Recent Happenings

It’s been a while since I posted.  I’ve been busy doing different things and just haven’t had time to post.  Let’s see…over Father’s day weekend we went to visit family.  On Saturday we went to a surprise 60th birthday party for Darling Hubby’s step father.  His birthday isn’t until July 6th, so with the party being so early it really was a suprise…he actually thought it was someone else’s retirement party.  We didn’t stay too long because Bug still had a touch of the stomach bug and was in and out of the bathroom pretty much all weekend.  I did get to wear my Birthday Cardigan.  It’s was very comfy and I got a few comments on it.  I’m happy with it.

After that, we spent the rest of the weekend with my parents to celebrate father’s day and my 29th birthday.  My mom was feeling pretty under the weather on Sunday, but we still had a nice Father’s day dinner (steaks cooked on the grill) and birthday cake (which thankfully didn’t ruin my diet.)

Monday was officially my birthday.  My friend Leana came over for craft night and together we cooked my birthday dinner of Easy Chicken Cordon Bleu.  Darling Hubby came home with 6 roses (3 red, 3 yellow) and a very sweet card.  It was a nice day.  Bug even “baked” me a birthday cake (I heard him mixing and stirring and cracking eggs in his room while I made my bed), which he delivered on a tiny red plastic plate with a cup of “milk.”  It was so sweet.

Oh, I mentioned that I had a weight loss goal.  I actually met that goal.  Despite indulging in a couple pieces of birthday cake loaded with inch thick icing, I weighed in at 150lbs on my birthday.  Go me!  Now, only 10 more lbs and I’ll be at my over all goal weight.  It’s funny, thinking back to when I was born, I weighed in at 7lbs 7oz…I’ve gained quite a lot from then!

The rest of the week was pretty uneventful.   I only worked out on Tuesday…I’m kinda disappointed in myself.  I paid for it, though.  I did level 1 of the shred (I figured I’d go easy on myself for a couple days) and man it made my muscles hurt like crazy.  I couldn’t beleive it.  After doing level’s 2 and 3 of the shred for weeks, level 1 kicked my butt!  I literally hurt all week long.  I’m sure had I just jumped back into working out I would have felt fine, but I wimped out…As of today, (Monday) I’m back on the ball.  I did level 3 again today and I’m feeling pretty good.  I’ve got my mom friends keeping up on me about the working out.  I need to keep it up all week!

Friday I got a call from my mom.  Turns out she has pneumonia.  She was in and out of the doctors office and the ER all week and was home waiting for a nebulizer to be delivered.  I talked to her briefly and she sounded pretty miserable, much worse than she had been on Sunday.  I called her again yesterday (Sunday) and she sounded much better.  She’s still pretty sick, but all the antibiotics she’s on and the nebulizer have helped her a lot.  She’s hoping that she’s much better by tomorrow (Tuesday) so the doctor won’t put her in the hospital.  She hates hospitals.

Saturday and yesterday we ran a lot of errands.  I picked up 5 skeins of the Caron One Pound yarn and a spool of Aunt Lydia’s Crochet Cotton Thread and 3 steel crochet hooks.  My MIL asked me if I would make a few handcrafted items to donate to be sold to make money for a convention (not sure for what exactly) that is being held in 2012.  They have to come up with an ungodly about of money to put on the convention, so every little bit helps.  I’m planning to make 4 baby blankets (Rose, Lilac, Pale Green and Soft Sage), using the hooded baby blanket pattern from Pound of Love (omitting the hood).  The Caron One Pound yarn is a bit thicker and stiffer than the Pound of Love, so I think my gauge is different.  I may have to make adjustments in future blankets, depending on how the first comes out.  As for the crochet threat, I thought about making some bookmarks.  They are pretty easy to make and I could make several of them from one skein/spool.  As I was looking through bookmark patterns on Ravelry, Darling Hubby saw a pattern for a Book Thong and I found some old beads in my craft drawer so I whipped up a couple book thongs of various lengths.  He then found a couple beads in my stash that he liked and asked me to whip up one for him (it has a fish at the bottom and is pretty neat).  On Sunday I bought a bunch of wooden beads and plan to make a few more thongs for my MIL to sell…I’d love to make crafty things like that to sell for myself, but I’m hesitant to try.  I’d love to have an Etsy store, but I just don’t know if I could keep up on it or if anyone would even buy my stuff…

Anyway, yesterday we bought a bunch of things to finish sprucing up our front yard.  We picked up some solar lights from K-mart for $20 and put them along side my new walkway.  We also picked up some plastic fencing pieces that match the ones we have in the front already and fenced off our barberry bush and an orange lily that is next to our front steps.  we also picked up 2 more lilies (one pink (Bug’s favorite color) and a purple one (my favorite color) and planted those in the big flower bed out front.  We’re planning to get 2 more tonight (Darling Hubby will pick them up on his way home) and will fill in that garden with mulch.  We also ran to Home Depot to find a bird bath to put in the backyard.  I’ve wanted one for a while and decided to look for one after I’ve seen several birds taking baths in the water on top of our hose box.  It’s very hard to find a bird bath….we were about to give up completely if Home Depot didn’t have one…I haven’t seen any birds in it yet, but I see some evidence that someone has been there recently.

So, there you have it.  That’s what I’ve been up to recently.  I’m hoping to get a little more crafting done tonight.  It was supposed to be my craft night, but Leana isn’t feeling well, so we cancelled.  I’m thinking we are going to stop by Bernie and Rose’s new house tonight after dinner to check it out.  Hopefully I’ll have a good week in the workout department and will be down a pound or 2 next week.  Fingers crossed.  Hopefully my mom will continue to be on the mend and will stay out of the hospital.  Bug sent her a card today with a kitty dressed as a doctor.  I’m sure she’ll get a kick out of it and it will make her feel better.

Food For Friday – 6/22 – 7/5

Since we are going away for the weekend, we are actually going grocery shopping after lunch.  For some reason making the menu this week was practically torture.  Nothing sounded appetizing and I just didn’t want to put much thought into it…I think, between Darling Hubby and myself, we got a decent menu put together.  Hopefully this time around we don’t have so many big meals in a row with a ton of leftovers.

Monday - My birthday and craft night – Leana is making Easy Chicken Cordon Bleu (I’m helping her make it)
Tuesday - Curry Pork Roast
Wednesday - Homemade pepperoni pizza
Thursday - Game Night – Dinner TBD
Friday - Hamburger Helper
Saturday - Banquet Pot Pies
Sunday - Macaroni and cheese

Monday - Craft night – My turn to cook – Pasta with sauce and Texas Toast
Tuesday - Bacon Wrapped Chicken Cheese Roll-ups
Wednesday - Turkey burgers and fries
Thursday - Cube steak in tomato sauce with rice and veggies
Friday -  Barber’s Chicken Cordon Bleu and fries
Saturday - Darling Hubby’s birthday – Homemade fried chicken
Sunday - Waffles with bacon

I Got A New Way To Walk…Walk, Walk

Walk way that is!  Darling Hubby and I finished redoing our front walk this weekend and I’m pretty happy with how it turned out.  The old one was a crumbling concrete mess and looked down right terrible.  Here is a picture that was taken in early 2004 (before we sided over that hideous yellow color) that shows an already crumbling mess…add 5 years to that and you can imagine what it looked like a couple weeks ago before we broke it all up.

When we first moved into this house in 2003, there were 3 very large stone slabs laying between the driveway and the neighbor’s fence.  They served no purpose, aside from giving the old neighbors ramshackle fence a little more stability at the bottom…lol)  I don’t even think I have a picture of them…they were that insignificant to us.  When Darling Hubby and I started discussing options for repairing the front walk way, I made mention of the 3 stones and when we took measurements, we found they were practically perfect for the space.  They were a little smaller width wise, but it was only a couple inches and we decided to take out the bricks and other stones that made up the side walk way that led from the driveway to the main walk way since it wouldn’t match up well.  We’d planned to just lay the stone slabs flat and basically replace the front walk, but my friend Rose gave me a good idea to make them into steps.  It actually turned out better to make steps since the last stone was a bit longer than the concrete slab the construction guys poured when our sidewalks and curbs were replaced in 2007.  We had no good way to cut the stone slab to make it even so overlapping worked out well.  Plus it will keep the rugrat kid from down the street (who can’t be but a year or 2 older than Bug), who often has no adult supervision, from riding his wagon down my walk way…he attempted that once but quickly moved on when he saw me watching him from my front door…he hasn’t set foot on my property since.  Anyway, we ended up using the bricks from the side walk way area to make the steps…nothing goes to waste around our house!  lol

Here’s the finished product!  We added top soil to make things even and planted some grass seed.

We will eventually get some new solar lights to put along the sides.   The new steps look nice next to our newly redone flower bed.  There were some scraggly looking roses there before and we took them out last month and planted some mini blueberry bushes and some irises.  It looks so much nicer.

Here you can see the side walk way area.  This used to have bricks laid out there, but it was starting to heave, even after I relaid them a couple years ago.  We reused the trapezoidal stone block that was there previously and plan to get some stepping stones to place there rather than making a full walkway.  I’m thinking something along these lines.  They are made from recycled rubber.  I like reusing and recycling!

Here is a picture of the fence area where the stones used to sit.  I cleaned it up and extended the brick lined flower bed that we put in after the new neighbor replaced the fence last year.  I planted some wild flower seeds and some cosmos seeds that I got free in the mail from somewhere.  You can see my container garden with my potatoes, carrots and spinach.  The wooden post that has the bamboo wind chime hanging from it was once part of the overhang that extends all the way back to the garage.  We only use it for storing our garbage can, some firewood that’s drying and as the uprights for the “fence” that I put across the driveway to contain Bug and the dogs to the yard.

In addition to finishing the walk way and creating the new garden and planting seeds, we replaced our outside water spigot.  Shortly after moving in we replaced the old existing water spigot with a frost free one.  Last year it started spurting water out of the top whenever it was turned on.  It wasn’t bad, but this year it started getting really bad.  It made a huge mess when you needed to water anything and I dreaded using it.  Of course, it wasn’t an easy fix.  There was a lot of grumbling at it and some quick fixes, but in the end we have a spigot that works and it no longer wastes water!

You may be wondering what Bug was doing the whole time we were working.  He was either inside playing or  in the yard playing while the stones were moved and he did help a little when we were putting down the dirt and grass seed.  For some of the spigot work he was running around shoot the dog with a water gun.  Don’t worry, Max isn’t mad that he’s getting all wet…

In fact, he LOVES getting sprayed and shot with water!

He even waits patiently while Bug pumps the water gun back up.

We didn’t let Bug help or be around much for the moving of the stones.  Since we didn’t have much in the way of equipment that could easily lift and move three several hundred pound stones, we improvised and didn’t want him getting hurt accidentally.  For the first 2 stones we employed the Egyptian pyramid building method of putting the stone on a sheet of ply wood and using rollers to move it down the driveway.  It actually worked pretty well, considering.  For the 3rd stone, we borrowed our neighbor’s father’s dolly which was much easier.  lol  It’s actually great that we have neighbors who will let us borrow things.  For this job alone we borrowed a sledge hammer, a pry bar and the dolly…all of which we returned, promptly.  Good neighbors always return things quickly! lol

Overall, I’m very happy with how things came out.  I only hope that our grass starts growing soon.  It’s done nothing but rain and rain and rain (severe thunderstorms nightly) and it’s starting to wash away some of my dirt…I shored it up with some bricks today.  Hopefully it will help keep the dirt in place.

A New Workout DVD & A Craft Update

I ended up taking 2 days off from exercising to let my calves heal and I’m glad I did.  I don’t think I could have worked out at all on Tuesday and while I probably could have attempted something yesterday, I gave myself one more day to get better.  Today the pain it there only if I step just right or if press on my left calf (which was the worst of the 2).  I had a hell of a time getting up and getting going this morning.  I decided that I should workout and see if that would perk me up.  So, after breakfast and Bug got a little tv time, I popped in my Denise Austin Ultimate Fat Burner DVD and got to sweating.  The workout was a little longer than the shred but there were lots of cool down periods which gave me time to breath and grab a drink of water.

There were some pros to this DVD.  One is that it works the triceps, which are the most underused muscle in my arm.  I need all the help I can get in that area and this workout gives the tricep a little attention.  Also, many of the moves work the outer thigh area.  My outer thighs could use a little work, too.  I like that there were quick cool downs at the end of each cardio rep which helped keep me from getting too tired too fast during the longer workout.

The cons to the DVD are that it’s longer than the shred.  I’m used to taking 20 minutes of my day to workout and this one is about 45 minutes with the warm up and cool down.  I like the shortness of the shred.  Another con is that you need a workout step.  I don’t have one and in an attempt to get the full benefit of the workout, I used one of Bug’s little step stools and while it worked for the most part, it was smaller than an actual workout step and a lot more tippy…plus, I was worried about jumping on it too hard and breaking it…I’m only slightly heavier than the recommended weight limit.  lol

I think I’ll continue to give the workout a try, just to see how my outer thighs and triceps fare.

In other news, I’m almost finished with one of my June goals.  I’m almost finished with my crochet Birthday Cardigan.  I just finished the right sleeve and I’m so happy with it.  I’m loving that I can try it on as I go so I know that it fits properly.  I was able to add a few extra rows around the bottom edge to make it the right lenght for me and I was able to make the sleeve the right lenght, too.  Had I followed the pattern as it was written, it would have been too short for my liking.  I will try to get a few more rows on the left sleeve done tonight and I should have it done by tomorrow so I can wash it and block it a little.  I’m super excited about wearing it next weekend!  Oh, and I think I’m loving the cotton yarn (Lily Sugar n’ Cream) and I think I want to get some more for my stash.

Ups and Downs

Today has been an up and down day.  First, when I got up this morning I just wanted to sit back down.  It turns out that yesterday’s Belly Dancing seriously hurt my calf muscles.  It hurts so much to walk, especially down stairs and I cannot stand on my tiptoes.  I thought I’d “push through the pain” and try a second day, but it’s a no go.  I can’t move certain directions without feeling like I’m going to fall down.   The best thing has been staying off my feet today, sitting down.  With that being said, I’ve had a lot of time to work on my crocheting.

Last night at Craft NightI picked up my K hook, my Lily Sugar n’ Cream cotton yarn and my Lacy Cardigan pattern (PDF of pattern) and set about making myself a “Birthday Cardigan” (as I’ve dubbed it.)  I was having serious issues with reading the pattern…most patterns are very wordy and this one is one of the wordier ones.  I had to read through all the “special instructions” just to find where I needed to start and even then, I was intimidated…I don’t consider myself an expert crocheter (although I’ve improved tons from when I started) this was labeled expert so I was thinking I was doomed from the start…at least my gauge matched up perfectly…I don’t think that’s ever happened before…lol  Before the night was over, I made it through the first 6 rows.  Unfortunately, I was having severe issues with my brain reading the pattern and telling my hands what to do cause I kept making mistakes left and right.  I frogged rows 3-6 several times and after the girls left with their projects, I tore the whole thing out and started from my foundation chain…sigh…At least this time I knew the pattern a little better and voila! I made it through the first 6 rows without issue.

Today I picked it back up and started on the “this size only” instructions, which lead me to the body.  I was a bit intimidated by the arm hole areas, but it looked harder than it actually was and in no time I finished most of the body.  I have one more row to do and I can start on the edging.  I’ve never done picot edging before, but I think I’ll get the hang of it.  I feel like I’m on a roll.

I know I sound excited about my progress on this cardigan and I am.  Very excited.  I’m not usually good at making wearbles (scarves, mittens and hats don’t count), just look at how long Darling Hubby has been waiting for his sweater…yeah…  The best thing about this particular item of clothing is that I can try it on as I go!  I was able to make sure it fit the way I wanted it to before getting it mostly done and realizing that I’m going to look like a 2 ton elephant wearing  size zero jeans or like I’m being eaten by the fabric.

So, Doris Chan has a new fan!  I think when I finish this, I may want to try another one of her patterns or even another cardigan in another color.  (That is, as soon as I finish some of the WIP’s I have hanging around in my crochet trunk.)  It seems that her gauge and my gauge are pretty close and the best thing of all is that her items are simple, cute and best of all, WEARABLE!

For now, I’m going to straighten up my house and my kitchen and start on dinner.  Later, I think I’ll sit down again and finish up the cardigan body and see how far I get.  So, yes, today has been filled with lots of up and downs, but I consider it an all around UP day.

What Comes Next?

So last week, I did my final day of the 30 Day Shred.  Today I picked up my Bellydance: Fitness for Beginners – Basic Moves and Fat Burning DVD, popped it in and prepared myself for a little wiggling and jiggling….let’s just say there was a lot of jiggling!  lol  I also found out that I’m not very coordinated when it comes to Belly Dancing…I can only imagine how un-sexy looking I look wiggling my hips and boobs and jumping around the room!  lol

I did the entire dvd (about 45 minutes) which has a section showing a few of the basic moves and a section that is for fat burning (cardio).  The basic moves was basically a 15-20 minute stretch with a little cardio involved.  The fat burning is a lot of cardio, with some stretching at the beginning/end.  I think I’ll just do the cardio portion for the rest of the week.

After doing the shred and feeling worked to the bone and dripping with sweat after each workout, I’m not sure this dvd is going to hold a candle to Jillian.  I was sweating and breathing slightly hard during the cardio, but it didn’t really feel like it was a full body workout.  There was a lot of leg and ab work, but there wasn’t much in the way of arm workout (aside from holding them up in the air during most of the moves…which doesn’t seem to do much for me.) and I’m looking for something that has an arm workout, too…I still need to tone those lower arms.  I’m seriously considering Jillian’s Banish Fat DVD.

Despite my doubts about it, I’m planning to do a few more days of it to give it a chance.  I think I’ll do just the cardio portion for the rest of the week and hopefully by the end of the week I’ll be slightly more coordinated and less self conscious about my wiggling and jiggling!

In addition to completing the shred last week, I finished another crochet project.  I started a special project for an old friend (Carrie I don’t think you read my blog. but if you are reading this STOP!!!  Do not pass go!  Do not collect $200!  lol) and finished it yesterday.  Now I just have to mail it to her and her baby girl due this fall.

Here are a couple pictures of the finished project.

It’s the Pound of Love hooded blanket pattern.  I left off the hood part.  Personally, I think that a hood is better suited to be on a towel rather than a blanket.  Anyway, a hooded blanket would probably only be good while the baby is immobile and without the hood, it’s good for a lot longer.  Since I didn’t do the hood, I had extra yarn, so I made the blanket longer and added a pink scalloped edging.  The final measurements are 37″ x 29.”  I’m very happy with how this blanket came out.  I can only hope that the little recipient will enjoy cuddling up with it like I did while I was making it.

So, what’s next for my crocheting project?  Well, I could go back to Darling Hubby’s sweater, but I’m at serious odds with that sweater.  I think that I’m going to start on the Lacy Top Cardigan by Doris Chan (rav link).  I bought some cotton yarn a few weeks ago (I’ve never worked with cotton yarn before…only acrylic) and I’m hoping to have it done by next weekend so I can wear it for my birthday (I’m also hoping to lose 3 more lbs by then).  Lots of goals are riding on that weekend!  My only problem is, I’m not sure exactly where to start on the pattern.  There are no clear cut directions saying “chain x, etc” so I really have to read the directions and see what I come up with.  I’m also going to have to check my gauge.  I’ve only twice made a wearable item that wasn’t huge or too small…I have serious gauge issues!  I just hope I can figure it out and get a good chunk of it done tonight…I’ve only got about 12 days to work on it.

Food For Friday – 6/8 – 6/21

Monday -  My turn to cook – Bourbon Chicken, rice, broccoli
Tuesday - Spaghetti with homemade sauce and meatballs
Wednesday -  Pot Roast
Thursday - Game Night – Dinner TBD
Friday - Beef Noodle bowl
Saturday - Hamburgers/hot dogs with tuna noodle salad, chips
Sunday -Pot Pies/hamburger helper/fend for yourself

Monday - Craft night – Possibly Rose’s turn to cook
Tuesday - Thanksgiving  (turkey & cranberry) meatloaf
Wednesday - Pizza – We are going to see Walking with the Dinosaurs tonight.
Thursday - Bacon Cheese Chicken Rolls
Friday - Homemade Waffles (and maybe leftover bacon)
Saturday - Out of town visiting family for Father’s Day and birthdays
Sunday - Out of town visiting family for Father’s Day and birthdays

30 Day Shred – Day 29 and 30 – I’M DONE!!!

It’s official!  I’ve completed all 30 days! GO ME!  I’m feeling really good about myself right now.  I haven’t lost a lot of weight, just a couple pounds, but I see myself looking different, thinner in places and I’ve developed some muscles and those things make me happy, very happy.

Overall, I recommend the shred, despite my lack of weight loss.  It tones and thins, gives a boost of energy and makes you feel great afterward. I didn’t think to take measurements of my body prior to starting the challenge and now having finished, I wish I did.  I took a couple measurements a couple weeks ago and after measuring today I can say that I have lost a few inches.  My inner thighs are thinner, down at least an inch.  My upper arms are down a full inch and my flabby tricep isn’t as flabby…in fact, it’s looking very shredded!  My middle/chest has changed quite a bit, too.   I’m actually down a cup size in my bra!  I’m happy about that!  My waist is down an inch or two and my hips are quite a bit thinner.  I still have that post pregnancy pooch thing that I think will never completely go away, but it is a lot smaller, too.  I even think that my fingers are thinner…my wedding rings keep spinning around on my finger which makes it hard to type and crochet!  lol  With those results alone, I recommend the shred.

If you are considering taking on the 3o day challenge, know there will be some pain, especially in those first few days.  Your body will adjust and you’ll start feeling great.  I’m serious when Jillian says, “push through the pain.”  You’ll be glad you did.

The next question is, what will I do now?  I think I seriously need a break from the shred, while the workout wasn’t getting harder, it was just getting harder to motivate myself to get up and do it.    I was just burned out doing the same thing over and over.  I don’t necessarily need a break from Jillian, so I’m seriously considering her Banish Fat, Boost Metabolism dvd.   My only sticking point is I’m still not sure I can handle 45 minutes of shred level activity…I guess they only way I’ll know is to try.  I may also try my belly dancing or the other Denise Austin cardio dvd.  I guess I’ll have to see what I feel up to come Monday.

But, the big thing is I DID IT!  I MADE IT 30 DAYS (not in a row, of course, but I did it!)  If I can do it, you can, too!

30 Day Shred – Day 26, 27 & 28

I’m been kinda a slacker when it comes to blogging as of late, but I haven’t been a slacker when it comes to the shred.  I’ve diligently done the past 3 days.  I only have 2 more days to go!  In all honesty, I’m looking forward to being done with it!  I think I’m getting burned out and today it felt like I had to force myself to get off the couch and do it.  Of course, I was watching videos of Bug from when he was little, so that made it even harder!

I’ve come to the conclusion that I just cannot do the rock star jumps and when I do I feel like I’m doing them wrong and I’m not keeping my heart rate elevated.  I just don’t feel like they are doing anything for me.  The past 2 days I’ve substituted a round of butt kicks and a round of high knees (from level 2) in their place and I’ve felt much better for it.  It gets my heart pumping more and I’m burning off some fat (or at least I can hope!)

Since I’ve almost accomplished my goal (actually doing all 30 days and proving Darling Hubby wrong) I’m thinking about what I want to do next.  I was highly considering going to my Belly Dancing DVD that I’ve had for a while but never go into (I was too self conscious about my fat jiggling around…lol) but now I’m thinking of sticking with Jillan and trying out her Banish Fat, Boost Metabolism DVD.  A friend of mine online suggested it, saying that if we didn’t think she was evil in the shred, we’d think she was in this video.  lol So, I checked it out online (You Tube) and it’s 45 minutes of shred level intensity!!!  Oh. My. God!  But, the thing is, they make it look so easy, which makes me think that I could try it.  However, they don’t offer many modification for some of the exercises like they do in the shred.  Some are the same from the Shred so I know mods for those.  I just worry that I won’t be able to do it all (I don’t know if I’m coordinated enough for the kick boxing stuff) and I’ll feel like I’m “phoning it in” to quote a line from Jillian herself.   I do think that some of the exercises look better than what I’m doing in level 3 and seem to target the areas where I need it the most…I guess I’ll have to think about it a little longer.

It’s actually kinda funny that I’m even considering different DVD’s.  If you asked me a month ago if I would want to continue working out I probably would have laughed at you and told you flat out, “no.”  I figured I’d get my fill of working out from this one DVD and would be settled.  Ok, I have gotten my fill of the DVD, but I’m not completely happy with my weight still (although I have lost inches in places, which does cheer me up quite a bit) and I’m hoping that something different will help me get to my goal weight.

In the weight department, I’ve found that I’ve I’ve hit a wall, a plateau, if you will.  I’ve been stuck at 155lbs for the past 2 weeks and, despite the fact I dropped to 154 for just a few days, I haven’t changed much at all.  It’s a little disappointing.  I was really hoping to drop down to 150 (5lbs) before my birthday (June 22), but I don’t see that happening at all, now.  I’ve been trying to watch what I eat, but I’m usually starving by evening and all the snack food in my house is junk food and I just have no self control when it comes to junk food, especially chocolate…I just can’t stop at one piece.  I think I need to find an inexpensive (I don’t want to shell out a ton of money on those diet bars that taste like chal) low calorie, yet filling, snack that I can eat around 8-9pm.  Anyone have any suggestions?

30 Day Shred – Day 25

So I wasn’t very good last night…I said I wasn’t going to snack, but someone who shall remain nameless – Karl – brought dired cranberries and chocolate covered raisins and I kept finding my hand in the contain…I’m sure I had at least 2 servings all totaled…each with 160-180 calories per serving.  Yikes!  That was on top of the jello/oranger sherbet concoction with whipped cream on top…At least my scale didn’t jump up to 155 this morning…that would have seriously put a damper on my mood!

I wasn’t feeling that great this morning (probably from all the sugar/sweets I ingested last night), so I ended up skipping breakfast…bad I know…but I ate lunch early and decided to attempt to shred around 12:30.  Since I haven’t been getting as much of a cardio workout from level 3, more of a toning one, I decided that I should do some intense cardio seeing as I was so bad, calorie intake wise, last night.  Level 2 always got my blood pumping and my lungs burning so that’s what I did.  I still say level 2 is EVIL!  lol  At least my knee didn’t start hurting.  It was a good change of pace and I was able to do some of the more intense moves I couldn’t do well before, like the oblique twists, so I think after I finish my 30 days next week, I’ll jump around between level 2 and 3, maybe throwing in a level 1 just to mix it up a bit, in between the other workout videos I plan to do.  I’m thinking that my belly dancing video will come next.

I’m debating on accepting a challenge put forth by my baby/mommy board.  One member has asked us to do various crunches/sit-ups over the weekend…I like having my weekends off, but it is only a few crunches…I will be going garage sale hopping tomorrow if the weather is decent (I’ve already got my list written out) and will probably make a Target run at some point, so I will get some exercise in…maybe I should just do those crunches,  huh?!  lol