I've got some sort of a June wedding trend going on. The same thing happened last year. Doh.
13 hours ago
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
Progression of a Ridiculous Sunburn
I went to a wedding in Columbia, MO last weekend. It was fantastic. Before the wedding, some friends and I enjoyed an adult frozen beverage outside. I wasn't prepared with sunscreen, and lucky me, I had a V-neck dress for the wedding. I was eventually left with a ridiculous sunburn, that got progressively worse as the night went on. It went a little something like this...
I've got some sort of a June wedding trend going on. The same thing happened last year. Doh.
I've got some sort of a June wedding trend going on. The same thing happened last year. Doh.
Tuesday, June 02, 2009
Sweatsuit to Swimsuit Bootcamp Challenge: Week 3/4/and Beyond!
I didn't quit the last two weeks of bootcamp, I just didn't have the time to post about them. This past Saturday was the final day! I went all four weeks!
Exercise has officially become a habit, which is what I was hoping would happen by the end of the bootcamp. I'm going to keep sticking to the cardio for five days a week plan, since that's what I'm used to. It seems to be working for me, and it's nice to have a couple of days off. I've found myself actually wanting to do something on the two days off even if it's just a walk for 20 minutes.
This past week I replaced the last week of strength videos on the bootcamp with Jillian Michaels' 30 Day Shred video. Holy hell, that thing kicks some serious butt (mine) in 20 minutes. I started doing it every other day last week b/c it involves some light weights, but this week I'm going to do it M-F for the month of June. There are three different levels, so I'll do each one for 10 days, and we'll see what happens. I'm doing cardio in addition to this, and have boosted my daily goals from 30 minutes to 45 minutes, since I was going longer anyway.
I also started a bollywood dance class this past Monday. Money depends on whether or not I'll be able to keep it up (my friend and I are thinking of doing a hip hop class...FUN!), but I had a pretty good time on Monday. I've found that while I've been running lately, that I mostly just want to start dancing in the middle of the sidewalk to my music. While it's motivating to make me run faster/longer, I needed something to get out the dancing bug. So, I went to a zumba class this morning for the first time. I don't know if you've ever taken one of those classes, but they don't mess around. I had a pretty good time, burned a good chunk of calories, and avoided looking at myself in the mirrored walls as much as possible. It was certainly reaffirming that I am a total spazz when it comes to dancing, and I am in no way graceful. Maybe it was the tennis shoes... However, I did find myself smiling a few times during the class, and really enjoyed it.
I won't say these are the "final results" of the bootcamp, but here is my progress so far, b/c I'm going to keep going!
Inches Shed:
Waist: 1.5 inches
Hips: 1.5 inches
Bust: 2 inches
Neck: 1 inch
Total: 6 inches!
I've noticed that my clothes are fitting better, and I'm feeling a lot better in general. Having lots of energy is also a plus, and its become a relaxing part of my day during my workouts even though they're intense. I didn't lose a single pound(maybe 2 or 3, but it's hard to say, my scale is wacky), so I know I'm replacing fat with muscle, which is awesome. I've pretty much given up on even looking at the scale, and I've just stuck to measuring myself every week or two. It's a lot more satisfying to see that inches are gone rather than pounds anyway. The biggest reward of the past four weeks was trying on a dress I bought back in January (it was on sale for $12 from Target. Okay, I should say "they" since I bought two in different colors), which has an envelope back...
...even though I had ordered it in my size, I couldn't button that pesky button in the back b/c the dress ran a little small. Well, NOW I can button it, and it fits perfectly! Hooray!
And, as for before/after photos, I have them, but I'm not posting them b/c the before pictures are somewhat horrifying. However, I can see a pretty major difference just in the past 4 or 5 weeks, and I'm getting a more defined waist (and bootay if I'm being honest), which is motivating me to keep going! I'm excited to see the difference in the next four weeks!
Exercise has officially become a habit, which is what I was hoping would happen by the end of the bootcamp. I'm going to keep sticking to the cardio for five days a week plan, since that's what I'm used to. It seems to be working for me, and it's nice to have a couple of days off. I've found myself actually wanting to do something on the two days off even if it's just a walk for 20 minutes.
This past week I replaced the last week of strength videos on the bootcamp with Jillian Michaels' 30 Day Shred video. Holy hell, that thing kicks some serious butt (mine) in 20 minutes. I started doing it every other day last week b/c it involves some light weights, but this week I'm going to do it M-F for the month of June. There are three different levels, so I'll do each one for 10 days, and we'll see what happens. I'm doing cardio in addition to this, and have boosted my daily goals from 30 minutes to 45 minutes, since I was going longer anyway.
I also started a bollywood dance class this past Monday. Money depends on whether or not I'll be able to keep it up (my friend and I are thinking of doing a hip hop class...FUN!), but I had a pretty good time on Monday. I've found that while I've been running lately, that I mostly just want to start dancing in the middle of the sidewalk to my music. While it's motivating to make me run faster/longer, I needed something to get out the dancing bug. So, I went to a zumba class this morning for the first time. I don't know if you've ever taken one of those classes, but they don't mess around. I had a pretty good time, burned a good chunk of calories, and avoided looking at myself in the mirrored walls as much as possible. It was certainly reaffirming that I am a total spazz when it comes to dancing, and I am in no way graceful. Maybe it was the tennis shoes... However, I did find myself smiling a few times during the class, and really enjoyed it.
I won't say these are the "final results" of the bootcamp, but here is my progress so far, b/c I'm going to keep going!
Inches Shed:
Waist: 1.5 inches
Hips: 1.5 inches
Bust: 2 inches
Neck: 1 inch
Total: 6 inches!
I've noticed that my clothes are fitting better, and I'm feeling a lot better in general. Having lots of energy is also a plus, and its become a relaxing part of my day during my workouts even though they're intense. I didn't lose a single pound(maybe 2 or 3, but it's hard to say, my scale is wacky), so I know I'm replacing fat with muscle, which is awesome. I've pretty much given up on even looking at the scale, and I've just stuck to measuring myself every week or two. It's a lot more satisfying to see that inches are gone rather than pounds anyway. The biggest reward of the past four weeks was trying on a dress I bought back in January (it was on sale for $12 from Target. Okay, I should say "they" since I bought two in different colors), which has an envelope back...
...even though I had ordered it in my size, I couldn't button that pesky button in the back b/c the dress ran a little small. Well, NOW I can button it, and it fits perfectly! Hooray!And, as for before/after photos, I have them, but I'm not posting them b/c the before pictures are somewhat horrifying. However, I can see a pretty major difference just in the past 4 or 5 weeks, and I'm getting a more defined waist (and bootay if I'm being honest), which is motivating me to keep going! I'm excited to see the difference in the next four weeks!
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
When your dad is a vet, the following happens...
X is for X-Rays!
My right hand. Looks pretty good.
R's left hand. Those rings are the rubber bands he wears on his wrist.
And our skeletons like each other!Sweatsuit to Swimsuit Bootcamp Challenge: Week 2
Busy, busy, week! I wanted to get week 2's post up, but have had a lot going on.
Week 2 of the bootcamp went well. I feel like I'm starting to become more of a runner. I upped my distance/time for my runs, went swimming, and went for a walk when I REALLY didn't want to do anything. I also completed all of the daily videos. I went to Dick's Sporting Goods as well and got myself a heart rate monitor watch. The first one didn't come with a strap, and I found that it just wasn't as accurate. I need the calorie counter to be more accurate so I can make sure I'm making the set goals for calories burned each workout. I went back and traded it in for one with a strap, which is actually pretty comfortable. It's a lot easier to just look down and see my heart rate instead of having to stop and pause during my run to let the watch check it.
The only thing that has been difficult is trying to stay within my given calorie range during the weekends. Baseball games, parties, etc... don't exactly make it easy. This weekend I have a bachelorette party, and that's going to be just as difficult, but I'm really going to try to be good!
Here's the breakdown of everything:
Workouts (in addition to daily 10-min. videos)
Sun: 10-min. kickboxing video
Mon: Mini-trampoline (18min) and a run/walk (35 min)
Tues: Run/Walk (45 min)
Wed: Walk (28 min)
Thurs: Break
Fri: Run/Walk (49 min)
Sat: Swim (30 min)
Calories
Calorie Goal (set by SparkPeople): 1080
Calories Burned: 2313 (I'm going to guess it was actually somewhere between 1800 and 2000 b/c the heart rate monitor wasn't accurate).
Minutes
Workout Minutes Goal: 150
Actual Workout Minutes: 215
Inches lost
Waist: 1 inch
Bust: 1 inch (not where I'd LIKE to lose weight, but I'll take it b/c I can't help it anyway!)
Week 2 of the bootcamp went well. I feel like I'm starting to become more of a runner. I upped my distance/time for my runs, went swimming, and went for a walk when I REALLY didn't want to do anything. I also completed all of the daily videos. I went to Dick's Sporting Goods as well and got myself a heart rate monitor watch. The first one didn't come with a strap, and I found that it just wasn't as accurate. I need the calorie counter to be more accurate so I can make sure I'm making the set goals for calories burned each workout. I went back and traded it in for one with a strap, which is actually pretty comfortable. It's a lot easier to just look down and see my heart rate instead of having to stop and pause during my run to let the watch check it.
The only thing that has been difficult is trying to stay within my given calorie range during the weekends. Baseball games, parties, etc... don't exactly make it easy. This weekend I have a bachelorette party, and that's going to be just as difficult, but I'm really going to try to be good!
Here's the breakdown of everything:
Workouts (in addition to daily 10-min. videos)
Sun: 10-min. kickboxing video
Mon: Mini-trampoline (18min) and a run/walk (35 min)
Tues: Run/Walk (45 min)
Wed: Walk (28 min)
Thurs: Break
Fri: Run/Walk (49 min)
Sat: Swim (30 min)
Calories
Calorie Goal (set by SparkPeople): 1080
Calories Burned: 2313 (I'm going to guess it was actually somewhere between 1800 and 2000 b/c the heart rate monitor wasn't accurate).
Minutes
Workout Minutes Goal: 150
Actual Workout Minutes: 215
Inches lost
Waist: 1 inch
Bust: 1 inch (not where I'd LIKE to lose weight, but I'll take it b/c I can't help it anyway!)
Sunday, May 10, 2009
Sweatsuit to Swimsuit Bootcamp Challenge: Week 1
Last Sunday I started SparkPeople's Sweatsuit to Swimsuit Bootcamp. It's a free program to follow(and SparkPeople is an awesome free website to help you reach your fitness goals. You can track your food, get free food plan ideas for the week, track your fitness, and get fitness plans to follow), and I got an email about their Sweatsuit to Swimsuit Bootcamp challenge that goes for 28 days in May. Every day you do a 5-10 minutes online workout video that usually has you doing some sort of strength training (all you need is a resistance band, which I had). Then Mon-Fri you do 30 minutes of cardio of your choice in addition to the video. Voila. Bootcamp.
This week I successfully did every single video, and every day of cardio. Sometimes I did more than 30 minutes, other times I felt like doing anything but work out, but still made myself complete it. However, this week I felt like I had more energy than I usually do, and I'm looking forward to this next week. I'm guessing we'll just repeat week 1's videos, so it helps to be able to choose different cardio to mix it up a bit.
Here are the stats from this week:
Cardio Goal in Minutes: 150
Actual Cardio Minutes Completed: 305
Calorie Goal(given by the site): 1080
Actual Calories Burned: 1820
Cardio:
Sunday: Walk around trails at Bass Pro Shop (1.5 hr), Kickboxing video on SparkPeople (10 min)
Monday: Elliptical (30 min)
Tuesday: Jog/Walk outside (30 min)
Wednesday: Break
Thursday: Mini-trampoline (20 min), Kickboxing video on SparkPeople (10 min)
Friday: Mini trampoline with weights (10 min)
2 ten-minute cardio videos on SparkPeople (my calves are STILL sore).
Dancing for at least an hour and a half at the George Clinton concert.
Saturday: Break
This week I successfully did every single video, and every day of cardio. Sometimes I did more than 30 minutes, other times I felt like doing anything but work out, but still made myself complete it. However, this week I felt like I had more energy than I usually do, and I'm looking forward to this next week. I'm guessing we'll just repeat week 1's videos, so it helps to be able to choose different cardio to mix it up a bit.
Here are the stats from this week:
Cardio Goal in Minutes: 150
Actual Cardio Minutes Completed: 305
Calorie Goal(given by the site): 1080
Actual Calories Burned: 1820
Cardio:
Sunday: Walk around trails at Bass Pro Shop (1.5 hr), Kickboxing video on SparkPeople (10 min)
Monday: Elliptical (30 min)
Tuesday: Jog/Walk outside (30 min)
Wednesday: Break
Thursday: Mini-trampoline (20 min), Kickboxing video on SparkPeople (10 min)
Friday: Mini trampoline with weights (10 min)
2 ten-minute cardio videos on SparkPeople (my calves are STILL sore).
Dancing for at least an hour and a half at the George Clinton concert.
Saturday: Break
Thursday, March 26, 2009
Friends Don't Let Friends Shop...Alone
You know what I'm talking about. You meet up with a girlfriend, and you both have good intentions of your plans for the day or evening. The phone conversation might go a little something like this:
Friend: What do you want to do today?
Me: Oh, whatever, I don't really have anything in mind.
Friend: Yeah, me either. Maybe we can just hang out, and see what we feel like doing. I have some clothes to return, maybe we could run to the mall real quick.
Me: Sounds good to me. I'm on my way over!
You and your friend head to the mall with good intentions. She's going to return some items, you're going along for the friend time and conversation.
And then it happens. You see something cute in the window at a store you walk by.
Friend: "Do you want to go in?"
Me: "No, no...I really shouldn't."
Friend: "Because we can, some of those things look really cute..."
Me: "Well, that red skirt over there is really cute. I really like the idea of having a red skirt..."
Friend and Me: "Let's GO!"
30 minutes later, you're leaving the store X amount of money poorer. You have failed at not buying that adorable red skirt, or the $10 pajama pants, or the earrings that are buy one get one half off.
Repeat at least 3x.
Friend: What do you want to do today?
Me: Oh, whatever, I don't really have anything in mind.
Friend: Yeah, me either. Maybe we can just hang out, and see what we feel like doing. I have some clothes to return, maybe we could run to the mall real quick.
Me: Sounds good to me. I'm on my way over!
You and your friend head to the mall with good intentions. She's going to return some items, you're going along for the friend time and conversation.
And then it happens. You see something cute in the window at a store you walk by.
Friend: "Do you want to go in?"
Me: "No, no...I really shouldn't."
Friend: "Because we can, some of those things look really cute..."
Me: "Well, that red skirt over there is really cute. I really like the idea of having a red skirt..."
Friend and Me: "Let's GO!"
30 minutes later, you're leaving the store X amount of money poorer. You have failed at not buying that adorable red skirt, or the $10 pajama pants, or the earrings that are buy one get one half off.
Repeat at least 3x.
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Tids and Bits
Does anyone remember "tids and bits" from the Other Sister? Ha. Well, anyway..
I have absolutely nothing to say. I'm just going to start off with some honesty. It's probably obvious by my lack of posts lately that I haven't been inspired to write. I have, however, been taking photos. Maybe I'll upload those later.
In the land of "goals", I have been reading quite a bit. I finished the Twilight series this past weekend. Obviously, they aren't masterpieces, but they are entertaining. They were easy enough to get lost in. I wouldn't consider myself a super fan(I don't own any tees that say "Twilight" on them. Girl at El Maguey, I'm talking to you). However, if you're looking for something fun to read, these would be the way to go. I think my next book will be The Bell Jar, by Sylvia Plath. Step it up a notch.
I'm technically on spring break this week. However, I'm at my internship. Working. Well, this is the last of my work days this week. I'll have Wednesday-Sunday off. While most people are going out of town for spring break...I...am...not. Bummer. Maybe I'll go to the zoo if the weather stops being rainy and gloomy. I at least have Mexico to look forward to in August for the honeymoon. Hoo-rah!
I'm done. Creativity and ideas don't exactly come rushing to me at 8am(9am, actually). Stay-tuned for less boring posts...hopefully.
Time to go stare at the carrot cake in the office fridge...
I have absolutely nothing to say. I'm just going to start off with some honesty. It's probably obvious by my lack of posts lately that I haven't been inspired to write. I have, however, been taking photos. Maybe I'll upload those later.
In the land of "goals", I have been reading quite a bit. I finished the Twilight series this past weekend. Obviously, they aren't masterpieces, but they are entertaining. They were easy enough to get lost in. I wouldn't consider myself a super fan(I don't own any tees that say "Twilight" on them. Girl at El Maguey, I'm talking to you). However, if you're looking for something fun to read, these would be the way to go. I think my next book will be The Bell Jar, by Sylvia Plath. Step it up a notch.
I'm technically on spring break this week. However, I'm at my internship. Working. Well, this is the last of my work days this week. I'll have Wednesday-Sunday off. While most people are going out of town for spring break...I...am...not. Bummer. Maybe I'll go to the zoo if the weather stops being rainy and gloomy. I at least have Mexico to look forward to in August for the honeymoon. Hoo-rah!
I'm done. Creativity and ideas don't exactly come rushing to me at 8am(9am, actually). Stay-tuned for less boring posts...hopefully.
Time to go stare at the carrot cake in the office fridge...
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
A Little Boost
I can't lie and say it wasn't a mood booster when I went to The Cafe in NKC tonight to get a carry out order, and on my ticket I was not identified as my name, but as "Cute Girl". I thought maybe it was a weird mistake when I saw it, but when the guy came out with my food and I overheard him say to the hostess "Is this for the cutie?", and she said yes, I couldn't help but smile...even if it was a bit inappropriate.
Toddlers and Tiaras
Toddlers and Tiaras is a pretty disgusting show(it's about beauty pageants that have babies and toddlers competing There was a baby in a two piece. I'm not kidding). I watched about ten minutes of it, and heard a doozy of a quote from a father about his 3 or 4 year old who fell on stage: "For the most part I'm proud of her, I think." For the most part? You THINK? Dude, she's 4. They fall...all the time. Especially when you put them in toddler "evening gowns" with giant poofy skirts. Sickos. I feel so sorry for these kids. Their parents are crazy.
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