I Was Wondering..

Do you two remember that you met each other - at my wedding? Sandra's Joe's wife (Steve's best man) and Kara was one of my brides maids. I was just thinking about it and realized that you guys actually met and talked at my wedding. :)

Any objections?

I have been keeping track of my points on a nifty excel spreadsheet that I made. I just updated my points, and I'm noticing a trend. Saturdays are the worst day of the week for me! Would either of you object to me taking Saturday off instead of Sunday? I'm still not going to exercise on either of those days. It's just a diet thing for me.

What do you think?

interesting article

I feel like I'm being a blog hog with all my posts lately but I came across this article this morning and I had to share. What do you think?
http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/24295957/

Way to go, Kara!

I just noticed you lost 2 more pounds for a total of 7! That's awesome, way to go! (and way to go, Julie for the 5 pounds you've lost!!--just in case I didn't already say that)

being sick sucks!

Last week was spring break for my kids so I didn't work out all week, I stayed home with them instead. I was so excited to get back into my workout plan starting today but Friday night I was up all night with a major sore throat. Joe was gone on a scout campout so I couldn't sleep anyway so while I was awake I was in agony. I went to the instacare on Saturday and was told that I have a viral infection in my throat. There is nothing they can do about it but I can take zinc 6 times a day to help it go away sooner and if I'm not feeling better in a few days I'm supposed to go back to the doctor. My throat hurts so bad it hurts to talk. It hurts worse than when I've had strep throat. It feels like I'm swallowing broken glass every time I swallow. To top it off when I take the zinc it makes my stomach hurt. Happy days! Needless to say I'm eating a lot of soft, comfort foods. (like rice pudding, yum!) If I'm not feeling better by Wednesday I'm going back in to the doctor, this is just wrong!

p.s. this is just to explain my super low points so you understand why I'm slacking and not just so I can whine although I sure do feel like whining! I hope I can catch back up soon!

spring break!

This week I am having a hard time getting any points at all. It's spring break for my kids so they're home from school and their cousin is staying with us while his parents are on a cruise. Right now I have 4 teenagers in my kitchen playing settlers of catan and getting ready to eat no bake cookies that I just made. I can't not have snacks on a game night for my teenage sons, right? I didn't even work out today because I took nyquil last night and ended up sleeping way in. I am still trying, but I'm not stressing. I'll make it all up next week!

Have You Guys Tried Spark People?

It's an awesome site I found after I had Kathrynn.. it's actually connected to a site I used when I was pregnant with her - Babyfit.com, that helps you stay healthy while you're pregnant.

Well, Spark People is totally free and just AWESOME! When you start your account you create a goal for yourself. It only allows you to create realistic goals and will actually reject too much weight lost in a certain period of time. It has a place for you to journal what you eat, letting you know how many calories, how much fat, how much protein, etc., you've eaten during the day. It also gives suggestions of things to eat that will help you stay within the prescribed calories per day (for me it's between 1220 and 1550). My favorite part of it is the recipe section - there's a tool where you can enter your own recipes and it gives you a food label, letting you know how much of EVERYTHING there is in it.
There's also a fitness log for you, with suggestions for workouts. It also tells you how much you burn for a given workout. The site provides reports of your progress - always nice to see it on a chart! :)
There are also groups to join on there. It's just a GREAT website. It reminds me a lot of Weight Watchers online, but better... mostly because it's free, but some of the tools (like the food label for your recipes) are a little more complete.
You guys should go register - the website's www.sparkpeople.com.

biggest loser finale

So, we went home teaching last night and I missed most of the biggest loser, I set my DVR but my tv was having problems and I ended up only getting to see the last 20 minutes of the show. Way to go all of the finalists! I cannot believe the change in all three, Roger, Kelly and Ali, since last weeks show. I knew Ali was going to win before she stepped on the scale, I could see that she had lost more than 6 pounds since the last show. Amazing! I wish I could have seen everyone else before and after, but oh well. What did you think, Kara?

Hey! Nice Header! :)

I thought I was on the wrong blog for a second. :)

How are you guys holding up this week? It's been kind of an ugh week for me (snow, teething baby, etc), but I did a Denise Austin DVD workout today and feel GREAT! I love her DVDs - she lets you choose which segments you want to do in which order. You can work out for 15 minutes or over an hour. Love it! :)

Start!

Check out this website. I think it is a great tool for tracking excercise and diet stuff. :) Plus it's affiliated with the American Heart Association. You can't go wrong there!

The biggest loser!

Is anyone else watching this? Last nights show was inspirational! I was shocked and amazed at the weigh in results. If you are watching what did you think? If you aren't then you have no idea what I'm talking about and you're missing out on an awesome, inspirational show.

Arm Toning Exercises

Here are some killer arm toners, courtesy of Prevention.com --> LINK

The No-Diet Diet

Here's a link to a great article I just read on RealSimple.com. Great resource!

LINK

call me a pansy

Well, I think I'm going to have to bow out of this competition. I'm still going to continue to eat healthy and work out, but the point system is not working out for me. It's a good idea, but I just can't do it right now. I have some other issues I need to focus on at the moment. I'll still keep an eye out on this site. Good luck to everyone.

Wow! My Sugar Tolerance is GONE!

We spent the day at my inlaw's house today and made brownies (with frosting - yum!). I was so excited that I could actually have one and when I did, it was almost too much for me. I asked Steve and his mom if they were having the same reaction - if they were too sweet or too rich and neither of them thought so, it was just me.
I'm way excited about this. As I've mentioned before, I have big issues with sugar, but I think the weeks of not having it daily has really really reduced my sugar tolerance. Even better, whenever I'm at the store, I'm in no way tempted to get a treat. I'm loving this!
Hope you guys are experiencing something similar. :)

Really hope you're enjoying the weekend off - I know I am! :)

stressing hard!

Today is turning out to be a hard day for me. I want to eat everything in sight but instead I will come here and vent out my frustrations. Hopefully this will keep me from eating my whole fridge! Having teenage boys is hard work sometimes. They are in a phase of life right now where they are finding it really hard to get along. Some days I swear they don't even like each other. Add that on to the fact that teenagers are just plain obnoxious by their very nature (sometimes) and I am on the verge of losing it today! I took them to walmart with me to pick out some snacks and meals for conference weekend and on the way to the store they asked if we could go to krispy kreme and get a donut after walmart. I said, sure, if they were good. How sad is it that even with bribery an almost 15 and 13 year old cannot behave like mature people in the store? What in the heck? It doesn't help that it's the first heavy day of my monthly visitor and I'm already stressed with Joes work and other things that are going on so of course I am just aching for a comfy spot to read a book and a pile of chocolate to nibble on while I read. I can't even give in to the book yet because I need to get the younger boys ready for swim lessons. I do feel better after writing all this down, maybe I can make it through today! :)

Conference Weekend

I was wondering what you guys thought about taking tomorrow off of the challenge collectively. I'm only thinking about it because we spend the whole day as a family being vegetables.. I know I won't have a chance to workout at all.

What do you guys think?

From Today's Workout..

I was all about lunges and pilates today.. I'm going to be in pain. My bum already hurts. :)

This is one of my favorite pilates moves:
Front/Back
A. Lie on your left side with both legs extended. Align your left side with the edge of your mat so that your shoulders, back, and bum are parallel with the mat's edge. Prop your head with your left hand just behind your left ear. Place your right palm on the mat in front of your abs for support. (For a greater challenge, you can place your right hand on your head.) Then bring your legs forward 45 degrees in front of your body, keeping your bum, hips, back and shoulders aligned with the mat's edge. Lift your right leg about an inch above your left. As you inhale, slowly sweep your right leg forward, only sweep your leg as far forward as you can without losing the alignment in your hips. Your right hipbone should remain stacked above your left, not tilted forward or back.
B. Once you've swept your leg as far forward as you can, exhale as you sweep it back behind your body and slightly up. Keep your abs strong throughout and squeeze your bum. Do 8-12 reps then switch legs. Do 2 sets.
*The key to this one is to not move any part of your body except for your legs. It works your abs, hips, legs, and bum and is AWESOME!

This is my favorite stretch, courtesy of Denise Austin (who's my hero!).
Pigeon
Get on your hands and knees. Bring your left knee forward between your hands, just to the inside of your left wrist, placing your left foot closer to your right hand. Exhale and extend back through your right leg, sinking deeper into the stretch. Hold for 20 seconds, breathing normally, then release and repeat with the other leg.
(You're basically sitting on the outer part of your knee and thigh with your other leg extended behind you. I like to lean forward and put my head on the floor in front of me - such a good stretch!)

My crazy week

This past week has been crazy busy for me. Tanner turned 2 on Friday. So, there were cupcakes and brownies and ice cream... My baby only turns 2 once. So I had one cupcake on Friday, one brownie and a scoop of ice cream on Saturday.

I still lost 2 pounds last week though! I'm really proud of that!

What do you do for cardio when you work out from home? I've got stuff for toning, but I never know what to do for cardio when I'm trying to get a good workout done at home. Ideas? What works for you?

My Own Personal Cheerleader

I just got done working out and had a little audience this time.. oh, how I miss going to Gold's!!! Free child care (that Joseph LOVED) and awesome pilates/yoga classes, not to mention the movie theater cardio room.. Kara, are you still going to the one on Bandera and 1604? If so, I'm SOOOO JEALOUS!!
Back to the subject.. Joseph sat on the couch and watched me workout today (when he wasn't trying to knock me over), the entire time saying stuff like "Mommy, you're really, really strong," and "Great job, Mommy!" and "Mommy, does that hurt?" It was pretty funny. Had to share. :)

By the way - I have an entire library of at home workouts. When I realized that we were moving to Logan with Steve working in Layton and that I would have no car, I started doing research. They all really kick my bum. I'd be more than happy to post some if you're interested. :)

So proud of myself!

Yesterday was a crazy day here, as all Mondays are. I have a workout class for 2 hours in the morning, it's early out day, it's scouts day (which I always forget!!) and now my kids have swimming lessons at 5:30. So, yesterday while the kids were at school I had to go shopping for new sheets--shopko had an awesome 50% off sale so I got really nice sheets for a good price! Then while I was picking the kids up Joe called and asked me to run an errand for him in Provo then I had to run home and get homework and chores done and get the kids ready for swimming lessons. We got to swim lessons and the older boys and I ran/worked out while the younger boys swam and when lessons were over we decided to stay and play raquetball until 7. Do you see where I'm going with this? I had neglected to put dinner in the crockpot and by 7 we were all starving. We went to burger king for dinner and I got----a grilled chicken salad! I didn't even sneak a single french fry, even though we ended up throwing a bunch away! They smelled so delicious and I was surrounded by them, I even had to pick them up to give them to my kids and I still resisted temptation! Woohoo! It was hard but I really wanted that point for "no fried foods"