Monday, June 30, 2008

Kick Start Day 2

Yesterday I started my Turbo Jam 10 day Kick Start. It is ONLY 10 days! Your calories range from around 1000-1200. You also watch carbs, fat, and protein. This is NOT a severely restrictive diet on carbs. For instance day 1 you can have 100 carbs. The lowest they get during the 10 days is 77 grams. I can handle that.
I have "tried" the 20 or less carbs a day. I was miserable! Felt horrible, bad breath and everything.
Fats 23-48gms, Protein 103-130.
Its not too bad really. It is plenty of food. I have to keep a journal so that I can keep up.

As for workouts I really kick it up during this time. I did the Kick Start at the end of February and lost 5 lbs. I am hoping to do at least the same this time around.

My workouts yesterday were
1. Cardio Party 2 (45 minutes)
2. ab ripper 200 (6 minutes) this is the same one I did on Saturday. My abs are sore!

Today I did
1. Cardio Party 1 (45 minutes)
2. Ten Minute Trainer lower body (10 minutes)

I have a competition to win! I want to be on that stage in Anaheim, California in March 2009.

Saturday, June 28, 2008

Today is Saturday

I should have been able to sleep in this morning. I would love to spend a slightly overcast Saturday morning tucked in my nice big bed.
I woke up at 4am needing to go to the little girls room. I climbed back into bed hoping for that quick return to a sweet slumber. It never came. I laid there for what seemed like an eternity. PJ the cat decided he was in the mood for some petting. So he laid either at the top of my head or right next to me. He couldn't be still, he had to scratch and groom. I finally gave in and got up about 6am.

The house was quiet. I made coffee and washed the dishes right quick.
Just before 8am Jeff left for a meeting and I popped in my workout video for the day.
Today's choice was Turbo Jam Cardio Party 3. It is 50 minutes of great high energy cardio. It is a fusion workout of kickboxing, dance, and martial arts.
After that I did Ab Ripper 200! Sounds horrible doesn't it. It is 10 ab moves, 20 reps each. All done in about 6 minutes.
I burned a total of about 320 calories during the workouts. I have a problem getting my heart rate up and keep it up. I take a blood pressure medication that makes my heart rate slower. It is frustrating, but I have to live with it.

It is time to shower and get ready to go to the Friends of the Library book sale.

Friday, June 27, 2008

Body Changes


It is hard to believe that it has almost been 2 years since I started exercising and losing weight. I never thought I would have lasted this long. Words really cannot express the way I feel.
My programs include

1. Turbo Jam
2. 10 Minute Trainer
3. P90X
4. Power 90
5. Power Half Hour

All these programs can be purchased through www.beachbody.com. Or www.teambeachbody.com/jeneferb

Team Beachbody is a great place to come for fantastic products, fitness videos, supplements, equipment. and top notch support. The support message boards are totally free. You will find thousands of people just like you doing the same program you are. People with the same questions, struggles etc. There is also a great number of people right there to help you and answer your questions.

If you are not happy with your health and body and are ready to change your life, come by and visit the website. There is a program for you. You will not be disappointed.
Look at me! I have lost 44 pounds and over 20 inches from my chest, waist, and hips!

It is never to late to start.

A really cool feature of the site is WOWY (working out with you). It is a virtual gym. You "meet" people there and workout together. So even though you are alone at home, you are exercising with other people. Also, just for logging in and working out you are entered into a daily drawing for prizes. Cash prizes from $300-$1000 and DVD players, digital cameras, video cameras and more.

Just go for it. You have nothing to lose but weight:) You have everything to gain. More endurance, self esteem, confidence, and pride.

Jeff and his goatee

Around November 2007 my husband stopped trimming his goatee. He decided to let it grow. I retaliated at first. I thought it absurd for him to do it, but time passes and you sort of forget about it.
Today he went into the bathroom and used my Chi (hair straightener) and got it all straight to see how long it had gotten. Then I had the bright idea to spray it with red hair spray. It looks pretty wicked!
So here he is:)

Thursday, June 26, 2008

Hiking

I found a new passion, obsession, whatever you want to call it. Hiking! I am sure I will feel the same about actual backpacking too.
While on our trip in the Smoky's we spent a lot of time hiking up the side of a mountain. It was unbelievable. It felt so good to make it. The scenery was breathtaking as well.

So we have decided to take more hiking and backpacking trips.
Jeff ordered me this neat backpack today. I got a nifty pair of hiking shoes a couple of weeks ago.
I worked all night last night and have to return tonight. When I have some time I will post some scenic photos of our fab trip.

Tuesday, June 24, 2008

Cicadas



The Cicadas in Cades Cove were in great number. Thousands! You couldn't get out of the car without being swaarmed. It was like a great plague.


Here are a couple pix for your viewing pleasure.

The tough life of a house cat

It must be such a hard job being a house cat. We get up, we eat, we walk around the house, we get our heads scratched. We go to sleep.

Today I laid on the bed for a second. Literally a second and Ajax wants my spot.

So I get up and take the clothes out of the dryer and lay them on the sofa to fold. I hardly turn around and find this!
This is PJ.

Monday, June 23, 2008

My kids


I love these kids so much I cannot stand it!!!!
this was taken in front of the fire place at our cabin in the Smoky's. I sure miss that place

In the Garden..

Ok it has been just barely over a month since we planted our veges. We were later than most people around here.

We finally have some veges showing...yeah!!! Below you will see our first Zucchini!
I also have a cute little cucumber starting. Oh man I can't wait!!! (in the mean time Kristi if you have an abundance of cukes please send them to me!)
We picked 1 of my sweet cherry peppers yesterday. I am not quite sure what to do with it now though...hmmm

Today, today, today

I worked all night last night. I got home to an empty house. Jeff and the kids are in Benton til Tuesday evening. I have a CPR class tomorrow morning or I would have made the trip too.
The house is certainly quiet. You would think the cats would entertain me, but the lazy boys are sleeping...how rude..lol

Around 3:45pm I worked out to Tony Horton's Ten Minute Trainer. I did 2 videos (so 20 minutes). Don't let the little bit of time fool you. That stuff ROCKS!! He isn't fooling around either.

Now I am all showered and just hanging out.

My nephew Michael had minor surgery on his hip today. They live a long way from here. I wish we lived close to some family, cousins, or something. But as it is, the closest relative is 2 hours away. I hate that our kids cannot grow up with their cousins.
We are only able to get together a couple of times a year, even with the closer ones.

It is getting to be dinner time and I am hungry.

Friday, June 20, 2008

Kids in the kitchen


A great way to spend time with the kids is cooking. Not only is it great bonding time, it is a great math lesson (right Laurie). There are fractions galore in the kitchen.
Tonight Victoria and I made a pizza. Jeff had a men's meeting and they will be having pizza. So I decided that we would make our own.
Not only do they taste better than a frozen premade pizza, they are cheaper than a hot pizza from your local pizza store. Ok, so it wont be cheaper than your places with $5 deals, but I am talking about your multi-topping pizzas.
Our favorite is a Hawaiian Pizza. The crust is homemade and we top with pizza sauce, cheese, Canadian bacon, pineapple, and sometimes mushrooms. Adam does not like mushrooms so I don't always put them on there. Usually I just tell him to pick them off.

My sister-in-law gave me a recipe for a deep dish crust. It will make 3 deep dish "personal pan" type crusts. I like to keep roll whole and put it on my Pampered Chef large cooking stone.


The recipe for the crust is

1 package yeast (I buy in bulk so use 1 1/4 tsp)
1 TBSP sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 cup nonfat dry milk

1 1/3 cups warm water (105 degree) (laurie puts hers in a mason jar and cooks in microwave for 1 minute)
2 tbsp oil

4 cups flour
cooking spray to spray around outer edge of crust

Put yeast, sugar, salt, and dry milk in a large bowl.
add water and stir to mix well. Allow to sit for two minutes.
add oil and stir again.
add flour and stir until dough forms and flour is absorbed.
Turn out onto a flat surface and knead for about 10 minutes. Divide dough into three balls. IN three 9" cake pans, put 3oz of oil in each making sure it is spread evenly. (Laurie uses a little less than 1/4 cup of oil per pan). I agree with that too, when I use the pans.

using a rolling pin, roll out each dough ball to about a 9" circle. place in cake pans. spray outer edge of dough with cooking spray. cover with a plate and place in warm area and allow to rise for 1-1 1/2 hours.
top with favorite toppings and bake.
I like to mix my flour too. Sometimes I will use 1/2 all purpose white flour and 1/2 whole wheat flour.

Ally Cat



This is our Ally girl. We had her for about 8 years. She fairly suddenly got sick and she died last week. This was taken in November 2007.
This was Victoria's cat. She will be missed.

When I grow up...


"When I grow up I want to be a cucumber". This is our cucumber plant today. We have tons of these pretty yellow flowers and have for days and days. So far no evidence of any cucumbers yet.
I am so ready for some fresh cucumbers!

todays plants

Our sweet cherry peppers are nearly ready to pick. Well one of them. See....

You see the ID tab. It says "sweet red cherry" nice and big and "pepper" really small. The picture could be confused with Cherry Tomatoes. Which is what I did. Until my very smart husband looked at the leaves for heavens sake and clued me into the fact that I had a pepper plant instead of tomato. Oh, well!


So moving on... Here we have a hibiscus that Victoria wanted. We bought it last week. It had a bloom like this when we bought it. Then it fell off and this one opened up this morning.

And last but not least I think the tree has grown another inch.

Thursday, June 19, 2008

Yummy Ice Pops

Kiwi-Strawberry Pops (serves 8)

1 (4 serving size) pkg sugar-free strawberry flavored gelatin (i used strawberry kiwi)
1/4 cup boiling water
1 cup halved strawberries
2 large ripe kiwi, peeled and cut into 1/4-inch chunks, divided (I did not divide the kiwi. I cut quartered it and added to strawberries)

1. Dissolve gelatin in boiling water. Stir in 1/4 cup ice-cold water. Pour cooled gelatin mixture into blender. Add strawberries and three-quarters of the diced kiwi; blend until smooth. Using wooden spoon, gently stir in remaining kiwi. (like I said I didn't to the extra steps with the kiwi)

2. Pour 1/4 cup of the mixture into ice-pop molds or small cups (i used ice trays), and insert sticks. Freeze until solid.

Per serving
24 calories
0 fat
o cholesterol
30 mg sodium
5 carb
1 g protein
1g fiber


We just had our pops for dessert. They are very delicious!

another food thought

Food Savers. Buy your meat on sale or in bulk. Sometimes you can save 20-30% buying the larger packages. Separate into individual servings or what you would cook at one time for your family. Place it in the nifty bag and it will vacuum seal your food.
Pop it in the freezer for later use.

I got this idea from a girl at work. I have not bought a Food Saver thing yet, but I am thinking about it.

Food Buying Tip..

Something that I have begun doing is buying my meat at the "we are about to have to throw out the meat" price. It has not reached the "sale by" date yet, but it is getting close. If you watch the store will mark down the meat a lot. Buy it and take it home and freeze it. It will still be fine past the date if frozen.
You can save quite a bit.

Places like Sam's Club is great. But remember, buying in bulk doesn't always mean saving money. Pay attention to prices.

If you have a bad memory (like me) and cannot remember prices write them down. As you shop different places pay attention to things that you frequently buy. You may be surprised at the price differences.
I will admit I am a bit spoiled. I prefer Campbells brand. But at over $1 a can I just cannot afford to use them anymore. I mostly use the soups for cooking rather than eating a bowl of soup anyway.

Tryin' to save $$$

It seems like everything is going up, up, up. Gas, groceries, utilities. Where does it end?
We are trying to come up with more money saving ideas.
1. Stringing up a clothes line and quit running the dryer.
2. plan all your running around for 1 day, if you can.
3. use coupons
4. scan your sale ads and shop accordingly
5. make a menu and shop accordingly
6. don't fall into temptation and buy things that you really don't need
7. plant a garden
8. shop at your local farmers market

These are very simple ideas. We all have to start somewhere.

We recently went to Save-A-Lot to buy canned goods. A can of soup is $0.49. I couldn't remember at the time how much Great Value from Wal-Mart was. I looked today and that brand is $0.58 per can. So we already saved:). I hope the Save-A-Lot brand tastes ok. That will make or break that deal for us.

If anyone (friends or lurkers) have any ideas please leave a comment and let me know what you do.

Tuesday, June 17, 2008

Overcoming

I was not a big girl growing up. I was average. If I gained a few pounds it was very, very easy to drop them within a day or so. I did not learn a health way to do it either. I would just not eat. My mom kept Diet Cokes at the house all of the time, so that would be my meal.

Anyway, time marched on and at 19 I got married. I was still slender and "cute"...lol However, by the time we had been married 5 yrs and I was newly pregnant with our first child I had gained around 40lbs. Time still marched on and I began to go from extremes of depression and self pity for being so fat to ignoring it and trying to settle my mind on just settling with being overweight for my life.

After the birth of my second child I was about 60lbs heaver than I was at 19. Still battling internally with the same grief. I just didn't know what to do. I "tried" different workouts and crash type diets only to fail miserably within a couple of weeks. I was unhappy with myself and the fact that I just couldn't make myself do anything. I didn't want it to be a chore.

In 2006 I found Turbo Jam. To date I have lost 43 pounds and 30+inches.



In March 2008 I was the Million Dollar Body big winner. I am now in competition for $250,000. I am working hard to see this through to the end.

another day in the life

Once again today started to early. I had 1.5 cups of coffee. I just couldn't finish the second cup. Around 8am I was in my workout gear and ready to sweat. I had 3 workouts lined up today. So a kicked some bootay for about 1hr and 10minutes. I will have to post "my story" sometime later. It is a great fantastic story about an overweight woman that overcame her fear of failure and succeeded.

I have to work 12 hours tonight, so it is nearly nap time for me. I am hoping to sleep for several hours so that I can make it through the shift.

Then tomorrow it is back to a friends house to swim for a few hours. The weather shows possible rain. I know we need it, but I would really like to take the kids swimming again.

In closing I will throw in a picture of a butterfly for your enjoyment.

Monday, June 16, 2008

My day today

The alarm went off way to early. Well, actually I didn't hear the alarm. I woke up when Jeff woke me up wanting me to make coffee. I hate getting up early, but it does make my day seem more efficient.
So we get up at 6am and have coffee. I get his lunch ready to go. Around 8 am I get my workout done and get a shower.
Today was fun because we went swimming. The kids had so much fun. I am hoping to take them at least 2 times a week during the summer. We are planning on going back on Wednesday.
Maybe then I will take my camera and post some pix.

Right now we just finished watching The Benchwarmers. It was pretty funny. But now the rest is over. There is work to be done in the house.

Saturday, June 14, 2008

Planting a stick...I mean a tree

In January we ordered a tree from a catalog. We had done this before with an apple tree so it shouldn't have been a surprise to get the stick in the mail. It was smaller than the diameter of a pencil, and looked really sad. The box they sent it in was a bit overkill.


So time went on and it actually looked worse, if you can imagine that! We really thought it had died, but we gave it time and love and then we got a little bloom. This one was taken around Easter 2008.

It continued to grow rather slowly for a while but now it has really started growing. It has grown 5 inches in about 10 days. It is really cool to watch it.
This one was taken today.


This is a "fast growing" shade tree. We are hoping it continues to grow at the rate is currently is.

Ajax the Cat

In November of 2007 we got a new baby. My sister-in-law had contacted me about someone in Wichita that had 2 Siamese kittens and she had bought both of them. My SIL only wanted one of them and wanted to give us first dibs on the second one.
It took a lot of thought for my husband. But to soften him up a little I asked her to send me a photo. This is what he looked like. Who could turn down this cutie pie!




So of course we said yes. He is the most loving and sweet cat. He purrs and cuddles all of the time. For Christmas he was such a part of the family he wanted to help with decorating our tree.


Today I cleaned the kitchen after I got home from work. The counter is usually covered in a bit of clutter. As soon as I was done Ajax claimed his spot. He is so spoiled!

Brand New

Today is my first post. I have worked all night and I am in need of a nap. I will get a real story posted later.
Thank you Julia for our talk at work last night. You are a great bit of encouragement for me.