Try to survive the holidays

The holiday season is in full swing in the house.
I will start off by apologizing now.
I have not been updated as often as I would like.
My kids have been sick, now I feel like pooh, and we have been crazy busy on top of that.
I haven't experienced crazy holidays in a while.
I have tons of packing to get done by Thursday day this week a because it's time for IOWA!!!!!
So I will post on this blog but it probably will be minimal till mid January and might not be so fitness related:)
Here's some fun pics from our community Christmas party last night.
The kiddos had a blast and so did I.
The hubby was outta town so he was there in spirit:)

We have my hubby's xmas party tonight.
I'm gonna look smokin hot.  LOL!
I'll post pics.  This will be the first time I've worn a dress in a while.
And the first time I've worn something other then yoga pants or sweat pants two nights in a row,whoa watch out!

I still haven't gotten a chance to check into gyms where I'm going to be.
I need to. Working out outside in December/January in Iowa usually isn't an option.
And I know if I don't I will feel like a fat blob by the time we leave.

I will say not drinking is not an option over this holiday.  I'm going to be living with family for 3 weeks straight.
Drinking maybe what gets me through it.
Don't get me wrong I love and have a blast with my kin but sometimes there is drama ( wait I lied it's more then sometimes).
But that's what the holidays are all about:)

So what are some tips to keep the holiday weight gain down?

1. Drink your dinner - raising your class up to your lips and putting it back down counts as an arm workout.  Make sure you alternate arms;)
2. Bring a small child with you so consistently chasing them around.  You won't have time to eat.
3.Only eat at buffets so your consistently getting up and down to get food.

LoL that's all I got for now:)
I know I'll have tons of stories and advice on how not to go completely insane over the holidays.

Keep calm and breath:)
Shelby

Weigh in Wednesday

I was completely dreading today.
Getting on the scale was the last thing I wanted to do after eating crap and drinking wine all weekend.
But I knew it had to be done so I sucked it up and jumped on.
And to my surprise

I'm not really sure how this happened.  I mean I guess I did eat crap for two days but Monday I started eating normal healthy again.
I guess something can be said for eating right.
Actually I think a lot can be said.
I've struggled to lose weight for the last 3 years.
I've gone to the gym at times pretty consistently even though it mainly consisted of running and the scale never budged.
I think ever since I changed my diet and eat mainly clean it has made a huge difference in everything.
There are definitely days when all I want to eat is crap but those are becoming fewer and farther in between.
I eat way less sugar then I used to and I think it makes me feel 100% better over all.
I'm not stupid in know that the holidays will be a struggle.
I think they are for everyone.
I would really just like to maintain and hopefully hoover around 150 by the end of the month.

One big thing for me is to not beat myself up when I eat something that's not good for me, when drink a little to much wine, or if I skip a workout.
I used to beat myself up all the time and it turned into feeling sorry for myself and I would just give up.
I've come to realize being a stay at home mom, or a mom in general, or I guess just life in general calls for doing things on the fly.
You have kids and most of the time they come first or something important pops up that you have to take care of and can't make it to the gym.
My daughter has a cold and a nasty cough right now and I can't take her to my gyms daycare.
Normally I would beat myself up over this but it is what it is and I can't change that.
I'll try to do some little things at home but if I don't have time then I don't.
I still focus on eating healthy and that tends to be enough if I need it to be.
Don't get me wrong I want to workout and I'm hoping she feels better soon so I can get in the gym.
I need to get my lift on but I'm just saying you gotta work with what you got.
Don't beat yourself up just do what you can do and when your doing it give it 110%
I need to remember that when I'm in Iowa for 3 weeks and finding a gym might not be that easy:)

Ok enough with me lecturing I hope you all have a great hump day.
I will post pics soon but with my daughter being sick I haven't had time.
One step closer to small goal number #2.  I'm giving myself a, YOU GO GIRL!  lol

Shelby

Trip to Asheville, NC

What a whirl wind weekend.
We decided to take a trip to Asheville, NC this weekend.
We rented a cabin in the mountains.  It was fantastic!
If you ever get a chance to go I would recommend it.
I hope we get to go back this summer and check out more of the outdoor activities.
It was chilly out and hard to go hiking with my 1yr old.
We mostly just chilled and relaxed.
Drank to much wine, watched some football and hung out.

I had heard of this resturant called Tupelo Honey that was supposed to have southern food with a twist but was supposed to be hard to get into.
They don't take reservations and there's always a line.
Saturday was a little rainy and we got into town around 10:30am so I thought it would be a great time to check it out for an early lunch.
With the rain and it being so early there surely wouldn't be a line, right?
WRONG.
There was but turns out it was only a 20 min wait so we walked around a little and then got seated!

The food was excellent.
We ordered way to much food but it was all soooo yummy!
They give you biscuits at the beginning with blue berry jam.
They were to die for and I don't even like jam that well.
The kids were getting restless and hungry so the biscuits helped keep the them under control to.
We ordered fried chicken and biscuits and some breakfast bowl.
Me and my hubby shared both.
Not healthy at all, I know,  but it was worth it!
So if your ever in Asheville hit up Tupelo Honey! It's a must.
And I think they are opening on in Raleigh now in the Cameron Village area down by NC State.  Num Num!

Every since we've been back from Asheville my daughter has been sick.
I didn't make it to the gym yesterday because she can't go in the daycare.
I'm hoping she's feeling better today.
I need to go burn some calories off from the weekend.
I hope you all had a good weekend and are having some fun adventures this Christmas season.
I have a ton of them coming up so I'll be busy busy busy!

Peace,
Shelby

New Workout Strategy and New Hair

*New hair color*  

What cha think?  

It's growing on me.  

I feel like I need to get some self tanner for my face though

The darker hair makes me look pale.  

And a new shirt.  

Gosh I'm really horrible at taking selfies.  

You can tell I don't do it that often.

Thought I'd throw a pic of my yummy breakfast in here today.
I used left over veggies to spice up my eggs this morning.
They were delicious.
I need to mix that up to.
Plain eggs were getting BORING!
On a side note did you know asparagus makes your pee smell funny.
If you didn't know before you do know:) LOL

I found a new workout I've tried the last three days.  

I've had to modify it a bit but that's ok, it's whatever works for me right?

I got back on bodybuilding.com and decided to give their Rewired workout a whirl.  

It's more focused on burning fat and building muscle. 

The Erin Stern workout I was going to try seemed to focus more on building muscle and that's not what I need right now.  

Eventually it will be, but I want to burn some fat first. 

I might try to incorporate part of her workout into mine though because there was some stuff I really liked.

I've also increased my treadmill times this week.

As you all know, well if anyone reads this they would know that lately I have had a bad taste in my mouth for running:)

I had been doing basically 20 min on the treadmill 5-6 times a week.  

They were all mostly HITT workouts.  

This week I've been on the treadmill at least 30-40 min. per workout.

I'm going to keep that plan going and increase it to hopefully 45 min per workout when I have time.

Doing a 45 min treadmill workout plus weights makes for a long time at the gym.

I wouldn't really care but I can only put my daughter in the daycare there for two hours and I like to try to shower if I can before I leave.  

It just makes my life easier. 

So I'll have to play it by ear and see what I can work in and what I can't.

So hopefully I see some results from this new strategy for a couple weeks.  

I need to find a good ab workout to incorporate to.  

I'm not a fan of situps.  

I will lift arms and legs all day but situps, blahhh!!!! Not my fav!

Ok better get moving.
Have a good one!

~Shelby

Weigh in Wednesday

Well only an extra pound on that scale this morning. whoop whoop!
I can live with that.
I was scared it would be more like 5.
Now I only have about 2 weeks to get some more weight off before I leave.
What's a realistic goal for this month?
Do I shoot to lose 5lbs, 7lbs, 10lbs??????
Or do I just try not to gain any weight since it's the holiday season?
I'm going to be in Iowa for 3 weeks, 3 loooooong weeks.
That's 3 weeks of traveling back and forth between my family and my husbands family home towns.
There's will be lots of drinking and lots of food.
So I need a plan.
I need to check with the YMCA in our home towns because I think since were members here we can use their facilities in other cities either for a free or a discount.
That would make working out a lot easier!
Just another thing to add to my list of to do's before we go.

So I think I'm going to shoot for a 5lb weight loss this month.
That will put me at 150 going into the new year and I will be happy with that.
I know it's only 5lbs.
They lose more then 5lbs in a week on the biggest loser all the time.
But for some reason my weight is not coming off like it used to.
I must be getting old.  LOL
At least I'm trying to lose all this weight the healthy way and not starving myself.
For to many years I would just not eat and workout and it sucked but it worked.
But obviously it didn't work for the long haul.
Cause here we are again:)
Now I'm just ranting.
So 5lbs this month.
It's on, and if for some reason if I manage to lose more then 5 I will be in absolute heaven.

When I really think about it I'm sitting at a really comfortable weight for me.
Any time I have been between 150-155 I've just been comfortable.
I could just stop now and be content with how I look but I know more then likely the weight would creep back on.
I don't want to be comfortable.
I want to push my body as far as I can personally right now.
I want to be fit and strong.
So here we go.

Here's my measurements from my 4 week challenge.
Not to shabby if I say so myself.

Frist number is old measurement second is new 

Bicep

R-11 - 11

L-11 - 10.5

Hips(right around the hip bone)

38 - 36

Butt

43- 40.5

Thigh(10in. above the knee)

R-25 - 24

L-26 - 25

Calf

R-15 - 15

L-15 - 14.5

I lost a total of 7.5 inches. 

Can't disappointed about that at all!

Happy Wednesday everyone!

Shelby

My Motivation

Got some new shades
What do you think?  I think I like! hee hee
It was in the 70's here yesterday.
I don't think I've ever lived any where where it was 70 degrees in December.
I'm really liking livin in NC!

Last night I made homemade playdough for the first time ever.
I was a little skeptical of how it was going to turn out.
I had to make it for my son's school.
It actually turned out really good.
It's the edible kind.  Here's the recipe incase anyone interested.


Edible Play-dough

Mix in a medium size pot
2 cups Flour
1 cups Salt
4tbs cream of tarter
2 cups water
3tsp food coloring
2tbs. oil
Cook on medium heat.  Stir for about 3-5 min.  A ball will for in the middle of the pot.  Remove ball onto a floured surface and knead it till it's the consistency you want.  I had to add a little extra flour to it.  Let cool completely and store in a air tight container.


I finally got into the gym yesterday.
It was way less of a struggle then I figured it would be.
I think I'm stuck.
I feel myself just going through the motions.
I need to change it up, a routine that will really burn the calories.
I feel like I may have been focusing on building a lot of muscle which is good but I think I need to burn more fat while I'm building muscle.
I've been doing a lot of internet searching and there's just sooooo much info and so many opinions.
Maybe I need to find a trainer once that will push me in the right direction.
Until I can find something solid I'll just keep doing what I'm doin and hopefully keep dropping pounds.
I was actually going to get on the scale this morning but completely forgot.
Guess you'll just have to wait till tomorrow to see the damage from Thanksgiving.
My clothes all still fit so that's a positive.
Maybe it won't be as bad as I'm fearing it will be:) HA!

If anyone has any advice I have open ears!
I love tips but no tricks:)

I hope everyone is getting back into their routines.
Get back in that gym!
Here's my motivation for Tuesday.
Love these little monsters!

Monday drag.

Well as you can tell my Tuesday stats didn't happen.
I do have them I just didn't get them posted before I left on Tuesday.
It was a crazy rush to get to the gym, finish packing my family, and get out the door.
Then I planned on blogging from my families house but that didn't happen either.
The internet was sketchy and I was on vacation I tried to unplug for a bit.
I will get that all posted tomorrow that is if I can find it.
It was so good to be home yesterday and sleeping in my own bed after our 7.5hr trip with the little ones.
Does anyone want to come unpack for me?
I have no desire:)
Trying to back into the routine today isn't going so smoothly but will push through.

On our trip my daughter discovered ketchup.
She was just sucking it off her french fries.
Tomatoes are one of her favorite foods so we thought she might like ketchup.
We were right!

My Thanksgiving was fabulous!
It was everything I wanted it to be after being in Germany for the last 3 years.
Did you know Germany doesn't celebrate Thanksgiving.
You'd be surprised how many people doesn't realize that.
It always takes people a second after I say my husband has to work on Thanksgiving to realize Germans have no reason to celebrate:
So I ate way to much and I know I'm going to pay for it.
My self control, yeah that  pretty much went out the window.
I feel like I've ate for the last 3 days. Wowzers!
But hey ya know what it's was Thanksgiving and I'm not beating myself up over it.
Today I'm getting this booty back in the gym.

I didn't workout at all why I was gone either.  FML.
I was at the gym on Tuesday morning before we left doing a tricep pull down with my right tri and I had a sharp pain shoot up through my shoulder to my neck.  I have barely been able to move since.  I've been popping ibuprofen like candy.  I hope it feels better today.  I'm at least going to get my leg workout in and some HITT!  Wednesday I'll jump back on the scale but I'm giving myself some buffer days:)  I want to drop at least 5-7lbs before we leave for Christmas.  I'm determined and I think this little Thanksgiving break was exactly what I needed.  Whoop Whoop.

I did manage to get some black friday shopping in. Whoop Whoop!
It was actually pretty awesome and not stressful at all.
Yes, I'm talking about shopping on the busiest Thursday and Friday of the year.
I went to wal-mart on Thursday to get some dvd players for the car for the ride home.
We picked those up and two TV's and were out of wal-mart in 1/2 an hour.
Didn't even have to wait in line to pay.
Friday morning at 7 me and my hubby went shopping to get home some work clothes.
We basically got half off on everything we bought.  It was great!
Then after we got home I decided to brave a trip to target.
This was about 10am.
I parked right up front and waited in no lines and everything I still wanted was still there.
Can you say awesome cause I can!!!!!

Hope you all jump back in after the break!
Make the most out of the weeks in-between now and Christmas.
You will thank yourself for it once Christmas rolls around.

Peace,
Shelby

Holiday Home Workout

Happy Monday!
Hope y'all had a grrrrrrreat weekend!
I sure did.
We celebrated my son's birthday on Saturday.
I made him a minion cake that turned out pretty awesome.

Who knew I was such a suzy homemaker? LOL
Yesterday we did a little Christmas shopping and bought a Christmas tree!  Whoop Whoop!
We left ours in Germany because it was a piece, so I had to buy a new one this year.
We got a small, skinny little thing that will do for now and that I can use as a second tree in the future.
After the holiday season is over, I plan on buying a humongously awesome tree on sale:)

Ok now to the workout stuff.

We're heading out for Thanksgiving so I need to have a workout plan in place.  I don't want to undo all the work I've done.
There is so much info out there on different at-home workouts.

I found a resistence band in our hall closet that I plan to put to use.
Not sure where it came from or how it got there but I was really happy to find it.
It will help with the workout routine while I'm on the road yo.

So here's what I have come up with.
When I read this, it sounds crazy but I think it will be a good plan.
I wanted to test it out this weekend but for some reason I didn't get to it.
So hopefully this afternoon or tomorrow I'll get the test run in and report back.
I'm really wondering how the rest periods will be.
Push through arrrrrgh!!!!!!!

5 min warm up(5 rounds)
-30 sec. jumping
-30 sec. standing toe taps on stairs

4 rounds
-stair jumps to top both feet (skip 1 or 2 steps your preference)
-resistance band squats with shoulder press 10-15
-wide stride sprint up stairs
-20sec rest

5 stair sprints

4 rounds
-elastic band good mornings 10-15
-criss cross rows 10-15
-100 toe taps in push up position on second stair (tap 10 first step alternating, tap 10 second step alternating)
30 sec. rest

5 sprints

4 rounds
-resistance band curls 10-15
-resistance band overhead tricep extention 10-15
-40 toe taps each foot, knee twists each leg in push up position on step.
30 sec. rest

5 stair sprints skipping one step

4 rounds
-Abs (wrap resistance band around door knob, hold band with resistance at waist and arms out; then twist away from door knob) 10-15 each side
-push ups 10-15
-3 sprints
30sec. rest

4 rounds
-resistance band donkey kicks on hands and knees 10-15
-side steps 10-15
-40 toe taps each foot, knee twits each leg in push up position on step.
30 sec. rest

5 sprints

Looks awesome, but we'll see.
Remember this week is results week.
I'll get pics and measurements done for Tuesday so stay tuned.
The last 4 weeks have been amazing.
I look and feel so much better and I got a ton of compliments at my son's party.
I gave myself a much-deserved pat on the back.

Shelby

Zucchini Lasagna

I found this awesome recipe for Zucchini lasagna that I couldn't wait to share!

I was VERY VERY skeptical at first.
Who on gods green earth eats a vegtables in place of a noodle?
And makes it for the first time on their husbands birthday?

Well, I guess I'm gonna.

Luckily it turned out amazing.

My husband loved it and so did my son!  

Win Win!  

I love my pasta so if I didn't think this was worth it I wouldn't share it with y'all. 

I give this one 5 big fat stars!

Here's original recpie I started with from Brokeandbougie's website. Thanks!!!  
I didn't follow it exact,  I made some modifications to fit me but for the most part it's the same.
I stink at pics so bare with me, food pics just aren't my thing.

Ingredients

• 1 lb lean ground turkey 
• 8 ounces reduced fat cottage cheese 
• 2-3 medium zucchinis mandolin
• 2 cups no-sugar added tomato sauce 
• 1/2 large white onion diced 
• 3/4 cup natural low sodium chicken broth 
• 1 cup mozzarella cheese 
• 1 tsp Italian seasoning
• 1 tsp crushed red pepper
• 2 cloves garlic, minced

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. 
Cook turkey with chicken broth, Italian seasoning, onion and garlic till browned. 
Make sure most of the chicken broth is absorbed 
Grease a 9x13 baking dish  
Lay out the zucchini and make a solid layer in the pan. 
Top with one cup tomato sauce. 
Now make a layer with all turkey. 
Top the turkey with the cottage cheese, spreading it out as evenly as possible. 
Add rest of tomato sauce over turkey, cottage cheese mix.
Top with the rest of the zucchini making another solid layer.
Finally top with cheese.
Sprinkle with crushed red pepper and salt
Cover the pan with aluminum foil and bake for an hour.


Take out of oven and devour!  

Enjoy,
Shelby

Progress Pics!

Can't believe Thanksgiving is next week already.

I am overly excited for it.  

This is our first Thanksgiving in 3 years that's in America. 

I can't wait to just lounge around all day with the Fam!   

We're heading to GA for it so it will be like a mini vacation. 

And I'm getting my hair done to. I can't wait!  

It's gonna be epic.  Lol!

Since I'm heading out of town I won't have a gym to get ripped in. 

Well maybe first I'll check and see if any of the Fam has any guest passes I can use at there gym. 

Oooooh That would be nice. 

But I need to come up with a routine I can do myself at home.  

There's so many tips and tricks out there it makes my head spin just thinking about it. 

But I'll do some research and post my Turkey Vacation workout on Monday incase anyone is interested. 

Now to the good part. PICS!!!!!!

Here's my progress pics since I started this whole thing.

Definitely good changes!  

Big changes!   

I can't wait to do my final 4 week measurements and pics on Tuesday. 

I've worked so hard. 

Now just have to make that final push. 

Happy Thursday!!!!!

Peace,

Shelby

Weigh in Wednesday

Well another week down and the number on the scale finally moved again:)

Finally under 155!  Yay!!!!

I don't remember the last time I've been under 155. 

I worked hard for that number!   

First goal hit, now on to 150!  

I'm dreaming of the day I'm in the 140's.  

It used to seem impossible but not any more!

I will have to say the hardest part of this whole thing is making sure I eat healthy. 

For the most part everything has been clean the last 3 weeks. 

I've maybe had two dinners per week that are not. 

If we get home late or a weekend night we might order out and  it might not be clean. 

Or pop a pizza in the oven. 

What can I say I'm a sucker for pizza:)

But at least I eat it in moderation now.  

I have cut out almost all sugars. 

I don't crave sweets anymore or feel the need to binge eat in the afternoon while my daughter is napping. 

If I feel like I need a little extra I have a cup of tea with honey and that usual does the trick. 

I'm no expert but I really think you need to find what works for you.  

What I do isn't gonna work for everyone else. 

The pounds are coming off slow and usually that would be to my detriment but this time I'm focused, I see new muscles everyday(results), and I'm ready for a change.  

I'll post some transformation pics tomorrow to compare.  

Have a great Wednesday,

Shelby

It's a choice

My husband decided to write a guest blog today.  
I feel so fancy having a guest blogger like I'm important or something. Hee hee
He sent this to me and it made my day.  
It's not about working out or losing weight.
It's about how much he appreciates what I do.  
He's such a good writer!
So here's to all those stay at home moms out there.
Hope you enjoy!


I find it hard to answer the question, “So what does your wife do?” It seems cliché and old-fashioned to say, “My wife is a homemaker” or “My wife works at home.” I don’t picture myself as a 2014 version of Don Draper, and Shelby definitely isn’t my Betty Draper. There’s another answer to that question, but it just sounds downright lazy, “No, my wife doesn’t work / doesn’t have a job.” The fact is: she works. Her job is regularly harder than mine. It requires careful planning, enormous amounts of patience and a nearly unlimited willingness to give of herself.   

The dad work-mom home arrangement might sound 1960s cliché. But in reality, it feels very modern. Shelby actually had three professional jobs before I had my first one. She was the main breadwinner for nearly seven years before our move to Germany more or less forced her into the homemaker role. We’ve been lucky (and maybe smart) enough to be able to craft a decent living off of one main paycheck. In a day-and-age when a family of four generally requires two cars, individual bedrooms, some outdoor space, tv, internet, fun money and everything else, that’s not an easy task.  Shelby working at home also saves us daycare costs, which we found out this year, would run about $2000/month for both kids full-time. Her “other” job would have to pay quite a bit to justify that cost. 

What’s more, we once had our son in full-time daycare. What we both came to realize is that neither of us saw him for 10 hours a day. If you include sleep hours, we actually saw and interacted with our son for about 3 hours a day during the work week. That felt less like a family and more like a collection of people living together. There was one point when we moved back to the U.S. when we contemplated Shelby going back to work, and I asked the question, “Are we sure that we want to be away from our kids for 10 hours a day?” The question wasn’t intended to make her stay home, even though that was one of the consequences of our decision. The question forced both of us to examine our priorities when it comes to our kids. That, I think, is the hallmark of a modern relationship. In the 1960s, custom dictated familial roles. In 2014, your priorities and values have a much greater influence over who does what in the family. 

So when I’m asked what my wife does, I answer, “She’s a mom.” She’s not even a homemaker, but for me that has more to do with keeping the house clean and the laundry done. Those are chores, and work—if you can manage it—shouldn’t be a chore. Being a mother is her profession at the moment. Will that change? I’m almost certain of it. That’s the modern piece; become who you want to be in the moment and find work over chores, no matter what custom or tradition say.

~a loving husband. 

 


Peace,

Shelby

 

Weights are addicting!

I'm finding it hard to take a day off. 
I know I need to but I have this fear that if I do I will fall out of my routine, or that my drive to workout will disappear.
It's hard to have any trust in myself
I've been on a workout roller coaster for so many years and it's not one I want to get back on.
I feel better then I have in years and that means more to me then anything.
I look better to but feeling better about myself is what it's all about. 
I don't drag myself out of bed in the mornings any more.
I don't dread the gym.
I don't feel the need for a nap in the afternoons.
My attitude has changed dramatically. 
I am taking steps to making a lifestyle change but it's scary and I need to start having faith in myself.

My husband some how talked me into signing up for twitter, something I never planned on doing.  
I have never been one to follow fitness people.
Honestly I thought they all were crazy and obsessed with themselves.
But I was so wrong!
I have found a whole community of people that are positive and uplifting.   
I've even started following people on FaceBook that I don't know but that have great workout profiles and are so positive and motivating. 
It's super refreshing.
Honestly it's just what I need to keep going.
If they can do it why can't I right? hmmmmmm.........

Last thing I think I may be getting a little addicted to lifting(I can't believe I'm saying this.  Love it!)
I decided to just do some cardio today nothing heavy just to get in the gym. 
Well that didn't happen. 
I finished my 3 1/2 mile run and then it like the weights were calling my name, come lift me, come lift me.
I gave in and did a short tricep workout.  Felt soooooo good!  LOL

Hope you are all having a great weekend and get a chance to hit the gym.
I'm almost done with week three of my 4 week challenge and I'm getting so excited to measure my results.
May even have to go shopping for some new clothes especailly since my birthday is coming up.  Whoop Whoop!

Peace out,
Shelby

What is happening to me?

Leg day was yesterday
Actually it was going to be my day off but son begged for me to take him to the gym so off we went.
I decided just to do some cardio but the gym was pretty empty (SWEET!) so I decided I might as well take advantage and get some lifting in.
Here's how I felt afterwards

But I feel great now!
I love leg day.
I wish I did legs more then twice a week.
Maybe eventually I will add and extra leg day in but right now I'm in a good routine and don't want to mess anything up.
I do want to add dead lifts to my workout but for some reason I am afraid of them.
I don't feel like I know how to do them right.
I just need to ask someone at the gym for help. I'm such a sissy, arrrgh maybe this week.

I noticed a weird change in myself this weekend.
I have been excited to workout.
I can't wait till the nursery opens so I can head to the gym to drop my kids off.
What is happening to me?
I have never been excited to workout.
When all I did was run it was a constant struggle.
I had days where I really enjoyed running and couldn't wait to go but it wasn't the way I feel about lifting.
It's fun, addicting, and I feel amazing when I done.

I love having a workout high!!!!!

With running you constantly have to add more mileage to get anything out it.
I remember when 6 miles was nothing for me, but I really remember is that gut retching feeling that if I didn't run 6 or more miles I wasn't getting anything out of my workout.
It's not that way with lifting.
Throw on some more weight and BAM your not gonna be able to walk the next day.
Like I've said before I'm so glad I decided to pick up a set of weights.  Definitely one of my better decisions in life!
And better late then never!
Here's how I feel about he gym now

Hope y'all have a great week!

Peace, 

Shelby

November is Here

Lots of candy for kids and some wine and pizza for mom and dad!

Two glasses of red wine and I wake up with a headache, wholly hell.
I worked really hard during the week with this 4 week challenge and I give myself 1 cheat night.
I had yummy pizza for dinner and two glasses of wine and I woke up with a headache.  Arrrrghhh!!!
Guess my body didn't like after that,  but oh did it taste yummy! 
I drank my coffee, took some Tylonal, and then decided to have some spark.
Have I mentioned I'm in love with spark.
Greatest thing ever!
I recommend trying some if you haven't.
About 10 minutes after I drank it I felt great.
So I packed the kids up and headed to the gym.
The gym was really busy because it is raining and cold here.
Everyone must have had the same idea.
I ended up running first because the weight room was jammed packed and I ran 3mi, something I never do anymore.
By the time I was done the weight room had cleared out so I got my tricep workout in.
I felt awesome afterwards.
I was so glad I decided not to sit around and feel sorry for myself and sucked it up and hit the gym.
It made my whole day much better!
I even decided to take some before and after pics.
I've been working hard for 3 weeks and wanted to see some results and I did.

Did everyone have a fabulous halloween!
We sure did and the kids got plenty of candy to show for it!

Happy Halloween,
Shelby

Weigh in Wednesday!

Ok just a few things to say about this.

1. Damn, gaining .4 lbs SUCKS!  I've working so hard in the last two weeks that I was a little shocked by this.

2. Today I saw muscles in my arms while I was lifting that I have never seen before.  It was AWESOME!  I ended up lifting more then I planned just so I could see them:)

3. My eating habits seem to be back on the right track.  Wow, a weekend can really screw you up.  Not planning on seeing that number raise up again, only down! Here's what my meal was for the past two night.  It was delicious;) I even through some pineapple in there to sweeten it up.  Yummy!

4. I'm going to attribute some of that .4 lbs to muscle.  I'm getting stronger and I know I've lost inches because my shorts are a lot bigger.

Rocked it at the gym today.  I even met someone at the gym today.  Usually most people just keep to themselves and don't say much but today one of the regulars stopped and helped me out a little.  He corrected a few things to help my form and showed me a few new lifts.  I was so grateful.  I'm some what on this journey by myself, at least the physical side of it. And I will take any hep I can get.  I haven't really lifted weights since I played college softball.  Loooooooong time ago. So some help is needed!  After I got my lifts done (correctly:)) I burned it up on the treadmill for 25 min.  Got 5 min jog and 20 sprints in.  Feelin good!

Peace,
Shelby

Yum Yum, Dal (Daal)

One time, when I live in Indiana, I was taken to an Indian restaurant.
I absolutely hated it.
I couldn't believe that people actually ate that food.
I refused to ever eat it again.
Then I moved to Germany, met a girl named Hina (she's Indian if you can't tell by her name) who cooked Dal for me, and I started to question my hatred for Indian food.
It just happens that Hina and her husband moved to Raleigh about 6 months before we did.
They managed to get me to try another Indian restaurant that turns out was amazing!
Wholly crap have I been missing out all these years!
Hina gave me her Dal recipe and I now cook it almost once a week.
It one of the best versions of clean eating I have came across.
Just look at the ingredients.
You can tweek the recipe and add what you want.
The original recipe doesn't call for celery and carrots but I figured I'd pack as much goodness into it as I can.
Hina mentioned she added Kale to it once also and it was yummy.
The best part about this recipe is that it's even better the next day.
Cook some rice to add to it or just eat it plain, up to you.
I just hope you enjoy it as much as I do.
Thanks Hina!

Ingredients

Boiling Beans

Vegetable mixture

Final product, YUMMY!

Ingredients
-250g red lentils (a little more then a cup)
-olive oil
-2tbs brown mustard seeds (rye)
-1 large red onion diced
-2-3 cloves minced garlic
-celery
-carrots
-1/2tsp ground turmeric
-1tsp ground coriander
-1tsp chili powder (if don't like it spicy then use 1/2tsp)
-2tbs minced ginger
-1c diced tomatos
-2 tbs cilantro
-1tsp salt (can add up to 1 1/2tsp)
Juice of 1 lime

Directions
Fill 3-4qt saucepan 3/4 way full of water.  Add lentils and boil on medium heat for 1hr.
In large frying pan heat oil(maybe 2tbs, enough to cook the vegetables) and brown mustard seeds, cover.
After mustard seeds start "popping" for several seconds remove from heat
Add onion, garlic, ginger, celery, and carrotts and return to medium heat(add more oil if needed)
Saute until soft
Add chili powder, corriander, and tumeric. Stir till mixed
Add tomoatos and let saute till everything is soft
Once lentils have finished boiling add the contents of large frying pan to lentils
Add salt, cilantro, and juice of one lime
Let mixture boil to desired thickness
Add more salt if needed

Peace out,
Shelby

Struggle Bus

Can you say STRUGGLE BUS!

I was riding that bus this morning.

I couldn't wake up.

Coffee wasn't doing the trick!

I wanted to hook myself up to an espresso drip!

I'm not sure if it had anything to do with the fact that last night I wanted to eat everything in sight.

I'm pretty sure the apple cake was talking to me, "EAT ME!"

What can I say sometimes a girl needs her cake:)

Oh well one bad night isn't going to kill me.

I did drag my butt to gym and actually ended up having a pretty amazing workout.

I swear when I struggle to get to the gym I usually end up having a better workout then on my normal non struggling days. 

Weird, but I'll take it!

Butt kicked!

Big slow pitch game tonight. Our team is playing for 1st place.  

I very much expect to come home with a trophy! 

Tuesday night was intense. 

We won 8-7 and knocked off the number 1 team:) 

I  haven't been this excited to play softball in a long time!  

Hope y'all are having a good week. TGIF tomorrow! Whoop whoop!

Peace, 

Shelby

Weigh in Wednesday!

Happy Hump Day!

Bam Bitches.  I dropped 3lbs in 1.5 weeks. Only about 20.2 lbs to go:) But I think I'm going to break this up in 5 lb goals.  So watch out 155 here I come. I actually can't remember the last time I was in the 150's.  It was before I was pregnant with my daughter. Maybe 3 years ago.  So it's exciting how close I am. I was actually a little surprised the scale hadn't moved more because I feel like my body has changed. The biggest thing I have noticed is my stomach. It's not so bloated.  I still have my baby bump which I am excited to get rid of!  And in these pics you can see my awesome tiger paws. Yep, those awesome stretch marks our beautiful children bless us with:)  They are not pretty to look at but I love what they represent. Almost every women has them after a baby and if you don't, that's awesome, but for the rest of us lucky ladies we get to work our butts off to get rid of them.

I wish I would have taken pictures when I started 1 1/2 weeks ago, so instead here are my pics from today that I can use to compare in the future.

I've been thinking of starting a 4 week challenge on Monday.  It'd basically run me up till Thanksgiving, then give me a little break for Thanksgiving since I'll be heading out of town, and then starting another one in between Thanksgiving and Christmas.  I'm not sure if anyone actually reads this but if they do and want to join in I could post before and afters of whoever wants in.  It's a great way to push yourself.  I'll do some more thinking about what exactly this is going to entail and post more about it at the end of the week.

Peace,
Shelby

Yummy Healthly Cookies!

I woke up this morning and felt great (whoop whoop)!
I feel thinner. I can even suck in my stomach which I could not do a month ago. 
I'm excited to get on the scale tomorrow.
I would assume I've lost some weight but even if the scale doesn't show it, I'm still sticking to it!

Yesterday I got a craving for some chocolate.
I am a chocoholic and haven't eaten any sweets in about 1 1/2 weeks.
So yesterday I decided to do some research and this is what I came up with.
I found a recipe that I tweaked a little bit to make these awesome cookie bites.  Don't get me wrong, they are not as amazing as a gooey chocolate chip cookie but they got the job done:)  

Ingredients
-1/2c cooked steel cut oatmeal
-1tsp. ground cinnamon
-3tbs. honey pure
-2tbs. whole wheat flour
-2/3c. raw whole almonds
-1tsp. vanilla
-4tbs. dried reduced fat cocoanut flakes
-1/2c chocolate chips (Life brand)


Directions
Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Cook the oatmeal as directed on the box. Mix oatmeal and rest of ingredients except chocolate chips in a food processor. Blend well. Add Chocolate chips. Scoop in to balls and bake for 20 min.
Enjoy!