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Hey There, Hi There, Ho There

Um…Hi! How are things? All is well on the exercise front for the most part. I took a break from the 30-Day Shred and threw in a little Turbo Jam to spice things up a bit. 🙂 But you know what? I’m tired of talking about exercise. So, on to other things.

Today was a teaser for spring! It was so beautiful outside. I can’t wait to start my garden again. But you know what I found still alive in my flower bed? Weeds! And you know what else? They were still GREEN! What’s up with that, I would just like to know? I could have spent quite a bit of time outside this afternoon WEEDING MY FLOWER BED IN FEBRUARY! That just doesn’t seem right. I have to hand it to those weeds, though. They sure know how to drive me crazy survive the cold weather. Well, what’s on the menu for my garden this year? I’m so glad you asked because I will tell you just that.

To make it more fun, I’ll have you figure it out by the process of elimination. Zucchini plants? NO WAY! Carrots? Probably not. We just aren’t big carrot eaters around here. Lettuce? Nah. Okay, have you narrowed it down yet? 🙂 Just kidding. Here’s the tentative garden list for this year:

Jalapenos
Garlic
Green onions
Tomatoes
Green beans
Peas (maybe)
Bell peppers

That may be it. I don’t know yet. This list is subject to change. I saw that is is supposed to snow on Saturday, so after that, maybe it’ll be warmer more consistently. However, there is a slight drawback to all this talk of gardens and warm weather and what not…the creepy crawlies will be back to torment me. But, alas, I am willing to march right into the throws of bugdom with my bottle of Raid and care for my veggies!

Well, I suppose I better call it a night. The morning will come early. I don’t know what workout I want to do tomorrow. The shorter, the better. 🙂

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I’m Ba-ack!

Did you get tired of seeing that glowing picture of me every time you stepped over to my blog this week? Sorry folks! I’ve still been exercising but have not made the time to update on here. So, here I am!

Let’s see, I checked out Leslie Sansone’s Walk Away the Pounds, 3-Mile Walk at the library last week and like it pretty well. It’s not real intense and a tad cheesy (but you’ll hardly find a workout video that isn’t) but it’s decent. Some of the cheesy parts are when occasionally the people working out will exclaim how much they like the workout, what part of their body they’re really “feeling it” and then will let out an occasional, high-pitched “Wooo!” Get the picture there? But, it doesn’t come close to the cheese level you’ll find with Denise Austin, bless her heart. 🙂

And then…my Mom got me Jillian Michael’s 30-Day Shred (thanks Mom!!). I now know why they use the word “shred.” I was hardly able to walk yesterday. My legs and arms were so incredibly sore that I considered taking a “break” and doing Billy Blanks Ultimate Bootcamp. Seriously. Ouch! I figured for those who are interested, I’d post my own little review of the workout so here goes:

The video has three levels on it, the first one being the “easiest.” Let me tell you, my friends, that Level 1 was what I started with and what has gotten me so sore. Each level is broken down into three circuits and each circuit has 3 minutes of strength training, 2 minutes of cardio, 1 minute of abs. Rinse. Repeat x3 for a total of about 18 minutes plus a warm up and cool down. The first day I got it, I thought, “Pshh, only 20 minutes? I’ll do Level 1 and 2 to get a good workout.” Um, I hardly made it through Level 1! I felt like a gelatinous mess by the end and curled up in a fetal position on the bed afterwards because I felt physically ill. And then the next day, I did it again! Only this time I was able to make it through a little better. Yesterday, I did the same thing and it got a little easier. I worked out despite being terribly sore and that’s when I could hardly move. Today, I don’t feel nearly as sore and am planning on working out later this evening. Here is a list of pros and cons about the video:

Pros:
1. It’s short.
2. See above. 🙂
3. The moves are very basic and easy to follow, no fancy foot work or anything.
4. It is an extremely intense workout in a very short period of time.
5. You feel like you really accomplished something by the time you’re done.
6. She has a no-nonsense attitude about working out.

Cons:
1. Jillian is a tad masculine. Some people might not have a problem with that. I just thought it was a little off-putting.
2. She also seems kind of arrogant.
3. In Level 2 (which I have only watched) she says if we want to be a bad a** to watch one of the girls in the background. It certainly isn’t terrible. I just didn’t think it was really appropriate.
4. At the end of Level 1, she says it’s time for a cool down and, “God knows we deserve it.” It just seemed kind of flippant when she said it. God knows all things but I don’t think we “deserve” a cool down. He knows we may need a cool down but “deserving” something so trivial…I don’t know. So I’ll just say I think she should have been more thoughtful.

And there you have it: my two cents about the 30-Day Shred. You’re also supposed to follow her diet plan but you have to buy her book. I don’t plan on doing that so I’ll just keep exercising and try to be mindful of what I eat. This past week, I’ve done an okay job with my portions and what I’ve eaten and stuff. That is until last night. We went out with some friends after church to IHOP. They have a new coffee drink special going right now. It’s iced coffee and it comes in vanilla, mocha, and maybe one or two other flavors. And free refills! Who can pass up something like that? But, as if that wasn’t bad enough, we also ordered an appetizer sampler x2. It had (drum roll please) onion rings! I was sharing the appetizer basket with my son and he doesn’t like onion rings so I did my part and “helped” him out. Wait! It gets even better because no onion ring would be complete unless you dipped it…in ranch dressing! Yum. They were so good. The funny thing was, I had fixed a fruit smoothie for dinner because I really was trying to be careful about what I ate. Good thing I was being so careful, eh? Yeah…good job, Lisa. So, it’s back to being careful after my little slip last night.

For those of you joining me on this challenge, how has exercising been going for you? Are you noticing a change yet? Do you find yourself enjoying it more?

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In Which the Author is a Glutton for Punishment

I think this picture about sums it up, don’t you?

Me post-workout

Can you guess which workout I just did? I’ll give you a hint: It was made by a man whose first name is Billy and his last name is Blanks. Give up? It was Billy’s Ultimate Bootcamp. I am feeling a tad wobbly and jiggly. We’ll see if I’m able to walk tomorrow. I might need a walker.

In other news, I had a great birthday. Lots of food, games, friends, food, food, food. Suffice it to say, I’m glad birthdays only come once a year. Oi. I was afraid to step on the scale this morning for good reason. Sigh. That was one of the motivating factors for me to do the ultimate bootcamp this morning. Also, the Crockpot Lady is doing a wellness challenge too! Check out her site for great, healthy recipes you can make in your crockpot. She wrote a post this morning with some good information on there about eating healthy. How cool! Lots of people are getting into the whole workout/healthy eating thing lately. It dawned on me that it probably has something to do with New Year’s resolutions. Just to clarify, I am not doing this challenge as part of some New Year’s resolution. It is a resolution, but it doesn’t have anything to do with the new year. I just want to be healthy and now’s the time to do it.

I recently got some birthday money and I’m trying to figure out how to spend it. I’m contemplating buying Jillian Michaels’ 30 Day Shred. I’ve been thinking about this for awhile, but her use of the word “shred” has me a tad concerned…I don’t know. Maybe I should just spend it on something more girly. But it was under $10 on Amazon. Has anyone ever tried it before? Jillian Michaels is from a TV show called “The Biggest Loser.” I’ve only seen part of one episode before. Basically, a group of overweight people are chosen and they go on this crazy diet and exercise regimen to see who can lose the most weight by the end of the season. Jillian Michaels is their “drill sergeant” so to speak. She is in charge of their workouts, and from what I hear, she’s pretty tough. I’m still thinking about it…

I need to go shower, if I can get off the chair. I’m ready for a nap. G’day, mates!

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Catching Up…

Long time, no blog. This has been a really busy week. I can hardly believe it’s Thursday already. As far as exercising goes, I’ve been able to work out everyday this week so far. I have not yet worked out today though. This morning ended up being pretty busy (my license is set to expire tomorrow so I had to get that taken care of ASAP) so I’m planning on working out as soon as my dinner digests. 🙂 David took the kids out for a mysterious outing. He’s got something up his sleeve. I just don’t know what it is. I’m sure it has to do with my birthday because tomorrow, I hit the big 29. But unlike everyone else who says they’re 29, I’m really going to be 29. 🙂 But, I’m thinking about stopping at 28 because 29 just seems too suspicious, like you’re hiding your real age or something. How about (in David’s terms) the second anniversary of my 28th birthday. There! Doesn’t that sound nice? We’ll just call it that now, shall we?

Anyway, I had something I else I was going to write but it left me (AUGHHH!!!! It’s because I’m getting older!!).  Onto the fun part. We’ll just call this section of this post, “On Why I Need to Purchase a Cow.” Are you intrigued yet? There are so many cool things you can do with heavy cream and milk!!! First off, you can make butter from heavy cream. Here’s what you do.

Pour some (however much you want – I didn’t measure mine) heavy cream into a bowl and get out your mixer. Beat your cream at medium to high speed for quite awhile. It will turn into whipping cream first. Then, you’ll see that it will turn color to more of a yellow color, and the consistency will change too. Once it starts to harden, strain it out in a strainer over a bowl. The butter will stay in your strainer while the buttermilk will drain into your bowl. Rinse your butter very well because any remaining buttermilk can make your butter spoil pretty quickly. You can also make butter by shaking the cream in a jar or other container. I tried this and lost patience with it pretty quickly so I got out my mixer.

BUT WAIT! THERE’S MORE!

Yogurt! You can make your own yogurt. Now how cool is that? Instead of posting the directions on here, the Crockpot Lady has a really great and very easy recipe that you can do in the crockpot. I had tried making yogurt a couple times before but it never set. I think it had something to do with the temperature being too low and/or the fat content in my milk being too low. But this one worked really well. You can add crushed fruit to it or whatever you like. I have never had success using anything but whole milk, but Stephanie said you can dissolve a package of unflavored gelatin in to help it along.

Don’t go yet because you can make your own…

CREAM CHEESE! Yep, it’s true. Here’s what you do. Take some yogurt, put it in a dish towel on a strainer that is sitting over a bowl and let it drain for 5+ hours. After you have drained it over a mixing bowl, my friend, Cara, tied the dish towel with the stuff in it to a spoon and let it drain into a jar overnight (I think it was overnight anyway). Does that all make sense? What drains from the yogurt is this stuff called whey which is actually a natural preservative. You can add it to different things to make them last longer, like salad dressing for instance.

NEXT PLEASE!

You can make your own buttermilk. You can do it by using the stuff you strained from your butter or use:

  • 3 1/2 c. milk
  • 1/2 c. buttermilk, room temperature

Simply mix the above ingredients together and let sit for 24 hours. Voila! You can also use dry milk for this.

NEXT RUNNER UP…

Sour cream! Yay! You can make your own at home! And you know what? It is just about as easy as the other things I mentioned. Here’s what you need:

  • 1 cup heavy cream (um, this isn’t the light version in case you haven’t noticed)
  • 1/4 cup buttermilk

Combine the above ingredients in a container with a lid or screw top jar and let sit for 24 hours. It tastes really good. Like sour cream. But I guess you’d expect that, huh?

So now I guess you can see why I need to get a cow? 🙂

And one more thing for your reading enjoyment. This homemade food item doesn’t come from a cow but it’s still pretty cool. You can make your own baking powder. Here’s what you need:

  • 2 tablespoons cream of tartar
  • 1 tablespoon baking soda
  • 1 tablespoon cornstarch

Mix it all together and there you go. Homemade baking powder. I have not looked into whether this is cheaper than buying it at the store, but you can have the peace of mind to know that there isn’t any aluminum in the homemade stuff, if you are concerned about that type of thing.

Okay, I think that’s it. If you are interested in making any of these things and my directions weren’t very clear, leave a comment and I’ll try to explain it better. With me getting up in years, it’s kind of hard to think straight. 😉

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Almost Week 3

I was able to work out today and definitely feel it in my legs. It’s probably a combination of yesterday’s workout and today’s. I ended up doing Billy Blanks’ Basic Taebo Live workout. It’s about 35 minutes or so on VHS. I really like the workout as it’s not unbearable and doesn’t last too long. Afterward, I felt kind of dizzy and like I just wanted to go to bed. I still haven’t quite shaken that feeling either, but I have a lot of things to do before bed. *yawn*

I’m looking forward to a rest from working out tomorrow. And right now what I’m really looking forward to is…my bed. But! I’m off to go clean the bathrooms, sweep and mop the kitchen floor, do dishes, throw in a load of laundry, and make pancakes to stick in the fridge for tomorrow. (we’re having breakfast for dinner tomorrow and some folks from church are coming over). Oh yeah, and the kids need a bath too…Has anyone heard of Flylady‘s website? She has a system of cleaning that looks really neat. I need to look at it more in depth, but from what I saw it sure looks helpful. Then, on Saturday nights, I wouldn’t be rushing around trying to get everything done.

On my next post, I want to share some of the really cool things I’ve been making at home lately. It’ll be fun!

Until next time, adieu.

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Week 2, Day 5

Okay, I’ve almost survived my second week of exercise. It’s been going pretty well I think. One thing I will say, I sure feel better after I’ve worked out. For me personally, my lower back starts to hurt if I don’t work out consistently. Funny, it never did that before! Oh well. I guess that’s just more motivation.

Yesterday, I did Billy’s 8-minute workout again. I was going to do it twice but it was already late and I just wanted to be done. Today I did Tony Horton’s Power Half Hour. I don’t think I included that in my workout video inventory. My legs feel a bit like jello. Tony Horton’s videos are from Beach Body as is Turbo Jam and Slim In 6. Their slogan is “Decide. Commit. Succeed.” My daughter thought it said, “Decide. Commit. Suicide.” Um. I don’t know about you but that just doesn’t sound like something I would want to buy with a slogan like that. I really don’t think that would make their videos sell very well, but that’s just me. Of course, after doing some of them, that might be how you feel! And yes, I taught my daughter to read. Sigh. 🙂

Well, off I go to de-nastify (for those of you who don’t know, that just means I need to shower), if I can stand up again! How has your week gone so far? Were you able to squeeze some time into your day? I know it sure is hard to do that sometimes.

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Week 2, Day 4

Well, well, well, let’s see here. I’m not feeling as emotional as I was the other day. David came home and I felt much better. 🙂 I was able to exercise yesterday! Yippee! I did Billy Blanks 8-minute Tae Bo Workout and the 20-minute Pilates. You know, I was thinking, the government recommends that you work out for 90 minutes a day if you are looking to lose weight. I’m just wondering, have they ever done Billy Blanks? Yesterday was the first time I tried the 8-minute workout. It was a long 8 minutes. I thought I was going to have to take a break! It was pretty intense. I wonder how many calories I burned. After that, I did the 20-minute Pilates to cool off a little. It’s crazy how much I worked into a glow during only 8 minutes.

For today, I have not worked out yet, but I plan to this evening. Last night, I felt like a young whippersnapper and stayed up until 4am! I don’t remember the last time I did that, unless you count overnight road trips or something. This morning I woke up at 11:10. It has just been a nice, relaxing day. But, I do need to work off all the Jelly Bellies I ate last night. The bag was sitting right in front of me at the table, and well, they were beckoning me, the darn things. We also ate homemade California rolls, and they were SOOO good! It was fun to put them together. So, we rang in the new year with California rolls, homemade pizza, Jelly Bellies, Dove chocolate, and a fun game of Balderdash. Thank you, Tommy and Holly! We sure had a good time.

I plan on posting within the next couple days to stay accountable on my daily exercising. I am not sure what I will be doing tonight. What do you think? I am thinking about maybe some Turbo Jam…

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Week #2

I’m here still. We had some visitors this past weekend that I blogged about in my last post. We had a very nice time aside from dealing with a stomach bug that we were passing around. That type of thing makes for some funny memories, even if it’s gross going through it. They ended up staying an extra day because they weren’t feeling up to the drive. We enjoyed their company though. We had a really great time.

I’m going to make this post rather short because I have dinner to prepare and I’m feeling a tad emotional. Not that either of them have to do with each other. Oh well. Because I got sick and we had company these past few days, I did not end up working out. Our guests were sleeping in my workout space, so I decided to just start again when they left. I really hope to do better this week with it all. Sigh.

I think I need chocolate. That is, if my stomach is up for it. Maybe I’m getting that stomach bug now.

G’nite, folks.

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Checking In, Day #5

I’ll call it day #5 since I technically started Monday.

Well, I didn’t post yesterday about my progress obviously. I felt really miserable. I had to work, too, and was hoping for a slow day since it was a holiday. But actually, I ended up getting one of the highest line counts I’ve had in a long time. I guess that’s what an hour-long dictation will get you though. It took me three long hours to get through it, but I’m glad it’s done. And now, here I am, still sniffly, feeling a bit better, but tormented by sneezes that want to drive me nuts me. They are lurking in my nose, making me sniff, making my eyes water like crazy, hiding in the shadows. But they don’t actually want to come out. And so here I sit.

I didn’t work out yesterday or the day before because I haven’t felt well. Today, it seems I am on the mend. I can at least smell and taste my food now! That is saying something. We are expecting some visitors this weekend. I was going to have my house spic and span, lovely meals prepared, the whole bit. As it is, none of that has really happened. I went to the grocery store with not enough time to get all the things I needed and had to wait in line for the cashier as I watched the clock hands slowly climb toward 3p.m. (which is when I start work). When I got home, David had the dog outside and informed me that he (the doggy) had stepped in his (the doggy’s) doo-doo. So, I had to give him a bath because David had to go get a bookcase, and I was definitely late to work by then. My carpets desperately need to be vacuumed. What they actually need is to be shampooed, but that isn’t going to happen any time soon. The bathrooms, um, let’s not go there, and as far as food preparation, we have a couple bags of Jelly Belly’s hanging out on the counter. But, that could make for fun times had by all, so I guess we’re not doing too badly. Really, the only thing accomplished on my list was giving the dog a bath…three times in less than 24 hours. He needed one last night before I would let him jump on my bed. Then this morning, he stepped onto my wet garden patch and got muddy, and then the doody incident.  But, our visitors are very gracious and I know they won’t even notice a little dust here and there. After all, they don’t come visit us because we have a clean house. They come because they want to see us. I just need to remember that when I’m in the middle of stressing out.

Okay, now as far as working out, I plan on doing either the 20-minute Pilates workout or the Billy Blanks 8-minute workout, at least something. That is, of course, as long as I’m still feeling well by this evening. And I have SO much to do. Did I mention that already? SO much. And my dear fellow work-out buddies (I know of one! Hi Elissa!), how are you doing on your progress this week? Has it been a bad week for working out or pretty good? Do you feel under the weather too? That seems to be going around this time of year. So far, I know of at least six other people who have or have had the same creeping crud besides me.

Lastly, for a further clarification on the challenge (for me anyway). The idea is to work out Monday through Friday. I will leave Saturday up in the air as that is my catch up day for the week. Sunday is a day off.

And with that, I will bid you all adieu.

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The Rambler

I am just really having a hard time thinking up a creative title tonight. Oh well. You may just have to suffer through my writer’s block a little. I may get inspired as I go along.

So, it’s a day after my new challenge started. I guess it would technically be day #2, but I really started exercising Monday so then would this be day #3? It’s all so confusing. Anyways, today I am not feeling very well. I tend to take everyday things for granted, you know, like being able to breathe out of my nose. Now, though, I appreciate it until next time when I forgot again. 🙂 As a result of me being sick, I have not yet worked out. I would like to at least do something short (like the 20-minute one or maybe the 8-minute Billy Blanks tape) but I am not going to beat myself up if I don’t have the energy to turn the TV on today. I just feel crummy.

On a good note, David has had today off and tomorrow and Friday! And, to top it all off, in spite of feeling lousy, I curled my hair, a major feat even when I am well. So there you have it. That’s been my day in a nutshell. I also spent a large part of the day in my bathrobe that David got for me for our anniversary (it’s really soft and cozy). For dinner, I fixed a crockpot full of chicken noodle soup. At Dillons, I got the Kroger brand of this seasoning called zesty Italian herb. I added that to the broth and it tasted so yummy. It seemed pretty fitting for a cold day. I love making chicken noodle soup. It’s so easy. Here’s what I put in mine:

  • 4-5 chicken thighs, frozen
  • 5 smallish carrots
  • 1 medium onion
  • salt to taste
  • zesty Italian herb seasoning
  • water (I just kind of eyeball it)
  • a little cream
  • some linguine noodles (again, I just kind of eyeball it)

I put the chicken thighs in the crockpot with some water on high for a few hours. Then I added more water, the carrots, onion, and seasoning. After that has cooked for a couple hours, take the chicken out and take the meat off the bone. Then return it to the crockpot. Cook the noodles on the stove top until done and add to the crockpot along with a little bit of cream, if desired. Cook on low for a few minutes and then voila! Soup! And it tastes soooo good, especially with the little bit of cream. It does make it a little richer, but you don’t have to add it if you don’t want to.

This post has ended up being kind of rambling. I better call it quits for now. My kitchen is a mess and my laundry is calling me to fold it before it gets wrinkled. Of all the chores I have to do, ironing is my least favorite.

Adios, amigos. My nose is starting to run. I better go catch it.