Ending Another Challenge

Well another month has gone by! I am tired. It has been a combination of things including kids home for summer break, me in summer school, my new job, travel, exercise & daily life. It has been a good month all in all.

The challenge was to exercise 6x a week for 4 weeks. I DID IT! There were a few hiccups but I would call it a success. My body thanks me. If it were not for the challenge there were days I would not have exercised. Instead I made it to the gym at night before bed to do a quick 3 miles. My endurance is up. Now I have to keep it up!

Next month brings it's new challenge. I just need a few days to rest (as much as possible) & then it will start. I'll keep you posted!

Exercise My Willpower!

Well I am learning how to exercise both my body and my willpower. What I am reminded about time is that it passes whether I am wise or foolish with it. Last week I did not get all my exercising days in. The week was full of catching up on summer school work. Yes, I am caught up thanks to the help of my little (taller) sister Mary Ann!

This week my "Official" training for my race started! Today is day 4 & I am sore! Like really sore! Need help rolling over in bed! I did 3 miles on Monday evening at the gym. The next morning I met my trainer at 6am for him to kick my trash. It was a trash kicking! I waddled into the gym yesterday morning to lift weights. Today I did a 30 minute NTC (Nike) workout at home while the kids slept. Tomorrow the schedule calls for 4 miles and longer run on Saturday. I guess no pain no gain?

Week three is a success. Good habits are forming. The year will come and go. I hope to be stronger in the end.

Because I CAN!

Week two came to an end of our exercise challenge. Last week I am proud to say again I was out the door at 6am a total of 5 days. This was 1 day short of my goal. I was awake when I received a call from my Dad at 5:45am informing me my older brother had been in a accident earlier that morning. Life was put on hold for myself & my family. As news slowly came in through out the day I remembered how precious life is. I will write more about this in another post. The next day I was up and ready to go at 6:00! None of the other women who go with me showed up. It perhaps was a blessing. Even though I exercise on a somewhat regular bases I have self-doubt when it comes to running. This is all in my head. One reason I signed up for a half marathon. I try not to let myself stop me from doing things. Instead I try to learn my weaknesses and face my fears head-on.

The morning after the accident I challenged myself to run a mile without stopping. For me this was a HUGE hurdle! With determination I laced my shoes & started. I did not stop until I ran 1 mile. As I placed one foot in front of the other I told myself "I am strong" or "these are strong legs". While my brother lay in an ICU bed I would not let my ability to use my legs be taken in vain. I will do things because I CAN. The fact that I had not done it before (since maybe high school?) will not stop me! Tomorrow I will go farther than I thought possible. I will not stop putting one leg in front of the other until my legs are nonfunctional. I will RUN a half marathon.

When I came home with excitement I told Andy I did 1 mile. My accomplishment was not overlooked by a man who has run a 50 mile race. He was proud of me for what I set out to do. I thank him for his undying support.

New 30 Days! Give Us Strength!

So after a successful challenge of no spending for 30 days we just had to take on another challenge! So for the month of July we are doing personal exercise 6x a week for 4 weeks. Andy said to me the other day that since it is summer we should have summer bodies. Well I make no promises about a summer body, but maybe a fall body to be covered up with sweaters. Andy is currently not training for an event. We are looking for one if you have a favorite you want to suggest! He really loves trail running so he is yearning to hit the trails soon. I am signed up for my very FIRST real race!!!! It is one I have been wanting to do for years. All fell into place this year for me to attend. So in October I will meet up with AMAZING women in San Francisco, California and complete my first half marathon! It will be a girls trip. I am so stoked! A no spend month may be in order for September to help fund the my travels (and shopping).

Week one is complete & I rocked it! Every morning at 6 am I was out the front door. I am feeling great and loving doing this for me. Nike had a scheduled I was able to plug directly into iCal. I was impressed has seamlessly it was. The process took less than 2 minutes. My official training starts in a week. Until then am just moving and it feels great.

Week 4 of No $pending

Well it is officially over. We made it through our first No $pending month. It is not our last. We (all 5 of us) learned a lot! I think one of the most lessons learned is that we can do whatever we set our minds to. When I would tell people what we were doing they were either amazed, encouraged or thought we were crazy. Some would say "oh, you can do that but i never could". To me this is just silly. One reason I do things is because "I Can". I have to at least try something new. Just because I have never done it before doesn't mean I should not at least try. Even if I fail I will be closer than before I started.

YES, we did save money. We live in a society that lives paycheck to paycheck and is stressed out when an emergency comes. This month we took some of or saved money and payed...

Andy's life & disability insurances for the year = $900
4 new tires for the car = $570
New front brake pads, roters, new filters = $433
Running shoes (my first half marathon is in 14 week!) = $88
Socks (REI had smartwool on clearance) = $40
Costco = $138
Sprouts = $112
Arbonne (protein powder) =$154

All in all it was a great month! We tried something new. Were we perfect? No.
Our new 30 Day Challenge?

EXERCISE 6 DAYS A WEEK FOR 30 DAYS!
I'll keep you posted!

This week was hot. Very Hot. Okay, hot for Flagstaff.  My sister in Phoenix would say "that's not hot!" I think the heat has left me less than motivated. I have not been wanting to cook so we have used up most of the fruit from the freezer for smoothies. My stash of frozen bananas has been exausted in chocolate peanut butter or almond butter smoothies. Isaac can not get enough of them! It makes me happy he knows how to make them all by himself. Now if I could just get him to clean the blender!  I have enjoyed strawberry vanilla smoothies. With smoothies for ANY meal of the day and snacks of mostly fruit I can say summer is in full swing.

The kids had requested tacos with the fixing twice last week. That used up the last of the corn tortillas from the freezer. The kids can not get enough of Spanish rice and beans. I have to keep asking them, "are you still hungry?" I am sure they can't be but they just keep eating!

The budget of $25 was effected this week with the purchase of some gluten free items. I had not looked at the prices for some time. I had to buy it anyway so there was not a point in looking. I do stock up if they are on sale. Here is the break down for food purchases...

Red Grapes 4.12 lbs. = $3.50
Yogurt (I was craving) = $2.79 (was half off)
Corn chips = $1.69
Romain lettuce = .99
Red leaf lettuce = .99
Gala apples 3 lbs. = $3.99
Gluten free pretzels = $4.99 (small bag)
2 avocados = free (they made a mistake so they gave them to me for free)
Gluten free granola bars = $2.49 (on sale & a coupon)
Large cantaloupe = .97
Golden delicious apples 1.66 lb = $1.64
Bulk carrots = .76
Bag rebates = -.15

Total = 26.19

Over again, but pretty happy with how it is going. We are LEARNING a lot = GOOD

The cupboards are getting a little sad looking. One thing this is making us do is eat ALL the food we have on hand. One example is tuna fish. We could not have had it that long since we have not lived here that long. Honestly I do not remember buying it but we own it. This week I made a sandwich with toasted some homemade wheat bread, topped with lettuce and tuna & I like it! One week to go! Wish us luck!

Amaranth?

This may be a new grain to many of you. We have been using it for some years now. I'm thinking 5-6? It is one I forget about from time to time. It can be cooked but we mostly pop it. I really need to get better at using it in more than one way. As promised I am giving a demo on how I pop amaranth. In the past I have put the popped amaranth in a parmesan cheese shaker & the kids will eat in on about everything! I have also added it to my bread while mixing along with other seeds or grains. How ever you choose to eat it enjoy! And make it your own!

Also here are a few links giving more info on the grain. 


http://byutv.org/watch/5bbf0d4e-8e10-4b68-9f62-102d59d4c0cb/chef-brad-fusion-grain-cooking-amaranth-butter-beans


http://glutenfreecooking.about.com/od/nutritionmealplanning/a/amaranth.htm
http://www.aaoobfoods.com/graininfo.htm
http://www.livestrong.com/article/88302-amaranth-nutrition/
http://health.howstuffworks.com/wellness/food-nutrition/natural-foods/natural-weight-loss-food-amaranth-ga.htm