Guilty Food Pleasures, What’s Yours?

Our last day was a bust. Cold, rainy and windy. Not how you want to end a week at the beach but we can’t complain. With 3 gorgeous days to frolic in the ocean, a golf day for Dad, 3 beautiful morning runs for Mom and lots of boardwalk strolls we lived it up at the shore.

Today I’m feeling a little bleh from all the junk I ate but I have no regrets. I’m only at the beach once a year and there’s just few things I enjoy here and only here. Jelly rings being one of them. Every year we hit the candy store and each pick one thing. I get 5 raspberry jelly rings. I didn’t think to take a photo of them but they look like this…

I remember my Mom eating them when I was little and now they are my special treat too.

I love them so much but right now? Ugh. They are sitting in my stomach like a stone.

What’s your guilty food pleasure on vacation or otherwise? Is there something you like to eat even though you don’t feel too great afterwards?

Inquiring minds and my bloated stomach need to know. ;)

Thanks Nuts.com for the photo!

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Here’s My January 2012 Progress Picture. Have You Snapped Yours Yet?

It’s time for some photographic accountability! Last month I encouraged YOU to rely more on periodic photo-taking to gauge your fitness progress instead of the numbers on the scale. I previously scheduled myself for a January 2012 progress pic, so here it is! My next picture is scheduled for April 2012. How about you?

Personal Observations On My Progress Pic

1) The more weight I lose in my mid-section, the looser and wrinkly my stomach skin gets (can anyone else relate?). I can literally grab a small handful of skin on the lowest part of my belly. It’s not tight. And thanks to 4 pregnancies, my stomach skin also hangs a bit when I do planks and push-ups. In light of Hannah’s tummy tuck journey, I’m keeping that open as a future possibility for myself as well. I don’t need a tummy tuck to make myself feel beautiful and confident (because I already do) — I just consider the tummy tuck an optional aesthetic enhancement. It’s kind of like plucking that reoccurring woman-whisker outta my chin — that’s a bit of optional enhancement I believe in.

2) I’ve successfully kept the bod tight since the last progress picture in October 2011. This is solid proof that you can enjoy some greediness in your life and still stay on track. Because my ass was surely greedy all month long in December. Holla!

3) Diets in Review just published an article about me: True Weight Loss Story: Mother of 4 Not Too Busy to Lose 30 Pounds. Check it out and learn more about my weight loss journey from the beginning, including my transition into clean eating.

So remember this: Pictures don’t lie. Get on the progress picture bandwagon and make your next “before & after” picture comparison ROCK! There’s just something about knowing you have an upcoming picture that makes you get up off your booty cheeks and work hard. Stay accountable and don’t you dare make excuses.

XOXO,

Josie

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The Top 10 Workout Songs For November. What’s Yours?

I USED to be able to keep up it music. I knew artists, albums, words. I had a wall of cassette tapes circa 1987…

Which was replaced with a tower fo CDs in college…

WHICH I stayed up all night and ripped when I got my first iPod…

WHICH looks ancient now!

Moral of the story… I’M OLD!

I admit it. I can’t keep up. I run my own business, have 2 kids, a house that needs to be cleaned, meals that need to be cooked and, umm yea, I have to sleep!

Honestly, I’ve been listening to 95% of the same music for the last 10 years. Sure, now and then I download a new tune but half of them are older ones I’m just learning about.

It’s sad.

Well, I think it’s sad, but only because I miss discovering new music. So when Chris from RunHundred asked if I’d like a few new song suggestions, I hopped on the idea. He’s going to shoot a new top 10 every month to share on the site. This months….

This month’s top 10 list has a little of what you’d expect—and a little you might not.  Flo Rida, who’s no stranger to this list, shows up in two tracks this month.  Enrique Iglesias continues his transition from balladeer to club rocker.  And Kelly Clarkson, after faltering with the first single off her new album, bounced back ferociously with the second.

As for surprises, they’re mostly entries from folks relatively new on the dance scene.  Highlights include songs from Tim Berg (who remixed his own track under his Avicii moniker), Skrillex (whose collaboration with Kaskade is the first dubstep track ever the make the Top 10), and Wolfgang Gartner (who’s made the chart with a little help fromWill.I.Am).

Here’s the full list, according to votes placed at Run Hundred–the web’s most popular blog for workout songs.

To find more workout songs–and hear next month’s contenders–folks can check out Run Hundred’s free database of music for working out.  Visitors can browse the song selections there by genre, tempo, and era—to find the music that best fits with their particular workout routine.

I’d love your reviews in the comments? Do you listen to any of these during your workouts? Have any new song suggestions yourself?
Images are not mine. They are from here and here

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