Another Clean Eating Day...Well Sort Of

I had a wonderful eating day today! I didn't get a full six small meals in today but I'm trying to get it done what with my busy day. I had to finish with my work from home job and get Imani to drill team practice, stop at the bank and get money ready for the back to school rally my organization is donating money to, pick up merchandise for the swap meet and drop it off.
Groceries oh yeah groceries! Yeah I did that too. I actually purchased all clean items too! I was feeling really good about that choice too. Then I came home after playing chauffeur, cooked dinner and THEN get this, I worked out AGAIN! I did a circuit training program that I love doing while I'm listening to dance and house music. It was awesome. I should sleep really well tonite.
Matter of fact I think I just might shut it down right after this post. But I can't. I have too many other things to do.

So what did you do today? Did you make some progress on your way to getting healthy, did you drink some water today? If not its cool you have yet another day to make that happen.

till then

Be Well

Work Out Now!

Ok I took off the kooky little tag on the side about how much weight I was losing because I am realising that this journey is about more than me just losing weight. This is about me staying healthy and not getting skinny.
There is a history of diabetes and alheizemer's on my dad's side of the family and on my mom's side of the family I lost two aunt's to breast cancer. Hmmmmm sounds like my life depends on me getting up and moving and eating better to take care of the only thing that will follow my entire life. ME MYSELF AND I.
So why don't you join me and move something daily. I have little radio station that I added on the side.
Why don't we press play and shake it for at most ten minutes? Got three minutes? How about through one song? You can do this. I can do this!
Work Out Now!

Till next time!

Clean Eating and Circuit Training

I'm still going through this book by Tosca Reno call The Eat Clean Diet. So far this is still like a refresher course for me since I used to work out like this and eat like what they talk about in this book. But you know what? I am so glad that I bought the book. I carry it around with me from room to room and in my laptop bag trying to stay creative with ways to get that exercise and good diet in me daily.
So for the past couple says well really a week I have been packing my little cooler whether I stay home or if I go up to my swap meet which we are still setting up.
Since I may be spending a lot of time during the day here at the swap meet I am thinking about bringing a cooler along with a slow cooker since there is like a break room here.
My daughter thought it was bit much but it is either that or when you come home from school there will be no dinner for you. I mean this cannot be hard really. Just cook it at the swap meet and drive it home at the end of the day. Come on.
So I have my exercise bands that I bought when I first got p90x, I have several sets and so I put them in my laptop bag as well. I have been getting in 10 minutes here and there working a certain group of body parts all at once with a 90 second burst of cardio like I dunno jumping jacks or running in place. Basically the cute term of scientific term is vertical progression according to Oxygen Magazine where you work one muscle group and then move on to the next while letting the other muscle group you just worked take a rest. I like that, you get more done and in less time and with the same results really.
I know this works because I used to do this on the regular. So I am just really back to my old beat.
I know what you all want to know too. Have I lost any weight yet? Yep I did. I wasn't really paying attention but I did thanks to this book and following it to the letter. I lost 4 lbs last week!
Now most of that no doubt was water but you know what? I'm going to claim it anyways and keep going. I would like to see how much I can take off and tone up by the time Kevin comes home off the ship! That would be fun to see the look on his face when I meet him at the airport!
That hot! Don't you think?
Anyone else tried the eat clean diet? Let me know how it went for you.

Chat later

Tosca Reno and Eating Clean

I just bought this book here you see on your left. In my younger days I was a big fan of weight training and eating a certaing type of way to keep my girlish figure if you will.
Funny how time does not change much of anything in the world only the way things are packaged. I have been a fan of Oxygen Magazine for women for some time and notices that one of their columnists had a book that she was promoting called the "Eat Clean Diet". Ok I thought when I get around to getting to the city I will buy it.
I picked it up this weekend that just passed and here is what is interesting. There is nothing in this book that we don't already know we just won't do it. Especially for someone like me that KNOWS better that lived to train on a regular basis and then train some more and then eat to get the results. However this was a good refresher for people like me and not just that its a darn good book. Easy on the eyes and easy to understand for those that don't understand a lot of the bodybuilding jargon that is out there.
I give this book a thumbs up on because it puts information out there in an easy format for peopel that are seeking simple answers to a complex issue like weight loss and control.
I hear that there are other books that accompany this book as well and a DVD. I will have to make a decision as to wether or not I will make that purchase or not because this book was great all by itself. For others who may need some help in diet and exercise the others in the series are great companions to consider.

Sparkpeople and Me

Some time ago when I was expecting I was a member of babyfit.com. I loved that site because it kept me on track with nutrition and exercise while I was pregnant with KJ. And with me being over 35 I needed support of other mommies my age. So I joined and let me just say I loved it. I never got to the 200lb mark and that was a big goal of mine. KJ was born healthy and a good weight so I was happy. So after he was born I joined their sister site called Sparkpeople.
http://www.sparkpeople.com/
This site is so cool and I had not been to my own area on the site for over six months so I just logged back in and got back to where I was. See this site has it al. A planner for meals and exercises, message boards and forums for people that need support, a blog area for y ou to talk about your experience with getting healthy, you just have to check it out.
So I logged in today for the first time to get back on track.
Oh they also have forums you can join based on what you like to like me I am a member of the FirmBelievers club. You know what else? SparkPeople is free and you earn points to for free stuff! You can't beat that with a stick can you?
No you can't check them out when you have a chance and may I will see you online there.
Now for the fun part!

My JAM OF THE DAY!


You have three minutes and forty one seconds to get up outta your seat and get you move on! NOW GO!

Till next time

Busy Day Still Got It Done

So I had to go to Hot Springs, Arkansas on business yesterday so my partner Kevin and I left after I finished working on my cases for the day.
It takes about an hour to get there from where we live so I took some tennis shoes with me just in case we decided to do some sight seeing when we finished handling business for the swap meet we are opening.
Sure enough he wanted to park the car so I took off my pretty people shoes and laced up my Nikes so we could walk the strip that is lined with shops and the springs itself.
I tell you if you have never been to Hot Springs, Arkansas you should make a note to yourself to go one day. It is so beautiful there. The city was built on top of hot springs literally and you can see the steam coming from the grates in the street where the water is running underneath you!
There is a trail on a mountain you can walk to see the water trickle down into and everything. Loads of bathhouses along the way too. They call it the Spa City. I can see why I always feel so relaxed when I go there.
But back to my walk yes we walked. I was trying to keep up with Kevin who is like 6 foot one and to my 5 feet and four inches. So we walked and walked and walked and walked up and then down the moutain and stopped only to get back in the car which was a ways down the street about two miles I would say.
Needless to say I woke up sore in my thighs and my glutes.
So there is a way to get that exercise in you just have to find a way and I did.



Til next time

Saturday

I love Saturdays. They are so therapeutic for me. I love waking up in the morning before anyone else and having that quiet time to myself.
I got up this morning and just had some time to myself relaxing with a glass of soy milk and watching reruns on TVLAND all alone in silence. Matter of fact I had the sound down. I don't even remember what was on because I was browsing in my mind which exercise video I was going to do to get my day going.
Ahhhhh P90X Ab Ripper - (yes I have P90X) Let me just say this about it. I loved the program I just could never get past the first three days. This program is not for the faint at heart in workouts. I would do the workouts and the meal plan and realize my blood sugar level was so low I couldn't function. I would lightheaded and nauseous. I was a nightmare. So I realised that I was going to have to work my way up to that program.
That's like for people that are already fit seriously. Although I do have a friend Mose who lost 60lbs with it. He looks amazing! www.myspace.com/namastemose.
So I know first hand that the program works because he is my closest friend.
But back to my Saturday. I did Ab Ripper X like 300 something ab exercises so I am here to tell you that I am hurting already. Then I an hour to DJ Tiesto AGAIN on my stepper this time!
So right now I'm feeling the funk of it.
And ate right today. I don't feel like a pig.
So with my busy day in tow and all of the things that I have going on I just got up a bit earlier worked out and still had time for the folks and things in my life.
So lets see how I feel in the morning.
Join Me

My Workout Today

So I did some circuit training for about thirty to forty minutes. I did a walk/run/weight training work out to get me going all while listening to DJ Tiesto on my IPOD. Talk about a workout. Almost for a minute I felt like I was in my twenties once again!
See here is the truth when I was my twenties and living in Atlanta oh you know I had to be in shape and so I stayed in the gym on the regular! Whoo hooo! But now that I live in this tiny town I kind of slowed down a bit...no a lot!
So now here I am about five years into living in this town and I am looking in the mirror and going what in the world has happened to me?
Sigh oh well.
There is nothing more I can do but just do what I am doing and that is working out on the regular.
So back to my work out. I am sweating profusely and high on the endorphins like I used to be back in the day when could work out for hours at Lee Haney's Gym. Yeah I used to train with his brother and Lee himself would give me tips on muscle memory and all of that. His whole thing as a body builder was that the body never forgets. Your cells and muscles never forget the workouts that you used to go through all you hav to do is get back on the horse.
I can't lie I felt great doing my little circuit training workout. I really put a hurting on my upper body too. My traps, bi's/tri's and my pecs. So I feel great right now while I am writing this.
So now there is something else that Lee Haney's trainers would tell us to do. After a workout go sweat, get the lymph nodes pumping by sitting a steam room and massaging the lymph areas of your body and drinking cool water. It helps to release toxins into the bloodstream so that it can be release into your urine and carbon dioxide when you exhale. Let me just tell you when I used to do that back in the day I would stay in the ladies room tinkling.
Welp I'm off to steam a bit and no I don't have a steam room but I do have a tub so here I go.
Tomorrow .......aaaah who knows just as long as I do something.
So what about you what are you going to do?

My Daily Jam!

Hey I saw and heard the hottest video today and my daughter was like Mother you HAVE to hear this song!
So here is my song of the day is this not the hottest song? and you know I'm not even hating on the fact that they are hot chicks!
The song just makes me want to party and dance......thought I would just put that in there.
I'll post later about my workout!


Party with me, Hey ya'll it's Friday!

Wish Me Luck

ok ok Im off to workout on my lunch break. I am doing so far so good! I'll post later and let you know what I did.

First Magazine Article Interesting Read

Welp of course you know it was a busy day again for me what with me having the Swap Meet to set up. BUT I was aware of what I was going to put in my mouth the minute I woke up. ( I wonder sometimes if I am obsessive about it or not ...nah ) I got a copy of FIRST from Walmart and plopped it in my buggy along with the new folding laptop table.
There is an article in there that sparked my interest ...hold on let me find it.
"DROP 16 POUNDS IN 7 DAYS!"
Well last week on the cover someone else had lost like 12 in a couple of days. I digress.
So I took a read at it to see if it made any sense cause the truth is I want to lose a good 50 lbs and in order for me to do that I want to be encouraged with just a good jump in weight loss so I can see my efforts right away. But you know what?..., who is not like that that wants to lose weight?
So now the name of the book is called "Crack The Fat Loss Code" by Wendy Chant. According to the article in first , losing weight fast and consistently without ever enduring a plateau can be surprisingly easy.
Mmmmm ok I'm game I will try anything once.
So the basic is this you have to force the body to use its own glycogen stores. Hmmm starting to sound familiar. Atkins?
Ok ok ok I'll be nice.
So I went on online. There are loads of forums and message boards talking about it but no one that has lost weight that I have seen well only she said she lost four pounds in one week but that was it. Well hey it ain't 16 pounds but its better than being where you were.
My conclusion on this that I will try it ....only because I bought the stupid magazine and there are three weeks of meals in here well at least three weeks of how to's.
So here is my ticker, I'll post it on the side I';m not skeered. And I will try this little ditty for a week.
I'll keep you posted.

Chat later

PMS

I know we all know what that is but if you don't it is premenstrual syndrome. That little period before your period where you are bloated, retaining water, tired and really out of sorts.
I am so not feeling the day or the past couple of days. Yesterday I had no time literally to work out once again. You see I have a grand opening of a store here in this little town I live in and I'm running around trying to do all that needs to be done .....alone with kids in tow.
I didn't get home til around 10pm and tried to cook instead of fast food. Catfish nuggets ...(hey it was quick and mac and cheese oooooh so healthy right?)
It was bath time for each family member and off to bed only to be awakened by my son for a bottle a 3am.
So its 8 in the morning right now PMS is here and took her shoes off in my space and I am at it again trying to find time to work out and eat right..........in the middle of my busy life.
But I have got to so something since I just found out I am at 47 percent body fat! That is ridiculous! I almost fell over! But more on that later.
I wish I could seriously find the time.
I'm open for suggestions at this point? Anyone have any?

Ten Minutes Just Ten Minutes!

I had a very interesting day yesterday. It's about 6:45 in the morning right now and I'm wide awake which is unusal as I am normally still looking at the back of my eyelids for another thirty minutes or so but I've been awake for about two hours.

Why? Because I worked out for ten minute increments throughout the day. ok ok no big deal right? Not necessarily.

I did some research on About.com and found out that if you don't have time to work out you can still get a good workout if you work your large muscle groups and slow down your weight training if that is what you are going to do.

Here is the link if you are interested in finding out more about it here.

http://exercise.about.com/cs/cardioworkouts/a/10minute_2.htm

Moving on....I decided to give it a try, Just ten minutes was what I did while I was waiting on my daughter's bus to pick her up for school. I got on my Cory Everson Weight Bench and did some upper body work.

Then when I took a ten minute break from work I did my back.

Then when I had time before my afternoon meeting with the radio station, I decided to do ten minutes on the stepper while watching the news. Hey, guess what? That was thirty minutes!

Wow!, and my weight training was slow and heavy and by 7pm I was feeling it.

So I had dinner a simple Asian fare for me and baked chicken for the kids and before I could finish my bath and take two pain pills for my over worked back, I was out. (simple Advil was all I took since my back responds quickly to weight bearing exercise.)

So now I know it can be done and I don't need a straight 30-60 minute workout to get a workout in. But I got it done.

I know I won't do it everyday but on the days when I just cannot find time to go to the gym or pop in a loooooooooooong workout dvd, this will be my saving grace.

Chat later.

Funky Weekend

I don't know about you but I really need to figure out where I am supposed to find time in my busy life and schedule to work out. Hmmmmm. I'm the first one awake in my house and the last one to go to bed.
Did I mention that I am doing like a million things just like all of the other folks out there reading this blog?
So I'm not special not in the least bit in terms of what I'm going through, shoot by the time we decide that there IS time to sit down we are too tired to even THINK about working out or busting a sweat at all except for in a nice hot bath complete with candles and a nice cold whatever to drink. ( Well at least that is what I do I can't speak for everyone else)
Do I wake up earlier and make it a priority? Nah I need more sleep to function throughout the day. Do I do it on my lunch break? Can't, thats when I run errands with my one year 0ld son in tow and my cell phone connected to my ear for all the meetings I have to attend per day for my swap meet and my work at home job I have.
Do I do it before I go to bed? How, when I'm home late and the kids need dinner and baths and I'm beat before my head hits the pillow?
This is going to HAVE to be the week I figure it out.
I'm going to take inventory of my schedule and my workout equipment and videos and some local gyms (like I have time) and see what I can come up with. I even open for suggestions.

Let's see if I will be able to get at least three workouts done.

Til next time

The Skinny On Me

Hey there. Welcome to my little place on the web about me, my diet, my workout habits and all the things I'm going through to stay healthy, lose some weight and like the person I see on the other side of the mirror.
Don't get me wrong, I love me some me I really do but as I have gotten older I have found interesting things happening to my body that I seem to not have any control over. Like the fact that when I sit down I'm not sitting on a sweater thats wrapped around my waist that my butt! Or the fact that I have boobs that are doing interesting things like ummmmm "settling". Just the fact that as I age I am seeing slight changes in me, my skin, my hair, and my weight.
There was a time that I didn't have to fight so hard to lose weight or look great but now.....its a battle and I'm not winning it.
But I decided to give it a exercise and weightlosa a serious shot and chronicle my daily grind to get the weight off.
Join me why don't you? And laugh with me along with the way instead of whine and cry about it.

This is going to be fun!