Update

Started a new 30 Day Challenge, but I upped it to high-intensity. So, I exercised 32 minutes and burned 243 calories yesterday morning...and I'm sore! I also walked last evening for about 30 minutes with the girls. To top it off, I wrote down everything I ate...well, except that birthday cupcake I had to taste for my daughter's bday ;-)

Long Time No Blog...Or Diet

After finishing the 30 Day Challenge, I became a slacker. You ask, "Why?" Because I knew I was facing Easter weekend (which is always a time of eating with friends and family and spending gross amounts of time doing things other than exercise), the homeschool convention would be the following weekend, and this weekend is...my...birthday! Yes, I know--I look great for 25! ;) Well, I'll keep telling my daughters that age anyway, until they wise-up. So, here's the plan:

On Monday, after b-day weekend celebrations have come to a close, I will once again rejoin the ranks of exercisers/dieters. That means exercise will become a priority again, and I will once more attempt to notebook everything I eat. I have tried this method before, but I just never last more than a day...really. So, that's my mini-goal: not to lose a bunch of weight or to exercise non-stop, but to notebook what I eat. How's that for setting achievable goals?

30 Day Challenge...Check!

I finished the 30 Day Challenge on the Wii Active last night! Yeah! Did I lose a single pound? Of course not! But did I gain a single pound? I hope not! (I haven't had the nerve to check since we ate out yesterday.) S made breakfast yesterday afternoon, which is certainly not the healthiest for me. I need to just say no, but then I'm afraid of hurting feelings....sigh. We ate Mexican for dinner, but I had 1.5 bean burritos (the serving came with 2 burritos), so I at least avoided the cheese enchiladas I normally consume. My youngest daughter robbed me of 1/2 of one, but I was thankful.

I checked out the WW site last night, but after checking meeting times and costs, it just won't work for me. Yes, you got it--I'm too cheap to pay $10/week and I like sleeping in on the ONE day per week I get to sleep in--Saturday. So, I'm back at trying to figure this weight thing out myself. Maybe if I had to post my weight on here for everyone to see? hahahahahaha Yeaaaa right! That's not going to happen!

On the school front, I believe I have decided to forgo school this summer, sign up for classes this fall, and see if I have money for them by then. That way, we can work on our house and I can concentrate on the things in life I really love and enjoy, instead of what some teacher believes I need to learn for my own good. Wow, I think I'm growing up!

Cleaning, Cleaning...Never clean!

Just finished washing my mom's carpet...yeah! I've been cleaning her house all day in preparation for her company this upcoming week. To be honest, I needed the extra money, so I was glad my niece (who normally does it this time of year) wasn't interested. I am determined to save money in order to pay down debt and move out of my neighborhood. Yes, I'm very thankful for my cute little house, but it seems the world is moving in on me...closer and closer! We have the barking dogs around us, the smoking (of all kinds), the loud music, the guitar across the street, the kids climbing over my fence to play with my children....ick! It doesn't look like we can move out anytime soon, but I'm going to write a check and have faith that it will work out!

I didn't eat great today, but I had a salad, broiled fish on wheat, and two pieces of pizza. I did have Coke (ack! If I had an arch villain, we know what it would be!), but I've been cleaning today and tonight I'm going to exercise--workout 19 of 20 for the Wii Active! Yeah! Have I lost weight? No. Do I feel skinnier? No. But I felt really good yesterday (until the evening, that is, when I was feeling a bit stressed and confused), and I know it is because of my choices of late.

Off to clean some more before I go home....happy spring cleaning, everyone!

What a Day!

We slept in today, so we didn't make it to church as planned. So, I spent quite a while reading Bible stories to the girls, and then we ate the breakfast that Daddy likes to make, despite the caloric intake and fat gram overload. We listened to a tape in the car as we ran a few places, and I finished up day 152 of Lovely's school while we visited her grandparents. Next, we ate grilled steak, asparagus, beans, and low fat mac 'n cheese for dinner. Feeling inspired (or perhaps guilty), I did Workout 15 of the 30 Day Challenge, and I did an additional shape boxing session on the Wii, burning somewhere around 260 calories total. I think I need to add boxing in with each Wii Active workout, because I'm just not seeing the results. I also did 50 cross crunches and 10 of those mega hard crunches with your legs straight up in the air--misery! Maybe I'll finally start seeing results!

Time? What Time?

Whew! I just finished tutoring for two hours and my last student was well....we just won't go there!

I had to change my tutoring hours around for next week because I'm filling in answering phones/performing office work for someone from church for the next two weeks. Honestly, the opportunity couldn't have come at a better time! DH's work schedule has been lacking lately, and bills just keep coming! I got a lovely bill for a radiologist from Lovely's hospital visit last summer, so I called this morning after praying profusely, and I was informed, "Oh, that was just a computer glitch. Just ignore it." Gee, thanks for the $194.00 heart attack! But I am sooo thankful that it worked out! I did keep some tutoring hours on, but I realized I may be working 48 hrs next week in addition to homeschooling, my school, housework, and DH's payroll! YIKES! Can someone say S-T-R-E-S-S?

I don't know how exercise will go the next two weeks, but I'm going to give it a shot. I've been doing well with it, but I ate at the Mexican joint for lunch (I ordered a taco salad, which is small, but still not great--although it had very little cheese and lots of guacamole), but we ordered pizza tonight at my hubby's request, so I had two slices and a glass of coke (eek!). I'll be cleaning my mom's house tomorrow, so I hope to burn off some more calories. I did exercise this morning before gym/art/music classes, and then I went for a walk while my oldest daughter biked around the neighborhood--those little legs were getting with it!

Oh, and if you haven't noticed, I've started yet another blog. I plan on designing my own layout/template, but I haven't had time (can you believe that?), so I'll have to get to it later. I will be offering a writing program, tutoring, and testing, catering to homeschool kids. I'm praying that this venture goes well! I know I was given my love of writing for a reason, I just have to find His perfect will in which to use it.

Another Day, Another Workout

I went out to eat last night with a group of ladies, and boy was that Italian food good! At least we had salmon for an entree, although it was smothered in this made-from-heaven pesto sauce that I adored! I tried not to eat too much, but a certain box in my fridge is calling out my name....shhhhh!

I got up and exercised this morning, despite my deep love for countless hours of sleep. That workout wanted to kill me, too! I'm really having a problem with jump lunges, and jump any-things for that matter, because my ankle is not handling them too well. I've thought about wrapping it before working out, but that seems like something a real athlete would do, not out-of-shape me! My stamina is much improved, though, and my energy levels are much higher, especially when I get up early like this. The dreaded To-Do list is once again looming over me, though, so here I go, off to the next task...

Day of Rest

So yesterday was a day of rest, and boy! did I need it! According to the 30 Day Challenge, I exercise for two days, then I take off one day. For some reason, I felt awful yesterday: tired, sore throat, and pounding headache. However, I went to bed early last night and I woke up feeling SO much better today! I'll be exercising tonight (I had errands to run and tutoring to do today, along with homeschool--day 136 YAY!). I didn't eat that wonderfully today, but I've rejected Coke/Rootbeer for the day, I ate mashed potatoes without gravy...that kind of thing.

I had to go to my graduate class yesterday afternoon, which posed the question: can blogs be considered creative non-fiction? At first, I had no response, due to the lack of brain synapses occurring in my haggard health state, but I continued to think on it as my fellow students rejected even reading blogs (I know they all secretly blog under the guise of anonymity). I consider my blogs to be creative non-fiction; I think about what I write, I'm trying to make order out of chaos, and I reflect on what it all means. I try to provide some type of construction to my thoughts, despite any real evidence of resolution. Therefore, I'm writing almost every day, which is the nonsense famous writers tell aspiring writers to do, even though they themselves don't follow it. Maybe this will build the better writer in me. Go figure.