Whoa!!! Fall off the blogging wagon for a couple months and everything changes! (I'm referring to the new posting setup).

Well, this poor little Healthy Challenge blog has become sorely neglected. So has my body!! lol

Since the challenge seems to be not so popular, I figured I should maybe just start posting my personal progress in the Healthy Lifestyle department. Gwennaelle, feel free to join in. :)

My progress lately has been pretty much more like regression. I've taken to eating very unhealthily and getting NO exercise whatsoever. I am currently at my heaviest weight ever, short of the last pregnancy when I shot up to 232 pounds. I had twins in there, so I find that understandable to a point. My fat pants are now tight on me. I seriously have one pair of shorts that still feel comfortable on me, everything else is tight all over the place---in the waist, in the legs, in the butt area. Trust me, it's not a pretty sight. Aaaand the rolls around my midsection have become quite noticeable. Used to be I could wear a baggy shirt, and kind of cover up the fact that I had a tummy. Not anymore. sigh.
I am very unhappy with the way I look. More importantly I don't like how I'm feeling. I've had quite a bit of tummy trouble lately. I'm pretty sure that's because of my lousy diet. My feet hurt, and I get tired walking up one flight of stairs.

SO, what am I gonna do about it?

I'm thinking of small changes. It's too much maybe to try to do everything all at once. I've decided to commit myself to thirty days of exercise for the month of May. I've been good so far. Yesterday morning I popped in an exercise video and did the full thirty minutes, and today I did 30 minutes on the treadmill when I dropped my boys off at their preschool class. Two days down--woot!!

I'm hoping I can form a habit by committing to this initial 30 days of exercise. Next month I'll try to keep the momentum going by continuing to exercise at least 4 days a week, and I'll add in an additional 30 day committment--maybe watching my calories, or eliminating soda. Whichever feels most necessary at that point. Right now, I'm just hoping that by the end of May, I can climb a few more than one flight of stairs before I feel so crappy.

Wish me luck!

Let's hope we can do it again

I enjoyed this challenge because I had people to share stuff with.

I hope we can start it again and waiting until we can do so here is the kind of breakfast I fix myself in the morning. The blender you see behind is one evil little appliance. It is a blender with a thing inside you can put in or remove. If you put it then you can add any fruit and it will get the juice out of the fruit much better than with a fruit juice maker and leaving a lot less trash than with a fruit juice maker. In the end it is also much easier to clean.

It was expensive but I got it for my B-Day a few years ago and it was on sale so it was ok (but still expensive to my taste).

Anyway I hope this can give you ideas and will make you feel like starting this over again.

Our First Challenge Winner is.......

Woot! Way to go Gwennaelle!

Sorry it took me  a few days to post this. I'm being totally lazy this week. But, I am SO ready to get back on the wagon Monday morning, when we'll start up a whole new challenge. It would be great to get a few more participants, so girls if you know anybody interested in getting healthy, send them over.

Gwennaelle, I'd really like to post your picture over there on the side. I might just go steal one off of your facebook page!!!!
Now, tell me. Can you use the $25 giftcard, or would it work with the exchange rate? I don't know how any of that works. Let me know what you think. I could send you some goodies instead....peanut butter....a scarf...a new bikini....lol. Let me know what you think!

the best best best juice ever

Alright, after a steak and rice I was still hungry so I fixed myself another fruit juice:

One big orange

A cup of frozen cherries

A cup and a half of water with two tea spoon of brown sugar (not white) and two tea spoon of Rose water.

Several slices of ginger

This makes about a pint and it is just sooooo good.

15 points

Sunday is always my lowest day but I don't care :)

Hope you had fun during this challenge. I did.

Last day of the challenge!!!

Hey Ladies!! This is it....the last day of our first challenge. How did you do????

Me? Not so great.

So, anyway. Post your points for the four weeks will ya, so we can determine who our winner is. I know it's not me! LOL


I'll add mine up and post them either tonight or in the morning.

What do you think? Are you guys up for another round? I seriously need to redeem myself. I think we need a week off in between though.
Let me know what you think. If you're on board with more of this, if this hasn't really worked for you, or if there are some other things you might like to include in the points, or things we should eliminate.

Hope you have a relaxing Sunday!

19 points

freaking tired. Date went well :P I did not get a chance to tell all the things I wanted to but it was great anyway.

I almost ran away at the end, felt embarrassed, I don't know why. He was kind of surprised to.

Going to bed.

'Night

Thinspiration

I love Pinterest. You find so much fun stuff on there!

Saw this this morning, and I love it.

Have a great weekend ladies!!

22 points

22 points today and tomorrow is going to be a low day I think. Unless I find a way to eat healthy which I know is really hard for me to do when I go to Lyon.

We shall see.

26 points today

Tomorrow I'll go running with my little toy to check and control my heart beat. i love how I found out that I am able to lower or make it go faster on purpose. I can control my heart pretty well but not for too long. I wish I could let you play with this toy.

Belly fat

I wanted to share some exercises from an article from All You magazine here. The link's there < if you want to check it out in it's entirety. I just thought it might be easier to see it all laid out on one page here.

Belly fat is one of my bigger issues on my health journey. I have quite a bit of it, so I love coming across articles like this with exercises to target that area.

All you need is a flat surface and a broomstick. The article suggests doing these five exercise three times a week. I think I'm going to start doing this and then supplementing the other two days with a cardio/toning workout and maybe try to get a half hour walk in each day, or at least some other form of exercise.
I keep telling you guys I hate running, and I really do...but I wish I didn't. I'm always so impressed and amazed by runners. I just wish I had it in me to do it. Maybe if I had some really good running shoes and a REALLY good running bra, I'd give it a try....or not.

anywho, here are the exercises:

.

1. BELLY BLASTER: Windshield wiper

1Lie on your back with your arms out to the side and knees bent. Keep your knees together, feet lifted and shoulders firmly on the floor while you rotate your knees to the right, then lower them toward the floor. Return knees to center and rotate them to the left. Return to center. Do 10 touches on each side, working your way up to 20.

2. BELLY BLASTER: The vacuum

Lie flat on your back with your knees bent and feet flat on the floor. Take a deep breath that noticeably extends your belly. Exhale all the air out and pull your belly button in toward your spine―as if your stomach and lower back could meet. Tighten your abdominal muscles. Hold for 2 seconds, then relax your abdominal muscles and breathe normally. Repeat 10 times.

3. BELLY BLASTER: Broomstick lifts

Holding a broomstick, lie on the floor with your legs and arms extended, palms facing the ceiling. Lift the broom off the floor over your head, coming to a seated position, as you bend and lift your knees until your calves are parallel to the floor. Bring the broomstick to your knees (or as far as you can go). Hold for 2 seconds, then return to start. Repeat 10 times. Work your way up to 20.

4. BELLY BLASTER: The plank

Lie on your stomach and rest on your forearms. Lift your body off the ground so your weight is resting on your elbows and toes. Keep your abs tight and try to make a straight line from your head to heels. Hold for 15 seconds, rest and repeat three times. Over time, increase the hold in five-second increments until you've worked up to a full minute.

5. BELLY BLASTER: Torso twists

Sitting with your knees bent, feet on floor and hands on your hips, draw your abdominals in. Lean back slightly and soften your back, making a slight C-shape with your torso. (The farther you lean back, the more challenging the exercise.) Next, rotate your entire torso (not just your shoulders), starting at your hips, to your right side. Return to the center, then turn to the left. Return to center and repeat for 20 to 30 seconds.


I think I definitely need to plan more. My meals, my snacks, my exercise routine...everything. Without a plan, I'm just not getting it done.

I am not losing steam

I am just channeling it in an other direction.

I am trying hard not to get too carried away with this story. I think he and I are grown ups who have had their share of heart aches and trials and if we want this story to last OR to have a beautiful end we need to take time. I hope I am not being too much of a jerk to him. Anyway I think we are going to talk a lot on Saturday. I'll keep you up to date.

If this works I guess I will need you two cause I don't feel like talking about it to my close friends and relatives beside my sisters (one is on her mission in Italy and the other fortunately is living in the same city as I do).

Yes, he is not a member and I know some people will be all eyes and ears. I guess I want to talk about it to anyone who is not a member and living in France.

But we first need to talk a lot on Saturday.

Basically, if I don't write here on Saturday it will mean that I am too busy to spend time with you :P

Anyway I got 22 points yesterday.

Ooops

I totally forgot to write here yesterday.

I did bad anyway like 19 points for my Aïkido class that got me 9 points and eating my calories range. I did not eat enough veggies and fruit and I kind of ate here and there.

Blah

Hey ladies, Im still here, and still trying to lose weight. Im just in a funk right now. My scale is steadily increasing even when I *know* it should be going down. Im eating healthy, exercising plenty and doing the right things (even with the wrong ones thrown in there). Im sure some of it has to be muscle increasing. I can visibly see some of my fat (especially on my legs) disappearing but the number on the scale is making me depressed. I know its just a number, but that number is taking over my life. I know this is silly to say but I could really use some prayers right now.

oh, my abs are gonna' hurt tomorrow!

So much for my big start to the final week. I got 5 points yesterday. How is that even possible?

Not even trying.

Different story today though. I did a cardio/ab sculpt workout this morning. I think I'll be sorry tomorrow. I think my abs are already hurting.

Got my power smoothie down already. Added a big ol' handful of spinach to some juice and frozen fruit. It came out very green today. Usually my boys like to give my smoothies a try. Justin just turned his nose up at it today. That's alright--more for me that way. It was actually pretty yummy. (frozen pineapple made it super sweet).

Saw this list of metabolism boosting foods and thought I'd share.
A few of them surprised me though......

Well, one of them suprprised me. Cottage cheese boosts your metabolism? Who would have thought?

I'll have to find out about that one. Sometimes I like cottage cheese. Depends on the curd size I think.

I've got three super ripe bananas to use up, I'm going to research a healthy recipe for them today. I'm thinking banana chocolate chip muffins. I'll share the recipe if they come out good.

Have a great day--and week!!

in and out

Just popping in real quick before I go to bed. I had to go into work tonight, and that put a kink in my plans for the day. (I was supposed to be off). I'll tally up my points for the day in the morning and post them then.

Sweet dreams for now!!

And,,,,,out!

23 points

I ran so well today that I did 45 minutes this time.

Then I rushed home for a shower cause I had a meeting for pictures.

Well it turned out it was to do porn pictures and I had already given my business card. I could not retrieve it. Too bad.

The whole thing lasted 1h15 and it was really funny to see how it was hard to make him tell me what he was expecting from me. When it eventually came out of his mouth I remained sooooo cool. I am impressed. Anyway it is going to cost him an arm and a leg to show me his little thingy. the best is that he knows he has a beautiful body. Ok ladies, you know at first glance despite the clothes when a man has a beautiful body right? Well I could not be as sure as he is.

I mean it was not to make porn pics exactly, it was to make pictures that will get him in this industry because he really believes in his potential you know girls? I mean every time he sees a woman he just want to f*ck her one way or another.

Er....Man do you realize that those adult movies actors are not just pervs but have real physical abilities? I mean you just told me that you can't do it when you're tired well movies are not going to be made when you're in shape, you have to be in shape for the movie and that's all.

My gosh....

And the best was that he was so stupid. I mean he did not understand a word out of two that came out of my mouth and we are supposed to both speak French. I should have guessed it was a bad idea when I had him on the phone and he had the same stupid accent as my ex.

Anyway, hope you had a great laugh.

worst week ever!

Seriously....93 points for the week! It would have been 69 if we didn't have those slacker points.

Can you tell I threw in the towel this week? Hardly made any effort.

Well, I'll be back on track tomorrow ladies. What about you??

Last week of the challenge coming up. I'm going to "challenge" myself to make it my best week yet. (that ain't saying much!)

Who's ready for a strong finish?

14 points today

I barely made it. I spent too much time today biting my nails, worrying about what to say, what to do, what is proper, what is not.

I almost forgot to eat or to take anything in waiting for "his" email.

Is this the best time? When anything is possible so you just wait anxiously showing enough interest to keep him coming but hoping you don't show too much so you don't scare him away.

And by the way tonight I hate our interpretation of what the gospel is supposed to be but I guess someday I will say "yay I am so glad things went this way".

It'd better happen.

Still here!

I'm still here. Yay.

I think Jon may have decided not to bother getting rid of the connection. We had a slight disagreement about it over the phone and he hung up on me; but hasn't said anything about it since. So we'll see.

If anything else goes wrong though, it'll be over I'm sure. (the internet connection, not our marriage lol).

Well, here's what my weekend has consisted of so far:

I'm pretty sure I've lost this challenge.
But, Monday starts a new week. Thank goodness for fresh starts!

23 points today again

Ok? Am I the only one here?

That'd be too bad :(

23 points

23 today and keeping my fingers crossed that everything will be alright for Mikki.

If not I think that if Khourt is interested we could make this blog and challenge permanent in a fun way that we could try to figure out.

At least this way Mikki could jump on back anytime she wants.

But let's hope nothing of the kind happens.

Super disappointed

Ladies, I may have to drop out of this challenge.

We're having some financial problems currently, and my husband feels one thing to help would be to eliminate our cable and internet connections to save money.

Don't know if it's going to happen for sure, but thought I'd give you a heads up. If I seem to disappear from the radar, then that's what happened.

I'm granting you both (Gwennaelle and Khourt) admin priveleges to the blog, so you can make changes if you need to.

Hope you choose to continue on with the challenge!

Thank you Mikki for the "healthy" link you posted.

I am going "healthy" too in my posts. Here is a little Breast cancer campaign awareness:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VsyE2rCW71o&feature=results_main&playnext=1&list=PL7B119E21BDE8595F

Dr. Oz says....

Wow, I got 5 points yesterday.

Just, wow!

I didn't keep a food journal yesterday, and I can't remember what I ate. I'm pretty sure I went over my limit though.

15 for today.

Way over my calorie limit.

I did exercise though.

I really need to plan out a menu for myself.

I think I'd do much better that way.

Saw this great list somewhere the other day. I added it to Pinterest and now I'm adding it here.

Click on the picture to go to Dr. Oz's page with this on it.

It's much easier to read there.

I really like Dr. Oz.

I think if he thinks the stuff on this list is ok, then it works for me too.

Saving my spot...

Just a quick fly-by post before I get more detailed tonight (when the kids are in bed) but yesterday was a LONG day for me and today wasnt much shorter. I ran 11.25 miles yesterday (longest run EVER) and today I feel surprisingly well. Not walking funny or anything ;)

The 2nd Team Losh event (hosted by the local homeschool 4H) happened tonight and we were able to attend. Losh had a blast. Ill get pictures and a better update on my progress later..

Ive been on track with eating healthy, but snacks are still killing me.

I am not done with my soda bottle yet :)

My Aïkido class got canceled because only the girls showed up (3) and on Thursday we are supposed to put the tatami back in the closet. Being only four it was nearly impossible so the teacher canceled the class.

So I worked out at home a little to have my exercising for the day.

Tomorrow I am buying a new thingy for my heart rate since the other one is not working. I should be able to use it on Saturday :)

Gosh I just remembered that I must take my pics back from the café where I was exhibiting them! They are going to hate me if I just leave them there.

Anyway my points for the day are 21-1=20

Back on the right track

I ran 45 minutes today because I could. I know I won't be doing this again as a regular thing.

I got 23 points but I am taking one out because I bought a bottle of diet coke which I intend to enjoy! Dang it :P

I had to go for it, it is not like it jumped in my fridge by accident. So I got 22 points for the day :)

Craptastic Week!

I'm blaming it on my period. That's all there is to it.
Oh my gosh, I was so sore yesterday! My cardio/sculpt workout on Monday tore me up. All I could bring myself to do yesterday was some very low key stretching. Like 10 minutes worth.
I have these fabulous varicose veins, and since I'm on my period, they're SCREAMING at me. They didn't help matters yesterday. Thank goodness, I thought to wear some compression hose to work last night. I think I would have been dying otherwise.

To top it off, I have thrown all caution to the wind when it comes to making good food choices. I had like, two cups of chocoalte nut crunch popcorn for breakfast yesterday. Actually it was more of a morning snack-I skipped breakfast. I made a special trip to the store JUST for a Pepsi. Thank gosh the food selections at work sucked last night. I made myself a turkey sandwich. I think that's the only thing that saved me from going over on my calories. But let me tell ya', I 've got my calories goal set pretty high, so that's not really saying much. I'm only aiming for a half a pound per week weight loss goal.

So, I managed 18 points yesterday, thanks to my high calorie goal. I think I should lower it, because I'm not even losing that half pound a week right now.

Haven't got my workout in yet today, and breakfast has consisted of a Pepsi and half a donut. Looks like I'm off to another spectacularly unsuccessful day.

Khourt's 1-29 to 1-31

1-29 Points:Vitamin: 1
Water: 2
Exercise: 5
TOTAL: 8

Honestly, I cant remember what else I had/did on the 29th, but I do know Ive been getting my water, vitamin and exercise in daily. And my memory for yesterday (30th) is pretty bad too, so Ill just log what I do remember.

1-30 Points:Exercise: 5
Vitamin: 1
Water: 2
TOTAL: 8

1-31 PointsExercise: 7
Water: 2
Blog: 3
Food Journal: 3
TOTAL: 15

Today was craptastic food wise. The only kind of fruit I had was apple in the form of a pie. I did eat an orange as a snack, but my veggie consumption was WAY below normal. For breakfast I had a piece of toast and 2 sausage patties. Lunch was some waffle fries from Chick fil A and a Chicken Salad sandwich, but the lettuce was really cold (I *hate* super cold food) so I took it off. Dinner was French fries from Mcdonalds and 1/4 of my daughters cheeseburger that she didnt eat. Oh and I had a coffee cake as another snack. But I *really* blew it when we were out shopping today on Fro-Yo. Its my weakness.

(Fro-Yo with Cheesecake, Brownie, Hot Fudge, Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough)



Tomorrow I should get my new running shoes in the mail and I want to test them out so Ill eat a "healthy" breakfast of pasta to fuel my run and then test out the 2 pairs and hopefully one of them will work.

Low, very low day today

I did really bad on the calories range today.

I did eat three meals (and even more I guess) I did not do any sport.

I think I get 6 points for the day. I forgot to calculate my points for last week :( I'll do it tomorrow.

Soooooooooo today was kind of hard in a way I guess but since I am back on running tomorrow things will go better.

My friend came to "talk". It went the way I wanted. It was hard but basically I told her nicely to grow up. Of course I know right now she is trying to find flaws in whatever she decides to remember about our discussion. The problem is that I made it clear to her that I don't care either way. She can keep me as a friend or not she just have no control over my feelings and her words are just words, nothing more.

Of course I was much more subtle than this and she left crying. I know it is partly sincere because I made it clear to her that when I needed help I knew I could not turn to her. But I know she is also crying for something that she just does not want to see/understand/acknowledge which is that she needs to feel some kind of power over people and once again I made her feel and therefore know that she has only the power I'll let her have which now amounts to nothing.

As we say in French: I am taking my marbles back.

Of course she will deny she is doing this to people. The problem is that she is then the least understood person on the Earth because everybody who has been close to her agrees with me.

Oh well.....I am now living for myself and she wants any of the friendship I have redefined then great. And if she does not any of it then great. Yet if we are to be close again it will be on a different basis.

Also my thingy to measure up my heart rate is not working so I am sending it back :(

Started out good, but then....

Gwennaelle, I too think I overdid it on exercise today. I didn't do  more than thirty minutes, but the thirty minutes I did kicked. my. behind!
It was a cardio sculpt workout. I think I'll really be feeling it tomorrow. I really enjoyed it though. I think tomorrow I'll do some yoga and toning and then back to the cardio-sculpt on Wednesday.

So, I ended up with 126 points for last week. Better than the previous week, but still plenty of room for improvement.

I have 14 points for today. I started off great with the exercise and breakfast. I tried my smoothie with the spinach in it like you suggested Khourt. It was great. I totally didn't mind the spinach in there at all. If it weren't for the funny color, I wouldn't even have known better.

I took a turn for the worse shortly after breakfast. Totally went overboard on calories the rest of the day. Oh well. Tomorrow's a new day.


Saw this great little visual helper on Pinterest. Thought I'd share it with you.

I'll try to remember these whenI don't have any measuring cups handy.

Went a little over today

I went a little over today with exercising.

I was not able to go running so I exercised at home and then I walked everywhere I could walk to. Up and down hills way much more than my usual amount of exercising but I decided to count only 3 points more (about 45 minutes) even if it was much more.

I found today where in town to get those wonderful umbrellas:

http://www.parapluie-3000.com/advanced_search_result.php?osCsid=3c5acd01aaa04af2a950618a83c64a8a&search_in_description=1&keywords=chantal+thomass&osCsid=3c5acd01aaa04af2a950618a83c64a8a&x=0&y=0

I need one. I need several actually.

Oh and I got 24 points by the way.

oh boy

Almost went to bed without blogging.

My "friend" wants to talk to me. I wonder what about.

No exercising today so it is a low day but I did eat within my calories range and all the stuff so I got 17 points today.

Losing steam

I have lost steam this week guys.

I think I got three days of exercise in and this weekend is totally shot as far as calorie tracking and goals.

Fruit/Veggie consumption has been not so great. I've fallen off the wagon in terms of eliminating my Pepsi intake, and if I'm drinking Pepsi, then you can be assured I'm NOT drinking water.

Pretty sure I'll be starting my period next week sometime, which is probably part of the reason I did so poorly this week. My cravings are usually off the charts the week before that little visitor.

How are you all doing?

Last 25!

Here are the remaining 25 snack ideas from the list.

There have been some great ideas here. I'm going to definitely add some of them to my repertoire.

76. Homemade Popsicles (puree watermelon, strawberries, mango, banana, etc and freeze in popsicle molds)
77. Dates with almond butter or rolled in coconut
78. Quesadilla (whole wheat (or corn) tortillas w/cheese (or not) melted in microwave - adding on tomatoes, beans, corn, olives, avocado or guacamole or whatever sounds good)
79. Watermelon
80. Cubed Apples and Cubed Cheese (this was my husband's favorite after-school snack when he was little) 81. Craisins (I love to eat these with almonds- it's a good combo)
82. Goldfish Crackers
83. Edamame
84. Cheesy Roasted Asparagus (four spears (spritzed with olive-oil spray) and topped with 2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese, baked for 10 minutes at 400°)
85. Turkey Roll-Ups (Four slices smoked turkey rolled up and dipped in 2 teaspoons honey mustard)
86. Strawberry Salad (1 cup raw spinach with ½ cup sliced strawberries and 1 tablespoon balsamic)
87. Oatmeal
88. Banana Smoothie (½ cup sliced banana, ¼ cup nonfat vanilla yogurt, and a handful of ice blended until smooth)
89. Lime Sherbet (1/2 cup serving) with sliced kiwi
90. Apple Chips (dehydrated apples- they are so good!)
91. Black Beans (mix 1/4 cup black beans with 1 tablespoon salsa and 1 tablespoon Greek yogurt for an added twist!)
92. Lettuce wrap (try two slices honey-baked ham with 2 teaspoons honey mustard rolled in a lettuce leaf) 93. Pecans (try five pecans roasted with 2 teaspoons maple syrup and 1 teaspoon cinnamon)
94. Chocolate Covered Strawberries (dip 5 strawberries in 2 squares of dark chocolate- that is still good for you, right?!)
95. Honeyed Yogurt (½ cup nonfat Greek yogurt with a dash of cinnamon and 1 teaspoon honey)
96. Blackberries (so good mixed with plain yogurt)
 97. Frozen Mangos
98. Tropical Juice Smoothie (¼ cup pineapple juice, orange juice, and apple juice, blended with ice)
99. Healthier Banana Bread
100. Peanut Butter Yogurt Dip with fresh fruit

Those last two items link to the site this list came from. I think they have lots more great ideas there.

22 points

I have decided that I will post on my blog the pics I want to post. And she'd better not say anything about it. I think I am ready to piss her off no matter what because if she should really lose it, well I am very close to a post office anyway. If she should decide that we can't be friends anymore I will be very very very happy not to interfere with her decision.

I think that this one for example is really cute and should definitely be on my blog. What do you think?

Khourt 1-25 - 1-28

Good afternoon ladies! Hope you are all doing well. Weve had more doctor and therapy visits keeping us busy, but once again things have slowed down. -

So... Ive been on a running/workout streak that started the day after Christmas. In order to follow my rules I have to do at least 1 mile running, or 30 minutes of walking, or a 30 minute workout every day. I have stuck to my rules, and mostly gone over the 1 mile limit, but there have been some days that Ive just barely got in the 1 mile limit. So far for 2012 I have run 72 miles. Thats my highest month EVER and Im proud of that, but Im more proud of how my body is reacting. Now, during my streak I hope to run LOTS more miles, but also to get faster and to lose some weight.. The weight thing isnt really happening, but I can tell Im gaining more muscle, so maybe it will even out. I will weigh myself tomorrow. Also, Im no tired like I thought I would be from working out every single day. I guess those "resting" days where I just take it easy and walk for 30 minutes or run a short mile are helping. I just wonder how long I can keep it up.

Yesterday I did my "long" run. And well, after my long runs Im starving, so I ate.. and I ate and ate and ate.. And none of it was good. I ate a mini pack of donuts. There was 430 calories in it. Yikes! Then I had a brownie (probably another 400 calories) Then a banana with some PB. way too many calories! - So I think I need to start eating healthier snacks post-run. It might help with the weight issue ;)

And because Ive been lazy and not posting here are my recent points:

1-26 Points:Water: 2
3 Meals: 1
Exercise: 5
Vitamin: 1
Fruits/Veg: 1
Calories: 10
TOTAL: 20

1-27 Points:Water: 2
Vitamin: 1
Exercise: 9
3 Meals: 1
Fruits/Vegs: 1
TOTAL: 14

1-28 Points: (Ill update it later)
Vitamin: 1
Blog: 3
Fruits/Vegs: 1
Water: 2
3 Meals: 1
Calorie Range: 10
Exercise: 10
Food Journal: 3
TOTAL:  31

Food Journal for 1-28: I had a massive strawberry/banana and spinach smoothie with a bit of cranberry juice for breakfast.. For lunch I had a salad stuffed sandwich. And dinner was part of a cheese burger. Not quite the healthiest dinner, but I ran over 12 miles the past 2 days so I think I earned it. I tried to make sure to eat healthier snack foods on the 28th since the 27th was a total calorie bomb. I think I did much better.

Day is done....

Twenty four points again today. BARELY squoze in under my calorie goal.

I'll post the last twenty-five snack items in the morning. I just got home from work and I'm tired!!

Hope you all have a great weekend!

I really do

I almost went to bed without blogging here today.

Since my thingy to measure up my heartbeats does not work I tried to figure out how long it takes me to go back to my normal heart beat rate and I can say that I go back within 5 minutes after running. I never thought my body was actually good for something in sport. I don't know exactly what is my heart beat rate when I run or when I walk but I can tell when my heart is beating fast and when it is not.

For the first time in my life I had my youngest sister giving me a bad look, one that says "I am jealous". I never had such a look :)

Ho and the other good news is that I figured out why I was experiencing some kind of discomfort with one of my knee and I am changing my habit.

Er....habit? I am not sure I can talk about habits concerning my way to run as I have not been running for the past 25 years. Oh wait, as I am thinking of it I realize that this could also explain why running has always been so hard for me.

Anyway after running I hurried home for a shower and then rushed to a photo session and it went beautifully. I am proud of my work.

The sad part is that it was a photo session with my supposedly best friend's ex boy friend and ONCE again I faced how much he is great, he is doing beautifully with his new girl friend which contrast with how much of a witch my supposedly best friend is and how much I am wondering if she deserves my friendship.

I should stop here but at one point, when we took a quick look at the pic I had taken, I just wanted to cry because I knew that if I should post those on my blog she will be horrible to me and consider it a betrayal. I don't really care actually, what I care more is the time and energy I have spent on her because I thought she was a great person. She is a great person but she has decided to be on the wrong side of humanity and this really makes me sad.

I was supposed to only write how much point I had today and I got a little carried over :P

I got 22 points today and now I will go to bed :)

PS: not in bed yeeeeeeeeet! I forgot to show you this:

I am the one far left in the back row. The only one with a green shirt under the keikogi. In Aïkido you only wear a white belt until you can wear the black one but since you wear the hakama BEFORE getting the black belt nobody knows on the tatami who is what really. This is one thing I like about Aïkido: you can't show off. You can only show what you know and practice and help the other improve since you may be wearing the hakama but since it solely depends on your teacher and there is no rule about it, there is really no way you can tell someone has been practicing for longer than you or that you should know this better than your opponent. You can only tell that someone is better than you for this and you're better for that and this is all.

almost through the list

Fourteen points today. Got my exercise in, but JUST went over on my calories. Dangit!!!  I really do much better when I sort of plan out ahead of  time what I'm going to eat for the day. Perhaps I'll work on that next week. So far, I'm still not doing great with my veggie consumption.


Here are another 25 great snack ideas from that pinterest list:


51. Guacamole with veggies
52. Triscuit's Thin Crisps dipped in cottage cheese or hummus
53. Cashews
54. Pretzels
55. Sun Chips (portion control! Read the serving amount on the side!)
56. Cheesy Breaded Tomatoes: Two roasted plum tomatoes sliced and topped with 2 tablespoons breadcrumbs and a sprinkle of Parmesan cheese.
57. Sugar Snap Peas
58. Steamed Veggies (steam non-starchy vegetables in a microwave safe bag and sprinkle with 1 tablespoon of Parmesan cheese or 1/4 cup pasta sauce)
59. Apricots
60. Laughing Cow Light Cheese Wedges
61. Any 100 calorie pack
62. Snack/Granola bar (around 150 calories or less, like Kellogg's All-Bran, Kashi TLC Trail Mix, or Fiber one Bar)
63. Baked chips (about 7-10) with salsa
64. Soy Chips
65. Protein Bar
66. Sweet Potato Fries (one light-bulb sized sweet potato sliced, tossed with 1 teaspoon olive oil, and baked at 400° for 10 minutes)
67. Wrap (I like a slice of turkey, Swiss cheese, baby spinach leaves, and cranberry relish wrapped up in a tortilla) >>ooohhh! This sounds good!
68. Pumpkin Seeds (2 tablespoons pumpkin seeds, sprayed with oil (just a spritz!) and baked at for 400° for 15 minutes or until brown. Sprinkle a tiny amount of salt on top)
69. Bean Salad
70. Broccoli Florets
71. Peaches and Cottage Cheese
72. Chopped Red Peppers (dipped in fat free ranch) >>>who needs ranch with red peppers? they're so delish on their own I think!
73. V8 Vegetable Juice
74. Tuna with Triscuit crackers >>>I love tuna on saltines as well
75. Cooked and Cubed Chicken Breast

Keep up the momentum guys!
:)

Post Edit: Yay!! I just realized I entered my calorie count wrong on the crescent rolls I had for supper. Doubled my points by mistake. So, I was actually ok on my caloric consumption. Woot. Make that 24 points for the day!

IR pics

26 points for the day and here are my IR pics.

They are taken during the brightest moment of the day AND in spring of summer so noooooooo what you're seeing is not frost on a tree at night:)

Khourt's 1-25

1-25 Totals:
Water: 2
Exercise: 5
Vitamin: 1
Fruits/Vegs: 1
Blog: 3
TOTAL: 12

I totally went overboard with my calories today. Its coming up on "that time" and I wanted to eat everything in sight. I ate a healthy breakfast/lunch/dinner but snacking killed me. Oh and my dinner was healthy, but probably close to 900 calories! Yikes!!! Im glad tomorrow is a new day, but tomorrow is filled with doctor visits and will be on the go. I hope I can at least squeeze in a mile or 30 minutes somewhere.

Thanks for posting all the snack ideas. Im craving a smoothie now. Green ones are the best :)

Here is what I found when running

I am thinking this could also make a great infrared picture. If you don't know what they are (no I am not talking about picture taken at night of body heat) I will post some tomorrow.

So 10 points for the calories range

1 point fruits and veggie

1 point for the three meals

1 point multi vitamins

5 points for exercising

3 points blogging here

And finally 1 point for stopping to eat 2 hours before bedtime.

So here are my 23 points of the day :)

The next 25

I didn't do too bad yesterday. I did not get my exercise in but I did get all my veggies in AND MY WATER!  I ate two spinach salads during the day. Not sure if I'll do that again. I don't mind spinach salad, but I should probably try a little more variety. I always put cinnamon almonds and dried cranberries in my salad and top it with balsamic and raspberry vinaigrette. By the end of last night, I was burping up cinnamon almonds. As much as I like them I don't really want to still be tasting them two hours later. lol
23 points for the day--points for everything except the exercise.

Well here's the next twenty five snack items from that list I found on Pinterest. (I'm adding some comments in red today).

26. Air-Popped Popcorn >>I need to buy those single serving bags. That would be perfect!
27. Pistachios
28. Clementines (we call them Cuties or Clemmies)
29. Fruit Smoothie (or Kristen's Green Smoothie- it's actually delicious!)
30. Handful of olives
31. Pickles
32. Handful of blueberries with 2 tablespoons fat-free Cool-Whip
33. Ants on a Log (celery with peanut butter and raisins) >>this is one of my all time favorites!
34. 1 cup mixed berry salad (raspberries, strawberries, blueberries, and/or blackberries) tossed with one tablespoon fresh-squeezed orange juice.
35. Peanut Butter and Bananas on whole wheat bread
36. Trail Mix (make your own! Throw in dried fruit, sunflower seeds, nuts, low-sugar cereals, and even the occasional piece of candy for something sweet.)
37. Orange Slices
38. Cherry Tomatoes
39. Graham Crackers
40. Small Green Salad with light dressing
41. Mango smoothie (frozen mango, mango Greek Yogurt, and a small amount of orange juice)
42. Kabobs (thread low-fat meat, low-fat cheese, pineapple and cherry tomatoes onto a stick- my kids love anything on a stick!) >>>such a great idea, esp. for my kids!!! I'm thinking sliced ham for the low fat meat.
43. Half of a Cinnamon-Raisin topped with peanut butter and banana slices
44. Grilled Pineapple (throw them on the grill or a skillet on med. heat for two minutes or until golden)
45. Baked Apples (one tennis ball-sized apple, cored, filled with 1 teaspoon brown sugar and cinnamon, and baked until tender)
46. Animal Crackers
47. Strawberries dipped in fat-free Cool Whip
48. Low-fat tortilla topped with egg salad, shredded carrots and cucumber slices >>wish I liked eggs!
49. Parfait (build your own with Greek yogurt or plain yogurt, fruit, and granola) >>I love doing this for breakfast.
50. Bowl of bran flakes with 1/2 cup skim milk and berries


Well, wish me luck today. We got a little extra money in the mail today so I'm thinking I want to go out for dinner. That means my calorie goals will probably be shot. I'll try to eat light the rest of the day. I still need to get in my workout too.

Khourt's 1-24

Today was spent doing a LOT of make-up work with the children. And then I ran 4 miles on the dread-mill. For breakfast I had oatmeal. For lunch I had a few fries and a piece of breaded chicken and dinner was a Chicken Burrito. I ate a gel during my run but I dont count those as part of my calories or snacks. I didnt eat as healthy as I should have, but at least I was within my calorie range. Im noticing the scale slightly shift downward, but dont really take official weights until Sundays and I missed this past Sunday.  My mom's income taxes came in today so I got a new pair of running shoes. Im hoping they help with the shin pain Ive been having lately. Otherwise not much else going on around here.

1-24 Points:Water: 2
Food Journal: 1
Calorie Range: 10
Vitamin: 1
Exercise: 8
Blog: 3
TOTAL: 25

Healthy snack ideas

I ended up with 16 points yesterday. I did gret on exercise, but seriously flunked at calorie control. sigh.
I think snacking is an issue.

I need to broaden my repertoire of healthy snack items. Most of the snacks I usually make are certainly not healthy or low fat. I think most of the items on this list match at least one of those two criteria.

I found this list on pinterest. Here's the first 25 ideas. I'll post more tomorrow.

100 Healthy Snack Ideas
From SixSistersStuff.com
1. Frozen Grapes (I used to eat these in college all the time- they are amazing)
2. String Cheese
3. Banana
4. Frozen Banana (peel it first, stick in the freezer overnight- it's like a yummy popsicle)
5. Low-fat Yogurt
6. Sugar-free or fat-free pudding
7. Apple dipped in Peanut Butter (or spread peanut butter on top of apple slice and top with pecans . . . so good!)
8. 100-calorie bag of popcorn
9. Applesauce
10. Raw veggies with hummus (my new favorite!)
11. Almonds
12. Apple
13. Skinny S'more (two graham crackers with one roasted marshmallow and one small square dark chocolate)
14. Smoked Beef Jerky (about 1 oz- look for low-sodium!)
15. Chocolate Milk
16. Hard Boiled Egg
17. Sunflower Seeds
18. Cottage Cheese
19. Sliced Cantaloupe
20. Raisins
21. Pita Bread and Hummus
22. Rice Cakes
23. Sugar-free Jello
24. Dried Fruits
25. Frozen Yoplait Whips Yogurt (these seriously taste like ice cream when they are frozen!)

I need to add a few different items to my grocery list each week. Maybe it would keep me from eating half a bag of potato chips at a sitting!

Second week

Calories range: 10

Fruits and Veggie: 1 It was actually a pretty high day in this subject today.

3 meals: 1

I almost did not get points for this one as I woke up at 10:41 AM!!! No kidding. I cannot believe how much I slept. So I got my usual breakfast and ate a little later.

Multi vitamins: 1

AIkido 1h30 so I get my 5 points for exercising and 4 more points for each additional 15 minutes.

Blogging here: 3

Here is my food journal:

This morning I had my morning fruit juice but I changed the recipe this time. It was made with an orange, cherries and of course ginger.

For lunch I had rice with a left over of veggies for couscous.

For dinner (that I just finished) I had another fruit juice made of apple juice, cherries and ginger (never forget the ginger). I also had beens with tuna. We call them butter beans, they are just like green beens but they are yellow instead of green.

I did very very good on my fruits and veggie today. I had a tiny bit of junk food but it was just a few bits and I think the last time I had some was....last year?!?!?!?

So here are my 3 points because of this food journal thing.

28 points!!!!

And I'll go running tomorrow :)

Khourt's Week 1 Totals

Week 1 Totals:
Jan 16 - 14 - minus 5 exercise - 9
Jan 17 - 13 - minus 5 exercise - 8
Jan 18 - 24
Jan 19 - 11
Jan 20 - 24
Jan 21 - 11
Jan 22 - 9
Total: 96 (not including slacker points)
         115 (with slacker points)
------------

Khourt's Points

Phew! Sorry for not keeping up, things have been insane! The Skating fundraiser for my little boy went fantastic. We raised over $1,000. Not too bad considering we only had about 2 weeks to advertise for it. The lady in charge wants to host another Skate for Losh night to help raise even more and to get some of the local schools involved. So, besides that Ive not been up to a whole lot.. Just little stuff that adds up. Yesterday was a total bust. I ate junk. The only good thing was I took a vitamin and exercised. Today went better, but not by much. The only reason I was within my calorie range was because I skipped lunch because I was so busy running errands.

1-22 Points:
Vitamin: 1
Exercise: 7
Breakfast/Lunch/Dinner: 1
Total: 9

1-23 Points:
Vitamin: 1
Exercise: 5
Calorie Range: 10
Blog: 3
Total: 19

My points

Calories range:10

Fruits and Veggie:1

Multi vitamins:1

Exercise:5

Blogging:3

total: 20 points

I really can't wait to see the benefit from running happening in my life. I hope I am not expecting more than it is supposed to bring me because I really don't have the feeling that I am expecting THAT much.

I also should get my thingy to measure my efforts during the week as it has been shipped today. I can't wait to have it to "play" with it.

A brand new week!!

Well ladies. How did you do last week?
Please post your total points today, if you haven't already. I need to get them all recorded.

Gwennaelle, you did awesome!!

It wasn't really a great week for me. Mostly because of the cold I was struggling with I think. But, this week it seems to be gone and I plan on doing so much better. I already got in a  45 minute workout this morning and right now I'm working on my breakfast smoothie which has two servings of fruit in it. Yay!

Ok, guys I have a question for you: Did you award yourselves your slacker points?
Did you remember about them?

This is from the rules:
"**Two things to note, you get points for five days worth of exercise. So a maximum of 25 exercise points per week for exercise, not including the additional point for extra activity each day. Also, you get one slacker day each week where you may award yourself all the points even if you didn't do the work."

What do you think about that? Is it lame? Should we only get the points we earn? I mean it does seem kind of unfair to the person who did everything, everyday of the week. I'm thinking we can either eliminate the "slacker points" or, if you were really awesome and did everything, everyday you could award them to yourself as bonus points. What do you guys think?
Let's take a vote and decide. Vote in the comment section for me today, please.

Well, if I use my slacker points, then I got 114 for the week. Without them, only 89.

Good luck this week ladies, I'm off to drink some water.

Eat more fruit!! And veggies...

I am NOT tracking my points today.

lol

If I did, I'd probably end up in the negative.

It's my birthday, and I'll cheat if I want to!

Saw this on Pinterest....

wonderful, no?

An apple a day really does keep the doctor away!

I'm making a mini goal for myself for the next week to do a better job of getting my fruits and veggies all in my belly!!!

And I probably will post my pitiful lack of points later today.

What's your total for week 1?

Joyeux anniversaire Mikki

16 points for the day.

This is one of my lowest I think but I feel good about it anyway.

Today was wonderful at church. It was very uplifting just like what it is supposed to be.

Hope you had a wonderful sabbath day too :)

Khourt, how did the fund raising go?

Mikki? Isn't it going to be a low day too as far as the "healthy challenge" is concerned today ?

:P

Happy Bday!

Khourt's 1-21-12

Another busy day here.. Monday will mark the end of busy-ness for me and Ill have a small break before having to work on more stuff that will keep me busy again.. I have pics to go with this post (some anyway) but they will have to wait until later. Im at my sisters house tonight (celebrated her birthday which is tomorrow (22nd)) and dont really feel like messing with her computer to get the images sooo...

1-21-12 Points:
Vitamin: 1
Exercise: 5 (2.11 miles)
Water: 1
Blog: 3
Breakfast/Lunch/Dinner: 1
TOTAL: 11

Tomorrow will be kinda busy too, but Ill pop on in the evening to post. My sons first fundraiser event is tomorrow night.. Its a skating party and my children are EXCITED about it.

Er....

Too tired again to blog.

Went to see Fincher's Millenium and it was great. Totally worth it but if you're into all the PG stuff. We don't have it in France because we think that it is up to the parents to figure out what is good for their kids or not.

Anyway I did not run today and I won't run tomorrow so has to rest my knee a little. Both my mother and one of her sister had knee surgery and I really don't ever want to have to go through this even if there is definitely a tiny little something wrong. The latter the better and if I can die without ever having this surgery I will be happy and consider it one of my accomplishment. So I ahve not run today BUT I did exercise at home. It is not nearly as good as running but I did my 30 minutes anyway.

Oh and I figured out for real my calories range and OMG I have eaten way below it so far. No wonder I lost a kilogramme.

Anyway my points for the day are 23.

Be inspired!

Are you ready to be inspired? I saw this lady's story on the Yahoo home page this morning. I found her very inspiring. She's lost 115 pounds over the course of a couple years. The cool thing? She did it the right way--by making better food choices and increasing her activity. I took a minute to browse through her site a little. She has her journey documented in pictures, and one of the things I found really inspiring is where there's a picture showing that she did at one point gain some of her weight back (something I did after losing my 30 pounds two years ago); but she didn't throw in the towel. She just kept at it. She's a runner now and she looks amazing!!

I was going to try to post last night before I went to bed, but I got spooked. Thought my computer had contracted a bug. I HATE it when that happens. Thank goodness, it looks like it didn't (fingers crossed, knocking on wood).

So anyway. Yesterday really sucked for me. 9 points!  I exercised for about 10 minutes yesterday morning. Better than nothing I guess. I totally over-consumed, like 1000 calories over my goal. eek!

But, I am feeling better. Think this head cold is finally leaving. Yay!!!

Hope you all have a splendid Saturday!

Khourts 1-20-12 + 1-19 Points

Ok, Starting off with yesterdays points:

1-19-12 Totals:
Exercise: 5
Water: 1
Fruits/Vegs: 1
Breakfast/Lunch/Dinner: 1
Comment on Post: 3
Total - 11

1-20-12 Totals:
Exercise: 5
Calorie Range: 10
Water: 1
Breakfast/Lunch/Dinner: 1
Blog post: 3
Vitamin: 1
Food journal: 3
Total - 24

There is really no excuse for yesterday except plain business. I woke up extra early so I could get my exercise in because I knew if I waited until later in the day I would not get it in. I had so much stuff going on yesterday. The church visit was to discuss everything going on. It went well, and if nothing comes out of it but word of mouth to others then that is fine. - With them came paperwork from the Bishop so I spent hours getting additional paperwork together, filling out all of that and getting myself and my children ready for a trip to see my brother (who I havent seen in over 6 years!). Also, a friend came over to deliver a bed. I barely had time to make my dish as part of the potluck that we were going to (to see my brother.) On the way I stopped, chatted with the Bishop and turned the papers in. Ended up getting home fairly late and crashed in bed.

My contribution to the potluck

(crescent rolls stuffed with cream cheese, spinach, bacon, and mozzarella)

---

Breakfast today was a bowl of oatmeal. Im not a fan of instant oatmeal, but this brand I can tolerate

Lunch -(Spinach, broccoli, mushrooms, carrots)

Thats a serving bowl BTW.

Dinner - Eggplant and Spaghetti

Snack was some of the rolls from last night.

Exciting

22 points for the day but this is not what I want to talk about. I just had the best evening in a long time. My date two days ago hooked me up with an open space. Actually I had heard of them but I did not know they were an open space. I had not even dared to dream that such a place could exist and they would loooooove to count me in.

Gosh I have now a place to receive my clients and a place to go to when I need people to interact with if I need interaction for my job.

Ooooooooooooh yeeeeeeeeeees

Chines grape fruit

Hey girl, as I told you before I think it is much easier for me to do good on this challenge as I wake up when I want, I eat when I want and what I want. I would suggest you (if you want to succeed in this challenge and in your life generally speaking) to sell one or two of your kids.

Beside you would have a little money to invest AND you'd save money each month.

No?

Okkkkkkkkkkkkk but don't complain when I give you my best piece of advice.

By now you understand how much easier it is for me than it is for you so I am not "kicking butts" it is just that I have no good excuse. Oh and I almost forgot that it more than easy to avoid soda pop here. You only get it if you absolutely want one. Not like in the US where they are everywhere. So me drinking soda should almost count as minus 1 point.

Noooooow, the grappe fruit thing.

Here is a pic I took of the (almost gone chinese) grape fruit I got and just because I am always afraid of not being clear enough the part you are supposed to eat and the one you are supposed to leave.

It was a junk food kind of day

24 points for me today. That's my new high for the week. Gwennaelle is kicking butt y'all!
I'm only on my 4th glass of water for the day, so I don't think I'm going to make it on that one, and I TOTALLY slacked on my veggies.

Let me break it down for ya':

Salisbury steak and corn for breakfast--yay! a vegetable.
1/2 an order of Wetzels pretzel bites for lunch (and a Pepsi)
Lasagne for dinner with garlic bread
chocolate cupcake and icecream for dessert (we were celebrating my daughter's birthday, which is tomorrow)


I'm not quite sure how I managed to squeak in under my calorie range, 'cause I didn't make very good food choices today. Guess I just didn't OVERindulge.  Woot!! I exercised this morning. I felt so good about myself afterwards. :) 

Hope Friday rocks for everybody. :)


POST EDIT:
Gwennaelle, look what I saw in the store today.
Look familiar?

 I saw this HUGE greenish grapefruit, and I thought to myself..."I wonder....".


Sure enough:

The Pommelo, the largest of all citrus fruits......also widely known as Chinese Grapefruit.

Think I'll have to try one!

Another high day

Same breakfast each morning so I won't really mention it from now on unless something different happens.

Went running for my 30 minutes which did not turn out too good as one of my knee started hurting a little and felt like it would not function properly. I would rest it my leaning more on my left leg and it worked. We'll see how it turns out tomorrow.

Lunch was just a bunch of canned veggies I put in the microwave just to get something down. I also had a banana and two clementines.

Tonight was different. I tasted the recipe I made up today. It turned out good specially with slices of ginger. I had it with quinoa. Ginger makes everything taste better I think.

Tonight I had my Aïkido class and our teacher was not happy as only 5 of us were here today. He is thinking about stoping this class which would suck for me because it is really close. I hope when the other students will come back they will make him change his mind.

Calories: 10

Fruits and Veggie:1

3 meals:1

No soda:1

Vitamins:1

Exercise: 5

Extra exercise:6

Food journal: 3

Blogging here: 3

And since I am going to bed right away I really can't say that I will have stopped eating two hours before going to bed.

So these are my 31 points of the day.

To Khourt and all the other ladies on here.

You inspired me a recipe that I am trying right now..

I decided that since I did not want to fix my transformer to use my crocking pot I was going to use my dutch oven. Now this is the closest translation I can think of on the top of my head and I hope this does not only mean those huge pots I have seen in camp fires in the US. Mine is a tiny one compared to what I have seen in the US. I hope you have them too. anyway I think this can work with any mean of slow cooking.

So I poured in 750ml of sweet chili sauce, a little water (about 250ml) and 400gm of turkey breast that has been sliced. and I set my electric stove on the lowest temperature available.

Now I am going to take a shower and I will forget about this for the next 4 hours I think.

I will let you know how it will have turned out.

Khourt's 1-18

Last week I was informed that the Bishop assigned somebody to come to my house and talk to me (insert freaking out here) That day is tomorrow, so today Ive been unpacking from our trip and making sure the house looks decent. With 3 kids, I gave up on it looking "clean". - Ive done fairly well staying on track today. I actually got my points for water today! Go me! But I also drank soda. Boo! Despite the food choices today I was able to manage my portion control (which is huge for me because apparently I have a ginormous stomach). AND I went to the store and bought vitamins today - for myself and my 2 outer children. My middle child gets a liquid vitamin everyday through his feeding tube, but the others werent getting one. My older son used to take one, but I really have no clue why I stopped giving him one. I guess it was a wake up call that I need to give all of my children vitamins, especially on the days when they dont eat well. We prefer to get the vitamins direct, but the extra is nice. So, heres my totals:

Totals:

Food journal: 3

Calorie range: 10 (even with the junk!)

Blog post: 3

Exercise: 5 (2 miles + upper body work)

Water: 1

Fruits/Veg: 1 

Vitamin: 1

TOTAL: 24 

Breakfast:

(Egg, Squash, Mushrooms, Spinach, Salsa)

 Lunch:

Ok, I didnt really eat my kid for lunch - but I was so busy doing (home)school work I didnt realize it was lunch time until after 2:30! I ended up having a banana and some cinnamon bears as a snack/lunch combined. Woops! My poor kids had to eat sandwiches. 

Dinner - Enchiladas and Refried Beans

(It tastes much better than it looks)

(Snack was a muffin)

And day 18 of 365 (who cares about the leap year) ;)

Check out how white my legs are! - Epic!

 



Late because of a date :)

Went on a date tonight this is why I am so late bloging for today.

Calories range: 10

Running:5

I came close to not having enough fruit and veggies today but I eventually did:1

Three meals:1

Multi vitamines:1

Blogging here: 3

Points: 21

Too tired to write specifically all that I ate. 'Night ladies.

serious lack of exercise!

Yesterday was my best day so far-->23 points. Woot. I didn't exercise :(  . Haven't exercised yet today. I'm still feeling a bit funky so don't know if I'll make it or not. Seems like if I don't get my workout in early in the day, it doesn't happen. Maybe I'll try for a walk this afternoon though, when it warms up a bit.

Ladies, there's a real serious post right below this one. Please take a minute and read it, and send Angela some love and advice if you can think of anything that might help her out. She's such a sweetie, with the two cutest little girls in the world!

Not a breakdown of my day...just a breakdown.

Wahoo to all you power women out there!! Yay for getting healthy!

So, I have a question for all you lovely ladies...it's kind of a long one so get comfortable. :)

All through high school, I was anorexic. I hid it very, very well and I don't think my parents even knew until right before graduation when I told them, or if they did, they didn't do anything about it. It never got bad enough to be life threatening, thankfully. I "got over" it and worked over some issues and was fine all through college. Then I got pregnant with my first daughter, hard pregnancy, gained way too weight and haven't been able to successfully get it off. I believe my anorexia was a way to deal with stress, and now I binge to deal with stress. I have found myself getting a little extremist in my thoughts with losing weight. I am actually in 2 weight loss based challenges right now as well as this one. I find that if I exceed 1000 calories a day, I feel like I failed. I don't know why because my target is 1100. Most days last week I topped out at 950 and worked out 3 different times.

It's wrong! And I know it, but that doesn't stop the feelings of failure and I'm not sure why. I had a string cheese for a snack today (what? 60 calories?) and I just felt awful afterwards. I felt like I ruined my whole day. I like this challenge because if focuses on healthy. The food I have been eating is healthy food, and the exercise healthy exercise, but the frustration and depression that come with.... I don't know. I guess I don't know how to eat normal. :)

So...my question is...what do I do about it? Has anyone else been in a similar situation or know someone that has dealt with it. I don't want to go back to being anorexic, (although being that skinny was kind of fun ((I was 105 when I graduated high school)) ) and I don't want to be overweight. My goal weight is 120 which is a BMI of around 21, I think.

Anyhoo....told you to get comfortable, didn't I? Is anyone still reading this sob story? ;) Any advice or insight or inspiring words would be helpful.

Khourt's 1-17

Good evening ladies! Hope you were all on track today.. Im writing this before reading the other posts, so forgive me for that. I was somewhat on track today, but had a few set-backs. My day was spent on the go from the moment I woke until about 2 hours ago and Im writing this as I lay in bed. I woke up early for a run but ended up cutting it short. The wind was blowing so hard my eyelids were literally flapping and being forced closed. My hat blew off, and my mouth and lips were flapping. It was so crazy that it was comical. I ended up getting only 1.73 miles of my run done, but no biggie since I had other stuff to do. - Again, I bombed on the water and drank way too much soda. I still do not have a calorie range figured out and I dont have a multi-vitamin. I used to be so good at taking them. I meant to pick some up today but forgot.

Totals:

Food journal: 3 points

Exercise: 5 points

Blog post: 3

Breakfast/Lunch/Dinner: 1

Fruits/Veggies: 1

Total: 13

Breakfast: (I only had 1 glass of the orange)

 Post-Breakfast - Coffee free Carmel Drink

 This boy had some doctor visits

 Lunch

 We hung out and walked the mall and Target before the visits

Cookie from the mall

Dinner (not pictured) was mashed potatoes, green beans and hominy

Post-dinner Snack