Workin' on My Fitness

Taken from Pinterest. :)

I'm working on this New Year's resolution of getting in shape.  So far this week, I have concentrated on getting back into good eating habits. It started out slow, but I've been doing well for the past few days.  No slips ups since after the first day. :)  

I did part of a cardio yoga workout on Tuesday.  It was 50 minutes, and I did maybe 20 of it before my partner in crime and I decided that if we did another downward dog position we were going to end up on our heads because our arms felt so weak.

Thursday I did the easy workout on my Jillian Michaels' 30 Day Shred DVD. And let me tell you, it's not labeled 'easy' because it's actually easy.  It's only easy in relation to the other two workouts on the DVD.  Although, I have to say, I didn't have as much trouble with it as I did when I did the same workout religiously for a couple of weeks a couple years ago when I first got it.  I powered through and didn't die...though in the ten minutes or so after my cool down, my arms felt like jelly, my legs felt weak, and my back was so tired I didn't think I could sit up straight for very much longer.  JM knows what she's doing! Crazy!

Last night I only did a short workout. I worked for four-and-a-half hours (which really didn't involve that much work because the cafe was dead, but it did involve standing the whole time), so I was pretty beat by the time I got back to the dorm.  Plus, since I thought I was going to die after my JM workout the night before, I thought I'd give my muscles a slight break until today.  I did 30 lunges (15 on each leg). 35 regular crunches, 35 reverse crunches, and 45 bicycle crunches.  Then one minute of jumping jacks for cardio.  The "cardio" probably didn't amount to much because it was super late by the time I finally decided to do anything, and I was afraid of waking up the people under me, so I didn't do it for very long.  I'll get back into it today and do some Zumba or another JM and then probably some yoga too.  

Eating on Friday didn't go as well as could be hoped, simply because I was fairly rushed the last half of the day.  Dinner wasn't exactly healthy because by the time I got off of work, the cafeteria was closed (no salad *sad face*), and the only option I had was the Cave/E.J. & Emma's (I still can't get used to calling it that since they changed the name...The Cave is what it will always be to me).  I had a small order of fries. :(  And it really was small.  I actually think I got a little jipped, but I won't complain because I really would have preferred something different anyway.  Their choice in yogurt last night didn't appeal to me, and the last couple times I got the grilled chicken sandwich...well, let's just say it wasn't great.  I went with fries.  Today will be different.  I'm getting back on track.  This getting in shape business is intense.

I've been using my It Works wraps too, and I can see a little bit of a difference a day and a half after the second one. I'm not expecting miracles right away, but common sense tells me that as long as I try to maintain a healthy diet - as much as is possible on a college campus, this campus especially - and work out, my results should happen even quicker.  Yay!  Muscle-building will happen at the same rate it always does, but the wraps and such should help the extra unwanted pounds come off a little faster.

By the way, I'm selling It Works now (see It Works Distributor badge to the top left!).  If I remember right, I set the badge up so that when you click it, it takes you to my website.  So if you're curious about it, check it out, and email me with any questions!

That's all for now, folks! :D

Summer Fun

Hola everyone!! Having a nice summer? I hope so!  Mine's been...semi-uneventful, but in a mostly good way. :)

I'm going to try to force myself out of my writer's block of the past few weeks.....starting now!

Horses

It's been a slow week without the option of a ride out to the barn.  Friends I normally go with either started work for the summer or are known to be super busy so I don't ask...but I will remedy that soon enough!  

Nom nomming on a willow tree.

I started going out on my third or fourth day home from school, riding for a bit the first couple of days, exploring a new trail that a friend showed me (it's my favorite yet - and this time of year, everything is SUPER green and beautiful!), but mostly hanging out and loving on our horses.

Orion was slightly jealous when I fed Glory instead of him.

Orion was super sweet and willing to please the majority of the time - with the exception of not wanting to go through the gate, which we argued over for a few minutes.  I won.  He was great, albeit a bit jumpy for some reason.  

Taken just after his bath.

The dogs usually never bother him, but two days in a row, I got to experience him jump straight into the air and skitter sideways as he realized one of the - now grown - pups was nearer to him than he'd apparently realized.  That was a fun feeling - usually resulting in a "WTF??" exclamation from me and a huge sigh from him as he hung his head in relief upon deciding a terrifying monster was not about to eat him!

Bath + summer sunshine = beautiful  =)

One day last week, he actually came to me from the other side of the field when I whistled and called for him.  I was giddy - yes, giddy - that he'd actually done it from that distance. Then a couple of days ago, I tried again...to no avail.  He didn't even give me the courtesy of lifting his head in acknowledgement.  So across the field I trekked, and he still didn't visibly acknowledge the fact that I was there until I was about three feet from him.  Thanks buddy.  I felt loved.

Books

I finally decided to copy a friend's idea last week and made myself a summer reading list.  Reading is something I love doing.......but unfortunately something I usually don't have time to do during school without neglecting other important things. :/

So this summer, I set myself a goal.  The list is comprised of various books that I've been meaning to read for a while - in some cases, years - that I never get around to.  Most of them are ones that I don't have on my Kindle, because I want to save those for when I go back to school - that way I'm downsizing on how many books I take back with me.  Especially since I'll have a roommate next year and more limited space than I was used to previously.  

I've already finished two of the books on it, and am about a third of the way through my third.

Here's the list:

Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin

The Lucky One  by Nicholas Sparks

Out of Oz  by Gregory Maguire

Mirror Mirror by Gregory Maguire

Snakehunter by Chuck Kinder

The Dark Tower I: The Gunslinger by Stephen King

The Dark Tower II: The Drawing of the Three by Stephen King

The Dark Tower III: The Wastelands by Stephen King

And that's it. For now.  I'm sure upon cleaning my room - another chore on my to-do list this summer - I'll probably find more that I haven't read or want to re-read.  There's a few I've considered that probably won't make the list unless I can't find something else...simply because I want to read as much new stuff as I can while I have the time!

So far, that has been the extent of my activities this summer - horses and books and working out, though it's a bit hard to write much about doing Zumba and Wii Fit.  Another fun thing was going camping with my two best friends at the beginning of the week - but I'll add more about that later.

Tuesday starts my babysitting job, so I'm sure I'll some humorous stories to tell about that.  There's never a dull moment when my younger brothers are together all day long!!

Fitness!

Yes, fitness is going to my goal this semester.  Along with passing Organic Chem II.  


I've already started, and I'm quite happy so far (even if it's only been two days of exercising).  I did about 40 minutes of Zumba yesterday and another 20 or so of just dancing around to my new Just Dance 3 Wii game that I received for Christmas (thanks Mom!).  I'm looking to lose about 10 lbs....but as long as I start to feel physically and mentally and emotionally healthier all around, and I start to look a little more like what I looked like when I came to college 2 1/2 years ago, I'll be happy no matter what weight I'm at.  I'm more geared towards being healthy and getting into good habits.


I plan on mixing in yoga, as I mentioned a while back, and probably some Jillian Michaels 30 Day Shred workouts too.  I want to challenge myself and exercise but also keep it new and interesting from week to week.


My school has finally finished our new student center, to be completely and officially unveiled Thursday night, and included in this center is a new fitness center for non-athletes (athletes will still have their workout/weight room and equipment down in the coliseum).  I'm pretty sure there are supposed to be some ellipticals in our new fitness center, and I'd like to implement those in my routine from time to time as well.  My ankles don't feel so hot after running on a treadmill or, worse, the road ever since I messed them up when I tried to run track in high school.  When I was in physical therapy, they had me do a lot of work on an elliptical, and it helped greatly.  So hey, it can't hurt, right?


Today I danced with the "Just Sweat" mode on Just Dance 3 for about an hour and felt like I was going to die by the end of it...but in a good way.  Hmm..if you can imagine feeling like you're going to die..in a good way... Anyway. lol  It felt really great to be moving.  I was tired and kind of sore, but it felt awesome.


Looking forward to this semester. :)  


Let it all begin tomorrow!