Christmas Eve, Eve.

Yep, it's almost here! The hustle & bustle of the holiday season is coming to a close..well, Christmas anyway.

Being the great procrastinator, I headed out to shop last night. BAD idea! I will need reminded next year to shop early. I'm amazed by the rudeness of people in light of the Christmas season. I guess for some it really is about the gifts or whatever. I'm just about done shopping though & just need to pick up something for Kevin's nieces then I'm golden!

I also want to bake another batch of cookies. I'm making more Santa's Surprise but this time using mini reese cups inside. I also made some more saltine toffee & then some oreo truffles. I'm more than happy to post up those recipes if anyone would like them!

Training is going well & I'm officially in week 2 of half marathon training. It's easy thus far since it's still at mileage that I've been doing. Kevin's training with me at the moment & I'm hoping he'll run the race with me. He's veto'd running the 25K with us though! Smart man! ha!

I suppose that's really it! I need to be better about updating this & will work on that for the new year.

Oh & if you are need of a good laugh, please visit the Iron Maiden blog (linked to the right) & watch the You Tube clip. It's HILARIOUS! Thanks to Di for sharing that!

I really want to say thanks to those of you who've been a great support for me! I've been sad lately & it's expected having Christmas without Mom but it's through grace & blessings that I can really get through some of these days!

Merry Christmas to you all!

Move over Martha!!!!

Okay, so this blog is mostly about health but it's about happiness too right? What made me happier than a holiday baking frenzy? To date I've baked the following...

Snickerdoodles
Chocolate Covered Cherry Cookies
Santa's Surprise (PB cookie dough wrapped around a snickers then topped with powdered sugar & chocolate drizzle)
Oatmeal Raisin Cookies
White Chocolate & Cranberry Cookies
Saltine Toffee
Peppermint Bark

Still needing to be baked are the Mexican Wedding Cakes. Mom used to make them all the time & I never could do them right. Here's hoping I can do her proud & make them turn out!

Yep, it's been a fun weekend baking & I've enjoyed some goodies but it's been within reason...mostly! lol

I sent a bunch home with Kevin on Monday, will take some to work & will also take them to his parents for Christmas then also to my families Christmas on the 27th.

I've been reflecting on my life, health, etc & find that sometimes I just think too much! lol Go figure right...I am a woman! Life is good & while I want certain things I honestly have no complaints. I guess that's what the holidays do to us, huh? Make us count our blessings!

Have you counted yours today?

Holiday's are FUN!

So Thanksgiving has come & gone. It was a good time as usual! Ate what I wanted, enjoyed every bite & never felt stuffed!

Let's see if we can manage that with 3 days of Christmas! We'll spend Christmas Eve at my great uncle's with some FAB italian cooking (aunt's side), Christmas day with Kevin's family then Saturday after Christmas with my family! AND we are gone Sunday for the Purdue vs. Valparaiso University men's B-Ball game too!

Then.....bring on my birthday cake!! Not sure what our New Year's plans are at this point but it'll be low key this year. We talked about just going to his brother's house so maybe we'll just do that.

I've been REALLY bad about keeping up with folks lately. I've honestly never been any good at it to be honest but it's been worse lately. So my apologies for that!

I'm getting ready to do a holiday baking frenzy too & am excited for that. I've got some new recipes from friends...chocolate covered cherry cookies, Santa's suprise (which are basically PB cookie dough wrapped around a little snickers then covered with powdered sugar & chocolate drizzle.) Oh yea baby!

All my holiday decorations are up too!

As for other stuff, I'm about 18 weeks out from my half marathon in the spring & then a month after that will be the 25K with Marcia! So excited!

Nutrition stuff is going pretty well, had some issues resulting from lower carb but we are on track (with Joe's guidance of course) to get things back in order. Honestly, I'm just wanting to coast/maintain through the holidays. I'm on track now...will derail for the above noted holiday events then will jump right back on. Living life as I like to call it!

Happy holidays everyone & thanks for being a part of my crazy life!

God bless!

Recap & rambling

Nice title, eh? That's me be all uber creative! lol

Thursday, November 20
Training: Off
Cardio: 40 min SS (elliptical)
Meals:
1: Rice cake & PB
2: Egg whites, ex. lean ground beef, peppers; wheat toast & SF jam
3: Rice cake, PP & PB
4: Ex lean ground beef & broccoli
5: Chicken, peppers & olive oil
6: Chicken, wheat pasta & garlic toast

Friday, November 21
Training: Back & tris
Cardio: Off
Meals:
1: Oat bran, PP & blueberries
2: Ex. lean ground beef & asian veggies
3: PP & PB
4: Chicken & asian veggies
5: Rice cake, PP & PB2
6: Ex lean ground beef, chili tomatoes & corn bread mini muffins

Saturday, November 22
Training: Off
Cardio: 40 min SS
Meals:
1: Rice cake & PB2
2: Egg whites, peppers & FF cheese slice
3: Rice cake, PP & PB
4: Egg whites, peppers & FF cheese slice
5: Sirloin, grilled shrimp & sweet potato (Texas Corral Steakhouse)

Today, I left some wiggle room for dinner out so I can also have some peanuts (from the shell) & a dinner roll if I choose to do so. We are also going to see Role Models so if I skip the roll then I can have a few bites of popcorn!

I will not have a refeed this weekend & suspect that is because I've been given a "neutral" for Thanksgiving. I prefer than anyway because I have every intention of enjoying that good food with family.

This week has continued to be emotional & I realized (through the realizations of another) that part of my thing is that I've never given myself credit for things I've accomplished. I'm too focused on the setback that I had post-show with the metabolic damage. I've never recognized what I accomplished to get on that figure stage. Stupid huh?

So how about this......

I've still lost over 100 pounds even with the extra I'm temporarily holding, I competed in 2 National qualifying figure shows & I didnt give up when it would have been easy to do so! I accepted help when it was offered, I continued to do something proactive when I stepped back from that assistance. And today I'm working with a nutritionist who's guidance is already producing results!

It's a start, huh? Program results thus far with Joe are great! I'm down 7 pounds in 1.5 weeks so far, I'm feeling good & he's been great about the changes that I needed to make in order to fit cardio into my schedule.

I've got no complaints & am happy to be a part of his team!

Have a great weekend!

Slacking Pt 2

So yea, been really bad about keeping up with this blog again. I revert back to an online journal far too often & maybe should just posting my daily stuff here. Votes on that?

Well, lots going on & just keeping busy. Kevin has season tickets to the Valparaiso University men's basketball games so that consumes a couple nights a week now. It's alot of fun though & being the sports junkie girlfriend, I'm happy to go!

Training has been spot on & I'm back to a body part split. I love full body training but the split works out better with my schedule.

I've also hired a nutritionist of sorts & am now working with Dr. Joe Klemczewski for that. You can find him at www.thedietdoc.com. Did I mention that he's a natural pro bodybuilder? It's only been a week but I'm feeling good. The reason for this is that I still do not feel like my body is back in peak function after the post show metabolic damage. It's getting better & I was able to drop a few pounds in the first week of the program but still needs some work. So I've handed my nutritional trust to Joe & he's also dictating my cardio. It's a decent amount to help with fat loss but also maintain conditioning. I'm a closet cardio junkie anyway so I dont mind it at all.

Running hasnt been really on since vacation but I'm doing the elliptical pretty often & can maintain my running pace there so I'm content with that. I'm actually hoping for a run outside this weekend but we'll see what the weather does.

We got our first snow of the season here in NW Indiana that resulted in 10 inches of snowfall in Valparaiso. And we are on deck for another accumulation tonight. Good times! I actually dont mind it so much but people do really forget how to drive from one winter to the next. Thank goodness for 4-wheel drive!

I'm looking forward to the holidays though find myself pretty sad lately. I'm really missing Mom which is to be expected & as a result I've been a bit (or more than a bit) sensitive to things said to me.

A friend pointed out to me that I'm also too hard on myself & dont give myself enough credit for many things. I'm working on that though & hope to be better about that in the new year. I'm already working on the health stuff so perhaps that will be my resolution.

I think that's it for now but I thought I'd update while I have a minute to spare.

Be safe!

Slacking!

It's been brought to my attention that I'm a blogging slacker! hehehe

Well, we got back from vacation last Monday & had a wonderful time! I've not taken a moment yet to do a detailed recap of the trip but will get around to that soon!

Here's a pic of Halloween Night at Universal's City Walk

Running has been on hiatus with the exception of one short one last week so we've decided not to do the Turkey Trot on Thanksgiving but I'll hope to get a workout in regardless that day.

I guess I dont really have tons to report at the moment. I'll do better about keeping this updated again now that things are settling back to normal!

Finally!

It's here. The day I've been anxiously waiting for.....VACATION!!!!!!! Tonight we will be on our flight to Orlando where we'll spend a couple days at Universal Studios/Islands of Adventure, Wet & Wild, Disney & then whatever else we want! Evenings will most likely be spent at CityWalk! Kevin emailed me around 8am to remind me that in 12 short hours we'll be in flight! lol I had been thinking the exact same thing so I couldnt help but giggle!

This weekend I was at the Continental Bodybuilding & Figure show in St. Charles, IL cheering on some friends. It made me realize that I truly love competing & aside from the bad dieting for the first shows, I really want to do it again with better guidance. I'm thinking perhaps next fall but we'll see.

On the fitness front, I've been rocking my training, getting in my cardio & well nutrition has been okay. I got this crazy GI thing that's had me well I'll just say making friends with the bathroom. It's better but my tummy has still be acting wonky. So I invested in some Pepto for the trip with hopes that it'll help! So I've been eating pretty much when I can & not worrying so much about what it actually is. I'm on the one meal a day plan & that's only when I think my stomach will be okay.

That's about it in my world! I'm just ready to spend the next 6 days in Orlando with Kevin & enjoy a much needed vacation for us both!