Restart

Here is to restarting and change.

The end of a year always does that.. so this time.. SMALL changes will hopefully bring me to the goal of shrinking the size of my Britches!!!

First Challenge to start on Monday (Notice not on the 1st????)

I will drink one glass of water before I have my morning coffee.. 8 oz at least and will consume at least 8 of these glasses or 64oz of water a day.

Anyone else start out with Coffee and Not drink enough water?

This first habit will be what I practice every day. I will add one new small change each week, until I get to where I want to be. Look for some great ways to jazz up water next week.. I will post some great ideas that won't detract from actually drinking water... for me.. I used to think Iced Tea counted... ummmm NO it does not... so... I will get on the research and post some fun things to do with water to make it possible to drink that much when I really don't want to drink 8 glasses a day.. ughhh.

Happy New Years!!!

Grunt work takes off pounds

I have been lacking in posting lately.. mostly because we have been working so hard around the barn to get the horse home.  I have fallen off of the food wagon several times and I really need to focus on the nutritional part again.. I am pretty lazy when it comes to planning healthy meals.. Nothing is a habit yet for me.. and that starts the cycle over again.. forget, make bad choices, feel bad, make another bad choice because I feel like it doesn't matter, get over it, eat well for a day, then forget, make bad choices.. etc....

On the exercise front.. same thing applies except that every weekend, I am more active than I have been in the past year..

My shoulders are still sore from pounding in T-Posts and from raking sand.

I have carried more lumber than I care to admit, and I have been walking from the house to the barn at least twenty times every Saturday and Sunday... that has to help.

This coming weekend is when the horse comes home.. and here are a few pictures of what I have been physically working on:

Waay Behind on Posting

Sorry about the delay.. I was tending to a broken armed kid.. and life just got in my way for a bit.

I have not worked out this week.. so I am going to get back into the swing!

I will try and post more about that later!

Happy Thursday!

Kristie

Slip ups and such

This week started out so great.. and then I over ate yesterday.. I was really kind of down about it.. but when I put in the calories and I was completely hones about my choices.. I found out.. that I really didn't do too badly.  I was over my calories by 300, but really.. before tracking and before caring.. I would have easily been over like 1000 calories.  I can eat like nobody's business.. especially at night.. so I had to examine what was happening when I over ate...

I was bored.. I ate dinner late.. and my dinner was really good.. Salmon, corn and potato.. with light sour cream... and then I had a ding dong.. ugghh.. and some microwave 100 calorie popcorn.. and an apple.. so I realized.. I sit on the couch and mindlessly eat while watching tv..

We watched American Idol.

I am not a huge fan of this show, by my youngest is.. and so I spent the evening with him, as he critiqued each one.. if anyone watched the second day of Atlanta last night.. all I can say is..

Pants on the Ground.... LMAO!  What a charmer that guy was.. and I think Simon is right.. it just might be a hit.

The plan today is to go to the class at the gym.. I think it is PIYO.. pilates and yoga fusion.. that should be interesting.. and I love love love what Pilates does for Riders.. Talk about core balance and independent seat.. Pilates will help you get it.

I will have to share soon about Beth Glosten.. that reminds me.. I need to email one of the gals and see if there is a clinic coming soon.. she clinics.. right down the street from me now.. WOW!

Zumba... Wow!

I think I am in exercise love.. Is there such a thing?

I love to dance, but I think I look like an idiot dancing.. because I am too fat to be graceful.

However... today I discovered that I still Love to dance.. and dancing is really, really good exercise.. especially when you do it non-stop for 45 minutes!

Zumba is kind of interesting.. it is a cardio class that masks itself with really good Latin, Hip Hop and R&B music that you can't help but feel some energy around.

It was harder than I thought it would be, but I managed to participate in 90% of the moves.. some of them I have to work up my stamina to complete the whole sequence.

The cool thing is that this class is offered every Tuesday on my lunch hour at the gym around the corner from work.  I have absolutely no excuse not to do it.

The class was full and fun and I was a bit intimidated when I first got there as the women participating were all thin and in much better shape than I was.. but I recieved no dirty looks, and no one seemed to be pointing or laughing at me, so I will go back.. every week.. it is the most fun I have EVER had in a cardio class..

One person summed it up perfectly for me in the class... She said..."Where else can you go and DANCE on your lunch hour and call it exercise?".. Perfect..

I am now two days this week for Breakfast, healthy lunch and Gym..Yesterday I did the Treadmill (I even Ran for about 3 minutes total...OMG) and upper body circuit machines for 20 minutes.. and today I did a Zumba Class..
I am feeling.. well pretty darn good.. and.. the crazy thing is.. I am even feeling a little motivated to continue....

Spark People

I want to just talk about this website for a few minutes. 

I love it.  I love it because it has a few key things for me that I like, and because it is FREE.  Most Weight loss sites have a cost associated with them.  This one does not.

What I like most about this site... it has a nutrition tracker and Exercise routines that show you how to complete the exercise.. and you can print them, save them, and view them all for free.

There are message boards, challenges, and teams you can join.. including horse related ones!

Check it out.. here is the link to Sparkpeople.com

Has anyone else used this site?  Are you on there daily?  I used to be, and have just gone back to it...

The food tracking feature is my favorite.  At the end of the day, it gives you a nutritional anaylisis of how you did that day based on what you are tracking.
The daily nutrition report is one of my favorite things I have found.  It can really help to keep you on track with food.. it tells you where you met your goals, where you exceeded in places and what you need to work on.. for me.. folate is something I lacked yesterday and I went way over in Sodium and Fat.. This helps you adjust in better time, then looking back over a week of choices..

Thoughts?  Anyone use something different?  Better?

Happy Tuesday.. Today I am trying Zumba.. and I have no idea what it is.. but it is included in my membership and I thought I would give it a try.  I will report back on it after I have gone to the class today.

Next Steps

I am pretty happy with myself at the moment.

I have my water here, I packed my clothes to go to the gym at lunch, I packed a healthy lunch for today and I ate breakfast.

I got some exercise over the weekend working on the barn, but yesterday I made some poooooor choices.. like snacking all day and lying around.

Today is a new day.. Monday and I am back on track.

I have a gym membership that I have not used in over 6 months.. any one else in that boat with me?

January is always crowded when most people.. including myself.. decide to get back at it.  This year, I turn 40.  I have been seeing quite a few blog posts out there about 40 things people are going to do because they are turning 40 this year.  I am still thinking about the 40 things I would want to accomplish this year and if I can get it together this week, I may post those here, since most of the 40 things have to do with shrinking the size of my breeches and well, breeches in general.

One of those things is taking a trip up to British Columbia.  Living in Washington State, it is not a far drive to Langley B.C.  My best friend lives in B.C. as well, so we take trips up there as often as possible.

I am planning on buying a couple pairs of britches there.. why?  Well.. the Equestrian Factory Outlet is opening next month in Langley B.C.!!!!!

You can check them out at their Website.. Equestrian Outlet.

Their website is not very informative, but We saw an ad in Flying Changes magazine this month for the Langley store!  Basically, they carry a large selection of European brands and they are up to 75% off!

I also found out that Kerrits has their annual sale in Oregon in December.  I will also be doing a trek there this year.

I have many dreams and or goals this year that I would like to accomplish.  I tend to dream big.. and now I need to put the work in to accomplish some of those things.

For me.. the biggest project I have for this year is my health.  Weight, stopping smoking, and getting fit are all my number one priorities for myself this year.

So I will report on the end of the day, what I accomplished.  Happy Monday everyone!

Setbacks

Everyone has them correct?

The question I end up asking myself is.. What am I going to do to overcome them.

Here are my current "setbacks"

I missed breakfast three days in a row.. but I did have a Luna bar this morning.
(I stalked up on those for my desk at work.. it helps to have something here when I forget)

I ate fast food twice this week for lunch.. Same reason.. I forgot (didn't plan) my lunch and so I skulked off to Burger King

I have not done Wii Fit or my Sports active at all this week.

I have absolutely NO excuse.. except that I was gone at night two nights and the other two.. yep.. back on the couch, being exhausted...

So.. It is Friday.. and I am going to be doing housework this evening so I can work on the barn this weekend.. which means... that I will be getting some excersize outside, building and lifting and walking back and forth from the house to the barn.. and on Sunday afternoon, I will be planning out the week and I think I am going to see if I can find a few fun things to help me remember my lunches and breakfasts next week.

It is also time to implement the next phase of my plan.. Consistent Exercise.

I will be posting on my plan for that this weekend...
What are your setbacks and how do you over come them?  I need all the help I can get!

Sassy water?

Along with countless others, I have tried multiple "diet plans".

The Atkins, South Beach, Weight Watchers, Grapefruit, and more recently the Belly Fat Diet.

The experts all say.. Diets don't work.. Making lifestyle changes work.  Hmmmm but what if my lifestyle wants to include cheeseburgers, macaroni and cheese, ding dongs and mayo?

Again.. it is all about choices right?

The other parts of my plan that I really struggle with is the Water part.  I start out all good, drinking lots of water, and hitting the bathroom like 47 times a day, and then I forget.. I forget to pack my bottle, I forget to drink water and start drinking tea or coffee more instead... so what to do?

If I make the Sassy water, I am more likely to drink it.  Why?  Two reasons... it tastes WAAAAY better than regular water and If I take the time to make it.. I am much more likely to remember to pack it with me and drink it.

It is difficult for me to take a regular pitcher of water to work with me.. so I am going to experiment with a couple of ideas this coming weekend on ways to transport and drink your water at work..

The original recipe comes from the Flat Belly Diet Book.. and I have a copy.  I also have seen the recipe on bunches of internet sites, so I feel okay sharing it here.. since I am giving you MY version.. how I make it.

Here goes.

I take a 1 gallon Container (I have a pitcher that is that size)
I put in the following:

1 english Cucumber that I slice up
1 Large Lemon, sliced
I take about a knuckle sized piece of Ginger and I slice that up (You can do more or less)
and then I add about 4 springs of fresh mint that I rinse off.

I fill it up about 3/4 of the way with water and I top mine off with Ice.

I put it in the fridge for at least 8 hours (I make a pitcher at night and in the morning)..

I reuse my concoction for the sassy water.  Not sure if this is right or not.. but this stuff can get expensive twice a day.. so The pitcher I make up at night.. I strain into a container for drinking and I just add water to the pitcher to reuse the mint, ginger, lemon and cuke again.

The flat belly diet recommends that you do this as part of their "4 day jump start".  I plan on drinking this stuff at least a few days a week, to get my water habit going.

Let me know if you try it and what you think...