DAY Fourteen: Cardio

I had an inservice early today, so it was my test to see if I could work out and make it to work on time.  I did it with no time to spare!  My posts will now dwindle:(

 

I walked 30 minutes.  I am trying to come up with a schedule so that I get weights in 3 times per week.  We will see.

Day Thirteen: Pilates and weights

Got up very late…my kiddos are at the Grandparents three hours away!  I went to bed late and  got up very late…7:30.  I did 22 minutes of Advanced Body Slimming Pilates and 12 minutes of Denise Austin upper body srengthening.  I only did the Level 2 b/c I did 3 yesterday and I don’t normally do weights consecutively.  

I did talk my husband into a walk last night too…but we went reallllly slow!  It was a nice conversational walk!  LOL!

Coconut oil

You hear a lot about how trans fats are so horrible for you.  Honestly, in the past I have been so much about keeping the weight off that I didn’t pay a lick of attention to my margarine or other fake butters.  My husband starting researching it and even went and bought his own butter when I refused to switch.  I ran across some stuff on Coconut oil and started getting a bit interested.  This website offers good information on the reason for using coconut oil.

I’m off to clean out my fridge!

Going Green

This is something my family has sort of done some of without really intentionally doing it.  My husband is probably more intentional than I am; he has a garden and would love to completely feed us off of our own crops!  He can’t stand the thought of pesticides and chemicals going into our kid’s bodies.  We are very lucky b/c our inlaws give us a ton of buffalo and deer every year that doesn’t get subjected to the crappy injections. Unfortunately it is too costly for us to go completely chemical free, but we both wish we could for our kid’s sake.

One thing we definitley are great about is not using paper plates, plastic silverware, paper towels, etc.  Yes, we do use TP!  Ha!  And it isn’t like we never use that stuff. We just aren’t disposable in that category.  One website I have really been getting into is Going Green.  A suggestion she has for limiting landfill waste is ditching paper napkins and going to cloth!  We have decided to try it!  In the long run it will be cost-effective, they won’t have any dyes and will be laundered only in chemical free detergent!  Makes it good for those little mouths!

My son H thinks this is a nifty idea and even asked if he could take a cloth napkin in his lunchbox this year.  Not sure if I can branch out that far. I have this thing about using your kids to make a statement, and he would definitely get noticed.  Probably not in a good way!  I’ll have to think about that.

Take the cloth napkin challenge and Go Green with us!!!

Day Twelve! Cardio and Weights

Today the kids are at their Grandparents house!  Woo hoo!  This happens 1 weekend per year.  That is it.  My inlaws meet us an hour and a half from our house and take the kids another hour and a half to theirs.  Normally I get a ton of projects done that have been laying around all year.  But this year, other than dragging my dh to school and making him hang some stuff in my classroom, I am just hanging out!  Alone.  In the peaceful bliss of my home:)  

Okay…I do miss them though….I can’t wait to see them tomorrow.

I mention all this b/c it is the first day that my 6 year old hasn’t come down during my weight lifting and been disappointed that he can’t watch Spongebob,  It was nice not to wrestle H for the remote:)

I walked for 35 minutes,  Then did Level 3 weight training…Denise Austin style.  Her arms kill!  But mine are getting there.  I have reached my short term push-up goal.  I can do at least 10!  Good ones!  I am proud of that,  I started doing two that pretty much sucked.  I’m noticing a lot more control in my movements when I lift!  16 days until school starts…and then the real test begins.  Can I keep up with this?  I should start an on-line poll.

Bad Mom Award (Cookie Crisp Cereal)

I swore when I had kids that I would never buy junk cereal.  You know the kind:  over loaded with sugars, corn syrup and other crap but marketed as having essential vitamins to make your kids grown big and strong.  Where?  I can’t see them.  Are they under the chocolate chips?

Remember Rocky Road Cereal?  Awww man…that was the best.  I begged my mom to buy that for me.  When she finally relented, I thought she was the best.  I immediately got hooked and begged for the sugar induced heavenly treat everytime she went to the store.  I could have eaten that box in one sitting.  Oh yeah, I did.  I tried to ignore the way she looked at the bowl when she poured the chocolatey coated marshmallows in.  She would say “This is not breakfast.  It’s candy.”  

Fast forward to my Mom years, and I am trying to fight the marketing that ploys on my nearly 7 year olds brain cells.  ”He will eat only whole grain cereals and stuff with lots of vitamins and minerals.  And above all else…no chocolate.”

Guess what my guy talked me into…Cookie Crisp cereal.  I don’t really know how it happened.  It was a momentary lapse of weakness I think.  He was just being so extra good that day.  And it was on sale.  I relented.  I gave in.  I was my Mom.  And now he thinks I am uber cool.

And I have to admit, that stuff is darn tasty.  I try to look disgusted as I pour out the nummy little cookies into his bowl.  I look at the bowl disapprovingly.  ”This is not breakfast” I say.  ”This is candy.”  As he looks away I sneak a  heavenly bite into my mouth.  Hmm…I think back to my own Mom. Do you think?

I wonder where I could hide a box of Rocky Road around here?

Day Eleven! Cardio and Yoga

I went walking today at 6:10.  I have been trying to adjust my route for when school starts and get it down to 30 minutes with the best hills.  I am down to 35.  It seems like no matter what, it is going to be at least 35.  I am going to train myself to be an alarm person.  So far I have not needed an alarm to wake up for this, but once school hits and I am teaching 25 5 year olds, I will be a little overtired.  So, I think I am going to set for 5:45 and aim for leaving at 6.  I will have everything laid out and ready!

Today…Walked for 35 minutes, but I felt like I was a little slow.  It was drizzly and dreary.  Where did the sun go?  I got home and did 15 minutes of Yoga…thank you Random for the awesome DVD!  I am trying to master the one on balance and I am getting better.  Until it hits Level 4 Warior Pose 3 and and Dancer poses, I do pretty well.  I am by nature not very “balanced” in more ways  than one!  My new short term goal is to work on these poses and get them down!

Any suggestions for a good brand of walking shoe??

Great Low-Fat Wrap Combination

Spread Lite Cucumber Ranch dressing on a Flat Out Bread

Sprinkle with Italian seasoning and parmesaen

1 layer of Chicken Deli-Meat

I slice of Swiss cheese

layer on some green pepper,  white onion, and sundried tomatoes

add romaine lettuce on top.

Roll and enjoy!

Flax Seed benefits

I have been really into exploring NATURAL health supplements and one thing I have been learning lots about is flax seed.  I think I am going to start this. As you may have read, I have some heart issues in my family, which this is suppose to help. Here is a link to information on Flax Seed if you are interested: http://lowcarbdiets.about.com/od/whattoeat/a/flaxinfo.htm.   Looks like it would go great in smoothies! 

Anyone have any experience with this?

Fad diets: Work with your body, not against it!

I hate fad diets…you know the ones:  low-carb/no-carb, no red meat, yadda yadda diets that just starve your body for a certain food and then you gain it all back the next week when you can’t overcome the cravings anymore.  It seems really simple to me;  You eat as many fruits, veggies, and grains, and balance out with all else.  Try to go organic if you can, cut out as much artificial crap like food dyes and corn syrup, take out as much of the empty calories as possible, (there goes my diet soda, which I am ashamed to admit I will drink in excess 3 per day if it is in the house), and drink water ALL day.  And most importantly go LOW FAT, not NO-FAT!  Here is a link that I believe should be required of all fad diet followers:  http://www.healthcastle.com/nutrition-myths.shtml  This site is a wealth of information for us “common-folk.”

I get so frustrated that this ad keeps popping up that guarantees you will lose 11 pounds in 9 days. How is that even healthy??  Which nutrient are you being robbed of?  It can’t be that hard to understand that you WILL gain every bit of that back when your body tells you enough is enough…  Why can’t people be more patient and work with their body instead of against their body…which I believe is what fad diets do…work against you.

 

Dang…if I were a health guru that would be my slogan:  Work with your body, not against it.