Being an HLB for a Day

Once again on Tuesday, I did my best to try to be an HLB (Healthy Living Blogger) and I think I did much better!  I also tried my best to keep my monthly goals for August in the front of my mind.  The first goal I really wanted to work on was the Spend-Free days so I made sure I had all the essentials for breakfast including my coffee.

I am not a fan of making my own coffee most of the time.  I enjoy making it at home and sipping it from a regular mug but my travel mugs always make it taste different.  I think its the hot with the plastic.  But the iced coffee goes over just fine (when I remember to make it the night before!).  Breakfast = success.

At lunch, I had to get out of the office.  Usually I eat at my desk to save time and get out a little earlier.  Well, at around 1, I just couldn't take it any more.  I grabbed my healthy-living notebook and water and headed outside.  I sat down, prepping my HLB blog and enjoying the beautiful sun.  It was finally not too hot so I could enjoy the weather!

When I got home from work, I had been planning on doing something active with Rob but he was helping my dad clean out some brush from around the pool so I decided I would get the workout over with while they did that.  I just couldn't decide what to do.  I ended up with Jackie Warner's Xtreme Timesaver Training.  It was a good choice too!  It kept my bored mind in check and it wasn't too long and hard.  I also did 15 minute of stretching afterward. 

It is amazing how quickly you can become unflexible!  I remember being able to bend much more than I could last night.  There are a bunch of workouts in this book and 4 of which are on the DVD.  I am glad I watched the DVD because these were rather complicated.  I will probably only use the DVD but its a nice tool to have!  I would reccomend it :)

The rest of the night was spent just making dinner and playing on the computer.  I also had a beer (moderation is ok for an HLB!).  The sweat from the bottle smiled back at me!



Dinner was excellent.  I used some fresh sausage from a local market.  I always remove the skin before cooking so the fat and grease can cook off.  It still keeps its shape (but you can also turn them into sausage meatballs).  I just tossed the cut up sausage in a pan (no skin) until almost cooked.  I  have leftover pasta from the night before.  I also diced up a large fresh tomato and a zucchini and threw it in the pan for the last few minutes (drain grease first).  The tomatoes will make enough of a "sauce" for the disk.  It tastes delicious!

Sausage isn't the leanest protein obviously but it is more of a treat now and then for me and Rob.  You could use chicken or ground turkey or whatever in its place.  Anyway!  So overall, I would consider yesterday very healthy!  I ended the day in my calorie ranges but not my carbs and a little low on protein (in my range but I like to be much higher than I was).  Things to fix another day!  And one last picture I took, they just looked so cute sitting in the basket on the kitchen table!

My Library: A reflection of me

I saw a friend on facebook who is also on Spark People post a picture of her "library" of fitness and health books.  I thought it was such a cute idea and great way to get to know somebody. 

First, I had to tackle the shelf and make it look presentable.  Then I got into a cleaning frenzy but when I was finished, I have 2 full shelves of books and this doesn't include the several boxes of books I have in my storage unit.  Hehe.  I took some close ups and I don't think I want to say much.  Maybe just give you guys an idea of the things I enjoy and if you want to know about a certain book, you should ask!  I have to warn you, there are a few on here that I haven't read yet.  I am getting there though!  But just a couple, most I've read :)



We'll start off with cookbooks!  The Just 5 Things cookbook is my favorite cookbook EVER.  It is strictly only 5 ingredients.  Even if its just "salt", that is considered 1 of the 5!  Love it!  Not like the other ones I've seen where they are like "Well, you should have eggs and milk and salt and these crazy spices you've never heard of in your pantry already so those aren't included in the 5".  None of that crap!  Or the cookbooks that use canned soups and stuff as one of the ingredients.  Strictly 5 clean ingredients per recipe.  Moving on!  Oh, and that is my stone dodecahedron on the bottom left there.  Don't worry, the geekiness gets better.  

More cookbooks and some running books.  I've also read The Nonrunner's Marathon Guide for Women but that was borrowed.  "I Run, Therefore I Am - Nuts" is an awesome hilarious book.  If you endurance run, its a cute book to make you think "oh I hate that!" or "yes!!!  that's happened to me!!!"  Then we move on to the farming books.  Haven't read Farmer Jane yet.  Hoping to get to that by the end of the summer!

My food books!  Reading Omnivore's Dilemma right now.  Its a little slow, In Defense of Food was much better and very entertaining.  Bad Science is an awesome book.  As people here who hear a lot of nutrition hype, you need to read this book.  It will make you a total skeptic of every health claim you ever hear.  Seriously, it will change your thinking.  Highly recommend.  Um.. And here comes the geekiness...













Let's just not discuss this part of the shelf ok?  LoL

More cookbooks on the next (taller) shelf.  Rob has loved a lot of the recipes out of the Betty Crocker Cookbook for Women book (I don't know why its for women??).  Anyway, he is a very picky eater so that says something!  The Traditional Kitchen Wisdom book is pretty cool.  It is all about how to preserve foods (canning, drying, etc.).  How to grow a garden.  Just how to survive without modern convenience.  Love it!  Also some gardening books there.  We haven't started our garden this year, we haven't had time!  Maybe we will cheat and buy some plants!

And finally, some workout books (I'll take LL Cool J's advice any day!  Have you watched NCIS LA lately???)  Also my like 18th copy of Pride and Prejudice (others are in storage, I've read it several times).  And my cool looking copy of the complete Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy series :)  Have only read the first and half of the second.  Again, working on all these books!  Finally, the box on the end is something my sister bought for Rob to keep his garden seeds in.  It has lots of tips and techniques for saving your seeds and growing a nice garden!




So that's it!  I have tons of books in storage too, a lot of classics there and probably more math and science books from college/grad school.  Even some math based entertainment books (Fermat's Enigma, very good! and very basic, even for the non-math person and a couple others...).  So what do you think?  Is it what you expected?  Haha.  Are you curious about any of my books?  Do you have any of the same ones?  Want any book reviews?  Let me know!

Book Review: Born to Run

This was one of the best books I've read in a while!  Ok, before I get too excited...

The Book:  Born to Run by Christopher McDougall

I had heard of it through Tina Haupert's blog, Carrots 'N' Cake, and she just raved about it.  Seeing as she is a pretty serious runner, and by serious I mean that she enjoys running, eagerly pursues it, and makes it part of her life, regardless if she is an all star runner or not.  A serious runner to me is someone who runs out of the joy of it.  Anyway!  So I took her opinion to probably be on par for me too since I'm another runner (maybe not so serious because I don't always love it, lol).

I wasn't sure what the book was about, even after reading the back cover but Tina said it was good, so I picked up a copy when I found it on sale at Target.  (FYI, I don't follow any other professional bloggers so its surreal to me to be taking her advice like a friend!  I almost had to laugh at myself!)

The book is all about the joy and love of running really.  I think that was the overall theme.  It follows a guy who goes out and decides to figure out why some people (ultramarathoners) can run incredibly long distances, but everyone else in the world ends up with an injury every other month (apparently according to the book, 8 out of 10 runners get a running related injury every year, eek!).  So he dives in a finds this tribe in Mexico that runs hundreds of miles almost every day.  He meets all these crazy people in the book and follows them through their adventures to where they all came together one day, professional ultra-marathoners along side Mexican tribesman, for an ultra-race.  Its an amazing and uplifting story and its also hilarious.  He makes cracks and jokes that are all a little tongue-in-cheek.

It is also very informative in the book.  You learn a lot about style and technique of running and how/why people might get hurt (he never says you should run barefoot but you get that idea throughout the book).  I found it very motivating and exciting and definitely a must-read for anyone who enjoys distance running!

It affected me in different ways.  Of course, very motivating (I kept thinking back to the book and went out for a run, adding 1/2 mile to my regular route because I decided it was just too short!).  I am also decided on getting a pair of Vibram Five Fingers to experience the barefoot running.  Even if I just use them for short runs, its something I want to give a shot!  I have heard nothing but good things about them.  I had been on the fence about trying them and this book pushed me to decide to get a pair.  Of course, I will update you all when they arrive and I try them :)  Still deciding which pair to get.

Anyway, if you enjoy running, enjoy hearing about amazing feats of human athleticism, then pick up this book.  With the humor and the ease of the writing, you will fly right through the pages, and then probably go out for a jog afterward!

PB Eggs, Rugby, & Philadelphia

First off, AMOHAME2 from SparkPeople was surprised to see peanut butter cups (in the form of Easter eggs) were back in the house. I just had to get the evidence while grocery shopping...

How can I deny that cute face? On the bright side, he tries to eat them all so I don't have very many. Haha, not good for him either but he makes his own choices!

Anyway, this weekend was packed full of rugby. Friday, Rob and I ate dinner and then got some snacks for the trip. We were headed to Pennsylvania, not too far so we could drive up and back both Saturday and Sunday for the playoffs. I made sure to pack lunch and healthy snacks

Obviously Rob helped pack :) I also brought some reading materials for the ~2 hour drive.

Seeing a theme there? I finished the triathlete and running magazines and started "Born to Run". So far, I like it! Of course, a book review will follow when I'm done (don't hold your breathe. hehe).

Saturday and Sunday, we had a rugby game each day. They lost the first day but still had to play Sunday. Sunday's game was a lot better but they lost again. All the guys got really tired and were hungover (at least 1 was still drunk). Crazy group of guys. Rob was just fine, had fueled properly, and was well hydrated (I've taught him well). We also went to the bar that sponsors the team after both games. We both just wanted to eat! It is The Bards Irish Pub in Philly. I think this is the most I've been in Philly in my entire life! LoL. Anyway, I will end in pictures of Philly and the games!





I love all the old buildings in Philly!

It was really nice out today :)





There is Rob (#2 this pic)

See the horse in the background?! We were pretty much in Dutch country out here, a mere 30 minutes from where we like to stay when we visit Lancaster. It was beautiful though. So they lost both games. I thought the second game was a lot better, more aggressive. It was the A side with some B side guys and they were all tired! Hm..

Well, that's pretty much it for this weekend. I didn't have time to fit in exercise. We pretty much left the house early and got home late both days. Eating was 50/50. I am going to try to eat natural and healthy for the next few days and maybe weigh myself on Wednesday to make sure I'm still on track and not gaining! I hope everyone had a good weekend!

Plan of Attack: 28 Day Challenge

On Spark People and Facebook, I have joined a challenge with the Fabulous Fitness team.  It is a 28 day challenge of workouts and eating clean.  I am modifying it to fit my current situation but I am going into it strong.  Today is Day 1 and it is already going great.  Anyway, here is my plan and my starting measurements and pictures!

Background info:  I bought a bunch of books from Amazon:

I have been reading my new book purchases like crazy. I am taking a bit of something from each of them. I love New Rules of Lifting for Women.  I really love a lot of the advice and tips but I don't agree with the supplement taking and such. He also has no problems eating artificial sweeteners and similar stuff. I'm not into that so I'll ignore that advice personally.  On the flip side, I have The Eat Clean Diet Stripped.  And I definitely LOVE her tips for eating clean and slimming down! This is only intended for a 28 day program so this is my plan.

For the next 2 weeks, I am going to get into the habit of eating clean.  Now, I almost have to giggle at this statement because I eat pretty darn clean already. Actually, in the "Stripped" book, they give a sample of a day's worth of eating clean and it almost perfectly resembles my eating. That was a real (positive) eye opener for me and a confidence booster! But I have a sugar problem in the form of coffee (cream and sugar) and chocolate. So I am going to work on cutting those things out for the next 2 weeks. As to not make myself go crazy, I will allow an occasional glass of wine and maybe a Rita's or ice cream once in a while (but no more than once per week!!!).

Also, I will be working on my fitness (anyone else have Fergie in their head right now?)  I will get back into a weekly routine. This will actually be a little difficult because I have the Broad Street Run next Sunday. I just want to get into the habit for the next 2 weeks, especially with strength training.







My measurements:
Weight: 144lbs (I know, wtf? Up again from Friday)
Body Fat: 25.8% (last night), 24.1% (this morning)
Waist: 29.75
Hips: 36.5
Thigh: 24.33
Calf: 14.33
Arm: 11.75

At the end of 2 weeks, I will take them all again (just for a baseline) and I am going to start my own 28 day plan. I plan on using the workouts from the NRoLFW and the eating plan (plus protein shakes for after workouts) from Eat Clean Diet Stripped. That plan will bring me right up to the wedding/2 year sparkversary/27th birthday. 

Right now, I'm super duper excited to start this plan but I know how quickly the steam can run out of a plan. I've told Rob that he has to make sure I stick with this for at least a week before giving in to whatever sort of excuses I can find. I figure by the end of the week, I'll feel so good, I won't want to give up! I also think that continuing reading all my wonderful new books will keep me excited. I have a few I can read one after the other so I've got enough to keep me going through at least the week!

Feel free to check out Fabulous Fitness on facebook!

Photo Challenge Day 17

Day 17 - A picture of something that has made a huge impact on your life recently

OK, so this one was again really hard!  I thought this challenge would be so easy but its definitely not.  I took the word "recently" rather loosely here.  I figured within 2 years is recently enough.  Haha.  So for today, I went with a book...

About a year ago, I read Michael Pollan's In Defense of Food.  It completely changed the way I looked at food.  I had already lost most of the weight that I needed to lose.  I never really ate a lot of processed food but what I did eat, I didn't really pay attention to ingredients lists.  I just cared that it tasted good, seemed pretty healthy, and fit into my nutrition goals for the day.  Then I read this book and I was shocked to hear about how the food industry treats processed foods!  I completely revamped how I ate.  All natural, organic, etc. is what I go for now.  If I buy anything packaged, I scour the ingredients lists for all natural igredients only.  I can never go back to being blind to what is in my food.  I am so glad I read this and am always encouraging others to read it.  I even read his Food Rules.  Basically, rules to eat by as the author says.  Next up is Ominore's Dilemma!

The explanation of the photo challenge can be found on Day 1's blog here:  Photo Challenge.