from school so will have to make this quick. First the good news... my polar F6 arrived yesterday-yea! So this morning I was fiddling with it while I was on the treadmill to get all the settings right and see how it works. Even while doing that I was able to burn 307 calories in 40min. Good start to the day. Had my peanut butter toast that Shelley recommends ( I only do this on the days I take her classes, because she works me so hard and I want to have that protein and carb combo that she tells us is good for us). I bought that Sara Lee (45cal/slice)bread Jen recommended, but I threw it in the freezer because while I was at walmart I saw this really grainy wholesome looking bread in the deli and decided to buy that for my toast too. I used that this morning and it was really tasty-little kernels of whole grains in it :) Of course I can't live on bread alone, so I also had a really small bowl of my favorite organic granola cereal with strawberries. Went to the gym and decided to test my new HRM on the inline step class. Even though I sweat a ton in that class I never FEEL like I'm getting an awesome workout. So I measured it. It was 350 calories in 45min. Then, Shelley was sick so she didn't have class and we had a sub. When I found out I almost went upstairs to work on the "gem" but decided to do the class and see what the HRM said. Instead of a Interval Pump, it was just Pump so it was lower intensity than a regular Thurs but it was still a decent class. I burned about 280 cal in that 45min class. Afterwards got in less than 10 min on the gem and rounded out my gym total at 750. So with the morning treadmill and the gym I got 1057 burned cal for the day. Doing good so far especially since I am finally cooking dinner tonight and chicken with broccoli will be healthy. In the last 9 days I think we've eaten out or had take out 6 times! Tastes great and I love not cooking, BUT there aren't a lot of healthy choices on the menus in our town so I know they were high high high calorie meals-ugh! Anyway, that is not typically normal but we had some company and then some late appts that interfered with dinner so we ate out in order to eat at a reasonable time.
Hey guess what-skinny cows are STILL on sale for $2.50 at target. I was there today and had to stock up again (like 12 boxes I think!) because my husband and kids keep eating MY skinny cows! I seriously have only had like maybe 6 since I bought them when the store opened, and I think that was at least a month ago-maybe more? So I am definately rationing them for myself, but no one else is, they just keep plowing through them. I told my husband that my teacher cuts them in half and I thought that was a good idea, and he's like "yeah, but I eat 2 at a time so I don't want to cut it in half" :) ha ha They still are having some really good "new store" specials even trail mix(I know-HIGH calories-but very yummy) is 50% if u buy the big tub-which of course I did :) I did really good with the kids easter baskets this year-really not that much candy and virtually none of MY favorites (so I won't steal them), but today at Target we wandered over to that aisle and I caved and picked up a few packages of reeses eggs, almond joy eggs, and kit kats(for Dan). Sucker! So I'm sure I'll eat a few since the first two ARE my favorites! I met up with a friend of mine for lunch today who I used to work with and she filled me in on all the changes and demotions/firings that have gone on at my old company and I am shocked. That is so sad for a lot of these people and just so weird. REALLY glad I'm not still there now!
Yesterday I clocked in 618calories on a 3.5 mile treadmill run. Happy, but for me its a low workout day since I don't go to the gym on Wednesdays. If I don't burn 1000 calories I feel like I took it too easy. Is that wrong? I don't know.
Anyway, had to take my oldest daughter to the dentist for a last minute appt to check out an abcess she had on her gums that's been there for a week. I truly didn't think it was anything and expected it to go away if we would just quit popping it. But I was wrong. $360 wrong! Turns out she had had a cavity in that tooth and when the dentist filled it, even though it was deep he decided not to do a root canal but instead shot something into the root(don't understand). Anyway, the route he chose failed, and she does indeed have an infection in the bone and the only way to cure it is to pull the tooth. Unfortunately her big tooth isn't going to come in for about 2 years so he has to put a spacer in the hole and she'll have this gap for 2 years. UGH! We have spent SO much money on her teeth (we don't have dental coverage) and its INSANE! Anyway, this was one of those unplanned dinner changes. We were in town and it would have been silly to drive all the way home, eat , then drive all the way back to town (30min each way) for Wednesday night church. So we stayed in at ate at our fave mexican restaurant. I ate a fantastic grilled fish (healthy), I also licked the plate clean of my rice-theirs is soooo good, but have to admit, probably ate 1/3 basket of chips with salsa---oh well (guess I don't need to wonder why my scale doesn't change!)
Anyway, that's my update, I've got some good news to tell you and when I get a chance I will, but hubby's on the way home and "starving" he says, so I'm heading to the kitchen to get that healthy chix cooking :)

Tuesday

Well, its Tuesday. I'm here writing this as my youngest daughter is teasing our beagle with her peanut butter sandwich "look mom, when I lift my hand in the air(with sandwich in hand), Lucy looks up!" yes, she does, she'll follow that sandwich anywhere hoping to nab it :)

Started the day out right. Got on the treadmill shortly after 6am and did over 3miles. I did a slower pace (about 5-5.5 mph)for most of it because I knew we had Shelley's new class today and I didn't know what to expect, so I wanted to conserve some energy for it. Ate 2 eggs, 1 hashbrown, and OJ for breakfast. Which isn't bad (few hundred cal), but worth it I think because I wanted the protien of the eggs for the class. After class was able to get on the regular elliptical with "Marathon Mandy" for just about 20 minutes, so burned another 200 calories. Overrall, I think I burned about 1000 (but that's just guessing on the classes since my Polar HRM hasn't arrived yet!) I am so bummed, supposedly it was shipped Fri, so I was really expecting it in the mail today, but its not here yet. Class was good, we did lots of old-fashioned crunches today (which we don't typically do in any of the classes I take) and I really liked it. I like crunches, I feel them, so I know they are working. Alot of our stuff is core-oriented, so u are almost always working your abs, but crunches just really put all the focus on it so I like it lots :)
The new class was good too. We didn't know what to expect and I don't think Shelley knew what to expect either, but it was good. The only thing is that we had done a ton of squat exercises in the first class so by the time we got to bootcamp, my thighs were aching. We'll see how these classes pan out, because I may have to hold off on my morning run on tuesdays to make sure I'm ready for the classes--maybe I could do the run when I get home? we'll see.
Anyway, did good for lunch, just a few hundred cal again with cereal and strawberries. Although I actually measured my cereal today and I realized that if the box says 120 cal serving, I need to just double it, because I'm eating 1.5 cups instead of just 3/4 of a cup in my bowl. I'm willing to double it though because I think that is the right size for an adult. Just like instant oatmeal, I'm sorry, but one bag is what I give my 3 yr old(and she even asks for seconds sometimes),when I eat instant oatmeal I have to use 2 baggies. Wow oatmeal has a lot of cal, at least the instant kind does (I'll have to compare it to the homemade kind and see if its a difference). But again, I think its worth it, because oatmeal is so good for you. Yes, we need to watch caloric intake, but we can't just eat air-food and ignore food that has fuel for us. We just need to avoid high sugar/bad fat/carb food. But we still do need some sugar,good fat, and some carbs. I don't even know why I'm acting like I know what I'm talking about----I'm the one who is still trying to lose 10 pounds and the scale isn't moving! ugh!
Speaking of food, as I mentioned we are getting pizza/cheesesticks/calzones tonight for dinner. I think I can refrain from the cheese sticks. But I know I will be eating the others. I just looked up on calorieking.com (great website by the way) how much a pepperoni pizza slice is , on average its about 380 calories! So the question becomes, do I just eat 2 pieces. Or do I eat more and try to work it off my doing extra workouts????? I guess we'll find out what happens tonight.
Tonight is Biggest Loser--we love that show. We usually DVR it so we don't always watch it on Tuesday.

P.S. Yes, I know I could make that pizza healthier by avoiding pepperoni and using veggies instead. BUT... we ordered a pepperoni one last week (we had company staying with us),and our local pizzaria (spelled right? looks weird) has really good pepperoni pizza. Its the first time we'd gotten regular pepperoni, and its just the way I like it where the pepperoni get curly and crispy on top--YUM! Probably won't stop at two slices tonight, can u tell? ;( oh well, still gotta live. My husband happens to be a gym rat too, and he always says the reason he works out so hard is so he can eat what he wants. Its a theory, but I think it works better on the male body than on the female body . bummer.

T's almost home from school, then we are heading to the library and gymnastics...see ya!

Monday

Whew! Finally! I got back on here. I was having a meltdown. I couldn't remember my password or sign on and and to jump thru hoops to get it all straight. But I'm back! ha ha.
Got 4 inches cut off my hair today, not sure yet if I like it. I'll have to wash and dry it to get the full effect, but right now it seems kind of choppy and doesn't look very "finished". Hopefully it'll be better tomorrow. Even in a ponytail when I was in class or running it would whip around and hit me in the face. When its covered in sweat its like a mini whip, so I didn't like that aspect and decided to shorten it. Although when I wasn't working out, I really did like it longer. so we'll see how it goes. It'll always grow back so either way its not the end of the world.

Got up this morning and did my morning treadmill. My goal right now is do run 2-3 miles everyday and then on Saturday to do a "long run" in order to be ready for the half marathon in May. So I got on it and planned on doing 3 today and I did. But as I reached the 3 mile mark, the CMA's came on my DVR player so I started watching them and figured I had a few more minutes available before I needed to hop in the shower and get the girls ready, so I just figured I'd keep running (but at a slower pace). So I did, for another mile. So I clocked in 4 today. Which is really nice (however on Mondays this is my ONLY workout for the whole day because on Mondays I head over to my husband's office to do the bookwork). I used to stay home all day on Mondays, which usually meant that in the afternoon when my youngest was napping and my oldest was at school and Dan was still at work, I'd get on the treadmill again and run for another hour or two. But now with this new change, I'm just getting a short workout on Mondays. So anyway this was it for today. Now my point about this 4 mile run, just emphasizes the same thing I said yesterday. During the first 3 miles (when I was feeling like I HAD to do it, because that was my goal, it was kinda of dreadful and I was just counting down the miles and minutes.) But AFTER I REACHED my goal, and no longer had this thing hanging over my head, then I felt free and just ran because I had energy and still wanted to run. Isn't that funny. I was about to die at 2.80 miles, but once I reached 3, I slowed it down to 5mph, caught my breath, then just kept running. Then because I FELT better, I sped up the pace again and if I hadn't needed to stop because of schedules, I could have just kept running. I'm telling ya, ALL my issues are in my head!!!! its all mental!!!!! Its like the goal gives me pressure so then I don't enjoy it, its like I'm being forced to do it so I don't like it. But when I don't have the pressure, then its fun and I just do it and surprise myself with the results. Crazy. Anyway, tomorrow is our first Bootcamp class with Shelley at the gym, it'll be after our core class. I am really looking forward to it. Should be a great day (except I already know I'm eating pizza for dinner tomorrow, because its my daughter's gymnastics night and we always p/u takeout since there isn't time to cook after practice) Hopefully I can refrain and not eat the whole thing. I just need to remember to fill up on ice water, and eat ssslllloooooowwwwwlllllllyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy, so I'll feel full faster. I keep forgetting these tricks even though I know they are wise, its a matter of changing my habits. I want to though. If you see me gobble through something-tell me to SLOW DOWN! :) see ya!

odds and ends

Today is Sunday, I actually missed a day and I was the one who said I definately WOULDN'T write here every day, but I virtually have. I guess you could say I've found it to be very fun. Alot more fun than facebook. I really do keep trying to get interested in that thing, but it just bores me and drives me nuts with information I don't need (probably what u think when u read this, ha ha). I need to figure out how to close my facebook account-anyone know how?

Anyway, Dan went to the test and tune. When he came home he said he had done really well( 9.9 seconds in the quarter mile on both passes), so he was happy and said he would enter the real race on Saturday. I asked how much it cost and he said "$300, but the winner gets $7000!" I said "Oh good, because you can use that to buy my AMT", he laughed that off and assured me he wouldn't be winning since it was his first race of the year.
He was right, he didn't win. But he had fun, so that's good. He ended up going back again on Sunday and he is pleased with the performance of the car, however, even he admits, its the "driver error" that needs work in order to improve and win more rounds. ;)

I went and did measurements yesterday on the AMT to see if it will fit-I hope it does.
I did my "long run" yesterday as I had planned and was able to get in 8 miles in 76 minutes, which burned 970 calories. Which is nice. But it made me realize I don't want to run forever. I've made some running goals that I want to attain (see below)



1. half marathon in May (my second)
2. annual city Run in the fall (my second)
3. Full Marathon in the fall (my first!)
4. then maybe run the annual city run every year-if I want to.

But when these races are over, I don't want to HAVE to run to prepare for a race. If and when I run, I want to be able to do it just because I want to, and am enjoying either the outdoors or the excercise, without feeling like I HAVE to do it. When I am running to prepare for a race I feel like I have to run the whole thing to make sure I have the stamina and endurance to do the race and therefore, can't take a break and walk a minute or two if I'm tired. That's why, after I reach these goals, I will be running just for fun. That also allows me to get more of my exercise from other avenues that I enjoy more, such as my classes or the AMT (hopefully). ;)
Because, even though I did DO the 8 miles I had planned, I have to tell you, it was HARD. I really wanted to slow it down to 5MPH or even walk a minute or two to catch my breath and come back strong. But when I'm in a race my goal is always to run the WHOLE thing without walking (except for water breaks), so if I'm practicing for a race, I have to run that way too, to make sure I can do it again on race day. Anyway, I told this to Ashley today and she says I said the same thing after my first 5K. I'm not sure if she's right or not ,but it does sound familiar so I might have said that. However, THIS time I MEAN it :)

Not too much going on today, its Sunday which is our relaxing day at our house. My oldest daughter T just came downstairs from her nap and informed us she had woke up and didn't want to go to sleep again. We said "ok, but u look tired. Why don't u sit on the couch with your book for awhile?" She did. That was 5 minutes ago and I just walked past her and she is sound asleep again :) too cute. Book still in her face and all.

We had fellowship dinner at our church today (we all bring pot luck), the girls and I had made these eggs out of jello. They were cute and a real hit with all the kids. I'll have to make them again. I'll post a picture sometime too. Anyway, time to go, hope u have a great day!

calorie count

I just added up my calories burned today and they were about 1500 (don't have a true measurement for the classes, but just guessing). I'm thinking, Man! with calorie burns like that, you'd think I'd be dropping pounds left(glute) and right (glute)---I hope these start adding up and I do! ugh!
Tomorrow is my "long run day" so I'm hoping to do 6-8 miles before heading to town, so that should be a good calorie burn too. Gotta keep it up!
p.s. still researching other ellipticals incase my "gem" doesn't fit thru the doorway/hall.
we'll see what happens.
p.s.s. I forgot to tell you, I ordered that Polar F6 HRM watch off the internet and it should be arriving soon. Can't wait! Didn't get as good of a deal as Jen (kept getting outbid on ebay), but I am saving $20 off the price of going to the sports store to get it. :)
p.s.s.s. Speaking of saving money, I also bought another pair of my Asics running shoes, but in a new color. They were $10 cheaper at this chain sports store, than the specialty running store that I bought my first pair at. woohoo! gotta love a discount! Plus , now that I know what my foot type is (over-pronated), now I know which shoe to look for, so if it goes on sale I can grab it up too.
p.s.s.s.s. My honey is still at the race track. Its getting late, so I hope he's having fun. Today was test-n-tune, and if all goes well , he said he was going to enter a race tomorrow. Won't know till he gets home how it went.

Good News

Today is Friday, and I have had a good work out week. I haven't eaten perfectly as the fried chicken and pizza will attest to, but prior to dinners I have eaten really healthy, or at least I think so. Today the girls went to town at 6am with their daddy for their usual Friday morning breakfast at a little (seats about 30) restaurant in our small town that has become a regular breakfast stop for us since we found them. This restaurant is known for its gigantic portions (and really tasty food) and they make everything from scratch including cinnamon rolls. However, they only bake them on certain days, Friday being one of them. However, because the girls are there so early every Fri , they often luck out and don't get any because they are still baking. Well, today, the owner or manager(I'm not sure exactly what he is) told them that if they come back later, he'll save one for them, and even give it to them for free since they come every Fri looking for these cinnamon rolls and often don't get them. So I caved (he did say free ya know) and I went and picked up the cinnamon roll this afternoon (T will be so happy when she comes home from school and sees it). This thing is so big it completely fills a fullsize styrofoam to-go box-and even gets squished on top when the lid closes. They guy wanted to give me two, and I'm like "no, no, they can share, one is certainly enough!" Well, that cinnamon roll was still pretty fresh and smelling so good in my car, I had to break into it and have a piece... Heaven. I won't go on and on, but lets just say it was so good I should have gotten the two the guy offerred me. ha ha. So for those of you who don't know me very well... THIS is why I have to work out so much-I really enjoy sweets. Anyway, did have a good workout today. Ran 3 miles while the girls were at breakfast (plus some interval treadmill and I don't remember the mileage right now), then headed to the gym and did Debbie's 2 classes, then got on my favorite machine (remember, the $8000 gem) and did another 30 minutes for another 3+ miles and 364 calories. I've realized IF the numbers on the machines are actually accurate I can burn more calories and get more distance on this gem than on a treadmill, and be LESS winded. Crazy! I do love this machine... which brings us to the REALLY good news... my husband is so incredibly sweet... he's given me the go-ahead on getting one. Can u believe it!? I am so excited! (He has gotten a really good deal worked out thru his gym friend). The only drawback that might put a nix in this plan is that we aren't sure yet if we can manuver this machine into the place we want to put it. It weighs 450 pounds (so not so easy to lift and twist around corners), and we have to take it up a staircase that switches back once and then into a hallway and into the room with only a 29.5" door. The machine is 28" wide, 74" long, and 69" tall. I have found out that a piece on the bottom can come off making it only 60" long ,so the stairs won't be a problem anymore. But I'm concerned about making the turn into my workout room. I'm also told that the top display can be removed making it shorter, but I think I'll go and measure how much shorter tomorrow. It's still going to be really tough to make that turn. I called the store where I looked at them to ask them questions about what pieces were removable and they even offerred to come out and look/measure to see if it would fit...till I told them where I lived (kinda of far away) and then they said wait and talk to the manager when he gets back(he was the guy I spoke to on Monday originally). However, I don't really want these guys to spend their time coming out, when I'm not buying from them. But they don't know that, so they think they are getting a sale, and I just don't feel that's right for me to do to them. However, I really do need to know if it will fit. So I 'm thinking of going to the store and measuring in person when I talk to them about what pieces come off. We'll see. I hope I can make it fit, but I know it will be a royal pain for those involved (namely my husband and whoever he can convince to come help) to get it into place. Not to mention its traveling through all of our new add-on area of the house, so its all freshly painted and new (ie I don't want scratches etc all over the walls or trim or doors). But incase it won't fit I'm going to research online my backup plan which was a true elliptical. Maybe its smaller and lighter, plus I know its cheaper :)
Its a beautiful day here today (almost 70), so when T comes home I promised W that we would go for a bike ride. My hubby is heading to the race track tonight so I won't need to make a full family dinner (just something quick and easy for me and the girls-yea). I don't think I've ever mentioned, but my husband has a huge love for cars. He not only drives a drag race car (tonight), but he also loves old classics that he buys and restores himself (primarily). In fact, that is the reason we built the add-on. He "needed" an additional 5 car garage to house all his vehicles (we are approaching Jay Leno style here I think), and so we built additional rooms above these new garages to expand the house at the same time. This is where my workout room is, over the new garages. So anyway, my husband loves cars because boys have their toys... and hopefully, I'll have my AMT :)