Shred - Jillian Michaels

I had Joe buy this for me for Christmas. It was only $9.00 at Wal-mart so I figured why not! I was thinking 30 days of workouts, great. I went home to do it on my lunch hour today and saw that it is 3 levels of workouts, no 30 days of workouts and each workout is only 20 minutes. I thought to myself I will have to do the workouts twice to get in a really good workout. Boy was I wrong. Jillian kicked my butt in only 20 minutes. It was a tough workout but quick enough that as soon as I though ahhhh I can't do this any longer we moved onto the next move. This DVD is awesome.

Since I have not been running as much lately (it is too cold outside - see my post from yesterday!) I have been trying to do other indoor things. I think this DVD will get quite a bit of use over the next few weeks.

Warmth

I am dreaming about moving away from Gunnison to someplace warm - Florida, Hawaii, Costa Rica anyone??? It is only the end of December and it has only been super cold for less than a month now, but I am sick and tired of it. Maybe it is because I have been experiencing these winters for the last 12 years, or maybe it is because I ride my bike to and from work every day so I am in it that much more. Whatever it is I want to move! Joe and Mikayla are both with me. I would love to send Mikayla outside to play but it is too cold. I dream of snow because in order for it to snow it has to warm up. I dream of running outside in one layer of clothes instead of 3! I just dream of it being warm enough to run outside. I have at least one more month of the cold but boy I am ready to move. Anyone in a warmer client need a legal assistant and a real estate agent/property manager?

New Year's Resolution

This is the time of year to re-visit our New Year's Resolutions. Actually it is probably better to do this half way through the year than at the end of the year but let's take a look.

I blogged about my New Year's Resolutions for 2009 here.

I had planned on running a total of 3 marathons in 2009. What was I thinking??? I should have just tried to run one marathon. These did not happen due to injuries in the Spring and Summer. I did through participate in the Mountain Air Marathon events and I ran a 10 mile race. I loved it and had a blast.

The Olympic Triathon did not happen as well but I still want to do that.

I did not participate in the 4th of July Race due to the injuries I was fighting as mentioned above.

This final one was not really listed as a goal but I mentioned it. I did get down to my pre-baby weight of 133.

Stay tuned when I decided what I am going to focus on for 2010!

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas to you. I hope you are enjoying your day with your family. Now get off of the computer and go have some family time!!!

Run Every Day

I have heard of the people who run every day. They belong to the United States Running Streak Association, Inc. Here is there website: http://runeveryday.com/. In order to join you have to run at least one mile everyday for one year. It just sounds cool to me - I would love to be on that list, they even have people on the list that have been doing this for over 40 years!

I thought I would just try to run everyday for one week. Well day three came and I decided that money is tight (like always) and I should go and spend my lunch hour cleaning and making some extra money instead of running. I am trying to get back into running but it has been slow. Maybe that will be my New Year's Resolution, run every day for one year.

Back to Running - Finally

I have taken about the last two weeks off from running. I had a cold one week and then I got busy with using my lunch hour to make extra money cleaning rentals. The weather has not made me want to go for a run either.

Today I finally got in a run. I felt like cancelling it because it was only 7 degrees outside but I said to just go do it since I had layers and I really needed to get some exercise. The run was great. I think I really enjoyed it because I was just going for a run, I had no have to run at least X number of miles, no I have to do sprint intervals, I have to run at X pace. I just ran to ran and I enjoyed it. I even shed my hat and one of my three shirts!

Hopefully I will get my rear end in gear tomorrow and go again.

Skylar's Stitches

About three weeks ago I blogged here about Skylar getting hurt and needing to get a lot of stitches. Finally, here are the pictures. She was not too happy about her picture being taken or for that matter she hates it when we put the tee-shirts on here. But at least with the tee-shirts we did not have to put the dreaded cone on her head.

She is slowly getting better. She had some of the stitches removed last Tuesday. We were hoping that they would remove all of them but where her drain (after surgery they placed a drain so all of the gunk to drip out all over the house - hence the tee-shirt) was it was not healing so they left the stitches in around the hole. We have been flushing her drain hole twice a day and she had been on a different round of antibiotics. Hopefully she will get the stitches out this week.

$50 American Express Gift Card

Check out Five Minutes For Moms blog and enter to win a $50 Gift Card from American Express. They are giving away 5 of them. The contest ends December 18th.

Trailhead Discovery Museum

Since we had kids Joe is the one who goes skiing while I stay with the girls. Skiing is much more important to Joe than it is to me. I would rather go cross country skiing, running, hiking or whatever. Also since we both work full time the only time Joe has to go skiing is on the weekends. Some of those weekends I head up with Joe and the girls and while he goes skiing I do my best to keep the girls busy. It is hard because it is so cold outside and I wish Crested Butte Mountain Resort had an indoor play area (like the kind you see in malls now) for the girls to play in. Well my prayers have been answered.

The Trailhead Discovery Museum opened its doors this winter. There is a coloring table, art projects, painting section, puppets, the dark room, indoor play ground and a dig pit. It is perfect for the girls because they can both keep themselves busy for hours while Joe goes skiing. The Trailhead is hoping to open a bigger museum in downtown Crested Butte next year. The only downside is the price. They charge $6.00 per person, adults included. I know that they are trying to raise money and it is a tourist town but it would be nice if local parents would not get charged. Even with the price I plan on spending at least one day a month here with the girls.

Cold Bike Ride

This morning it was and still is -20 outside. Yep and I rode my bike to work in that cold weather. What do I wear? First layer is my normal work clothes, then I add ski pants, heavy winter jacket, stocking hat, my hood from my jacket, two pairs of gloves and finally Sorrell snow boots. I have to say that about 1.5 miles into my ride I start to get hot so the hood comes off and the jacket gets unzipped just a little bit to give me more air. Try me though I can't wait for it to snow so it warms up to say oh 20 degrees instead of -20.

Airlines and Children

I spent the last month blogging about diet and exercise and is primarily the point of this blog but I am also a mom to 2 little girls so I also like to talk about them and parenting in general. This blog post came about after reading Metropolitan Mama's blog post here.

Airlines are not kid friendly what so ever. As a parent you have to pack extra carry ones to hold all of your child's toys, snacks, diapers and extra clothes. Then when you carry all of this stuff on the plane the other people glare at you for taking too much room. Then you do your best to keep the kids quiet and happy for the flight. I think every airline should offer the following:

1 – Kid’s Activity Packet – Paper, crayons, paper dolls, cars, trucks, etc..

2 – Kid Friendly movies and a video player at each seat with kid movies or shows – different age appropriate shows as well (0-5), 5-7, etc…

3 – Larger bathrooms with clean changing table

4 – A place to stretch your legs, move around, with windows to look out of.

5 - Wider aisles.

6 - More leg room in coach - because you know first class (even if you could afford it) is not going to want you and your kid either.

7 - Complementary healthy snacks and drinks - offered more often to the kids. Healthy means yogurt, cheesesticks, 100% juice, whole wheat crackers, fresh fruits and vegetables.

What do you think airlines should offer families? They should realize that happy families make for a smoother, quieter and more relaxed flight for everyone.

Magazine Giveaway - Winner

The winner of my magazine giveaway is Becca from Our Crazy Boys. I used random.org to pick the winner.

Thank you to everyone who entered. I am glad to see so many people who entered because I now have some new blogs to read!

Skylar **Edited**

After having two kids the dogs tend to take a backseat but they are still very important members of our household. We have two dogs, Skylar and Teo.

Skylar is 11 years old and Teo will be 11 at the end of this month - so they have been around a long time. Technically Skylar is mine since I got her right before I met Joe (maybe a few months before I met Joe) and Joe got Teo shortly after we first started dating. Skylar and Teo are brother and sister to us and they were even in our wedding. Skylar is a German Shepard, Australian Shepard and Chow mix and she looks like a Dingo. Teo is a big Chocolate Lab mix. Skylar is the one who will still go on a 8 mile run with me and loves every minute of it and Teo is so lazy he gets tired after a one mile walk with me.

Last night I let the dogs outside, as I always do, when I got home from work. We do not have a fenced in yard so the roam the neighborhood just like every other dog in our neighborhood does. They do their business in our direct neighbors yard and there dogs do theirs in our yard. Teo came back inside when Joe got home with the girls. At 6pm we realized that we had not let Skylar in yet. Joe opened the door and she was right there but she was hurt. Skylar had a 4 inch gaping wound. The skin was pulled completely back. We were finally able to get a hold of a vet and Joe took her in last night. She spent the night at the vet on morphine and antibiotics. They are sewing her up this morning. She is my baby and has been around forever. I love her to death and I know everything will be just fine. The vet has not called us yet to let us know when we can pick her up - hopefully I can pick her up on my lunch hour.

We are all out of sorts without her in the house. I did not sleep much last night worrying about her and the cost of all of this. We are super tight financially so I do not need another bill right now. This morning I was up about 5:30 and I came out into the living room and I saw Teo on a blanket and at first I thought it was Sky. Also Teo was out of sorts and he was spending more time being close to us. Normally he does his own thing.

I will let you know how she is once I know.

I went to see Skylar on my lunch hour and she is doing good. She does have a lot more stitches than I thought she would and they sewed up some muscle but no ligaments or tendons were torn. They had her resting on a bed of towels and she was not in a kennel at that time which made me feel good. She was excited to see me and I felt bad leaving her. We will get to take her home tomorrow.

NaBloPoMo

Do I have that title right? Well I did it. I blogged every day for 30 days. Did I accomplish my goals I set out to do?
1 - Lose 2 pounds - Not 2 pounds but I have lost 1 pound!
2 – Run a minimum of 3 days per week - Nope
3 – Keep a daily record of what I eat (3 out of 7 days per week) - Nope
4 – Strength train 2 days per week - Nope

I did not accomplish any of my goals - other than to blog for 30 days straight but don't worry I am going to give it another go. Getting sick twice this month really threw me off my game.

I am going to keep the same goals as before but add one more. Burn 3500 calories per week. I have a busy day today planned with a swim in the morning, followed by a lunch time run with the killer workout mixed in and followed with a night time strength training workout. This should be a great way to kick start my week! Oh yeah - also maybe a night time walk with the dogs. That is the hardest part because it is soooo dark in my neighborhood and 10 degrees is no fun either. Can't wait for those -25 degree days!@!@!

Magazine Giveaway

Don't forget to enter my magazine giveaway here. The contest ends November 30, 2009.

Losing Motivation

I am so close to the end of NaBloPoMo and I am reading out of steam. I have no idea what to blog about or even to say today.

So I am going to stay - keep working out, stay on your diet don't get sidetracked and if you ate too much yesterday try to make sure you get in a workout today. A workout other than shopping!

Biking Riding

Since I had the stomach flu over a week ago I have not exercised. It took me a week just to feel good enough to consider working out – amazing what a stomach bug does to you. Then last Thursday I fell while riding my bike. Note to all drivers (at least in Colorado) treat bicyclist as you would a car, they are NOT pedestrians, do NOT yield for them as if they are. Note to all bicyclists you must obey all laws of the road and if you get hit by a car for flying through a stop sign it is your own fault.

My case in point is last week I was pulling into the road, no cars were coming towards me, as if I was a car I made my way to the turn lane to make a left hand turn. I was signaling my turn and I was NO WHERE NEAR the cross walk. A car decides to stop in the middle of the road to allow me to go in front of her. I waived at her to get her to go and she refused. Now I have to stop and put my feet down and wait because what she does not realize is that there is a car in the other lane (two lane street) behind her and I am going to wait for that car to either stop or go. Finally the other car stops and I am upset that she just did not go and she wasted my time. I get on my bike to go and the chain fell off and I crashed hard down into the street. I picked up bike up and made a point to go to the cross walk to finish crossing the street. If that lady had not stopped everything would have been just fine because I would have been able to cross the street right after her but before the other car came. I banged up my knees and one was really swollen and bad and I could not go up and downstairs for about 2 days. Good thing our house is a ranch style house.

Ok back to not exercising I finally got a run in on Wednesday and it felt great. I did 4 miles at a pace of 10:45 or so. I did not push it I just went out and enjoyed my run. I hope to get some more runs in before the end of the week.

Happy Thanksgiving

Have a Happy Thanksgiving - don't forget to get your workout in before you dive into Thanksgiving Dinner. Also - Don't overeat!!!

Aveeno Baby

*Warning - This blog entry is not about diet and exercise.

I am a Bzzz Agent. A Bzzz agent receives free products and we get to spread the bzzz about them and let you know what we think.

My most recent product is Aveeno Baby Shampoo and diaper cream. I have always liked Aveeno products but I have never tried their baby line. The Aveeno Baby Shampoos says that it is lightweight, rinses out easily, and moisturizers without leaving their hair limp and lifeless and 91% of moms say their baby has softer hair.

The Aveeno Baby Shampoo is wonderful. I have been using it on Mikayla's and Lily's hair and their hair is softer. I always use conditioner for Mikayla's hair because there is so much of it so I kept on doing this. Lily doesn't have enough hair for shampoo but what a mess it is. It is now more manageable and it is softer. I also like how it smells, like soap. I would highly recommend it. I have not tried the diaper cream because Lily has not needed it.

I have one trial size Aveeno Baby Shampoo, one trial size diaper cream and one coupon for $1.00 off of the Shampoo. Since I only have one the first person to request it gets it.

Have a Healthier Thanksgiving and Holiday Season – Recipes and Tips

I was on http://www.active.com/ and I came across some great link I thought I would share with you.

This link helps you make-over traditional Thanksgiving Recipes with a healthier version.

Healthy Recipes for Thanksgiving

Finding time to workout during the holidays is very hard. It is not even Thanksgiving yet but I am already struggling to find time to workout. We are going out of town on Thursday so I have a car to clean, suitcases to pack, snacks and food to pack, in addition to working full time! Here are some tips to help sneak in a workout. If you don’t have time to get your normal workout in try one of these tips.

7 Ways to Sneak in a Holiday Workout

Here is an article by Mark Bittman with 8 rules to eat healthy. I also recently read his book Food Matters. I have been trying to incorporate more plants, fruits and vegetables into my diet. I have been starting my dinners with a large spinach salad and I have noticed I am eating less of everything else at the dinner table.

8 Rules to Eat Healthy

All Most Missed Today

I need to get in gear and get some blog posts ready for this week. I am so close to the end of NaBloPoMo but not quite there yet.

Did I reach my goals last week? Not at all. The stomach bug did a number on me and by the time I was feeling could enough to work out I had to get a big side cleaning job done. I really don't see myself getting in gear this week either. I have too much to do in regards to my side jobs and on Thursday we are meeting my family in Denver for Thanksgiving. I will re-focus next week and I will do my best to get in some workout this week.

Magazine Giveaway

My absolute favorite magazine is Runner's World. I read it cover to cover every month and there is so much useful information in it from the beginner runner to the expereinced runner. I highly recommend it. I know that not everyone love's running so I am going to giveaway a one year's fitness type magazine subscription to one reader. (Think - Runner's World, Fitness Magazine, Women's Health, Men's Health, etc... - not Cosmo or Glamor).

To enter please leave me a comment about what magazine you would like to win and why. How to receive extra votes - 1 blog about this giveaway with a link to Colorado Mama and leave another comment letting me know you did so, 2 - become a follower if you are not. If you are already a follower leave me a second comment reminding me.

This contest will end the last day of NaBloPoMo - November 30th. I am really surprised I have made it this far! Also the cost of the magazine subscription cannot exceed $20.00.

Living in Gunnison

One of the things I love about living in Gunnison, Colorado is how fit our town and county is. On my bike rides to work in the morning I pass at least 3 or 4 other bikers going to work and it is not even 10 degrees outside! Image how many I pass in the summer months.

How fit is the town you live in?

Eat Better This Holiday Season - Diet Tips

Thanksgiving will be here next week and that starts off a season of unhealthily eating, binging, parties, drinking and no exercise. This season does not really stop until after the Superbowl. Here are some tips to think about before you go to Thanksgiving Dinner at you parent's house, or that Christmas Party.

1 - Eat Before You Go.
If you arrive at a party starving you will start eating up all the high calorie foods you can get your hands on - that is just the appetizer, you still need to have salad or soup, dinner, desert and of course the correct wine or liquor to go with that meal. Before you know it you just consumed 1000 plus calories of food.

Now instead of that try this instead. Have a large glass of water and a small snack before you leave the house. Try a small turkey sandwich, or an apple with peanut butter. Something to take the edge off. Then when you arrive at the party have a glass of water to start and instead of drinking glass after glass of wine, beer or liquor, have a glass of water after each drink. One glass of wine, one glass of water and so on. Another thing is to only fill your wine glass half full, and then drink a full glass of water.

2 - All or Nothing
I am really bad with this one. Just because you blew your diet at lunch does not mean you have to blow your diet at dinner. Keep portion sizes in check and number of servings. Have that piece of pie or cake but don't go back for seconds and keep the size in check.

3 - Watch for the Food Pushers
You know who I am talking about. They see someone with no one in their hand and they bring you something, telling you to eat up, this is the best food ever you have to try some. Have some quick lines in your head to combat this "I'm so full I cannot eat another bite." That is really good, I just had some." Or even the truth "I am watching what I am eating this holiday season - I don't want to gain five pounds like I did last year"

4 - Balance it Out
If you know you are going to a party try to eat super healthy and light that day and get in some extra exercise. This way you will have some calories to "spend" at the party. A lot of diet programs allow you to bank some extra calories from the week to use at a special event.

5 - Take Control
Instead of going to a party host your own. That way you can cook up a healthy meal and you will know exactly what is in everything. You will also be too busy hosting to gorge on all of the good food.

6 - It Pays to be Picky
During the holidays we get to eat all sorts of yummy foods that only come out once a year. Instead of eating everything, eat what you really love and ignore the rest - don't forget portion control or use super small portions, a small scoop of the mashed potatoes and a small sliver of pecan pie.

7 - Feeling Full
Remember that it takes your stomach and brain 15 to 20 minutes to talk to each and let each other know you are full. After that first plate of food, sit back, relax, talk and after 10 minutes if you are still hungry then you can have some more.

I hope this guide helps you control your eating this holiday season. What are your tips to control what you eat of the holidays?

*I got the idea for this article from active.com. If you wish to view their article click here.

Favorite Exercise

My absolute favorite exercise, believe it or not, is mountain biking - not running! If I could go mountain biking every day I would. I have choosen running because I am not that great of a mountain biker and there is no way I would even enter a mountain biking race - I am no where good enough. So I run and enter races when I can. Don't get me wrong I love running but I if I had a choice I would go for a 2 hour mountain bike ride over a run anyday.

What is your favorite exercise?

Healthy Food

What is healthy food?

It is so hard to know these days because of marketing and the new idea of "natural". Lays Potato Chips started marketing their potato chips as Natural because of this new craze. Did they change their recipe? No, it is still sunflower oil, potatoes and salt. But is that really healthy?

Also if you just read the packing, it can be misleading. Just because the box says it contains "whole grains" it might not contain as many as you think. If I am looking for a whole grain cereal or bread the first word on the ingredients list must be "whole grains" not enriched whole wheat flour. They are not same. Enriched whole wheat flour is similar to white flour - none of the good stuff is still there. Also if I am looking for something healthy the second ingredients or third or fourth for that matter cannot be sugar. Sugar is in everything. Why - because it helps the shelf live of the product. Check out bread - do you put sugar in your bread when you make it at home? Maybe just a little bit to help the yeast but not enough for it to be listed as the second ingredients.

Here are two links I found to help you figure out what really is healthy eating.
30 Healthy Foods That Are Not

Healthy Eating

Fat and Bloated

There is once nice thing about the stomach bug - you lose weight! I got sick on Saturday and I am still not 100% and I am still not eating as much as I normally do. You would think I have lost weight but boy is my belly huge! I feel fat and bloated and none of my clothes fit right. I am uncomfortable, tummy is still not quite right, I am still not eating and I have no energy to exercise. I think I do need to focus on drinking more water. My goal for today is a solid 8 glasses of water. Normally I drink between 8 to 12 glasses a day but not since I got sick. So far today I have only had 2 so I better drink up!

Penn with Roasted Butternut Squash and Pancetta and Sage

Doesn't that sound just yummy. Click over to my food blog to see the recipe and what I added to make it every healthier.

Stomach Bug

We have had the stomach bug going around our house this weekend. Mikayla started it and we all got sick at one point. On Friday I had plans to go to yoga on Saturday and a 10 mile run on Sunday. Needless to say that either thing happened and a trip to the grocery store on Sunday was more than enough for me. I am not working out today and maybe not even tomorrow. I really do not have the energy.

Last winter I took Body Balance and blogged about it here. I really think it got us through last winter without getting anything more than a minor cold. Here I am just a few winters into winter and so far I have gotten sick twice! I think we might sign up for it and if you are interested please let me know - it is one of those network marketing things.

5K to a 10K

So you have completed a 5K and now you are ready for a 10K but the idea of doubling your mileage scares you so what do you do.

The first step is to once a week make your run a little bit longer, add 10 minutes to one run once a week. Make sure you are running at least 3 times a week and eventually by adding 10 minutes to one run a week you will be doing a 10K in no time.

Vegan Pumpkin Bread

Click over to my food blog or click here for a yummy vegan pumpkin bread receipe.

Taking Your Workout to the Next Level

If you have been doing the same workout forever and are not seeing any results it is time to take your workout to the next level. Here are some easy ways to take your workout to the next level.

1. Go longer, add 5 minutes to your workout once a week
2. Add some hills to your workout
3. Go faster, if you are walking try running a little bit, if you are running add some sprints
4. Stop and do some walking lunges or squats
5. Try something new, instead of walking or running go for a bike ride, take a fitness class at your local gym or YMCA.
6. Go for a hike or a trail run. You will be amazed at the different muscles you use on a trail vs. the pavement.

Getting Back Into the Groove

After slacking off so much last week I am really getting in some good workouts.

On Monday I did the Killer Workout I blogged about yesterday and ran a total of 4 miles, then I did my arm strength training workout while I watched the girls take a bath.

On Tuesday I swam in the morning for 30 minutes and then did a hour long bike ride at lunch.

Wednesday was my best day yet. I am still a slow runner but I am getting faster than I was a year ago. I will never win a race but I will have fun. So on Wednesday at lunch I did a 5K in 29 minutes and 22 seconds my pace was 9 minutes and 28 seconds per mile! I finished my run with another 2 miles.

Today I plan on biking for a hour during lunch and tomorrow will be a morning swim, followed by a run at lunch with the Killer Workout thrown in the middle for my legs and I will have to find some time to fit in my arm and ab workout too.

Now I just wish I could get on track with my eating.

Killer Workout

I got this idea from Fitness for Mommies. It will give your legs a workout!

Beginners

Warm up by walking for 5 minutes

Next 5 minutes, keep walking but pick up the pace

Do 25 walking lunges then run, run-walk or walk as fast as possible for 2 minutes

Do another 25 walking lunges then repeat your run, walk or run-walk for another 2 minutes

Stop and do 15 plies (Legs spread out, feet turned out – like a ballet dancer – then squat, make sure your knees do not go past your toes, if they do you need to spread your legs wider) Then do 15 squats with your feet shoulder with apart, as you sit stick your butt out behind you as if you are going to sit in a chair, run, walk or run-walk for 2 minutes

Stop and do 15 plies and 15 squats, the run, walk for 2 minutes

Make sure to keep you running or walking in between to a sprint. At the end of this workout you should be saying to yourself, this is hard, this sucks, I want to give up. BUT DON’T. KEEP IT UP.

Finally run, walk or run-walk quickly, but not quite as fast as you were for minutes and then cool down for 5 minutes.

Your legs should feel like jelly, if not next time you need to work harder!

Advanced or Intermediate

Begin by slowly walking, the moving into running slowly and finally building up to your normal running level. Do this for 1 mile or 10 minutes.

Once you hit mile stop and do 50 walking lunges, then sprint for ¼ mile for 2 to 3 minutes.

Stop and do another 50 walking lunges, then sprint for ¼ mile for 2 to 3 minutes.

Stop and do 20 plies (Legs spread out, feet turned out – like a ballet dancer – then squat, make sure your knees do not go past your toes, if they do you need to spread your legs wider) Then do 20 squats with your feet shoulder with apart, as you sit stick your butt out behind you as if you are going to sit in a chair, then sprint for another ¼ mile or 2 to 3 minutes.

Stop and do 20 plies and 20 squats, then sprint for another ¼ mile or 2 to 3 minutes,

Stop and do another 15 plies and 15 squats, then sprint for a final ¼ mile or 2 to 3 minutes

Make sure to keep you running n between to a sprint. At the end of this workout you should be saying to yourself, this is hard, this sucks, I want to give up. BUT DON’T. KEEP IT UP.

Finally you can end this workout one of two ways

1. Sprint or run as fast a possible one more mile and then do a mile run cool down

2. Do a one mile run as a cool down.

Getting Your Kids Involved

It is important to get your kids use to exercising at a young age and they will most likely stay with it longer. With kids you do have to make exercise fun. The past few weeks I have been taking the girls on "Nature Walks". I called it a hike and Mikayla (who normally loves hiking and running) said no so I called it a Nature Walk and she really wanted to go. At preschool one day they went for a Nature Walk. Last weekend we went to Hartman Rocks and hiked around for about an hour. We were moving too slow for me to get a workout in but Mikayla was all over the place and had a blast. It was the perfect workout for her.

This weekend we went to Mill Creek. I did not plan on the snow. We were walking through 4 inches at least and mud and what a mess. The girls again had a great time even though it was only about 30 minutes.

What do you do with your kids to get them moving?

Week 1 - Not So Good

So last week I set aside the following personal goals for the month of November:

1 - Write down everything I eat - at least 3 days a week

2 - Run 3 days a week

3 - Work on losing 2 pounds

4 - Strength train 2 days a week

Well I did not accomplish one single thing. I went for a great run on Monday, got hit with a cold and was out of commission in regards to exercise the next few days and now it is late Sunday night and I still have not worked out!

So I really need to re-focus for next week. I will let you know Tuesday night how I am doing. This is also to let you know that it is okay to screw up and get off track. Just make sure you get back on track quickly. In the long run one bad week will not mess you up, one bad month will. So to get back on track at a minimum I plan on writing down what I eat Monday and Tuesday of this week, running on Monday and strength training on Tuesday. I have a lot of other bigger goals but for those two days but I want to do them before I let say that I am going to do them.

Finding Time to Work Out

We all have busy lives, there is no question about that and finding time to fit in exercise is very hard. If I did not have an hour long lunch break I would have no idea as to when I could fit in a workout.

If you have trouble finding time to work out try getting up earlier and going to the gym or just working out in your living room with a video, using your lunch hour or working out right after work before you head home for the day.

Another option is to fit your workout in while you are doing something else. You could ride your bike to and from work, if your children are small enough put them in the stroller while you go for a run or walk, or if they are bigger have them ride their bikes next to you while you run.

If you have a treadmill, stair master, or stationary bike at home walk or run on that instead of watching TV. You could also lift weights, do pushup, sit-ups, crunches, or lunges while watching TV instead of just sitting on the couch.

Here are some other ways to fit in little workouts throughout the day:

1 – Ride your bike to work
2 – Walk to work
3 – Park 1 to ½ mile away from work and walk in (1/2 walk will take you 10 minutes or less if you hussle)
4 – Do not take the elevator, take the stairs. Or do both if you work in a high rise. Take the elevator the first 10 flights and walk the remaining 5.
5 – Take a 10 minute break in the morning and afternoon and go for a quick 10 minute walk.
6 – Make sure to stand up and walk around for 5 minutes for every 1 hour that you are stuck sitting at your desk.
7 – Do not send an email or call your co-worker stand up and walk to their desk to talk to them.
8 – While running errands park the car in a central location and walk to each store instead of driving to each one.
9 – Park as far away as possible, do not park in the spot closest to the door. Also at the grocery store return your cart to the store, not the closest cart parking spot.
10 – Have a walking meeting instead of a sit down meeting.
11 – Instead of just letting the dogs run in the backyard yard take the dogs and the kids for a walk.
12 – Go for a run with your kids, they will love racing you and you can always let them win.

What do you do to fit in a workout during the day?

5 Diet Tips

Here are 5 diet tips that I find very helpful:

1. Try to eat every 3 hours. If you are getting hungry before the 3 hours are up ask yourself these questions. (i) Am I really hungry or do I just want to eat? Try chewing a piece of gym instead of eating. (ii) Am I really hungry or am I thirty? Try drinking a big glass of water first. (iii) If you decided you really are hungry wait 10 minutes and then if you are still hungry go ahead and have a small, healthy snack – a piece of fruit, a handful of almonds, a glass of milk, a piece of cheese, you get the idea.

2. Drink lots of water. If you get tired of plain water (which I do from time to time) add lemon or even those no calories Crystal Lights. I add about ¼ of a packet of Crystal Light to 32 oz of water.

3. Enjoy your favorite foods. No one says that you can never have a piece of cake, you just cannot have one every day. Give yourself one free day a week so you can enjoy your favorite foods. You will notice that on that free day you won’t go as crazy as you think you might. Also don’t have the biggest piece of cake you can find, have a smaller piece or share it.

4. Stock you kitchen and pantry with healthy food. If you are craving chips it is much harder to give into that craving if you have to get into the car, drive to the store, buy the chips, drive back home and then open up the bag to eat them.

5. Alcohol has a lot of calories. I really enjoy my evening glass of wine but that glass of wine has 120 calories. Whenever I really want to focus on my calories I do my best to skip the glass of wine. Alcohol has causes you to overeat so in addition to the extra 120 calories I tend to eat more at dinner.

Healthy Food

Since this month I am focusing on healthy living with diet and exercise I am going to have to post some reciepes. Whenever you can make you food at home - do so. It is so much healthier and you know what is going in your food.

Click here - this takes you to my food blog for a receipe for a healthy homemade sourdough whole wheat garlic and rosemary loaf of bread.

Couch to 5K Programs

I truly believe that everyone can get in shape and everyone can run. I know we all will make excuses that you can’t but with a little bit of hard work yes you can. I did not wake up one day and say that I am going for a run and then I ran 5 miles – no way. As a kid I was never athletic. I did not even run my first mile until I went to college and my first mile took a long time to work up to it. I would go to the gym, hop on the treadmill and walk run for 30 minutes or so. I remember the first time I did run a mile on the treadmill. I was so happy.

If you are a never, ever – you have never worked out or it has been a super long time, start slow but start. Here is a super easy to get started. All this involves is 30 minutes. Start with a 5 minute walking warm up. Not a stroll but get those arms and legs moving. Then run for as long as you can, 15 seconds, 30 seconds, 1 minute whatever. Then walk for 15 or 30 seconds or a minute and then run again. Keep this walk-run up for as long as you can. 20 minutes would be great, but if you can only do 5 or 10 minutes then that is a starting point. After you have did your run-walk for as long as you can finish by speed walking until you have hit the 25 minute mark of total workout time (warm up included) finish with a slow walk for 5 minutes and you are done.

Also, don’t worry about how slow you are going. Right now you are getting your body familiar with running. Later in the month we will talk about speed but not now.

Do the above run-walk combo 3 to 4 times a week. As you get stronger increase you running time and decrease your walking time.

Here is a great couch to 5K program. It does start out with runs of 1 to 2 minutes so before you start this program make sure you can run that long.

http://www.coolrunning.com/cgi-bin/moxiebin/bm_tools.cgi?print=181;s=2_3;site=1

Happy Halloween - A little late

This year for Halloween Mikayla decided to be a princess. This was all of her doing. I have to admit she made a very pretty princess. Lily was the typical pumpkin. In Gunnison there is trick or treating downtown and this is HUGE. This was held on Friday night. Saturday we got dressed up again for a Halloween birthday party and then more tricking or treating. Let's just say that now we have WAYYYY too much candy in this house and most of it will be taken to work for the office candy basket. (Sorry these pictures are too small - I am having issues with my computer).

Lily

Mikayla the princess


Halloween is big in Gunnison. This is a picture of one house we went to.

Biggest Loser

I love the Biggest Loser. I love watching everyone lose weight and see how much they change. One of my favorite parts is where the contestants show up and God only knows how many medications they are on and after working out for a few weeks and losing a few pounds they all go off their medications. Many of the medications people take today, high cholesterol, high blood pressure, diabetes, are all due to being overweight. I wish doctors would talk more to patients about losing weight rather than giving them drugs. During the episode on October 13th , Danny told us that he was off all of his medications. He had lost 58 pounds but he was still over 350 pounds. He was off all of his medications because he was working out.

I do have one big issue with show and that is the amount of weight that they lose in one week. In the normal world you cannot lose 10 to 20 pounds in one week. On the show what you do not see is that the contestants work out for 8 plus hours a day. They wake up and go for a walk or hit the treadmills first thing, then they work with their trainers all day long and then after dinner they will go and do more cardio. If you were working out as much as the contestants we would lose that much weight as well. Also, if you look at a lot of the contestants a few years after the show, many (not all) do gain some of the weight back, it is hard to maintain a weight loss of that extreme in the normal world.

In the normal world or real world we have to work full time, we have raise our children, we have to clean house or whatever. It is very hard to find time to work out. A normal, realistic weight loss goal is ½ or 2 pounds per week. If you lose weight slowly it will stay off, but if you lose weight quickly it will come back on quickly. That is why I am setting a weight loss goal of 2 pounds this month. I currently weight 133 pounds, sometimes that number goes down to 132 and sometimes it goes up to 134. I would ideally like to lose another 5 to 8 pounds but I will be happy with 2 for now.

Personal Goals For November

My personal goals for the month of November are the following:

1 – Lose 2 pounds
2 – Run a minimum of 3 days per week
3 – Keep a daily record of what I eat (3 out of 7 days per week).
4 – Strength train 2 days per week

Losing weight slowly is the only true way to keep the weight off. You have all seen and read about this diet program and that diet program that will help you lose 10 pounds in one week. All that you really lose is water weight and you have not changed your eating habits and eventually you will put the weight back on. Dieting should be for life, you are making lifestyle changes. Losing weight slowly, ½ to 2 pounds per week will help you make the changes to your lifestyle and keep it off for good. If you are really heavy you can lose weight a little bit faster but not much. I would like to lose about 2 pounds this month and keep it off. If this happens I will re-focus for December for another 2 pounds and keep that up until I am at my personal goal weight.

Another goal to is to strength train 2 days per week. Muscle burns more calories than fat as well. I want to firm everything up. I want no more jiggle in my thighs, butt or arms. My stomach is still not the same after having 2 kids (I am sure many of you feel the same way as well). I want to get rid of my belly.

I have been training for a marathon for the last year and at this point it looks like I will not be able to do one until next spring but I want to keep the shape that I am in so that I will not have to start over from scratch next spring. I plan on doing one super long run once a month (12-14 miles) and shorter long runs of 8-10 miles.

Finally one of the biggest keys to losing weight is to write it down. We forget all of the little things we eat, a piece of candy at the bank, 5 bites of your child’s dinner, the one bite of cake, etc… If you write it down you will realize that you are eating more than you should be. I will be keeping a food journal and calorie intake journal at least 4 of 7 days each week. I could try for 7 but let’s face it I have been horrible about this in the past, one step at a time!

On Mondays this month I am going to post my progress in regards to these goals. Now it is your turn, what are your goals this month. Leave a comment here or blog about and then leave me a comment with a link to your blog and I will link those so everyone will be able to read about them.

NaBloPoMo - Month of Fitness, Diet and Exercise

I decided to participate in NaBloPoMo this month in order to revitalize my blog and me. I have really been slacking lately and just not interested in blogging. I have not even been reading everyone else’s blogs as much as I should (sorry everyone – I still love your blogs though).

This month I really want to get EVERYONE into shape. I am going to set my personal goals for the month of November and I want you to do the same. I am going to post a weekly training routine for everyone hoping to run a 10K or a half marathon. I also going to be posting diet and exercise tips to help you achieve your personal goals.

Please come and visit, hang out for a while and stay with me this month as we work our rear ends into shape in time for the dreaded holidays. This way we will have a jump start on those awful New Year’s Resolutions were we vow to lose X amount of pounds and never do so. Tomorrow I am going to post my goals for this month and I want you to send me links to your blog where you post your goals or just leave me a comment with your personal goals for this month.

No Half Marathon Yet

I have officially said no the marathon in Vegas due to finances. We are going to Denver over Thanksgiving to meet up with family. My family is coming in from Kansas City. We cannot afford two nights of hotel rooms in Denver and then for me to go to Vegas the very next weekend. But I am going to keep running and keep doing long runs over the winter so I can keep the shape I am in. I do not want to start over come spring. I think from here on out I am going to do one long run of 12-14 miles per month and the other 3 weekends do short runs, maybe 7 – 10 miles.

On Sunday I did a great trail run in Hartman Rocks. I have blogged about Hartman’s in the past and it is nice because it is less than 3 miles from our house. Hartmans is pretty big, not huge but big. I have only run and mountain biked a very small portion of it. Yesterday I explored a new area that I have never been. I did about 5 miles as a trail run at Hartmans and the rest on the road.

My original goal was 14 miles but I was pretty tired at mile 9 so I just headed home and that made it an even 12 miles. I thought I was running really slow, and walking a lot more than normal. I thought for sure my time would be longer than the last time I did 12 miles but it was not. I was right on, which is really weird because I was much more tired this time than the last time I did 12 miles. This time there were more hills but I kept at them and I had a great time. I even ran though a little bit of snow and I got snowed on at one point to! Winter is coming!!

H1N1

Are you getting the vaccine for this? Heidi asked me in the comment section if I was going to and I really don’t think I am. Yes, we do have little kids but we also eat very well, get regular exercise and in general are very healthy. I normally do not get the flu shot, Joe never does, Mikayla has had it a couple of times and Lily has only received it once. Also, the girls and I have never had the flu and Joe had it a couple of times as a kid (but he was living in New Jersey – awful air and water quality.) I think it we stay on top of things, lots of healthy food, lots of exercise and play time, and lots of vitamins we will be fine. I might re-think this is I hear of H1N1 cases at the preschool.

As I write this I am sure my mom is going to say something. Especially since my brother in law Josh has it.

New Year's Resolution

Back in January I made a few New Year's Resolutions and blogged about it here. The sad thing about looking at my list is that I have only done one thing on it. There were many races I wanted to do but mostly due to injuries I have not done them. I have not run any of the races I wanted to but on the plus side I did do a 10 mile race and I am down to my pre-baby weight of 133.

Last Thursday was my 31st birthday and I also set a lot of the above resolutions to make 30 a great year (I was not looking forward to turning 30 and it was a very sad day). Now I am 31 and still have not accomplished what I wanted to. I still really want to do a marathon but it is also looking like I won't be able to do the one in Vegas, not due to injury but due to finances. My family is coming out to Denver for Thanksgiving and we cannot afford to spend two nights in Denver in a hotel and then for me to go to Vegas the very next weekend. I really need to see my family because it has been awhile since I have seen my sister and she just had a new baby.

I am thinking that I will slow down on the running, but keep running a nice long run on Sunday and come Spring I WILL do a marathon. Also I know I have really slacked off in my blogging but I am gearing up for NaBloPoMo (what does that stand for anyway?) I am going to blog everyday during the month of November. My blog is heavily going to focus on getting everyone else in shape. I am going to have a Couch to 5K plan, 10K plan and a 1/2 marathon plan. I am going to have diet and exercise tips and more. Cheer me on and leave me lots of comments because I have NEVER blogged for 30 days straight!