"Couch-to-5K"

So a couple weeks ago my friend Megan Day told me about a running plan called "Couch-to-5k". She told me that she had started it and had actually not hated it.
So tonight I looked it up online and decided to start the plan. It seems pretty easy. For the first week you do a 5 minute brisk walk for a warm up, then you jog for 60 seconds and then walk for 90 seconds, then jog for 60 seconds, then walk for 90 seconds... and so on and so forth until you reach 20 minutes. You do this 3 times for the first week, then in the 2nd week you step it up to a 90 second jog to a 2 minute walk. And each week the jog gets longer, and sometimes the walks get shorter and sometimes they get longer.
Tonight was my first time doing the "Couch-to-5K" and I actually really liked it. The 60 seconds didn't seen to long, and the 90 seconds didn't seem too short. After the 20 minutes (then a 5 minute walk cool down I added myself) I was super sweaty and felt like I had gotten a good work out in.
I can't wait to see the progress I make each week. Looks like I need to look for a race to run in about 2 months when this program finishes!

Weight Loss Update

So since I started my weight loss journey in January, I've lost a significant amount of weight. I went from being 205 pounds to now 181.4 pounds! I've lost almost 24 pounds in 3 months! And I've lost a total of 13 inches off my body.

Old Measurements-New Measurements= Inches lost

Left Arm: 12.5-11.5= 1
Right Arm: 12.5-12= .5
Chest: 45-43.5= 1.5
Under: 39.5-37.5= 2
Waist: 39.0-36.5= 2.5
Gut: 42.5-40.5= 2
Hips: 45-43.5= 1.5
Left Leg: 25-24.5= .5
Right Leg: 25-24.5= .5

Everybody keeps asking me "How are you doing it?" and it feels great to tell them "The old fashioned way: diet and exercise." I've been working out more than I have ever worked out in my entire life. And I've been cooking meals at home more than I have ever cooked in my entire life. I take my lunch with me to work every day that way I don't eat whatever I want. Calories are ridiculous whenever you go out to eat, and it sucks because most people don't even know it. And if I do go out to eat, I be sure to plan it before hand and look at their nutrition information before leaving the house.

It's very time consuming and it kind of sucks to have to plan every meal of your day at the beginning of your day, but like a quote I got off of my Biggest Loser game "If you fail to plan, you plan to fail". This quote has kept me going through a lot of it.

As far as exercising goes, I've been going to Zumba with Janey Albin at least once a week at CFC for an hour, sometimes I go to other Zumba classes, but most of the time I don't. I also walk/jog on the treadmill at Jase's house and after that I'll do a bit of weight lifting. If I don't go to Zumba or I'm not at Jase's, I'll do my Biggest Loser for the XBOX Kinect and/or dancing on the XBOX Kinect with Dance Central. And if I don't do any of that, I'll go on a walk with either Katie Bug or Jase downtown.

Speaking of Katie Bug, I took her to Zumba with me weeks ago, and I've gotten her hooked. She's also been working out and eating right and she's lost about 25 pounds. It's so nice to have someone to work out with and keep me motivated, and that's exactly what Katie Bug does, and I absolutely love her! :)

I've still got a long way to go, but instead of sitting here and typing about it, I think I'm going to get off my butt and get to working out!

Mini Pizzas

Made a recipe out of my new Hungry Girl cookbook and I absolutely LOVED it! I'm going to share the recipe in case anyone else wants to try it.

Ingredients:
-1 light English muffin
-1/4 cup shredded fat-free mozzarella cheese
-8 pieces (about 1/2 ounce) turkey pepperoni
-2 tablespoons canned tomato sauce
-Optional: salt, black pepper, oregano, garlic powder, onion powder, red pepper flakes, etc.

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Season tomato sauce, to taste, with any of the optional ingredients. Split English muffin in half and spread sauce on both halves.

Evenly sprinkle cheese over the 2 halves and then top with pepperoni. Place muffin halves on a baking pan sprayed lightly with nonstick spray and cook for 12-14 minutes.

Season as you would a regular slice of pie.

Each serving (2 mini pizzas) is only 190 calories, 3g fat, 25g carbs, 6.5 fiber, and 20g protein.

I also include a 1/2 cup of steam veggies with "I Can't Believe It's Not Butter" spray for an additional 20 calories. So my whole meal was only 210 calories, and I am full. Not stuffed, but full.

I'm so excited to be eating healthier and exercising regularly, and making a healthier me!

Measurements and Presents

Went to Zumba again tonight, I just absolutely love it, however tonight I had a really tough time keeping up. I dont know if it was because this was the first week I wasn't super pumped to go, or if it's because it was REALLY hot in the gym today, or if it's because over the weekend I ate so much crap that my body was feeling the effects. Whatever it was, I did not like it and hope I never feel that way again. Also, I decided that I was going to start having Janey (the instructor) measure me every week so I can start seeing the results. Here's this week's measurements (in inches):


Left Arm: 12.5
Right Arm: 12.5
Chest: 45 (man dang...)
Under: 39.5
Waist: 39.0
Gut: 42.5 (man dang...)
Hips: 45
Left Leg: 25
Right Leg: 25
I can't wait to start seeing the results from this!

As in other news, Valentine's day was today. Jase and I kind of celebrated last night because we both worked this morning, and he worked tonight as well. He got me a panini press/grill which will come in handy when making dinner for the both of us (so it was kind of a present for himself too). He's already asked me to make him something, but I haven't decided if I'm too tired to do so or not. I bought him Assasin's Creed "Brotherhood"... some XBOX game. Totally romantic huh? He also bought me a really sweet card and gave it to me tonight, this is what it said:
Front: "We're so good together"
Inside" We're good together because we share laughter, dreams, quiet moments, special memories, private jokes... and each other. We're good together because we share love. Happy Valentines Day."
And then in his own writing he wrote "Can't wait to share a lifetime of moments with you. I love you!"
I'm not even going to lie, I teared up a bit. I loved it.

My birthday is coming up here soon. I'll be 23 on the 23rd of February. It's my golden birthday, so it's supposed to be real special, but idevenk what I want to do for it yet. I was going to go visit Tyler but Mom and I just went there to help him and Jessi move, and Dad wants me to work for him the 24th-28th... so I guess that's a no go. In case you are just wondering what I want for my birthday, here's a few things:
-http://store.zumba.com/shop/product/i-love-zumba-racerback/purple-black- Size XXL
-http://store.zumba.com/shop/product/supreme-sports-tank/black- Size XL (either the black or the blue)
-http://store.zumba.com/shop/product/wild-for-zumba-spaghetti-tank/navy-aqua (any color, size XXL).
-http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003AGXI9G/ref=s9_simh_gw_p21_d1_i1?pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=center-2&pf_rd_r=16NBY7D9683M27V9SD0N&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=470938631&pf_rd_i=507846 (to keep all the XBOX stuff at my house straight)
-Seasons 1 and 2 of GLEE!
-An iPod Touch
-Lego Harry Potter for the Kinect
-Michael Jackson the Experience for the Kinect
-A New Guitar Hero game.
-Reebok Easy Tones (size 8)
If you so feel obligated to buy me one of these presents, I would love you for forever! <3

New Year, New Me 2

So not only have I been working out every day, which I kind of love, but I've also started to cook a lot more too. Just another to add to the new me this year.

Last night Jase and I made a chicken stir fry that we found on Loseit.com 's facebook page that someone had made. It consisted of a stir fry veggie mix (broc, peas, baby corns, carrots, water chestnuts and red peppers) and we also added green pepper and onion.

Cook all of that in a big frying pan or in a wok (which I just purchased today and can't wait to use!) then add 2 oz of chicken (Jase added it raw and then cooked the chicken with the veggies).

Also on the side in a separate pot, cook a packet of Ramen noodles (don't season them).

After the chicken is done, add the cooked noodles to the pan/wok and then add 2 tbsp of Stir Fry Sauce and mix together.

Each serving is only 250 calories and is so delicious!

I've included a picture from last night to show you the end (and delicious) product. Try it and let me know what you think.

New Year, New Me.

So being the 5th day of the new year, I decided I needed to blog about a few exciting times that have happened in my life and ones that are still to come.

On December 13, 2010 in the wee hours in the morning, Jase (FINALLY) got down on one knee and asked me to marry him! We started to make dinner around 11:00 at night. We made chicken (helper) fried rice and Shells and Cheese, super fancy I know. After we were done eating, I said something about needing to clean up our mess so that his mother wouldn't get mad, and he said "I figured I'd go ahead and give you your Christmas present so you can start using it." because I was supposed to be getting Reebok Easytone shoes. So he went down and got my present and it was a semi large box, when I unwrapped that one there was a smaller box inside that was wrapped that said "Will" on the top of it. After I unwrapped that one, there was another smaller box inside that said "You". On the next box it said "Marry", and then on the 4th box, which was the box my ring box was inside of, it said "Me" and by the time I got to that box, he was down on his knee beside the table. It was very sweet and very romantic, and I can't wait to start my new life as Mrs. Poag. I haven't decided on an exact date yet (that's on my to-do list for tomorrow) but it is going to be sometime in April 2012.

I decided not to go back to school this semester. I'm not 100% sure of what I want to do with my life.... still. I'm pretty sure I am going to go Ivy Tech next semester and major in Hospitality/Event Planning, but not so sure. I'm so ready to get a degree and to get a real job.

Since I have my wedding coming up, I've decided that there is no better time to really buckle down and get into shape. I decided to buy an Xbox Kinect and I'm so glad it did. Even though it's only been a few days since I've had it, I've used it every day and my body is sore, but I know that it's a good thing because it's getting me closer and closer to my goal. We bought Dance Central and the Biggest Loser "game". I absolutely love Dance Central even though I feel like a giant loser because I don't do some of the moves exactly right, but it gets my heart beating and my body sweating all while I'm having fun. The Biggest Loser is a little bit of a different story. I love it because it's just like a work out video, except for the fact that it tells you when are you doing the moves wrong unlike a movie would. However, it is not much fun. I'm not even kidding when I say it's hard work. After the first 5 minutes I'm so out of breath, but after I'm done I feel so good about myself.

I'm also very excited because there is a small group of my friends that are playing "The Biggest Loser". We are going to have a contest for 17 weeks (until the beginning of May) to see who can lose the most weight. The winner wins money because at each weigh in every week (on Fridays) we are going to put $2 into the pot, and if you gain any weight you have to throw in an extra dollar. I really hope I win because not only will I have a fit body, but I'll have a coupe extra dollars in my pocket, which is always good when planning a wedding.

Not only am I exercising more, but I'm also really trying to eat right. I'm not sure how I'm doing, I'm very bad at counting my calories, but I feel like I am eating better that what I was. (that's another thing on my to-do list tomorrow, to buy a little notebook to write down calories) Today I made another batch of chili. My mom and I got the recipe whenever we were dieting together my senior year, it's my favorite chili ever! Here's the recipe it you would like to try it yourself:

-1 pound of ground turkey
-1 large can crushed tomatoes
-1/2 small onion
-1 1/3 cups macaroni or other pasta
-1/2 to 1 packet Chili mix (Williams is good) or Chili Powder to taste
-Lawry's Season Salt to taste
-Pepper to taste
-1/4 tsp. Garlic Powder
-Louisiana Hot Sauce (optional)

Brown turkey and saute' onions together, drain or rinse off fat (there should be very little). In a large soup pan add tomatoes, seasoning and 4 to 6 cups of water (the more water you use, the soupier it'll be).

Bring to a boil then turn to medium heat, add macaroni and simmer 15-20 mins.

Makes 4-5 servings.




I've included some pictures, I also started adding jalapenos to my chili because I love spicy chili! This has been my favorite recipe to make and eat from when we were dieting. It's really easy and it tastes so good!

Here's to a new, healthier, more fit year!

Thankfulness

Here's a semi-short list of what I'm thankful this year (not necessarily in order of importance).

1.) Jase Face- I don't know anyone else who could put up with some of the things I put him through. He is the only person who I feel like could love me no matter how I look or when I say something really dumb. He's always there for me, even if I don't realize it at the time, and he really does love me.

2.) My family- It's so full of love and I couldn't ask for a better one. I'm so lucky to have such a wonderful and caring family. If I didn't have them, I would be completely and utterly lost.

3.) My friends- These people are always around for me to pour my heart out to, from work problems to good grades. They don't judge me and they love me the way that I am. There's hardly anything I love more than to lay down at night and think of all the funny things that were said and done while being with them.

4.) My relationship with God- Although it may not be the best right now, I'm so lucky to know that I have a God who loves me more than anything or anyone here on Earth. It's so nice to have someone that I can turn to at any hour of the day and will know that He is always there and is always listening.

5.) Reggae, PePee, Chaz- My 3 wonderful and very special Boys. I love always having something to come home to. I love burring my face in their fur. And I love it when they cuddle up next to me in bed and purr for hours on end.

6.) My Church Family- It's so nice to have so many extra families that care for me. I feel so blessed to be accepted into a lot of different families and I love each and every single one of them. They are always there for me, and show me how to lead a Christian life, and I look up to them.

7.) My Job/Co-workers- I love my job at Hacienda Mexican Restaurant. It's nice to work for people who actually care about your goals, dreams, and even just you in general. And my co-workers are the best. I've got such a strong bond with most of them and they always keep me in a positive mood and always keep me laughing. There are many times throughout a shift that I think "Man, I just love my co-workers!!!"

8.) Being able to have the things I need to make it through each day. A warm place to lay my head down at night, money to buy food to feed my belly and to pay my bills, clothes to keep me warm and hide my imperfections, a car to get me to class and to work and to see all the people I love.

I just love the holiday of Thanksgiving. It makes you sit back and look at your life and realize what exactly you are thankful for.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! God Bless!!!!!!