Cow herding 101

A couple of weeks ago, I decided to stay in bed while Hubster got up and ready for work. My mom and step-dad were in town and I figured I would sleep in, make Hubster breakfast and take it to his workplace. Yup, the plans that I make.

Hubster got up and I turned over in bed, snuggling back up under my blankets. As I closed my eyes, I herd a loud moooooo. I opened one eye to see if Hubster was playing a joke on me. No one there and nothing I could see. I got comfortable again and closed my eyes again. Moooo.

I raised my head this time and looked at Hubster's phone, surely he wasn't playing a trick on me with his phone. Besides, we don't own cows.

Nothing there, so back to bed I went. Mooooo, again. I got up, looked out my bedroom window and wouldn't you know it. A cow. In my flower bed. Mooing away. At 6:30 in the morning.

I then look past the cow right outside my bedroom window and see more cows down our front yard. Lots of them.

I go to Hubster and tell him in a panicky, yet calm voice, "There are cows all over our yard. There is a cow outside our bedroom window. What do we do?" I don't think Hubster believed me. I think he thought I was wacko. Until he heard the mooo.

My neighbors own cows. These cows try to be David Copperfield and usually get out of the pasture. I call her to ask her if the cows on my yard were hers. "How many are there?" she asked. "15 " I respond. "No, I don't have that many" she said.

So I call my other neighbor who owns the field in front of us. I got no answer. I'm standing outside in my robe, making sure these cows don't eat my bushes and few trees that we have, when my neighbor comes running outside. She said she came to see if they were hers. She took one look and yes, they were hers.

I go inside the house to get dressed to help her get 15 cows back into the pasture. Since I'm a city girl living in the country, I own lots of cow herding clothes. NOT!! Shorts, a t-shirt and tennis shoes is what I get on.

I saw my neighbor at the front of my land starting to get the cows back to her land. I ran to help her and she is making these noises to the cows. Clicking her tongue and hollering. Sounded like I was in a western movie. So I panicked. I didn't know any cowboy/cowgirl terms to round up cattle. Hee yaw is all I know. Along with 'move it', I got the cows to move some. At this time I should say that while I was getting dressed, my neighbor was able to send the cow that was by my bedroom window, back home. So we were down to 14 cows. Actually, 13 cows and 1 bull. Lovely.

We started running after the cattle, but they wanted to go a different way. Hubster was still here and was in his truck trying to help us. We chase the cattle up the field, then we chase them down the field. These cattle would not go in the gate that led to their pasture.

The cattle end up on the south of our land. Hubster is at one end, in his truck, and tells me to get on the opposite end. I slowly walked over there because there is no doubt that I am scared of cows. Especially 13 cows and 1 bull all staring me down. Oh, and did I forget to mention that when I rapidly got dressed in my cow herding clothes of shorts, t-shirt and tennis shoes that I hastily put on a reddish pink shirt? Nothing like being stared down by a bull while wearing a reddish pink shirt.

Can you say rut row?

So Hubster was yelling at me to get in front of the cattle. I started walking, but I was praying y'all. Praying that being run down to death by cattle is not the way I die. Praying that the bull that is looking right at me, at 5 ft away, doesn't mistake me for a barrel or something. "Move some more" Hubster said. I inched over slowly. Right foot, then left foot until Hubster yells some again "More" Hmmm, easy for him to say, he was in the truck. "You come out here and let me get in the truck" I said. No answer then. I was wishing at that moment that I was like a cow whisperer or something. Then I could talk to these animals and tell them that they were making me workout and I wasn't wanting to. That they were making me get scrapes on my legs from the tall grass we were running in. But most importantly, I wanted to tell them that they WOKE ME UP when I was able to sleep in.

We somehow managed to get the cattle to move again. But this time they went all the way to the back of my land. Only 12 cows and 1 bull because one cow decided to go through the gate that led to the pasture. My neighbor decided to go get her 4 wheeler to go get the cattle. She drove back there, but it's rocky terrain. She ended up falling off her 4 wheeler. I told her to leave the cattle back there. They weren't in my way and they weren't eating my little trees.

My mom and I went for a walk. We were up, so why not. She was actually laughing at me because she said I looked funny chasing the cattle. Thanks mom!!

When we were on our way back from our walk, I noticed that there were some cattle by our pond, but more cattle at our other neighbors house. They don't own cattle either. By this time, all the cattle, even the ones that had previously gone back home and the ones that were still in the pasture that didn't join in the great escape the first time, were out there.

I go to my neighbor, the cow owner, and tell her to drive me over there. We drove and she was herding the cattle with her car. She then stopped because there is no where else to go, I got down and tell her that I would chase the cattle one way, on foot, and she could drive the other way. As I am chasing the cattle, I hear a crash. She had backed into a tree. She drove to the edge of my land and we proceeded to follow the cattle through my land. I told her to drive home. I follow the cattle and they went to their land. The stinking gate was open. It looked like someone had actually opened the gate for them to go out.

We laughed about it after all was done. But it sure wasn't funny at the time. Stinking cows.

I tell you, always an adventure with me. Which I'm glad, because it makes life a lot funner.

I'm still being used as a jungle gym.

I'm going to start posting pictures of my food again. I've noticed that this helps me be more accountable.

I've just been doing an exercise video and haven't ran. I guess I need to get my booty out there and run. I just don't feel like running enclosed inside a gym when it's so pretty outside. And I am a little scared running alone down my country roads way early in the morning. I've got to find me a running partner. In the meantime, I've got my dog. I do need to buy her a leash so that she won't run away from me and chase the cows.

I've got a quick story to tell.

I previously told y'all that I've been doing yoga. I try to do my exercises alone with no one watching. Nothing like having an audience.

Anyways, the boys always seem to make it into the room to watch or they become peeping Toms.

During the time of the video when I think that I can't do it anymore and Bob is telling me to keep going, that he's almost done, the boys try to encourage me as well. Not like Bob, but more like "That's not how they are doing it mom" or "Come on mom, I can do it better"

While I'm trying to do the poses, they think I'm a jungle gym and crawl under me, jump over me, try to avoid my hands when I'm swinging them around and so forth.

At first, it was a little annoying, but the more it's done, I enjoy it because I'm not thinking of my legs shaking, or my arms feeling as if they are going to fall off.

As a matter of fact, by the time this all happens, my whole body feels as if it's been tortured and I can't go on anymore.

The boys will show me how it's supposed to be done. I am not as agile as they are.

I do believe the poses are getting better because I've heard less of "that's not how to do it mom" and more of "that looks hard mom"

I'm getting there. Slowly but surely.

3 miles in 28 min. Wooo Hooo!!

For the last week and a half, I have done nothing.

I haven't been eating right and I definitely haven't been exercising.

It seems that when that dreaded unwanted monthly visitor is arriving, my body rebels. It wants to eat what it wants and it will only function with sweets and fried foods. It certainly doesn't want to work off this bad food.

Hubster took the boys for a while Saturday morning and I was going to do nothing. Again. Nothing but lay in bed in my pajamas. It didn't matter that I had 5 loads of laundry to wash and dry and another 3 loads that needed to be put away. I was not going to do anything.

Then Hubster called and needed me to take him something. So much for not doing anything.

I get in my workout clothes thinking that since I'm out, I'll go to the gym and run a little. My mind was playing games with me but in the end, my strong will won.

I was only going to run two miles. I hadn't ran in a while and didn't want to hurt myself. At least that's what I was telling myself. It sounded like a good excuse.

I had my ipod on and was listening to some tunes and I looked down at my nike+ and saw that I had already ran two miles. Let's go for three, I told my body.

So I ran three miles in 30 min. Then I went down to the little weight room and lifted weights for about 15 min. It felt good to have all that sweat pouring out of me. Not that I lost any weight.

This morning, I got up early and went back to the gym. This time I ran three miles in 28 min. I'd like to shorten my three mile runs to 24 min, but this is a big improvement for me.

Eventually, I'd like to increase my miles and run longer. My mind and my legs are just now starting to get along well, so I'll give them some time to adjust to this.

I'm off to get ready for the last three days of school and to plan my good eats for the day. Starting off with a bowl of muesli.

I'll leave you with a UB moment.
I was in my lounge wear (t-shirt/bra and pajama bottoms) on Saturday afternoon. The boys and I were making some craft they had been wanting to do for a while.

UB adjusts my shirt in the front and says "Mom, you need to fix your shirt, your crack is showing"

A nature walk does the body good

The boys and I went for a little nature walk in the misty fog yesterday morning. I've got to say, that's the extent of my exercise for yesterday.

We were walking down the road from Hubster's office and were looking for birds. We came across this pretty bird. Have no clue what it is. The bird book doesn't tell me.
And we saw lots of Cardinals. It was fun to watch them play with each other. They just don't like to be approached. This is as good a shot as I could get.

While walking down this road, an audio tech van drove by us. He waved and continued down the road to the office. A couple of minutes later, it showed back up and stopped next to us. I started to freak out because I'm thinking, "I'm alone with two little boys, in the middle of nowhere with no one to hear me if I scream." Previous episodes of CSI came to mind.

He asked if a person lived down this way. Only the guy Hubster works with and his family live down that dead end road. I didn't know the name he mentioned and he wouldn't leave. I soon see another vehicle approaching and realize it's the man that works with Hubster, R, and his wife R. (I'll just call them R& R).

Anyway, I tell the van man to ask them. They stopped next to us and R tells him no one by that name lives down the road. Van man left and R&R stayed to talk to us for a while. They ask the boys to be on the lookout for wild pigs, bobcats and skunks. They proceed to leave to the office and we walk a little further.

The boys were spooked by this time and with the van incident and R&R telling them about the wildlife out there, we head back to the office.

It was a nice little walk and an adventurous one as well.

Yesterday for breakfast, because of eating that small portion of salad on Wed night at church, then going for a run later that evening, I was starving.

I had 2 egg whites, 2 slices of turkey bacon and a whole grain English muffin. It sure filled me up.

For lunch, I made some chicken tostadas. I had lots of leftovers in the fridge and needed to get rid of them.

Tostadas consisted of low fat refried beans, grilled chicken, low fat cheese, lettuce, tomato, jalapenos and we can't forget the avocado.

I wanted something sweet but didn't want to eat junk and wasn't in the mood for an apple, so I had me a bowl of non-fat plain yogurt topped with flax seed and Ezekiel cereal with almonds, and fresh blueberries. Topped with a splash of agave nectar. This was really satisfying. And so filling that I wasn't even hungry for dinner.

UB had a baseball game and when we came back home, Hubster wanted another chicken tostada. I munched on a couple of pieces of baked chicken while making his tostada. Then I made me some air popped popcorn.

While at the baseball field, there were some people sitting next to us that were chain smoking. I'm so happy to receive second hand smoke, I really like it. I don't understand why some people aren't considerate to smoke elsewhere. People can smoke all they want, just not around me. I'm sorry if I offend anyone on this topic, but If I wanted to inhale cigarette smoke, I'd smoke myself.

Just had to get that of my chest.

It's Friday and have to go do tests with the boys and then clean the neglected house.

Coyotes, snakes and cows oh my!

I didn't get to post yesterday because I had lots of catching up to do with my laundry.


Here's my food for Tue and Wed.
Tue: For breakfast, I had my usual bowl of blueberry oatmeal
For lunch I made some salmon patties. I usually add eggs and crackers but this time I just added flax seed and whole grain bread crumbs.

I thought it was pretty delicious. I had some veggies on the side and then some fruit for dessert.

For dinner, I had roasted chicken wrapped in a herb and garlic wheat tortilla and a sweet potato on the side.
Wed: For breakfast I had a bowl of muesli. It's so yummy. You have to try it.

I made this zucchini lasagna for lunch. I really liked it. Hubster said it was just OK, but he's used to eating heavy. This was not heavy but was very filling. I will post the recipe later.

For dinner it was salad at the church. I didn't eat much because it was lots of different cold types of salads. Corn salad w/chips, broccoli salad with lots of mayo, pasta salad with vinegar and ????, cornbread salad, Chinese cole slaw and fruit salad.

I did eat some but not much. I even ate the brownie that had no nuts. You know I had to be hungry in order to eat chocolate.

I hadn't gotten my run in for the day. Didn't make it to the gym early in the morning since UB woke me up at 3am to inform me that he had a bad dream and he needed to sleep with me. I of course am a mean mom and said no. I went back to bed but didn't get to fall asleep right away.

Anyway, after church last night I went for a jog down my country road. I ran for 2 miles and walked .7 of a mile. It felt good.

While I enjoy running out in the open air as opposed to an indoor track, I don't enjoy the little creatures that are out on the road. Trying to sabotage my run.

Coyotes have been spotted both on my front yard as well as back behind the house. Not just one little coyote. But a pack of about 6 in front and 2 in back.

I'm from a town where the mascot is the coyote. I'm just not wanting to become close friends with the coyote. A pretend one is easier to pet than a real one.

The other thing I have to watch for out there are snakes. They are out now, trying to get some sunbathing in.

Cinnamon goes jogging with me and I feel a little safer. I run down the hill and then hit a gradual slope up a hill. It seems to be going on for a long time. I make it to the top and see cows on both sides of the road. The cows on the left of me run with me and then run away. The cows on the right of me just look up from their dinner and moo. I'd like to think they are encouraging me. They are telling me "Come on and moooooove it mooooove it"

During my run, I hear the grass moving. I hear scurrying. Mice or some little creatures. Birds finding worms.

I get to the bottom of the hill and then there is yet another small hill to the stop sign. I make it over and back but now it's time to go back up the other way. Up and down the hills again. My legs are hurting and my butt is dragging but I push and push. All the while, the cows encouraging me again "Mooooove that booty, yooooou can do it"

I make it to the top of the hill and then back down again. I turn down a road and keep running. While running back down the road to head home, I see a snake in the middle of the road. I stop and look and stay still. Thinking that if I run, it's going to get me because I sure can't out run it. But if I just stand there, his friends will probably come out to play around me.

I realize the snake is dead. But it's weird because I had just ran by there and it was not on the road. You bet your pretty little head that this Mexican girl ran fast and hard to the house. I don't think I had ran that fast in a long time.

I can easily run 3 miles at the indoor track but it's a killer running 2 miles down these hilly roads. I'm just a wimp.

See y'all tomorrow.

Food for me?

For exercise today, I did some pilates. Good grief, those exercises hurt. Makes you use your core. My core? I don't have a core, I think the fat is hiding it behind the door.
One day soon I'm going to find that core.

I decided that if I posted what I ate then I am more liable to eat better. Sure don't want y'all to see the unhealthy chicken fried steaks I eat. Loaded with gravy and huge steak fries on the side.

For breakfast, I had my usual bowl of oatmeal. I used to not be a big fan of oats but it's actually yummy now. I think I'm going to start adding some almond butter to it as well. The Almond milk makes it a little sweet. I like it not sweet. You could add Splenda or Agave Nectar too.
1/4 c oats
1/2 c almond milk
3 TBL flaxseed
blueberries
walnuts


For lunch, I had a tuna pita. I like these things. I reeeeeaaaaallly like these things. I put tuna in mine, along with lettuce, tomato and I couldn't forget the avacado. Avacado is a must on everything. In my opinion. The pita is an Ezekial whole grain sprouted pita. Very delicious. I think it would have been better with some baby spinach, but I forgot to buy some at the store.

See this scrumptulous food? Makes you hungry huh?

I did have watermelon for dessert and then carrot juice for a drink. Freshly juiced carrots.

For snack, I had this Nut bar. I think it's one of my favorite kinds right now. It's not sweet, but it's got enough sweetness to satisfy that sweet tooth.

Dinner was a salad. That nut bar filled me up but I knew that I had to eat something. I made me a salad with leaf lettuce, boiled egg white, tomato, cucumber and then some shredded chicken. I forgot my flaxseed but oh well.

I normally eat salads without dressing but last night I wanted some spunk. I juiced one lemon and added some cayenne pepper. Poured it over my salad and presto, tasty salad.

So that's what I had all day yesterday.

The boys played out in the rain and brought some mud into the house. While I was cleaning it up, UB and the 3 yr old neighbor boy came inside to hand me some fresh picked wild flowers.

Sweet boys.

Until tomorrow.

I'm back

So I'm back. I've had a hard time getting motivated to write anything. Mostly because what I would like to write about, I can't and what I can write about, I don't want to. Call it stubbornness if you must.

There have been many changes in my house and most of them good. We are still adjusting. But we are all doing great. Boys are growing and Hubster is working hard.

I did run the 5k that I had signed up for back in March. I finished with a slow time of 32:14.
Not bad since I had been hurt, but it could have been better.

AB wanted to run it as well. He wouldn't go train with me and said he could do it. We started the race with some friends and then AB and I went off together. Before I knew it, I left him behind.

I guess if I were a better mom I would have stayed with him. Hope he's not scarred for life.

I was the first of our group to finish and then 6 min later another friend finished and then the other friend after her. I sat there and waited for him and waited and waited. I walked back towards where the last quarter mile was and finally saw him. He was walking with some people. I cheered him on and told him he had a little ways to go. He started running again and then stopped again. But he did finish the race. I was proud of him.

When we got into the car to head home, he said that it was harder than what he thought. He wants to start training with me in order to get better.

I want to do a half marathon in November so I'm starting training for that. I do need to find me a good training plan. I think I'll do some more 5k's between now and then and maybe a 10k. I wish I could say that I'm doing it for the time and winning but i'm only in it to finish.

Since the weather had been so pretty here, I was running outside but it's crazy weather time and now in order for me to guarantee myself a workout, I started back at the gym track.

So this morning I went running for 30 minutes (3 miles) and then walked for 20 minutes.

My next goal is to start eating better again. I've sort of not been doing very well in that category.

I like to make excuses and say that busy times at the baseball field for games is the reason we don't eat good, but I can always plan ahead and make something to take. Those concession stand nachos are pretty yummy as well as those burgers. Of course, everything is pretty yummy when you are starving.

So enough babbling for now. Going to finish up school with the boys and then go for a nature walk. Taking advantage of this pretty day.

My favorite Reality show

While I don't watch television all day long. I do revel in some shows.

I like to watch the CSI's, Numbers and NCIS. I also watch Hallmark channel or Lifetime Movie Network when Hubster is out of town and he can't tell me that the movie I'm watching is plain dumb.

I do watch reality shows like The Apprentice and The Biggest Loser. For a while there, I watched a little bit of The bachelor, but that show is just plain dumb. I don't know why people subject themselves to that. But that's a whole other story.

The Biggest Loser is my favorite. I like to watch the transformation these people make. Some have been obese their entire lives and some only since a trauma happened in there lives.

I do find it hard to relate sometimes because it is their job for that amount of time they are at the ranch. They workout up to 8 hours a day. Who has that time in real life?

They have a personal trainer there. Who but the rich have a personal trainer for that many hours all the time. Maybe I'm wrong about that.

While I enjoy watching the show, sometimes I become perturbed with it.

Last night was one of those times. As a mom, I believe that I would do anything for my children. When I was single and kid less I couldn't understand why parents sacrificed what they wanted just to give their kids what they needed.

Having kids changes the way you think.

The ones to be up for elimination last night was a mother/daughter team. I think I was a little bothered that the mom said she wanted to stay and to send her daughter home. I had mixed feelings about this.

Yes, the daughter had already been at home for a month and had lost some weight, but she wanted to be there as well.

The previous mother/daughter or father/son teams all had the parents fighting for their child to stay on the ranch. I took it as being selfish on the mother's part to not fight for her daughter.

The mom had been skinny at a time, so she obviously had some insight as to how to lose weight. The daughter has never been skinny. To me it's a no-brainer.

The daughter said that she would rather go home because then her mom would get to stay on the ranch and lose weight and then she would be able to have her mom live a little longer in life.

I see that point as well, but it doesn't change the fact that the mother should have sacrificed her spot so that her daughter could have a chance in life.

Obviously, the mother met a man and had children or the daughter wouldn't be there. The daughter deserves that as well.

Maybe I am looking at this wrong, but as a mother, I would think that if put in that predicament, I'd fight for my child.

The other thing that bothers me is that the contestants say that they can't make it without Jillian or Bob.

Don't get me wrong, I would like to have a Jillian or a Bob in my home kicking my booty with their workouts.

If they don't think they can make it without the trainers, then they aren't really learning anything.

Getting healthy is not about starving yourself and depriving your body of nutrients it needs.
It's about eating the right foods and exercising daily.

In real life, unless it's your job, we can't workout 8 hours a day. We can't have that personal trainer to push us those 8 hours.

We have to push ourselves and find the time in our busy lives to exercise and to eat the right foods.

We even have to find our own Jillian or Bob in our friends. Maybe with an accountability partner they can push us until our booty's hurt.

Rambling Monday

Eating better is what I'm trying to do. That doesn't mean that I do it all the time. I still have my weaknesses.

Like this weekend for example. UB's birthday is later this week, but Hubster is not going to be able to take the day off, so we took UB out to eat.

It was also Valentine's Day, so we killed two birds with one stone.

UB chose a steak house. I could have gotten a steak and some veggies and a salad with the dressing on the side. But what's fun about that? Especially since it was V-Day!

I miss those wonderful tasty chicken fried steaks from Texas. And this place has an awesome chicken fried steak. So I got it. And boy was it good.

I indulged in a chicken fried steak, steak fries and some bread. Not something that I should have been eating.

I have lost 6 pounds as of today. It is slowly coming off. And I'm OK with it being about 2 pounds a week. I want to make sure I keep it off.

This morning when the alarm went off, I snoozed it, and snoozed it and snoozed it. I really didn't want to go run. But I knew that if I didn't go, my day would not be good.

Been running for 30 min. now. At a pretty good pace. Today was a slow pace. Guess that chicken fried steak was slowing me down.

I did it!!

I did recover from the twisted ankle. And proceeded to continue on towards my goal of running more than a minute without feeling like I'm going to pass out.

I had been discouraged last week. Discouraged because in my mind I didn't calculate my age plus the fact that I hadn't been physically active for a long time.

I only saw me running 3 miles on the first day. That's when my body went into shock.

As I began training for the 5k I started slow. And I was supposed to pick up minutes every week, but excuses and obstacles came barreling towards me.

On and off I'd run/walk down my hilly road. I'd make it up to 10 minutes (don't know how far) and then I'd stop.

So last week, I was disappointed in myself because I was only at 5 hard minutes. I'd do sprints up and down the hills along with the running.

Yesterday I did it!!!!

I ran 2 whole miles without stopping. I know I probably could have kept going but didn't want to push it. The furthest I had run was almost a mile.

I did talk to several people who run this hilly roadside and at the gym and they said that the gym is much easier to run at.

I guess I was doing good with what I was doing outside. Even if it meant not running as long.

I even ran the 2 miles in about 17 minutes. That is a big accomplishment for me.

I'm hoping to add on another mile by the end of the week.

See? Gloria Gaynor was right "I did survive"

I didn't fall, I was just looking for something

Oh what a glorious day! No ice. No rain. No cold. Just a nice windy 70 something day.

A great day for jogging.

We had finished tests and I sent the boys outside to play while I walked/ran. I hooked up my pedometer to my pants, laced up my shoes, strapped on my ipod and off I went.

I turned on the music and I warmed up by walking. Enjoying the warmth of the sun but trying to stay erect from the force of the wind.

Up the hill and then down the hill. Breathing in then exhaling out. Faster and faster I walked to warm-up.

It was finally time to start my jog. One foot in front of the other, listening to good music. All is well, and then it happens.

My weak ankle didn't get enough warm-up and it turned on me. Knocking me off my feet and onto the ground.

I quickly get up and look around. Making sure that no one saw me make a fool of myself. Living out in the country does have it's advantages.

Coming to the conclusion that nobody was around when I gracefully fell, I pretend to be stretching (just in case someone is coming up the road) and check out my hurt knee.

No scratches, just a bruise starting to form. I give my ankle a lecture and continue on. Fighting against the wind, to finish what I started.

Ironically, the song that I was listening to said "Every time I fall" Maybe I need to start listening to "I will survive".

My top 10 reasons to exercise

1. My body can't be eating more calories than it's taking out. My body tends to become friends with the fat that comes in it and it won't let it leave.

2. I don't want to look like a flabby soon to be 40 yr old.

3. I want my kids to learn that exercise and nutrition are good choices to make.

4. I would eventually like to get Hubster off his medications.

5. I don't want to have cottage cheese looking legs.

6. I want to fit back into my skinny jeans.

7. I don't want UB to play with my muffin top anymore.

8. I don't want AB to tell me that my fat looks like an extra muscle.

9. I want my boys to run races with me.

10. I want to live a healthy lifestyle.

My legs are throwing a pity party

When I decided last year to do some getting back in shape stuff this year, my mind was whooping and hollering. In a good way.

My body, especially my legs were telling my mind that it was crazy. It was the most ludicrous thing they had ever heard.

But my mind didn't listen, it kept picturing the way I ran back when I was in High School and keeping positive thoughts about how I could do it again.

With a little extra hard work.

My legs were the first to complain. They were not liking that one bit.

I started in January and my legs threw a temper tantrum. Much like the tantrums that toddlers throw when they don't get that candy at the store.

Unfortunately, my legs weren't the only ones that threw that tantrum. It seemed like my entire insides did too. My lungs complained that they couldn't catch their breath, my kidney's said they hurt, my bladder said it couldn't hold it that long and my heart, boy, my heart said that it felt like it was going to break.

My legs were encouraging all these other body parts. Telling my mind what they thought about the whole thing.

My mind kept thinking positive thoughts and listening to good songs in order to ignore the tantrums.

Last week was not a good week. Ice everywhere. Ice on my house. Ice on my plants. Ice on my sidewalk. Ice on my driveway and ice on the roads.

I did what my body wanted me to do. I ate and ate and ate all the bad foods and didn't exercise inside the comfort of my own home.

I sure did pay for that on Monday when I started back again. I've been running/walking outside my house and my land is hilly. Those hills are brutal. Punishing my legs to feel pain they hadn't felt in a long time.

My kidney, bladder and heart were upset with my legs because they were actually enjoying the exercise and have come to be one with my mind.

Now it seems that my legs have recruited another part to join them in this opposition.

My hiney.

My hiney agrees with my legs. They mostly complain when I do the sprints up the hills.

Last night they complained while I was trying to sleep. Guess they thought they could teach me a lesson.

I'm not giving in. I'm going to fight 'till the end.

All I'm going to say is "Legs and Hiney, Hit me with your best shot!!!"

I sure do like food that's not good for me

I have come to the conclusion (again) that what I eat, affects what I want to accomplish.
In this case, the running.

I had been doing well in eating healthier and smaller portions. Along with walking and running.

Hubster was out of town for a couple of days last week. So that meant that I had to make arrangements to do things differently.

It was a little cold and windy outside and we have come to the conclusion that I am a wimp, so therefore running outside on my hilly driveway was not going to happen.

I could have gone to the gym, but I made an excuse not to go.

So after all the excuses, I became lazy and ate. I ate stuff that was good, but definately not good for me.

And when I went back to the gym yesterday to start again, I could feel how terrible my body felt. With all that extra junk in there.

Of course, it started when I had heartburn at night and couldn't sleep.

I did eat a lot healthier yesterday and my body thanked me. I found these at the grocery store the other day. They are also on this diet. Not that I'm on that diet.

Flatout flatbread. I had never tried them, but they looked good and healthy. Multi grain with some flax and extra fiber. Sounds good right? Yeah, not to me either.

But I figured, why not? Let's give it a try. I could use the extra fiber.

I had it yesterday with a piece of grilled chicken in it, along with lettuce, tomato and some avadaco (my good fat). It was pretty good.

I mean, it's not an authentic tortilla that is scrumptuously made with lard, but it's not bad.

I'm sure there's lots of stuff that you can do with these things.

I just need to figure out what else to do to make them edible for me.

In the meantime, I'll continue to look for ways to eat healthier or smaller portions of my favorite foods in order to accomplish my goals.

My goals for 2009

Every year I have resolutions. Lose weight, find the patience that I lost, be more organized, blah blah blah blah blah.

And every year I break my resolutions.

I like food, so losing weight only happens for a week or so.

I can never seem to find that misplaced patience.

And well, not even going to comment on the organization skills I lack.

But this year, Since I will be 40, I decided I was going to set goals.

So I have two major goals that I've been striving for this year.

Running a 5K and a half marathon.

I have asked some people to do both with me. Some have said yes, some said I was crazy. But my sister in law said she would definitely do the half marathon with me. I need accountability. And stamina because she is ten years younger than me.

I'm determined to do this. I am following this plan. I've kind of adjusted it a little, but still follow it as much as I can.

That first week was hard. I couldn't even run 1 minute without feeling like I was going to pass out.

I'm on week three of this plan. I've done pretty good this week. Made it to running 10 minutes. A big accomplishment for me.

Little steps will get me there I know.

So, any goals for you?

The treadmill ride

Yesterday, when I went to the gym, I decided I was going to start off with the treadmill. It's an older treadmill without all those bells and whistles.

Anyway, I pushed the on button and nothing happened.

I pushed it again and still nothing, so then I started pushing other buttons. Trying to get the machine to work.

I'd hear a buzz, but it kinda sounded sick. I continued pushing that same button thinking that maybe it was trying to work.

I finally moved a switch somewhere and it started. Of course, the lady working there had to help.

While I was on this machine, I started off slow, then proceeded to go faster. While I was going fast, I noticed that my legs were burning.

Talking to myself is what I do best so I said "Self, this really hurts." Self just kept walking fast.

After a while I said "Self, this is just like walking up and down the driveway, we should just stay home and do that." Self just kept walking fast.

Finally, my legs said to self "Self, why are we burning so much? Why do we feel like we are back home. Why does it feel like we are climbing a mountain?" Self just kept walking fast.

I finally told Self to look at the machine to see why.

Then I saw it.

The incline button was pushed halfway up.

It seems that the button that I was pushing that was making the buzz was instead the incline and decline button.

So I casually reach down and push the down arrow to lower me.

Then today, I decided to try the bike. I get on and notice that my left pedal is making a weird noise.

I continued pedaling. Faster and faster I went.

Then I heard it.

The left pedal was laying on the floor.

It had come unscrewed.

I'm afraid they are going to kick me out. First not knowing the elliptical and then the pedal on the bike.

Oh well.

So I came home and made these muffins. I used gluten free flour and coconut oil and they were mighty tasty.

Blueberry Muffins
1 3/4 cup sifted flour
1/3 cup sugar
2 1/2 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp salt
1 cup blueberries, drained
1 egg beaten
1/2 c milk
1/3 c oil

sift dry ingredients together. Mix egg, milk and oil together in another bowl. Mix wet into dry and mix just until dry ingredients are wet. Gently stir in blueberries. Bake 400 degrees for 25 minutes. Makes 12

I've started exercising. Good or Bad?

So one of my goals for this year (as is every year) is to get back in shape. But this year it's got to happen. This year I turn the big _0. And it's got me thinking that I'm probably in the worst shape ever.

So with that being said, I've started exercising some. I think I was psyching myself out to believe that my body was still that 20 something body that had a high metabolism. The body where no matter what I ate or when I ate it, it would not hang around for longer than 20 minutes.

Besides, I'd eventually like to start wearing all those nice clothes hanging in my closet. And I'm kind've tired of UB playing with my rolls.

A couple of weeks ago, when the weather was pretty, I started walking outside. We have a nice long driveway with lots of hills. Going down the driveway was not a problem, coming up was. Those little hills sneak up on you and make you hurt all over.

Then I'd go out there and walk some then run. I would run for a full minute and get winded. I don't even think I made it a full minute. But I still made it a point to try.

By the third day, I ran the full minute, then walked two. I did that for 20 minutes. It wasn't that bad, but I'm a wimp and those little hills on the driveway were taunting me. I was in pain. My saddlebags were hurting. If that's even possible.

By the time I was getting used to it, the weather turned cold. I'm a wimp remember. I stayed indoors.

Last week, I added another minute to the running. So I was up to run 2 minutes then walk 2.

Let me tell, you. I am not a long distance runner. I am a sprinter. Even when I wasn't exercising I made it a point to sprint to the bathroom. That's probably the only exercise I ever got.

Running long and slow is not something I'm used to. I've always been a sprinter, even back in my school days.

While I was running/walking last week, the boys were encouraging me. AB was working out with me while UB would stand on the side and every time I would pass him, he'd throw a rock or a stick at me. I'm thinking it was to motivate me to run faster.

That little turkey would just laugh at how fast it made me run. My kids sure do love me.

My favorite songs on my ipod that I listen to while exercising are Skinny Songs. They are so much fun to listen to.

Our church has a Life Center. A gym that has a basketball court, a walking track and a little weight room. I got up early this morning and went to go exercise. I was quite proud of myself. I even made it running 4 minutes at fast pace without thinking I was going to pass out and die.

Hey, 4 minutes is better than no minutes. And for this bubble butt girl with thunder thighs, it's an accomplishment.