Bolder Boulder recap, part 1

Here follows the incredibly true story of how I ran 6.2 miles with a tampon between my boobs.

BACKSTORY:
About seven or eight weeks ago Alicia wrote a post called "Am I a Runner?" It was totally inspiring to me. I put my shoes on, ran out the door and never looked back. I became a runner, or at least a jogger, all from that post. A few weeks later I registered for America's Best 10K, the Bolder Boulder. And yes, apparently they do give out awards for that sort of thing.

Now this may not sound incredible to those of you who don't know me, but those of you who do were probably shocked, maybe even flabbergasted. (Ewww, that word is so ugly when written. I'm now adding flabbergasted to the list of words that I think are gross.) If you knew me, you'd know that I don't run. I'm not sporty. I never, ever have been. My workout regimens have consisted mainly of things you can do on the Wii and silly articles I tore out of even sillier fashion magazines about getting a better bikini body. I have never once been admired or complimented on any of my athletic abilities. Mainly because I have never before manifested any. I have participated in organized sports exactly once in my life. It was a spring intramural softball team at BYU and I was absolutely terrible. I don't think we won a single game.

Moving forward to last Sunday, the night before the race. I'm all nerves. I can't sleep. Naturally, I have eaten nothing but junk all weekend, as it's a break between challenges and I have no real self-control yet. I have sulfur burps which are the pre-cursor to vomiting for me. I am 12 hours late for my period and in a panic about starting during the race and having to knock on some poor Boulder-ite's door to ask for a tampon. I am intensely disappointed that my new fancy running shoes give me a blister and I won't be able to wear them. I keep telling myself, "RELAX!!!! This isn't the Miss America pageant, it's a race that 50,000 other people are participating in! No one will even notice you!" But of course, that doesn't work. I keep worrying, what if I've been measuring my distance wrong this whole time? What if somehow, I've completely misjudged the length of this race, or my abilities, or both? What if I can't do this?

Before I know it, it's morning and we're in Boulder and I'm looking for all the other people with an MR# on their chest so I can line up. I walk past a mass of people, maybe two city blocks long, all waiting for their group's turn to leave. It is the wildest collection of people I have ever seen outside of San Francisco. It's like some kind of Mardi Gras for runners. I see about 35 different people in tutus, men, women, and children. Some have wigs, some have crowns, some have capes. One man is wearing a Halloween costume of some kinda Star Wars creature, complete with rubber mask. Another is wearing moon shoes. I'm postively boring in my black shorts and tye-dye tee. I find my group and begin to stretch. I wonder why no one else is bothering to. They are all too busy chatting. Then I look around and realize I am the only one who is alone. My heart sinks a little bit and I think, "Healthy Wives, WHERE ARE YOU?" That's when I begin planning the matching shirts we're going to wear when you all join me next year.

We're getting closer to the starting line. My stomach churns. I wonder if those sulfur-burps weren't trying to warn me of something else. I think back, have I passed a bathroom at all today? I don't know. Do I even have time to find one? I don't, because everyone around me is whispering, "Is this us? Is it our turn?" It is. The starting gun goes off, and our race begins.

Ms. Thunder Bumper's Challenge #1 Measurments and Veggies

It's time for your first challenge. New Ladies or anyone who did not do this the first go round, complete THIS challenge and it's worth twenty points. That's how important measuring yourself now is. You're be so glad you did in a few months. Plus, 20 points, who would want to miss that.

The rest of you have a different challenge that has been requested. Some of you may have an easier time than others. The challenge is to find a vegetable that you don't usually use in your normal cooking (this means you may have used it before but it's not a staple or maybe you've never used it before) and find a way to incorporate it into a meal.

Have fun with this and be creative. It's so easy to get stuck in a rut when trying to be healthy. The key to making it a lifestyle change is changing things up and being flexible. If you can conquer this you'll be on your way towards achieving a life time goal.

This challenge is worth 10 points. You can receive an additional 5 points for posting the recipe with the new veggie you've discovered.

NOTE: People who have not completed the measurement challenge may receive points for both challenges if they participate in both. You have until Wednesday at midnight!

Drooling Over Food Vicariously

As I attempt each day to eat within my meager 1250 calorie range I find myself enjoying and drooling over food vicariously through food blogs, the Food Network and magazines. I print out, mark, cutout and save recipes that I hope I can eat sometime in the future. Do any of you do this or is it just me?

This past week as I was perusing one of my favorite blogs this recipe caught my eye. I thought to myself, with a bit of tweaking I could eat these quesadillas right now and so tonight I am going to do just that.

Roasted Vegetable Quesadillas | WholeFoodsMarket

Ingredients
1 large yellow onion, thinly sliced
2 cups sliced red, green or yellow bell peppers
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil (I will reduce this to 1 tablespoon)
Salt and pepper to taste
3/4 cup grated Monterey Jack cheese
6 flour tortillas (I will use reduced calorie tortillas. I'm also considering making it more like a tostada and using just one tortilla)
1 (15-ounce) can black beans, drained
3 tablespoons butter (I'll skip this completely and either use a spray of Pam in the pan or lightly brush the tortilla with a bit of olive oil)
Chopped lettuce
1/2 to 1 cup salsa
1/3 cup sour cream (I'll use low calorie sour cream)
1/2 cup guacamole ( I'll use a small slice of avocado)

Try layering shredded roasted chicken, pulled pork, or sliced skirt steak with the onions and peppers in these quick and easy stovetop quesadillas. (No meat for now as I think the beans will provide enough protein) For vegetarians, sautéed mushrooms are a great addition, too.

Preheat oven to 425°F. Toss onions and peppers with olive oil, salt and pepper. Roast in oven, tossing occasionally, 6 to 8 minutes, or until golden brown. Sprinkle 2 to 3 tablespoons cheese on each of 3 tortillas. Top with roasted onions and peppers, beans and remaining cheese. Arrange remaining tortillas on top. Heat butter in a large skillet over medium high heat and, working in batches, brown both sides of each quesadilla until cheese is melted. Cut into quarters and transfer quesadillas to plates. Serve with lettuce, salsa, sour cream and guacamole on the side.
Serves 3 to 4.

I just finished my dinner and I thought this quesadilla was yummy although a bit messy to eat with just my hands. I used Fiesta Fajita Seasoning on the veggies during roasting with a sprinkle on the beans and La Tortilla Factory high fiber Smart & Delicious tortillas (50 calories each). I figure the calorie count with 1 tablespoon of sour cream and some salsa was around 380 to 400. I'm very full and will definitely be making these often.

Quick Asian-inspired veggie

Another quick and easy "out there" veggie to try: baby bok choy. I just had a plateful for lunch. Total time from start to finish: 7 minutes. I cut the ginger coarsely, instead of mincing.

Two baby bok choys (cut off green tops, wash)
1 t sesame oil
1/2 t sesame seeds
1 t fresh ginger minced
tamari to taste

Saute for about 4 minutes, until bok choy is softened.

Up next week: swiss chard? a new root vegetable?

Fresh, Easy and High Addictive . . .

I just read that title and decided it sounds a bit like a description of a promiscuous woman! Oh well.

I haven't posted in over three weeks.  I've been busy with huge parties, painting projects, beach trips and bad eating habits.  But I'm back and I'm trying to be good.

Here's a recipe I took to the beach house for all the Healthy Wife ladies to enjoy.  The Queen asked for the recipe this morning, so I thought I'd share it with you all:

Fresh Corn & Bean Salad

1 pkg. Good Seasoning Italian dressing (Mix according to directions, do not use Zesty)
1 can black beans
1 can black-eyed peas
1 can shoe peg corn

Drain and rinse the three cans of ingredients.  Place in large bowl.

Dice the following and add to the above:

2 bunches of green onions
1 green pepper
1 red pepper
3 tomatoes
cilantro (optional)

Let marinate and chill for one hour.  Serve with Baked Tostitos or as an accompaniment to any kind of taco, wrap or burrito.

Samantha's Note:
I think you could use 2/3 of the dressing and it would be just fine. Don't freak out that you're using dressing - this makes A LOT of salad, so your spreading the dressing out over probably 16 or so servings.  It might also be delicious to seed and dice a cucumber for some extra crunch if you want more veggies. 

Let me know if any of you try this.

{Picture is not of actual dish . . . just found in the web.}

Day, Interrupted

I know more than a few of you will be able to relate with this post (Queen Vee, I'm looking in your direction!) Today, all my best laid plans got lost in this book. I didn't work out. Because I didn't work out, I went over my range. I didn't even get to my kids to bed at a decent hour. Life stopped until I finished this book.

And it was soooooo gooooood, I don't regret it at all!

Novice Mistake

This morning was picture perfect.  As a "challenge" novice, my fridge is not yet fortified with all things healthy but I did have some frozen fruit so I made myself and my son a healthy shake.  I ran out the door to meet my sisters and their kids for a fun morning at Wheeler Farm then back to my sisters for some egg-dying out in the sun.  We got the kids Happy Meals which are super easy for me to ignore but not being prepared to deal with my own hunger aches I reached for leftover 7-layer dip and the Pie Pizza from my sister's fridge.  Ugh!  The only silver lining that I can conjure is that I only had half a piece of pizza.  Could have been worse, right?

So after Logan's nap I am dashing off to the store to load up on calorie conscious foods that I can grab on the go.  Any suggestions?

Darn cake

I just had to do an update on the crazy Vibram shoes. I finally have built up to running 4 miles...today! Yay! I averaged 10 minute miles, which is ok. My calves screamed at me the whole time, but boy was it fun. Next week I'll try to push for 5 miles. I ran through water and on gravel, and both made my run that much more fun.

Also, I figured something out about myself this weekend. Here's what I learned...I still have little self control when it comes to food. During the week I do so well. I reserve my dessert for the weekend, and usually that works out perfectly. This weekend was bad though. I ended up making a gluten free cake for a girl in my Sunday School class and ended up eating half of it. One piece would have been perfect. Maybe even two, but not 7.

Today I made cookies for the kids.

And I wasn't even tempted.

Only because I can't have wheat and I made them with regular flour. But I couldn't resist the gluten free cake I made, which makes me sad that I still don't have the will power to eat just one. Maybe I just need more practice.

Foodie or Fitness Freak

These challenges occasionally elicit one of two extreme responses. Participants might become more athletic than they've ever been or, in my case--and I may be alone here--I've become a foodie. Actually, I've been a foodie for a long time, but I rarely made the food I craved. I would only eat it at fancy restaurants, while I mostly made kid-friendly foods for dinner. Since late winter, however, I've been relaxing by perusing food blogs (foodgawker is a fun place just to look) and cook books. I've also been talking to friends and complete strangers about food, asking them how they fix salmon, what's in their favorite salad, the ingredients for summer grill marinades. And best of all I've been cooking and enjoying it. I even ordered myself recipe cards, something I'd never done before, for the recipes I really like.

Now about that exercise. Many of you are doing amazing races and feats of strength that defy my understanding of how a body works. I'm so amazed with your transformations, your endurance and your persistence. I'm doing the exercise daily, but still haven't seen a mentality shift there. I think it's because I'm still obsessed with good food.

Out of my comfort zone

I tried something new at the gym yesterday that I've been too intimidated too venture into before. Spinning! And aside from wanting someone to give me a piggyback ride down the stairs to my car afterwards, I was pleasantly surprised! I actually found it invigorating.

Normally I want to poke my eyeballs out on the stationary bike, but the spinning class had the right amount of music, diversion, instruction and fun to keep me going the entire hour. I'm planning on returning and maybe even now tackling a step class that I've always felt to uncoordinated to tackle, but why not?!? Anyone else out there pleasantly surprised when confronting something new to you? What's next on your exercise bucket list?

Tomorrow is now today

Mark and me May 10th, 2010 (I picked the skinniest recent picture of myself I could find.)

Hello my name is Cammy. I will try to keep this fairly short and to the point for now. I am a mother of three kids ages 7, 3, and 1 and I just celebrated my 10 year anniversary with my best friend and husband, Mark. I love just about anything crafty, especially knitting, card making, digital scrapbooking and sewing. I also love food, especially those not so good for you foods like, ice cream, pizza, chocolate, butter…you get the idea.

I found this site thanks to Alicia and boy am I ever glad I did. Lately, I keep trying to go it alone and honestly it isn’t working out for me. I do really well in the morning, only to derail by early afternoon and end up telling myself I will start tomorrow. Too bad my diet always starting “tomorrow” resulted in gaining another five pounds over the last month, ouch! I am currently at my heaviest (not including pregnancy) and ready to take that plunge and fight my inner demons. I am a little nervous but excited to have the support of some wonderful gals along the way. Let’s get started!

Jumping Into the Fray

Hi, I'm Victoria, mother of Samantha and Melissa, mother-in-law to the amazing Audrey and Mindy, sister-in-law to Julie, pseudo-mom to Sue and friend to all. I've been lurking, commenting, reading and actually doing a lot of the challenges for the past 3 months so I guess it's time to actually jump into the fray and join the challenge for real. My life is amazing, crazy, chaotic and dramatic and for the past 12 years it's been filled with some pretty stressful events.

I have to confess that for most of my life weight has never been a problem. I've been blessed with a lot of energy and a fairly high metabolism. I grew up eating healthy food and tried to feed my own family healthy food, pretty much I could eat whatever I wanted to without worrying about gaining weight.

Exercise was something that other people did, but for myself it was a dreaded thing, easy to ignore.
Back in the 80's, I joined a women's gym for two years and actually did a bit of jogging but klutz would best describe my efforts and mediocre would describe my commitment.

Ten years ago, things started to change a bit as my body started to prepare for the big M....yep, MENOPAUSE. Six years ago, I was well into it with hot flashes, night sweats, loss of muscle and muscle tone, dry skin and hair, change in metabolism, the start of many age spots and some weight gain. By the beginning of this year that weight gain had turned into 24 pounds.

Three years ago, I joined a gym and actually lost 18 pounds through exercise and calorie counting but then some huge challenges came into my life, and the gym and calorie counting went out the window. Quintuplets, two cancers, deaths of father and brother, five new grand kiddos, and the rebirth of a daughter were my excuses for not going to the gym for two years. Now I say, "No more excuses", it's so easy to let real life keep you from having a healthy life.

For the past 3 months I've gone back to counting calories, hired a personal trainer, (I'm not sure he's worth it), gone to the gym almost daily and have been giving away all my size 10 clothes. I've lost almost 14 pounds and hope to lose another 10 by the end of August. If you look at the picture, you can see that I still have a flabby fat stomach— that's where the menopause weight goes and it is very hard at my age to lose it or firm it.

I'm at a different place in my life than most of you, but someday you will be where I am. If you develop healthy lifestyles now, it will make for a healthy lifestyle and easier transition as you too go through the life changes ahead....

Me with daughter Melissa on Mother's Day after losing 10 1/2 pounds

Garbage in, garbage out

Sometimes I just have to do this. Those chips leftover from the Memorial Day picnic, nobody in this house needed them any more. Goodbye. But I did eat some yummy leftovers for lunch: green beans, grilled red peppers, baked potato with salsa and watermelon slice.

Last night I was the garbage can for a part of my kids' dinner: seared scallops. They weren't fans. Even though I presented them as "Chinese scallops" since they like Chinese food a lot. Still, no love from the kids for the scallops. At only 13 calories a scallop but a little over two dollars a piece, none of that good stuff was going to waste. Lesson learned: only buy scallops for appreciative adults.

HWHL Newbie

Hi there! My name is Katie. I've been married to my husband for 11 years, and get to stay home with my 4 kids. I enjoy sports of all kinds and am chomping at the bit to get more hiking in now that the summer weather is here to stay. And I have those same pesky 10 pounds that I can't quite seem to get rid of!

When I hit Jr high, I quit any kind of organized sport and filled my time experimenting with lots of different recipes to come up with the ultimate chocolate chip cookie recipe! It resulted in some killer cookies and a chubby 8th grader! Making the high school soccer team in 9th grade reversed things for me and I lost the extra weight and gained back some self confidence. I look back now and realize just how tough of a time Jr high is without that extra burden and wouldn't wish it on anyone. It's been a little up and down with the weight since then.

After my 4th, I was 20 pounds overweight and was motivated around her first birthday to lose a little over 10 pounds but this last year has felt a bit like a hamster in his wheel. Exercising fairly regularly, but not religiously and eating healthy to start off with all the best intentions but going down hill as the day goes on. This basically just has kept me at the same starting point each day! Hamster in my own little wheel! I'm ready to kick it to the curb and break through and emerge a happier, healthier me. Can't wait to join in on your journey!

New Kid on the Block

My name is Jennifer Kay.  I was introduced to this blog by my great friend Marci Green.  I'm excited to join the challenge and start making better eating choices.

I have a 2 year old son named Logan.  He's by far the funniest kid I've come into contact with.  Nathan and I have been married 7 years.  I can't imagine life without my guys.

I am a stay-at-home mom and working artist.  If you are interested in seeing my art feel free at ArtMommy

I guess it's accurate to say that I've always struggled with weight and acceptance of my body.  My food consumption role models growing up were either my two insatiable brothers or my mother who ate like a bird during meals but horded chocolate and diet coke under her bed.  I chose the former.  Even though my eating habits were far from stellar, I exercised quite often and never really considered changing.

Now my body feels a bit foreign to me.  Pregnancy has left it's mark and the general stresses of life have made food my number one comfort.  I'm ready for a change not only of eating habits but of attitude.  I'd like to start treating my body like the miracle it is.  And I'm hoping this challenge will help me get there.

I'm looking forward to getting to know everyone!

AND THE WINNER IS...

MINDY

SHE'S ONLY MISSED OUT BY A POINT SEVERAL TIMES BUT THIS TIME SHE TOOK IT TO THE LIMIT. NONE OF US WERE EVEN CLOSE.

Mindy also completed her first race...please do tell Mindy. We can't wait to hear about it!

Now you have three weeks to give it all you got and take your turn at the bragging rights!

Thoughts on Sweeping

I have been sweeping a lot. Sweeping dust out of the garage, sweeping grass off the sidewalk and driveway, sweeping those twirly-bird maple seeds off the patio in the back. Every day. And while I'm sweeping, I'm thinking. Thinking about how some things in my life are never truly done. How the minute I have a sense of accomplishment or a sense that I've finally figured something out, more twirly-birds drop, more dust accumulates, the grass must be mowed again. Some days I look out and think "Really?! Do I really have to do this all over again?! I just did it yesterday. And it looked, felt, seemed perfect then! Where did all that hard work go?"

You all know where I'm going with this sweeping analogy, right? Taking a break implies not sweeping for awhile, stopping certain practices and disciplines to reap the rewards of success, but in the case of Healthy Wife I've had to retrain my brain. The reward isn't eating junk food and not exercising: the real reward is keeping the healthy habits going even without the support, encouragment and discipline that all of you provide.

Now for the question, the one Sue's prodding me to answer, did I do it? Sort of. Kind of. But not perfectly.

Exercise

The first week I was told to stop lifting weights because of muscle soreness, so I turned instead to gardening, walking and biking with the kids. The second week was the first week of no pre-school, but I went to my twice a week 5:30 a.m. weights class that week and walked the 3rd grader to school twice. The third week my Mom was here and I was experiencing good and bad stress due to a combination of church obligations, painting a dark wood paneled playroom entirely white, two birthdays, mammogram stuff, and the superhero part of my life (my identity as a child of two sets of fabulous, but different parents: see the apple for a visual) and, well, I managed to exercise in a formal way only once. I could have used more and I felt it because we all know that exercise is a great way to handle stress. So I made up for it over the Memorial Day weekend: two long walks, two bike rides and major yard work.

Food

I was actually a healthy foodie most of the time. We had a lot of cook outs with family and I felt that made it easier because we were limited to the food we brought with us. The exceptions were the apple pie I baked for birthday number one. I think I ate 4 slices (half the pie), using pie as a breakfast substitute two mornings in a row and I ate three brownies in a row after I decided I needed the caffeine to stay up until 1 a.m. watching a lovely BBC rendition of "Our Mutual Friend." But I passed on the chocolate cupcakes with homemade marshmallow frosting for birthday number two. I continued feasting on roasted veggies, carrots and hummus, oatmeal and fresh fruit. I ordered veggie and fish dishes at restaurants. And I drank more water than I used to drink back in my dry ice age of water drinking, although probably not the suggested 64 ounces.

While my Mom was here I made her three of my new favorite salads and she wondered how I became interested in cooking all of a sudden, so I told her about this inspiring place in a land far far away, over the rainbow, with chirping birds on tree branches called Healthy Wife Happy Life.

The end result of my three week hiatus: no weight gained or lost (I give stress and genetics the credit there), but I feel like my muscle tone has declined (a fancy way of saying that I feel flabby, but flabby is a weird, gross word).

So this go round, I am picking up my broom again, clearing out the cobwebs and joining all of you to reap the rewards of good habits, good friends and the good, healthy life. You know I'm a post-a-holic, so you'll be seeing me here!

I'm not ready

I was going to take a break during this challenge. Y'know, try out all my new habits without keeping track and see if I could continue to progress or at least maintain. But after how badly I bombed the majority of last week, I decided that I'm just not emotionally ready to go it on my own yet.

Something snapped in me last week and I just got sick of not having anything I wanted. It seems that for the last several months my life has been defined by stringent self-control and going without, not just with my health, but with all aspects of my life, and I finally just had a little temper tantrum and decided to eat whatever I wanted. Oh, I would start the day saying, "I'm going to try not counting calories today, but I'll still eat really healthy." Then I would crave a piece of Amish Friendship Bread leftover from what I had baked to give to Lily's 2nd grade teacher. "I'll just have one slice. It's only 160 calories, not a huge deal." And later I would justify going over my calories because I needed to get the rest of my vegetables in. Never mind that I could have eaten nearly a whole day's worth of veggies for 160 calories. Then, once I had gone over my calories I just decided to eat more since I wasn't going to get my 10 points anyway.

Or I would remember that we were having birthday cake and ice cream with our neighbors in the evening. I carefully planned throughout the day and left myself enough calories to have one piece of cake. I ate the piece of cake. Mmm, it was delish. "I'll just have one more piece and I'll lose my 10 points, but I'll only be over by a couple hundred calories and I can exercise extra tomorrow." So I ate another piece. Then I ate the leftovers on Amelia and Mack's plates. Then I got back home and upon realizing that it was two hours earlier than when I normally stopped eating for the day, I decided to just eat more since I'd already blown my calories.

Or my friend would remind me that there was a pancake dinner fundraiser at the high school that evening. I ate moderately most of the day, but when I took the kids to the park in the afternoon, I brought along the animal crackers. "I'll just eat 13, that's 100 calories." But with the open bag sitting next to me while I looked at quilting books from the library, I easily let myself eat at least 3 times that much because "I'm going to blow my calories eating pancakes anyway, so who cares?"

Are you sensing a trend? I sure am. I can stay committed as long as I'm within range of my goal. But the moment I go over my range, I just shove food in my mouth with reckless abandon. For me, I can do that once a week on a free day and still have success. But I think I had at least 4 free days last week.

So now I'm back up two pounds. I did at least exercise nearly every day last week, but I slacked off on weight lifting and interval training. Lately I haven't been able to stand the idea of working out to a DVD. I've needed to be outside, to exercise without my children, to breathe deeply and clear my mind. I've been running a lot and I'm finding that I crave that time of solitude. I need to meditate and pray and get my mind right for the day. I love being out at sunrise, watching my shadow on the sagebrush and smelling the fresh air.

I can now run 40 minutes without walking, at rate of about 10 minutes per mile. When I first started exercising, I could go for about 5 minutes before I felt like I was going to die. I started doing some interval training a couple weeks ago and that has helped my endurance a lot. I usually jog for 5 minutes, then do 5 intervals of 1 minute sprint (not a full-on 100 meter pace, but about a 400 meter pace) followed by 1 minute of walking. Then I jog again, do another set of intervals, and end with jogging. Now when I just jog the whole time I can go a lot longer. Read a great post about interval training here at Trainer Momma.

It's not official yet, but it's about 70% sure that my husband will be starting a new job which will take him to a training school in Texas for 10 weeks. Yep, that's the entire summer. While I'm HUGELY looking forward to a stable income, I'm dreading being a single mom for the whole summer. And one of the things I'm going to greatly miss is going out on my morning runs while Dan stays home with the sleeping children. Amelia has started riding a bike with training wheels and she's really quite good, so I should still be able to run with Mack in the stroller and the girls on bikes. But it won't give me that time of quiet and solitude that I love so much.

So, Melissa, I'm anxious to hear how your 3 weeks off went. Were you the Wonder Woman you hoped to be? PLEASE tell me how I can get there, too!

Great News and Not so Great

Are you excited to start this challenge? I am! I had big plans today to get my miles in. That was until 4:30 AM rolled around and the 6 year old has been puking non stop since. I've learned as a mom that things usually don't go as planned. I've tried to remember that especially with my exercising. I can adjust. I'll find sometime today to get my miles in. Even if it's when the baby is taking a nap and I have to hop on the dreadmill, oh I mean treadmill.

I am so excited that these have finally arrived. They are Trainer Momma's favorite adjustable dumbbell set and I have been eyeing them since last September. My husband got a gift certificate at work and has known that I've wanted these. I can't wait to try them out. Fitness Freak here reporting about how excited I am about new exercise equipment :)

The not so good news: I will be taking a leave of absence this challenge to enjoy a ten year anniversary trip with my husband. While I am so sad to not participate, I am so excited to spend some one on one time with the hubby. While I am home, I will still post, comment, eat healthy, and exercise. I am anxious for the next challenge to begin. BTW, Melissa, are you back on board with us. I've really missed all your posts!