I'd rather celebrate 10 years

Ten years ago, I never imagined this:

I was blessed to see a lot of this:

I knew I would eventually see this:

And he told me he'd support me, like this:

We dreamed about this:

He made me smile by doing this:

And the fun rubbed off on the girls, like this:

And that's why I am so happy to have this:

Happy 10 years, Boo.  

I'd do it all again, in a heart beat.

I love this man.

I love this man.

I. Love. This. Man.

I'd rather get better and box

I'm sick.  This stupid summer cold came on from out of no where at the end of the week and now here I am, Monday afternoon, still feeling like I was run over by a truck.

Let me tell you people, this isn't pretty.  At all.  I have yet to master the art of being "sick-cute" as opposed to "sick-gross."  I'm a fabulous mix of the dwarfs: Gumpy, Sneezy, Sleepy, Dopey, and the yet to be found dwarf - Icky.

So I think I have the right to complain.  The right to moan about my achy muscles, to blow my nose loudly, to sleep half the day.  I have a lot to gripe about.

But do you know what one of the most annoying parts of this cold is?  I missed boxing.

What?  Did I write that correctly?  Have the cold meds sent me into a NyQuil-induced drugged-up haze?  Nope.

I miss boxing and I'm bummed.

I normally go in once during the weekend to LA Boxing to sweat out the stress of the week.  Hit the heavy bag hard and walk away feeling like a weekend warrior.  I get on a high horse - gloating in the face of my former "can't be bothered to get off the couch" weekend-self.  I start Monday feeling strong, not bloated.  Quicker, not exhausted.  Ready.

Not this week.  Monday is currently laughing at me, all balled up in the corner, and kicking my butt.  (Well, to be honest, last week wasn't a gleaming example either.  Apparently Memorial day weekend - and alcohol - make for a really, really bad personal training session on Tuesday.  It was laughable.  Literally.  We laughed at my inability to do just about anything last week.)  But this is even more reason why I was ready to have a great weekend so that I could return to training on Tuesday in top notch form.

Instead, I spent yesterday in bed, surrounded by tissues.

I miss boxing.  I want to get well.  I need to get well.  So I can go back, put on the gloves, and get back into the groove.  Kick some butt.  Tell the heavy bag who's boss.

I'm going to drag my butt in there tomorrow if I have to.  It may not be pretty, but I know I'll feel so much better for doing it.

Now, please pass the chicken noodle soup.

I'd rather confess, I'm an eat-out-aholic

I have a confession.

I eat out.

A lot.

Not just a lot - but frequently.  I am too embarrassed to admit how many meals (and how much money) I spend eating out.  I think the trend started a long time ago - way back in college, because who wanted to eat the crap they passed as food - and it just never let up.

It has its advantages.  My kids have grown up going to restaurants, so they know how to behave well while there.  It takes the stress out of planning for and making dinner.  It tastes good - most of the time.

But the disadvantages are huge.  The finances can't keep up with me.  My kids may be growing up to think it's normal to eat crappy food all the time - and worse yet, that it is the most perfect reward for doing even the smallest task.  And, of course, the weight gain.

Every week, from Monday til Thursday, I am pretty good at eating.  I eat veggies, and fruit, no fried food, and hardly any sweetened beverages.

But, then then Friday rolls around.  Who wants to cook Friday night?

And then Saturday arrives.  It's the weekend, let's celebrate!

Then it's Sunday . . . might as well take advantage of the weekend while I can!

Before I knew it, I was too busy/stressed/tired to cook some weekend nights too.

Now, I could probably eat this:

But, I usually cave, and get this:

Sighhhhhhhhh.

My confession: I'm a eat-out-aholic.

What does an eat-out-aholic do to try to get it in check?  Well, the setting day or number of visit limits didn't really work.  And setting a budget didn't really work either.  So now we are getting drastic:

No. Eating. Meals. Out. . . for a month.

(The only exception: my daughters birthday (when we are taking her out to an amusement park) and our anniversary.)

"That's not too bad" you may say, but for me, it's unheard of.  To be honest, the thought of doing this makes my stress levels rise.  It will be hard.  Hard to plan, hard to follow through, hard to not wuss out on.

But, I have a problem, and something has to be done.  I just have to do it.

Do you have any fantastic (yummy, but easy) recipes to share?  Have you kicked the eat-out-aholic habit?  Please, I beg of you, help a sister out with you input below!

I'd rather share some pointers

Alright, if I haven't gotten this across to you yet - I really, really suggest you go try out LA Boxing.  The first class is free to try, so you have nothing to loose.  I'm not just saying this because I was lucky enough to fall into this sweet gig of putting LA Boxing "To The Test."  I'm saying it because it's different, fun, effective.  Heck, I am already conniving and planning so that I can continue attending classes once my three months are up.

It's that awesome.

Since I'm feeling less like a newbie there, I thought I'd share some pointers for you to use once you go to take your first class:

• Be prepared to sweat.  And not just that "hey, I just half-assed it on the treadmill" kind of sweat.  More like, "I didn't know that body part even knew had to produce sweat" kind of sweat.

• Come early.  You're going to need to get gloves and get your hands wrapped.  Plus, you'll want to either A) Find a heavy bag near where the instructor shows combinations or B) Find a heavy bag in a corner so that you can make a futile attempt to hide.

• Bring water.  I go through a whole bottle and a half during the class.  Sweat makes you wish you were a camel.

• Don't be scared.  If I can do it, you can do it.  Only, you won't look like you're about to die. 

• Take a friend.  She'll hold you're hair while you are throwing up.  You don't really need to do this (by any means) but, she'll tell you that your side kicks are money, even if you look like an idiot.  See, here's my friend, Meghan, who tells me I'm doing awesome, even when I'm looking a little green. 

  

• Stash a snack in your car.  I have a decently long car ride back home, and if I didn't bring a banana to calm the shakes, I think I would have already crashed the car into the neighboring pizza store.

• It's okay to talk to your neighbor.  Even if they can't tell you whether the combo is jab-jab-hook or jab-hook-jab, they can at least share that knowing "wow, this is the best/hardest workout ever" look with you.

• Thank your instructor.  It's a nice thing to do, so just do it.  (Plus, maybe if you do, you won't get called out on skipping that last sit up.  But don't count on it.)

Now, go take a class.  Did I miss anything?  Report back to me and let me know what you thought.  Ask any questions you may have in the comments below - or let me know when you want to meet up, so that we can sweat together.  

. . . Mandy


Disclosure: As a participant of #Fitbloggin' 10, I was offered (by LA Boxing) three months free membership, free personal training, and merchandise - all in exchange for blogging my *honest* opinions once a week.

I'd rather shrink for summer

Well, I totally forgot to update you all on the 21 Days Challenge over at Shrinking Jeans.  I'll do a quick recap for you...

• Working out most days of the week.  I did pretty well with this - I think it could have been better, though.  I did my boxing and yoga, but I have slacked on the training walks.  
• Went vegetarian for 21 days.  This was super successful!  I wasn't expecting to make this a permanent change, but it definitely showed me I can cut back on the meat and feel great.
• Vitamins didn't happen.  Just couldn't find one that sat well with my tummy.  Not giving up on the search though!
• Water intake was slightly better than normal.  I have made best friends with my water bottle, but I really have no idea how much I'm actually drinking.

Now, moving on ... the ladies are starting a new challenge - The Shrinking Days of Summer!

You know I'm all over it - like sand on a beach.  (yeah, I'm corny...and what?)  I hope that it brings more umpf and motivation and will power to my game.  Cause I'm really at this annoying stage where I'm working my butt off and not seeing the results I want.  I'm not sure if it is a result of self-sabotage or just plain impatience, but either way, I'm done with it.  So, bring it on Sisters!  

And if you really, really, need to know, I'm at 205.2 pounds presently.  I'd really like to get back to "onderland" as soon as possible, as I have never loathed a two more in my life.  

Want to join me?  Come visit the challenge here!

I'd rather vlog, LA Boxing update

I'm doing my update via vlog today.  Check out Jen's blog that I mentioned: Jen in Real Life.  I'd love to hear from you if you have any healthy living updates, tools, or gripes. 

Disclosure: As a participant of #Fitbloggin' 10, I was offered (by LA Boxing) three months free membership, free personal training, and merchandise - all in exchange for blogging my *honest* opinions once a week.

I'd rather have a cool app

A while back Mariana from Riding With No Hands introduced me to SparkPeople.  It really is a fantastic site that helps people reach their healthy goals - for free.  They have nutrition, health and fitness information in all forms and types, including articles, interactive tools (fitness trackers, meal planner) motivational tools, and a huge online community.

While it has so much to offer (so, so much) I had one problem with it - I was majorly overwhelmed.  There was just too much for me to focus on, and I found myself losing track of time every time I got on.  I quickly bailed on the whole thing, altogether. (Sorry for going MIA in your group, Mariana!  No hard feelings?)  It was a bummer to know I was wasting such an awesome tool kit, but sometimes you just have to have the right fit for it to work.

Since then, I have had the pleasure of becoming a smart phone owner.  (I heart my Droid.)  I've seen so many great apps to use for healthy purposes - and have used a hand full of them.  But guess what I just stumbled onto?  A SparkPeople app!

And it is a beautiful, beautiful thing.  Here's why I'm using it:

• It helps you determine your goals - weight loss, calories in, and calories out.
• There is a food tracker that includes an optional menu plan, tailored to your calorie needs.
• There is a fitness tracker as well, that calculates your calories burned based on the activity you did.
• Multiple status bars and reports show you where you are in your goals - including a weight graph and a water tracker. (Which I was really happy to find - there is a severe lack of good apps for simple water intake.)
• Links to just a few SparkPeople articles. (This is great for me, I can go look if I want, but I don't feel overwhelmed.)
• Plus, you have the option to link to a SparkPeople online account, or just do the app by itself.  If you link up, all of the info automatically shares between the app and site.

Of course, you can always go to the mobile site with any web-enabled cell phone, but (besides the Android) this app is also available on the Blackberry and iPhone.  I also found another handy little SparkPeople app - SparkRecipes.

It's perfect for finding tons of healthy recipes.  It includes a search by keyword or by category/course/cuisine/occasion or dietary needs.  Each recipe also includes nutritional information, and the option to view it online to get comments and ratings.

These are my new tools to help me kick butt.  Got any to share?