2012-12-17 SSuM: Beleive In Yourself

Sorry for the late posting this week, but I've been trying to figure out what I really want to do with this feature and I'm still kind of unsure. I know I want it to be a way to motivate with quotes and things that I know that I struggle with lately like staying active, eating well, and going to bed early so I can rise early. However, I also thought it would be nice to have one place where I can track my workouts for the week. Whatever this feature ends up being I want it be simple since I have so many other to-do's that I also need to get done during the week.

Reviewing from last weeks SSuM I talked about getting up early and for about half of the week I accomplished that goal, but a few of the nights I headed to bed way to late and skipped my morning workout.  Though Thursday I started a 90-Day Challenge at Bikini Body Momma and so far it's a bit much for my fitness level, but I'm breaking it down so it's not overkill for me.   I love that she has each day posted on fb as a jpg so You can just copy each day into work and print out 2 days on one sheet and be ready to take it wherever you go.  They are mostly interval workouts that so far has only required your body, a chair and a workbench which is helpful for  dips, but a chair would be sufficient. 

I know I need to set a bed time and stick to it.  I remember reading a post about someone turning off all electronics by 9pm so she could be in bed by 10pm, which would be great if I can get myself to do the same.  I think my main issue is just not believing in myself, that 1) I can be healthy 2) I can do this and succeed and 3) I can be my version of skinny {135lbs & toned}.  So here is a poster I found today that's bright and simple.  I plan on posting this in on my fridge and in my bedroom.

SOURCE

Personal Health:

Monday:
No workout

Tuesday:
No workout

Wednesday:
Bikini Body Momma Day 1 Fit Test
  50 sec x 10 sec rest complete 1 round then repeat 2 x
  It kicked my butt so I only completed 2 rounds.  Plus, I knew I didn't want to overkill
  since I   haven't done much in plyometic workouts in a few months.

  40r  speed squats    
  28r  high knees
  18r  push ups   {modified}
  11r  squat jumps
  14r  tricep dips
  08r  burpees
  10r  alternating lunges
  40s  elbow plank

Elliptical   7:22 min
                 966 strides
                 5 resistance 7 incline 75 calories

Thursday:
Bikini Body Momma Day  2

I missed my morning workout and slept in, so I completed an 30-minute elliptical workout {3962 strides 7 resistance 8 incline 220 calories} sometime after 7pm and finally got to this workout closer to 8pm.  The workout called for 3 rounds, but at the designated reps there was no way I was going to finish so I cut down the reps to what I could handle and at only 2 rounds.  By doing this I was able to not overdue it and still get my morning run in tomorrow without being so sore that I c wont want to move.

20r / 20r  speed squats {20r}
30s / 30s  elbow plank {30 sec}
15r / 10r  push-ups {20r}
06r / 06r  burpees {10r}
10r / 06r  alternative lunges {20r}
30s / 30s  elbow plank {30 sec}
10r / 10r  tricep dips {20r}
10r / 10r  squat jumps {20r}

Friday:
Bikini Body Day 3 Cardio 
  Run {4 min} Walk {2 min} Intervals
  24:39 255 cal {12:16 avg mile} 2.01 miles
  I ran out of time to do the full 45 minutes, but I still managed to get a short run in,
  and not bad for still getting up early and doing brisk air run.

Saturday:
Active Rest Day

Sunday:
Rest Day

2012-12-16 Paleo Delight

Paleo Cranberry Muffins by Easy Peasy

I'm very glad at how these turned out even though I forgot to add the cranberries and pumpkin seeds before baking them.  I really did have all good intentions to add them, but I got distracted working on some other recipes and realized half way through baking that I had missed adding them so I ended up with almond meal coconut muffins instead.  These were pretty basic to make and the outcome was very tasty and evenly baked.  My last muffins turned out awlful so i was glad to see such perfection in the visual outcome and almost taste (since I didn't have the cranberries)

Zucchini Salad by Delighted Momma
paired with Salmone Burgers from The Healthy Chef

A pretty simple recipe to make, especially if you're not in the mood to cook.  Just wash, remove the skin and julienne your zucchini and then blend the sauce ingredients in your blender and chow down.   I don't eat much zucchini, and usually it's baked so I wasn't sure how it would taste, but I definitely enjoyed this for my lunch this week and the sauce despite how it looks is rather tasty.

For the Salmon patties I used canned Wild Caught Salmon mainly because I had it on hand and I forgot to thaw my frozen Salmon.   I had actually made these for last weeks dinner, but ended up eating something else, which worked great because they were a great compliment to the Zucchini salad.   I also topped it with some of my favorite salsa from our Giant Grocer. 

Spaghetti Squash Salad from Sydney Franics make Zine

This, also was super easy and made for a quick dinner for the week and lunch on Friday.  Basically, the only cooking required was baking the squash, after cutting it in half, at 375 degrees for 50 minutes.  This recipe was pretty vague and being that I've not baked spaghetti squash before I did have to do some extra research to know what temperature and how long to cook it.  Once it's done you can add your spices,olive oil and sliced cherry tomatoes and yum.

2912-12-12 Missing Mortar

After almost a year we finally decided to tackle the basement.  Though I wish I could say that our reasoning was because we were ready to tackle this project, but it was based on seeing a 4 legged fuzz ball racing across the floor.  On day 1 it took us 8 hours to sort through half of the basement, which included sweeping up mouse droppings, lose concrete and dust from the eroding mortar between the brick foundation then sending everything through into the shop vac.  

On day 2 we added our extra toiletries into 15 shoeboxes we purchased from Walmart for 97 cents each.  I would normally buy the same color lid and bin to keep it cohesive, but I really liked the look of the white lids with the blue transparent boxes.  I wanted to use pretty labels, but for now I have to settle for index cards and scotch tape.  

We were able to clean up most of the mouse droppings and mop up most of the remaining dust, but there is still much work to be done in order to keep the dust from building up again.  Plus, during our clean up we realized that the mortar between the brick foundation was pretty much non-existent and the next major project on our list.  I was told a professional would have to repoint it, so I contacted my handy man who was able to tackle the stair wall Saturday.  It took him 11 hours {2 days} to remorter the wall and fill in the broken and cut out area of concrete on the floor. 

 Here is a small section of the nonexistant mortar in our brick foundation for the side walls that connect to the outside townhomes.   

Here is an upclose of the the holes that some of the mice came through.

Here is a section of concrete that was left open.  My handy man said it looked like their had been a wall here that had been taken down when the city did their renovations prior to the previous owner, who I purchased the townhome from.  This area really needed to be filled in, because it's right in the middle of where I want my workbench and I didn't want to twist my ankle.  there were also a few missing bricks on the floor base that he brought in some extra bricks he had on hand to fill in the space

Now that he's tackeled the hard part, I'll be taking care of painting on the drylock, an estimated 2 coats before it's done and then we can move everything back against the wall and in January work on the other wall.  Between now and then well be dusting up in the ceiling to take care of the dust build up there before we add clear plastic tarts to the ceiling.  We hope that in doing this will be able to keep the dust down and not have to keep everything in plastic tubs to keep it from getting dirty. 

p.s.
I keep forgetting to take after photos.  I will post them sometime next week, as I would like to catch some daylight time maybe Saturday for a better photo without flash since the lighting is not so great.

2012-12-17 Sunny Sideup Monday: Get up Early

I don't know about you, but I'm not a fan of waking up early, and especially not in the winter time when I know I've got to bundle up in order to go running.  Plus, the last few weeks- month-ish I've not been motivated to workout with the cold weather and busy schedule and I can feel the effect it's having on my energy levels and my added body cushion.  So this week I'll be setting creating a workout schedule so I know when I need to get out of bed and either go for a run or hit the elliptical and when I need to wake up for a weight training session.  

My goal is to keep it simple, and fun so I'll be setting a time to walk my dog at least 2 times this week with 1 run and 2 weight training sessions and I challenge you to find the right start to getting back on track this week.  We don't need to wait until January 1 to start fresh...tomorrow is a new day & you can do this so get started!

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Do what you need to do in order to wake yourself up even just 30 minutes early this week so you can fit in either a HIIT, Cardio or weight training workout before you head out for work.  And that means putting together your schedule and write a note to motivate you on your alarm so you have to read it before you can turn it off or try adding a wake up app to your phone that will help motivate you out of your cozy covers.

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Here is another helpful like related to Motivation Monday

State College Weekend

On December 1st I headed to state College with a friend of mine for the Glenn Crytzer Workshop/Dance, however, it wasn't as interactive as we had expected so we skipped the second half of the training and headed out shopping.  Here are a few of the finds I saw that I really wanted, but just couldn't justify spending the cash.  

We first headed to a local dance shop where my friend bought a new pair of dance shoes, and I purchased a pair of Jazz Pants.  I tried on a few pair of their  pants and after seeing how these fit I ignored the $35 price tag and crossed my fingers that I would love them more then spending that much on dancing pants.  After spending the last month dancing in them I can tell you that I absolutely love them and don't regret buying them.  

This purse from urban outfitters is classy, fun, vintage, pretty mint color and a good size, however, the price tag of $42 made it a bit much for my ideal price.

If I hadn't purchased the Pins and Needles Pinwheel Gloves for $20.00 grey gloves I would have taken this crazy awesome 3-d necklase home but at a whopping $20 it was a bit much, especially after spending $20 on the gloves.

We met up with my friends friend for dinner after our several hour visit to the Salvation Army, where I have to wow, I've never seen so many good looking guys at a thrift store before.  We headed to our hosts home and proceeded to get ready for the vintage inspired dance.  It was great to catch up with some friends of mine up in State College and get my dance on to some pretty amazing music from Glenn Crytzer.   

My friend Philip and I dancing that evening { Mcfreebird Photography} and the Jazz pants I bought.

Happy Hosts Tree

We stayed with another friend and her parents and this is their Christmas Tree.  Pretty amazing isn't it.  They have one this size every year.  I was glad we stayed with them, as I enjoyed getting to know them and enjoyed having dinner with them Sunday before we headed back home.  They were extremely welcoming and humorous. 

I liked the color of the face wash so I took a photo so I could remember to purchase it the next time I needed face wash.  I've been using their moisturizer for a while and have no plans of changing to another brand, because it works so well with my skin.

Today I Vow

These last two weeks have been a bit rough for me since I didn't complete my whole30 challenge and caved in just before week 4.  It really just started with small things...oh I can eat this muffin, or I can have this small amount and it just didn't end well and since then I've been feeling very blah-mind clouded, and just down on myself since I was feeling so fantastic doing the challenge and I really want to get back to feeling fantastic again.  

So I vow to do the following to keep in a healthy mindset and not cave into eating foods that don't make me feel fantastic and don't fuel my body.  

    To love myself
    To respect my body
    To allow myself to be happy
    To Eat Well
    To Exercise
    To meal plan biweekly
    To cook meals biweekly
    To think about encouraging words

Kitchen State of Mind

I had planned to stop by the grocer after I returned from my trip to State College this weekend, however, after grabbing a quick bit to eat I found myself beginning a new space planning project downstairs.

It first started with the sofa / sectional. I was just really tired of it taking up so much space, which then spiraled into me finding a new home for my IKEA Billy Bookcase, 9 cubby bookshelf, swapping my living room end tables and taking down my faux dining table.

As you can see below in my kitchen photos what a difference the change did. I apologize ahead of time for the low resolution before photos.  I'm not very good at remembering to take photos so these are one's I found on my hard drive.

Before

As you can see the bookcase was bit much for the space, and we were actually missing two shelves that would have been nice to have to make it a little more functional.  The bottom of the shelf has doors to hid but without the added shelf it really didn't hold much.  I kept my vita-mix and pyrex storage containers down there, but now my pryex are in a more functional location.  I'm still working on a good home for my vita-mix as I don't use it as much as the bullet.   My IKEA SLIPID knives (next to the bread box) I'm sad to say got put in a base cabinet since I don't have a home yet for them, but I hope to have them out to display soon since they are fun and functional.   Our HENNY RAND IKEA curtains are wonderful, because they allow so much light in, but also keep people from seeing inside.  

Here is a view of my funky wall, which makes it very difficult to make that space functional.  It's hard in general to find items to work in the space with windows flanking the bookcase and the funky wall.   The bookcase below is nice and I like the vintage feel that the faux finish gives, but in general it wasn't functional for the space.  The  Formica tabletop (below right) with sawhorses holding it up I will be posting on craigslist this week.

After

though still in progress

It's nice to finally see some art on my wall and of images I love.  The tree art I purchased from TJ MAXX at least 5 years ago and I still love it to this day so I'm glad it finally has a good home.  The Arm & Hammer sign I purchased for $5 a few weeks back when I went to the Toll House Indoor Flea Market in  Colombia.  The frame is IKEA Ribba with some fabric I found at JoAnns that included the blue wall color and allowed me to use to pull other colors from.   I originally purchased the clock for my office a few months back, but it clashed with the Lemon Twist wall paint from Benjamin Moore.  It fits much better in the kitchen and it's easy to read.

I love having all my fruit spread out on top.  As you can see we eat a lot of it.  We always like to have apples and bananas on hand and then whatever fruit maybe on sale.   On the top shelf I have my vintage bread box that I found at a Vintage Attic shop near Pottstown.  My fruit bowl on the right doesn't really fit into my vintage decor, but I love it.  It was originally purchased at a  Marshall's in Colorado about 4 years back.  The banana & napkin holder are some of my favorite items on this shelf.  I love the funky angle of the banana holder that gives it a vintage feel and at only $.99.  The napkin holder I found the other week at Antique Row in Colombia for just under $5.  It's also nice having my food processor and crock pot (shown in picture below) so accessible as I use them often.    The owl on the second shelf was a unique find from TJ MAXX for only $7.  I think he's meant to be a vase, but I don't really like vases since they get gunky on the bottom to easily.  Though I would love to find some fake flowers / greenery to put in them.   The pear canisters I got a set of 5 for under $10 at our local second hand store and these two store my teas and tassimo cups. 

The funny thing was I had this cubby bookshelf in this same location in my kitchen before, but just didn't like how it looked and it ended up not being very practical. It's really all in what you put on it and how often you use it and with the accessories chosen I will be using this far more often.

Below is my new temporary table for the kitchen.  It's an IKEA table top that I bought for $10 and a free vintage metal cabinet that is on my DIY list.  I've used two treatments on it to clean up some of the rust, but there is still much towards the bottom that needs to be removed before I can spray paint it.  The table top size is a better fit for the room yet still large enough that I can eat my meal at the table.  My last faux table was a 30 x 50 Formica table top being held up by sawhorses since we didn't have legs for it.  I made sure to snap photos of the table top before breaking it down so I can post it on craigslist.  I was thinking I would use it as a workbench, but it's to wide for that and the bottom partial board is peeling-something I really don't want to mess with.  

I love my vintage ceramic dish that I found at a second hand store.  It's serviced a few different purposes since I bought it 1) holds my packaged vitamins, pen/marker storage, fruit bowl and now my cell phone holder when I'm in the kitchen.  The crochet pear really doesn't have a purpose yet, but it's neat and I like how it looks on the table.     

This is my oddball wall.  The blue and green wall are at two different depths and their is actually another jog to the right of the green wall leading to my dining room (you can see this better in the before photos above).  I originally pained my wall blue, from Behr, but have since been wanting to repaint it.  I feel it has more of a California Surfer feel then a mid-century vibe so I've been on the hunt for a green that pops out to me.  I found this green paint online and was enticed by a kitchen re-due that use it.  It's parakeet from Sherman Williams.  I didn't want to just paint a swatch so I painted the whole wall section so I could get a better feel for the color, but I don't like it either.  First, I think I need to prime the wall first to tone down the surfer blue so that whatever color I paint over wont reflect any of the blue it it's color tone.  For now the walls will stay mismatched and clash with the peanut butter by Behr I have in my living and dining room until I find another color that I feel daring enough to try.

I really like how my vintage mirrors and coffee print looks in my Wall Frame IKEA Ribba against the parakeet wall color and create a nice view from that wall.