Weigh In: These are my feet …

… and they aren’t on a scale — they haven’t been on one in a month!

If you missed it last month I decided it was time for me to ditch the scale for good. I’m not going to get all into it again — click here to see the post. 

If I’m being honest, I thought about digging it out of the basement maybe twice. But that’s not too bad for a previous daily weigher! I kind of like this new state I’m in. I have no idea how much I weigh and I don’t care. I’m active! Running when I can, weight training and really enjoying learning Olympic lifts. I’m staying active with the kids. I walk whenever I can. I eat when I’m hungry and try to focus on unprocessed stuff as much as possible. There are times I still struggle with mindless and nighttime snacking but that’s just something I will always have to work on being conscious about.

My biggest lesson learned after this month is: nothing has changed. Nothing. Well, besides the fast that I don’t have some silly number in my head.

The scale was once a powerful tool for me but I think recognizing its irrelevance at this point is a huge step in my maintenance journey.

That’s my story this week. How about you? Excited for Thanksgiving or fearing it?

Just remember it’s one stinking day. Have fun and move on. I’ll be back tomorrow with some photos from our Turkey Trot. PLEASE tag or send me photos if you are joining is. I’d love to see updates. I’ll post on Instagram as well. No idea what I’m talking about? Click here! 

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Answer these 7 Questions to set yourself up for success.

Doing stuff that’s hazardous to your fitness can be downright criminal. We’ve all been there, right? For example, here’s a throwback pic of too much Greedyfication: chocolate cake & pepperoni pizza combo. Dang.
WHY 7 QUESTIONS?

Although I’m posing these 7 Questions to you (and to myself) on a Monday, it’s best to ask yourself the questions before the start of a new week, preferably on the weekend prior. I came up with the questions as a means of taking a closer look at my own situation — to find out how I can make improvements and avoid getting stuck in a rut that I never saw coming (yes, that’s happened recently).

But these questions aren’t just about fitness. You can also apply them to work, household, other personal goals, relationships, etc. One of my non-fitness goals is to run a more efficient household. Greater efficiency on the homefront impacts my family in a positive way and ultimately paves the way for me to focus more on myself without being drawn away to put out unnecessary “fires” due to an out of order home.

Look over the questions and consider your answers:

ALERT: Question #7 is highly suspicious. I don’t know how it got there. A full investigation is underway.

In what areas did I fall short last week?Why did I fall short? (be as specific as possible)What will I do to improve upon last week’s low points?What are my goals for the coming week?How will I prepare for the week to set myself up for success?What specific actions will I commit to in order to meet the week’s goals?Can I haz a slice(s) of pie? YES.

If you find that you fell short due to outside circumstances beyond your control, please don’t sweat it. The rest comes down to PLANNING, PRIORITIES, and pushing through the temptation to avoid taking ACTION.

Don’t skim over these questions and then forget about it. Get serious. Make it happen for yourself this week. You can do it.

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These are my abs.

 4 child-spawns. 3 C-sections. 2 hernia surgeries with multiple incisions. That’s damn hard on a girl’s mid-section. But anyways, these are my abs. Here’s 20-seconds of test footage. Just getting comfortable with the idea of showing my abs in future workout vids. Heeeeeeeee.

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Holding these two close today…

and living not blogging.

xo

Tags: life is short, prayers for Boston

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I’ll be Damned If I Let These Chicks Take Away My Free Food

Free food is fun. But this God-given liberty that is mine to enjoy is under serious threat.  Here’s my situation….

There’s a ton a wild raspberries that grow along my favorite walking trail. I took this pic of actual trail. That thicket you see is but a tiny fraction of the berry bushes. I’ve been eating free food from these bushes for years.

Yet I now have to keep a close eye, because some greedy people caught on to the free food and dang near picked off all the berries for themselves last summer.

They picked a lot of it. I barely got any.

I have confirmed reports that it’s a pack of little old ladies (seriously not kidding) who are taking all the raspberries. They probably look like this:

They came with large containers and picked the berries off the bushes. These chicks are no doubt retired and have lots of time on their hands to get up early to deny me of my right to free food. It’s a conspiracy, of course.

You can see that the berries aren’t ready to be picked yet, but I’ll be damned if I let them beat me to it this year.

In my 5-years of raspberry-picking along the trail, I’ve always left some on the bushes for other people to enjoy. But these greedy chicks have started a battle that I intend to finish. Now where’s my war paint? Time to go check on my berry bushes.

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Not Doing These 8 Things? Your Fitness Will Suffer (warning: eye bleach not included)

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True Balance Toning Shoes By New Balance: Should You Really Be Wearing These?

Why the hell is Frankie wearing women’s sports shoes? Emmm, because I forced it on his foot. He didn’t take too well to modeling feminine footwear, but at least he’s got himself a (living-breathing?) girlfriend.

I’ve never worn a pair of those unattractive, platform-ish, Frankenstein-looking toning shoes. I don’t care what they promised to tone. If they’re ugly with no style, I ain’t wearing. Then there’s that lady I saw with the Frankenstien toning shoes, shoving excess sammiches down her food trap at high speed. What’s the point of the shoes then?

So anyway, New Balance threw me a pair of their True Balance toning shoes to take for a spin. At first glance and even upon closer inspection, there’s really no way to tell these are toning shoes. True Balance is sleek and sexy looking with no platform. They’ve got style, people.

I’ve heard the toning shoe concept in general get a bad rap for causing soreness and stuff – even pain in some cases, so that made me a little skeptical. My feet, legs and ass are precious to me and I don’t want them screwed with. I also got feedback from some Yum Yucky peeps who have the actual True Balance shoes. Some loved them. Some couldn’t keep them on for too long because certain prior injuries made the shoes not good for their wearing.

Okay then. Now it’s my turn to try them on and formulate my thoughts to maybe recommend them (or not).

This is my foot in True Balance.

I gave myself a full month to test these out. My first wearing was on July 5th. I wore them several times per week, sometimes for up to 10 hours. I worked in them and shopped in them. The very first thing I noticed was the comfort. Ahhhh. The fabric is thick with a little bit of stretch. It hugs your foot, yet is not tight. They also fit true to size. I tend to have a semi-wide front part of the foot, but they still felt really good.

When you start walking, there’s a little extra squish and give in the heel compared to regular sneakers. This creates an environment of “controlled in-stability” (yes, I made up that scientific term). Over the first few days, the shoes made me very aware with almost every walking moment that this controlled in-stability was going on, but after those initial days it was a gravy train. My brain caught up to my feet and I got used to the shoe without thinking about it. It was fancy walking as usual.

This controlled in-stability caused me to feel my calf muscles working, I’d say, maybe 15-20% more.  So for me, yes, I felt some toning going on. Yet I didn’t feel any difference in my upper legs or booty muscles. I did notice, however that after about 9 hours of wearing, my feet would get a little more tired than usual. Not sore or in pain – just fatigued. But this could be a plus considering what True Balance is meant to do? I don’t really know, but I just stopped wearing them for longer than 9 hours and that fixed the tired problem.

I’ve come to this conclusion about True Balance toning shoes: If you have any type of foot, leg or hip problems, these probably aren’t for you. If you’re just starting out with fitness and have absolutely no prior lower body strength, toning or conditioning experience, you may need to get your body developed in those areas before walking in these long term. But! If you have generally healthy lower body parts and desire EXTREME comfort while giving your body a little extra challenge throughout the day, go snag yourself a pair or at least try them on in the store at the very minimum. They’re FREAKING COMFORTABLE!! The shoes retail for $89.99. I think they’re worth the price.

True Balance toning shoes are meant for walking. NOT running, skipping, slip-sliding, hiking, disco-dancing, tree climbing, mixed martial arts, break-dancing or any other extremer activities. But you could wear them while couch-azzing or just trying to look cute. Okay?

Read about True Balance toning technology here. And if you desire to eat sammiches while wearing the toning shoes, please limit yourself to one sammich. Sheesh.

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Melting the fat away with these fat burning foods | Tony's <b>Weight</b> <b>...</b>

Fat burning food is sought after by many customers who diet. Fat burning food can be defined as a food that assist in burning more calories than its calorie content and food that burns off more fat than you ingest by eating it.

Fat-burning foods are rich in fibre and protein and are poor in fat. Protein foods do require more energy to digest than carbohydrates or fats. The protein content of these foods boosts your metabolism and increases the rate at which your body burns stored fat. Fibre also provides high satiety value, so you feel fuller, longer.

Drinks
Black tea, green tea and coffee contain caffeine and/or a chemical known as EGCG, both of which directly effect metabolism. No fat burning food list could be complete with out mentioning green tea. In the event you drink several cups of green tea throughout the day, you’ll burn much more calories and lose weight quicker.

Nuts
One of the foods to help burn fat is almonds. These are an easy snack to bring around and perfect for those times you suddenly feel hungry. Those that ate about 12 pieces of almonds a day had been able to decrease both weight and body mass index by a great deal. Almonds contain alpha-linolenic acid, which assists in speeding up metabolism of fat. This is definitely some thing you should include to your every day diet.

Greens

Almost all foods that are rich in Vitamin C, act as fat burners, such as limes, lemons, oranges, grapefruit, watermelon and apples. Numerous vegetables are the exact same, such as broccoli, cabbage, celery, and carrots. Broccoli and cabbage contain high quantities of calcium and vitamin C. The reason Vitamin C is really a fat burner, is because it dilutes the fat and makes it less efficient. It also causes the fat to have the ability to be flushed out of the system much more quickly. An additional ingredient in fruit is pectin, which is particularly discovered in apples. Pectin limits the fat that’s absorbed by your cells.

Meat

Chicken turkey, pork, lean beef and other lean meats are the best Protein sources since they speed up the metabolism and burn more fat as they need much more energy for digestion. Since in order to lose weight you require a caloric deficit, you’ll need adequate high high quality proteins to combat muscle being used as fuel. Save your Muscle breakdown for a sustained higher metabolism .Studies have shown that individuals who follow a high-meat/high-protein diet burn twice as numerous calories after a meal as people who follow a high-carbohydrate diet.

Not all calories are the exact same, some foods will assist you increase your metabolism, burn and lose stomach or body fat much more aggressively than other people. In the event you really wish to see your fat burning efforts work a lot much more effectively, then you should start eating the best fat burning food accessible. Eat well, eat healthy, and lose pounds. You are able to do all 3 at once if you take some time to learn more about the fat burning food combinations

One obvious sign of great fat burning food ever, is that they are highly concentrated with vitamins and minerals. That’s how these foods reduce the amount of free radicals in the blood, that quicken aging, health and weight loss issues. With out them the body will not be able to generate any energy. There is a direct connection between your weight loss success and your energy level.

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