To help you use up some of your zucchini

These "zucchini boats" are good.  Really good.  AND good for you.
Normally I'm not a huge fan of ground turkey.  Maybe because when I cook it, it has a weird gray color.  But when you add the Taco seasoning it's a game changer.

Recipe.

Cut zucchini in half and carve out the middle (I use a spoon)
Cook 1 pound of Jenni-O ground turkey on the stove.  When it's fully cooked, add a little water and Taco seasoning (as much seasoning as you prefer--I like it more mild)
Spoon cooked turkey into the zucchini.  Add cut up fresh mushrooms and olives (or whatever toppings you like).

Cook at 400 degrees for about 7 minutes.  Then add some mozzarella cheese and continue cooking for about 5 more minutes or until zucchini is tender when stabbed with a fork.

Fast.  Easy.  And healthy.

I'm still trying to warm my kids up to zucchini.  They aren't big fans.  So I just put the extra ground turkey and toppings in a corn taco shell for them.

The original idea for this came from an Instagram account I was following but now can't find.  Probably because one of my kids accidentally un-followed them.  Anyway, it was tweaked from that to our liking.

100 Burpee Challenge

I get a little burned out on my various workouts every now and then and am always on the lookout for new things to help me stay in shape.

I'm planning to run the Big Cottonwood Half Marathon this September so I'll be doing a lot of running, but I've been looking for something new for cross-training throughout the week.

In my searching I came across a site called the 12 minute athlete.  I haven't fully looked into it yet, nor have I done any of the workouts so I can't say it works, but I saw her post something about a "100 Burpee Challenge".

So today, I decided to try it.  I'm always up for a challenge.  And she said "Doing 100 burpees in a row is an awesome way to gauge your fitness level"

Here were the guidelines for time:

12+ minutes:  You're an athlete in training!  Way to work hard, and don't stop pushing.

10-12 minutes:  You're an athlete!  Awesome job getting past those mental blocks.

8-10 minutes:  You're a super athlete!  You're strong and in great conditioning shape

6-8 minutes:  You're a total badass!  You have some serious burpee skills.

4-6 minutes:  You're the ultimate badass!  Be very, very proud.

I've never done a burpee before.  I've done a few things that are kind of similar in Insanity, but never done an actual burpee.  Like, ever. 

And I ran 8 miles last Saturday.  So I'd like to think I'm in pretty good shape.

I did the 100 burpee challenge.  After I did 20 I was seriously questioning whether I was going to be able to finish.

I finished.

And it took me SIXTEEN minutes.  16.  16 1/2 actually.  But I didn't cheat on a single burpee.  I went all the way down and I jumped after every.single.one.  I did consider lying about my time just now.  But I resisted.

It was humbling.  And made me realize I have some work to do on my overall body strength.  I'm going to work on my burpee skills and try again in a month.  I'm blaming it on my arms.

Anyone want to try this with me??  It kicked my butt, but I'm up for the challenge of improvement.

{I wore a Heart Rate monitor while I did it and will post about the benefits of having a HRM and how many calories I burned during this exercise in a future post coming soon.}


And because no post feels complete without a picture.  Photo Credit:  Carter, 4 years old.  Added blur for artistic expression.  

My truth about running.

I spent some time watching the Live camera on the Boston finish line on Monday.  It was a much different experience than the year before, when I was glued to the TV and on the phone hoping my friends who had run the race were okay.

This year, I was tracking 2 of my cousins and a friend and was hoping to see them cross the finish line.  Running the Boston marathon is a BIG deal.  And I hope I can do it one day.  Just gotta shave large amounts of time off my race pace.  :)  But watching all those people cross that finish line got me thinking about running.  And why I'm compelled to do it.

Here's the truth about running for me.

It's not always easy.  Or fun.  In fact, more often than not, it's HARD.  And it hurts.

But there's something about running that cleanses the soul.  Clears the mind.  Squashes the stress.  And makes life feel just a little bit (or sometimes a lot) better.

Running is a lot like parenthood.  90% of the time it's hard.  And painful.  And sometimes you'd rather not do all that hard stuff.  But then there's the other 10%.  The days where you feel like you could run forever.  And you feel great.  And strong.  And "light".  And that 10% of running euphoria makes the other 90% worth fighting through.  

I love to run.  But I didn't always feel that way.  I remember one of my college roomates was an accomplished marathon runner and I used to think she was crazy.  Why on earth would anyone want to run that far and hurt that much?  And then I ran one.  And I understood.

There's something pretty profound about pushing your body to its limits.  And forcing your mind to be stronger than the pain.  The feeling that comes after a race (and even during) is why all those "crazy" people run long distance races.

And I don't run every day.  My main source of exercise when i'm not training for a race is either Insanity, T-25, or Body Pump.  But when I really need some good think time and soul cleansing, I run.

The hardest part about running for me, is the first 5 or 10 minutes.  Even though I enjoy running (usually when I'm done), it's often hard for me to get myself going.  And sometimes, I can tell within the first 5 to 10 minutes what kind of run I'm going to have.  "This one is going to feel good", or "I'm going to hurt the entire time."  But once I've determined how far I'm going, I always just do it.  Good or bad.  I do the miles.

If you think you weren't cut out to be a runner, read the book "Born to Run".  You might change your mind.

Oh, running.  It's not just for criminals.

 (All images were found on Pinterest)

Family friendly hiking.

In an effort to continually expose our kids to new things, especially in nature, and keep them (and us) active, we hiked to the Fifth water hot springs in Diamond Fork Canyon in Utah.

It is a MUST do for a hiking adventure.

Annnd because I had to heft a human child on my back, the big girl camera was left at home and these are all iphone pics courtesy of myself and my husband Mike.

It was more of a walk than a hike.  Our girls, who were 8 and 6, easily made it with minimal complaining.  Our 3 year old probably could have done it as well, but we didn't want to go that slow.
So we packed him and our 1 year old in on our backs.  I think it was a little over 2 miles each way.

We brought swimsuits and a change of clothes, as well as lunch to eat by the springs.

On the internet it said a lot of things about naked people being there.  Mercifully, we didn't see any.

The hike up was beautiful.  Kind of reminded me of hiking in Hawaii.  Seriously.  Super green.  Trees branching over the paths.  Little stream running by.

As you get closer you can start to smell the springs.  And the water in the river starts to get warmer.  Our kids thought that was pretty awesome.

When we got to the top, we ate lunch, then played around in the different pools.

Definitely worth a visit.  We'll be going back.  When the kids get a little older, I want to do it in the winter.

White Bean Chicken (or Turkey) chili

I never thought I'd be one to have a blog where I post recipes.  But since fixing food for my humans consumes a huge portion of my life, I think good, healthy recipes deserve a space on my blog.  Every once in a while at least.

If you haven't checked out Mel's Kitchen Cafe blog, you probably should.  Awesome, almost always easy, and usually not time consuming recipes.  It's my "go to" recipe site.

And with that, I give you this little gem that has become a part of our winter meal rotation.

White Bean Chicken (or Turkey) Chili

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1/2 cup diced onion
• 2 (14.5 ounce) cans Great Northern Beans, rinsed and drained
• 2 cups cooked, diced chicken (or turkey)
• 2 cups chicken broth
• 3/4 cup salsa (I use Pace Chunky Medium)
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1/2 teaspoon celery salt
• 1 1/2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese

DIRECTIONS

1. In a medium saucepan, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add onions and cook until onions are translucent, about 5 minutes.
2. Add the remainder of the ingredients, except the mozzarella cheese. Heat over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until the soup comes to a simmer. Add the mozzarella cheese one handful at a time, stirring to let each addition melt before adding the next. Stir to combine and make sure all the cheese has melted and serve.

Click here for a link with a picture.

It's good.  Trust me.  And healthy.  Bonus.  I've made it with turkey and chicken.  Tastes great either way.  And once I mistakenly thought I had mozzarella cheese but didn't, so I ripped up a bunch of string cheese and put that in there.  Took a little longer to melt, but still worked.  I'm brave in the kitchen like that.

Getting Healthy. Part 4. TIPS

To read Part 3 of "Getting Healthy" click here.

Here are some things that helped me while working on getting healthy.

1.  Use weight as a gauge, but NOT as an "end".  It truly isn't about weight as much as it is how you feel.  Muscle weighs more than weight.  So if you're gaining muscle, but losing fat, you're doing great.

2.  Drink more water than you think you can handle.  It helps hunger, but also helps flush all the crap out of the body.  And makes you pee a lot (only disadvantage).

3.  Leave a water bottle out where you can see it.  And drink everytime you pass it.  Take water in the car with you.  Have a bottle of water on your desk at work.  Keep it in your sight throughout the day and drink, drink, drink

4.  Eat smaller meals, more often.  I ate 5 meals a day, about 300 calories each.  To calculate how many calories you should be eating a day, click here.

5.  Exercise smarter, not necessarily longer.  I recommend some form of interval training.  But you have to work hard.

6.  Find a way to be accountable.  I'm self-motivated when it comes to exercise.  I wanted to lose weight and be healthy.  That was enough accountability for me.  But if you need more, tell a friend or family member what your goals are and have them ask you about it every so often.  Or find a workout buddy.  I like to exercise alone, but some people do better in groups.  Just make sure you're all there to work hard and not socialize.  :)

7.  Try to exercise at the same time every day.  I realize this can be tricky especially if you have kids.  I have 4 kids under the age of 9.  And my youngest was only 8 months old when I first started my exercise/eating program.  There's a way to do it.  You may have to be creative, but if you really want it, you can figure out a way to get it done.

8.  Don't feel guilty for the time it takes to exercise.  This may sound silly, but if you're a mom, you know what I'm talking about.  The ever present mom guilt.  I often felt guilty for exercising.  Because it does take a big chunk of time.  But.  My kids get to see me do it.  And know it's important to me.  And it's sending a VERY important message to them that exercising and eating right are a priority to me.

9.  Try not to get discouraged.  If you don't see pounds melting off like they do on the Biggest Loser competitors, don't get down on yourself.  I only lost about 1 pound a week.  Sometimes a little less, sometimes a little more.  Just stick with it.

10.  Don't weigh yourself obsessively.  My rule of thumb was to only weigh myself once a week.  Sometimes I even went two weeks.  As long as I was consistently feeling healthier and stronger, that was good enough for me.

11.  Plan ahead for your meals.  I don't have a lot of spare time throughout my day.  I rarely sit down and am usually running around from one thing to the next because someone allllllways needs me.  Always.  So if you don't have your meals figured out ahead of time, you'll eat crap, or even worse, you won't eat.  You HAVE to eat consistently to keep your metabolism going.

If I can do it, you can do it.  I promise.  Make it a priority.  Be consistent.  Celebrate even the smallest of success's.  Be positive.  Work hard.  And get healthy!!!!  If you have a WHY, you can figure out any HOW.  Good luck and STICK WITH IT!!!

Read Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3 of Getting Healthy.  And my history with weight here.

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me.  I'm happy to help wherever I can!

Getting Healthy. Part 3

To read Part 2 of "Getting Healthy" click here.

The next key for me to getting healthy was exercise.

I've been athletic my whole life.  I grew up playing sports with all the neighborhood boys.  Started playing competitive soccer when I was 12.  And played soccer in highschool.  I didn't start running just for the sake of running until I was 22.  I had never consistently run for exercise until I decided I was going to run a marathon.  Go big or go home.

And then I had four babies.  And only exercised intermittently during and between each pregnancy.

After my fourth baby, I finally felt motivated to lose all the baby weight and get in good shape.  

A few factors played into my decision on what type of exercise to do.  The only time I have to exercise right now is when my kids are awake.  A few of my kids don't sleep well, so getting up early is out of the question.

Running outside with kids in a stroller seems like a sin to me.  Running is my sacred time.  My alone time.  My "I can do this really hard thing called being a mother" pump up time.  Pushing kids in a stroller fetching thrown sippy cups and passing out goldfish just seems wrong.

Running on the treadmill wasn't an option either for fear something would get thrown at me by a child while running resulting in treadmill burn on my face.

I also wanted something that required no equipment.  Cause if momm'a lifting weights, the kids want to lift weights too.

So I decided to do Insanity.  If you haven't heard of Insanity, it's basically interval training.  But it's 3 minutes of high, intense exercise, and then a 30 second "rest" (you never really get to rest), then another 3 minutes of high, intense exercise.  When they say it's insanity, they aren't kiddin'.  It's hard.  Harder than any form of exercise I've ever done in my life.  More painful than even the last mile of the marathon I ran.

It hurts.  It's hard.  It's intense.  It's insane.

But.

It got me in the BEST shape of my entire life.  It literally changed the shape of my body.  Gave me muscle in places I've never had muscle before.  Toned.  Burned fat.  

The pain was worth it.  Because I have truly never felt better.  Ever.  I'm in better shape and stronger than ever.

That's how I got healthy and lost weight.  Not running.  The comment I usually get is "you've been running a lot haven't you."  Nope.  Just did insanity.

It doesn't have to be insanity.  But I think interval training is amazing for the body. 

Smart exercise.  Not hours and hours of exercise.

Even after I got to the size I felt healthy at, I continued to do insanity.  I did it for about a year.

I now do Focus T-25 5 days a week for exercise.  Because it's only 25 minutes.  And I'm just trying to maintain.  Not lose weight. 

I run on Saturdays when my husband can watch kids.  Because running is good for my soul.  And I like to listen to music while I run.  (Check out my running playlist here)

Sometimes I just run 4 to 7 miles (depending on how much energy/time I have).  Other times, I do an interval treadmill workout.  You can check that out here.

I never thought I was an exercise to a DVD kind of person.  But I love these.  And the kids have learned mom can't talk while doing these.  I literally can't talk.  I've nearly puked on several occasions. 

I'm particular about the DVD I do, however.  I tried Jillian Michaels 30 day shred as well as P-90X but didn't care for either of them.  Shaun T's my guy.  Motivating but not annoying.

At some point I'd like to do more weight training, it's just not in the cards right now.

To read Part 4 of "Getting Healthy" click here.

Getting Healthy. Part 2

To read Part 1 of "Getting Healthy" click here.

What to eat and When.

Here's what I did.  This wasn't scientific.  It's not an expert opinion.  It's simply what worked for me.  The hard thing about weight loss and general health is that it is very specific to each persons body.  So what works for one person may not work for another.  But there are definite general guidelines we can all go by.

Burn more calories than you consume.
Eat wisely (not all calories are equal).
Eat small amounts more often.
Drink boatloads of water.
Exercise.
Eat breakfast every day to get your metabolism going.

5 meals throughout the day.
This helps your metabolism keep going throughout the day.
The best analogy I've heard to explain this is comparing your metabolism to a fire.  You have to get the fire going in the morning by eating breakfast.  And then you have to keep the fire going throughout the day by feeding it small amounts of wood often.  If you don't put wood (breakfast) on in the morning, the fire doesn't get going.  If you put on large amounts of wood and then have long breaks, the fire dies down.
Small amounts, more often.  I'll repeat that over and over and over because I think it's so important!

Here are some ideas of things I would eat.

Breakfast:
      *A protein bar.  This is what I ate almost every morning.  I found a kind I liked and stuck with it.     This will be very personal as some protein bars are horrific and chalky.  Shop around.  Right now I like the Zone Perfect protein bars.  I've tried the Chocolate Mint, Peanut Butter, and Cinnamon Roll.  I like Cinnamon Roll the best.  They have 15g of protein and are 210 calories.

      *Eggs and Toast
      *Occasionally I'd eat some sort of cereal high in protein (Kashi Go Lean cereals have protein)
      *Breakfast burrito.  Scrambled eggs and a little cheese in a warmed up wheat tortilla
      *Omelete with spinach, mushrooms and cheese

Mid-morning snack:
      *Protein shake.  I used the Chocolate Whey protein from Costco.  1 scoop of that blended with half of a banana and a scoop of peanut butter.  Ends up being about 300 calories and 30g of protein.
      *Or for the BEST spinach protein shake ever (that I am now having almost every day), click here.
 
I exercised around 10am on most days (6 days a week), so as soon as I finished exercising, I would drink my protein shake.  If you exercise at a different time, adjust eating so you have a high volume of protein within about an hour of working out.

A hand blender became my new best friend.

Lunch:
      *Almost every day, I ate a Turkey burger (frozen ones from Costco that I would grill on a stove top pan), carrots, and watermelon.  If you don't have a pan like the one picture below, they're worth buying.  My kids will even eat Turkey burgers.  And that's saying a lot.  Picky little buggers they are.

      *Ham and Turkey sandwhich on thin bread.  You can get thinner sliced bread shaped like a bun at any grocery store.
      *Chicken tacos on corn tortillas.  If I didn't eat a turkey burger, I ate chicken tacos.  Just grill up the chicken on a stove top pan griller thingie (like the one I used for turkey burgers).  Or you could use a George Foreman grill.  Or if you're really motivated, you can use a BBQ.  Then just grade a little cheese and some lettuce and put them on a warmed up corn tortilla (I put two in a pan on the stove and heat them up).

Afternoon snack:
      *cottage cheese and crackers and an apple.  Cottage cheese is a great source of protein without many calories in one serving.  It's not one of my favorite things to eat, but I grew to like it.  I like the Walmart brand.  It's less thick.


Dinner:
     *different proteins on different nights.  Chicken, Turkey, Pork Tenderloin, Shredded Pork.  And one side.  Salad, vegetables, long-grain and wild rice.

To see more recipe ideas I post on my blog, click on the "recipe" tag in the right margin of the blog.

For me, protein means meat (or cottage cheese).  I think yogurt is disgusting.  And Tofu, don't get me started.  I know there are other sources of protein and you obviously don't have to eat meat to get your protein.  But I like meat.  So that's what I ate.

The biggest keys for me were TONS of protein (way more than I ever use to eat on a daily basis).  I tried to eat around 100g of protein a day.

And, drink TONS of water.  I bought a Camelback water bottle and left it out on the counter throughout the day.  Every time I walked by, I'd take a big drink.  I tried to drink at least 5 of those a day.

You'll notice there wasn't a lot of variety in my diet.  That works for me.  I can eat the same kind of things every day.  And I'm a pretty simple eater.  There was some variation from this eating, but for me, it was easier to stick with a basic eating plan.  I planned ahead, made sure I had the food on hand I needed, and cut out most of the crap foods (anything processed).  

Sundays were my free day.  I ate whatever I wanted that day.  But I noticed the more I exercised (smart exercise) and the healthier I ate, the less inclined I was to crave stuff that's not so great for the body.  But still.  I ate dessert.  Almost every Sunday.  And still do.

In the beginning, I was admittedly a little hungry.  I'm used to three bigger meals throughout the day.  Not small meals.  And I'm an eater.  I reeeeeally like food.  But it didn't take long for my body to adapt.  And I honestly felt like I was eating all the time.  And after about the first 2 weeks, I never felt hungry in between meals.  In fact, several times I had to force myself to eat even though I wasn't feeling hungry.

Small amounts, more often.  This is huge.

To read Part 3 of "Getting Healthy", click here.

Getting healthy. Part 1

To read my history with weight and feeling healthy, click here.

I'm being completely honest when I say I don't care how much I weigh.  I really don't.  I just want to FEEL good.  And to look good.  Weight is irrelevant in that equation for me.  It's an easy gauge to see if we're on track to our goals, but it is not the end goal for me.

So.  Post baby number 4.  50 pounds to lose.  Where to begin.

I should add that I did not exercise the entire time I was pregnant with baby number four.  Partially due to 9 months of pregnancy sickness.  Partially due to laziness and lack of motivation.

There were two huge keys for me while losing weight getting healthy.  The first was WHAT I ate, WHEN I ate it, and HOW much I ate.  The food we put in our mouths will have THE biggest impact on the health of our body.  I don't care how much you exercise, if you eat like crap, or don't eat the right things in the right amounts at the right time, you'll never be as healthy as you could/should be.

And not all calories are equal.  Eating a 250 calorie donut is NOT the same as eating a 250 calorie chicken breast.  For a better explanation of the non-equality of calories, click here.

So let's cut to the chase.  Here's what I did.

5 "meals" throughout the day.  Roughly 300 calories at each meal.  I was strict and religious about that.

Something to ALWAYS keep in mind.  Losing weight is WAY harder than maintaining a healthy weight.  So while I was losing fat and gaining muscle, I was very strict to the 5 meals throughout the day.  Now that I'm pretty close to where I want to be, I don't always spread it out into 5 meals.

So.  5 "meals" with the calories spread out.  To calculate how many calories you should be eating,  here is the formula I used:

Step 1: Calculating The Calories

In step 1 we’ll use the Harris Benedict Equation to figure out your caloric needs. This equation will determine your basal (resting) metabolic rate, which is the energy required to maintain your current weight without exercise or physical activity. We’ll add in for your exercise in another step.

• For Women: 655 + (4.35 x weight in pounds) + (4.7 x height in inches) – (4.7 x age in years)

• For Men: 66 + (6.23 x weight in pounds) + (12.7 x height in inches) – (6.8 x age in years)

Step 2: Determine Your Activity Level

Now take the number you got from the formula above and multiply it by the level of exercise listed below.  [I used the "moderately active" number]

Step 3: Total Calorie Count

With the number that you’ve calculated from steps 1 & 2 you’ve determined how many daily calories you need for weight maintenance. In the final step you’ll make one last tweak to your number, either up or down depending on your weight loss or gain goals. See below to determine your adjustment if you need one:

• For weight loss, subtract 500 calories per day from your number in Step 2.

• For weight maintenance, do nothing. Just use the number you got from Step 2.

• For weight gain, add 250 to 300 calories per day to your number from Step 2.

Once I figured out how many calories I should be eating a day, I spread those calories out throughout my meals.

Then with each meal, I had some source of protein and a carbohydrate of some sort.  I also tried to throw fruit and vegetables in there as much as I could, but I wasn't as consistent about this.  The biggest key for me was eating AS MUCH protein as I could handle.  

Click here for Part 2 of Getting Healthy

how much do you weigh

While growing up, I paid no attention to how much I weighed.  We had a scale in the house and I'm sure I got on it, but probably only to weigh myself after Thanksgiving dinner to see if I packed in enough food to gain weight.

I paid no attention to what I ate either.  I could eat an entire Little Caesar's pizza by myself (no, I'm not exaggerating).  I remember drinking a soda at school one day and my health teacher walked by.  "You're just drinking empty calories.  Why aren't you drinking water?"  I thought to myself "What the heck is an empty calorie?"  I had no idea what he was talking about.

I didn't count calories.  I didn't eat 5 fruits and vegetables a day.  I didn't eat much protein.  I just ate.  Whatever.

But I've always been active.  Always been athletic.  I have four brothers and I'm pretty sure I was half boy growing up.  I lived to play steal-the-flag and tackle football.  We even formed our own NFL with coaches, a draft, practices, pamphlets full of plays, and scheduled games.  I'm pretty impressed with our creativity and organization with that.

When I was 11, I begged and begged my parents to let me play tackle football.  I may have even written an essay explaining why this was a good idea.  Mom didn't agree.  It was one of the few times in my life she gave me an emphatic "no".  Instead, I decided to play soccer.  Little did my mom know there was almost as much contact in soccer, only no pads.

Through middle school and high school, I gave no thought to what went in my mouth.  And I played soccer.   But I did not enjoy running just for the sake of running.  Who runs just to run?  And why?

And then I went to college and things changed.  I don't remember how, or why.  But I suddenly became very aware of went in my mouth.  And by aware I mean, not very much went in my mouth.  I lost a lot of weight.  I was never over weight necessarily.  Average I guess.  But when I decided to stop eating most food, the weight peeled off.  And I became a shell of the person I once was.  

I used to measure my cheerios in the morning so I only had exactly one cup.  I ate 3 jelly beans for lunch that I would space out over a half of an hour.  Every day at work, I'd have those 3 jelly beans in my pocket and that's what I would eat.  I don't think anyone even knows this.  Well, now they do.

People started noticing.  And it's nice when people notice.  When they say "wow, you look great".  So it continues.  

I wouldn't call myself anorexic.  Not because that would embarrass me or because I'd be ashamed, but I don't think it's accurate.  I did eat.  And when I looked in the mirror, I didn't think I was fat.  I knew I was thin.  But I really liked being thin.  Too thin.

But the problem was, I was just thin.  And I was barely eating anything.  And I wasn't healthy.  I wasn't nourished.  I wasn't strong.  I was just thin.  And for what?

In the middle of my college career, I decided to do a semester abroad in Israel.  And that's where things started to swing the other way.  And the weight started creeping back on.   Turns out chocolate is really good in Israel and so is the bread.  And the pastries.  And the crepes.  And the homemade donuts.  Yum.

The weight continued to climb after I got home.  But somehow I ignored it.  Because I don't weigh myself after all.  

Then one day, my friends Grandpa saw me and asked "Did you quit playing soccer?"  I tried to act like I didn't know why he was asking.  But I knew.  Because old men don't lie.  He let me know in the most delicate way an old man knows how that I was "gettin' up there".  

So for the first time in my life, when I was 22 years old I started to pay attention to what I ate.  Only I didn't really know what to eat.  Or when to eat.  Sounds silly since we've all grown up with the food pyramid chart our entire lives.  But that still didn't mean much to me in terms of controlling my weight.  But more specifically about living a healthy, maintainable lifestyle.  

It didn't really help.  I didn't know what I was doing.  And I get easily discouraged if things don't immediately work.  I want to see results, like, yesterday.  This whole "enjoy the journey" stuff--yea, not me.  I just want to be there.  

So my weight and body size throughout my life has certainly fluctuated.  My eating habits have gone from eating anything and everything, to eating almost nothing, back to eating anything and everything.  

Having 4 babies didn't help either.  When I'm pregnant, anything goes.  Pizza for breakfast, why not?

And with each baby, I gained more weight each time.  So by the time I was pregnant with my fourth baby, I gained almost 60 pounds.  Six, Zero.  Sixty Pounds.  Why my doctor didn't say "Slow down on the eating" I'll never know.  

But there I was.  With 50ish pounds to lose (I had only lost 10 pounds after he was born).  And I was sure I was done having babies (Oh please, God, agree with me on this one).  So it was time.  Time to do this the right way.  The healthy way.

And so, I did.

To read Step 1 of getting healthy, click here.

Treadmill shredmill

Running is my sacred time.  It's my refuel time.  So the thought of busting out the jogging stroller and stopping every five seconds to pick up dropped sippy cups or handout goldfish isn't high on my list.  Which leaves me no other option right now than the treadmill during Caleb's naptime.

Not my first choice for running, but it's the season I'm in right now.  I've actually run 15 miles on a treadmill before, training for a marathon I never got to run because God sent me a spirit sooner than expected (which I'm totally cool with by the way--I trust God and running marathons
 hurts).

Annnnway.  I found this treadmill workout that I've adapted a little but usually do once or twice a week.  I was already in good running shape when I found this so I skipped straight to week four.  And I do the intervals for 1 minute instead of 30 seconds.

This workout will make you hurt.  In a good way of course.  

Jillian Michaels Treadmill Workout (the link)

Or here's the workout pasted below.

Jillian Michaels Treadmill Workout

Week 1:

1 minute – pre-warm up with 3.8 mph and 1.5 elevation
4 minutes – warm up with 5.0 mph

————-Begin Running——————
1 minute – 5.0 mph (base speed for our interval training)
30 seconds – 6.5 mph
30 seconds – 5.0 mph
30 seconds – 7.0 mph
30 seconds – 5.0 mph
30 seconds – 7.5 mph
30 seconds – 5.0 mph
30 seconds – 7.5 mph
30 seconds – 5.0 mph (we’ve reached 10 minutes total)

————-Cool Down——————

3 minutes – 3.8 mph with 1.5 elevation

Week 2:

1 minute – pre-warm up with 3.8 mph and 1.5 elevation
4 minutes – warm up with 5.0 mph

————-Begin Interval Training——————
1 minute – 5.5 mph (base speed for our interval training)
30 seconds – 6.5 mph
30 seconds – 5.5 mph
30 seconds – 7.0 mph
30 seconds – 5.5 mph
30 seconds – 7.5 mph
30 seconds – 5.5 mph
30 seconds – 8.0 mph
30 seconds – 5.5 mph (we’ve reached 10 minutes total)

————-Cool Down——————
3 minutes – 4.0 mph with 1.5 elevation

Week 3:

1 minute – pre-warm up with 3.8 mph and 1.5 elevation
4 minutes – warm up with 5.0 mph

————-Begin Interval Training——————
1 minute – 6.0 mph (base speed for our interval training)
30 seconds – 6.5 mph
30 seconds – 6.0 mph
30 seconds – 7.0 mph
30 seconds – 6.0 mph
30 seconds – 7.5 mph
30 seconds – 6.0 mph
30 seconds – 8.0 mph
30 seconds – 6.0 mph (we’ve reached 10 minutes total)

————-Begin Climbing——————
1 minute – 6.0 mph increase elevation to 2.5
2 minutes – 3.8 mph increase elevation to 6.5
2 minutes – 6.0 mph decrease elevation to 2.5
2 minutes – 7.0 mph keep elevation at 2.5

————-Cool Down——————
3 minutes – 4.0 mph with 1.5 elevation

Week 4:

1 minute – pre-warm up with 3.8 mph and 1.5 elevation
4 minutes – warm up with 5.0 mph

————-Begin Interval Training——————
1 minute – 6.5 mph (base speed for our interval training)
30 seconds – 7.0 mph
30 seconds – 6.5 mph
30 seconds – 7.5 mph
30 seconds – 6.5 mph
30 seconds – 8.0 mph
30 seconds – 6.5 mph
30 seconds – 8.5 mph
30 seconds – 6.5 mph (we’ve reached 10 minutes total)

————-Begin Climbing——————
1 minute – 6.0 mph increase elevation to 2.5
2 minutes – 3.8 mph increase elevation to 6.5
3 minutes – 6.5 mph keep elevation at 6.5
2 minutes – 7.0 mph decrease elevation to 2.5

————-Cool Down——————
3 minutes – 4.0 mph with 1.5 elevation