My improved Legs!

Thanks to my amazing Irish fare skin and my Chia Pet, Italian black hair (on top of my freekishly thick cankles), and my road map of veins, my legs are not my favorite part of my body. Surprised? Didn't think so. :) My husband, however, loves every part of me and I am so thankful for that. He sees my struggle with trying to overcome my insecurities when buying clothes or shoes. He notices that I wear pants year round so I will feel confident  out in public. He also observes me squeezing into tan shaded or black nylons if I feel brave enough to wear a skirt. He is very supportive and wants to help me in any way that he can. Last Christmas he surprised me with 2 years worth of Laser Hair Removal treatments at Simplicity Laser. It has been working fabulously! Instead of shaving twice a day to have smooth legs, I shave every 3-4 days now. (No exaggeration) AND JUST NOW he bought me 2 treatments for sclerotherapy. That's where they get rid of your spider and varicose veins! Woot woot!! I am so stoked! Maybe I can start loving the way my legs look. I am very thankful for my legs. They are very strong and they work! I am positive that my body style was specifically designed by God to take care of Stephen, I would just like them to be more attractive for Stephen to look at and touch. :) Combined with my workouts, I just might have the legs I have always wanted! Yay! Might I add that there is lots of pain for me in doing these procedures, but the results are worth the tears! Thanks Stephen! I love you! Here's a picture of an example, I found on Google Images.

ZUMBA!!!!

I have been trying out the different exercise classes at Luke Air Force Base. So far, I have enjoyed going to Yoga, Pilates, and ZUMBA!!!! Holy cardio! Today my heart rate got up to 193! My monitor stopped working for some reason today, so I didn't get to see how many calories I burned. Last Wednesday, however, I burned 743 calories in 1 HOUR! Love this! I don't know how good I look doing it, but I am certainly going to look good after I drop a few pounds. Yay!

Helpful Tips from my Dry Cleaners

Oh...hi there. Stephen and I just got back from our northwest adventure a week or so ago. Staying on my eating plan and workout plan turned out to be more difficult than I thought. However, I did manage to only gain 2 pounds back. Yay me! I was filling pretty good about myself. We began getting back into the groove of things immediately when we arrived home. That included the familiar trip to the dry cleaners. Everytime I go in there, they rant and rave at my "transformation." "Oh! Ms. Willoby! You lose more weight? You're looking better. Cause you were BIG! Yeah Big! Your legs, still big. And your butt. But better."

Gee thanks guys. :(

For those of you who do not know what cankles look like. I will educate you with a recent picture from my friend's wedding.

I am the one with the cankles on the far left. Blah! They will be gone soon, hopefully!

Healthy Hobbies!

Ever since we moved into our home October 31st 2008, I have dreamed of having my own garden! I love the thought of having fresh veggies, herbs, and flowers growing at home. I have been working on becoming better and better at having lush plants in the Arizona desert. I am getting very close at accomplishing that goal. I found out that the key is water. Go figure! A drip system saved my sanity and my husband's faith in my gardening "skills." So, last year was really the kick off. Around Christmas time we had a tomato plant that took over and produced amazing tomatoes.

My aunt Kristi is holding her first successful pepper and if you look at the plant you will see all of the green tomatoes. Here is what they looked like when I picked them. (A lot were frost bitten. These are the survivors.)

This year I have yellow onions and various peppers growing.

 Strawberries and, of course, more tomatoes.

I can't take all the credit. I do have some "helpers" who keep me on my toes.

Talon, Mouse, Stitch, and Sienna definitely bring life to a still garden. :)

Gardening is just another form of art, to me. It is only natural for me to incorporate art into the garden. Taking photographs of it is another guilty pleasure of mine. I find it very hard to leave the house now. I can spend hours outside watching the birds and just taking it all in.

I have playing with the idea of  gardening from the window. In each room of my house I want to look out the window and see living art. I want to see a beautiful scene that will change with the seasons. This is my first go at it. My husband, Stephen, sits and works in our front room most of the day. I realized that all he saw was a cinder block wall out the window all day every day. Kristi said that we could invite birds, hummingbirds, butterflies, bees, and geckos with a handful of elements. Right now it is in it's baby stage, but when it is full grown it will be a sight to see. The Arabian Jasmin will be as tall as the door and sprinkled with fragrant whit flowers next to the deep red poinsettia that I have had since last Christmas. Already he finds himself watching the birds playing in the water and throwing seeds everywhere. I wouldn't be surprised if sunflowers started growing from that.

This is my work station.

I saw this idea in a magazine recently. I love succulants and this was such an easy, fun, and beautiful garden art piece to make.

 

My brother, Tyler, is my partner in crime. We have put this backyard heaven together together. :) He built this amazing window table for me and helped me put the flower bed together. More pics will come of the paver slab he layed and pond he's constructing. He has been a huge part of creating all of this.

The centerpiece is my reminder of Washington state and my sister, Danielle, and her family. :)

This is the only wind chime Stephen likes. It doesn't make that much noise and it's stunning to look at.

Finally, this plant is called Firestick. It is so cool. When the temperature gets cooler it starts to turn orange and even to red. When it's hot outside it is green. Crazy, right? It also has very dangerous sap, so I have to be careful when I cut it back. Don't get in your eyes or it will blind you. Yikes! I am thankful that my animals have not tried to eat it. They know very few commands, but they know "Leave it!" And they do.  So, that's it for now. I have burned thousands of calories putting this yard together. Maintaing it is calming and very good for me. Stephen enjoys it almost as much as I do. I think he is just happy that I am happy. :) More to come! This was only one side of the yard!



Pilates!

Holy Moly! Pilates is no joke. I used muscles that I didn't even know I had. I am sure I will feel it tomorrow, but I felt a lot already. I feel like my insides were rung out! Seriously, without being gross, I feel lighter already. If you have any intestine problems, I bet Pilates will fix it in an hour. Hahaha! Other than that, I think I am going to enjoy this new plan. I will let you know how spin goes tomorrow.

Starting all over!

Well, I have officially stopped working out over at LA Fitness. I am now moving to the beat of my own drum. I admit that it has been lonely and difficult being self motivated. I am not a quitter or a wimp. I am resourceful and a problem solver, so I am applying a new schedule. Here it is:

MONDAY: 10 am YOGA
TUESDAY: 10am PILATES and 1pm AQUA THERAPY with Stephen
WEDNESDAY: 11am SPIN CYCLE
THURSDAY: 11am KICKBOXING and 1pm SWIM with Stephen
FRIDAY: 10am ZUMBA
SATURDAY: 10am STEP & SCULPT

I am very excited about this plan because I have everything I want out of it. The times are perfect, it is an appointment, so I will make sure I am on time, it's on base and free, and I will get to meet lots of new people. All while I will be getting in shape and having fun. I am even scheduling quality time with Stephen.


He just got his results back from Inherent Health! We are so excited to get serious together about getting healthy. His percentages are similar to mine, so it will be easy to make meals for us and not have to worry about 2 different diets. Also, I am excited that we will be able to spread out the meat we buy throughout the month since we both need more carbs than protein. I don't know about you, but it makes me happy to have a stocked fridge, freezer, and pantry at all times. When you go through it quickly, like we have been, it makes me sad to see it bare. Haha. We are planning our meals for the week and planning ahead for our calories. We want to do what it takes to look our best and feel our best!

I am sad to say that I haven't lost anymore weight, due to my lack of discipline. I am happy to say, however, that I have not gained any! Yay me? :/ lol.

I'm still here.

It has been a while since I posted last, I know. I'm sorry. I feel like I need something amazing and new to say each time, but an update is an update. So, since my last entry I have continued to work out with the Fab 4 out in Laveen at LA Fitness. Chelle and Dani have amped it up a bit, so the routine has become more intense and more interesting. I haven't lost anymore weight as of yet due to the wonderful inconvenient holidays and recent travelling we've done. When I am home and on an even keel I do really well with my eating, calorie counting, and calorie burning. When I have any "special" reason to eat whatever I want, I go WAY overboard. Today we just got back from Lake Havasu City and I couldn't wait to get back on track with things at home. I can't wait to go to the gym in the morning!
Sad thing is that my last day with the Fab 4 is June 10th. Remember the original plan? I was only supposed to work out over there to get training. I feel as though I am ready to do this on my own, especially by then, but I am sad to not have my girls with me. :(
To make it less sad, Stephen and I have been working out together on Tuesdays and Thursdays at the lap pool. I only go to Laveen 3 days a week now, so I am transitioning.
Stephen is Superman! A couple weeks ago Stephen began his SCUBA certification. The news was there and everything! I went with him and started the process as well. We both enjoyed it, so we decided that was our new thing. We have been going to the pool and working on stamina and he swam 500 meters last time. That's right...500! I will post pics when we get them from the instructor. Now we just have a couple more sessions to do and then we will be official SCUBA Divers. I am a little nervous though. We haven't gone out into the ocean yet. I am so afraid of the ocean. BLAH! It'll be like therapy, right?
Our plan now is to dive at ALL of the premo diving spots all over the world before we die.
My focus now, is to really get disciplined with my eating. I allow myself too much wiggle room with special occasions. When I work out I burn plenty of calories to eat a good amount for that day. If I miss, I freak out about 1035 calories. I think I will die or something and mess up my meals with snacking. Before I know it, I have consumed all 1000 before 4pm. NOT GOOD. I figure I have screwed up already, might as well go all out. I need to change my thinking, or make a point to burn at least 600 calories a day, every day. I also feel that after June 10th, it will be easier for me because I will be fitting it in to our schedule. I am a guest in Chelle's schedule and appreciate it immensely, but it is not my ideal time frame to workout. I need prayer and someone to smack my hand throughout the day. Stephen is good at that, but sometimes I don't want that coming from my husband. I need to do it myself, so to speak, the smacking I mean. I will take all the prayer in the world! :) Well, that's it really. Soon I will be posting about my garden. I am fascinated with growing my own food, but I am still learning. I also want to post about some research that I have done about food allergies. I would love as many comments about these topics as possible and questions, too. We can all learn together!

Our Bodies are God's Temple. Let's get in shape!

Thank you everyone who donated to Sergey's Fund Raiser. It was an absolute act of God! They were able to raise over $17,000.00 in that short amount of time. Praise God! Thank you for being willing to be used for God's will. They are still almost $10,000.00 short, but we have faith that it will be a piece of cake for God to make this happen in His perfect timing. You can still donate if you didn't get a chance to at Danielle's blog http://www.farleykids.blogspot.com/ . You just won't be entered into the raffle since the winners were announced yesterday. Again THANK YOU to all of you who gave when it might not be an abundant financial time in your life. Trust me when I say that God will bless you for your selflessness and your faithfulness. God is sooooo good!

On a health note, since this blog is about my health, spiritual health is just as, if not MORE, important than your physical health. There are things that are beneficial for my spiritual health that I need to do daily just like a work out. I will be honest and confess that I am not as disciplined in that area either as I would like to be. I try to read my daily devotional book by Joyce Meyers every morning along with my Bible. I need to make more of an effort to make time for that since I make time for other things like working out, my business, school, house work, and rest. I also take time every day to read 15 minutes, at least, of a book that focuses on my personal growth. Right now I am reading The Power of a Praying Wife by Stormie O'Martian. I can't explain the results that I have noticed from it, but I can say that I have noticed them! It is so amazing! Stephen and I have a pretty good relationship, but that doesn't mean that we shouldn't prepare ourselves or prevent problems from arising in the future. I credit a lot of our communication skills to these amazing books: The Bible, The 5 Love Languages, Power of a Praying Wife, How to Win Friends and Influence People, As a Man Thinketh, and Everyone Communicates, Few Connect. I recommend EVERYONE to get these books and read them asap. They help in so many areas of life, especially your closest relationships.
So, my plan is to group my Biblical reading with my personal growth reading and make it a 30 minute window instead of (2)15 minute windows. Before bed seems to be the best time. Also, prayer is the most powerful thing we can do for our spiritual health. It's like water to the body. Without water our bodies will perish. Praying is the social network to God, you should update your status frequently! Reading is like vitamins and supplements. What we put into our minds and our hearts eventually comes out of our mouths. It is true that what a person thinks, so is he. Let's put good stuff in, so good stuff goes out. Church is your scale. This is where we can evaluate where we are in our spiritual health and what we need to do to improve.  Finally the world is your gym. As a Christian I believe that I am constantly exercising what it is I believe. I need to be an example of what a Christian is supposed to be; loving, forgiving, positive, encouraging, gracious, helpful, honest, etc. Basically, Christ-like. That's the ultimate goal, isn't it? There are a lot of times I fail, but I need to keep looking up and seeking God's help to help me back up and keep moving. It's kind of funny to think of this in this way, but if you want to lose all the weight you are carrying around in sin, guilt, fear, hate, loneliness, regret, depression, etc, you can in an instant just by asking. Ask God to remove it from your heart and soul and trust in Him to do just that, then He will. If you didn't know already, but that is what Easter was all about. We can have spiritual liposuction the second we ask for it with no payment plan. Jesus already paid it in advance, an early Christmas present, if you will. If you want to talk more about this one on one I am more than able to do that. I know I spoke of this very serious matter in a light hearted way, but sometimes making it fun and simple can make it stick better. Love You!

Yoga!

So, recently, on Wednesday mornings, us girls (the Fab Four, as I like to call us) have taken on YOGA. I have always wanted to be a Yogi. I love everything about it, except the process it takes to become one. I am talking about how awkward I feel transitioning into the positions, how I feel verses how I look in the mirror, how loud I breathe, and how not streamlined my body is at the moment. I will get there, but right now it's not pretty. I enjoy the end of the sessions when you get to lay down and rest. I just think about that as my reward for the physical and emotional pain I go through as I stretch, contort, and breathe. :) I have realized, just from this last session, that I need to do cardio BEFORE Yoga because I just feel like taking a nap afterwards. Plus, I don't burn as many calories as I like by just doing Yoga. So, to make myself even more pumped I am purchasing a new Yoga mat and carrier as a Birthday present to myself! I will post a picture when I get it. I am turning 29 tomorrow. I really need to think about what I want to accomplish in the next 365 days, before I am 30!

Still plugging along

Well, I am still in the game. It was hard this last week to keep up with a routine. My husband, brother, and I went to Vegas for business and pleasure for 5 days. I got cardio in the first night: I pushed Stephen in his chair up and down the strip for 5 HOURS!!! Yuck. It was freezing, windy, and he couldn't push that well in it, so I had to assist. It became a long night, but fun. My legs hurt so bad when I woke up the next morning. Then the only thing I managed to get in was a 30 minute swim on Friday. I started out good, but then came the food. I was aweful. When I fall off the wagon, I fall hard. So, today was the first day back in the gym. I burned 720 calories! Woowoo! Gotta make up for Vegas. I just realized that I have less than a month to drop 2 dress sizes. I might have to readjust my goals. I have already knocked my calorie consumption to 1065 in order to lose 2 pounds a week. I add back whatever calories I burn for that day, though. I checked to make sure that was what I was supposed to do and it is. I work out to eat, it seems. Haha.

On a different note, I wanted to talk to you about Sergey, my soon to be nephew. He is an orphan from a different country and has Down Syndrome. My sister, Danielle and her family, are working towards adopting him. They are allowing people to donate money or an item to their fund raiser. Please check out the information on the bottom left of this blog to learn more about her family, their heart, and Sergey. We can't wait to bring him home, so please help if you can. Thank you!



 Meet Sergey

Meet his parents

His Big Brother

and his 5 Sisters



I finally got the real results!!!

They came in the mail Saturday after my 3rd week of working out. I have lost 5 pounds already, by the way! Yay me! Any ways, the results for my body focus on Better Balancing my diet and doing High Intensity work outs. In order to balance my diet, it needs to be 55% Carbs (Jenn was right about South Beach hurting me more than helping me), 25% Fat, and 20% Protein (again, South Beach is not the way to go for me.) With the Inherent Health test I get to use the website to track my food and exercises. It has been really helpful and super addicting. It helps me see if I am on track with my percentages too. So, I feel as though this is something I can do to control and lose weight. I am having a blast taking care of myself. Now Stepehn is considering ordering a test for himself, too. I totally think he should. It would be fun to do this together.

I'm Scared!

So, I received my test results from Inherent Health online. I still am waiting to get the hard copy in the mail. Apparently it comes with a booklet to help me understand what it says in detail. They were kind and gave me the gyst in layman's terms to hep me out. It says that my body has no issues with fats or carbs, so that's good. I don't need to limit those, HOWEVER, it says that I need to maintain a strict calorie amount daily and be involved in High Intensity Exercise. Apparently my body type has a hard time using my body fat as fuel, so it takes a lot to burn it off. This will be needed throughout my life in order to keep the weight off. Ugh! I will get more details soon. They show specific geno types that I have no idea what they mean, but I have a free session with a board-certified, licensed Genetic Professional that I need to schedule. I can ask any and all questions I want, so that will be helpful. I will keep you posted on my changes and progress. I have notified Chelle, and I am scared to see what she has in store for me.

The end of Week 1

Today was the finale to the first week of my workout plan. So far, I am having a great time and learning at the same time. (which is really the best way for an ADHD person like me to learn...oooh my screen is so bright) Anyways! I am in some normal beginners pain all over my body. That's good, right?

I officially stopped Phase one on the 11th day. My friend Jenn made a comment that made me think about what I was doing. Carb deprivation is good for that diet, but since I am waiting on the test results from Inherent Health, what if it says Protein is not what I need to be focusing on? What if carbs are good for my body? I am potentially damaging my body while I think I am helping it. Sigh! So, I have been slowly incorporating carbs back into my meals. I have to say that Stephen is much happier now that I am eating carbs. I guess I wasn't the most pleasant of people to be living with for those 11 days. :)

I must say that this is the first time in my life that I have enjoyed working out AND actually look forward to the next day. Next week I am excited about it because we are going to be swimming for our cardio. Yay! I dread the thought of running, unless I am being chased, and the elliptical makes my toes fall asleep. So, I went and bought a 1 piece bathing suit, goggles, and a swim cap today after the gym with a different Jenn who also works out with us. This is what it looks like!

We have a pretty good group formed: Michelle, Dani, Jenn, and me. Recently there has been a couple other girls, but I have only seen them once. Anywho, we have fun while we get in shape.

The plan continues; make myself work out until it becomes apart of my every day life. I have given myself until the middle of May to decide whether or not I have the discipline to continue on without Chelle's instruction. We shall see. I already feel as though I would miss out if I don't work out with them, but their gym is 45 minutes away from my house. Is the gas, mileage, and time used to go there worth continuing there? That is the question.

First Day of Work Out

Holy cow! Chelle is a born Personal Trainer. Her energy gets higher as she works out, instead of drained like mine. Haha. I feel as though working on legs was a great way to start things off. Tomorrow is arms, of course. The whole time, today, I was worried that I might push it too hard at the gym and then get home and drop Stephen in the middle of a transfer 'cause my legs gave out. That was not the case, by the way. We are both fine. :) I must say that I hope I turn into one of those people who become addicted to staying fit, because right now I am dreading going again. I like it when I am finished with the work out, but doing the work out is not my favorite thing in the world. I think it is because of the repetition you have to do. I get bored really fast. The group of women I am working out with make it fun, though. I am so glad I decided to do this. OK, so I never get tired by 9:30pm, but I am about to fall asleep typing this, so... Good Night! zzzzzzz.

The scale said 6 pounds!

I remember when Stephen and I decided to do the South Beach Diet for the first time. We were living in Guam at the time, and our friends encouraged us to all do Phase 1 together. Stephen and I both lost 10-15 pounds the first week. It was amazing! Phase 1 is meant to be 2 weeks long. By the end of it we were very happy with our results. Phase 2 is for as long as you need to lose your desired amount of weight. This phase focuses on slowly bringing back healthy carbs into your diet. You have to read the South Beach Diet Book to really understand why, if you don't already. (They should really be paying me for this free advertisement).

This time around...it is day 4 and I have dropped 6 pounds!!! I am sure some of that is water weight, but I know that this diet targets belly fat and I look slimmer and my clothes fit better...ALREADY! The hardest part, really, is to maintain it. My plan for that is, that once I receive my test results I will have a better idea of the path for fitness I need to take. From there my friend, Chelle, is going to personally train me. I know I won't work out on my own, so I have to make a super big effort to not let anyone else pay for my laziness. I have an appointment with her every morning starting the 14th, Monday through Friday. I won't let you down, Chelle! In turn I won't let myself down. I am so sneaky. :} Sometimes ya gotta trick yourself into doing what's best for you. By the way, I almost caved into having some supposedly sugar free ice cream. I didn't do it! Not gonna do it, not gonna do it.

I could eat fries all day, every day

Yesterday was Day 2. I did so good! Fries are usually my down fall, but I had will power and didn't have one. Stephen and our friends made a point to tell me how gross they were and tasteless. I knew better, but thanks guys. This blog is really a great way for me to stay on track along with ALL of my supportive friends. I do have to confess that I had 2 glasses of wine with Stephen last night. He is a sweet talker.

Today was the day!

My goal right now is to try something different to become a healthy me. I have read parts of the book Eat For Your Blood Type (the part that was my blood type) before and I guess I didn't take it seriously back then. Now, I am starting to become more aware of how my body "likes" to work. I recently ordered the DNA test kit from Inherent Health through my business and received it yesterday. I provided the sample and sent it in today. I should get my results in 7-10 days. With that being said here is the link to check it out http://www.inherenthealth.com/ .

It will tell me what my body utilizes better for my metabolism and what to avoid, besides my allergens. It will also see what types of exercises are better for my body than others. I ordered the weight management one and am anxious as to what it will say. From reading Michelle Syntax's blog, Mommy With Muscle, I was motivated to go on Phase One of the South Beach Diet until I get my results. Phase One focuses on restarting your body by removing the craving of carbs and targeting belly fat through a diet of only protein, fiber, and good fats, like EVOO. So far today went pretty well. I didn't really have any cravings. What got me through was me telling myself that this is for a short time and I will have carbs again soon. I can handle it. I hope it works throughout since the 3rd and 4th days tend to be my worst. NOT THIS TIME!!! I am claiming it right now. If you are interested in ordering one of the Inherent Health tests, just contact me and I will help set you up.