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Thursday, April 28, 2011

Joys of the treadmill

Well I went to the gym this morning. Good for me, right? Well it was good for the most part. 3 hours of sleep and getting up at 4 am didn't keep me in the greatest of moods but somehow I managed to survive. My bestie generally likes to use the elliptical machine so I struggle along next to her since I figure it must be good for me. Lots of fitness magazines say ellipticals are great work out and I can see how that would be true. For me however, I just end up not being able to breathe very well whenever I use the elliptical. So I figured today I'd try just getting my cardio on with the treadmill.

I didn't run. I honestly never run. I'm not a runner, I can't run. I always think that eventually I could learn to run correctly, or just even like to run but I just don't think it's for me. First I can't breathe when I run. Second I get major headaches when I run, and third, I don't like running because I don't like my fat jiggling all over the place while I just torture myself. So today I just decided to walk. I walked fast enough that it was getting my heart rate up and I was sweating a little bit but it wasn't fast enough that I was almost jogging or that I couldn't keep up with it. I feel pretty good after. It made me happy. I think I'll keep it up and start doing it more frequently.

Just a little fun fact for ya'll: When you are using a treadmill and you have it on 0% incline, you're actually doing yourself more harm than good. 0% incline is actually slightly downhill and thus puts more strain on your legs. Looking at the machine you won't notice it but over time your body will feel it. They say it's best to put your incline on 1% because it evens out the machine enough that you're walking on a flat surface. Fun stuff, huh.:)

Saturday, April 23, 2011

Open your arms to change

So Summer is coming up in just a few short weeks! Well at least we hope it's coming. Winter can't seem to stop being a jealous freak that wants to hog all our time! Anyway, we all are aware that I am in no way, shape, or form going to be ready for bikini season this year, maybe not even just general swim suit season. I do know one this for sure though, I don't want to have to cover up my arms all the time to hide the flab! So for the month of May, in addition to doing other workouts, I'm going to spend a lot of time focusing on my arms. I know spot-reduction workouts aren't really the trend, especially because with all the working out you're doing anyway, there are other parts in your body that will shrink as well but I just really want to focus on my arms.

I'm not talking gross, body builder arms with veins popping out everywhere looking like they are about to burst, just nice, lean arms with slight muscle definition. You all know what I'm talking about, not much need to explain lol. But since it's going to be summer, I want to enjoy short sleeve shirts instead of long sleeve shirts pushed up to the elbow, three quarter length sleeves, or oversize t-shirts with sleeves that hit the elbow anyway because they are so big. I just want to be able to show off at least one part of my body this summer so that's my goal for the month of May!

Friday, April 22, 2011

Coughing should be classified as an ab workout!

Well I'm still sick. It seriously feels like it's never going to go away! I'm sure it will though, I mean obviously it will, it will just take time. But with being sick, I've lost another 2 pounds so a total of 4 pounds just from being sick. Crazy right? Also with being sick (I have a cold now on top of everything else), I've been coughing like crazy and it makes my abs hurt. Which leads me to think that coughing should be classified as an ab workout! My abs hurt!!!!!! Along with my throat but that just comes with the territory lol. Well I don't have much else to update about today. I'm still sick, still need to take a picture of my dream board, still need to finish my playlist. I have lots of things I still need to do lol. I should probably get on that instead of slacking off!

Monday, April 18, 2011

Down for the Count

Okay so I haven't posted in 9 days but I've had an excuse for the last 7. I've been sick with no idea what I have or how I got it. I guess I should go to the doctor and find out what's up with me but I worry by the time I actually get there, I won't be sick anymore and everyone will think I'm faking it. Trust me I am not, and my hubby can agree to it! So as much as I've hated being sick, it's been good for me in one way. I've lost 2 pounds! I know that's nothing to get super excited for obviously because it's only 2 pounds but it give me a slight glimmer of hope that it will be possible to lose the weight. I've got to start talking to myself in a more positive manner and here's one thing I started subconsciously saying without even realizing it until my husband pointed it out. I always used to say things like " Oh IF I were skinny, then ....." Now I've started saying "WHEN I'm skinny....." By saying that I eventually will be skinny, I'm helping myself to believe that it's actually going to happen :)

So last night I was having a conversation with a co-worker and we were talking about being overweight and whatnot. She said something that really struck me. She was talking about how she didn't want to be seen by former friends or people from high school because of weight gain. She talked about how being "fat" was always in the back of her mind. She said "I'll be like 'Yeah, we're going bowling! But oh yeah, I'm fat." I realized that I do the same things everyday. And I thought to myself about how many times I've said I didn't want to do something that I really wanted to do just because I was worried about being fat and what people would think of me. So I've decided, after being inspired by my friend Candice, to make a "SKINNY BUCKET LIST" aka the list of things I want to do when I'm skinny.

1. Have my husband carry me over the threshold without him having to put me down immediately afterward

2. Feel comfortable enough to wear bikini (maybe, if the stretch marks fade nicely, a one-piece without cover-up if not) and not care

3. Start taking a bajillion pictures with my husband/friends

4. Go to the mall and try on tons of cute clothes because I'll finally be able to fit into them

So that's all I can think of for now but basically ya'll get my drift. I've also complete my fitness dream board and I'll take a picture tomorrow and get it posted up here. So until then, I'm off to make a new workout play list to get back into my motivation.

Saturday, April 9, 2011

What's Not To Like?

What's not to like about myself? Well apparently in my eyes, a lot of things. I wanted to post every single day of April on things that I like about myself. I only wrote about 4 things. That's pretty sad in my opinion but honestly, I couldn't think of anything else to write about. I can't say I like my nose, I don't. I can't say I like my chin, I don't. I can't talk about anything else on my body because I don't like anything else about my body. So I decided to like what my body can do and maybe it will help me learn to like those parts of my body. Does that make sense? I sure hope so cause here it goes.

I've decided today that I like all the things my arms can do. I've been seeing all those previews of the movie Soul Surfer, about the girl whose arm was bitten off by a shark while she was surfing and she still gets back out there. I was thinking about it today and I would be lost without my arms! I wouldn't be able to type in this blog, or text, or write things down or most importantly hug my husband! I'm sure I would eventually learn to get along without my arms but for now, I would seriously struggle. So for today I'm grateful I have my arms. I may not like the way they look, but I wouldn't be able to do a lot of things in my life right now without them. I am going to work on my arm muscles so I can get toned up and not have "relief society" arms anymore and then I can love my arms all the way!

Wednesday, April 6, 2011

Your eyes are brown...you must be full of crap!

If you couldn't tell by the title that 1. this blog is about my eyes, and 2. that my eyes are brown then I just don't even know what to do with you right now. I guess I should still love you because you're reading my blog and all so I'll just have to go with that :) So yeah, I love my eyes! I think they are really pretty and I like looking at them. Well I guess they like looking at themselves since you see with your eyes....that makes sense right? Anyway, I think my eyes are really cool. They are a nice dark brown and the outsides look like they have a little black around them. Just overall, my eyes are pretty stellar in my opinion. They even have freckles on them like the rest of me. How awesome is that? Freaking awesome in my book. Plus I can do this cool thing where I cross one eye and not the other. Just one more reason to love my eyes

My cool eye trick


Tuesday, April 5, 2011

The Cherry On Top

I don't really feel like loving myself today but I figured I'd better post anyway since I said I would and I need to remind myself about things that I like about myself. Most all of you know, and if you don't......you must have been living under a rock the past 20 years, that I am a natural born redhead. I love being a redhead so much! I'm always getting compliments about my hair and people are always telling me they wish they had my color. I like growing my hair out and donating it because I know how many people like my hair so I figure someone would like a wig out of it, right?

My mother is a gorgeous redhead so I have her to thank for my beautiful hair. I love the way it has a slight golden spark to it in the sunlight. I love the way it looks when I wear a green shirt. I love the way it goes along with my freckles :) But most of all, above anything else, I love that my hair makes me unique. There aren't a lot of natural redheads out there, most are dyed. I'm glad those people want to have my outstanding coloring but nothing beats the real thing! Just for fun, here are some facts about redheads:

  • Professor Jonathan Rees conducted a study of redheads at Edinburgh University.He identified the"gene for red hair" the melanocortin 1 receptor (MC1R), found on the 16th chromosome. He found that this single gene was responsible for red hair.
  • Red hair is a genetic mutation
  • The highest percentage of natural redheads in the world is in Scotland (13%), followed closely by Ireland with 10%. In the US, about 2% of the population are natural redheads     

Just thought I'd share those with you so that you may too learn to love redheads as much as I do!



"Once in his life, every man is entitled to fall madly in love with a gorgeous redhead."
                          Lucille Ball

Saturday, April 2, 2011

My laugh/ sense of humor

I love my laugh! Over the past week, I've gone out with my friends on two different occasions and both times we've been at restaurants. My laughter was the loudest thing there and I feel like it carried through the entire place. I love that about myself! And I love laughing, and making people laugh! You always hear that fat girls use humor to hide behind their feelings. I think that's true to some extent but I also think that some people are are just naturally funny. When I go back and read through my high school yearbooks, almost every comment is about how I made someone laugh or how hilarious I am. I really, honestly think that's true about myself. I think I am a really funny person and generally I have no problems making people laugh.

I know some people hate how they laugh or hate how loud their laughs are but not me. I absolutely love my laugh and my sense of humor that makes other people laugh. I do admit that I might use humor to hide behind my feelings about being fat but for the most part, I really am just a funny person. Now if only I could get that humor to translate through this post......... :)

Friday, April 1, 2011

My Freckles

So I've decided that if I want to improve my self image/confidence then I need to find things about myself that I like instead of things I don't like. I'm going to try to post something everyday. Whether it's something about my body or something about my personality, I'm going to find things that I love!
I'm starting today which is now officially the 2nd but this post is for the 1st. I decided to start with my freckles because I used to love them when I was younger but for the last little while, I've had a love/hate relationship with them. I'm almost identical to my mother and I have been since I was born. Being that my mom grew up as a redhead with freckles as well, she instilled in me from a very young age that freckles are beautiful. She used to tell me that they were angel kisses :) When kids would tease me about them when I was younger, I'd reply "They are angel kisses and since I have so many, it means the angels love me more!" Lately I've been beginning to forget about that.

You see all these pictures everywhere of women with perfect, flawless skin. No freckles, no zits, no moles (unless you're Cindy Crawford of course). When I've attempted doing my make-up lately, I've been trying to cover my freckles so that I could look like these women. Of course I'm not very good at covering them since I'm no professional make-up artist but still. I remembered today though that my freckles make me unique. Sure most everyone has a few freckles here and there but there aren't many people in the world with tons of freckles, especially on their faces.

While I've always preferred a natural (no makeup) look to a full face of make-up. I've realized today that I can still wear make-up in a natural way that still shows my freckles and helps to remind me that I'm beautiful in my own unique way. Now just to get clear skin without any zits so that I can show off my awesome freckles!!!!
My beautiful freckles in all their glory!