Crawling Back on the Band Wagon

Today was the day, the 3rd and final time I'm starting the couch to 5k.  This time is the charm and I'm really going to keep going!! I've been working pulling myself back up on the "healthy lifestyle" band wagon.  You know b/c we're not supposed to diet anymore that's just a short term solution... and I don't know about you but I'm done with those.

Today is also the 5th day I've successfully counted calories!! I use an app called My Fitness Pal.  It's great! I know there are tons of diet plans and programs out there.  I find that this works the best for me.  I don't know why I just seem to have an aversion to Weight Watchers.   I've done it in the past and it definitely works if you stick to it.  It's just not for me.

Aside from doing my walk/jog I  killed it in the yard today 2 hours dripping sweat, mowing, weed eating, edging, and setting up the brick boarder around the trees in the front yard.  I have another couple of hours of work left I need to do in the next couple of days but it was a good start and great exercise!  

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Trip, Jump, Falling? Off the Band Wagon

So after such a great start on my couch to 5k training I've been stumbling around the last few days.  Some would say they fell off the band wagon... this would imply that it was accidental and they had no real choice in the matter Ooops I fell, right? Well I don't quiet believe in that sort of thinking.  So, I guess you could say I jumped off the band wagon...  I also don't really believe in excuses (this would be my military upbringing) more of just explanations for my decisions.  I didn't make working out and eating healthy a priority and have missed several days to include my Friday and Monday work outs. Let's be honest here I haven't done any physical activity in the last 6 days since the 4th of July.  

In the <3 of  explanation I got a bunch of my scheduling mixed up and over booked myself yesterday.   Which is when I was going to scramble back on that wagon.  Several of these days I did have my work out clothes on and never made it to the gym.... :( Well I'm recommitting to the training schedule again starting on Monday the 16th.  I'm still going to workout before then, I really want to give this training plan my full commitment to make me a believer in their system.  Don't forget I don't run at all... wait lets "pump the breaks" as my roomie would say!  I haven't worked out regularly (regularly defined as in 3-5 times a week) for years, probably not since my last PE class in college.  Oh and I'm "curvy" and could stand to loose a few of those pesky lbs ;)

The Color Run is 130 days away that's about 17 weeks from Monday.  This will be my 3rd attempt at starting the program, which of course will be the charm!!  The couch to 5k plan I've chosen is 10 weeks check it out here.  That still leaves me 7 weeks to keep improving my time and endurance.  My ultimate goal for the race is to be able to jog the whole thing and not walk at all! I think it's totally doable :) 

More of a short term goal is going to be for the next 5 weeks until my birthday and the wedding celebration of a good college friend.  Over the next 5 weeks I'm going to try to lose 15 lbs that's 3 lbs a week.  Some would say this is a little extreme however it'll be the first 15 and should come off rather quickly.  Also I'm going really clean up my diet and of course begin working out regularly :D  We'll see how it goes and maybe I'll post some before and after pics. 

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The 4th day of July

July 4th was my second day of "training" for my couch to 5k.  Much better then the first!! Definitely didn't wear shorts, swapped those bad-boys out for yoga pants.  I made it through my 2 min little jog :)  I'm a little nervous for Friday I have to jog for 3 whole minutes... Yikes! Well, after the gym & lunch with a friend at Nikki's Sushi (I always get spicy shrimp and avocado) I ran around like a crazy person cleaning house, raking leaves in the backyard, sweeping the deck, sharking the floors (this is where instead of sweeping you use a a small shark vacuum to pick up the dirt)

So that the 4th of July celebrations could commence!  My roomie and I had several close friends over for some chicken and veggie cabobs.  Thanks to Karen, the Chef for assembling and grilling them and my roomie for being the Sous Chef!!   This evening we tried several ideas from Pinterest. The first one was to freeze water in balloon to assist in keeping our cold beverages cold.  Here is the picture we saw on Pinterest:

Compliments of Munchkins & Mayhem 

No explanation or instruction really needed how hard could it be to freeze water balloons?  False! I filled these bad boys up at 10ish am here's what our freezer looked like:

Sad to say this did not work out like the above picture...   none of the balloons were fully froze over half of then ripped or busted; some while we were getting them out of the freezer :(  And I'm not talking we scrapped them against something sharp and they burst they just broke...   about three of them were still just water!  I'm not sure how that's possible after over 8 hours in the freezer.  I'm dedicated to giving it another try at our next get together.  We'll have to get them in the freezer the night before and maybe not fill them up as much I guess?

Ok, Pinterest idea numero dos! Table top fire in a terra cotta pot for smores!!  I haven't built the fire pit for the backyard yet so this is the next best thing! Or so I thought... it's been a project a few weeks in the making b/c we don't have a charcoal grill and I had to buy a pot especially for it b/c we didn't have any extras lying around. Here's the picture that's floating around Pinterest that gave me the idea.

Compliments of Après Fête

This week while getting all the goodies for our get together I picked up some charcoal and was super psyched to try this out.  I get my pot lined with foil, dump my charcoal in that I specifically purchased for my table top fire situation to make some banging smores.  Now, remember, one of the reasons it took me so long to get this project together is b/c we have a gas grill.  On Pinterest and even on this blog is just says line a terra cotta pot with foil and use charcoal.  Her blog actually says fill with hot coals.  But you get the point.  Well if 4 or 5 different people didn't try to get these dang coals to lite on fire tonight; we pretty much used up all the fluid in our lighter and gave up.  We were expecting them to be flaming like the pictures above.  Little did we know those coals started burning and smoldering in that dang pot and about an hour later they were blazing hot and perfect for roasting mallows.  By this point I'd already finished my few gluten free graham crackers (I really like the Kinnikinnick brand Smoreables) that I had left. Who knew you just had to let it sit? That or have lighter fluid... after closer inspection of this picture I can see it clear as day in the background! We'll definitely be trying this out again next time hopefully with a little more success :)

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NAILED IT

It's only been in the last year that I've been living with my amazing roommate that I've gotten back into the habit of painting my nails.  I did all the time in elementary and middle school; mostly through high school my toes were always painted hot pink or red.  In college I went back and forth mostly plain or clear nail polish on my nails I kind of had a fresh low key look.  Not very much makeup just powder and mascara for everyday ect.   Well, my roomie is the the total southern belle born and raised. Paints her nails at least once a week! So in the last year I've purchased more nail polish and painted my nails more then I have in my entire adult life.

We've been on a kick with accent nails (an accent nail painted a different color or design then the rest of the nails) recently and instead of just a plain color change or additional sparkle I thought I'd try my hand at something a bit more advanced...   My plan was to do all Ruby Red Slipper (that's the name I gave the color I'm not sure what OPI named it lol) nails with the accent nail having white polka dots on it for the 4th of July.  I skipped the blue b/c my dress is navy and white and I need all the red I can get to pull it all together!  That and polka dots are my absolute favorite!!

And after about an hour and a half this was my result....

Haha,  I thought they were looking pretty good until I snapped this picture then I had to make it into a meme... :D  My roomie and I had a good laugh!  I doesn't look that bad in real life besides who zooms in that close on their nails anyways?  I don't think anyone is going to inspect them that closely!

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Couch to 5k

I started training yesterday for my 5k.  It was a lot harder then I thought. I've only worked out about three times in the last couple of months, and remember I only run when absolutely necessary.  Yesterday was a huge wake up call.  My entire body was saying, "Hello!?! Have you gone postal...? Why are you running? I don't see any scary boogy-man chasing us!!"  Needless to say, I did finish.  The biggest thing I learned yesterday was not to try to jog too fast.  I bumped up my speed too high and really struggled to get through the 2 min.  Oh, and I'm not thin enough yet to run in shorts.  No one likes to chafe!  

Deciding on how to train wasn't difficult. I googled and searched Pinterest (of course) and chose this one:

I did some more searching on this plan checkout their website here From Couch to 5k.

I found it on Pinterest back in December, one of my New Years resolutions was to to start this plan.  Better late then never!!  It's not the easiest one out there, it's more in the middle.  The main training guide I found C25k was more of a ladder system where you alternate b/t running and walking in 60 and 90 minute intervals. That's a joke.  Maybe after this chart I'll try that one to try to improve on speed.

I 'm thinking about adding in some extra work outs and activity in on the days off.  If I shed a few extra pounds it's just going to make running easier. As silly as is sounds I really enjoy playing Just Dance on Wii, I'd like to mix in some weight lifting (I  go to Planet Fitness or PF and they have a 30min full body circuit) and once a week I think it would be good to simply power walk the full 3.1 miles.  So, I can start tracking my time.

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The Happiest or Scariest 5k On Earh

So, if you know me whether it's well or not you can probably draw the conclusion that I'm not a "runner"   Lets call curvy ;) for those of you who don't know me.  I've never been much for exercise and didn't play sports past 6th grade etc. I've been known to say things like, "If you see me running it's b/c someone is chasing me w/ a weapon!" or  "I have  two speed slow and slower..."  Let me put it this way: My best mile ever and I said ever like in my whole entire life; was in the 6th grade yep when I was at my peak physical  shape right before I stopped playing organized sports and it was 11 min and 59 secs...

Ok, the point of this post is not how fast my fasted mile it's... drum roll pleaseeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee...

I've decided to train for a 5k!! Ahh! I don't know what came over me?  It's absolutely a lapse in my better judgement! haha  Oh gosh, I've never run before. My Dad used to be a runner and my mom used to run for exercise some when I was younger.  It feels as though it's such an impossible, grown up activity. I'm sharing all of this b/c I not only need support but I need to keep myself accountable!   I've signed up paid my $40  and am part of a team :D made up of some great friends.  

Training is going to be rough, but I know I can do it!! I  have aprox 4 and 1/2 months.  The 5k I'm running is The Color Run in Charlotte, NC on Nov. 17th    It's known as the, "Happiest 5k on the planet!"  The way it works is you wear a white top and ever kilometer that you run there are volunteers ready to throw colored dust on you!  How exciting is that it'll make running so much easier to be enthralled with this colored dust  and checking out yourself and all your friends.  I can just see myself getting lost dancing in the dust haha

I think I'm more excited about the colored dust then I am about  working out, being healthier and loosing  some weight... haha We'll have to see how this goes.  Many updates to follow! I start training on  Monday!

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3rd Time's The Charm

Gosh, so much has changed over the last two years! We'll start slow with the updates  (:   I 'm still in  Wilmy short for Wilmington , NC .   I live in the most adorable cottage that I purchased almost exactly a year ago.  I have a wonderful roommate, I work crazy hours  as a technical support coordinator and my life is strewn with unfinished projects.

I  guess I'm trying my hand at blogging again mostly for myself to chronicle   my successes and failures   and share with anyone who's willing to read my pearls of wisdom! lol 

Over the last few years especially the last year with the rise of Pinterest I've gotten really into DIY projects.  My goal is to share my own nailed it photos :D along with some step by step tutorials to coming soon!!

Along with all that I'm also gluten free so from time to time  hopefully I'll get some recipes up here as well.   The cake below is a gluten free cake I made (: selfishly b/c I wanted to be able to eat some) for my roommate's birthday (she's not gluten free). I looked on  Pinterest and surfed the web for some pictures and went for it.   I mixed mini chocolate chips in the cake batter which I tinted pink .  Then frosted the cake accordingly and even added some chips on top for added decoration.

This is what you'll need:

• 2 round 9" pans
• 2 boxes of GF yellow cake mix I used Betty Crocker but I've loved every product of Pamela's that I've ever used (I followed the directions on the box)
• red & green food coloring 
• vanilla frosting (a lot of it)
• mini chocolate chips (for the seeds)

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