Good first day of Spring Break!

     Good thing I rode the bike this morning for thirty minutes...why? Because I ate out tonight, and I am SURE I used most of my "extra" points for the week! I need to tally everything up!
     I did bring home half my dinner, so that's good! BUT, HOLY COW!!! I almost feel like riding the bike right now, and it's late at night!
     You can check out my other blog to find out about the dinner!

3 more pounds GONE!

     Good news! I lost three pounds this last week! Yup! Now, I am down to 233.4, still pounds away from where I was last summer...but I am going in the right direction :)
     This was quite surprising to me because I felt FAT all day today!
     I had a SUPER workout today! I have been walking (a fast walk) and jogging on the treadmill, and I was able to up the jogging time to three minutes alternating with one minute walking. I felt good, too!
     After that "warm-up" I then lifted weights for thirty more minutes!
     I will also be working out tomorrow after school, too! I feel strong!

Feeling heavy

I am not looking forward to the Weigh-In today. I feel fat, and it’s not because I am wearing a striped shirt, LOL!

I don't know why I feel that way today, but I do. Maybe I am holding water. At any rate, I will go to Weight Watchers, and I will blog the results.

I have been working out, only not Monday or Tuesday, but we are back on track this afternoon! YEAH! I am looking forward to some working out opportunities this upcoming Spring Break! We have some big plans ;)

I have mostly been eating well, although I did eat kinda crazy on Monday, but I am still OK with that because I marked down ALL my points, and thankfully we have the extra points each week. I ended up using up most of those, and I did still have quite a few exercise points banked that I did not touch!

Ride baby ride, burn baby burn!

My Smokin' Joe just before we headed out for a ride!



I took this picture from atop Joe :) This is Rick on Jake, and we are out on a trail near Hess Lake heading back to Fish Lake.



     Yesterday we headed out to ride trail with our horses for the first time this year. The weather was perfect! We had such a blast!!
     The ride was a little over four hours long, but we did stop twice for a quick break, so in all, we were mounted for 240 minutes!!
     Rick kept telling me that riding a horse was just like walking, and that you use the same muscles and burn a tremendous amount of calories. I, of course, did not believe him because I figured the horse was doing all the work!
I do know that a person who rides can feel sore the next day, but not so much from working out, more from sitting for so long (saddle sore). I thankfully have a new saddle ( best Christmas present ever), so I am just a tiny bit sore today, but not bad at all!
     I decided to do a bit of research and LOW AND BEHOLD, as much as I hate to admit it, Ricky was right!!!!! All of the info out there says that riding a horse is just like walking! You use the same muscles, and even use your core muscles more because you are keeping your balance.
     I entered my weight in several calorie calculators and found that I burnt 1080 calories yesterday!! WOW! How amazingly cool is that?!!
     I knew that I was reaping lots of emotional and mental benefits, but when you add on the physical, WELL…I am ready to ride every day!
     Really if you think about it, consider what cowboys looked like in the days of riding horses all the time! You really didn’t see a fat cowboy!
     I love riding! I love the fresh air, the being outside, the birds, the deer, the EVERYTHING! I love being with my horse and feeling the trust and confidence we have in one another. He is just an incredible animal, and yes, my friend.
     It is also wonderful to be able to share this passion with my best friend and PIC (partner in crime), Ricky and our kiddos!
     You can read a really great article HERE about riding horses! Enjoy!

Great workout yesterday!

     My workout yesterday rocked! I did a "warm-up" on the treadmill and then weights.
     For my treadmill work, I walked at a quick pace for 2 minutes to warm-up. Then I jogged for 2 minutes, walked for 1 minute, jogged for two minutes, and continued this for a total of 18 minutes! I logged 1.25 miles in that time.
     My short-term goal is to get up to jogging straight for a mile, with no walking.
     Then I lifted, and I had legs, biceps, and back. I am so impressed with how quickly my strength has improved.
     I love lifting weights! I feel so strong. I am looking forward to lifting this summer in the morning, so I get the metabolic boost for the day.
     This afternoon, I will get some cardio done on the treadmill, and then I lift chest, triceps, and shoulders, AND I am starting the first day of the hundred push-up program! I am excited :)
     I really feel motivated to workout, which is good! I think it has a lot to do with that there is a small group of us doing this now!! It's inspiring when you have other people along for the ride.
     I also notice myself planning more about my exercise. I am "scheduling" my times. For example, I know next week that on Monday I have a massage, so I am going to ride the bike in the morning NO MATTER WHAT!
     Then on Tuesday, Jordie has a baseball game, so I am planning to walk that afternoon outside before his game.
     I like the planning and scheduling and making sure that exercise is a priority, and that it is no different than if I had an appointment for anything else!

Yummy, quick, cheap and healthy...is it possible?

     YES!
     I have found something that I love at Safeway! In their new Eating Healthy line, they have a shrimp stirfry that is really yummy!
     You get 24 ounces for $5.99, and if you watch you can catch it on sale! It's in the frozen food section.
     The veggies (mushrooms, red bell peppers, sugar snap peas, carrots, water chestnuts, and broccoli) are very yummy!! And, the shrimp is plentiful.
     For one serving (1 3/4 cups), with three in the entire bag, the calories are 130, fat 0, and fiber 4g for each serving! If you are keeping track in the WWers world, that's only 2 points for one serving or 6 points for the entire bag (like who could eat all of that?).
     I always add rice to it, and I have also found a new rice from Kashi that I love, too!



     It's Kashi's Moroccan Curry 7-whole grain pilaf! It's super easy, and in one of those packets that you can just throw into the microwave, but I just add it to my stirfry.
     I liked the taste, both sweet and spicy, but I have always been a fan of curry. Although I must say it's not as curry-tasting as I had expected. I really like the texture.
     One cup of the pilaf is only 4 points! And, I just add two packets to my stirfry.
     This is one YUMMY, cheap, healthy, and super quick (less than 10 minutes), easy (only one pan, dump it all in). That's my kind of meal!

How many points in that Girl Scout cookie?!?

     So, I am the Cookie Mom for our little girl's Daisy Scout troop, and so I have had Girl Scout Cookies on the mind! LOL!
     I decided to figure out how many Weight Watchers points were attached for one cookie in each of the flavors :)
Lemon Chalet Cremes 1 point
Trefoils 1 point
Do-si-dos 1 point
Samoas 2 points
Dulce de Leche 2 points
Sugar Free Chocolate Chips 1 points
Tagalongs 2 points
Thin Mints 1 point

     SO, of course, I have rich taste...my two favorites (Samoas and Tagalongs) are two points for one cookie! That's freaking 15 minutes on the treadmill for ONE cookie! LOL
     I do also like the mints though, and those are only one point for one cookie!


You can click on this pic to see the nutritional info for the cookies :)

Push-up test!

     I decided to try my push-up test, and I TRULY thought I wouldn't be able to do one standard push-up, but I totally surprised myself...as I did 5!!!!
     I feel strong and proud of myself! I know that if I had not been lifting weights since the beginning of February that I would not have been able to do any.
     I am going to start my one hundred push-ups program on Friday, and give my arms a rest tomorrow!

I survived!

     What a ridiculously busy day. But, I did survive, and I made it to Weight Watchers to weigh.
     I lost .8, which I will admit I had conflicted feelings about. I wanted it to be more. I did so good all week with counting points, watching portions, drinking water, exercising, all of that.
     But, I did look when I started last year, and I actually lost ZERO during my second week. And, then when I looked at the time from before that (like 8 years ago), and the same thing, no loss during the second week. So, this was a loss.
     Like Horton...a loss is a loss no matter how small, right?!
     And, also if the pattern holds true, the third week was always a huge loss. SO, maybe next week?! I hope!
     And, if I average my loss, I have lost 3.6 for two weeks.
     To recap, I now weigh 236.4, total of 16.2 pounds lost from the 252.6 that I started out at.
     I am looking forward to tomorrow. WAY less hectic, and I am going to lift and work on the treadmill tomorrow after school!

A tiny discovery

     I am somewhat obsessed with points. So, I just realized that the sugar-free Nips (coffee flavor) are 1 point for two!!
     I have been eating just one a day as a tiny little snack, and I entered in the nutritional info and found out that for one coffee Nips (weird, I know, but they are called Nips even if only talking about one) I use 1 point, but if I choose to eat two of them, well that's only 1 point, too!! LOL!
     It doesn't seem like a big deal, but now I can have two of them for the price of one, and I didn't know that, so I wanted to share!