Tower of Terror 10 Miler!!!

   WELL... 3rd times a charm?! I typed this blog twice in the car on the way back from the race and my phone erased it both times! MAYBE my phone knew how angry I was and decided it would be a good idea for me to give it a few days...I mean it is a "Smart phone". 

   ONE MORE TIME (the blog NOT the race!)!

The weekend started off great Felicia and I Left for Mobile Thursday after work and made it into town around 8ish! Friday consisted of coffee, shopping and Mobile site seeing (Felicia loved it!). After Ashley got off work we packed the car and headed for Ocala, FL. The drive was really easy and didn't seem long at all! Felicia studied (shes so smart), Ashley graded papers/slept, Steven drove, and I read some Fitness books while jamming out... my own personal utopia! Once we made it to Ocala we grabbed Greek and beers...AS IS TRADITION! 

"Personal Utopia" haha

night before race beers

RACE DAYYYY!!! We all woke up excited and ready to take on the day! We left Ocala headed to Orlando (it's only an hour) for the Expo to pick up our packets and shop! We were there first thing when the expo opened, everything seemed really organized and simple, no worries there! We found some killer awesome matching  shirts for the run, this was unexpected but they were super cool so we had to buy them!  Ashley got the "Evil Queen" shirt... this describes how I feel about her when she's micromanaging everything (love you ash) and the back said "fairest of them all" this is how Ashley sees herself...everyone knows it to be true. Felicia got the "sea witch" shirt ... I don't really feel like shes a witch but the little mermaid is her favorite and Ashley said her hair resembled tentacles?!? Yeah ok?! I got the "captain" shirt... to be honest I only bought that one for the mustache on it! OH, did I mention they glow in the dark!? STELLAR!!! (yes we spent at least 20 mins holding them up to the lights in the hotel room and running into the bathroom with the lights off together.. who wouldn't?!)

MUSTACHE!

Front

Backs

While at the expo we also bought extremely over priced one day park tickets... I may or may not have sold my first born child to Disney to ride 3 rides and get a dole whip?! WORTH IT! We went to the park at 2pm and rode a few rides got a dole whip (be jealous Clark Ramsey) and wandered around till about 5ish. I will say that the first ride we went to was space mountain (it always has the longest wait) to get fast passes. The guys at the fast pass booth gave us immediate passes to go ride, i'm claiming its because I was wearing my chive shirt...KCCO Chris from lakeland! 

Happiest place on earth!

 KCCO

so FREAKING excited!

SPLASH MOUNTAIN!

So after the park fun we took some time to get ready and rest our feet till we had to be on the bus for the race. We got on the bus around 7ish... the bus dropped us off by our corrals so we wandered, hydrated, and took pictures till it was time to get in our corrals...About 2 hrs after we got dropped off. Once in Corral B (B stood for: Better than A, Beast mode, Badass ...Etc.) we made one last bathroom trip and by the time we made it through the line and chugged a water it was time to go to the start! The start line was great, they had great music to get everyone pumped up and it was working...till they talked on the mic for like 30 mins... SHHHHH, no one wanted to hear your terrible jokes just keep playing Gangnam style! 

Heres the start line!!!

After awhile waiting for the 2 wheelchair starts and corral A to go, it was our turn! They set off fireworks for every group so that was pretty awesome. Off we went to 10 miles of terror...Let's change that to 5 miles of terror and 5 miles of ...well I don't know what you would call the first 5 miles.

DISCLAIMER: I'm going off memory and estimating about where the miles were ish... this isn't going to be exact... i'm pretty sure I zoned out for a bit...

MILE ONE! This was out of Hollywood studios up an on ramp to the interstate that had us headed to Animal Kingdom...We had that on LOCK! They had black lights and loud music to motivate you going up that on ramp, but then again it was no biggie, IT WAS MILE ONE!

MILE TWO! At this point we were about to Animal Kingdom we had past one DJ and some puppeteers and an EXTREMELY annoying repeat warning us of a speed bump. 

ANOTHER SIDE NOTE: Keep in mind Ashley told me..."Don't bring you head phones, they will have music and stuff all over the place it will ruin the experience"... to her defense this is the case with most other Disney races...

MILE THREE: You know... I think the lion kings Hyenas were at 3 but that may have been at 2?!? other than that we had made the look at animal kingdom and headed back to the place we started, passing the same DJ we passed at mile ONE... (still counting that ONE DJ)

MILE FOUR:  I believe this was where there guy from the princess and the frog was and also an overpass headed down towards the wide world of sports! SOOOO Nothing too exciting...

MILE FIVE: It all went down hill from here... but sadly it didn't literally go downhill. Mile five took a wrong turn... well technically it was a right turn, INTO THE WOODS ON A GRAVEL PATHWAY IN THE DARK! Sounds cool right?! WRONG. The only thing cool about this was that they had pirates of the Caribbean music playing. It was dark and the change of the road consistency messed me up... this is normally the mile that I hit "go mode" THAT wasn't happening... NOT COOL!

MILE SIX AND SEVEN: Yeah... i'm just going to lump these two miles together in a paragraph of poop! These were all through the wide world of sports with bright stadium lights no music and the constant change of running surfaces from sidewalks, to tracks, to grass, to a baseball field?!? WHAT?  They had the Haunted mansion grave diggers on the track... they were pretty cool I guess... and then they had stitch off to the side at some point?! I may or may not have tried to block these out of my race memories all together...as Felicia would say "your brain wont remember the pain". Once we got out of Wide World of Sports I we got blatantly lied to by a hopeful race guy when he told us the next water station was "right around the corner" LIES!!!! We ran what felt like 1/4 of a mile past where there should have been  "the big bad wolf"... He was taking a break... I didn't feel sorry for the characters as I would have if I were not running 10 miles. As I saw him walking back to take his break I almost wanted to yell "I need motivation PANSY!!!" You can see how i was slipping into "ANGRY BRITTANY" mode. I didn't yell at him but I did yell at his handlers asking where the "around the corner" water station was... they gladly responded with "ONLY HALF A MILE!! " They sounded so cheerful....UGHHHHH!

MILE EIGHT AND HALF OF NINE: So we made it to the "around the corner" water station and kept running...shuffling...dragging... I mean whatever we were doing we were doing it at an 11 min mile pace?!? Felicia tried to sing to me...I told her to shut up in a very angry tone... I also yelled some terrible obscenity's at Ashley only to have the people behind us giggle, gasp, and say "whatever motivates you" ... there were some wooden cut outs of playing cards from Alice in wonderland and now i wonder if the "Red Queen" should have been there?!? She wasn't. BY THIS TIME, we were back to the on ramp to get back to Hollywood studios!!! 

MILE NINE AND A HALF AND TEN:  These were in the park... lets quote Ashley " were running through the whole park, people are watching!" ....::running running running::  behind the scenes "ok we can walk no ones back here."  lets make a side note of the fact that I know Hollywood Studios like the back of my hand from nationals... Ashley: "come on Brittany only 3 quarters of a mile!"  ME: "you have no F'in clue where we are do you?!" As we are running AWAY from where the finish is.... Thennnnn Felicia breaks into a sprint trying to get to the finish... what wasn't close... so Ashley tries to catch up... then they both slow down because i'm yelling its not close. Alas we all finished together!!! Actually one hundredth of a second apart... Felicia, Me, then Ashley. ONLY TO DISCOVER THERE'S A HUGE HILL RIGHT AFTER THE FINISH LINE...

We sat on a curb to re hydrated and eat some food to get back to normal... I slowly got back to normal non angry Brittany but not before the obese woman starred me down to remove my legs from the street...that struck a nerve... Steve and I rode Rock N Roller coaster only to find tons of sick people everywhere and we got stuck on the ride for about 10 mins. By this point we were all ready to go back to the room and crash...

Overall we had a great time... Other than the race!

dead

 this photo is a lie... we were all pretty angry...

Back to it!

     Well, it's been almost a month since my last blog post. I have been so busy getting back into the swing of things and getting over the summer camp depression (if you were there...you know). I have yet to get back to boot camp since I have been busy (I will be back in October Jess) but I have been able to keep up with my workouts...kinda.  I have been challenging a few friends, right now is "planktember" so i'm in a planking war with a few friends around the US and I have been going for runs with Kevin to prepare for my 10 miler in...15 days (shit).  My training process has been a weekly 2 short run, a medium run, and a long run every Saturday...Well, that's what it says in my planner. We'll see how this turns out...my photo at the finish line might be me crawling over the line.

        We made it through "tropical rainstorm" Issac with no damage to the house, cars, or us!!! Other than  losing the copious amounts of food in my fridge (jokes on you if you thought I had food in my fridge) and not having power for 5 days, we did perfectly fine. In fact we left the west bank on Wednesday night in the middle of the storm and came downtown to my wonderful parents apartment with power and Lafitte just 2 blocks away (I had a hurricane in light of the situation). The storm was more like a nice long rainy labor day vacay!!! Kevin said his proudest moment was when the power went out and he asked me to put anything I wanted to save from the fridge into the ice chest...I proceeded to the fridge, grabbed all the beer, put it in the ice chest, and then I went back to the couch... i'm such a lady!


          In other news I accomplished a goal I have been trying to reach for quite awhile!!! I finished a 5k in under 30 mins!!!!! YAY!!!! Here are a few photos from the saints run! 
                                                       
 Tebowing on the 10

              Typical Brittany thumbs up!

                  gotta love on the mascots!

NOWWWW for some GREAT news!!! :) I got a new job!! I have taken a full time sales and eventually training position with a gym here in town,  I filled out the paperwork and I should start in just a few weeks! I am really hoping that this is a good fit for me and works out well, I am ecstatic to be working with all kinds of people and in an environment that I truly enjoy! Keep me in your thoughts as I start out on this new "branch". KCCO! 

Mucking Fascots!

WOW... what a trip! The past 14 days have been 100 % crazy, fun, and unexpected to say the least. It was a nice little break from my normal routine of workouts and work and I swore I had eaten my weight in terrible cafeteria food, five guys, noodles, and Axles by the time I left Milwaukee. With no scale in sight, I just kept calm and carried on. When we got to Scranton we realized we were on the 3rd floor of the dorms with NO elevator not to mention the main gym at the school was uber hot! AWESOME! Between running  stairs all day everyday, sweating my butt off in the gym, and using my coaches as squatting tools (I maxed out around 180 ish) I ended up coming home almost 5-6 lbs lighter than when i left...my nightly diet may have contributed to some of that. Well enough of all that... lets highlight this awesome adventure of craziness. 

   SO, Milwaukee was awesome...as always. Lots of good friends were there and the kids are incredible. The theme this year was olympics (who would have guessed) 

USA

First, I STILL suck at dodge ball...ALTHOUGH, I did make one incredible catch resulting in my one and only out of the past 3 years (YAY) promptly after that I was pelted in the leg while celebrating my epic catch. 

Second, Axles is much more fun when the guys have another girl (thanks Katie) to pick on and i'm not the only one! 

Lastly, Milwaukee is just all around awesomeness every year! If you have any further questions check the photographic proof on the FB!

Dream team!

ON TO ScrantON!!!! Theme of the week...ohhh myyyy goddd. I was a little nervous coming into this camp (shhhhh) Since I have heard southpaw isn't the YouDees favorite person and I didn't really know any of the campers that would be there. SURPRISE!!! What was I thinking?! These guys were just as amazing as all the other mascots I work with. I was overjoyed and in love with this phenomenal group the instant we started camp! Camp went great, follies went great, and top of it all we got to do some awesome community service with the boys and girls club and a local nursing home! I don't know how many of you have had the chance to work in that type of environmental but its the most rewarding feeling ever!

Nursing home visit!

 Boys and girls club!

 Kenny made a new GF at the nursing home!

IT JUST KEEPS GETTING BETTER!!! We also learned Katie can fit 22 jumbo marshmallows in her mouth AND we had some killer karaoke stars!

you read right...22

my hump my hump my hump...

Dream team 2.

I know I made even more incredible life long friends on the trip and I cant wait to see them all again! OH YEAH... I also got to go to NYC (added bonus)! It was grand and awesome and huge, we had a blast... but it really just didn't top the two weeks of camps.

 

Hello from 33,000 feet!

Hey guys, its been a few since I've made a new post (sorry about that) but now as I fly off to Milwaukee for "work"(can I even call it that?!) I have plenty of air time to make a post!!! I have been thinking up some new things to post about and one came to me the other night in conversation with friends! I got asked a question that I kinda knew but not really SO I took it upon myself to research a bit and answer the question with a bit more confidence. The question I was asked was " what's the difference between good calories and bad?!" well to start I know you should eat healthy because the right foods fuel your body! Then came the question about counting calories! "if I'm given a certain amount of calories and I only eat that many does it matter what I eat?!" That one kinda stumped me. Technically you're intaking the Same amount of calories for your body to burn, so can you eat 1500 calories of doughnuts and your body burn it off just like 1500 calories of salad?! WELL OBVIOUSLY NOT was my first conclusion but I didn't have the answer other then some are good for you and others are "empty calories". I Went on a Search for these answers so now I can explain it and not say "well you know... You should eat healthy, it's better for you!". You can eat 1500 calories (please look up your personal calorie intake, it is not the same for everyone and I am just using "1500" as an example number) of crap and 1500 calories of health food and lose weight with both if that's your daily intake that your body naturally burns off. BUT WAIT JUST A MINUTE Before you go down a few dozen doughnuts... These "empty calories" do nothing for you, you can still lose weight BUT by choosing to eat healthy you will lose faster! I read that eating these empty calories will make you retain water, cause hair and skin problems, and lead to health risk (kinda the obvious right?!) Even though you are eating your daily intake you are not giving your body what it needs to keep you at your best! :)

*my apologies for any errors I'm iPhone blogging!

I seem to always get the wing!!

LIES and Disappointment...

This weekend we went to mobile to visit my friends (YAY) and in random passing conversation I hear something that BLEW MY MIND, I was a little outraged and dumbfounded as well. I know all of you are dying to know what was said...Prepare yourselves for the informative facts about a popular nation wide "sub shop"!!! THEIR WHEAT BREAD IS WORSE FOR YOU THAN THEIR WHITE BREAD...  AND TO TOP IT OFF, IT'S NOT EVEN WHEAT, IT'S WHITE BREAD DYED TO BE WHEAT!!!! WTF!!!!! I will give you a moment to soak that up.....

NOW, I decided to look this up...after all these years I  thought I was getting the healthier choice...I WAS WRONG!

WHEAT  vs. WHITE

Calories:  Wheat 210

               White 200

Calories from fat:  Wheat 20

                             White 20

Sodium: Wheat 310mg

              White 290mg

Carbs: Wheat 40g

            White 38g

::sigh:: I really don't what to do, my brain goes automatically to wheat when I think healthy. Maybe this is a lesson, things are not always as they seem, I guess I need to start reading more labels?! Although, I haven't found any evidence that they "dye the bread" as I heard this weekend but I have read that it's majority white with just a bit of wheat added in so they can call it "Wheat" bread... I feel like a small child who has been lied to.

HOLY HOTNESS!

   WELCOME TO LOUISIANA SUMMER!!! It is oh so hot here and working out outside is a beast, I try to do everything possible to "beat the heat" so to speak but sometimes you just need to sweat...or you really just cant help it because it so flipping hot!!!!  

  Yup... that says 114...

I'm going to share with you guys, my not so secret ways to "beat the heat!" These are all such common sense things but with this heat...memory loss is a possibility!  Lets start with the morning...we all know i don't do morning BUT if you want to get outside, morning and late at night are your best bet for the lowest temp! Personally I would rather go running at noon and possibly die then wake up at 5am, I value my sleep. My workouts are from 7-8pm and are on the lake so we sometimes get a breeze but  it's still pretty "toasty", they don't call it "camp sweat" for nothing! Since I am working out while the suns still up I take the normal precautions of HYDRATION and Light clothing  (Honestly if I could wear spandex and workout clothes every day all day I would) I make sure during my day I am chugging water, I try to drink a gallon a day especially on workout days.  Not only does water help to keep you hydrated for your workout, it also helps flush all the bad stuff out.  I tend to wear mostly Nike gear, it's just my personal favorite. When you're shopping for your workout clothes make sure you read the tags, look for things that "WICK" away sweat (My sister recently informed me it was WICK not WHISK so now I don't sound like in idiot YAY...except for the fact that I just told you I thought it was whisk... yes, I know a whisk is a kitchen tool) and keep you cool! Now I know working out outside isn't for everyone, One of my best friends seems appalled when I took her to boot camp and we "had to workout in nature." Find a gym or get in your living room  for the summer, they are cool and as long as you have the equipment you need at home you can always get a good workout in!

Whatever or wherever you may be working out  this summer just make sure you are making smart choices to keep yourself healthy and hydrated!!

ON TO THE NEXT ONE! This past weekend my sister, brother in law, and I decided to do the "Running of the bulls" here in New Orleans! What an experience it was, it was so much fun and we are already looking forward to dressing up for next year! If you are not familiar with this event it consist of around 400 roller derby girls and about 14,000 people all dressed in red an white running through the streets, of course the derby girls are chasing you (as the bulls would in the actual bull run) and hitting you with plastic bats. Sounds fun right?! It was! It was a very short, it might have been over a mile...MAYBE. Over all it was a great time, here are some photos from the event!  

On the ferry ride over!

This was after the run, you cant tell but we were soaked, SO HOT!

Just a few of the derby girl...OUCH!

Ditched the long shorts for spandex and post race beers at the gallery :)

ONE YEAR!!!!

 I just realized yesterday that it has been just about a year since I set my goals and started my healthy lifestyle...WELLL, it also started with the fact that I couldn't fit into my dear staff uniform that I had to wear in two weeks (PANIC MODE)!!! When I started all I could think about was "where will I be a year from now?!"  I kept seeing all the motivational post of people who make it that far and I almost thought of it as an impossible goal to achieve, a year seems so far away, and I did it and it snuck up on me! I always looked at the "pin" on Pintrest that says "a year from now, you'll  have wished you started today." and it is so true!!

 I cant wait to see where I will be this time next year...you know if that whole 2k12 thing doesn't happen.  

Here are some photos from this time last year:

this swim top doesn't fit me at all now,  I remember crying in target because this was the only top that fit and it was almost too small, it's a LG and I needed an XL but I was in dire need of a suit.

                                                      I was told black was slimming.

AND some from the past few months:

this was June 9th on my bosses farm for his birthday

Happy Birthday BENJO!

                                                   

 LOOK a swim top from target...and I think it's a small :)

 If I can do it you can do it, just stay focused and motivated any way you can! NOW, to reward myself for how far I have come...It's DISNEY PRINCESS HALF MARATHON SIGN UP DAY!! Get out, get moving, and keep going one day at a time...365 days from now (or whenever you start) you will be so proud trust me its a reward like no other!

(This is what I feel like I did )

4th of July!!!

    Back to the daily grind, at least till Wednesday (YAY for the fourth of July, and a day off work)! I recently started back boot camp after being out for a month, I def feel it. Take my advice and don't take a month off, coming back isn't worth the month off.  I also have been back to my better eating habits, now when I eat what is "normal" food to everyone else.. it's torturous, Lets just say i may never eat at my favorite chicken place ever again...sad i know (RIP Foosacklys). But all in all getting back into it, feels great! :)

I had a request awhile back for Healthy summer cookout barbecue food and I feel like fourth of July week would be a great time to put them up!! These are just a few simple thing you can bring to the table, in place of all those unhealthy foods you normally find at your classic summer cookout! 


*Kabobs > cheeseburger!! Grill up some kabobs with veggies, they are delicious and better for  you!

*Mexican summer fiesta!!?! Skip out on the burgers and grab some chicken and veggies and stick them on a whole wheat tortilla! My favorite!

*Hummus & veggies > Chips and dip!!  I don't know about y'all but I LOVE hummus!!! If you don't, try some homemade guacamole, whatever you do just lose the chips!

*Fruit!!! You cant go wrong with a HUGE fruit tray! everyone loves fruit especially in the summer when you're hanging out around the pool. I could snack on fruit all day!!

*WATER! Stay hydrated, being outside in the heat  will dehydrate you like no other! Keep the water and fresh lemonade close by to quench your summer thirst!


          As I write this i'm trying to decided what ridiculously awesome dessert i'm going to make for our family get together.  You can make smart choices with your food but don't forget to live a little, Eating one cupcake isn't going to kill you, just remember portion control AKA don't eat the whole cake!! Make sure you can jump back on the health food train before it leaves the station and Reward yourself every now and then! Everyone has their weakness and cheat days, it's a good thing, you're only human. Happy 4th of July guys!

Sore?!

After 2 days back in boot camp I find myself just a bit sore (yay for Wednesday off). I have 2nd day soreness (the worst)  from arm and abs and the day after soreness from legs and shoulders. Here are a few things I do when i'm sore, one of these may just be in my head but I swear it works. Let me point out the things that we all know you should do...but you probably don't. You probably moan and groan and walk around like normal till the pain goes away?!? That's what I thought.

*HYDRATION!!!sweat off all that water you drink before your workout so you need to replenish after! I kinda think of it like my gas tank, use all the gas and it wont run but all you have to do is fill it up to get going again! :)

 *POTASSIUM!!! I don't know about you guys but when I hear potassium I immediately think Banana's, thank you Honey i shrunk the kids!! You lose these electrolytes and potassium doing lots of thing like sweating or from being dehydrated (again with the water!). Bananas and any other food or drinks with potassium or electrolytes will help ease your muscle pains!

*PROTEINS!!! Proteins are the ultimate step to building up and renewing your muscles! Weather you drink a recovery shake after a workout or just eat high protein foods like fish and chicken. These will help your muscles bounce back quickly by using the protein to heal themselves. 

*FOAM ROLLING!!! Well as this hurt almost as bad, if not worse than your soreness it will help for sure. My sister and her husband swear by it (I knew if I didn't put it in here she would comment about it ...here you go Ash!). These foam rollers just basically give you a "deep tissue/muscle message" that's helps with the soreness, they are great for stretching and they help with balance! (Hurts like hell...but it's worth the "hurt good" pain)

*REDBULL!!! this is the one that might just be in my head... I worked for redbull for a few years and nothing helped my sore muscles after mascoting a game like a redbull. I decided to look into this theory a little more so i didn't sound so crazy :) supposedly the taurine in the redbulls increases the amount of potassium in your body and it helps with muscle fatigue. BAM! I knew I wasn't crazy!




Well, those are the things I know I do ...or think about doing while i'm trying to sluggishly climb the 3 stairs to my office after leg day...YES 3!!! 3 Painful steps of soreness (don't judge)!!! I hope this helps you guys out when you're having those 2nd day pains! <3

FOOD!

A question has been asked!!! What do I eat?!? To start off I am really basic when it comes to eating I could eat the same thing everyday, i'm sorry I don't have much variety. I normally just cook my basic meal or I Google or Pintrest something to cook when i'm feeling adventurous! I already posted my basic shopping list in my first post these are the things I always purchase when i go shopping. My "basic" quick meal is chicken or fish with sauteed belle peppers and onions it's Pretty simple. Most of you probably know i'm not a huge cook, i'm still learning how to be domestic.


Here is my routine:

BREAKFAST: Coffee!!! I'm not a huge breakfast person... I KNOW, I KNOW it's the most important meal of the day!!! We never really ate breakfast when I was a kid and I would rather sleep 30 more minuets (I seriously value my sleep) than make a mess in the kitchen before i go to work. IF I eat breakfast it will most likely consist of greek yogurt and some berry's,  a bowl of a whole grain (no fun) cereal, or oatmeal with fruit.

SNACK:  I keep a bag of veggies, blueberries, and cut celery in the fridge and a container of almonds by my desk. I snack on those when I feel hungry!

LUNCH:  Lunch is normally odd since I don't cook a ton I normally don't have leftover SOOOO I by pass all the fast food joints and hit up the rouses or winn dixie right by my office. I will grab one of 2 things: A salad from the salad bar (no dressing... i'm a weirdo!) or a turkey sandwich on whole wheat bread. If I go anywhere else its Subway (6" turkey on wheat) or smoothie king if i'm not super hungry.

SNACK: Again I snack at my desk on the things I bring from home!

DINNER: This is when I just cook up some chicken or fish with my bell peppers and onions. I said before I am not a cook, Kevin and I tend to go out to eat a good bit :/ when we go out I  don't even look at the menu and I order a grilled chicken salad no dressing or if they have it, a spinach salad (except for Mexican, I splurge for the chips, queso, a margarita, and a quesadilla with a side of beans...oops!!)

* just a note: I try not to eat after 8pm and I mostly only drink water.

This will all be changing soon, YAY!!! Kevin and I just started a budget, as much fun as this doesn't sound we are so excited to start it! Hopefully I will be cooking more and finding all kinds of healthy recipes and food choices! When I am looking for something new to cook I do a Google search for paleo recipes. I like the theory and premise of the primal diet, you cant go wrong with all natural and fresh food!

 I hope this helps you guys out when it comes to making choices on what to eat! Even though I don't have much of a repertoire of things I eat, just be smart when making choices, we are all wise enough to be able to tell the differences from good and bad food! You need to make the choice that you probably don't want to make, if you eliminate the option to choose bad and you wont be able to make a bad choice!

My Favorite Exercises!

         I have compiled a list of some of my favorite exercises!!!! The way I decided what exercise's are my favorite is by the ones that I really feel like they are working and mostly if I enjoy doing them...I also have a feeling that statement will be uses against me at some point while i'm groaning in boot camp. I may post more randomly in other post,  but these are the first to come to mind today.

LEGS!!!!!!! I LOVE LEGS!!!! They are by far my favorite night of workouts. As much as it hurts to do walking and jumping lunges and squats up hill I secretly love legs (after the fact of course)! Here are my favorite leg exercises:

*Jumping squats
*Lunges - Walking... stationary...With weights... I love any kind of lunges!!
*Wall sits! They suck but its always a good challenge and it works your abs too :)

Arms...a little less enthusiastic about my arms. My arms were pretty weak when I started working out...in fact I would aim to say they were the weakest part of my body. Here are SOME arm workouts I like though:

* TRICEPS DIPS!!! These are my all time favorite arm exerciser! I'm not sure why i just think they are fun.

* Overhead press. 

* Overhead extensions.

* Curls... you cant go wrong!

ABS!! Abs are my second favorite to legs. I'm not a "crunch" fan as i wouldn't suspect most people are?!?. Here are a few of my favorite abs exercises:

* PLANKS. I really love planking :)
* Leg lifts.
* Crunches... When I do crunches I normally go center, right, left, and then back down. Get it all in there while i'm up...

Back and shoulders!

* Fly's
* Dumbbell Rows
* Lateral raises
* Super girl

Well there they are!! I hope you guys enjoy these as much as I do! If you don't have a gym or classes and what to workout pick out 3 or 4 exercises add some cardio and stretching and do it at home... Heck, do lunges and squats to and from the laundry room! There is always time for a workout!


 *If you don't know what something is Look it up or ask me, i'm posting these by what I call them and hope everyone else knows what i'm talking about :)

ABSolutely

Well then, sorry I have been gone for a week. I was super busy last week with a wedding to end it all this past weekend, now its back to the grind and my somewhat "normal" life!


Let's talk about my favorite body part!!!! ABS!!! These are my favorite body part when they are not mine and insanely ripped...hints the not mine part. Who doesn't want a nice stomach raise your hand?! Exactly! I'm sure you have heard this saying before "abs are made in the kitchen not in the gym!"

 Well as many of you might think this is BS you're wrong. Abs are ABSolutly made mostly in the kitchen.  The abdominal exercises you are doing are definitely helping, because they are building up the muscle under the layers of "excess fat". Since I brought up the topic of excess fat, let it be know that you can't lose fat in just one place. You need to have an overall fat loss you can't just target your stomach!!! Have you ever seen someone with a six pack and fat arms and legs ?!? NO! Diet will be your main key to a nice stomach. Eat healthy and you will start losing weight, your body will be storing all the right kinds of protein things it needs and you will start burning off all that stored fat. Little do you know you already have a six pack, you just need to change your eating habits to see it!! Don't get me wrong all the abdominal exercises will help chisel away at them, but if you don't eat right you will never see them at their full potential! 




This meme made me laugh...pretty sexist, but still funny. Enjoy! (If you don't...well, i'm sorry you don't have a since of humor.)

Back in Action!

           Well, its been a few days since I have made a post, I'm not adventurous enough to "blog" from my smartphone and I went off on a work/vacation/birthday event for my wonderful husband!!! Lets begin on that note, I ATE COMPLETE CRAP FOR 4 DAYS,  :( Not good, So now its back to the grind so i don't look and feel like complete crap too. I made the MAJOR mistakes on this trip from getting food at gas stations (I spent 14 bucks on candy and check mix) , having pizza ordered to the hotel (twice), BEER (lots of beer),  and BIRTHDAY CAKE (Lots of birthday cake...Drunk eating birthday cake)! I was going to compile a list of ways you can healthy eat on vacation but then I  realized you should just not do what I did  (oops).  Just stick to the smart choices salads, grilled meats, and veggies and BAM you ate healthy on vacation! No ones perfect so now you see i'm not always a crazy health freak :) although i did keep talking about how awesome lunges in the smokey mountains would be! Killer, RIGHT?!?

           Lets get back on track! I want to talk to you guys about lifting weights, one of my favorites. There is a HUGE misconceptions in ever girls brain...Maybe not so much a misconception but an excuse! LIFTING WEIGHTS WILL NOT MAKE YOU BULKY!  Get over yourself, you're not going to look like a body builder after lifting weights for a week... and most girls could never look like that anyways! I have been doing boot camp since October and we lift weights, Mostly they are small weights for high reps but i have also done heavy weights with my lovely sister! I wouldn't say i am "BULKY" anywhere?!

       I wouldn't mind having those abs of the girl on the right?! Who wouldn't! Fact is women don't have the muscle building hormones like men do. These images of HUGE women are the results of steroids and/or artificial testosterone supplements! It also has to do a lot with diet,  If you are also eating healthy and lean with greens, veggies, and the right proteins you couldn't look like that if you tried! Now, get off your butt and go lift some heavy things! NO MORE EXCUSES!

weight watching.

    Most people hate getting on that small object in your bathroom with the numbers up top... the scale, stares me in the face every time i go to the bathroom. If you're like me you weight yourself every morning, THIS MUST STOP!!! Out of all the bad habits I acquired trying to lose weight and stay in shape this is the one that I am still struggling to break. We have to come to the realization the muscle weighs more than fat. Even though we hear this over and over the minute the scale goes up a few pounds we get worried.

Here is a comparison of muscle vs. fat:

   IT'S JUST A NUMBER!! If you are eating right and working out your body will take care of the rest. Lets start going off looks and feel,  if you are looking better and feeling better then whats a number on the scale to tell you you're not making progress?! The scale will fluctuate so much, it's not a very accurate way to tack your progress. just by drinking a few glasses of water you will gain, Every one knows water weighs 8lbs per gallon, if you drink the recommended and then get on the scale at the end of the day you will be highly discouraged, trust me! What we should be looking at are inches lost and BMI. Invest in tape measure and get your body fat tested, this will give you a more accurate reading of the weight you have lost and where you have lost it from! Lets move from this unhealthy obsession of watching the scale to an accurate reading of our progress!! Don't take that number to heart, take a look in the mirror to really see what you have accomplished