Jessica's Lifestyle Makeover Update!

Goal Weight: 140 by Oct 1

Weigh in Last Week: 152

Weigh in This Week: 151

Total Weight Loss This Week: 1

Total Weight Loss Since May 30th: 19

I gotta hand it to Jessica......get it?  She's sitting in a hand chair....I think I am SO FUNNY sometimes (ok, really just dorky).  

So it's time to get real.....

Ok, so I did it again!  Haha. Time to get real while she is standing next to a clock...ok, I'll stop.

Clearly, she looks great and is SO CLOSE to entering the 140's before October 1st.  Losing 2 pounds a week has proven to be TOUGH.  It was an aggressive goal to begin with.  Real life just happens and sometimes your body just gets to a certain weight and likes it. PLUS, Jessica is 22 and wants to live life which sometimes means having one too many drinks and eating brunch while being hungover the next day.  We've all been there.  

For the most part she stays away from bad food but once in awhile you have to embrace the oversized ice cream.

DID YOU KNOW:                                That people are more likely to stay fit  & healthy when they have a friend (or significant other) to work out with?  Well it's true....which is why I want to announce a new client and Jessica's good friend Caitlyn who will be my next Lifestyle Makeover client!

Meet Caitlyn:

Partners in Crime.  Both can influence one another to stay on the health and fitness GAME PLAN.

Stay Tuned for more Jessica/Caitlyn tales.  Two friends with very different lifestyle makeover agendas.  

xoxox

Sarah

This Math Equation STINKS!

Why is it when I married my husband and we moved in together he lost 10 lbs & I gained 5?  That is math I dislike.  

He has started eating more fruits and vegetables from me in exchange for me eating more of his processed junk food.  UGH!  Thankfully we've both given in a little and have some balance in regards to groceries.

Does things end up in your refrigerator from a roommate or significant other that SCREAM your name?

However I am SUPER excited about this Oskie Woskie shirt*** I found for only $4.  Shana from ColorBlind got me hooked on these kinds of shirts while on our thrift shopping extravaganzas.

***Oskie Woskie (pronounced OH-ski WHOA-ski) is a term for shirts that are at least 25 years old.

Below is a new song to add to your workout playlist as well as a Monday butt kicking running track.  Enjoy!

1. Warm Up - Brisk 5 minute walk or jog
2. Sprint - Sprint for 30 seconds, walk for 30 seconds.  Repeat 5 times.
3. Run/Walk - Run full force for 2 minutes and walk for 1 minute.  Repeat 5 times.
4. Hill Jog - Jog for 10 minutes increasing your incline every minute.
5. Hill Run - Run at the top of the hill 2 minutes.
6. Sprint - Take off all incline and repeat step 2 for 3 minutes.
7. Cool Down - Walk at a slow recovery pace.

Add Do You by Iffy To Your Running Playlist

Team Salty or Team Sweet?

I was pretty excited to find this Tahari white blazer and heart necklace for $3.00 each! My best friend Shana (from ColorBlind) was in town and we had a major thrift shopping extravaganza which I totally count as exercise.  Don't judge.

Ok.....back to regularly scheduled programming.....

Are you team SWEET, team SALTY or BOTH?

I'm totally on team sweet.  Sugar is the bane of my existence.  I mean, if you give me something salty I'll eat it (love Pop Chips) but if you told me I couldn't have it I'd be ok.  I don't get that salt craving. 

I try REALLY hard (not always successful) to mix my sweet tooth with something actually good for you like fruit.  So today I whipped out some chocolate covered bananas.  I blogged once before about frozen bananas in the summer but discovered that they are gooey and delicious when they are at room temperature.  I would have never known this if it weren't for my impatient step son Nick. 

He just COULDN'T wait for them to freeze.....thankfully his impatience turned my treat into something even more delicious.

These treats are SUPER easy.  All you have to do is buy the melting chocolate and some bananas.  You need popsicle sticks and parchment paper.  Follow the melting instructions, dip the bananas, set them on the parchment paper and voila.  They are done.  If you really want to make them perfectly look it up on Google.  I'm terrible in the kitchen......haha!

You know I'm serious when I've got the hair
pulled back and the head band on.....

My cat, Squiggy, loves to be in pictures.
He's is giving me the
 "I'm going to eat whatever you're making" face.

What else am I supposed to do while my lovely husband is planted on the couch watching football  ALL DAY?

My husband John in his typical Sunday position.
Looking up fantasy football on his phone while
also switching back and forth from game to game.

The T.V. that I don't watch on Sundays

He is supportive of the blog but not
amused by all the picture taking during the Redskins game.....OOOPS!

New Workout, Music Suggestions and a $6 Dress!

Though I LOVE blogging I'm terribly inconsistent.  I'm trying to change that!  

Thanks to Shana from ColorBlind for taking these photos!

To make up for my lack of consistency here is a running routine made for the days when you have no time or energy but want to get a quick pick-me-up workout

First things first.  MUSIC.  Add this song to your playlist.  Total motivator.

                                           

Workout Routine:

1. Warm Up - Jog or walk for 5 minutes 

2. Run/Walk - Run full force (or at your own pace if you're a new runner) for 2 minutes then do a recovery walk for 1 minute.  Repeat for 5 rounds (15 minutes)

3.  Run/Walk - Repeat step 2 but change the ratio to running for 3 minutes and walking for 1.  Repeat for 5 rounds (20 minutes).

4.  Cool Down - Walk for 5 minutes

5.  BAM!  You've got a 45 minute workout DONE!

PS - I found this dress for $6.00!  I don't love the scalloped sleeves but am going to get those tailored to look more modern.  But the color and the lace are my FAVORITE!

My answer to everything hair related is to add accessories.  Sometime I look like a fool but tonight it happened to work!  

Jessica Update!

I'm a TERRIBLE blogger.  I've basically got blogger A.D.D.  Ya know,  when something sounds good at the time and you go full force and then get a little burned out?  It happens to the best of us.

Well I'm back on the blogging track and wanted to give a quick update on Jessica.  She is doing amazing and is continuing to work out, eat healthfully and lose weight.  She weighs in again tomorrow and I'll post the results.  

The best part is that she is now got her friend on the same workout track.  So glad to see that Jessica is taking what she learned and sharing it with others!  That is what this journey is all about.  

PS - Does Jessica not look AMAZING in that bathing suit?  She has come a long way....

Jessica's Lifestyle Makeover Week 9

Goal Weight: 140 by Oct 1

Weigh in Last Week: 157

Weigh in This Week: 155

Total Weight Loss This Week: 2

Total Weight Loss Since May 30th: 17


Another great week!  Holy hot red dress!


I've been so bad this week about blogging!  It was a busy work week, my birthday and I leave for the beach tomorrow.  I'm exhausted just writing all of that down.  Thankfully I squeezed in 3 days of yoga, a spin class and a 30 minute jog.    


Will have a guest blogger next week.....wait and see.


xo
Sarah

The ABsolutely FABulous Challenge Day 10: Do The Shuffle

THE

ABsolutely FABulous 

14 Day Challenge 

14 days worth of Ab Workouts, Healthy Habits & Positive Thinking

DAY 10:

Ab Challenge:  Here is a 10 minute video of a standing ab routine.  I really like doing abs while standing and this routine made me really sore.  Exercise TV has great videos and I usually find them on my TV using Fios on Demand.

Healthy Habit Challenge:  Do The Shuffle.  I'm a self proclaimed control freak.  I'm also a little a lot OCD.  I have structured workouts with goals and playlists......I don't just GO to the gym I have a PLAN.....which can be kind of exhausting!
Instead of getting upset about it I embrace it.  Do you have workout routines structured during the week like I do?  I'm WAY to much of a structured worker outer....but not today.....I'm doing the shuffle.

It's shuffle time.  I found an old iPod I TOTALLY forgot about.  I don't even remember the music I put on it.  SO I put my headphones in and went for a run on the shuffle mode.  It was SO liberating to not have a plan and just go.  If the song was slow I walked, if the song was fast I ran.  There were SO MANY songs I forgot how much I loved.  Needless to say it was a great workout and I was happy to break my typical routine.

Positive Thinking Challenge: My mom had The Desiderata hanging by the front door of our house.  She referenced it often and while I was annoyed by it then I am appreciative of it now.  Here is one of the lines I found most useful.  

If you compare yourself with others, you may become vain or bitter, for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself.

PS - I often have bad hair days am too lazy to do my hair.  My solution to this problem.....headbands.  Headbands make it look as if I put effort into looking stylish....even if I might not actually be stylish....I also call this Sunday hair.

Blackout by Breathe Carolina

This is definitely going on my next workout playlist and in my next spinning class routine.  They actually have several songs I love.

ABsolutely FABulous Challenge Day 9: Do The New....Dude...

THE

ABsolutely FABulous 

14 Day Challenge 

14 days worth of Ab Workouts, Healthy Habits & Positive Thinking

DAY 9

Ab Challenge:  Do the new.  Anything.  At all.  If you run, bike.  If you bike, walk.  If you do both....well then you are a darn rockstar.  Bodies get bored with the same old, same old.  Cross training always helps build different muscles....especially your core and abs.  My husband and sister took a surf lesson this weekend which is a killer workout on your abs.  I would have done it too but then who would take pictures??!!  SECRET:  I am terrified of wave.  Not water, just waves.  I think it is called wavephobia.  Ok, so I made that up.....but it could be real. 

Healthy Habit Challenge:  My sister, mom & I came up with a saying over the weekend that applies to most everything in life. Zip it. Fix it. Stop it. 

Zip it = Just stop talking about it.  Talking about negative things can make it worse!

Fix it = Do something about it!  If you talk and don't act what is the point?

Stop it = Whatever 'it' is stop it.  Whether is be a negative friend, terrible boss or a bad habit.  Just.  Don't.  Do it.

Positive Thinking Challenge:  Surround yourself with people who make you better.  Invest in relationships that recharge you.  Settle for nothing less than what you want and desire.

On a random note look how cute my mom's outfit was.  At least I know where I get my sense of style....haha!  This is again where my philosophy of "belts make everything better" come into play.  That belt makes the whole outfit rock.

Jessica's Lifestyle Makeover Week 8

Goal Weight: 140 by Oct 1

Weigh in Last Week: 159

Weigh in This Week: 157

Total Weight Loss This Week: 2

Total Weight Loss Since May 30th: 15

Can I just say how incredible she looks in stripes!  

Holy cow the weight continues to drop!  Slow and steady weight loss usually stays off.  Jessica is a perfect example of someone who just changed her eating habits and exercised.  Nothing drastic.  No cabbage soup diet.  No cayenne pepper lemon drink diet.  I've pretty much let Jessica figure out the last few weeks on her own and she has done well.  Jessica has got the hang of it and has yet to hit a plateau.  If she hits a plateau we'll switch things up a bit.  For now it is just calorie counting on www.livestrong.com & exercise.  

Only 17 pounds to go!

Now back to.....

THE

ABsolutely FABulous 

14 Day Challenge 

14 days worth of Ab Workouts, Healthy Habits & Positive Thinking

DAY 9

Ab Challenge:  Lie flat on your back with your legs out and your arms stretched out above your head (on the floor).  Come up in a quick move and touch your toes.  Blow out two times.  This is done in Bikram Yoga and I love it. 

Do 3 sets of 12.

Healthy Habit Challenge:  Eat something you've told yourself you don't like.  Maybe you'll like it this time.  I swore to my husband that I HATED beets.  He asked that I give them another try and I did.  Beets are not so bad.  I just had an image from when I was 12 that I hated beets.  Well guess what.  I'm no longer 12 and have changed my tastes quite a bit.....beets are good.

This also happened with goat cheese.  I actually didn't like it but kept giving it a try until I found one I liked.  Humbolt Blue Goat Cheese.....I love you.

Positive Thinking Challenge:  Send someone a care package (or card) in the mail.  Getting mail is fun and you know it.  Why mail makes my day I have no idea!!