100 Day Challenge - Day 8

100 Day Challenge- Day 8

One of the best things about a challenge- is that you can re-evaluate whether what you are doing is working or not.

My workouts- are NOT working for me.  They were too time intensive and unless I have someone telling me how many of something I have to do- I'm a goner.  So i evaluated how I was doing towards my goals and decided to change my mind.  I have 7 fitness dvd's ranging from bootcamp style, to chair workouts, to yoga.  I have more yoga dvd's than anything else. I am set to do yoga every other day in my current mix.

Here are my choices

I did YogaCore today- OUCH!  It kicked my abs and booty! This one is NOT for beginners without modifications.

The guy got a kick out of me doing it.  I ate it during triangle. Totally fell on my butt. I guess my core isn't as strong as it needs to be combined with my terrible balance= falling over.

At least we can laugh together. :)

Tomorrow- One Day Fat Blast from the ladies of Tone it Up!  I've never done this workout either and I'm pretty excited about it.  My gbig(in the sorority) is a big fan, so I can't wait to try it out for myself. 

I know I'm going to be sore, but results don't come for those who never got sore. 

The guy is currently outside getting some social interaction and sweat on playing basketball at the church across the street leaving me a few minutes to myself.  So I'm writing this and watching Bizarre Foods: Delicious Destinations Athens. 

It's almost the weekend!

<3 B

PS. Get set for another challenge on top of the 100 day challenge- this one anyone can participate in. It's the #LoveMe Challenge. Find out more about it here: http://pepperscraps.com/loveme-challenge-learn-to-love-you/ and join in on the fun! It starts Feb 1- that gives you two more days to get signed up! 

100 Day Challenge- Day 7

100 Day Challenge Day 7

After the last couple of days...I'm sore.  Today- I focused on deep stretches in yoga and a shorter ab workout.

We played tourist in our own town this morning without spending a dime!  It was a fun date! We went to the Pioneer Museum.  It used to be the Courthouse prior to it's move across the street. The building is stunning.  If we were planning a CO wedding, we would definitely want pictures taken there.  It's been around since 1903.  It has a working elevator from the 1900's and an old fashioned cash register(those were the guy's favorite parts).  There was an exhibit about the Waldo Canyon Fire and the Black Forest Fire- both of which were devastating to Colorado Springs. Both happened before we arrived to the Springs by a few months. Since we spent time in Waldo Canyon yesterday, it was amazing to see footage of it prior to the fire, during the fire, and to see it in person now.  The exhibits were cool and many were hands-on.  It would have been wonderful to bring kids along. One of the courtrooms was still intact and is lovely. My pictures do not do it justice. 

For more information on the Pioneer Museum please visit:http://www.cspm.org

The guy tried sushi for the first time today- at our local King Soopers(that's Kroger for those of you on the east coast). To top it all off- it was good and he liked it!  Mind you, it had no raw fish in it, but it's a start. 

I got in a good workout and we met two doggies- a pug and a scruffy puppy of some kind- who came visiting(they ran away from home). Luckily they had "if lost please call my mom at _____" . We called mom who came and got them, but it was nice to see them returned. 

I hope your day was as awesome as mine!

<3 B

100 Day Challenge- Day 6

100 Day Challenge- Day 6

Another wonderful day! Such a positive one!

1. The guy had an amazing interview with a company that has room for advancement.
2. Got 100% on my biomechanics assignment
3. Saw the heights of Colorado Springs( I won't drive it again) in the Waldo Canyon area
4. Got in a walk and hike
5. Did yoga and an abs/arms workout
6. Made a delicious dinner of butter chicken
7. Had lunch on top of Garden of the Gods
8. I got the guy to take a selfie!


              The hike we went on yesterday in Garden of the Gods peaked our interest towards the access road that we were hiking.  It is one car wide for most of its length.  It is full of sharp, blind turns, and idiotic teenagers driving their parent's subaru's WAY too fast.  Needless to say, I was nervous as soon as we got on the road.  
              We went 8 miles into the Waldo Canyon area before I chickened out. It was truly beautiful to see these sights that I never would've gotten to see otherwise; huge canyons, blue sky that doesn't seem to end, green trees, and huge scarred areas. However,  I have no interest in falling off a mountain. I am NOT a fan of heights!  We were REALLY high up with no place to go if someone came tearing around one of those blind curves. We made it up and back down to Garden of the Gods with no major mishaps, thank goodness. I would've taken pictures, but I was too busy trying not to die! Next time, the guy can drive.  

              After our driving adventure- we decided to rock climb before having a snack.  We climbed up some of the beautiful red rocks and found ourselves an alcove in which to have a snack.  We also tried our camelbacks for the first time today.  Both work wonderfully! Here are some of the pictures- yes we took a selfie!

I even had a glass of wine with the butter chicken I made for dinner!

Have a great day!
<3 B

100 Day Challenge- Day 5

100 Day Challenge- Day 5

Today has been a wonderful day!

I started the day making ham and cheese omelets in our super cool- special omelet making pan.

Here is the omelet- weird how it turns out round huh?

But it was so delicious!!!!

 I did an entire sink-full of dishes.  We got dressed and went to Garden of the Gods.  We stopped at the Red Rocks park prior to going to Garden of the Gods, but it was way too muddy to attempt without mountain bikes.  We went on a 3 mile hike into Garden of the Gods.  It was beautiful.  It was 65 degrees and sunny.  I got a tan.  How awesome is that?! It's January in Colorado and I got a suntan.  Maybe I'll have a tan prior to the cruise after all.

Here are some of the pictures from our hike today. Excuse the odd squinty eye picture. ;)

Ab workout- done

Blog- done

Hike- done

Tan- done

Today was a wonderful day of positivity! I hope it was for you as well!

<3 B

Sunday Funday- 100 day challenge day 3+4

Today is Sunday Funday!  I am really trying to implement this with my guy.  So far, we have success.

It is also day 3+4 of my 100 day challenge.

I got in a workout while the guy slept. 
I did my first try on my homework assignment; it did not go very well. I have a score on the board though and two more tries. 
I showered and have eaten 2x already. 
I think we are going to go for a hike in Garden of the Gods later and then have a romantic dinner and play some rummy while we watch a movie. 

Yay SUNDAY FUNDAY!


Yesterday
Got in a 30 minute ab+ arms workout. Got in a 20 minute yoga workout. 
Wrote 2 pages in my book
Studied for my biomechanics class
Took a 2 hour nap(AMAZING!)
Made a delicious snack
Took my vitamins(thanks Auntie Cathy!)


Happy Sunday!
<3 B

100 day challenge- Day 2

Today is Day 2 of my 100 day challenge.

Today has been awesome!
1. Worked out- 30 minutes yoga. 20 minute ab workout
2. Wrote the blog :)
3. Wrote two pages of my book :)
4. Drank 120 oz of water so far.

Have a little studying to do and then tomorrow tackling our homework assignment.
Have a great weekend!!!!!
<3 B

Short and sweet

Today was a long day somehow. So here is the short and sweet version.

1. I got a lot accomplished.
1. Yoga 20 minutes
2. Ab and arms workout 15 minutes
3. Paid bills
4. Wrote this blog
5. Was completely stumped by my biomechanics class
6. Did dishes like a mad woman. 

That's all for today folks!

<3 B

100 Day Challenge-The Setup

The 100 Day Challenge- The Setup

I am terrible at writing this everyday.  

I am terrible at writing everyday to begin with. 

I'm trying to write a book and I'm all of 7 pages into it. 

I am terrible at keeping to my goals when it comes to things that are not school related. 

I want to accomplish them, I really do. 

So for the next 100 days I'm going to focus on these 3 areas. I'm going to think of it as my 100 day challenge.  114 days to cruise time!

1. Writing
1. Blog- Write once per day
2. Book- 2 pages per day- research and exercises
2. Exercise
1. Abs
1. Everyday - 10 minutes
2. Arms
1. Every 3 days- 10 minutes
3. Yoga
1. 10-30 minutes daily
3. Water drinking
1. 100 oz per day

These are my goals.  Yes they aren't smart goals.   We'll get to that tomorrow. I like this outline for now. 

<3 B

It's official!

It's official!
   I am a licensed resident of Colorado.  I have Colorado license plates.  I have a Colorado drivers license.  I am officially accepted at UCCS to take masters level classes this spring. Now to keep working out, studying, and job searching.

I am studying like a fiend to catch up on the material I should know going into a Masters Level Kinesiology/Biomechanics class.  The other students have taken two full semesters of anatomy and a prior kinesiology or biomechanics class. I have a lot of catching up to do.  I have devoted 3 hours a day to studying and so far it is going well.  I have an anatomy coloring book and lots of emotional and studying support. It's going to be a good semester. :)

Working out: Saturday we went and got me a baby set of weights and a set of resistance bands.  The workout I was doing, just wasn't keeping me motivated.  So I have switched to a combination of yoga and various arm, legs, and core exercises.  Also my guy and I are working out together.  Just between us(shhhhh), I'm in better shape. :)
     The yoga keeps me stretched out and relaxed.
      Arm exercises include- bicep curls, reverse curls, shoulder press, shoulder holds, shoulder shrugs, bench press, butterflies, and tricep extensions.
     Leg/Glute exercises include: Hip raises, squats, dumbbell step ups, kettebell swings, lunges, and wall sits.
     Core exercises include: Planks, fire hydrants, russian twists, reverse crunches, and leg lifts.

Saturday:
Yoga 20 minutes
20 bench press, 3 sets(8) bicep curls, 3 sets(8) reverse curls, 3 sets(8) tricep extensions, and a 2 minute shoulder hold.

MAN WAS I SORE on Sunday.  I did some light stretching and enjoyed the day off.

Monday-
Arms- 3 sets(8) shoulder shrugs, 3 sets(8)bicep curls, 3 sets(8)reverse curls, 3 sets(8) butterflies, 3 sets(8) tricep extensions, 30 second shoulder hold
Legs- 2:00 wall sit, 3 sets(10) squats, 3 sets(10) hip raises
Abs- 3 sets(10) russian twists, 3 sets(10) reverse crunch, 3 sets(10) leg lifts

Tomorrow is going to be a wonderful day!!!!!!!!!!!!
<3 B

Third down for what? GO VOLS!

I sit here watching the VOLS whoop on Iowa in the Taxslayer Bowl. #thirddownforwhat

One of the biggest things that people forget when working out is that you have to listen to your body.  My body has been telling me for the last week, in no uncertain terms, you have bronchitis. Instead of listening to it and taking it easy, I've still been working out and trying to stick to the schedule I set for myself.

 Yesterday was day 2 on antibiotics and I was hurting from my workout the day before and from the bronchitis. I could barely breathe.  I decided that for my body's sake, I needed to take it easy.  So instead of doing the full workout I was planning, I did 30 minutes of gentle yoga.  It didn't hurt my lungs and even encouraged me to focus on my breathing.  If your body is telling you something is wrong, listen to it.  I've spent way too much time in the last year not listening to my body and honestly I think it's why I never got healthy.  By listening to my body, I helped myself feel better.  I slept through the night and woke up today feeling 10x better than I have in the last week.

Here's what I did Thursday: 1-1-15

Lunges: 0

Squats:40

Plank: 

     Left:0

     Right:0

     Center: 2:00

Pushups:0

Tricep dips:0

Russian twists:0

Yoga:30 min     

Cardio: 10 min

Today I plan on taking it easy as well.  I did 20 minutes of dishes this morning and 10 minutes of walking briskly, plus vaccumming. I'm not a fan of cleaning, but I feel better knowing my house is clean.

Have a great day and listen to your body!
<3 B

It really should be Christmas...

This morning I woke up with butterflies in my stomach at 4:30 am.  Not a time I want to be awake. I looked outside and there was no snow.  I was slightly disappointed.  If I was going to be up at this inhuman hour, at least the weather man could be right about the snow he predicted. Instead of worrying about it I went back to bed for a few hours.

Then, sure as the weatherman said, it was snowing. The calm, gentle, drifting snow that you expect around Christmas.  As I'm writing this, we have about 2 inches of snow with no end in sight yet.  It is magical when you have nowhere to go and nothing to do but watch football.

This is pretty accurate for the snow outside right now. 

About my plan of working out....yesterday's workout was tough, not in that I felt overly challenged as I was completing it, but that this morning I was SORE.  

Here's what I did yesterday

Beth Shaw Total body blast(yoga) 17 minutes

     15 pushups, 25 squats

1:00 plank- center

40 russian twists

40 squats

75 calf raises

1:00 plank- left

1:00 plank- right

15 pushups

20 tricep dips

40 lunges

Cardio: none

So far today I've been lazily enjoying reading, yoga, and watching a ton of football.I may take a nap and a leisurely bath to relax those sore muscles. YAY New Years Day!  I hope that your new year guidelines are guiding you in the right direction. 

<3 B