KILLER!!!

Tony said he was actually going to be home a little bit earlier tonight which means I could go to the night exercise class.  I was SOOOO excited!!  Whitney does a GREAT job and I really wanted to attend her "Extreme Cardio Class."  Even though I was shaking inside at the thought of her teaching anything with Extreme in the title! :) 

It was a GREAT class.  She is FABULOUS!  We did a little bit of everything.  I was already SO sore from the class yesterday morning that it was even a little extra hard for me.  But I pulled through and felt GREAT after.  Don't get me wrong - I was DEAD!!  I came home and literally collapsed on the floor.  Tony asked if I wanted to catch up on a White Collar episode.  I said "tv's probably the only thing we can do together because I'm NOT moving from this spot!"  And I didn't.  For the next hour I just sat there.  The only thing moving was my diaphragm. 

The class definitely isn't as fun as the morning classes.  The night group is a lot more serious.  In the morning class, we're all talking/joking, groaning and moaning about the things required of us... and all cheering on each other's successes.  But after Whitney's killer warm up when she said "okay, now that we're done with the warm up, let's move on..." and I said "what? I thought we were done now!!"... I felt that I got looks like "hey, if you can't stand the heat, get out of the kitchen."  Yep.  I felt pretty dumb at that moment.  At least I was able to do everything required so I really didn't look like I sounded.  ha ha.  Oh well -

The other thing I love about Whitney is her vast knowledge of fitness.  I explained to her about how my core is absolutely non-existent.  It was never really there, but even more so now after 3 c-sections.  So my problem now is that as I'm trying to turn a marshmallow into... at least a slightly hardened marshmallow (yeah, I don't even feel that I can justify using the word rock! :)... I feel that as I'm doing this, I'm hurting my lower back.  So she gave me 5 different exercises that I can do to strengthen my lower back.  We really are blessed here at the courts to be surrounded by SO many people with SO many different backgrounds.

Well - here's hoping that tomorrow I can even breathe without cringing in pain.....  

Vday

I started out Valentine's Day in a totally different way than I ever have... with a workout.  ha ha ha.  Yep, I know.  Pathetic!!!  It was nice though to work out in the morning.  I know, I know - that sure doesn't sound like me.  I HATE getting up, but I LOVE having my workout done and out of the way early on.  Although I can't wait until it's warm again when I can start running again at night.  Love. That.

Tony said he had dinner taken care of for tonight but I had to do the treat.  I wanted to do something healthy but yummy!!  I looked at a million things, but in the end, decided to go with what I made last year.  It was DELICIOUS and even more important, Tony liked it - so why not?!?! 

It's a soy milk parfait.  I know - that doesn't sound like a delicious VDay dessert, does it!??!  But it REALLY is good.  You mix light chocolate soy milk with a pudding packet and a little bit of cinnamon.  Then you alternate the pudding in a cup with angel food cake chunks, light whip cream and strawberries.  VERY good and compared to most VDay desserts... VERY healthy!

I ran into my cousin at Deseret Book the other day.  We chatted for quite a while.  It was GREAT to catch up with her.  But we started talking about holidays, diets, etc.  She talked about how they've been trying to eat healthier and it never really hit her how many of our holidays surround food.  It's SOOO true though.  From October to April - there is a big holiday EVERY month that, sadly, mostly revolves around food!  And the problem is that traditions and food are usually intertwined.  For example, Christmas to me is egg nog, peppermint ice cream, mint brownies, the weird cathedral windows :), caramels, etc.  Valentine's Day is all about conversation hearts for me!!  Although I don't love them now that they've changed their formulas.  (And yes, I'm pathetic enough to have written the company about it.  They did write back though and apologize but said it was necessary.)  ha ha.  I also love all the delicious cinnamon candy at VDay.  Easter is chocolate eggs, cadbury eggs, peeps, etc.  Thanksgiving is pumpkin pie, pumpkin pie, pumpkin pie and Grandma Gregory's rolls!  (1 roll, not bad.  The 10 that I crave - not so good.) :) 

Anyways - so I'm hoping that we can find yummy, healthy foods to start new holiday traditions - like this soy milk parfait!  Let me know if you have any ideas...

Small Stuff

So I have a new catch phrase...

Don't sweat the small stuff - celebrate the small stuff!!!

Meaning this... don't sweat the small stuff... the things you can't change, the things that cause you so much stress, the things other people do that may annoy you, bad choices in the past, last night's junk food fest... :) ha ha.  I need to do better at controlling my stress levels.  My friend Natalie suggested chewing ice.  Brilliant idea!!  I need to get a smaller ice tray though so I don't kill my teeth on the huge honkin' pieces my tray would make.  We both were saying we wish we had a "pellet" ice machine!!  I LOVE to chew on that ice!

Second part - celebrate the small stuff!!  This hit me today while I was also talking to Natalie.  I have not been very good about my food the past few weeks.  I mean, I'm doing better than I was - but I'm also not as perfect as I was the month of January.  And, I haven't been tracking my calories very well.  Honestly, I got bored with it and hated doing it.  There - I said it! :)  BUT... I realized that instead of feeling guilty every day that I'm not doing as well as I should - I need to celebrate the small things I'm doing.  For example - not taking seconds on a dessert that I loved and wanted more of, doing 5 extra push-ups today, choosing a healthy dinner option, watching Alex walk up with a weight and say "gotta do my exercises mom."  These are the things to celebrate.  And on top of that - I have been VERY consistent with going to exercise class.  For me, this is DEFINITELY something to be proud of.  Just like my monthly newsletter goal - make small, healthy swaps every day.  Don't sweat the fact that you ate too much yesterday or haven't lost anything yet (yep, that's still me....).  Just start over again today and be proud of what you can accomplish today!!

So.... let's all try harder to not sweat the small stuff while at the same time celebrating the small stuff!!!

New Class

I went to the Friday morning class today.  It's REALLY hard for me to go on Fridays since Logan has early school.  I can't even stay to the entire class because I have to get him home and on the bus.  And... because it's hard enough for me to get all of us up and ready twice a week.  But I was excited to try it since I've heard SUCH great things about Whitney!

Her class is called "tone and sculpt."  I was nervous walking in since I've heard she's a killer.  I started to get even more nervous (although this time about the clock on the wall... not about her...) because it was 9:20 and she still hadn't gotten there.  I knew I would be annoyed if I didn't get a good burn after forcing myself to get up, out of bed and everyone ready.  Can you tell I was a ray of sunshine this morning?!?!? :)

Anyways - she showed up and got started.  (She had some family problems.  I actually felt really bad for her - she seemed really flustered.  I definitely know that feeling... the "mommy fluster!")  Well, she got going and boy was she amazing and VERY professional.  She is GREAT!

In the 30 minutes I was with her, I was DEAD! :)  We worked on shoulders, biceps, quads and calves while I was there.  I heard she killed the class even further after I left!!! :)  I seriously felt weak but really strong while walking home.  I was glad that I went!

Wahoo!  Friday Morning Workout - 1, Warm Bed - 6,994,823,091.  (Okay, okay.  I'm weak... but at least the workout won this once!!) :)

Fitness Test

Wow!  Exercise class was a KILLER!!!!!!!!!!  I was SOO excited to go today, but I pretty much think I ended up TOTALLY regretting it!!! :)  It was our fitness test.  My first one!  Last month, the class did a fitness class and today was their day to compare.  Today was my day to set records that I can TRY to beat next month!

First - step up on the scale.  Still haven't lost a stinking thing.  Oh well - my day is coming..  Second - warm up.  Third - FITNESS TEST!!!  Every exercise was either going as hard / fast as you can for 1 minute or seeing how long you hold up. 

Exercises for a minute included - sprinting across the gym, sit ups, push ups, cherry pickers, lunges, bicep curls, tricep lifts, etc.  (Can't remember what else?)  The "long-as-you-can" exercises included wall sits, and... I can't remember what else.  ha ha - guess the fitness test toned my body and fried my mind!!! :)

I was absolutely dead when we left, but I feel like I did pretty good.  I just can't imagine doing any better next time!  And I can't imagine that I'll be able to get out of bed in the morning..... :)

Stress

I'm a very stressed out person.  Yep - I know you all know it, but now I'm admitting it!!!  I do have a lot of stress.  My life looks like this...

I'm on a constant roller coaster.  The problem is my roller coaster doesn't go from no stress to lots of stress... it goes from medium stress to above-the-charts stress!!!  I'm still working on how to control it.  I definitely am not very good at mastering stress.  I definitely overbook myself.  I keep saying that needs to change - but honestly, it probably never will.  (At first I typed in "I'm a very stressful person."  HOPEFULLY you don't think that of me!!! ha ha :)

But.... instead of you all just reading about my stress issues - the point of the post is this... I read an article the other day that was talking about weight loss and stress and how it affects everyone differently.  It mentioned one part in particular that I loved because I knew they were talking about me.  The said that a lot of people carry stress in their jaw.  So they eat to work out that stress.  The chewing helps relieve some stress.  I really believe this is me.  I LOVE to crunch!  I've always loved crunchy foods - and sometimes when I am SUPER stressed, I totally feel that need to "crunch."  Even when I'm not hungry.  Hence the reason why a lot of people - especially including me - tend to overeat a lot of times - or do "mindless eating" at nighttime.  Not only is dessert a stress reliever - cause we all know what desserts spelled backwards is...... :) but also by eating, stress is leaving our jaw and hopefully the whole body!

Now the obvious solution to this would be gum.  Gum allows you to chew and chew and chew without taking in any calories.  Well - FIVE calories to be exact if you are choosing Extra. 

But sadly, gum doesn't always work for me.  I'm completely open to suggestions about what is great to crunch and munch on.  Let me know your favorites!  Kari pointed out rice cakes.  I LOVE the little ones from Quaker.  I think I've only had the cheddar ones and the caramel ones - they are both good.  If I'm in a healthier mood - I love carrot sticks (I like the really long ones better than the baby ones - but baby is usually all we have...), sweet pickles, raw cauliflower, ruffles potato chips and a little bit of lowfat ranch to dip it all in.  Yes, I've had this combination multiple times.  ha ha

Jen loves to eat gogurts frozen.  They may not be the healthiest kind of yogurt out there, but the goal this month is making healthy switches and choosing yogurt instead of ice cream is a GREAT switch!  Not to mention - eating things frozen is a BRILLIANT thing to do.  It takes longer so a lot of times you feel full before you're even done eating.  I remember one time Alex didn't want the frosty in his kid's meal.  I put it in the freezer and ate it a couple days later.  It's just the teeny one (from the kid's meal) but it took me forever to eat because it was frozen.  And usually you can down one of those in seconds. 

Chips and salsa is a RELATIVELY healthy thing to eat.  Okay, the chips aren't.  But I read in an article that it's a great snack idea if you pile salsa on each chip.  Then you're getting plenty of veggies in - salsa is really low in calories - and still getting that crunch from the chips.  Just limit the chips and pile on the salsa!

I had already started this post when I received an email from Kelli.  It had a link to another site where the girl wrote 100 healthy snack ideas.  Here's the link... http://www.sixsistersstuff.com/2012/01/fresh-food-friday-100-healthy-snack.html.  Her first item was "frozen grapes."  I've heard from a lot of people that this is fantastic.  It seems too weird to me!! :) 

Kelli also mentioned eating homemade peaches and cream.  Slices of fresh peaches in a bowl with milk and a little bit of sugar sprinkled on top.  Also good with fresh raspberries.  This sounds really great.  Also, if you buy strawberries that aren't that good, you can take a teeny bit of sugar, sprinkle it on them, let it sit for a few minutes and eat.  As good as new!!

Cheryl has a GREAT recipe for granola that I really like.  As I've mentioned, I LOVE crunchy things.  This granola is SO easy to make and I eat it plain or mixed with yogurt. 

One of my ABSOLUTE favorites is the 100 calorie packs of popcorn from Orville Redenbacher.

They have Butter if you're in the mood for salty or Kettle if you're in the mood for sweet.  Plus, you get SOOO much for just 100 calories.  Most crackers / chips reach 100 calories in just a few pieces - but these give you a pretty big bowl.  I also love Fresca.  And while I don't drink much pop, a Black Cherry Fresca with a bag of this popcorn - I feel like I've had a VERY good, big treat and it's only 100 calories. 

THAT is the kind of snackin' I'm talkin' about!!!

Stretching

I. HATE. STRETCHING!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Could I be any more specific?!?!?  I HATE HATE HATE stretching!!!

I know why you have to do it - I just hate it.  I don't mind stretching before I work out - but the after-work-out stretch is worse than the workout to me. 

This post really isn't about stretching... I just wanted to vent for a minute.  ha ha ha ha ha

It's actually about doing exercises right.  It's ESSENTIAL to follow exercises perfectly and make sure you don't cut corners.  Cutting corners is WAAAAAY worse in the long run.  If exercise is painful... wait, exercise is ALWAYS painful.  ha ha - but it shouldn't REALLY hurt.  It should stretch your muscles, pull your muscles, make you hurt in a good way... but should never rip, tear, or send shooting pain up any part of your body.  It's very important to stop IMMEDIATELY if you are hurting.

That should seem pretty obvious.  What isn't as obvious is doing an exercise the wrong way that will hurt a few days later.  Case in point... I don't have ab muscles.  They're there, but they are TINY!!  Not to mention, 3 pregnancies and 3 C-sections have really taken their toll on my already non-existent abs.  I really am not that strong when it comes to ab exercises.  I'm working on it.  Especially since I know that having a strong core helps your entire body.  You have better balance, better posture, your back won't hurt as much, etc.  A strong core helps you all the way around!

But for right now, I'm still very weak in my core.  We were doing ab workouts on Thursday after our normal step aerobics.  The combination of having already been killed on the step (we did some high intensity intervals), and not having an ab muscles, I was done!  Course I couldn't look like a wimp in front of the rest of the class, right?? :) :)  So I pushed through it, but used more of my back to twist and pull rather than my abs. 

Saturday morning, I woke up and couldn't even move.  My lower back hurt SOOOOOO bad.  I thought I was going to die.  Tony was around for about 5 minutes - so he rubbed my back for a few minutes before he had to leave.  It hurt like the dickens!!  Fortunately, it warmed my muscles up enough that I could move.  But I seriously have been paying for "showing off in the wrong way!" :)

There are 2 problems with what I did.  First, I was in a lot of pain.  But second, it COULD have been a lot worse!!  If you aren't doing stretches and workouts properly, you can severely damage your muscles.  Which then makes it so you can't work out in the future - which then makes you frustrated because you can't meet your goals - which then leads to eating more junk food to try and feel better - which then leads to more weight gain and no way to work it off......  yeah, it's a vicious cycle!!!

Note to self - to keep from severely hurting yourself in the future.... learn when to call Uncle!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

February Healthy Nut

Here is the healthy newsletter I made for February...

**PS - just as a follow-up warning... when my brother and I tried the Weight Watchers Root Beer Floats... we found out they were gross.  But the theory is great.  Our suggestion would either be to use regular root beer with the cool whip or diet root beer with ice cream / frozen yogurt.  Either one of those tasted great and were still better than the original.  But the diet root beer with whip cream was NOT good!!!