Baking up a storm but also working out - gotta work on my fitness

We're one day away from Christmas, and I baked up a storm in preparation. I made yummy caramel corn, delicious chocolate chip cookies, tasty oatmeal scotches, sweet and salty turtle bites (left) and then there are the chocolate cookies that were supposed to be dipped in chocolate. I say supposed to be because that didn't quite happen. The white chocolate I tried to melt in my microwave just didn't turn out right. I think I heat it too much and it just turned into this hard crumbly mess. So no dipping for me. Oh well, the Hubs says the cookies are still good.

Why all this baking? Well, first off I love to bake. I think it's the sound of the mixer and the smell of the yummy goodies in the oven. I also have a bit of a sweet tooth. My sweet tooth has not been my friend over the years as I gained more and more weight, which I am now trying to lose.

If you have followed me for awhile, you might remember that I've lost 50 pounds this year. Lately, I haven't been too strict on my diet, but I'm still working out. So maintenance is my goal during the holiday season, and so far I'm doing good. I haven't gained any of the weight back, and I think that's because I've upped my workouts by signing up for a personal trainer and doing more running. That's right, I'm running. I don't plan on running a marathon or anything, but my goal is to do a few 5Ks next year. So far I'm doing good, but I know that it will be different running outside than on the treadmill. I've been stuck on the treadmill because it's been pretty chilly in the morning.

Now the personal trainer thing is new for me. I did that boot camp that wrapped up a couple months ago, and that was the first time that I did organized workouts with someone telling me what to do. It wasn't too bad. Then my instructor sent me an email saying she was moving gyms and offering personal training sessons. The gym is really close to work, so I go in the morning, shower then just walk over to work. Let me just say that she has found muscles I never knew I had. What seem like small little moves with weights make my arms feel like jello, and if I don't get a good booty soon, then I will just think I am doomed to always have a flapjack. She has me do so many lunges and squats that it is sometimes hard for me to walk down the stairs the next morning. It's not that painful though. It's a good burn. I'll continue going to her in the New Year, and my goal is to lose another 50 in 2010.

So here's to a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to all my readers. I hope to close out with a year-end kind of post later, but in closing here are some pics of my yummy treats. Like how I do that? Tease with treats, sandwich in some workout updates and close it out with more delicious bites. It all balances out, right?

Read more...

Back in action with a little challenge for you

So the past few weeks...okay...months, I've been slacking. I did so good over the spring and summer dropping 50 pounds, but I fell off the wagon back at the beginning of fall. It's time to climb back on though. So this morning, I got up and ran two miles.

Luckily I hadn't gotten so far as to gain all my weight back, and I did do boot camp. It was just the eating well hadn't been there. So today, I decided to cut out the bad stuff again. My goal is to be relatively good through December, and then hit it really hard again in January. In the meantime I'll be hitting the gym more and getting back in fighting shape.

I'm normally not a runner, but I think it would be good to get into. There are always 5Ks going on in the area, and I would like to actually be able to run one. I've walked several and run/walked a couple, but to run one the entire time would be nice. So that's one of my mini-goals. I do think it's a little easier to get out of bed to go run as well. It means that I get to shower and get ready in my own house instead of in the locker room at the gym, which is nice.

In order to get up and get going tomorrow, I should head to bed, but I want to leave you with a challenge. After posting about my run on Twitter this morning, a couple ladies and I decided to create a little workout challenge. It's not all about losing pounds but about getting out there and move. The pounds lost are just an added bonus. So do you want to join in? Please feel free to join in the Twitter #TTCers Tighten Up!

Read more...

Final day of boot camp

It's not technically the final day, but Wednesdays work out is just a test to see how far we've come since the first day. I have to say, I'm proud of myself. It was tough getting up three times a week to drive downtown to go get my butt kicked, but I did it with only one day missed. I totally had an excuse for that one day, too. My secret garden had been invaded, and I was feeling a little crampy.

My friend and I decided to do the boot camp to give us a jumpstart to our workouts, and boy, did it ever. I never thought I'd be able to do 30 flights of stairs, but today I did! I also never thought I'd be able to do real push-ups, and today I did (well, the girl kind, but still). The weight hasn't just melted off, but I can definitely tell that I've gotten tighten. My clothes fit better and I might have even gained a little definition in my muscles.

So yah for me! On Wednesday, I'm excited to see how far I've come, how fast I can run up those steps, how many push-ups I can do in a minute and how long I can hold a plank. There should definitely be improvement.

I just have to keep it going. I plan on going back to my regular gym after this, but my struggle will be to keep up the intensity. There are not many steps at my regular gym so stairs will be out, but I can probably run some hills outside until it gets too cold. I can also keep doing my sit-ups, lunges and squats.

Why do I keep wanting to put an "e" on the end of that word? It's not spelled squate, silly.

Anyway, my goal is to keep that sweat going. Since my shirt is soaked after a good boot camp workout, I'm hoping to do the same on my own. A good sweat in the morning is a good thing, so if anyone has any ideas on how I can keep up with things, please feel free to share.

Read more...