Work it Out Wednesday: Crunches

So this week I've begun doing crunches again. Ah, how fondly I remember being able to do 76 normal crunches, 76 reverse crunches and 76 side twist crunches in one session. That was 2 years ago, and not so impressive, but it was my personal best. I had worked up from doing 14 crunches a day every week. Then I added 14 side twist crunches the next week and so on. After several months I was able to go through 228 of the combined ab exercises before the burn became too great. And I was hoping to add more, but fell off the wagon. Well, I'm revving up the wagon again and will be doing 14 all this week. I'll wait until it gets easier and then add more, or more difficulty with the side twist crunches. I'm excited to get back to doing this and am hoping to stay encouraged with my workouts.

Want to try side twist (Russian twist) crunches?


Work out at your own risk and be safe! Even if you're not ready for strength training, choosing to get moving every day can make a big difference. Park at the end of the lot and enjoy the walk to the store, take the stairs. There a many small choices throughout your day that can be made to better your health!

Come back tomorrow for spa night, where we'll discuss the baking soda hair cleansing review, as well as a new Oil Cleansing Method review, following my progress using these natural beauty treatments.

Work It Out Wednesday: Not in the Mood

I'm very deflated this week.
Most of it is because we've been establishing an earlier nap time for Baby Boy and we all know how fun that can be. He's going through a huge growth spurt and the poor little guy was just tired out and not getting enough rest, so we adjusted his schedule to allow for more rest. Getting him there was Not. Fun. But now we're in the home stretch, thanks to The Baby Whisperer and it's downhill from here on out. But I'm still not caught up on sleep. I think I shall catnap today and really focus on healthy food choices today to make up for the lack of exercise.

In the hope of being frugal and healthy, I tried to experiment with my nearly over ripe tomatoes and cucumbers from my last farmer's market trip.
The result was marinaded cukes and tommy toes that could burn the chest hair off a leprechaun.

Yay! I found a use for my pretty thrift shop jar!

Memos to self:
-Dilute the vinegar and ease up on the mustard powder.
-Next time, get Hubby to taste it first instead of taking a foolishly huge chomp out of a cucumber and almost
spitting fire, giving Hubby leave to be amused (and wary of your homemade concoctions).

And those are words of wisdom from a lady who could hardly talk for nearly 20 minutes after that fatal taste.

Have a wonderful Wednesday, Beauties. Steer clear of the mustard powder!

Work it Out Wednesday: Healthy Eating and Staying Active

It's scorching hot here today! Kind of hard to get outside and get moving, so our poor neighbors below us get the brunt of it. Yes, I'll be exercising inside again. Poor people.

I can still make good choices, despite being stuck inside for most of the day, right?
Although, after my healthy breakfast, I made the mistake of going shopping without packing a healthy snack and ended up at Sonic. Happy hour half price drinks, baby! Ah well, a lesson for next time, huh?

After that impromptu shopping trip with some friends, I came home with a table full of goodies from some local produce stands! Mmmm....
Aren't they beautiful?

Can you believe I spent half what they would've cost in a store?
Turnips, green onions, tomatoes and fresh spinach.

Cucumbers and squash flesh out the last batch of fresh tomatoes from last week.
I used to think Hubby (who grew up with a garden) was just making things up when he said homegrown tastes better, but now, I'm sold!

Since I can't have a garden of my very own, this is the next best thing.

We had company the other night and they brought flowers :). Growing, blooming things are the best!

This week, I'm focusing on hula (via my own CD). Here's a sampling of one of my favorite hula. It's so beautiful!
Have you made the choice to get moving this week? We can do this! Work it out :)

Project List

So, I've had this list of projects for a while, but have only now decided to post them here on the blog sidebar. I have a few completed and will post photos of those projects as the days go by. I'll be linking the items in the list to their respective posts as I get them done. I actually have one to post today. Yay! Here's to learning and bettering myself, my home and family throughout 2010!

An Emotional Wreck

That's what I've been the last few days. A family member is going through a crisis and I thought I was being supportive, but when their crisis was over and it was time to grieve, they made a decision that made me angry. I didn't even know where the anger came from. It was just there. And overwhelming. It shocked both me and Hubby. It turns out that I was placing all the concern and frustration and helplessness that I wasn't able to express in my own crisis onto theirs. And once they decided to exclude family members from the 'closure' part of their grief, I was so angry I was seeing red. I see now that I was pinning my hope for closure in a past situation of mine on them and that was unfair. This is their tragedy, not mine. The fact is, I will never have that 'this is the end' moment regarding my own situation and I need to accept that. I thought I had. It turns out I had much more to say about an event that has been over for a year now than I knew. I didn't take it out on them, which I'm thankful for. They didn't need my wacko come-out-of-nowhere anger in the middle of all the other stress they were going through. I'm glad they have closure. I'm sad I never will. And that's just the way it is. I know this, too is for a reason. I'm trusting that I will grow and come out of this a better person.

Little things

So yesterday I complimented a fellow shopper in the supermarket and felt like a complete idiot while doing it. I turned into the canned food aisle and there was a woman who was obviously having a rough day. So I took a deep breath and got it over with: That haircut looks so great on you. Which it did. Totally true. And it was like I had given her money, her reaction was surprise and then a very pleased smile as she thanked me and walked away a little happier than before. The idiotic feeling faded and I went back to my shopping feeling just great. It's nice to find out that such a small thing can still make a difference, to both the giver and recipient.
Today I want to start a habit of drinking more herbal tea and water throughout my day. Buh-bye soda and wine.