Week 3

Start weight 165
Start BMI: 27.9
Start Body Fat %: 35.8

Weekly Goal: 163

Whew!  What a week.  First of all, I met all of my goals for the week! Didn't think I would since I actually had 2 rest days, but I made up for it today with 2 workouts.  One of my walks was at Powder Valley nature Center... we saw more deer :-)

Besides my walks and workouts I had alot more exercise.... I painted my parents steps leading up to their second floor, took 2 coats.  Also, Chad and I painted my parents shed.  We still have to go this week and do the second coat.  Also, spent some time moving furniture, cleaning, and setting up for an estate sale with work.  Hoping all that extra helps me lose!

Next week I will be painting my parents steps leading to the basement, we will finish the shed, and I will clean/organize/paint my parent's pantry.  Plus finish setting up for the estate sale and working the estate sale.

Also, lots to look forward to... Next Saturday is Donovan, my youngest nephew's birthday... he will be 1.... how the year has flown by.  He is walking now, but I haven't seen him since he started, so that will be fun.

Also the last week of the month Chad and I are hopefully heading to the time share to spend a few days, relaxing, exercising, and just spending time together.  He only get a week off before the next semester, so we are taking advantage of it. We will be there Monday-Thursday. There are trails there so we are taking our bikes and will bike and walk.... and they have a pool.

Two days after we get back from the time share... It's wedding time!! My brother is getting marries and it should be a great weekend.  We will be down in Ironton at a bed and breakfast for the whole weekend, and they are planning lots of activities.  Right now the plan is to workout saturday before we leave, then make Sunday and off day and then workout Monday when we get home... we will see if that works.  There are trails there so we will be sure to do lots of walking.

Chad and I are looking forward to the rest of this month and we need the stress break!  School and money issues can really wear you out!  Also, praying for some good news for both of us on the job front this month!

End Weight: 163
End BMI: 27.8
End Body fat %: 34.4%

Week 2

 Disclaimer:  I talk about girly stuff, sorry.


Start Weight 166.6
Weekly Goal: 164
Month Goal: 160


Much better week!

Followed the plan Monday and Tuesday.  Wednesday I didn't get my workouts in, but I still got all 6 workouts and all 5 walks in by the end of the week... I just didn't get my off days when I was supposed to.

Made a new recipe up... Pesto Egg Sandwich....read about it on the food blog.  It was really good and just what I needed that day.

Best moment: on my 60 minute walk on Sunday I went almost 2.5 miles (I was at 2.489).  And I think I could of gone faster/farther with music.  Will start taking my Ipod with me next week.

Worst: tired tired tired.  I am dragging.  Probably because Aunt Flo is coming soon.

Anyways, I met my goals so I get to choose when/ if the tv is on next week and what we watch... Woo Hoo to a nice quiet week without the TV on all the time!!!

End Weight: 165 (lost 1.6 for the week, 4.2 total) didn't get to my goal weight but that's ok, retaining water because of Aunt Flo's impending visit.  I am still on track to get to my monthly goals- which are the weight loss goals that matter...

In other news, my BMI is now 27.9 (down 1.1) and my body fat % is 35.8 (down 1.7%) Umm... AWESOME!

Week 1

Start Weight 169.2
Monthly Goal: 160


This will be short....

Did not meet any of the goals.  Walked a few days, but that's in.  I was sick most of the week, it started the Wednesday before and got worse..Included a doctors visit on Tuesday which included a shot in my hip.  Still not sure what's wrong, finally started feeling a little better by the end of the week.

I did however eat pretty well.

End Weight: 166.6 (Lost 2.6 pounds!)

Before

  Disclaimer:  I talk about girly stuff, sorry.

Starting July 30th, we (Chad and I) are starting a 90 day fitness challenge with our Beachbody coach.  The challenge will last for 90 days.  Here are some of the guidelines of the challenge:

1. Weigh yourself before and every Monday.
2. Take measurements and before photos and on days 30,60, and 90.
3.  Write out some goals- weekly, monthly- and whole program
4. Write down a workout plan.

I won't put Chad's info here, because he hasn't given me permission. (Haven't even asked him- this is for me, not him :-) )

My start weight is 169.2
I have my measurements, only going to post two here, because they are the only two I am really worried about. Starting BMI: 29, Starting Body Fat % 37.5%.  I am hoping to gain some muscle and drop the waist size down and am hoping the girls shrink a bit, but I think those will come if I can get the weight, BMI, and body fat % down.

Here is a before photo...

This is from my baptism June 17, 2012.  Probably the most recent picture I have of myself.  Really shows the lack of arm muscles and the girls sticking out... I have to wear larger shirts for the girls, so it hides the stomach luckily.

Here is one of Chad and I.  A little older, its from Disney May 2011.  We had actually both lost some weight before going on this trip, all of which we have since gain back.  And I realized we are slouched over, but even when we stand you can see the rolls. :-(

I have created quite a few goals for the 90 days....

- Do Power 90 6 days a week (This is a beachbody program we purchased right after we got married that we had yet to use... It is a step down program from the infamous P90X

- Walk 5 days a week.  I don't think many people know this, but it is a life goal of mine to run a marathon.  I thought I would have to give up on this goal when I had the plantar fascitis issues pop up.  However after losing my job and the problem more or less disappearing after I was not on my feet all day long and after talking it over with my foot doctor, regular doctor and my chiropractor, it was decided I could it would just take a little extra effort.  With that in mine the plan I created/decided on was too first walk a 5k, then walk a 10k, run a 5k, run a 10k, run a half marathon, and then run a marathon.  I have found some good training plans for all 6 mini goals by Hal Higdon and it is what I am following... so by the end of this current 90 days challenge I will have walked my 5k and just be starting on the training for the 10k... I am hoping to start running by March of next year.

- Track all foods eaten and as much nutrition info as I can find.  I am using an Iphone App- Mynetdiary to help me with this.

- Drink half of my body weight in water ounces each day.  I choose this number because it is what the fitness journal (fitbook) I am using suggests.

- Log in my fitbook every day- workouts, food, etc.

- Plan the week ahead fitness wise every Sunday (my week starts on Monday).

I am following the Power 90 workout plan and the Hal Higdon 5k walking plan(modified to extend it from 8-12 weeks).  For Power 90 it is basically MWF are circuit workouts and THSu are cardio/abs workouts.  Saturday is my off day for Power 90. For walking- MWF I do a walk for a certain amount of minutes (Starts at 15 mins and moves up to 30 by the end of the 12 weeks).  Saturday is a certain amount of miles (starts at 1.5 and moves up to 3 miles).  Sunday is a 60 min walk with a 5kw on the last Sunday.  Tand H are my off days for walking.

So there you go.  I will update each week with my progress in case you are interested.  Also, hoping this will get me back to blogging on the food blog with some healthier recipes than we might of had in the past.

Current Reading List

So for the first time in way too many years I have found myself with out steady work and without classes every couple days... translation: lots of free time.  It was nice for most of May, but here it is almost June (only two days till my birthday :-)) and I am bored and stir crazy.  I have had to start planning errands and activities outside the house at least ever other day, to keep myself from going crazy.

Not that I don't have nothing to do.  I still have a teacher work sample to finish and applications to fill out (anyone need an elementary teacher next school year?) but my lack of activities has also caused a lot of motivation.  Ever been bored and just piddling away till the next thing you know its 6 hours later?  No?  Maybe just me, but that's what has happened a few days.  It took me a few days, but I realized this was a symptom of stir crazy, so I started planning outings.  Even simple things like going to the chiropractor for an hour today helps.

So far, the new plan is going well... Only on the second day, but still.  Yesterday I had errands to run and had to stop by work.  Unfortunately I woke up with a killer headache, so my morning routine didn't work, but I still did my errands and then came home and did some cooking and financial related stuff.  Today, I got up an hour later than planned (still trying to get the insomnia under control... trying to find that balance between too much medicine where I can't get up for 12 hours and too little medicine where I don't sleep at all, but still had enough time to go for my morning walk and get my shower in before the chiropractor.  After the chiropractor, mom took me to lunch, and then came home and did the menu for June.

Anyways, rambling.... Because of this abundance of free time, I decided to take advantage of it and get some summer reading it.  Here is what I am currently reading and waiting for from the library:

Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen.  I have attempted this book before, but never seem to finish.

I Beat the Odds- Michael Oher.  This is from the guy the movie "Blind Side" was based on.  Great read for anyone interested in foster care or adoption.  This among with a few others on the list, I came across last week when I was looking for some books to take on my Kindle down to Chad's family reunion.  I get my books through the library (can't beat free!) so I sometimes have to wait for the good/popular ones so every once in awhile when I need some to read I look through the available title list and find some that sound good.  Some are, some are not.  This one is good so far.

Plugged- Eoin Colfer.  Same author as the Artemis Fowl series that I enjoyed, so I thought I would check it out.  Haven't started it yet. "Lincoln McEvoy has a problem. Well, really, he has several, but for this Irish ex-pat bouncer at a seedy, small-time casino the fact that his girlfriend was just murdered in the parking lot is uppermost in his mind.That is until lots of people around him start dying, and not of natural causes. Suddenly Linc's got half the New Jersey mob, dirty cops and his man-crazy upstairs neighbor after him and he still doesn't know what's going on. Bullets are flying, everybody's on the take and it all may be more than Linc's new hair plugs can handle.And Linc's got to find the guy who put in those hair plugs—or at least his body—and fast, or else he'll never get that voice out of his head. Head-spinning plot twists, breakneck pacing and some of the best banter this side of Elmore Leonard's Detroit, will keep you on the edge of your seat and itching for more." Sounds interesting.  Being that it is about an Irish man... Chad might enjoy it more than me, we shall see.

Blackout (Oxford Time Travel Series)- Connie Willis.  "Oxford in 2060 is a chaotic place, with scores of time-traveling historians being sent into the past. Michael Davies is prepping to go to Pearl Harbor. Merope Ward is coping with a bunch of bratty 1940 evacuees and trying to talk her thesis adviser into letting her go to VE-Day. Polly Churchill's next assignment will be as a shopgirl in the middle of London's Blitz. But now the time-travel lab is suddenly canceling assignments and switching around everyone's schedules. And when Michael, Merope, and Polly finally get to World War II, things just get worse. For there they face air raids, blackouts, and dive-bombing Stukas--to say nothing of a growing feeling that not only their assignments but the war and history itself are spiraling out of control. Because suddenly the once-reliable mechanisms of time travel are showing significant glitches, and our heroes are beginning to question their most firmly held belief: that no historian can possibly change the past."  I am a sci-fi/fantasy nut so this sounded good.  Was a few chapters into it till i realized it was not the first by the author.  While it is the first in a two part series, many of the characters are introduced in previous stories.  So I have put this one on hold, till I read the others before it.  One is mentioned below, and the second and third I am on waiting list for.

Fire Watch- Connie Willis.  "Short story set during the Blitz with Mr. Bartholomew, an Oxford historian from the mid 2100s, travelling back in time to be part of the Fire Watch at St. Paul’s Cathedral.   It also introduces Kivrin and Mr. Dunworthy."  The first by the Oxford Time Travel Series author.  Reading this online, found it for free. Good, so far.

Nearing Home- Billy Graham "In this moving narrative, Billy Graham once again takes up the pen not only to share his personal experience of growing older but also teach us some important lessons on how to view our time here on Earth. He says that the Bible makes it clear that God has a specific reason for keeping us here. So what is His purpose for these years, and how can we align our lives with it? How can we not only learn to cope with the fears and struggles and growing limitations we face but actually grow stronger inwardly in the midst of these difficulties?" Haven't started yet

Waiting for Superman- "The American public education system is in crisis. Millions of students attend "failure factories" that produce more drop-outs than graduates; millions more attend "nice" schools that mask mediocre achievement. The U.S.'s reading and math scores stagnate and even fall behind, while other countries continue to advance. But many are working to reinvent this system. The film Waiting for Superman, directed by An Inconvenient Truth's Davis Guggenheim, chronicles these efforts through the interlocking stories of a handful of students and families searching for alternatives, and of reformers proving that all kids can learn. Expanding on the film's arguments, the book Waiting for Superman explores politically charged topics through a series of essays by thinkers at the leading edge of educational innovation. It shows how failing schools destroy neighborhoods—not the reverse—and how research reveals that dedicated, attentive teachers are what help at-risk kids succeed. With candor, poignancy, and hope, this book encourages those inspired by the film to join the battle to save American education and our children's future."  Haven't started yet

DragonFlight- Anne McCaffrey "HOW CAN ONE GIRL SAVE AN ENTIRE WORLD?  To the nobles who live in Benden Weyr, Lessa is nothing but a ragged kitchen girl. For most of her life she has survived by serving those who betrayed her father and took over his lands. Now the time has come for Lessa to shed her disguise--and take back her stolen birthright. But everything changes when she meets a queen dragon. The bond they share will be deep and last forever. It will protect them when, for the first time in centuries, Lessa's world is threatened by Thread, an evil substance that falls like rain and destroys everything it touches. Dragons and their Riders once protected the planet from Thread, but there are very few of them left these days. Now brave Lessa must risk her life, and the life of her beloved dragon, to save her beautiful world. . . ." This is book one in a series.  Love fantasy series, but haven't started this yet.  Was one I found while looking through available titles... we shall see.

Mind the Gap- Christopher Golden "Always assume there's someone after you. That was the paranoid wisdom her mother had hardwired into Jasmine Towne ever since she was a little girl. Now, suddenly on her own, Jazz is going to need every skill she has ever been taught to survive enemies both seen and unseen. For her mother had given Jazz one last invaluable piece of advice, written in her own blood.Jazz Hide Forever  All her life Jazz has known them only as the "Uncles," and her mother seemed to fear them as much as depend on them. Now these enigmatic, black-clad strangers are after Jazz for reasons she can't fathom, and her only escape is to slip into the forgotten tunnels of London's vast underground. Here she will meet a tribe of survivors calling themselves the United Kingdom and begin an adventure that links her to the ghosts of a city long past, a father she never knew, and a destiny she fears only slightly less than the relentless killers who'd commit any crime under heaven or earth to prevent her from fulfilling it."  Another found while browsing, sounds different.  We shall see.

Knowing the Bible 101- This is the book for the class I am taking at my church starting next week.

Beautiful in God's Eyes-  Elizabeth George.  Been reading this for awhile, had to stop when things got crazy with work and school.

Complete Guide to Money- Dave Ramsey.  This book goes along with the Financial Peace University class that we are doing on our own right now.

Total Money Makeover- Dave Ramsey.  Pretty similar to book above.  This is one Chad and I are reading together.

Divergent- part of a series, currently 39 our of 46 waiting for this book.

World without end- Ken Follett.  2 out of 3 waiting for this book.  Sequel to Pillars of the Earth that I finished a month ago.

Doomsday Book- Connie Willis.  part of the oxford time travel series.  1 out of 1 waiting for this book.

To Say Nothing of the Dog-  Connie Willis.  Book 3 of the oxford time travel series.  In my wish list till I read the one above.

Icebound Land- John Flannagan- book 3 in the Ranger's apprentice series.  3 out of 3 on waiting list.

First 3 Sue Grafton novels- You know, the alphabet ones.  Have this in a physical book on the holdshelf at the library, just haven't made it there to pick it up.

Also in the middle of the Game of Thrones series, Septimus Heap Series,  and the Dresden File books, but 5 is my limit for my holds, because they all have a tendency to come available at the same time.

Also still reading Star Trek books from my dad..... Only on #30 of the original series, so I will be reading these the rest of my life. LOL

Have had some recommendations from friends, but haven't gotten around to look into them yet.

My favorite types are series and sci-fi/ fantasy books.  So feel free to throw some recommendations my way.

What are you reading this summer?