Category Archives: Fitness

Juicing

Have you seen Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead yet? I never really understood the point of juicing before watching it. I get the idea of the reboot.

So we got a juicer, and for about a week now I’ve been juicing two meals and eating one. Tomorrow will be my first day full-on juicing. I plan to take it to then end of the month and then see from there.

Tonight, I had my version of a juiced greek salad:

  • half cucumber
  • two tomatoes
  • most of a head of green leaf lettuce
  • a bunch of basil
  • half an eggplant
  • an apple

I must admit– it wasn’t wonderful tasting going down. But, the aftertaste is exactly the same as if I had eaten it. Tomatoes and basil. Yum.

DIY Treadmill Desk | Suddenly Frugal Blog

Have you heard about the walking workstations or stand up desks or whatever they’re called? Basically, it’s something to get you off your duff while you’re working.

I love the idea- especially now that I’m working for myself. I find that, because I love my work so much, I spend a lot more time doing it. This means a lot more time bent over a computer or a necklace or a Pilates client and less time standing up, wandering to my friend’s offices and walking to and from meetings.

I don’t have a treadmill yet, so I would need to get one of those first. I also like the idea of getting a set of pedals to stick underneath a desk to ride bike.

What do you think? Would you like a workout workstation?

DIY Treadmill Desk | Suddenly Frugal Blog.

Narrowing my focus

I am a daughter, sister, wife, mother, friend, Pilates instructor, jewelry designer, author, cook, musician, painter, illustrator, yogi, barista, cashier, etc., etc., etc,. yada, yada, yada, the list can go on and on. I hold a bajillion different rolls, and, benethe them, sub-rolls (not in the sub-sandwich sense) and even some of those can be broken down into sub-sub-rolls. . For example, as an author, I write:

  • Fiction
    • Short stories
    • Novels
  • Non fiction
    • Health
    • Memoir
    • Self-help
    • Creative
    • Craft
  • Freelance
    • Blogging
    • Business/Corporate Writing
    • Content generation
    • Feature articles
    • Catalog copy
  • Children’s stories

I’m sure if I thought about it longer I could even come up with more.

Unfortunately, I can’t be perfect at all of my rolls. Heck, I probably can’t even perfect one of them. But, I can become darn good at some of them. And I’m realizing that to do that, I need to let some of the others go. So, for now, I’m choosing one to cross off the list. Well, actually, the sub-list. I’m going to back-burner the children’s writing I’ve been working on. It’s been nagging me, not because it wanted to be completed, but because it’s been one of those items on the “to-do” list that never gets crossed off. I’m done moving it from list to list to list. Today, for now, I’m removing it. Along with that, I’m unsubscribing from the children’s-market focused writing and illustrating blogs I’m currently subscribed to. I just don’t have time to digest everything, and I’ve got to make some room.

That’s not to say I’ll never come back to the Children’s world. Heck, I’ve got two kids, so, minimally, I’ll continue creating stories for them. It just means that, for now, my writing muscles are training for a different kind of sport. It’s like putting football on hold to focus on baseball. Just like Bo Jackson, I’ll be back. But even he couldn’t play both sports at the same time.

December 30

Yesterday by the numbers was fantastic. 735 calorie deficit.  And I gave myself a hard enough reformer workout that my abs are sore today.  Sore!  It’s really hard for me to push myself hard enough to leave me sore.  It’s a great feeling!

Because I was introduced, trained, certified, and used to teach on Balanced Body equipment, I became kind of a reformer snob.  If it was BB, it wasn’t worth it. While I still hold Balanced Body as the equipment ideal for everything else to be measured against, the Aero reformer that my sister-in-law got from QVC and passed on to me is so much better than I expected!  Yes, there are a few things that I don’t like about it- it’s a bit narrow, and the footbar and shoulder rests don’t lock in place- but, considering that most home Pilates practitioners are not going to be trying reverse long stretch or snake twist, it’s really a great machine for the money.  I’m going to build myself a box, and I have to figure out where I should keep it because right now it’s taking up too much space in our living room, but I am so happy to have it and have the opportunity to do reformer work everyday again!

By the numbers;

  • Burned: 2778 (one hour reformer, hour long walk with hubby, and trip to the science center with the kids)
  • Consumed: 2043
  • Deficit: 735

December 28

Yay!  The flu is passing!  The crazy part is that much of my family also had the flu, and they are in Minnesota!  We haven’t even breathed the same air and we all have the same yucky bug.

Happy about my numbers today:

  • Calories burned (as of 9 pm, at least three trips up and down the stairs ago): 2365
  • Calories consumed: 1600
  • Deficit: 765

December 26

Yesterday was fine by the numbers, but not so great nutrition wise.  I ate all of my leftover birthday cake.  Which is really Chris’s fault, because I told him to eat it.  It’s just SO. DARN. GOOD!

And, here’s the other thing- whenever I have totally completely uncontrollable sugar cravings, I know I’m about to get sick. And today I am sick. So I’m going to give you my stats for yesterday and we’re just going to ignore today’s so you don’t think I’m anorexic.

On the plus side, I had a darn good leg workout yesterday.  Then I came home and did a mini-reformer session and stretched.  Short-spine is Merry Christmas to me.  I love it.

Here’s the stats:

  • Calories Consumed: 2755
  • Calories burned: 1854
  • Deficit:  901

Maybe it’s Christmas, maybe it’s PMS

But all I wanted to eat today was sweets and treats.  And, I had a fairly active day, so I did. My meals were fine- but I should have eaten them closer together and planned better snacks, because, well…here’s what I ate in between meals:

  • Chocolate Peanut Butter Cupcake
  • 2 chocolate peanut butter balls
  • Chex Mix
  • Popcorn
  • Leftover birthday cake

Now, the good news…I worked out, plus shopped plus did housework, so, while I’m not helping myself lose weight very quickly, at least I’m not packing it back on.

Workout: I did not want to work out today.  At all. But I have a deal with myself.  15 minutes.  Put some effort into it.  If I still hate it, I can bag it for the day.  I don’t usually hate it, except when I’m sleep deprived or have PMS. So I did a set of lunges.  And wanted to leave the gym.  I compromised and hit the elliptical.  15 minutes later, I was still hating it.  But not as much, so I switched to an upright bike.  With the most uncomfortable seat I’ve ever sat on.  Keep in mind, I once rode a bike that left me feeling worse than after giving birth. But it wasn’t that bad while I was on it.  This might as well have been brick.  So as soon as the bodybuilder got off the recumbent bike I switched to that.  All and all, a good 45 minutes of cardio.  THEN I DID PILATES.  Yep.  And I liked it. The only part of my workout that I enjoyed today. Pilates is good stuff.

Here’s my stats for the day:

  • Calories Burned: 2738
  • Calories Consumed: 2631 (yikes)
  • Deficit (at least there still is one) 107.  And there are 2.5 hours left…maybe I’ll jump on my bed for a while…

but probably not.

Happy shortest day of the year!

What do you do with a two and a four year old after dinner during the winter?  They don’t want to play outside in the dark.  I hate to have them sit around and watch TV.  They argue over toys and don’t have the attention span for board games yet.  Solution?  WII Dance Party!

  • Calories Burned: 2348
  • Calories Consumed: 1475
  • Deficit: 873

Have your cake and eat it too!

It’s Austin’s 2nd birthday today, and we celebrated with a trip to Chick-fil-a and their indoor, air-conditioned play place! I also made cupcakes. The party is Saturday, and we’ll be having chocolate and hot dogs and all kinds of yummy crap, so I wanted someone a bit lighter. Angel food cake is my favorite, so that’s what we had. It was my first attempt at angel food cupcakes though, and I wasn’t prepared for the size! They’re ginormous! The best part: 1/12 of the recipe is a serving. A 140 calorie serving (I know! AMAZING!) I made 12 small cupcakes and 3 huge ones. The kids each ate 1.5 small ones. It was nice to be able to say yes when they asked for seconds!

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