2011

Looking over our blog I think I've done really well keeping it updated with all of our many happenings this year. 2011 was a roller coaster year as is life but it really feels like this year life has thrown some obstacles at us. I think we've learned a ton. It does seem like it went by faster than any other year I swear. Ben and I are both ready for 2012 and there are exciting things to come! A little peak at this year: hopefully participating in a triathlon relay style (Ben biking, me swimming), Morgan's (lil sister) wedding, Moving, Marathon, Traveling, nursing school, 3 year wedding anniversary and so much more... So stay tuned!

Holiday Health Challenge Bone Density Week

I did well last week! And it really did help me remember the true meaning of Christmas. This weeks theme is Bone Density week and New Years! I cannot wait for 2012! It's going to be a great year! So this week do 30 minutes of exercise 3 days this week. 

Also...

Lift weights for 15 minutes once this week

Read an article about Osteoporosis

Give up soda for 2 days this week

Eat a serving of dark leafy vegetables to get extra calcium and Vitamin K

Look at daily calcium intake. Are you getting 1000 mg?

Look around your house for "trip hazards" Make changes to prevent falls.

Lindsey AKA Godmother

I am so excited! My brother Trevor and Sis in law Amy called me last week and asked me if I would be the Godmother for their daughter Savannah.

They live in Ohio and the baptism is on January 15th and I have a little part in the baptism. I am so honored that they asked me to be Godmother. Ben and I are going out to Ohio for the baptism and it just happens to be the same time that Savannah's sister Ava's birthday is. It's going to be a party!

Holiday Health Challenge "Give Back"

I rocked it last week! Not to brag or anything but I did awesome! YES! Finally! It felt so good too! This weeks theme is "Giving Back". I really liked that this week fell on the same week leading up to Christmas because I think it will really help to get me in the Christmas mood and remember the true meaning of Christmas.

OK so as always Do 30 minutes of physical activity 3 days this week.

Write an "Thankful for" List

Perform an hour of service

Give 3 different people a compliment

Participate in a Blood Drive/Book Drive (This one is kind of difficult just do your best!)

Donate to a charity of your choice (I'm going to go through all of my clothes and see what I don't wear and donate them to the D.I.)

Perform a random act of kindness

Good Luck this week and Merry Christmas!

Holiday Health Challenge Body Composition Week

How did we all do this last week? I did better than the week before besides on exercising. I worked out one day and then I got some sort of stomach flu and did not feel up to it but like I keep saying no excuses just going to do better this week. 

This weeks them is Body Composition. As always do 30 minutes of physical activity 3 days this week.

Find out your "Hip to Waist" ratio at http://www.healthcalculators.org/calculators/waist_hip.asp as well as find out what it means. 

Lift weights for 15 minutes 2X this week. 

Drink eight, 8oz glasses of water in a day

Give up soda pop for 2 days this week

Perform a five minute core workout

Here is a suggestion for the core workout if you need it:

5 min Amazing Abs Workout

Do each workout for one minute. If you run out of workouts start at the beginning again whatever you do though do not stop working out until the 5 min are up!

1-     Cherry Picker- Balance on your butt and clasp hands  bring hands to each side touching the ground near your hips keeping feet off the ground.

2-     Plank- Clasp hands below your chest so that you are holding your self up with your forearm and your toes. Body should remain flat with butt level with the rest of your body don’t sink or hold it up. Abs should be tight.

3-     Huggies- Same form as the cherry picker expcept this time push your legs out straight as you bring your arms out as if you are going to hug someone, bring legs in and bend and wrap arms around legs in hug position.

4-     Situps – just your basic unassisted situp. Try to keep fingers interlocked behind your head and feet on the ground do not have something holding them down.

5-     Lay back down on the ground raise feet about 6 inches of the ground keeping legs straight…HOLD!

Week 2 Holiday Health Challenge (Stress Buster)

How did we all do last week? I pretty much failed but that's OK new week new start. I didn't work out once. I'm trying to figure out a schedule for graveyards and working out and all that fun stuff. No excuses but I'm going to do better this week for sure. I bought a bag of tangerines and a huge and I mean huge bag of carrots from Winco. So I've been munching on those all week. I also made some homemade chili which is packed with veggies, protein, and fiber. 

This weeks theme is Stress Buster week. Again you need to do 30 minutes of physical activity 3 days this week. Also:

Leave 10-15 minutes earlier than you normally would for something this week.

Get up when your alarm goes off. Don't hit the snooze button for a day.

Make a "To-Do-List" for 2 days this week.

Give up caffeinated beverages for 2 days this week.

Share a joke with a friend.

Go to a quite place to relax/ meditate for 10 minutes.

Good luck and enjoy this wonderful season!

Holiday Health Challenge

Guess who's back... Lindsey! And guess who want to try and still be healthier and lose weight...Lindsey! Last winter when I was working at 1800Contacts they had this program during the holiday's called the "Holiday Health Challenge" and I still had the paper so I thought heck why not?! I thought about it a week too late but there is still 6 weeks left in the program. What my plan is I will post the Challenges for the week on the blog and whoever reads this dang thing is more than happy to join in the fun! The next week I will post how I did with the new weeks challenges. Each week also has a theme. This weeks theme is Paint Your Plate.

Eat a total of 5 fruits and vegetables a day, for 5 days this week.

Try a new fruit or vegetable.

Swap juice for a piece of fruit.

Get 20-30grams of fiber in a day this week.

Eat a salad for lunch or dinner this week. Watch what type of dressing you use.

Choose a fruit or vegetable for a snack 2 times this week.

Do 30 min of physical activity for 3 days this week.

Good Luck! 

Parry Family in Town

A few weeks ago the whole Parry family was in town. Mom, Dad, Jason, Karlie, Josslyn, Trevor, Amy, Ava, Savannah, Ben, Lindsey, Morgan...what a flipping blast! It was so fun! We went apple picking at Karlie's uncles house, we went to wheeler farm saw the animals, went on a hay ride, picked out pumpkins in a pumpkin patch, carved/painted pumpkins, had family pictures taken with a tripod, had a fire in the backyard and roasted mallows. Oh goodness! 

Me and Joss picking apples

Ben helping Joss and Ava feed the duckies

Grandpa, Joss, Linds, Ava, and Ben looking at the sheep

Everyones pumpkins minus the neices

Sweet Baby Savannah

Roasted Mallows around the fire pit

Family Picture

Another Family Picture (This ones my favorite)

Provo Halloween Half Marathon

On Oct. 31st we ran the Provo Halloween half Marathon. We had decided that since packet pickup was in Provo the night before we had booked a hotel in Provo so that we didn't have to drive home and then all the way back early early Saturday morning. After we picked up the packets we grabbed some dinner and then checked into the hotel and realized we had forgotten a very important bag at home. So we drove all the way home and back again and during this drive we decided that we would be willing to just wake up early the next year and drive to Provo for the race and save the money on the hotel and have all of our running stuff available at home with us. Anyways, the next morning we had to be to the University Mall by 6am to load buses which took us up Provo canyon. It was a bit unorganized they had quite a few buses and then some of the bus drivers didn't know where to drop us off at and we couldn't see out the windows which was probably a good thing because I have no idea how close we were to the edge of the road/cliff. Finally, they figured out where to drop us off at and there was a huge tent where we waited for about 2 1/2 hours while they just had music playing and a costume contest. It kinda stunk because you're all hyped up and then you wait 2 1/2 hours they hyped upness kinda wears off. It was crazy to see all of the funny costumes though. 

The race finally started at about 930am. It was absolutely gorgeous running down Provo Canyon. Running downhill has it's pro's and con's. For not training for this race basically at all the first 6-7miles went by super quick for me. Ben is a tad bit faster than me so we didn't run it together. He finished in about 3 hours and I did it in about 3 hours 10 min. Not too shabby.

Life isn't about the destination but the journey that gets us there...

Ain't that the truth.

So Ben and the Army. Well the day he was supposed to leave for basic training he went in for a required shipping medical exam and they found some issues with his knees? Long story short they medically discharged him and he was never even able to ship to basic.

I am working at Intermountain Healthcare as a CNA. I'm in the float pool which means for each shift I get sent where they need me between 4 different hospitals and about 13 different floors. It's nice because I learn so much in each different department. I kind of wish I was in one single department though sometimes. I'm also working graveyards which is really messing with my sleep schedule. I work 3 12 hour shifts. I do whats called "sitting" a lot. I'm assigned 1 patient and I sit in or outside their room and monitor them. Since I work graves they are usually sleeping. I get a lot of reading done. I do enjoy my job most days though. However, don't ask me my nursing/career plans cause I have no flipping idea and I might freak out on you!

Ben is also working at Intermountain Healthcare. We are awesome like that! He is a registrar which is basically checking people in. Right now he is only trained in ER (I'm a tad jealous) but he is scheduled to be  trained in other departments. He loves his job! He is only on call right now but is waiting for full time positions to open up.

We are scheduled to run the Provo Halloween Half Marathon on the 29th of this month. So... last time we did the salt lake marathon I trained hard core I never missed a date. This time around ... not so great. Saturday Ben and I were like we need to run so we decided to run from our apartment to my parents house which is about 6.5 miles...we did it. It was more of a run walk but we did it. I'm a little sore but it felt so good! I think I'm going to dress up as an 80's chic not sure if Ben's dressing up or not.

We are both taking Biology this semester. IT SUCKS! Power points are the worst! That's all my teacher does. 4 tests and attendance is extra credit that is all your grade consists of. LAME!

And that's Life...As we know it.

IHC and Basic Training

Well the title basically sums it up. I am so happy I was offered a job with Intermountain Healthcare as a float pool C.N.A. Float pool basically means I have a set shift but each shift I work at a different hospital in the valley. It is going to give me great experiences and many opportunities. I have orientations next week and then I will have 9 days of training and then I will start my shift which will be 3-12hour shifts graveyards. I chose graveyards because I think it will work out nice while Ben is gone at basic training. Speaking of basic training Ben leaves in about 1 1/2 weeks well actually less because he has drill next weekend and then leaves that Monday. Oh goodness. Its just 15 weeks right? I'm really going to miss him but it will all be OK and he will be home in no time. I'm going to try to keep myself busy hopefully working 2 jobs, pre-reqs for nursing school, training for a half marathon and get back into dancing...we'll see :)

Here's the deal with whats going on lately...

Ben swore into the Utah National Gaurd on July 31. He is leaving for Basic training and AIT (Advanced Individual Training) on August 22nd he will be gone for 15 weeks total with a small break over Christmas.

I took my C.N.A. test and passed! Whew! I've been applying for C.N.A. jobs and its so nice because I have a great job at 1800contacts so I can be picky about the C.N.A. jobs. I've had 2 job offers so far.

We moved into a new apartment that is in the middle of no where and we love it! It has some awesome trails nearby for biking and running that we are hoping to try out soon.

Here are some pics of the inside of our place. It's huge with a huge kitchen that I love .... of course.

2 Year Anniversary

Here is a little breakdown of what we did for our 2 Year Anniversary!

Coney's for the BEST dawgs every!

Manti Pageant

Farmers Market

Cars 2 (Free tickets from our work)

T-Ville Dayzz to see ABBA! (Abracadabra actually)

Willard Bay

We went to Willard Bay this past weekend with Ben's family and the Duffin family. It was a blast! We did the pedal boat, went tubing, and tried waterskiing/wakeboarding! 

Here are some pics!

It was so funny with the pedal/paddle boat. It was so hard to steer. It took us forever to get back to where we started. We kept going in circles and then we would get caught in the wake from a boat and get stuck for a minute. Good times.

Blog Much

What can I say? Life gets the better of us some days. It has been crazy around here lately. That's nothing new though I don't even know why I said that…

Ben finished his training with jetBlue yesterday, flight benefits are in full effect now and we plan on using them ASAP. Can you believe when I worked there we didn't use them once. Weird because I've used my mom's benefits tons of times. Anyways, we are so excited to travel it is going to be awesome! I will try to keep the blog updated as much as possible with all of our adventures.

I finished my 2 week CNA class. Now I just have to take the state test and I will be all certified! I love it and it is going to look great on my Nursing school application.

PT Test is coming along. I have a plan. It's been a little crazy lately and I had a little rib cage issue for about 2 weeks but anyways. I will be ready to pass it no problem by the end of June for sure! We also went and talked with a Westminster counselor today and even with me having my associates degree and some prereqs done because the nursing program is so intense and they only offer certain classes certain semesters Ben and I are both looking at 4 years to get our Nursing degree! Crazy but awesome! It is going to be so intense especially mixed in with ROTC but it will be Great!

Tomorrow we are heading up to Willard Bay with Ben's family. Neither of us have ever been so it should be fun.

Our 2 year anniversary (CRAZY) is coming up in a few weeks.

Oh ya…we didn't get into the St. George Marathon. DANG IT! But my parents and sister and her boyfriend did. My mom said we could still train with them and run it it just won't be official so we might do that. I've also looked into doing this mini triathlon down in Provo in September.

And...I'm starting the HCG diet on Monday with my mom. I'm planning on doing it for 21 days. I know I know after all my soap boxing about making life changes. I still think thats just as important but I feel like I need to get the ball rolling.

Just a few little updates...

First I did not gain or lose this week which is ok. This week is going to be a week of celebration so hopefully I can have some self control.

Ben starts his training/orientation at jetBlue tomorrow.

I start my CNA certification on Monday!

Good stuff! Our life does not slow down but we love it!

Week Four WW

Last week I was still sick all week. I didn't  take the PT test because I was up coughing all night...super fun. I was finally feeling well enough to start exercising again yesterday. I'm so happy that I didn't lose all of that training from the week before. I'm hoping to just keep working out like crazy and then I'll will let the ROTC know I'm ready to take the PT test and batta bing batta boom. Amazing I lost 1 pound this week even with being sick and no exercise. I tried to eat somewhat healthy. I still really like the weight watchers program I feel like it gives me more options and I don't feel so deprived.

Week Three Weight Watchers

Totally didn't do an update last week. Life has been kicking my butt again lately. Well I've got a PT test on Wednesday I've been working my butt off so as long as I see an improvement I'll be ok but I want to pass and I believe I will. Weight Watchers has been working really well for me. I'm still adjusting to it though and trying to find out the points for all the different foods. This past weekend I had a terrible cold which is just what I needed ... NOT! I slept all day Saturday. I was so weak I could barely get out of bed. It was terrible. Luckily I was able to rest this weekend but I'm feeling a ton better today not 100% but I'm getting there. I only lost 1/2 pound this week. But I'm happy with it. I'm at the weight I need to be for the PT so we'll see. Not very exiting I know but once some of the stress dies down it will be great.
I've been doing PT with SGM Johnson this past week as well. Talk about kicking my butt! Such good workouts though and really gives me an idea of what my workouts should consist of to get me to where I need to be.

Some thoughts...

Found this quote on a marathon training website and I love it and it is so true.

"Now if you are going to win any battle you have to do one thing. You have to make the 

mind run the body. Never let the body tell the mind what to do. The body will always give 

up. It is always tired in the morning, noon, and night. But the body is never tired if the 

mind is not tired." 

- George S. Patton, U.S. Army General, 1912 Olympian

 Also I was listening to Joel Osteen this morning and he was talking about the labels we put on ourselves or the labels others put on us and how all we should care about is what God thinks of us. I usually don't get all religious or anything on my blog but I really like Joel Osteen because he's not specific to one religion he just give great talks to so many people and has some great thoughts. Anyways, he talked about how a bumble bee scientifically should not be able to fly. The way its body structure is with its wings there is no way it can fly and scientists labeled the bumble bee as "grounded". The only problem was that the bumble bee couldn't hear what the scientists said all they knew was that God told him they could fly and so they did. I love this story. A lot of times we get so caught up in what we think we can't do or what others tell us we can't when really what does God think we are capable of? Anything and everything we just have to get rid of those labels.

Wyoming and Spring FTX

We headed up to Rock Springs, WY last weekend to see Ben's Brother, sis in law and niece. Neither of us have ever been up there. We headed up Saturday morning and took Jesse's Ben's other brother in our car. Cheyenne (Ben's lil sis) drove with Ben's other brother in the Uhaul (they needed to bring some stuff up to their house) and then Angela (sis in law) drove with Alexis (niece) in their car. It was not a bad drive up there at all only about 3 hours. Once everyone was up there the boys all unloaded the stuff, and Alexis and I played in driveway. We played the hokey pokey and all sorts of fun other games. She kills me. She is so fun and happy and has extreme amounts of energy. Then we headed inside and played some more and watched some of the movie Tangled while the boys did something on the computer. Later we all played on the Xbox Kinnect doing dance competitions and sports. It was awesome! Alexis was so cute doing her little dances and we all had a little competive side come out during the sports competition. We played for quite a while but it was so fun. That night we went out to dinner at a really yummy BBQ place. Ben had some fried swordfish or something and I ordered chicken, little did I know it was the whole side of chicken. The food was so flipping delicious! Once we got home Alexis was still super hyper so Ben and I played with her for a while. She was so funny. I tried to convince her I was too tired to play and she gave me a very sad face and said "you don't want to play with me anymore"...too sad. We finally all went too bed but poor Alexis woke up really sick and her and Angela were up since about 4am. We had a yummy breakfast and Jesse finished working on the computer and we headed back home. We had woke up to snow but the roads weren't too bad starting out but we hit about 3 really bad patches of ice and snow it was a little scary. We made it home ok though and for some reason really exhausted and took a nap. Now that we know what the drive is like we hope to head up there more often. I brought my camera but didn't take pictures...Dang it!

This weekend was supposed to be the Spring FTX. Key word there supposed to be. We still sort of had it but it was modified. We show up Friday morning at the ROTC building get everything situated and head to first formation and LTC Johnson the commander of the Ute Warrior Battalion explains that he has made a decision to modify the FTX because of weather. The other two schools we were heading down with had already canceled as well. Camp Williams where we would have had it had a ton of snow and it was cold and it would be difficult because of weather to get anyone to a medical facility if anything happened. So they decided that the MSIII's and MSIV's would be required to go up to the keyhole (up by Red Butte Gardens) for some training and MSI's and MSII's it would be optional for. Ben and I decided that we wouldn't go up Friday and it worked out nice because it was Grandma Smiths birthday so we were able to celebrate with her. Saturday I chose to go up. It was snowing like crazy. I wore some warm clothes under my ACU's and then we put our wet weather gear ( material that the water just slides off and doesn't penetrate through). Hiking up to the key hole I actually got really hot and then parts of me were kinda cold and then I'd get hot. The weather got worse and worse the longer we were up there. It was way fun though. We did a patrolling lane with a raid and we had to capture an enemy. We were running all over the mountain and hiding in ditches it was so fun! (Time frame was about 4 hours) We were supposed to do 3 of those kinds of scenarios but the weather got too bad. While walking around I actually slipped and fell in like a 2 foot hole. I hurried and got up out of it but later my ankle started hurting. As we were headed back to our cars my wet weather pants were falling down so I stopped to pull them up and they made the whole platoon stop and wait for me and then had me go up front they started falling down again and MSG White said I was going to get myself killed if I didn't pull them up. Ugh. I was getting so frustrated with my stinking pants! We loaded all the equipment up and headed back to the ROTC building. I had totally forgot to eat breakfast that morning and I was starving. They had some MRE's that we could eat but they are not the greatest food and I'm really picky so I just held off. It's like cold spaghetti and stuff like that. I would eat if I was in the middle of no where and there were no other option but I knew there with other options minutes away. I know I'm crazy. Anyways, after about a 10 minute break they had us take a written land navigation test. I was scared because it's not my best subject but with some help from my friend I started to figure it out and felt a lot better about it. Basically you find certain points on a a map and then find where something is in relation to that point or find the distance between 2 points. Pretty cool actually. After that we were excused to go home. I was so exhausted. I came home and Ben made me some hot chocolate and then I took a nap and Ben took me to dinner and then we just relaxed. I'm still pretty exhausted and sore today. Both my ankles feel funny too don't know whats going on there. It was a great experience though I'm glad I went up. 

Oh geez...

So...Frustration goes around the nation. My work sent out an email saying they would pay for the Race for the Cure 5k so I went down to the gym to register and found out that they have no more slots available for the Utah Valley Half Marathon so...I go online to just register and pay for it myself...SOLD OUT! ANGER!
Now what am I supposed to do??? GRR!
However, we did put our names in for the St. George marathon so I'm praying we get in to that. It is the first weekend in October. I really really want to do. I also need to figure out a triathlon to do this year.
Also... oh ya not done yet! This morning at PT Sergeant Major took me aside and gave me a workout. Holy Moley I'm still dying from it. Pushups, situps, crunches, bench press and running with Sgt. Major adjusting the speed. Thought I was going to die but there is no way I was going to stop...No Way!
Then... I get an email addressed to me and 3 other cadets that states I will be doing PT with SGT Major starting next Wednesday (cause we have FTX this weekend) and he states "There will be another PT test administered on 20 April, it is my intention to have you ready to pass the test with flying colors."
WHOA! I'm so excited this is going to be intense and I could be passing the PT Test 2 weeks from today!!!
Ok thats it for now. Updates coming if I'm not terribly exhausted which is most likely so maybe don't expect updates.

Weight Watchers Week One

First week of weight watchers not too shabby. I really enjoy this program but I'm still getting used to it. I'm so used to counting calories and the crazy thing is with weight watchers you don't count calories they take into consideration how much fat, carbs, protein and fiber are in something. It's easy for you body to digest fat and carbs and more difficult with protein and fiber. It's based on a point system. Each food is assigned a point value. I am allowed 30 points a day and no one can have below 29 points a day. You also can use extra points that you get from exercising and you can use an extra 49 points a week if you want. I'm trying just to keep it at the 30 points and not use my extra points. What's hard though is recipes, luckily I have a cool program I can put in the recipe and amount of servings and it gives me the nutrition facts, but also there are so many things you just don't know what the nutrition facts are for them. This weekend we went to Wyoming and I just have to figure out how to somewhat eyeball things and try and figure it out. It's getting a little easier. All fruits are zero points and most vegetables are zero points so that is GREAT! 

I didn't lose any weight this week but I didn't gain which is always acceptable for me at least.  I exercised 5-6 days this week. I start my half marathon training this week as well. I don't know how this week is going to go because Friday, Saturday and Sunday we have the Spring ROTC FTX so it's going to be eating to survive but I'm sure I'll be burning plenty of calories! Also, this weekend down at Camp Williams it's supposed to be wet and cold...Lovely!

PT Test, Weight Loss, and New Training Plan...UPDATE!.

Took the PT Test this morning…FAIL. Honestly, I have not passed on my own so why would it be different today? I have decided I need to switch up my training plan a little bit and I need to be able to pass consistently with no question before I take the next PT test. I’m not sure what a realistic time frame for this will be but I’m shooting for before June and we’ll go from there. I’m not going to lie I’m extremely frustrated about it all but I have to keep going. Have to! Want to! And I will! So pushups come first if you don’t do the first 10 right they stop you tell you what you are doing are wrong and then you have to go to the back of the line of another grader. So, that’s what happened to me this morning. First time around no go. Got sent to another grader and he counted 12. I need 17. He told me I really need to work on my upper body strength to improve my form. Next up sit-ups. I did 44 I need 50.  Sit-ups for me are easy to get back into as well as easy to lose. I need to just do sit-ups every dang day. Finally the run… I did it in 21:17. Of course I’ve never ran the 2 miles in 19:40 so why would it be different. Same with pushups I’ve never done more than 17 “real” pushups and had a consistent grader with them. So as much as it was frustrating it was also an eye opener.

As far as my weight loss goes I’m back up 2 pounds. However, I start weight watchers at my work tomorrow. My mom is going to do it with me as well so it will be great to have a buddy. So I’ll start updating weekly again.

Ben and I have some exciting things coming up. We are headed to Wyoming this weekend to visit Ben’s brother, Sis in law, and niece. I’ve never been to Wyoming and it will be fun to have a little getaway. The next weekend is the Spring FTX (Field Training Exercise) for the ROTC down at Camp Williams. It is 3 days 2 nights of camping out, rope climbing, ruck marches…it will be great. School will be over in about 4 weeks which is fabulous. I am not going to school over the summer. Ben’s still not sure. We’ve got to get everything set up to go to Westminster in the fall as well. I’m hoping to get Zumba certified in Juneish? Then we’ve got the Utah Valley half marathon June 11. Putting our names in for the St. George marathon in April and the race is the first weekend in October. I guess that’s about it for now.

Dining Out

We had an ROTC "Dining Out" last Saturday night. It was so fun and such a great experience. Everyone dressed in their evening dresses and suites we had a dinner catered by Ruby River Steakhouse and then had a guest speaker Dan Clark who was absolutely fabulous and hilarious! Such a fun evening!

Water Water Water

Remember that Sesame Street Song about water? 

Anyways here are just a few reasons why water is amazing and you should drink more of it..at least 8 glasses a day if not more!

Helps remove the dangerous toxins in your body

Cushions your joints

Increases energy levels

Helps reduce weight

Carries oxygen and nutrients into all your cells

Reduces Headaches 

Assists in digestion

Helps regulate your body temperature

Keeps your metabolism working properly

Also, for those who are not keeping track we have a PT test on Monday ... yes MONDAY! Today I did a test run on the treadmill came in at 20:30 which is Awesome! If you remember my time needs to be 19:40 so that is 50 seconds we are talking about people 50 flipping seconds! I ran around noon though today which is rough for me. My dad is going to come and pace me again. I know I can do this! So cross your fingers, say a prayer, send me fast running vibes...Whatev! 

10 Min Amazing Ab Workout

Do each workout for one minute. If you run out of workouts start at the beginning again whatever you do though do not stop working out until the 10 min are up!

1-     Cherry Picker- Balance on your butt and clasp hands  bring hands to each side touching the ground near your hips keeping feet off the ground.

2-     Plank- Clasp hands below your chest so that you are holding your self up with your forearm and your toes. Body should remain flat with butt level with the rest of your body don’t sink or hold it up. Abs should be tight.

3-     Huggies- Same form as the cherry picker expcept this time push your legs out straight as you bring your arms out as if you are going to hug someone, bring legs in and bend and wrap arms around legs in hug position.

4-     Situps – just your basic unassisted situp. Try to keep fingers interlocked behind your head and feet on the ground do not have something holding them down.

5-     Lay back down on the ground raise feet about 6 inches of the ground keeping legs straight…HOLD!

Ben thinks we should videotape all of these workouts we have and then post them on here but I don't do them very well so I don't know  how helpful that would be.

Time Out!

I've had a really rough week. Sickness and overwhelming amounts of stress. Don't worry I haven't fallen off the wagon or anything crazy. I'm just going to be taking a time out from blogging my weekly weight loss just until the next PT test which is on March 30. Catch the key word their blogging doesn't mean I'm going to stop what I've been doing with my weight loss I just want to focus until the PT test. Guaranteed I'll lose weight and I'll post some tips here and there and other things that will be going on. Anyways, the latest I'll be back is April 4. Might be sooner depending on how I feel. 

Funny how I think I need to "check in" with my blog family or whoever reads this. It is so helpful though to see that people are reading it each week and know that they are waiting to see how I did or didn't do.

I just need some time to focus on a few things maybe I'm just having a bad day but I'll be back no worries and I'll keep trying to lose weight and make changes.

Week Nine

This weeks stats:

Total Days of Exercise = 6-6

Weigh Loss = 3lbs (BELIEVE IT!)

Final Weigh In = 164.5

I am still trying to figure out how I lost 3lbs in one week. Maybe its because my body felt bad from all those weeks I didn't lose anything or maybe I just kicked butt with my workout routines and ate amazing...either way I am so happy with that. Its a boost that I needed. I know thats not the amount to expect every week but it's awesome for this week!

I made a list of some of my favorite things lately that are helping me in my weight loss journey, besides family, exercise and the usual.

*Disclaimer these are not ads for anything I'm just saying things that are helping me*

Crystal Light Energy - this stuff is awesome! It has caffeine in it but no carbonation and only 5 calories. You just pour the packet into a glass of water or water bottle. Love it!

Lean Pockets - Whole grains, about 280 calories, around 10 grams of protein.

Balanced Breakfast- In my last post I talked about ways to make a better breakfast. I have been doing that this week and making sure I have all three items in my breakfasts and I feel fuller and I get a good source of energy to start the day off. I've always ate breakfast but not like this very often. 

Skinny Cow Ice Cream Sandwiches and Sherbet - Less fat and calories and I still get a treat.

Homemade chocolate covered strawberries- Low in calories, fruit serving for the day, tastes more like a dessert than anything I 'm so addicted to them. I just cut the top off some strawberries melt a handful of chocolate chips, put the melted chocolate in a baggie cut of the tip and pour chocolate on strawberries. 

In other news found out today that the PT Test will be on March 30. Not counting today or test day that is 22 days away!!! Oh my goodness! So I'm going to buckle down and not do so many other types of workout but just run every day and do pushups and situps 2-3 times a day! I am passing this time end of story!

Breakfast Tips

As you all may or may not know breakfast is extremely important in having a healthy lifestyle and losing weight. It not only starts your metabolism for the day but gives you energy. Many people don't eat breakfast. Lucky me I've never had this problem. I always have to eat breakfast even if it's just a piece of toast or something my sugar gets way too low especially when I exercise in the morning. In my nutrition class we talked about how eating breakfast is important and some people (believe it or not) don't like breakfast foods and thats OK you don't have to eat breakfast foods for breakfast you can eat whatever you want. The healthiest breakfasts for you  consist of three key things: 
1- Include at least 1 serving of fruits and /or veggies. Why? Increase your intake of healthful antioxidants, vitamins, minerals and fiber.
2- Include at least 1 serving of whole grains. Why? Necessary source of brain and muscle fuel and result in a greater feeling of fullness and more nutrition for the amount of calories.
3- Include a source of lean protein- Why? Helps slow digestion for sustained energy and steady blood sugar. Also important for the maintenance of lean muscle.


Here are some great quick combos to try with a glass of 1% or skim milk or orange juice:


Whole-wheat toast with peanut butter and half a grapefruit


Plain low-fat yogurt with fresh raspberries or blueberries with whole grain cereal or granola


Multi-grain waffle topped with banana slices and hard boiled egg on the side


Bran muffin with almond butter and apple slices or grapes


Instant oatmeal topped with a sprinkle of brown sugar and walnut halves and half a cup of strawberries


Whole wheat English muffin with low-fat cottage cheese and one-quarter cantaloupe


Sliced turkey breast wand one slice of low-fat cheese on a whole-wheat tortilla and fresh pineapple slices


My goal for this week is to make sure I am including all three items in my breakfast meals.



(Don't look for me on twitter I have an account but I never go on and have never updated my status)

Week Eight

Can't believe the last two posts or so I totally forgot a cartoon! What fun is weight loss without a little comedy geez!

Monday Workout - No PT because of Presidents day so I did some sprint intervals on the treadmill for 2 miles.

Tuesday Workout- I went to an ABSOLUTELY AMAZING HYPER FUN KICK MY BUTT Zumba class! Loved it! Holy guacomole it felt like I was sprinting for an hour but I had a blast and such a good workout.

Wednesday Workout- So guess who set her alarm for 6am instead of 5am??? ME! Ugh...Frusteration! I missed PT and then slept in a bit...ah geez. So I did Jillian Michael's 30 day shred and a 1 mile sprint interval.

Thursday Workout- I went to my first spinning class! I LOVED IT! My butt bones are a little bruised I may need to get some padded shorts or something but it was and AWESOME workout.

Friday Workout- PT was at Sugarhouse Park. We were partnered up and we each went separate ways and then when we reached the starting point we turned around and ran around the park again. It's around 3 1/2-4 miles. On my second time around one of the Sergeant Major Johnson (My Military Science Instructor who's been in the Army forever and thinks the PT test is too easy) ran with me and pushed me to my limits holy chicken I literally thought I was going to pass out or throw up I was dying but I'm so happy I pushed myself.

I did not work out on Saturday. I know I know FAIL. I worked a 9.5 hour shift at work that day and I was exhausted. I feel guilty about not doing something  but I can't go back now so better planning and commitment this week. 

This week seemed a little difficult for me I had a lot of "munchie" moments which are killers when it comes to weight loss. Each time I tried to hurry and grab an apple, banana, orange or something or a piece of gum. Someday's were better than others.

Also in my nutrition book I read that if you want to lose weight you have to work out at least 60 minutes a day. I normally do 30-45ish I guess sometimes more. This week I tried to make sure I was getting in a full 60 minutes.

Also, the end of the semester PT test is April 6th. That is 7 weeks away so I need to kick some serious butt! There is no reason why I shouldn't weigh less than 165 and be able to pass my pushups, situps, and 2 mile run. Thought it was getting intense but it's only just begun! 




Recap of this week:
How many days I worked out: 5-6
Weight Loss: 0 (but thats ok!)
Final Weigh In: 167.5

Doing some thinking...

Not super happy about what has evolved from my thinking but I'm thinking about maybe not doing the Utah Valley Marathon. I know I know but hear me out. I have a lot going on and I always always always try to do absolutely everything. The half marathon training wasn't quite as demanding whereas the marathon training I'm supposed to be running 15-20 miles in a few weeks. Scares me a little because I have a lot going on right now. I have school and work and I'm trying to pass my PT test so I can contract and get my scholarship. So I'm thinking but haven't fully decided yet or not about doing the Utah Valley Half Marathon because 1- less intense training plan 2- 10 week training plan vs. 16 week training plan and 3- I've done a half before. And then what I would do is run a marathon in the fall sometime and I would have basically the summer to train for it since I'm probably not going to school over the summer. 
On the same type of note such a freaking bummer. Remember the whole Zumba certification thing. Yup, the class sold out before I could register for it. That really stinks but maybe its meant to be right? They opened up another one but it is when I have the Fall Training Exercise for the ROTC and they also have one in St. George at the end of March that Ben and I are maybe considering it but not sure yet. 

Week Seven

Days I worked out this week- 5

Weight Loss - 1lb.

Total Weight - 167.5

Monday Workout - For PT we did some hills by Westminster. We would run down the hill and then sprint back up do some push-ups or cherry pickers ( balance on your butt and switch hands side to side) and then run to the next hill run down it and then run backwards back up it. We did that 6 times.
Tuesday Workout - (They have non required PT on Tues and Thurs but its hard to drive all the way up there 5 days a week but I went so I could get some ideas for workouts.) So Tuesday I went to PT and we did Satan's hill which is up by the University of Utah. It is hell but I hope to conquer it one day. Great workout though!
Wednesday Workout - For PT we did 16 flights of stairs twice and then some push-ups and sit-ups. Stairs are a killer.
Thursday Workout- Show up to PT. The lieutenant  in charge asked if anyone had already done "the stairs" this week. I said yes we did them twice the day before. He said OK well now you are going to do them 4 times today. Eye yi yi. I did it though. And then... oh yes not over yet...we did 15 push-ups and then held the push-up position for a minute and then 15 push-ups with our legs up on the bench and then held the push-up position for a minute again. AND THEN... we did 10 minute abs which is basically where you do a different ab workout every minute for the 10 minutes.
Friday Workout- We got into buddy teams and then we had to do 100 push-ups between the 2 of us, 150 sit-ups between the 2 of us and then each run/sprint 4 laps. 


As far as eating I did really good almost all week and then Sunday was kinda a killer. We always have a family dinner and this week it was my brother Jason's birthday so everyone was over and there was cake and cookies and bread-sticks ( I love bread) and lasagna and licorice and taffy. I did pretty good though I just tried to control my portion size if anything. It definitely helped that I had such killer workouts this week as well though.


I'm so happy because its working. I'm not going on a diet I'm just going by what they've said for years. Less intake (food) More output (exercise).

Week Six

Monday Workout PT Test - 2 mile run, push-ups, sit-ups

Tuesday Workout - Jillian Michaels 30 Day Shred Week 1, talk about kicking my butt! Mix of cardio, strength training and abs.

Wednesday Workout- For PT we did circuit training for 45 min. 1 min at each station 10 second break between each one.

1. Medicine Ball Squats. Hold ball squat throw ball against wall and catch coming back to squat position.
2. Wall Sits. Hands grasped in front of you not on your hips or thighs as low as you can.
3. Crunches
4. Lunges
5. Dip push-ups. Put your hands on a yoga block or something stable a few inches of the ground and then do push-ups as far down as you can go.
6. Plank

7. Burpees. My fav!

8. Swimmer. Lay on your stomach Same leg as arm reach both of the ground and then switch. Careful

if you do it on hard floor it can bruise your hips if you don't have a mat or something.

9. Back Dips. It's hard to explain these ones. Heres the position and just use your arms to move your

body up and down.

10.Jump rope. It's a classic.

Just keep rotating through the exercises until times up!

Thursday Workout - Zumba, Stretching, and ROTC lab which is always a workout walking around doing battle drills and such. We were running up and down hills this week up at the key hole which is right by Red Butte Gardens. It was a lot of fun though too.
Friday Workout - Running/Jogging at Sugarhouse Park for PT. We go 2 times around normally which is about 3-3.5 miles.
I did pretty well on eating this week. In my nutrition class we did a "fast food assignment" where we figured all the calories in a meal that we would normally get from our favorite fast food restaurant and then we were supposed to find something healthier to eat instead. Pretty much the whole class put down they would get a salad instead of their favorite thing. My teacher made a great point. She said we go get fast food for a reason. We don't go get fast food to get a salad so how realistic is that change going to be. The key is smaller portion sizes. Everyone biggie sizes EVERYTHING. Ben and I went to Arby's one night and I ordered the kids meal. I still got the roast beef sandwich and the curly fries but in a much smaller portion size and believe it or not it was the PERFECT portion size for me. It filled me up.
However, I did something not so great this week. I had diet dr. pepper a few times. Towards the end of the week I was so burned out and I didn't have any of my crystal light energies on me so I broke down. Terrible. I went for the diet because it has zero calories but it still has carbonation and it's still not great for you. I'll be fine this week though I promise!
I found this awesome website thanks to my nutrition class of course. It's called nutri calc plus and it tells you not only the calories you consume but all the other nutrients and what you should be consuming. You can add in foods if they are not in the system and the best part is you can add in recipes. So you put in the recipe and put in how many servings it makes and it tells you the nutrition facts for the recipe. LOVE IT!
Don't know if I've mentioned it all *wink,wink* but I absolutely love my nutrition class I am taking this semester. It is so interesting. I know I'm all over the place but one of the big things for me with this weight loss fiasco I'm on is to prove you don't need to "diet" or absolutely take anything out that you love to lose weight. Yes you can do the fad diets and lose a bunch of pounds or maybe not lose anything but at the end of the day have you made any life changes? Are you exercising more? After the fad diet did you go back to your normal eating habits? I just see so many people that lose weight on these things and then are back on another fad diet a few months later. Don't get me wrong I am tempted still to do something like the HCG. I keep telling myself if I do the HCG and suck it up for 30-45 days and eat only 500 calories and give my self drops or shots THEN I'll be happy. But I don't think I will. This journey that I am on right now needs to be a lifestyle change. I need to come to grips with my challenges with food and working out and find something that works for me that I can continue to do for pretty much the rest of my life. Saying that... I understand I am not always going to lose weight each week and yes it's frustrating I know I"m not going to lose a pound a day. But hopefully and it it hasn't so far feel like I'm on a diet or depriving myself of things I love. I love to workout. I love the feeling I get from it. It is hard some days to work it in to my busy schedule but I feel so much better when I do. Same with eating. I love certain foods that are not great for me but I'm also not just going to give them up. I either need smaller portions of them and in moderation or find a healthy alternative that I love just as much if not more.
Enough of that for today sorry to get off on that here is the final summary of this weeks weigh loss and exercise:

In Summary days of workout this week- 5:6
Weight Loss: 1.5lbs
Final Weigh in: 169.5