What a COLD tuesday!

While most of the schools around this part of the state have a two hour delay this morning, our school system does not..   Brrrr!  I almost feel bad that my kiddo's have to go outside in this FREEZING weather.. After all, we live in the South..It just shouldn't get cold? Right?  That is what everyone always says... Little known fact about the South.. ON ANY randon fall/spring/ Winter day..You'll find you might just use your heat AND your air conditioner in the same day....  It happens almost every spring.. At nights, its COLD.. During the days it gets up in the 70s and maybe 80s. It's insane.. We've had snow.. We've even had a couple of blizzards...  I don't like cold. I'll never complain about it being 70 degrees, ANY TIME OF YEAR.

Okay, getting on with our post for the day.. I'm always on the lookout for health and information sites regarding how to live a healthier life.  I am  a fan of various pages on facebook of fitness models, motivational fitness people, Clean eating, etc.    I Love learning new ways, I just need to learn to implement them into my everyday life.

I came across a site called Lose Big Fat .  It has a TON of information on it and yesterday there was an awesome motivational speaker on there.  (It didnt neccessarily deal with weightloss, but being successful in general and he made some really really good points).  The site is updated several times a day with new information and articles.  I'm already a huge fan.  They also have a facebook page, which will alert you of new postings to the website.  It's a really great site and I've been learning a ton.

One of my favorite posts is about something that MANY people forget.  Instead of watching the scale go "down"...it may stay the same and might even raise a little maybe  making you think you are gaining weight..
But have you  "measured"... Yes. get out that measuring tape.  Muscle weighs more than fat, but is MUCH more attractive.  If you have lean muscle then you are going to look better even at the same weigh you are now, than if you just have fat and no muscle.   Measuring yourself is one of the best ways of knowing whats going on? Whether its muscle or fat.  You main gain an inch in your arms over time but your arms may also appear more slim!   You could be losing inches in your hips and thighs too?  But the scale may not change much.

You have to go visit this page and search through all the tons of information.... I'm heading there now, to see what their newest update is!  :)

Day 3..of partially clean eating.

Day 3


I gave in yesterday and ate some pizza.  I looked it up and the calories really were not all that bad for what I ate. I think my body was craving some serious carbs.  Day one of clean eating went really well, for breakfast, I had 2 hard boiled eggs. For Lunch I had a caesar salad, and for dinner I had a chicken caesar salad.  I had water all day, no coffee, No coke.


We went to the gym not long after we ate, and I even remembered to take my catalyst this time. Oh, I did drink some spark right before we went. This is what my strength workouts include:


Arm Curl
Arm Extension
Back Extension
Chest Presss
Wide Grip Pulldown
Leg Extension
Leg Press
Shoulder Press
Seated Row
Leg Curl
Hip Abduction
Hip Adduction
Roc-it Abdominal
Abdominal Crunch.
The weights I lift vary with each machine, but I always lift the same each time. I change them when I do not feel that they are helping any more.  I lift 2 sets of 12 reps (24 total).  Usually the first 12 on all machines are fairly easy.  Once I get past the 6th rep on the 2nd set, is when I start to feel it starting to burn (not in a bad way though). If I don't feel this after I finish my 2nd rep, I know I need to increase my weight a tiny bit.
The hardest for me is one of the AB machines. Its incredibly hard for me.  My upper body needs a lot more of a workout than my lower body, but I feel better.


I am supposed to do my strength training 4-5 days a week, while i am supposed to do Cardio 6 days a week.
My cardio is supposed to be 50 minutes. I normally do this by running indoor, or outdoor. (check out www.MomsRUNthistown.com) for other great info for Women Runners.  Lately, since I've had some issues with my Achilles Tendon, I have not been able to do Cardio like I wanted.  I thought that walking on the beach last week was Really going to hurt, but it didn't.  The sand didn't bother me at all.  What bothered me the most, was swimming. Each time I go to kick my feet to swim, It feels as though my left foot is being ripped of. (Pain!!)


So I thought I would take a few weeks off.  I can't take off to much time, because the warrior dash is coming up in September and I've made a committment to run in it.I can't back out of it, unless of course the pain gets so unbearable that I can barely walk. I've been looking forward to the Warrior Dash for more than six months. (www.WarriorDash.com) 
So instead of running, I decided to try another form of Cardio, by doing the elliptical and the arc trainer.  The Arc Trainer is more of a "Stride"  Its actually not so hard on my ankle for the most part. By the time 15 minutes was up, I felt like I had run 3 miles.


After my workouts I almost ALWAYS go into the Dry Sauna to relax.  Most people do not like the 200+ degree heat.  I love it.  I take a book or my kindle, and some good tunes and read to my hearts contest.  I usually try to stay in there about 20 minutes, but I have made it longer before.  The Sauna, although very hot, feels great on tired muscles and to me, it seems to help muscle recovery.  It also helps make my ankle feel a lot better after the torture I've just put it through. :-)