Friday, August 30, 2013

Gift Wrap Fail and What I'm Peepin' This Week

I must first start this with a package I received yesterday.  My friend and I's birthdays are a week apart and when we're not able to get together close to our birthdays, we'll ship gifts to either open on our birthdays or wait until we're able to be together if she doesn't want to lug gifts on a big road trip.  I didn't know she was sending anything this year and this is what I got when she sprung for gift wrap...


Now Amazon is awesome 99% of the time but man did they seriously FAIL in the gift wrap department!  I mean REALLY...you can't make the ribbon meet in the center?  It was taped all off kilter like that so somewhere there is a really proud 3 year old that used a roll of tape to assemble my gift.  I sent her pics and told her to forward them to Amazon to demand they refund her gift wrap cost.  The Mr and I busted out laughing and he was like "I could do better than that!" and let me tell you, he's wrapped some doozies!  HA! I sent the pic to my friend to tell her to ask for her money back on the gift wrapping job, she did and they refunded it plus a little more.  Okay, so Amazon is awesome 99.9% of the time.  Their customer service has always been quick to fix any issues so I'm glad she got reimbursed.  We did have one helluva laugh over it though.

Let's move on to...


22 Things You Might Not Know About Hawaii  (We did but you guys might not.)  :-)

BMI Not a Good Measure of Healthy Body Weight

Boost Your Oven Baked Bacon (video starts on page landing)

Build an Automatic Plant Watering System from Plastic Bags and Thread 

20 Fitness Lessons Learned the Hard Way

Do You Train with Weights?  (I'm still dumbfounded by how many people don't!)

11 Ways to Reuse Your Trash

80's Sex Symbol Out of Hiding  (Weird Science!)

Lose Weight Without Dieting  (Am I the only one that thinks of that old Garfield poster "Diet is the word DIE with a T?")

The Biggest Mistakes to Avoid After an Exercise Hiatus

Exercising Less May Help Us Lose More Weight 

The Wild Card That Could Destroy Your Retirement

21 Lower Sodium Solutions

This one is courtesy of The Mr

This Video Will Convince You To Ditch Your Cell Phone  (I LOVE this!  I don't use a cell phone and this confirms why!)

Are you a good gift wrapper?  Do you like wrapping gifts?  (I LOVE wrapping gifts!  In case you were wondering!)  Have a great Labor Day weekend all!!

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Thursday, August 29, 2013

Surprise, surprise, surprise!

That title was to be read like Gomer Pyle.  (It should be noted the Mr did read it that way when he was proofing the post without knowing I was referencing GP.)  Oh crap, 3/4 of you probably don't know who I'm talking about.  All I have to say to that is shazam!  Must stop references from when I was 3 years old.  Let's get on with it..


We did Paul Katami's Ultimate Kettlebells (affiliate link)  workout last night.  This workout is sneaky because he will make the first workout seem like it's no big deal at first and by the end of it you're pretty fatigued but then that rat bastard comes in with the finisher of the ab portion and you start cursing in tongues.  Remember how I talked the other day about upping my game?  I almost gave in and used the 15's because I thought there was no way in hell I was going to be able to do a kettlebell workout with a 20 pounder but I knew I had to at least try so I did.

It was HARD.  I had to pace myself and that was fine but I actually surprised myself that I did so well.  I have always had to spot myself on the tricep extensions with the 15's but since I have a few free weight sessions under my belt with the higher weight, I was able to eek out the reps.  The one I was really worried about was this chest fly/sit up combo because those muscles have always been a little weaker from that angle but I'll be danged if I didn't bust that mutha out!!  Sometimes it's nice to surprise yourself!

Have you surprised yourself lately?

(This post contains an Amazon affiliate link.  Amazon rocks.  If you should buy through the link, an Amazon may show up at my door with a nominal check at which point I'll invite them in for tea.)

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Wednesday, August 28, 2013

Cautious optimism, true-ish story and corn

Last night I was a little nervous to do my workout.  We had Turbo Fire 45 scheduled.  This time last week I was doing Powerstrike and my sidekicks were sending shock waves of pain into my ankle muscle.  I had to modify to use my arch as a stabilizer instead of the whole bottom of the foot.

I've been a good girl all week and I've been doing my balance board (affiliate link)  a few times a day over once a day when I was going through physical therapy with the chiro.  I've been doing deep tissue massage a couple of times a week and we've added yoga into the mix once or twice a week.  I was able to do my workout with a low impact modification and not one "zinger" during the whole thing!  I'm not going to rush things and try to throw jumping jacks and higher impact stuff just yet.  I still burned 950 calories though so I'm down with that.

We're going to this antique show this weekend and my goal has been to be able to build my muscles up so I can walk for a few hours on uneven ground without having to leave early.  I'm hoping I'm well on my way.

Last night was movie rental night.  We rented Pain and Gain (affiliate link)  with Mark Wahlberg and Dwayne Johnson.  That was um, interesting.  I hope this was SOOOO loosely based on a true story that it barely resembles the truth because if people are truly that dumb...wow.

Dinner was pork roast quesadilla and an ear of corn.  Gotta get that corn in before the season is over!


Are you building up to a goal?  Rented any interesting movies lately?

(This post contains affiliate links.  Should you buy through them, I'll be able to keep this blog up and runnin')

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Tuesday, August 27, 2013

Upping my game

Last night we did our upper body hybrid workout with Free Weights (FW) and our Total Trainers (TT).


When we did our active recovery week, I decided to push my weight up from 15's and 20's to 20's and 25's.  Twenty fives have always been my nemesis because it would make my hands hurt pretty bad in the days following.  I chose my exercises for the twenty five's carefully and used them for the rows, hammer curls, upright rows, shoulder rolls, lawnmower and shrugs.  So far my hands have cooperated and I don't know what the difference was but I'm thankful I was able to push myself and make that my new normal with free weights.  Don't get me wrong, it's still hard and I can do less reps than before but that's the point.  I hope to see more results with the permanent move to heavier free weights.

How do you know when it's time to up your game?  Even when you know it's time, do you?

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Monday, August 26, 2013

10+ year itch

I promised I'd update ya'll on what has been going on and it's not anything dramatic but stressful...we bought new cars.  Not just one car but two.  See the way this was supposed to work was since I work from home, I would give up my 11 year old car (that still ran wonderfully and looked brand spankin' new but still, it's 11 years old) and I would get the Mr's 5 year old car so there would be no car payment still for me and he'd get a new car.  In 5 years, we'd do it all over again so there would never be a car payment for me because let's face it, it's stupid to have a car payment for a car that sits there 99% of the year.

Well, about two months ago, the Mr got some spammy ad from his car manufacturer telling him how much his car was currently worth and come in and buy another one.  This got his wheels turning.  He started doing even more research than he was already doing (he'd been doing it for a year...thereby driving me slowly insane.)  He started to think that maybe both of us getting new cars was a possibility.  I didn't put a whole lot of stock on it but as he ran scenario after scenario front ways, sideways and backwards in English, Chinese, Japanese, Swahili and Latin, the numbers made it seem doable if our 15% rule off of sticker still applied as it had for every car purchase we'd ever made.

You need to know my complete and utter LOATHING of the car buying process.  It isn't a stretch to tell you that thinking about it makes me cry, gives me anxiety and pisses me off all at the same time.  Talking or hearing about it incessantly (which has been my life for the past month) puts me on edge 24/7.  I have had nothing but shitty experiences buying cars my whole life.  My dad scarred me when I bought my first new car  when he introduced himself as "asshole" to the car dealer.  You can imagine I wasn't pleased when they sold a shiny red, first edition Ford Probe out from under me when we went back a day or so later.  I'm sure they were more than happy to stick it to "asshole."  *rolling eyes*  I don't appreciate people who have power over me wielding it like a child that's found their dad's gun and I especially don't like the condescension.  It almost always ends in me nearly needing to be restrained from punching someone in the throat or family jewels.  I've left the car buying up to the Mr the past few times because I know my fuse is shorter than it used to be and that's not good if bunking in jail isn't on my to do list.  (That is sarcasm for those without the ability to detect it.)  ;-)

We ended up selling my beloved 11 year old car to the Mr's co-worker who fell in love with it.  Did I mention it had 20,400 original miles on it, we replaced the headlights and trunk struts and just gave it a once over maintenance oil change filling up all other fluids, etc?  I cried.  I mean I was kind enough to wait until she was out of sight but I'm still pretty scarred over it.  I look outside expecting to see "Big Blue" and she's not there anymore.  But she's in a new home that includes a first time driver who loves her and a mom who loves her so much she may not give the first time driver the chance to drive it.  So I feel better about it...I guess.  We sold it for pretty much full price or almost $2000 over KBB for it.  This helped immensely.  While we were hoping to retain some profit from the sale, it wasn't to be since the dealership was pretty firm on how low they were willing to go and we knew by a try just an hour prior to that that we weren't going to get much lower.  So between the money from the sale of my car, the money we planned to spend from last years tax return, the Mr's car and a loan for him, we BOTH got new cars last Thursday.


Background removed because I'll be damned if I'm giving the dealer free advertising!
You can't tell very well but my car is black and the Mr's is pacific blue.  
Mine was free and clear (yeah boy!) and he has a loan on his that replaced his previous loan and is only $30 more a month.  Not too jazzed about that but we've stayed where we've wanted for 20 years so being a couple bucks over even with inflation isn't bad.  I never thought I'd pay even a few bucks over $300 for a car payment.  Erg.

Now, why wouldn't I give the dealership free advertising if they gave us such a great deal?  Because they kept us there for 6 hours!!!  We're talking the deal was done in 90 minutes and we handed them heaps of cash and a car, no financing through them required and 6 effin' hours!!!  I was NOT A HAPPY GIRL!  I had the worst migraine of my life.  We were there from 4:15 to 10:15pm.  Do you think they even offered to let us leave for dinner?  Nope.  Everyone was griping about being hungry but we just kept sitting there.  I mean these guys were actually somewhat pleasant to deal with unlike the douchebag the Mr dealt with at the previous place before we drove out here but the incompetence and time suck was enough to make me not want to do this again for 10 years.  (Given how little I drive, I'll probably have 10-12,000 miles on it at the end of 10 years so I'm good with that.)   By the time we drove home, it was late.  We skipped dinner and just had a banana push pop which stopped that hangry feeling and we went to bed.

My neck was so screwed up from the headache the night before that I'm STILL having issues with it 3 days later.  I'm desperately trying to get the new car smell out of it because even opening the door gives me a serious sinus headache.  I've got a jasmine air freshener trying to do my bidding and I'm praying it works or I'll have to strap on my painting mask with vapor barrier filters.  I'm sure I won't get pulled over at all wearing that.

So that is how we spent the last part of last week and the weekend was spent doing some busy work.  I'm just glad all of this crap is over with and hopefully I never have to hear about cars for at least 4 1/2 years when the Mr begins researching his next car and I develop another twitch.

Do you like the car buying process?  

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Friday, August 23, 2013

Getcher Friday Reads here!

I have no witty repartee at this hour as I've suffered an emotional beat down that I'll fill you in on Monday and it's late at this writing.

So let's skip to...


10 Tips For Shifting from Processed to Whole Foods

Household Weight Loss Items

Biggest Loser trainer "Diet Trumps Exercise in Weight Loss"

How to Do the Perfect Push Up

How to Fix Annoying Multi-Page Articles All Over the Internet  (I've done this several times with the print option and it ROCKS!)

Flip Pill Bottles Upside Down to Avoid Missing or Doubling Doses  (Obviously you have to remember to reset at night but might help someone out there)

The Price Is Right...and the Taxes are High

Eat Your Way to Fast Metabolism

Clever Ways to Get Some Exercise at the Office (or a Small Space)

Sworkit, the Exercise Generator for Busy People, Adds Custom Workouts

Instant Relief for Achy Feet

Exercise Can Help You Sleep- If You Do It Right

How the Brain Remembers to Remember

Some of the Best YouTube Exercise Channels

Music Therapy for Alzheimer's Patients

Back on Track:  A Posture Recovery Workout

Blogger Claims Company Swiped Her Weight Loss Photos  (Welcome to the reason I don't post full body pics here!)

How Yoga Helps Your Sex Life

That's what's been penetratin' my peepers this week.  I don't have the capacity to think a day ahead so our weekend is a mystery though I've considered sleeping for 36 hours.

What's on your agenda for the weekend?  Anything fun?
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Thursday, August 22, 2013

Don't harsh my zen

I have been under a crap-ton of stress over the past week.  Not just mentally but physically my body is still re-adjusting to my inserts which means it's reworking my whole gait so I'm like Forrest and his magic shoes.

Knowing how my body reacts to stress gives me an advantage but sometimes I don't act upon stress relievers to center myself until I'm already feeling the effects. (ie- dizziness, headaches and yeah, I'm gonna go there...stress trots)  I used to make fun of granola hocus pocus as a teenager but then when stuff like Enya (affiliate link) or Pure Moods (affiliate link) got popular, I discovered stuff like that actually helped me to relax.

In this chaos that has become my week, I found myself searching out binaural beats videos to help bring my heart rate down and relax me.  I've also found a few good meditation videos like this 15 minute one by Deepak Chopra.  I've always loved that kind of "out of body" feeling you get when you have ambient music and focus on just being still.  You don't realize how much your jaw is clenched, your shoulders are tense or your brow is furrowed until you concentrate on relaxing every muscle in the body.  It definitely helps me and helps to take the edge off when I feel like I'm going to go into a twitching heap of madness because people are stupid.

Do you meditate or have stress reducing techniques?  Let's help each other zen out!

(This post contains a few affiliate links.  Should you buy through them, the kickback fairy will visit me and you'll help keep this blog up and running.)

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Wednesday, August 21, 2013

If you can't take the heat...

Oh my God, I have to share this because I'm cracking up right now.  (Well last night by the time you guys read this.)  The Mr came home last night and he was home for three minutes before his work called and kept him on the line for two hours.  This meant our workout was delayed for two hours and then I had something I had to do with daylight so it was really delayed about 2 1/2 hours.

While I was exercising, my ankle gave me quite the zinger of pain letting me know it was not happy with me. I asked the Mr if he could start dinner for me while I did a little deep tissue massage on myself and he said he'd take care of dinner.


I told him he didn't have to but he insisted.  As I was massaging my knots and grainy calves, he kept asking questions and tried to figure out how to time things like I do when I cook for us.  I asked if he needed help and he said he didn't.  I would occasionally peek in and he had a look of sheer panic on his face.  At one point he was trying to make my tea while the bacon was feverishly popping and spitting grease everywhere and I reminded him not to let the bacon burn.  He turned from one side of the work space to the other and looked like he wanted to run away from the kitchen.  He caught me laughing at him as the vent whirred to remove the smoke from the air and stirring the tea and started laughing saying he didn't like my "job" and he quit.  I said "it's not as easy as it looks, is it?" and he proclaimed his utmost respect for what I do in there every night.

It's funny how we both have our roles in the household duties.  I do the cooking, cleaning of the living and dining room and the bedrooms.  He does laundry, bathroom, trash and cleans the kitchen.  We usually split dishes 60/40.

How do you and your spouse split up the household chores?  Do you try to switch off on occasion?

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Tuesday, August 20, 2013

Setting back the women's movement

I think I have a 1950's housewife trapped inside me.  I'm down with women's lib and am thankful for those who have fought to shatter the glass ceilings (or at least make one hell of a crack).  I'm thankful that expectations of women in the workplace or their capabilities for success are high(er).  As a kid, I had to grow up pretty fast as the result of my parents divorce and being an only child, I observed a lot.  From watching my mom go from a 2 story home in the country in a comfortable two income household to having to move with her 8 year old daughter to an apartment in a less than ideal neighborhood on a salary that was considered a notch above livable at the time with sporadic (and low) child support payments.  I remember one of my great aunts saying "I seriously don't know how you two survive on what you make even with child support."  I don't know either but somehow we did.  There's something to be said about having that kind of strength in a role model growing up...going from thinking a man was needed to live to showing it's not required even if it is hard.  It evolved to big dreams for me that I would end up moving to a big city and doing fabulous things.

Enter the Mr when I was 17.

It's not that I changed my whole life for a man but as things got more serious, my dreams of living in a rat infested apartment (which would likely be all I could afford...if that), hanging out with people who might've been cast as extras in Desperately Seeking Susan and becoming a savvy New Yorker or Hollywood rock band manager seemed less important.  When you're fat (though I'd kill to be that "fat" now) you feel thankful someone can see past that and see you for YOU.  It changes your priorities a bit.  As we've settled into our life and you learn more about each other through talks, experiences, fights and everything in between and you learn what each others strengths and weaknesses are and how they compliment each other.   For instance, just as I can't work with the public because I have no fuse anymore, I know he can.  Therefore car buying experiences are left to him.  He has a very strict budget and terms we set up before hand and he knows to stick with it because he has to live with me.  ;-)  I have been virtually patted on the head by salesmen, been talked down to or like I don't know what the hell I'm saying/doing by men who get off on having power over a woman coming into a dealership and I just know that I need to step away from that.  I will punch one of those effers in the throat if I hear condescension.  But the Mr, they never see him coming.  They see a gullible "nice guy" with an easy going demeanor and think "sucker."  Then he whips out all of his research and a fair offer they would be stupid to refuse and the deal is done.  It's one of those things that I know some people just thrive on.  I don't.  It's top three worse ways to spend my time so I just know I need to step back.

The Mr asked me one day what makes me happy and honestly, my answer sounded like a time warp.  "I love cooking for you and making you happy."  I know he wants me to do things that fulfill me but honestly, for me, there is nothing better than seeing his face when I make his favorite dish or make something new that he loves or my new favorite is making ice cream better than the ice cream shop we buy it from.  It may sound stupid or simple or like I'm setting back the woman's movement but I can't help it.  I get my creative outlet here and through working on projects so I'm basically happy with my life.  I know there are things I can improve on like keeping the house cleaner since I'm home working all day but I need to have goals, right?

I have no idea why I was inclined to share this with you guys.  I guess I was hoping maybe there's just one other person like me out there.  I never really thought of myself as a "people pleaser" and I would say in general, I'm not when it comes to needing others approval to a degree but I guess even if I'm still a stubborn old mule with my own very outspoken opinion, I still just need the approval of the only person in my life who knows everything about me and still loves me anyway.  Even when we had a rather heated disagreement the other day and we took some time apart...I missed him.  I wanted to grab things in the antique mall and say "look at this."  When he was alone, he confessed he missed me too and hated I didn't take the phone (which I never use anyway) so that he could call me.  Even when we're pissed at each other, the love still brims pretty close to the rim.  I don't know if it's an age thing or what.  Maybe it's part of being married to your best friend in a relationship where just the two of you make up your family or maybe I'm just a serious traditionalist and a shame to vaginas everywhere.  *shrug*

Are you a people pleaser or could give two poo's what people think or are you somewhere in between where you please only the people that have "earned" your effort?

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Monday, August 19, 2013

We're adults now, potato chip fail and no sleeping til noon

Monday already, eh?  Don't ya hate it when that happens?  Well, if I were a more knee jerk optimist, I would probably say "everyday above ground is a good one...even Mondays."

Fine!

Stupid optimism.

Anyhoo...I am happy to report that Active Recovery Week went rather well.  While my legs and feet are still re-adjusting to wearing shoes/ortho slippers (aka "you kids get off my damn lawn!" slippers) in the house and  needing to rebuild myself from mid-ground up balance wise, our bodies were certainly stretched on the rack of yoga last week.  Tell me yogi's, do you feel worse before you feel better?  Because we both would feel crippled about 3 hours later and the next morning hobble around until we got our bearings.  I think we're going to commit to doing it every Friday for sure to stretch out what we've done during the week.

Remember when Lays had some contest where they wanted you to vote for Chicken and Waffles, Sriracha and Cheesy Garlic flavored chips but no one could find them to try them?  Well apparently Chicken and Waffles won because now we're seeing them everywhere so we decided to give them a try finally.  OH.  MY.  GOD!  They were disgusting!!  We both paused, wrinkled our noses and said we had to try another to make sure they were as gross as we were tasting and indeed they were.  Oh my Lord, just thinking about it is making me want to heave.  So yeah, don't bother.  I'm just glad we got them on sale.

We became adults over the weekend.  We bought a miter saw.  This one in particular...



This  Ryobi 7-1/4-in Miter Saw with Laser (affiliate link) is small, portable and has a fun laser to make it feel all techie for us.  I don't know why but we equate owning power tools with adulthood.  We don't have a ton of room (okay, we have NO room) so the fact this is so compact and gets the job done blows our minds.  Yep...total nerds.  I can't wait to cut things.  I want to cut everything.  Crown moulding, scrap wood, siding, chopsticks.  

Did any music fans out there watch Dave Grohl's directorial debut called Sound City (affiliate link)  on VH1 Classic?  Holy crap was it amazing!  For a girl who was going to move to LA or NY and manage bands back in the day, this piece of music history was heaven.  40 years of music history packed in that thing.  So awesome!

Yesterday was grocery refuel day.  Well we did go to Trader Joe's and Target Saturday night so we could sleep in yesterday.  I have to laugh when I say "sleep in" because I can't sleep in if I tried.  7am rolls around and I am awake.  Just once I'd like to sleep until 8am on the weekend.  Yesterday was also my best friend's brothers 30 something birthday.  Isn't he still 8 years old with a rat tail do sneaking backstage to meet David Lee Roth??  Don't blink people, time flies entirely too fast.

Back to "regular" (ish) workouts this week.  We eased back in with Walk Away the Pounds and it always amazes us just how much we burn for an "easy" workout.  Love it.  

What did you do this weekend?  Do you have a problem sleeping in on the weekend?

(This post contains affiliate links.  If you buy through them, I'll get a nominal kickback to keep this baby up and runnin'.  Like Bartles and Jaymes 80's wine coolers...I thank you for your support)


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Friday, August 16, 2013

Friday reads: Living in an 80's video, unplugging and eat your neighbors leftovers?

Friday is here baby!  Anyone else excited?

It's time to check out



Do You Exercise on an Empty Stomach?

Living in the Video:  Girls Just Wanna Have Fun  (I'm down!  Let's shop!)

Weight Loss - "It's a War, Not a Battle"  (I think I lost the battle this week, back to war next week)

Why Everyone Should Unplug This Weekend  (For my friends on electronic leashes.  I need to work on the computer part but I don't use a cell phone.  I love the way it drives everyone else crazy!)

The Health Benefits of Honey  (Sweet!)

This Video Checks How "Old" Your Hearing Is  (Haven't done it yet but am interested to see!)

Would You Eat Your Neighbors Leftovers?  Try ShareYourMeal  (I'm sorry but...no.  I can see doing this with friends and/or family but I just don't trust people)

Yoga for Metabolism

Calorie Blasting Kettlebell, Kickboxing Workout

7 Strategies to Improve Your Photography  (I'm always up for tips!)

25 Fitness & Weight Loss Products  (Wow...just...wow.)

23 Cleaning Products You'll Find at Home

No real concrete plans for the weekend.  It's grocery time so there's that and that means hitting up the farmers market.  Have to check the local websites and see if anything good is going on.

I would be remiss if I didn't acknowledge today being the 36th anniversary of Elvis Presley's passing.  I'll be watching some kind of Elvis special or movie today since I can't be in Memphis.  Just once I want to attend an Elvis week with the rest of the diehards.

Any plans for the weekend?

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Thursday, August 15, 2013

Exercise Wish List

My birthday is coming up in the next month and I've got family and friends asking me what I want.  I seriously want for nothing major and have no room for things even if I did.  But I am feeling like I'm in a bit of an exer-rut so I decided to peruse some sites and I've added these to my wish list for people to hopefully get for birthday or Christmas.

Leslie Sansone: Walk It Off in 30 Days  (affiliate link) 

Flow Yoga: Elements of Yoga: Air & Water with Tara Lee  (affiliate link) 

Kettlebell Kombos with Paul Katami DVD  (affiliate link) 

Element: Targeted Toning Pilates for Beginners  (affiliate link) 

We've been doing yoga this week and while I'm not a big fan yet, I know it's good for us and something we should put into rotation.  I found a few good ones at doyogawithme.com as well but I like to be able to throw in a DVD at will instead of dragging the laptop downstairs.  I'll have to bump up the two workout DVD's on there already.  I swear it's like people are afraid to buy workout DVD's for people even though the recipient really wants them.  Weird.

Do you feel weird buying someone fitness related items even though they've expressed the interest?

(This post contains affiliate links.  Should you be kind enough to buy through them, I'll get a few cents gratitude.)

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Wednesday, August 14, 2013

How's it hangin'?

It's time to talk about something that's not so pretty.

Hang sweat.

You know, that nice schweaty fold under your hang and going down into your thigh cracks after a hard workout?  If you don't know what I'm talking about, this post is not for you.  You can go back and enjoy your taut stomach with no overhang while I make jealousy fueled gestures behind your back.  For the rest of you who know and loathe the hang sweat and potential rashes that area can bring, let me introduce you to the most horribly named item that can help with that issue...FungaSoap Cleansing Wash.



It contains tea tree oil and is an anti-fungal.  I was talking to my gynie about it a few years ago and she's noticed almost zero irritation compared to how it used to look in the gut and nether areas.  I just lather up, slap it wherever there is chafing or the possibility of it and this stuff has seriously worked wonders.  I know some people get sores and stuff but you shouldn't use this on broken skin but if you can get that taken care of with a zinc based cream like diaper rash cream then you can move on to this stuff for maintenance.

Some people are turned off by the smell because it smells a little botanically medicinal but I've always thought it smelled good.  Just wanted to give a heads up since some people gripe about that on Amazon.  But unless you're going to spend your day with your head in your gut and/or punani area, then it shouldn't be an issue, ya know?  I've even used it as a face wash for stubborn breakouts and it makes my face nice and clean.  It has a ton of uses that people suggest in the reviews.

So for me personally, I love the stuff and thought if anyone else had that issue, you might like a heads up!  Hey, weight related topics ain't always pretty people!

I won't ask if you suffer from hang sweat so feel free to comment what you're comfortable with!  HA!

(This post contains affiliate links which means if you buy through them, a couple cents will come back to me to help run the blog.)

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Tuesday, August 13, 2013

Laying off a bit

We have declared this week an


Between the two of us, our legs are shot possibly due to overtraining.  We talked about taking a week off of exercise to let things heal up but then remembered my cousin who trains pretty hard has active recovery weeks once a month.  He'll do yoga and light workouts that week.  We agreed that we would do upper body strength workouts and yoga or floor calisthenics.  Yesterday I did this leg centric yoga session.  It was quite interesting if anyone watched me (thank God the Mr was doing other things) and my hips and legs felt completely stretched when I was done.

I've decided not to bother with the heart rate monitor this week because that's not what this week is about.  I'm a little weirded out by it but I have to listen to my body right now.  I've got an appointment with my chiro on Thursday but I'm hoping I can do enough massage on my own to not have to go.  I've got my inserts back in my shoes since obviously my feet need them.  So irritating but when I think about it, I can't expect thirty some years of wonky muscle structure to be completely cured in 8 months.  So for this week, light workouts and hard strength training.

Do you do active recovery weeks?

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Monday, August 12, 2013

Weekend recap: Tags popped...heartstrings pulled

We vowed to take it a little easier this weekend and we did to a degree.  But that doesn't mean that we didn't have some plans.  "We went'n popped some tags, only had $60 in my pockets..."  Oh, don't even question if we blasted Macklemore on our way to the tag sales...you know we did...and continued to sing it while in the homes because we're idgits like that.  We hit up 4 tag sales Saturday morning.  The first two that looked most promising were a bust.  BOO!  The second one was amazing...they had collections of old 1920's toys and such but they were priced as though they were in a consignment shop, not a tag sale.  So many of the items were tempting but hopefully they found a good home.  They had a packed house when we left that morning.  The third sale we hit about 11:45am which is late by true saler standards but they kicked people out of the house 5 minutes later so they could mark everything down by 50%.  Um...yes please!  I found some cool stuff including these for Christmas projects...


The Mr spotted a few cool things too and when we got to the trunk we went through this one box that I was going to throw some of the stuff away and came across these cards...


I opened it up and saw this from the lady's grandson...

"Thank you for the money.  Sorry I took so long.  Love Philip"
I love finding things like that.  I'm such a sentimental dork and it made me tear up.  Before I put them in the recycle pile, I wanted to at least take a pic of them.

What did you guys do this weekend?  Are you sentimental?

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Thursday, August 8, 2013

TGIF y'all and some reading material

It's Friiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii-daaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay!!  Woot!  

Let the twerking begin!  No wait, on second thought, don't do that.

Instead let's skip to...


Best Food and Nutrition Tracking Tool?

Can a Lab Grown Burger Be Better Than the "Real" Thing?  (I don't think I'll be finding out.  YAK!)

Can You Exercise Too Much?

Dolphins Can Remember Friends Better Than Humans

Good Samaritan Pays Strangers Baggage Fee at Airport

3 Ways to Get More Out of Your Push Ups

13 Ways to Tone the Inner Thighs

"Iron Man" Jetpacks Spark Concern in Hawaii  (Not a fan.  It seems cool but in a lake or something)

Myths About Hydration...Busted

Yes, These Are Really Grapes  (I don't know if I could get past the shape at first but different!)

Worthless Fitness Tips You Probably Follow

This weekend we're going to try not to walk 24/7 but I do want to hit up some tag and estate sales this weekend and maybe go to an arts festival out of town.  I have some projects to get done too so I might work on those.

What are you gonna do this weekend?

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Takin' it easy, bawlfest and a yummy old favorite

Yesterday was a day of babying for my feet.

I had a lot of work to do but I did paperwork to stay off of it as much as possible.  I wore my old granny slippers with arch support around the house and did my stretches.  Our workout was upper body strength on the Total Trainer.  I don't know why but those really seem to zap me the past couple of times we've done it.  It's like our strength stamina is going downhill for some reason even though we do various sessions three times a week.

Cue breakdown...bawling like a baby when my arms finally gave out.

It's pre-Flo week, it's to be expected.   "I enjoy being a girrrrrrl!"

I'm just so damn frustrated because I felt like our weekends have been soooo super active the past 3 weeks and we were talking about how much we love walking longer distances and then this.  He's feeling it too so I guess we'll have to take it easy and not run ourselves ragged every single day from Saturday to Monday.  Enough of that crap.

At least dinner was good.  Lemon pepper alfredo with spicy grilled shrimp.  Man, pasta is such a treat when we have it.  How weird.  It was a pretty regular staple back in the day.  It's not that we purposely cut it out we just don't have it as much.  Same thing happened with pop/soda, we never set out to cut it out of our diet but it just happened.

Welp, time to plan meals for today and tomorrow.  Tonight's workout is Walk Away the Pounds.  The feet should hopefully be down with that and no jumping jacks or anything like that.

What food/drink unintentionally got cut from your diet as you got healthier?

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Wednesday, August 7, 2013

Jinxed

As if on cue, after I declared myself basically a survivor of Tarsal Tunnel Syndrome, I've had a pretty major setback.  My muscles and ankle are starting to shoot pain into my legs and that is no bueno.  As I look back over the past 2-3 weeks, we (I) have been running ourselves ragged on the weekends.  I mean a LOT of walking on really hard surfaces and doing some projects that have me in positions I'm not used to.  (Nothing weird just contorted.  You know what I mean!)  Like a jackass, I wore some flip flops for a few days while doing projects and even though they had a little more contour than just your flat ones with no support, they royally screwed me up.  Note to self:  don't wear them again...ever.  Unless you go to the trouble to put the inserts in them but then you'll look like a dork.

My workout, while a 1000 calorie burner, was full of a few zingers and a follow up of the Mr having to yank my ankles to decompress them.  I haven't had those in quite a few months and they are not a welcome visitor.  I must take care and then see if in a few weeks I've improved or if a visit to Dr. B is in order.

I did my little tennis ball roll on my feet and they screamed with pain and relief and iced my feet.  I did my old PT exercises in lieu of the balance board and I'll get back to my old routine that helped me in the first place.  It's probably time to break out my old inserts as well to re-train my muscles.  Good God man, just when you think you have something kicked in the butt...

Have you had a seemingly healed injury rear its ugly head just when you were getting your mojo back?

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Tuesday, August 6, 2013

What is that?

As I was nearing the end of my workout, I was doing push ups.  The light behind me was casting a shadow down onto my mat, silhouetting my figure.  I was trying to figure out what the hell I was looking at.



It looked like I was looking at my boobs and gut but I knew by the way the shadow was cast, that was impossible.  So I literally had to feel myself to see what I was looking at on the floor.

Boob.

Check.

Lower Gut.

Check.

Oh...middle tire.

Sadly...check.

The bane of my existence.   Damn goo tube.  I can't wait until that thing goes away.  In the meantime, I'll poke it and hope it deflates.  ;-)

What is your most irritating body part?

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Monday, August 5, 2013

A quick, scattered recap

I am freakin' exhausted!

It's been a long weekend and I've got a super busy week ahead.  I'm not sure with how much regularity I'll be blogging this week so bear with me.  Who knows, I may be able to keep up the schedule but just wanted the out in case things get hairy.  If you follow me on Facebook, I'll continue to update our workouts there.

I wish I had awesome pics from this weekend but I never had a camera on me.

Bloggerfail.  (I don't like to hashtag...does that kick me out of blogging circles?  I especially hate that Facebook made it okay.  I makes me want to punch people.  Oh yeah...hormonal week is gearing up y'all.  Start your engines!)

Most of it was just poking around antique stores, garage/tag sales, test driving a car (don't even get me started...I'd rather go to the dentist and I don't do that) and I did a photo shoot with a pup the other night.  There's a reason they tell you to take 5000 pictures.  I think I got 2 good ones!  LOL  At least the subject was cute!   We're also dealing with an episode with the family where the dementia is concerned.    This disease blows.

Hard.

Like typhoon force.

Pray you and/or your family never have to go through it.

The Mr and I are going to be cleaning out the garage today.  That should be interesting.  I wish I had the patience to have a garage sale.  We've got some decent stuff and while I don't mind the tax write off to charity, it would still be nice to make a little money off of it.  But something tells me people trying to dicker with me would just make the whole thing not worth it.  Yeah, never mind...charity it is.

I've got to plan out our meals for the week.  I did well with water this weekend so I need to keep that up because I SUCKED at it last week.  I burned 1,110 cals yesterday so the week got off to a good start!

What did you do this weekend?  How do you feel about garage sales?

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Friday, August 2, 2013

Fun Friday Reads



Another weekend is upon us!  Yeah baby!

If you need some reading material as you watch the clock, here's what I've been reading this week.  Enjoy!

15 Crazy Ideas to Make Your Life Sane

Growling Stomach?  The Answer's Not Necessarily a Snack

How to Trick Your Brain to Create a New Healthy Habit

Super cute pic...Piglet with Ice Cream

31 House Cleaners You Already Own

WTF is Kefir?

5 Reasons to Start a Relationship with Apple Cider Vinegar

Fat Shaming Feels Bad and It Won't Help Us Lose Weight

11 Nutrition Myths That Cause Weight Gain

How to Make Mom Cry (video)

Wendy's Customer Defends Server Against Bully

Couple Recreates Childhood Carousel Photo on Wedding Day

Marine Helps Boy Finish Race

Walk me!  (pic)

I really sucked at my water this week and feel so gross and bloated.  I NEED to commit to getting in more water this coming week but especially on the weekend.  This weekend is going to be jam packed again.  Full of fun and lots of walking.

Any plans for the weekend?

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Thursday, August 1, 2013

"You've got to make your workout your lifestyle"

The first day of the month.

There's nothing like a flip of the calendar page.  Matter of fact, I decided last night to flip through a few calendar pages.


Ahh 2009...back when 30 minute workouts were more than sufficient for me to lose 1-3 lbs per week.  Of course I was down to 420 lbs at the beginning of the month so 150 lbs off will slightly affect the amount of work needed.

While I have to do 50 minutes or more for the scale to do more than laugh at me now, I'm pretty darn proud that I can look back four years ago and still see a consistent pattern of exercise.  We have this Tae Bo Live workout where Billy Blanks says "you've got to make your workout your lifestyle" as he's having you squat after having whipped you into puddin' for 45 minutes.  I remember how many times we would jokingly say "yeah right" or "someday" or something similar.  There were times where it just seemed like we weren't people who maintained workouts long enough for them to be considered our true "lifestyle."  But here we are...the proof is in the pics.  That's how I know this is for life.

Is your workout your lifestyle?  If so, how long?  If not, what is holding you back?


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