Category Archives: Summer of Fitness

Let’s Play Catch Up!

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Things have been a little hectic around the house lately that I sort of dropped away from blogging for a week.  Mike and I had something sad happen in our lives, but are now ready to move on and be happy.  (Sorry for being vague, for as much as I blog, you think I would be blabbing about everything.  I like being private about some things though.)

I really am lucky to have a great friend for a husband.  We went on Tuesday Night Ride last night. In Las Cruces, on Tuesday nights, all the local mountain bikers come out to the Dona Ana’s and the parking lot gets full of bikes, bbq, and people hanging out. It’s so fun to see everyone and mountain bikers are so friendly.  I feel like they are my second family.  We really are, since we see each other at all the races! 

 

I’ve been still working on the Summer of Fitness and really feel like that I am getting the workouts down.  I do my “Two A Days” and I’m training for some upcoming races in running and biking, so it should help.  I really think diet is the key thing, so that’s my weakness right now that I am working on. Eat less sugar, fat, and carbs, and add on the protein.  I’m avoiding sodas and late night eating too.  It’s hard stuff!

So we bought some sparklers.  I LOVE the fourth of July.  My dad is specifically driving here for the fourth because we go a little crazy with the fireworks.  Last year, Barney got freaked out and ran away (which was the scariest thing), so we are trying to get him used to it.

This was his first reaction.  Scared to death!  Here is what happened next.

He turned evil!  My cute, little dog turns into a monster!  He hates them! Needless to say, he will be hanging out in the house on the Fourth this year.

P.S. Trader Joe’s peaches…..are delicious.  Add some Cool Whip Free and it’s a great dessert!

 Question: What is your favorite summertime fruit to eat? Any good recipe ideas?

My Heroes

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 I picked up my latest copy of Fitness Magazine over the weekend and noticed it was an Olympic Games issue.  I love the Olympics!  Four years ago, Mike and I were dating long distance and it was a fun way for us to get on the phone and cheer on people we were going for.

These two awesome athletes are in their 30’s and still going strong.  Kerri Walsh (on the left) has two little girls and plays for the Olympic Women’s volleyball team.  Hope Solo (on the right) plays for the United States Women’s Soccer Team.  I love how they don’t let age stop them and they both are in such great shape.  It makes me so pumped to go out and be more healthy in my thirties than I was in my twenties.

Question:  Which Olympic events are you looking forward to this summer?

I just got done running the dog in the heat and now off to hopefully get my sink done today!

Three A Day Workout

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WORKOUTS

 I actually was pretty impressed with myself for working out three times today.  Working out in my terms means doing some kind of physical activity longer than 30 minutes.  Thankfully on Mondays and Wednesdays, there are a group of girls who like to play volleyball at my local church, so I was able to go.  Then I was headed over to the gym for some elliptical and weights.  It feels good to start getting my arms back.  I can’t wait til I can get my Les Mill’s Body Pump DVD/set.  When I got home, my husband wanted to go for a road ride, so we did some laps on a coarse called the “Ocho” in this really nice golfing community on our side of town.  It’s a three-mile loop that makes a figure eight.  It’s about six minutes of pure climbing, and then the rest is all downhill.  My goal tonight was four laps, and I did it!

ORGANIZATION

So one of my areas of focus this summer for my “Summer of Fitness” was to organize away the house.  Since I am on a budget this week and can’t go too crazy buying bookshelves and stands (which I would go crazy at Target doing), I decided to go through the “easy and cheap” things that need to be organized.

I have always had my clothes color coded from dark to light. Its nice so when you walk in the closet, and say that you are in the mood to wear red, then you know where all your red shirts are.  The hubby’s side of the closet had random shirts thrown in there.  Every once in a while I will hear him say “I haven’t seen this shirt in a while.”, because of how disorganized it is.  I decided to help him out and color coordinate his side of the closet too. 

I also found this organizer at Wal-Mart for $4.95, which you pretty much hang from your door.  It has a bunch of hooks and you put all your purses on it.  Most of my purses are piled in a corner in my closet, so its nice to have a visual on it.  Now to just get more purses to fill it. 🙂

Here is the picture of the “vision board” I was telling you about.  Mike and I have done it the last three years on New Years when we make all of our resolutions.  One side is dedicated to my goals, the other side for him, and then anything we both want to do I put in the middle.  This last year I put a list of all the goals we accomplished in a “newsletter” and then posted it up there.  We usually put biking goals, education goals, a lot of physical goals, and other stuff.  I try to make them really easy, like “take a class” so that way I can take a simple sewing class to accomplish that or a college course towards my nursing degree. Something like that.

Question:  What are some organizing things you do around the house that are inexpensive?

The Summer of Fitness

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From kindergarten til now, I have dedicated my summers to something.  When I graduated high school, I went straight on through college, and immediately started teaching at the age of 21, I have always had summers off. (Very lucky, I know. I get told that all the time!) By August, I have had to either go back to classes or back to work.  I have never known what it feels like to not do.Twenty seven years later…..I am in the same situation.

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(This is my vision board when I was living in Utah in 2005.  I got the idea from a Oprah Winfrey episode on things to do to achieve goals.  I made it to remind me of all the fun things I like to do and to remind me of all the friends and family around me.  Usually a vision board is for goals you have.  Mike and I have one in our second bedroom.  I’ll put it in a future post. )

When I was in college, I dedicated my summers to traveling.  I went and worked in Orlando for a summer at Walt Disney World.  I went to Utah and spent a summer at Brigham Young University learning the college life on campus.  I went on four different cruises to different tropical places.  I dedicated summers to dating right.  Other summers to educating myself.  So many different things!

Starting Memorial Day Weekend, I made a pact to myself that I was going to make this the “summer of fitness”.  I have been addicted to working out since about 2004, when I started taking group fitness classes.  I slipped down to my lowest weight and felt great.  I was especially excited when I found Les Mills’ Body Pump class and started to build muscle and tone out.  I have been interested in eating right and have bought almost every Fitness, Shape, Cooking Light, and Self magazines as the years have passed on.

 

This year was a very disappointing year on my body.  The stress from my job took a toll on me.  I gained almost 15 pounds from August until May.  I even went as far as going to my doctor about it.  I am an avid mountain biker and still raced, and was even getting faster on the bike!  Why was this happening to me??  With a lot of research and discussion, I concluded the weight gain to two things.  1. Stress.   2.Eating Right. 

 

(Before And After)

I can go on and on about how I concluded this, but I will spare the details.  So instead, I am going to explain how I am going to get myself back to a “comfortable” physique.  I am not going based on weight, I am going by how I felt.  Being thirty, I have to be realistic that age plays a role, but I am also going to not let it hold me back.  I still want to be healthy.  My goal is to feel “confident” by the end of the summer.  A confidence where I am not embarrassed to sit down and not use my purse to cover my stomach.  A confidence where I am not embarrassed to wear a short sleeve shirt, because I am afraid to show off my arms.  A confidence where I can stop complaining every second I put my clothes on. 

Here is the game plan.  A successful way to diet and exercise is to keep a journal, therefore I will be keeping a journal on this blog through posts:

1. Two a Day Workouts.  It doesn’t mean I go to the gym twice a day.  It means I complete at least two workouts a day. 

2,  Food Journal.  Keep a list of foods and meals eaten.  Keep healthy meals on hand.  Watch portioning.

3. Make life more fun.  Since stress is such a big factor in my life and physically makes me sick, I am going to work on at least one thing a day to relax my body.

4. Organize my life.  When I am organized, things are so much happier around my house. I love organizing and consider it a huge impact on my success in teaching, as well as my success personally.

So here it goes guys.  I send this out into the cyber world!  I will get back to you daily on one of these four subjects, or on all four of these subjects.  Wish me luck.  See you in August!