bummed

so I have been doing really well about bouncing back from my 5 day vacation a week ago.  What I am bummed about is that I am trying to complete the last week of my first 60 day challenge and everything that can go wrong seems to be.  I was working out the other day and I rolled my ankle and it is killing me! This was like 3 days ago!!!  I just want to work out and keep going, I dont want to take more time off.  Well starting tomorrow sore ankle or not I am going to complete my last week.  I will push myself as far as my ankle will let me and dont worry, I plan on taking the right precautions of using heat and ice after my workout.  I am going to dig deeper and get this done so I can a) get my FREE t-shirt and b) start round 2 !!!

whooo!

I had two weeks left of my insanity 60 day challenge (trial #1), but then I made a trip to Canada.  My husband and I left Wednesday night, therefore cutting a week in half, so I had to make it more like 2.5 weeks..We stopped in Minneapolis and stayed with a friend overnight then continued the rest of the trip north on Thursday. My husband and I had so much fun visiting some family! Anyway we started our adventure home on Monday. The Lord was watching over me and my husband, because within a VERY small handful of cars in front of us there was a car accident. I know of at least two people dying and when me and my husband drove by we looked (dont worry we had plenty of time ..traffic was TERRIBLY slow all of a sudden) only to make sure everyone was ok and moving and of course we saw the dead front seat passenger...needless to say I started bawling!  It wasn’t the fact that I saw a dead person, I am sadly used to that due to my job, it was how they died and how traumatic it all was that shook me up.

On a somewhat better note, we got home around 630ish and unpacked. I went to bed around 8, because I had to get up real early for work the following day and was already stressed out by the fact that state was the nursing home doing their annual inspection :z Today I picked my workout schedule back up and let me tell you!!! It is absolutely amazing to me how only 5 days (which I did a “recovery” workout on one of those days) you “lose” so much.  I got my butt kicked big time today haha! I can not wait to finish this round so I can start round 2! I have never transformed so much in my life, it is amazing and soooo rewarding!!! I can see the light at the end of my first tunnel!

short and sweet

I dont really have much to say about my workouts right now..im sore and tired just about every day right now so that makes them that much more difficult but whatever :z i found this photo on the internet and it has been my motivation for almost this whole thing...

I am seriously sick and tired of thinking this exact thing a year later...so i am doing something about it :)

Yay!

So I'm beginning month 2 & the results are pretty amazing....I'm so thrilled! Insanity is so hard but well worth it!!  Here are a few photos :D I apologize ahead of time for not smiling..i had to focus on not dropping my phone haha :z

So I also want to shout out to my cousin nikki..she got engaged yaaaayyyyy!! Haha guess that means I have to save up for a trip to new york :D

Congrats Ryan!!

So I am on day “2” of week 5, or recovery week, for my insanity challenge/lifelong workout.  Let me tell you..it IS one of my favorite workouts of the dvd series so far however,  it is SO hard haha.  It kicks my butt every time.  I love this workout :D!! anyway..the reason why the no. 2 is in parenthesis is because it is really day “4” of the recovery week, however I was so sore from the first time i did it that i had to take a day off :Z  I would have picked back up again on day 3, however that was a special day and so i didn’t work out.  I am getting such amazing results from this dvd collection, all my workout clothes that i bought in the beginning are getting big on me and all my scrubs are just hanging on me!! i have had a lot of people at work mention something, which is GREAT motivation!!


Anyway the reason why day 3 was so special was because it was my husbands surprise graduation party!!  I worked so hard on that party for about a month and the turn out wasn’t that bad :). Not as many people showed up as i thought would. I had a teacher theme for the party, since he has a BA in elementary education (which means he can teach k-8) and a minor in math (which means he can teach freshman math).  I covered the food tables in black bulletin board paper and wrote what the food item was on the paper with white chalk to create a chalkboard affect.  I also made a paper towel holder out of crayons and a utensil holder out of colored pencils.  I figured he could use the paper towel holder in his classroom and the utensil holder can hold scissors, pens, pencils etc. I served bbq pulled pork (from texas roadhouse yummmmm),  pasta salad , taco salad, 7 layer salad, brownie truffle and a giant cake!! Ill post some pictures later..i haven’t had time to put them on my computer yet..Ryan wasn’t as surprised as i had hoped, only because he is too smart for his own good and i cant lie to him haha..i will say though i have LOTS of leftovers :z  but i guess that is something you learn to estimate better as you plan more and more parties.

Week 4...let's begin

so I just completed day one of week four of "Insanity".  haha let me tell YOU!! insanity isn't even a good name for it!! how about.. ludicrous or hysteria or delusion!!!  these workouts definitely kick my butt!!!  I still think that the warm-up is a workout in itself, and I am dripping sweat no joke after 10 minutes.  On a side note though I think these are the best workouts in the world!!! As much as I hate them I love them and am addicted to them!! they give you one day a week off and I feel so sluggish and blah on that day that I end up doing an ab workout just to get rid of the feeling!  anyway,  I have lost a little over three pounds in 2.5 weeks ( i am not really using the scale as a measuring tool simply because of the amount of muscle gain will def. mess up the number) and I have lost 1.5" around my arms, thighs, hips and waist line!!! wwooooooo  :D

I feel like a beast and I feel WAYYYYY skinner than what I am haha!!!

Insanity

So I bought the dvd workout series INSANITY, and can I say that the title of this workout is an UNDERSTATEMENT!!!  These workouts make Jillian Michaels a piece of cake! HAHA ....They suck so much, but I have never felt better after a workout.  I am on day four and can already see results.  Granted it has taken me almost a week to get to here but hey....you bust your butt and then are so sore you can't walk for two days, so I am trying to ease myself into these intense workouts so I don't hurt myself.  This is going to be a life long workout so I am not really in any rush..Plus when I complete all sixty days of working out I get a free t-shirt!! What could be better?! HAHA

I would say the second hardest part of this whole workout is the eating...I have to eat x amount of calories just so my body can physically do the workout but I can't even find the time of the day to eat it! I'm at work for a good chunk of my day and don't have time to eat "snacks" to keep my metabolism going...I am hoping that as long as I eat the right amount of calories I will still lose weight.  I don't want the fact that I can't take x amount of calories and divide it into five meals versus three meals to be the thing that keeps me from losing the weight I want to lose.

Help

It has been a long time since I have written a blog.  A lot of the reason is that I have not been able to get at my laptop since my husband has been using it for school.  So I did pretty good on running every other day until the second week of April.  That is when it all went downhill.  My husband was on spring break so we took a little vacation to celebrate our anniversary since we couldn’t when it really WAS our anniversary.  We got back from our trip and I had a really hard time motivating myself and getting myself back on the running track.  I am not saying I stopped running completely, but I am saying that it was more like a once a week occurrence and I definitely stopped watching what I was eating..I have been feeling guilty about it, but at the same time I have been soo tired lately...I plan on getting back on schedule, however I was thinking about maybe using the dvd program Insanity...does anyone have any comments on it?  My parents dont think it would be a good investment since they have a treadmill, elliptical and a full decked out weight machine that i can use for free...i know i should take advantage of it but i want the most results in the least amount of time (spent in my day and in the length of doing it).  I plan on making a lifestyle out of this but i want to get to where i want to be as soon as i can.....

My anniversary

so i have been pretty good about working out every other day.  nothing much to tell really except i weighed myself and within a week i was able to get back to my original weight..pretty sure it was just my female body holding a half a gallon of water lame.  Anyway, monday was my first anniversary with my husband.

                                                              Us right before we left for the
                                                                           restaurant.

It was such a nice surprise when i got home from work and there was a van in my driveway that had come to deliver me all this stuff!!!

Here is a close up of my flowers from my love :)

Anyway we went to Olive Garden my favorite restaurant  for dinner came home popped in a movie and i fell asleep within 20 minutes of it :Z haha what a way to end the night early!  But to make up for it we are going to go away for a few days when he is on spring break :D

treadmill

my workout today was on a treadmill...it has been sooo ridiculously humid and i dont even want to think about running out there haha...not to much to tell cuz running on a treadmill is pretty self explanatory and when your watching tv while doing it, it doesnt make for any good stories :z  i have decided since i dont know what is wrong with my leg i am going to run every other day until it is better.  i figured running every other day versus nothing at all is the better option until im better...

untitled :)

so today it is beautiful outside!! 75 degrees in the middle of march :)  i know my last post i complained a lot but hey, everyone has those days when your so frustrated with something and nothing anyone says will make it better...only a good venting and waking up to the next day will get rid of it haha.  i went running today after an EXTREMELY stressful and physically exhausting day at work...i think i did pretty good.  I was not sure if i should have run because of my leg, but i figured i couldnt feel it when i was walking anymore (only going up stairs) so the two days of rest must have done some good.  i thought that it wouldnt hurt (or would it ? ;) haha ) to try, and i could always stop if it started hurting...i wouldnt want to make it worse now :) anyway i started running and was surprised that it only hurt a little but it was definitely possible to push through it.  I noticed that about 3/4 of the way done it really started to hurt but i was soooo close so i just heaved-ho the rest of the way haha.  i kept telling myself that this hurts and it sucks, but it doesnt suck as much as the feeling i had yesterday when i found out i gained three pounds!!!! so i pushed and ran my anger out :)  when i was done i had a literal breathtaking pain in the lungs due to the fact that i pushed my out-of-shape-lard-butt down the road...but i feel great now and super glad i accomplished my run today :)  oh yeah by the way my run was......1.06 miles with a total of 11:22 min.
 average pace of about a 10:46 min/mile with and average speed of 5.58 mph

Definition of don't give up

So I didn't work out yesterday or today due to the fact that I am highly discouraged...( and im trying to let my calf have a little break from whatever is wrong with it ) i know that I said that weight loss wasn't my main focus however I can't help but say that it did and does have a huge impact!! I have been really good the last three weeks about running and eating but instead of losing anything I ended up gaining like 3 pounds!!i know that I probably gained a little muscle but 3 pounds seems a little ridiculous!! I'm so upset about this..and yes looking at my blog helps a little as far as encouragement but seriously...I weighed myself last week and I was the same weight that I was since like November...how in the world did I gain three pounds in a weeeeekkkkk ....sorry I need to vent somewhere...

ouch!!!

so the last few days that i have gone running i have had this massive cramp in my left calf.  it hurts so bad it makes me not want to run.  i dont really feel it when im in a relaxed state.  like it know it is there but it is a very slight pain (rating 1-10; 10 being the worst...it is a 1).  i stretch  REALLY well before my run and for the first like 2 minutes of my run my calf becomes a 4 then it goes back to a 1.  then when i am done and i begin walking and stretching for my cool down it flares up and becomes a 10.  it is unbearable!!!  then maybe an hour after my run it slowly drops numbers until it reaches a 1 again..if you are reading this do you have any suggestions or advice that would help me??

Killer Dog

Today it was 60 degrees outside!!!! This weather is beautiful and so crazy!! three or four days ago it was a blizzard and we got 6 inches of snow haha..well needless to say I definitely took advantage of this beautifulness and ran outside on a different path.  I did so well!! This weather definitely gave me a little extra burst of energy  :)   i noticed i was running a 9:30 min/mile when i was about three quarters of the way done!! I do however regret checking the time cuz haha i slowed WAYYY down after that.  I was so surprised that i went that fast then all of a sudden my side hurt, my calves burned and i couldn't breathe haha..amazing what happens when my mind takes a little break from distracting itself.  Anyway my mile was an 11:12 min/mile..not counting the last one i did (which in my book shouldn't count haha) i shaved off 7 more seconds :)  Anyway i named this one killer dog, because half way through my run a random chocolate lab decides to charge at me and puppy!! Out of panic I yelled at the dog and told him no, so instead of charging at me he turned to go after my dog..so superRachel decides to jump in front of my dog in an effort to save him.  I yelled no one more time and gave a quick swing of my foot (don't worry i barely got him) and the pathetic thing ran away!!!!  After that i kept on running and the end haha.  that was my interesting story for my workout today.

As of yesterday there was no workout!! i had zero energy!!! i knew that if i attempted to run my time would have been probably three times worse than the 13 min/mile i ran the other day... so i decided to rest and I took a wonderful nap haha..it lasted 2 hours!!!!

grrrrrrrrrr

so today I ran.   Kind of mad...I feel like not running or working out for the last two days really put a road block in my way.  I did TERRIBLE today...I ran a 13 min mile!! SERIOUSLY!!! why??!!!  It definitely didn’t help that my husband (who is pretty fit for the most part) decided to run with me and LEAVE ME IN THE DUST!!!! When I run it is a huge mind game for me just to get through it..and when he did that to me my mind was screaming surrender and waving the white flag!!!  I think I am better off running alone!! the only way running with me would have helped was if he stayed at my pace.  I am not really looking forward to tomorrows run.

Snow...double time

So needless to say I didn't work out today...i ended up working a double so I'm exhausted annnddddd it is a blizzard outside..I'll share some photos of my drive home :)

pep talk time

wow....so today i really could have used a personal pep talk haha...i had the day off of work today so i decided to go for a run sooner.  I wanted to get it out of the way :z However, the idea was great in theory, but actually getting dressed, stretched and motivated was a whole other story.  Finally around 10:30 I got my butt dressed and walked outside.  As I walked down my driveway I prayed the whole time.  Lord, I do NOT want to do this, but deep down I really do.  So give me the grace and strength to complete this run to the best of my abilities.  Guess what?! He did!!  I started running and I got lost in thought about something ( I don't even remember what I was thinking about) and before I knew it I was almost half way done with my run! Unfortunately though, once that realization hit me, it made the rest of my run THAT much more difficult.  Time just DRAGGED on after that haha.  But needless to say I finished my 1.05 mile run at a pace of 10:55min/mile. feeling pretty good right now :)

Me :D

Things about me :)

1. I absolutely love horses!! I have been riding them since I can remember and one day I will own one!!! (hopefully as gorgeous as the one in the picture)

2.  I also LOVE to draw...mainly horses, but I am opening my horizons..I am working on a lion now and when I am done I’ll blog on it :)  Sorry about the glare and what not...it was a picture taken from my phone through some glass...( can you tell I like horses yet?)

3.  I LOVE Christ more than anyone in the whole wide world...He is my best friend!!! I am nothing and I would be no where in my life without Him here and guiding my every step!!!

4. I am married to the love of my life!!!!  March 19, 2011!!!!!!!

5. I am constantly fighting this battle...and hopefully this time I stay at the end of the driveway haha

6. I own an aussie named Dash!!  

7. I am a CNA and I will be getting my bachelor’s in nursing...maybe becoming an NP in the future...

That is all I can think of  :)  hope you enjoyed the pictures!!!

Small Update

So yesterday I ran1.05 miles and shaved off around a minute of my time!!! I went from running an 11:42 min/mile to a 10:54 min/mile.. so excited! but it definitely kicked my butt haha...today outside was cold and sleeting so needless to say I did a dvd workout. I don't feel like I got a good enough cardio workout though..oh well, ill  have to push myself harder next time. I will add a comment about work haha..it was full of crap! :p literally for the first half of my day I cleaned up poo and vomit. All I can say is that I better not get sick!!
Can not wait for dinner to be done  cooking haha. i am making garlic, herb and wine chicken on the grill with steamed broccoli and crescents!

First Time For Everything...

First Time For Everything....


So today I began my adventure to getting in shape and blogging about it. Excited? not sure,  haha I am excited for the results but the road there makes me nervous.  I did my first run outside...in the freezing cold. The temperature was a whopping 30 degrees and we have about 5 inches of snow on the ground.  I will say though that I think I will like running in the winter more than in the summer when it is unbearably humid outside. Oh well,  I ran 1.05 miles in 12 minutes.  That is a terrible time I know but hey, everyone has to start somewhere.  My ultimate goal is to get in shape, be healthy and hopefully the weight issue will  take care of itself.
 :)