Winter Goals

Just a few things I need to start doing regularly:

First of all-STRETCH. I am so bad about not stretching. I'm extremely tight and not flexible at all because of that. I just hate doing it! I was pretty good last week-stretched almost every day, now just need to stick with it!

Secondly, I want to aim for 120 grams of protein per day. I currently take in about 100 grams, but in order to build muscle, which is my goal, I need to get in 20 more grams to get the recommended 1 gram of protein per lb of body weight. So really, that just means a second shake a day. I have been taking one right before bed and after my workouts, but I also want to start having one before my workouts.

Third thing I want to work on is getting more Omega 3s. I don't think I get enough fat in my diet. Well, actually, I have recently been eating more nuts and eating the Omega 3 eggs(and I eat the yolks). I also eat peanut butter and sometimes mayo on my sandwiches. But I really need to get more POLYunsaturated fats. I hate fish, so that's out. Every now and then I eat tuna, but not on a regular basis. I have some ground flaxseed, but can never remember to eat it! So I'm going to try to eat more flaxseed and have tuna twice a week.

Number 4 is to remember to take my multi-vitamin daily!!

Number 5 is going back to my daily bible study. It's been a month since I've done my bible reading, and I HATE it. I am definitely going to start setting time aside to do it from now on, every single day. I've really been slacking. My faith is the most important thing to me, and I need to give God the time He deserves from me! I have to get my priorities straight, and spend more time with Him.

And last, but definitely not least, I need to start eating more veggies!!!!!! I just don't know what to do-I HATE vegetables....but I know that they are good for you, and I want to eat them. My goal is to get 2 servings of veggies a day, but right now I am lucky if I get in 2 servings of veggies a week! Someone please give me some ideas on how to incorporate vegetables into my diet! Like maybe some ways to make them taste better because I truly can't stand them!

Turkey Day

So the Thanksgiving weekend is over. :( 


Well, the one good thing about that is NO MORE bad eating! Ugh. I hate eating bad! Back to clean eating tomorrow. Not that I've been eating horribly...but Thanksgiving was bad for sure....then the next day we went to Bob Evans in the morning and then to Texas Roadhouse later, where I had chicken fingers and fries! Then a few pumpkin cookies over the weekend....Oh well. Going to continue doing a little cardio this next week.

Anyway, my Thanksgiving was good. My husband's parents were in for a few days, which was nice. And we spent Thanksgiving day at my Grandma's. I love being with my family-they always make me laugh! And I look forward to playing Catchphrase every year-love that game!

Well, today I finished getting my Christmas tree up and all decorated. That is a long process! I hate artificial trees, so I don't know why I even bought one! Whenever we have a kid, I am going back to a real tree! One of the things I loved as a child was going to pick out a Christmas tree at Huber's Farm. I love traditions and can't wait to someday have my own traditions with my kid(s?)!

Here are some pics of Thanksgiving day:

My Thanksgiving mealAll the yummy food!(My papaw at the head of the table) Some of the fam(my grandma in the middle)

Thanksgiving Day Metabolism Boosting Workout

Here's is a quick 15 minute fat burning workout you can do at home on Thanksgiving Day. Get your metabolism going early in the day so that you'll burn off more of those Thanksgiving dinner calories!

Here's what I'm going to do:
High knee jogs 30 seconds
Burpees 30 seconds
Rest 30 seconds
Jump squats 30 seconds
Jump rope or fake jump rope 30 seconds
Rest 30 seconds
Repeat 4 more times!

3 More Days

Yay! Only 3 more days until Thanksgiving! I love spending time with my family, watching the boys play football, and eating as much mac and cheese and pumpkin cookies as I want! :)

I'm super excited about putting up my Christmas decorations this weekend, too! I love decorating-I must've got it from my dad. I miss him so much during the holidays! I think that's why Christmas music make me sad sometimes. My dad loved Christmas music.

Well, these next few days I am eating very limited carbs-just toast or cereal in the morning, and only fruits and veggies the rest of the day. Plus, I'm going to do cardio every day this week. .EW. Probably only 10-15 minutes of jump rope or sprint intervals. But after this week, it's back to just weights!

Thanksgiving

I can't believe Thanksgiving is next week!! I just love the holidays. I hope the next month goes by reeeaaally slow! I get a little depressed when it's all over with. :(

I do not worry about what I eat on Thanksgiving or Christmas day. I don't just have a cheat meal, but a whole cheat day instead! I wouldn't recommend that for those who are trying to lose weight!

I can't wait to eat all that yummy food that I never eat, and the desserts are my favorite! Especially can't wait to have some of the pumpkin cookies I make every year! SO good.

Well, I started some Christmas shopping yesterday because I am determined not to do it last minute like I usually do!
I really don't go overboard, and I don't have many people to buy for-just my sister, brother, Mom, and husband. I never know what to get for my mom! I am absolutely horrible at coming up with Christmas ideas for people. Any ideas???

What I Want for Christmas

*1 in 4 of the world's children are living in extreme poverty. Many poor children receive little or NO education and often struggle every day with hunger, poor health, low self-esteem, neglect and even abuse. *

But there is a solution-you can become a Compassion sponsor and change the world for one child for only 38$ a month. By doing this, you will be helping to improve the child's health, education and personal development.

I have been sponsoring a child through Compassion International for 6 years now. Watching those commercials on TV about sponsoring children always got to me, but didn't have the money to do anything since I didn't have a job at the time. But I started working at Kroger right out of high school and one day just realized that I could actually do something. I could afford the monthly payment, so I decided to sponsor a child.

My sponsored child's name is Omar, and he's 10 years old now. It is such a great experience writing letters back and forth with him, getting pictures of him and pictures that he's drawn for me, and just knowing that I am making a difference in one child's life. If I had the funds I would love to sponsor more!

I don't get anything from doing this. I'm just participating in Compassion's Christmas Child program to get more children sponsored. I mean, 38$ a month is nothing. Even if you have to make some sacrifices like bringing your lunch to work or skipping your Starbucks coffee every morning.

The child I am trying to get sponsored by Christmas is Samuel Kubwimana. He is 4 years old and from Rwanda. He lives with his grandmother and works at home carrying water and running errands.

This really is something that I care about, and getting this child sponsored would be the best Christmas gift. Please let me know if you are interested. www.compassion.com/christmaschild

Work Work Work!

Ha-I had forgotten how exhausting working more than 5-10 hours a week can be! I still am only working part time, really, but I am going non-stop now, it feels like! Don't have the free time that I used to have!

My body is starting to really feel it. I have been achy all day for some reason. Everything hurts! It's not good, but hopefully it's just a phase.

Well, I trained legs today, but it wasn't really the best workout. I didn't squat heavy today, just did a few sets on the hack squat. I miss having my husband to spot me so I can go heavy! Did 340 on the leg press, which is okay, but I just felt weak, and my lower back and knees were bothering me a little. :( I hate feeling weak, especially for a leg workout! The body part that needs work the most! Ugh.

Anyway, tomorrow I don't have to work much, just a few appointments through the day. I could use the day to relax, but I really wanna start on my Christmas shopping! But walking around the mall for hours does not sound like fun at all....

Another Lovely Day

Once again, today God has blessed us with wonderful, warm weather! I am going to enjoy it as much as I can!

Had to get up early today to train a client at 7 a.m., so I'm kinda sleepy. But I somehow managed to muster up enough energy for my leg workout. It was pretty good, but no heavy squats today.

Started off with leg press, working up to 340 lbs on my last set for 7-8(?) reps, then did some front squats with a light weight, back squats with 135lbs, walking lunges with 25 lb dumbbells(those freakin' kill me!!), then some stiff leg deadlifts with 80lbs, and finished off with leg curl/leg extension superset.

 I really dread training legs and sometimes it's hard to get motivated, but after I get into my workout, it feels soooo good! I love training hard and giving it everything I've got!

My husband is at his follow up appointment right for his leg and arm... I'm hoping maybe he will be able to get his arm out of the sling and possibly start doing some weight bearing on his leg. He is SO ready to be able to move around more and get back to work and, especially, the gym!

Well, I'm going to take Asher out to run on this beautiful day, maybe try to read outside for a little while, then it's back to work to whip some more people into shape!

Today

Today was SO beautiful! You can't get any better than sunny and in the 70's in November! It was great to wear shorts and a tank top again....Oh, I am so dreading winter.

I made some yummy pumpkin bread today...I pretty much love pumpkin anything-one of the best things about fall! It turned out pretty good, and I made it a tad bit healthier by using some whole wheat flour. But it was my treat for the week, so I didn't worry about the sugar.

I normally don't go to the gym on Sundays, but I skipped yesterday because I was SO tired(had to get up at 6 a.m. to train a client), so I went today. I was supposed to do legs, but since leg day is my toughest workout, I decided to switch my days up and do shoulders today and legs tomorrow-I just wasn't feelin it today!

So here's my shoulder workout, for anyone who cares to know: seated barbell presses:50lbs-8 reps, 60lbs-6 reps x 2. Seated dumbbell presses: 25lbs-3 sets of 8. Barbell upright rows: 40lbs-10 to 12 reps, 4 sets. Tri-set of bentover lateral raises, lateral raises, and front raises: 8lbs-10 reps, 3 sets. Then did some machine shoulder presses for 12-15 reps. Really tryin to work on getting these delts to pop a little more! There is nothing that looks better than a woman with nice, round shoulders!

Asher enjoying the beautiful day:

Keep in the Sunlight

Do not anticipate trouble, or worry about what may never happen. Keep in the sunlight.
-Benjamin Franklin

Building BIGGER Legs

I have scrawny legs. I have always hated them for as long as I can remember and still do. Even as a child I remember always being paranoid about them. Okay, so they're a lot better now than they used to be, but I still wish I could get them bigger!

I know, I know, most women would love to have smaller, slimmer legs. But my legs are just a little TOO small! I have a very boyish shape with NO hips whatsoever. I don't really like my body type. I'd love to have more hips, a bigger butt and legs, and a smaller waist. But I don't and never will. If I gain weight, it goes only to my midsection and a little to my arms, but not my legs at all! :( So I have to keep my fat low, or else I will look really unproportional-fat belly with skinny legs! ugh. I would LOVE to be able to put on a little fat and have some "junk in my trunk"! lol. But oh well.

I know I'm just complaining, so I'll stop, but those are just some of my insecurities and things that I don't like about my body! But I can only try to work with what I have and make the best of it!

Anyway, I've been training for years now, and I just wonder if I have reached my genetic limit as far as muscle growth in my legs. I have seen a small change in my legs over the last three years or so, but not nearly to the extent that I want. I definitely see improvement in the muscle definition and the outer quad sweep, but calves are not really changing much(at least that I can see).

I squat heavy(usually anywhere from 135lbs to 175lbs), and I know that squatting like that is probably hard on my little joints! Sometimes my knees hurt, nothing unbearable or anything, but I just don't want to end up with bad knees from squatting heavy. Maybe I should just give up on my goal of getting my legs bigger and just maintain where they are now. I don't know. I really do like squatting heavy, but maybe I just won't do it as often.

I wouldn't mind my legs looking like this, and this is not TOO unrealistic for me, I don't think:
And here is a pic of my legs, which I hate even putting up here! If you notice, I always crop my legs out of pictures!! lol.

I Work Hard for This!

Just a few things that really get on my nerves....

These comments usually come from people at the gym, when we're talking about losing weight or staying in shape or something, or even just at random times-people will say to me, "oh, just wait until you get older-I used to be skinny like you." Or, "Just wait until you have kids." Basically, they're saying I'm going to get fat one day or that I won't always look the way I do now.

I also hate it when people ask me, "Do you ever eat?" Or, "You must work out for hours every day to look like that." Omg, it is SO annoying.

For one thing, I work HARD to look the way I do! I don't look like this just because I am young, which a lot of people think, or that I was born like this. I don't look like this because I starve myself, or exercise for hours and hours. I look like this because I eat very healthy-I don't starve myself, or even restrict calories. I eat balanced meals throughout the day, make sure to get at least 100 grams of protein, get all my servings of all the food groups(well, except for the veggies! lol), and make sure to get my healthy fats. I probably eat MORE than most people who are overweight, I just eat healthier things and eat more frequently throughout the day, instead of a few big meals. You cannot be lean and toned if you don't focus on eating supportively and getting all the nutrients your body needs.

As far as exercise goes, I do NOT spend hours in the gym. I work out maybe 4-5 times a week, hitting the weights HARD and heavy, and I rarely even do cardio! I train pretty much like a bodybuilder, hitting different muscles on different days, and staying between 6 and 12 reps, 3-4 sets. I am almost always done with my workout in 45 minutes. If I do cardio, it's maybe once or twice a week, no longer than 15 minutes, and it's always some type of interval training.

I was definitely not born like this either. Yes, I do have a high metabolism, and I have never been overweight. So I do think it is a little easier for me than most people to stay lean. BUT-I know that I would NOT be lean and defined if I didn't eat right and train hard with the weights. More than likely I would still be skinny, even if I didn't work out, but it would not be a good skinny! I'd be what you call "skinny fat"-everything would be loose, saggy, flabby, and I'd have no muscle definition, plus a lot more extra fat around my stomach(my problem area, since I am very boy shaped)! But I started lifting weights when I was 12 years old, and I truly believe it is because of that that I have always been pretty lean.

I will continue to live this lifestyle until the day I die! I really don't think I will ever be overweight or out of shape because I can not imagine ever stopping this. I will always exercise and eat healthy, no matter what. I don't care HOW old I am, or if I 8 have kids, I will always stive to be healthy and fit. You better believe that I will be in the gym, even with a huge, pregnant belly! It's a part of me. Do I think I'll always look exactly the way I do now? No. I don't expect that. I know that after I have kids, I may not get my flat stomach back and the skin might be a little looser....and I also know that I will have to work a little harder as I get older to stay lean.

People who tell me to wait until I'm older or wait until I have kids, are just making excuses for themselves because THEY are the ones not doing the right things to stay in shape. They are most likely not eating right, or not working out hard enough or often enough. You can be strong, fit, lean and healthy at any age and no matter how many kids you have!

Too Busy?

"A man too busy to take care of his health is like a mechanic too busy to take care of his tools." -Spanish Proverb-