Wow, I have seriously neglected my blog writing during the month of December.  It appears that my last post was back on the 7th!  It's been a very busy month, finals came and went for college and I finished with three A's and one B, not too shabby for a full time worker and mommy.  Now I have a short break from school until January 21st!  Christmas came and went as well.  Baking, shopping, eating were all primary activities for the month and it's nice to recover from that as well.  I have stayed amazingly consistent with my workouts during this busy month and have not gained any weight, so yeah for me!

As I move closer towards starting the new year, I am mentally starting my list of things I aim to accomplish this year.

• Become a certified personal trainer (registerd for class and exam the weekend of Feb. 15th)
• Become certified in CPR
• Reach my official goal weight by June
• Run at least four half marathons (plans already in the works for three of them)
• Update my blog more often

Of course there are other things as well, but these are the truly measureable ones that I can think of and move forward with immediatly.  Even though I am racking up student loan debt, I feel like I made the right choice with going to school for my bachelors degree.  Each class is interesting now and full of information that I can use to help others and to develop my career.  By having a passion for what I do, I can and will achieve success by helping others.

I've found motivational tools this year thanks to Pinterest, the University of Wisconsin and fellow gym rats at the YMCA.  Here is one that I thought was very accurate!  Cheers to 2013 people!

 

 

Tis' the Season!

December first has come and gone, which to me is the official count down to Christmas.  The realization that I have procastinated all year once again!  How shocking!  This year we are toning it down, the kids have more stuff than many kids have, we have a nice home and a healthy family, what more do we really need?  Of course we will get some small things and get together with extended family, but this Christmas won't be so gift orientated.  This was the first year that I did not go shopping on Black Friday.  The kids have taken it well and we've been talking about expenses that we have so they are realizing why things are tight.  It's time to get back to what's important, spending time with family and showing that they are important in our lives!

Our scary run in the dark!

Working out has been going well.  I can't remember when my last post was, so I will recap the last week.  Saturday Tanya and I went to an Aqua-Blast class, Monday we went to Pilates and Zumba (felt those afterwards), Wednesday I lifted weights and went on the bike, Thursday I went for a run with Ethan (really, really dark out) and I am taking a spin class at the Y tomorrow morning.  Lots of good activity in!  My weight has remained the same, but I am gaining muscle definition and my jeans are fitting differently, so no complaints here!

This weekend is filled with Holiday parties.  Tonight is mine for work and tomorrow we have Kurt's work party.  My challenge will be drinks and food.  My head is in a good place though and I have my activity planned for the weekend, so I should be able to stay on track. 

My accomplishment this week is being able to do a yoga pose that I haven't been able to do, which I posted a picture of!  It's the small things like this that make me keep going!

Finally, my feet are off the ground!!!
 

Have a great weekend!

~Jessica

How do you know where you are going, if you don't know where you've been?

I often think about this quote when I think about my weight loss efforts, completion of college courses, advancement in my career, basically life in general.  How do we get to where we want to be in life if we do not have goals?  Goals are so important in everything we do.  It helps us form structure, add discipline to our lives and feel accomplishment.

I've had a great week.  Even though it was a holiday week with extra time off, I made it my priority to remain active and to not go into a food coma.  I made it to the YMCA more often than I normally do.  I made it  Zumba on Monday, went for a run on Tuesday, worked out with Tanya for weight lifting on Wednesday, Thursday went to a 5-6:30 a.m. water aerobics class with Tanya, Friday went to the YMCA as a family and played basketball and did exercise ball routine, Saturday went for a run and Sunday lifted weights at the YMCA with Ethan.  Everyday I squeezed in some kind of workout and I feel great!  I just wish I could keep that routine everyweek!

Evening run just before the sun sets for the day, rosy cheeks

So now basketball starts up for Dominik and we add getting to practices and games into the mix.  We will be working on that as we go, but should be able to keep a healthy routine as well.  Tanya and I have penciled in workouts together for Monday, Wednesday and Friday.  I will try to add in some runs on the off days.  The weekend will depend on what time Dominik's games are at.

Snow tires are officially on!
 

I hope anyone reading this post has a great week.  Think about your overall goals in life and if you are living your life in a way that helps you achieve those goals.  If you be honest with yourself, you will probably think of ways taht you can improve upon yourself to reach the happiness you've been craving so bad, I know that's the case with me!

~Jessica

I am back!

I had a busy week in the McAllen and Laredo Texas areas during the week.  I visited with coworkers that I do not normally get to see and verified inventory at a couple of the warehouses for my work.  Going out of town for work causes mixed feelings for me.  The first feeling I have is sadness from missing my family.  My children are growing so fast, especially my youngest.  When I miss five days, I can miss something new that he has learned.  He did learn something while I was away and now he can sing the E-I-E-I-O part of Old McDonald had a farm.  It's so cute how he is just absorbing everything in right now.  My husband told me that Cody was always looking for me and often said "mom" sadly.  Those are the things that make me sad.  On the other hand it is somewhat of a break from domestic life for me.  For a few days, I have no laundry to do, I have no dishes to do, I have no homework with the kiddos to do, I get to sleep all night and eat out for dinner.  All those fun ideas are fun for the first couple of days, then enough is enough!  I decided to make the best of this last trip.  I watched what I ate, especially when eating out.  I chose to eat salads, black bean burgers instead of beef, checked calories before ordering.  I also made sure that I used the gym at my hotel after we were finished for the day.  The equipment at the hotel is so much nicer than I have at home or at the YMCA.  The treadmill, elliptical and bike all have their own TV screens, yeah! 

I returned home on Friday afternoon.  I picked up my kids from school and daycare and quickly took to my domestic ways.  On the way home from school with Dominik, I asked him if they did any laundry, he said "No, but wow, you should see the pile, it's taller than I am!"  Sadly, this was an accurate description!  Oh well, at least my services are needed and I am missed!  Today is Saturday and I finally got my mom to come with me and Tanya to Zumba!  She did great and said that she liked it.  Incorporating some different exercises into your routine is critical.  Our bodies can easily get comfortable with what we are doing, so we need to shake it up!  I signed up for a 5 a.m. aqua blast class at the YMCA on Thanksgiving morning and talked Tanya into going with me.  This will help with my calorie burn for the day and hopefully prevent me from eating too much at the Thanksgiving feast! 

I read an article today describing different exercise slang and thought it was pretty funny, so I copied part of it below for your reading entertainment.  Have a great week! 

~Jessica

Gym Rat: A guy who spends every spare moment in the gym. See also: Gym head, meat head, gymbot or my personal favorite, Gym Me Buff It
Gym Kryptonite: Easy-on-the-eyes female that distracts men from getting anything done in the gym. See also; gym rat, gym monkey,
Gym Widow: Someone who’s significant other has gone on a health kick and spends all of their time at the gym.
Yogatude: Holier-than-thou attitude seen in serious yoga students who are more flexible and vaguely spiritual than everyone else. Includes a disdain for meat, leather, and inexpensive sweat pants or yoga mats.
Cardio Bunny: Females who perform at least an hour on the treadmill, elliptical, bike, stairclimber or rower (or any combination thereof) and then call it a day.
Pies: 45lbs. plates. See also: “big wheels”or “papa bears”
Jacked: Well-defined or muscular. See also: Yoked, Swole, Ripped, Chiseled, shredded, cut, gunny.
Toned: A word that should never be used unless you are talking about blood vessels. Still, it is often used by lay public and misinformed trainers worldwide to denote muscular definition. (okay, there’s some personal opinion on that one!)
Vitamin S: Anabolic steroids. See also: Juice, gym candy.

Lazy blogger, but not lazy person:)

Wow, it's been awhile since I've done a post!  I've been busy, work has been busy, life has been busy, I have been busy!  After Cheyenne and I completed our race a couple of week's ago, I've backed off the running a bit.  Instead I've been focusing on Zumba classes, weight lifting and core work.  I am working on losing inches and pounds that go with those inches are just a bonus!  I reached what is considered "normal" weight, but I would like to see more muscle definition and go down at least two more pant sizes.

I just signed up for classes for school this fall with the University of Wisconsin.  I am excited to get more of the classes geared specifically towards wellness coaching now!  It gets me pumped to get this career going!

This week I am in Texas, specifically near the Mexico border.  Yesterday I spent all day in Mexico at the facility for my current employer.  The weather is much warmer than Minnesota and I LOVE seeing the palm trees.  They just naturally have a calming effect!  I was productive this morning and got up and used the athletic center.  I ran two miles and biked six miles, lifted weights and did ab work.  I felt refreshed, recharged and ready to go! 

Have a great day everyone!  Go out there, do something active and make the choice to work towards a healthier and happier you!

Jessica

New personal record! 

Time	2:06:47

It's official, I've ran my fastest half marathon ever, yeah!!!  My sister was a great motivator, she is so speedy!  The Monster Dash in St Paul was a blast.  We left my home at 5 a.m. on Saturday and made a quick stop at Wal-Mart on our way to pick up supplies to make handcuffs.  Our timing was going perfectly and according to our GPS we would be there at about 7:30 a.m. which would have been perfect.  We were within ten miles of our exit for the run when the traffic came to a screeching halt.  We literally crawled along in traffic for an hour!!!  As we approached the off ramp, people were getting out of their cars and running towards the St. Paul Cathedral.  Our GPS was telling us to turn right towards the ramps for parking, but we decided to take the unoccupied left lane to a Sears parking lot and run for it.  We were about 10 minutes late, made a quick stop at the portapotties and ran for the start.  Overall we were about 15-20 minutes late on the start, but thanks to the timing chip and the crowd of 10,000+ runners, we were not at the very end!  We saw so many great costumes, even Obama and Romney ran together!  My favorite were the two people that ran as aerobics instructors with the thong leotards, too funny!  Cheyenne and I were the two cutest prisoners and got lots of compliments on our sparkly tutu's!  We were both quite concerned about the weather, but the coolness actually worked out perfectly.  We were able to leave behind our hats and gloves in the car and didn't have to bring with our zip up sweatshirts at all.  However, as soon as we crossed the finish line the chills set in very quickly!  At the last mile Cheyenne ran ahead, but didn't see me cross the finish line about a minute behind her. so we got lost in the shuffle of people everywhere and it took us 40 minutes to find each other.  We must have been circling each other because when we finally found each other we talked about different people we had seen and we had watched the same person throw up when they crossed the finish line.  That's okay though, it gave us something to remember.  I am so thankful that my sister went on this endeavor with me and is looking forward to doing another one in the future!

The truth is not sweet!

I did a bit of research this morning about sugar.  I've heard that sugar intake should be limited when dieting, but what exactly does that mean?  It means that we can have foods that normally contain sugar such as fruit without being overly concerned, but what I need to pay attention to is the added sugar that I put in things.  Tragically what this means is that I need to SERIOUSLY cut back on my coffee creamer addiction.  Ugh, I am not even sure how to address this.  I must have french vanilla in my coffee! 

I've discovered that I should only have about 25 grams of added sugar a day.  This is going to take some serious work.  I am going to try to reduce my intake first before cutting all the way back to 25.  I will do this in a three week phase.  I first need to analyze what I take in on an average day which can be calculated by my food diary.  Then I will try to reduce this by thirds until I reach my goal.  This has worked best for me so far, to take a measured approach to my goals and not just stop cold turkey.

Ugh, this makes me sad:(

Sunday is Fun Day!!!

What a nice day!  I sure hope this lasts, at least until next weekend for sure!!!  This morning I went out grouse hunting with Kurt and the boys.  Don't worry, I was shooting with a Canon Rebel T3i so nobody was injured;)  I was able to watch Ethan shoot a grouse, that boy has cat like reflexes!  I got some nice pictures of the boys out in the wilderness.

This afternoon Cheyenne and I will be going on our last long training run before the race next Saturday.  We will be running between 7-10 miles depending on which route we choose.  I looked up the weather for next weekend and it does NOT look good.  The high is 41, brrrrr!!!  I hope they are wrong, they never know this far out.

Tomorrow will be a nice long workout at the YMCA for Tanya and I.  We will be doing a full round of weights and then a Zumba class.

Have a great last day of the week and get out there and move!!!

Another day in the life of...

Things continue to be busy as usual.  My diet is going well, only down about 1/2 a pound this week though.  I am not concerned, my clothes continue to fit looser and my muscles seem stronger, so all is good!  The half marathon for me and my sister is next weekend already!!!  I am super excited, our costumes look fabulous and I do believe it should be my fastest one ever.  With lifting weights, taking fitness classes and running, my legs are really strong and my body doesn't feel fatigued after doing long runs. 

I've read some interesting information this week and thought I would share some bits of it.

Reason to Eat Veggies:

Ask my mom—I didn’t eat veggies until I was a grown woman. I still have to force myself to eat a few of them, like broccoli. But nothing is more important to your overall health than the vitamins and nutrients found in vegetables. They help your body function in endless ways, and can even reduce your risk of cancer by activating cancer-fighting enzymes [5] [6]. With the right cooking method, herbs and spices, or even in a smoothie, you can make veggies taste really delicious. To transition into eating more vegetables, try replacing an unhealthy side dish that you normally eat with veggies at one meal per day, and slowly increase until you’re getting 4-5 servings per day.

Become Accountable:

A mental shift needs to happen when you start to take control of your health, and part of that is becoming accountable to yourself. This can be through keeping a food journal, wearing a calorie-tracking armband, using a calorie counting and exercise application on your phone or computer, or even wearing a pedometer to count your steps. Keeping track of what you eat and how much you move will be a very eye-opening experience. Studies show that most adults overestimate the amount of healthy food they are eating and underestimate the rest of it…not because they are trying to be dishonest necessarily, they just don’t have an accurate idea of what they are eating unless they actually record it and measure it out [7].

Do Research:

You might try watching documentaries about food and nutrition (I recommend Food, Inc. and Forks Over Knives). You can also read books, ask a fitness expert or trainer, or just start here at Coach Calorie by downloading the free e-book and read just about everything you need to know.

These are all from Coach Calorie which is a great diet resource on Facebook

The research part has been a huge help for me.  The more I learn, the more I get motivated to make changes in my life.  I've watched both of those documentaries more than once and would recommend them to anyone.  Great info!

~Jessica

This is my new motto.  There is no way to get foxy and super fit without sweating like a pig.  Seriously.  So, just get over your sweaty self and embrace the sweat and stank of looking sexy!  I've been slacking on my blogger ways, so let me give an update on what I've been up to. 

Last weekend I sat down and completed all of my homework and quizzes for my Medical and Health Terminology class.  I am now finished with that one with a solid A.  I officially submitted my withdrawal paperwork to the college for my Applied Research Methods class.  It's disappointing to drop a class but after looking ahead at what the research projects were, I don't feel I had enough time to do them successfully.  I will have to take them (and pay for them) at a later time.  I continue to do well in my other classes, so I will continue with those.

I've been helping my girlfriend lose weight and get in shape.  She is doing WONDERFUL.  Down six pounds in two weeks!  I've been monitoring what she eats online and doing workouts with her and encouraging her to work out at home too.  My mom also wants this service now so she is tracking all of her meals so that I can view them and I am giving her workout ideas since she is unable to accompany us to the YMCA. 

The half marathon with my sister is getting closer, yeah!  We made our running tutu's and are gathering additional things to wear with our prisoner getup.  We are going to "chain" ourselves together too so we need to work on making a rope chain that connects us together.

Life is crazy busy, but good.  I wouldn't have it any other way!

Jessica
 

A day in the life...

Life is crazy, life is fun, life is well, you know!

Things have been crazy as usual for me.  Work, school, kids school, working out, home life, etc.  Still trying to just maintain the peace.  I've been working out with Tanya, trying to help her get started on her weight loss journey.  We made it to the gym three times last week, which I believe is a success.  It is hard when you have family and work and a busy life.  I've been stressing the importance of the food journal.  This is the true key to any weight loss plan.  You must be consciously aware of what you are eating and drinking ALL THE TIME.  It is so easy to consume too many calories by sneaking a bite off of your kids plate or having a quick snack while sitting at your desk.  Scribble while you nibble!

I am feeling the effects of lifting weights a couple of times last week and I am loving it!  My muscles feel tighter and I love the feeling of knowing that I am working my muscles.  I was disappointed that my sister didn't make it over last night to do a long run.  Now I need to try to squeeze one in this week to make up for not having one over the weekend. 

I am off to the gym in a couple of hours.  Tanya's official one week weigh in is tonight and I am excited to see if there was a change!

Have a great night!

It's been another insane week at work!  New projects, more demands, more homework, more deadlines, arrrggghhh!!!

I've done good with keeping up my routing this week.  Monday went to the YMCA, Tuesday running, Wednesday zumba, Thursday running and I am not sure what I am doing tonight!  Sunday will be plans for a big run with Cheyenne.

I am super proud of my girlfriend for keeping up her food journal this week, by far the hardest part of this journey!  With all the hustle and bustle of life it is hard to remember and to get in the habit of journaling everything, but it is absolutely critical in the attempt to take control of our health and life!  I am excited to meet on Monday to see what progress has been made.

This weekend will be a juggle with Cody.  Kurt and Ethan are heading out hunting so Dom and I are hanging out tonight.  Then tomorrow Dom will be off to a sleepover right after football so hopefully Cody will be a good boy for me and I can get some homework done!  Hopefully I won't pull all my hair out!!!

It's been a crazy week this last week.  Last Monday I went to Zumba, Tuesday went for a run, Wednesday lifted weights, Thursday ran, Friday and Saturday I took off then on Sunday did a trail run with Cheyenne.  Stepped on the scale today and yes, this is paying off!  As I continue my active lifestyle and scrutinizing calories I know that it DOES make a difference.  The number is in a steady decline, even if it is slow, it is going in the right direction.  I find myself satisfied with the choices I make and don't miss beating myself up about falling off the wagon.

Now I need to pull myself together and get my class stuff together.  For some reason my classes just are not clicking the way I would like them to, especially my statistics class.  That has always been a struggle for me, but usually I can at least pull through a good grade.  I will continue to study, but I am really hoping that it takes a turn for the good ASAP!

I had my first workout with my friend Tanya that I am helping to lose weight.  We took down her beginning weight and BMI and have officially started!  We did the full circuit of Cybex machines at the YMCA and did 15 minutes on the recumbent bikes.  This is a great first step in the right direction.  Small changes lead to big changes!

Have a great day!

Jessica

Power in numbers.

My good friend sent me a text for help this morning.  She's had enough with the battle and needs help.  I LOVE getting a text like this.  It's a step in the right direction to reach out and ask for help when needed.  I am and WILL be there for her in this journey.  Now my research begins.  What is an ideal goal weight, what should the first attainable goal be?  What amount of calories do we need to cut, what are her current eating habits?  I am doing lots of background work to design a path for us to take.  She has agreed to join the YMCA and I will hold her accountable and make her go to class with me.  There is a lot of work ahead, but having a workout buddy makes it more enjoyable and accountable!
I just want to stress the importance of having a good support system.  Good friends should support what you are trying to achieve and not derail you.  Our world is full of temptations and bad (cheap) choices.  It takes hard work and determination to obtain success, but it is so within our reach! 
This week has been busy physically for me.  Monday night I went to Zumba, so fun!  Yesterday I went for a run and tonight I went to the YMCA to lift weights.  Tomorrow I plan on taking a run and then squeezing in a run while we are up in Duluth. 

Nobody ever said life was easy, be strong!

Jessica

My hips don't lie...but they don't take direction well either!

Today I took my first zumba class.  So much fun!  The moves were fast paced, there were disco lights and loud music!  It didn't even seem like an exercise class.  So it's been awhile since I've had to try to keep in step with any dance moves and yes, I was awkward and missed 90% of them or was three steps behind them, but I was moving and shaking and yes, exercising!!!  This is something I will look forward to doing in the future.  I really have a lot of respect and admiration for these teachers.  It must be hard enough to do these moves fluidly, but to keep step and to encourage while you are doing it, wow!

Stepping on my scale before I went to class was a great experience too today.  The scale was actually at my morning weight which is great!  It means that I am continuing to go down, yes!!!  It has actually been a good few days in a row of staying under my 1,500 calorie threshold.  My new habits are starting to pay off and it's been over a week again of being pop free!  I've also starting drinking the Yogi detox tea once a day too just to help cleanse my system.

Happy thoughts to everyone!  Peace out!

Jessica

It's been a fun weekend.  We went to the arboretum in Brainerd today and took some family photos.  So nice, but a bit warm for picture taking!  I did get some great shots though so it was a success!  This morning I got up nice and early and had Ethan watch Cody so I could take a run.  I went for a nice 4 mile one.  I hope I can get together with my sister sometime this week and make it out on a long run.  Yesterday I made it to the YMCA with the boys in the morning before Dominik's football game.  I did the stair climber for 35 minutes and the boys played basketball in the gym.  That worked out pretty well.  This week on Wednesday Ethan and I will have an orientation on how to use the Cybex machines.  I look forward to getting Ethan involved in lifting some weights.  I think it will help increase his overall confidence if he gets stronger and beefs up a little bit.  Homework continues to be a struggle.  I have to admit though I am not giving it the attention that it needs.  It is especially hard with Cody because if he sees me at the computer than he gets super whiny and needs my attention and it is impossible to accomplish anything.  I need to get better at working on it at night down in my office area.  It has been hard for me to concentrate after they go to bed, I am not sure why.  I start thinking about things and then get increasingly stressed and tired and give up and go to bed at 10.
Overall my diet has been going really well.  I am down this week and broke a plateau!  Now I have to keep it going and keep falling under my calorie count and success shall continue!

Me after my run this morning, sweaty!

Rock on this week!

Jessica

Thank you flu, your help is appreciated.

So this morning around 2, I started feeling sick.  My stomach was upset and I had a feeling it was going to get worse.  By 3 I had the spins that naturally occur when you've had too much fun the night before (which was not my issue) and felt like maybe I should venture to the kitchen to grab a large bowl in case I got sick, but I felt too bad to even make it that far.  By 4 I was throwing up in the bathroom, narrowly making it there in time!  I was sweating terribly, my stomach hurt and I felt like I was going to pass out.  When it came time for me to get up to get ready for work, I took a shower that only lasted about three minutes because I felt weak and dizzy and decided I needed to go back to bed.  Cody hasn't been feeling the best either so I asked Kurt to stay home and take care of Cody and me if I needed it.

I proceeded with my normal morning weigh in like I do every day and was pleased to see I was down 1.6 lbs!  Yes to being sick!  After I rested until around 9:30 I felt like I could be out of bed, so I watched some TV and had some coffee.  Kurt decided to run an errand with Cody around 10:30 and I felt like I was recovered enough to go to work for awhile as I am swamped!

This morning as I was updating my food journal and looking at my charts I realized it's time for me to reconfigure my calorie requirements since I've lost additional weight recently.  Now in order to keep losing I need to consume around 1,500 calories a day!  Wow, I thought 1,800 seemed hard to do!  I will do it though and I will continue to succeed!  My head is clear, my goals are clear and I need to just continue on my path.

Best wishes to all for the weekend, I am hoping that Cody and I make a full recovery from our illnesses!
Jessica

Sanity - Where did you go???

It's been madness.  My classes are in full swing now and I've got too much to learn.  I wish I had not signed up for six classes, it is simply too much with working full time and have three kids to take care of.  All I can do at this point is to just keep going and do my best!  I can't afford to back out now!  Next semester I won't sign up for as many, maybe just three classes.  I don't feel like I am retaining anything because I am just scrambling to get homework done.

My fitness time this week has suffered.  I will kick it hard next week though.  I am continuing to lose this week thanks to following my food journal and consuming less than 1,755 calories a day.  I need to sit down and figure out where I am with all of my assignments this weekend so that I can work out without thinking about what I am behind on.  I don't like this feeling!

I've been doing great with avoiding pop as well thanks to reading that research article.  It's been four days now, yippee!  Considering I went months before, this shouldn't be an issue.  At times of stress though I definitely feel like it is something I crave.

I don't have much to report.  Today I am getting my hair done, yes!  Time to get fabulous again! 

Have a great day everyone!

Jessica

Superfantastical sorta day!

Today was a great day for my waistline.  I've rededicated myself to my food journal and man does that pay off!  I am amazed at all the times I wanted a snack or thought about having a snack and then checked the calorie content and decided not to, yeah for me!  I also made it all day without having a soda.  I think this last week was just so stressful that it brought out my bad habits which then leads to all of the diet pop drinking.  I have no flipping clue either why I drink it so much because when I do, it makes me feel like crap, I get bloated, and then the next day I look bloated and it makes my nails go bad. 

This week for one of my courses we had to read a research paper on the consumption of diet soda and it's effect on our vascular health and it's link to metabolic syndrome.  There is a serious link and increase in these health issues with people who consume diet soda, even light drinkers who drink a can a day.  There is more research to be done because the study did not include the lifestyles of those who drank diet soda, but it makes me even more aware that it is not a smart thing for me to be drinking, not even occasionally when I fall off the wagon.

Interesting stuff that I am getting into, I am glad I chose to go this route with my education and career.  The health field is the place for me!

Cheyenne and I had an amazing run yesterday!  We ran 6.3 miles together which was the farthest she has ran so far.  She can easily do a half marathon, I am so excited for October!  We make a good running pair, our overall average was 9'30" miles yesterday which is super good!

Make this day your best!  Now I am off to work on lots and lots of homework!!

Peace out~Jessica

 

Happy Birthday....to me!!!

This is the theme of the day today.  Today I have turned 33 years old, wow, I am getting up there.  I don't feel that old, I actually feel pretty good.  I live an active, relatively healthy lifestyle and can hold my own.  I don't miss my youthful years filled with drama, but I miss my children being little and the years going by too fast.  I actually look forward to getting older.  I am looking forward to retirement someday, having my house paid off in the next twelve years and watching my kids find their true loves and having children of their own.  The next twenty years will be action packed.

I don't make new year resolutions but when I have my birthday it always makes me self reflect and think about what I want to do in the next year. 

I want to:

Reach my goal weight - 140lbs
Initiate and follow a household budget and savings plan
Plan for a 10 year anniversary trip with Kurt

These are my three goals for now.  I think they are accomplish able.  Next year my goal will include college graduation, yeah!

I am spending the rest of the afternoon around the house and will be going on a six mile run with Cheyenne, I love that girl!  Then I will come home to work on homework, housework and watch Big Brother, it's my guilty pleasure.

Thanks for reading!

Jessica

Balancing Act!

So this has been an extremely mentally challenging week this week.  My full time class schedule fully went into effect this week.  I am now enrolled in six classes.  Yes, I am still working full time, which has it's challenges too.  This week we were short staffed at my work and I had to step in and do a job that I don't normally do and have never done for the company.  This task was on top of my already full plate.  My manager would have liked to see me put in some overtime, but with my full class schedule and limited time that I have with my kids and regular household stuff, I just can't even begin to think about spending more time at the office and not at home.  By the end of the day today I felt like I was nearing a panic attack.  I got home from work, immediately started on my case study that was due tomorrow by noon and instantly felt more relieved.  Now I get to begin sorting through the rest of my class schedules and working on assignments that are due over the weekend.  I believe this will be doable, I just need to settle into a routine with my work and with my family.  It all seems to balance out after a couple of weeks.
My weight has finally dropped down to what I was before I left for the weekend.  I do need to step up my water intake and quit having so many not healthy snacks.  It seems like when I get under these high stress situations that I seem to veer off track.  I've had way too much diet pop this weekend and need to STOP NOW!!!

Below is a quote I saw on Coach Calorie this morning and I think it's a great quote to go by!



Have a great night!

Jessica

September 5th

Hello World!

The boys are back and school and my house is intact for a few more hours a day than normal.  It's nice to have them back on a routine away from home.  I am also offically back in school too.  I will be attending my second class at CLC this afternoon.  As I was working on homework last night for four hours straight I found myself daydreaming about what ever made me so driven to get my Bachelor's Degree.  It was like I literally woke up one day and decided that it was important to me to have a college degree.  I think some of it is status (which is strange because I am racking up lots of debt with the education), some of it is to show my kids that a college degree is important and lastly to get into a career field that I actually enjoy.  I love learning about fitness, healthy lifestyles, trends, health issues and exercise pyschology.  It's what I was meant to do.  Yeah, it kind of sucks that it took 30 years to figure that out, but hopefully I will wrap up my schooling in the next two years and be able to live out the rest of my working life doing something that I love. 
I haven't done much fitness wise this week.  I finally feel recovered from my run (yes!) and will start working out tomorrow.  I am excited and grateful that Nike replaced my beloved Sportband that decided to quit working after a software upgrade.  I will be back to logging those miles again online, just stinks that I wasn't able to record my half marathon through there.

Here are the details for my next Half Marathon adventure with Cheyenne!  Now to think of a costume!

http://www.minnesotamonster.org/

Peace out!

Jessica

September 2nd

Refocus.  Re-energize.

Hi Everyone,
Wow, what a weekend!  My mom and I ran in the inaugural Women Rock Half Marathon in St Paul this weekend.  The race itself was more difficult than I had envisioned it being.  I started my race with the 2:10 pacer.  As I was talking and running with her I learned that she paces over twenty races a season!  They can be a mixture of marathons, half marathons and triathlons.  How inspiring and what an amazing job!  She travels to an average of five states per season for various races.  She was so motivating and provided encouragement when tackling hills, encouraging to not stop, don't walk and providing updates when she knew a shaded corner was coming or reminders to roll our shoulders when running downhill.  I stayed with her for the first four miles then ventured out in front of the pack for the next five miles and then regrouped with them when there were around three miles left.  I was really glad that I ended up with the small group when their were a few miles left, I was really losing my pace and was mentally struggling with the hills.  At least with running with the group again I managed to maintain my pace and follow their feet through the end and never slowed down to a walk.  The course was MUCH more hilly that I thought it would be.  Even though the course showed a net decrease in elevation, the hills were so long, steep and rolling that it felt like the majority of the race was spent running up hill.  Oh well, I still made it and did pretty darn well!  I finished in 2:10, which is averaging about a 9:55 mile.  This was about twelve minutes faster than the overall average speed and nine minutes under the median for the race.  Yeah for me!
Of course with spending the day/night/day in the metro area I consumed more food than I would have liked to see myself eat.  I am not going to spend time dwelling on that and instead am going to choose to refocus on what I need to do to get where I want to go.  Obviously all of my work outs are paying off!

I also have a new event to look forward to!  While we were at the health expo my sister Cheyenne said that she really wanted to train for a half marathon and try one.  So we signed up and committed to running the Monster Dash on October 27th!  I love having goals like this because it forces me to re-energize in everything I do and continue my training and healthy eating.  Cheyenne heard that it could be the same race course, so if that is the case I will definitely be adding more hill training to my routine!

Have a great week!  Make today a great day!

Jessica

August 31st

Yes, today will be a fun, super fantabulous day!  Today I only have to work half a day, then my mom and sister and I are heading to the cities for a day of fun!  First we will be heading to the health expo at the St Paul Rivercentre then to our hotel and finally will have a great dinner at Chino Latino.  Could I ask for anything more?!?  Tomorrow morning bright and early my mom and I will lace up our sneakers and complete the Women's Rock Half Marathon!  Wish us luck!  I feel like I am really in a good spot mentally to complete this.  My muscles are loosened up thanks to a stellar power yoga class last night with Roseanne at the YMCA.

I saw this post last night on the Coach Calorie Facebook site.  Coach Calorie offers such inspirational and helpful posts, I really enjoy about everything they post!

This is a great reminder to all!  It's not always about the number you want to see on the scale, it's about how you feel!

Enjoy!

Jessica

August 29th

Today was my first day back at class at Central Lakes College in Brainerd.  This will be the last physical class that I have to go to at the college, thank goodness!  Wow, nothing makes me feel older than going to a class with a bunch of PSEO and freshly graduated high school kids!  I think this course will take more effort then I expected.  I have not used a microscope for YEARS.  Oh well, I am up for the challenge!
Yesterday I managed to make it out for a two mile run with Cody in the stroller.  Dominik came with me on his bike, so Cody stayed preoccupied watching him the entire time and did really well.  Tonight Kurt and I roller bladed with Cody in the stroller for two miles together while Ethan and Dom rode bike.  Then I continued rollerblading for an additional two miles while Ethan biked with me.  It was a great night for it!  Tomorrow will be a power yoga session with Cheyenne at the YMCA.  It will great to get all stretched out before the big run on Saturday! 
I've been doing great with my calorie counting this week and continue to go DOWN.  Yes!  I've got a good mind set right now, so the will power needs to remain with me, especially with the weekend coming.

Peace Out ~
Jessica

August 28th

Happy Tuesday People!

Last night I did 45 minutes of yoga and boy did I stretch something the wrong way, or maybe I should be stretching it more that way...  Either way, ouch it hurts.  Still trying to get it to stretch out more so that I can run tonight at least two miles.  I am excited for the run that my mom and I are doing this weekend, which is the Women Rock Half Marathon in St Paul.  My plan this week is to run tonight and tomorrow, then take a power yoga class at the YMCA on Thursday and have Friday for rest before the big run on Saturday morning.
Tomorrow I physically start going to classes at CLC in the late afternoon, so again I will have to find balance in my schedule and support from my family to still make it out for my evening run even if I have homework.  Now is the time to transition back to the times of little sleep, especially when the next wave of classes start! 

Check out the website for the run:

http://womenrockmn.org/

Have a great day all!

Jessica

Sunday, August 25th

Hey People!

Today was a busy day.  Cody and I hung out for the morning together.  He is busy as ever trying to get into everything and climbing on top of everything!  I went to Brainerd around lunch time to pick up a few things from Walmart.  I was a good girl and got only the things on my list and was in and out of the store within 15 minutes, fastest shopping trip ever!  Sure helps to go without the kids (and much cheaper). 
This evening I took a run by myself.  I ran two miles, then walked for .70 because my calves were as hard as a rock and throbbing.  I started back up and ran the rest of the way home for a total of 5.47 miles, not too shabby.
I am super duper excited to be running in the Women's Rock Half Marathon on Saturday, yippeee!!!

Have a good night, I've worked on this website enough today!  I am excited for the week, my class at CLC starts on Wednesday and the University of Wisconsin classes start the week after!

Peace Out ~ Jessica