~Work Out video Queen~

I am so the Queen of Work Out Videos and I'm ready to accept my crown! My gym recently added spin classes to it's line up, but before then you'd be hard pressed to find a hard core work out class! Therefore, I resorted to videos and exercise tv on demand! My first video ever was Jillian Michael's ~ The Shred. It's what kick started my healthy lifestyle and set a pretty high standard for meeting my work out video criteria.

I've recently come across some new *favorites* and I'd be remiss if I didn't take the time to share the good with you!

I said in my last update that I've been yoga-obsessed lately and I owe it all to this video. I discovered it on demand and I can't get enough of it! I went to do it the other day and the video was OFF demand, so I immediately hopped online and ordered my very own copy!

Yogis... meet Yogaworks Body Slim

This chick on the cover is not the chick that does the video, but she's in the video! So the video last 50 minutes... about 45 minutes of hard core yoga and 5-6 minutes of cool down stretching and relaxing. It's challenging enough to make you sweat, but not unattainable for the beginner yogi! There are 3 different cardio-flowing sequences that get your heart rate up followed by slow burns to really tone your muscles. I normally do this first thing in the morning and I can feel the sensation of the poses in my muscles for hours.

I've seen the most results in my leg strength and my arms are more visibly toned. This one is definitely worth adding to your collection, and I added it to mine for a little less than $10!

~Namaste~

from ALifeLesOrdinary... "A 'BIG' Moment"

I conduct all of our first round interviews in our business. Some people will hire anyone, I will not. One of the questions that has always stuck out to me is question number 6. Who is your hero? 97.9% of the time I get Mom, Dad, Aunt, Uncle or Grandparent. And when I ask why, I usually get the same response. "They've always been there for me." LAME! Shouldn't a hero be someone who inspires greatness in you? I think it's a tough question and every time I ask it I wonder who I would say.

A few weeks ago I was in Atlanta for business and Alison Sweeney *tweeted* an invite to go work out with she and Jillian in Atlanta. I assumed that they'd be working out downtown and I'd be a good 20 miles from where all the magic was happening. For grins I googled it, and would you believe my luck... they were 4 miles down the same street I was staying on! What? I called Justin and he said, "DUH! You have to go!" The opportunity to work out with the work out person I most look up to? It was MY moment and I had to take it!


So what was actually going on was Biggest Loser was shooting their first episode of Season 10 & invited the community to come out for a workout and show taping. They shot various parts of the episode around the country. They introduced 3 potential BL's and had them compete for 2 spots on the show. Jillian led the entire group in a work out and when I say led I'm saying that when I was doing push-ups my hands were basically touching her shoes and I was praying to the virgin Mary tattoo on her ankle! I expected there to be 1,000s and 1,000s of people there, but there were maybe 175?

Filming a show is a huge undertaking, so there was a lot of waiting around, but I was a woman with time and my iPhone {excuse the poor quality of the photos} on & in my hands, so I was in for the long hall. They interviewed people who were future cast hopefuls and asked how BL had inspired the crowd. BL inspired me to run a Half Marathon {which I'll be doing again this September!}.

First things first ~ Alison Sweeney runs out! Haven't we all been loving Ali since she was chunky Sami on Days? She was TINY in person and so engaging with the crowd. Also, she had on the cutest nude wedges ever and I can't quit thinking about them and looking for them!

Then out came Jillian and the workout started immediately, so I snapped a pic before she came over and camped out by me. Jillian seems very HARD and LOUD on BL, but it was definitely more of a playful "yell" during the filming.



Yes, the workout was HARD! For those of you who have ever done one of Jillian's work out video's, it was like doing one of her videos on fast forward. 10 minutes and I was pouring sweat and panting! So, if you've been wishing and hoping you could get trained by Jillian I suggest you put her video on fast forward and try to keep up!

Then the potential contestants came out to tell their story and weigh in before the competition. Which was the first 2 to complete a mile would be immediately escorted to the ranch. There were limos outside, but I have no idea where they were really going.

Before anyone came out the director said, "I'm not sure how many of you have stepped on the scale lately, but I'm sure most of you haven't stepped on the scale in front of strangers. Please be respectful." Then he genuinely choked up. It was just as emotional in person as it is on your couch. You can't edit that kind of emotion in to a reality tv show... it's just there.

Ali tweeting how excited she was to meet me in person. Y'all all saw that tweet, right?

My turn on the scale! Thankfully, with NO cameras (but my own), NO sound affects, and NO actual weight being posted!

I didn't get to take my picture with Jillian, but I got a good picture of who Jillian is. I think there's a lot of "acting" in these situations and putting on for the camera, but cameras rolling or not...Jillian loves her work and her mission is to make your life better. I was amazed at how genuine she is and how truly un-judgmental she is. Is un-judgmental a word? I left that day with much deeper appreciation for Bob & Jillian and what they do on the Biggest Loser and to everyone being inspired at home. I also left with my answer to the interview question if I ever get asked.

Jackie Warner ~ Power Circuit Training ~

Helllllooooo, Friends! Long time no talk! Maybe you've been wondering where I've been thinking I've fallen off the wagon or perhaps traded in blogging for Ice Cream eating... NO! 2010 has gotten off to a great start for me physically. I started the year off with a food cleanse & detox and it got my head in the right place. I feel better than I have in a long time, and I think I look better than I have in a long time. Instead of focusing on counting points I've been more involved in understanding what I'm eating and making healthy decisions.

FourFatChicks blog definitely changed my work out life and got me into a routine. I no longer feel guilty for skipping the gym, but I try and change things up enough that I never want to skip! I still do a lot of workouts in my living room, because as of today there are no classes offered at my gym. {However, I saw a sign that they expanding & starting classes soon! Maybe Bob Harper will come and teach SPIN!}

I love my exercise channel and being able to try workout videos before I buy them. My next video purchase will DEFINITELY be ~

Personal Training with Jackie Warner: Power Circuit Training

I do the total body circuit and it seems easy enough to get through, but afterwards... I walk with a limp for 2 days! This is a BIG deal for me, because I work out often enough that I might get a little sore, but not majorly sore for 2 freaking days! The best part is that while going through the circuits you don't feel like you're going to die, but you do have to work for it.

I've seen the video at Target & Wal*Mart and it's on Amazon.com right now for $7.99. Such a good deal to add to your collection! Now, who is excited about Jillian's new yoga video? {Hint, Hint ~ ME!}

Show me your Calendar ~ Tuesday SEPTEMBER 22

Hey Ladies! I do apologize for my lack of updates last week. Unfortunately, I had a family emergency last week and spent more time thinking than I did blogging. Lucky for you, I also spent some time getting my workout on! I did skip 2 days, one at the hospital, one at the funeral, but was diligent the other days!

I decided to mix it up and let my favorite at-home trainers hold up my calendar this week! The Biggest Loser came back last week and it put me in such a Bob & Jillian mood that I put BL Yoga back into the rotation! If any of y'all are look for a good yoga video, I've said it before, but this is a great one!

I was thinking yesterday while doing the Shred that September has FLOWN by! Can y'all believe that we've almost made it through? I also thought, while I was doing Level 1 on September 21st that some of you MIGHT be beating yourself up because you think everyone must be on Level 3 by now {and MAJOR props to those who are}, but DON'T! I did Level 1, because it's challenging to me, makes me pour sweat & I don't have to take a 5 second breather every other move. So, I do Level 1 at the end of September!

Now your turn ~ show me your calendar!

it's the freaking weekend!

All right Fat Chicks~ The weekend is here! Let me challenge you to not take the ENTIRE weekend off!

Christina visited last week & before we had all our Saturday fun we went for a walk. It's amazing how fast an hour goes by when you're gabbing with your girlfriend!

Even if your girlfriends are far away ~ conference them into your walk! I talked with Allie for another hour today!

Instead of complaining that you're man is boring you to death with football ~ Get your Shred On! Get your Run on! Take a nice walk! Get your 20 minutes in! We're almost 1/2 way through September!

Show me your Calendar ~ Tuesday 9.8.09

Happy Tuesday everyone! How was your week of workouts? Was it hard to get in the routine of working out or were you pumped to get started?

My week was good! I was busy busy at work with the labor day promotion, and on the personal side I was focusing on my half marathon. I had to approach my workouts with intention, because I wanted them to prepare me for the race & not hinder me in the race!

When you make my calendar larger you see that I varied my workouts throughout the week with the 30 Day Shred, Biggest Loser Yoga, Walking & running.

This week I'm hoping to do more running & shredding! I forgot how much I loved the shred & I'll probably start doubling up the routines very soon!

Now it's your turn! ~ show me your calendar, but don't forget to tell us when to look! I wish you many good workouts this week! Xoxo

Friendly Reminder!

This is a friendly reminder to all you 30 Day Challengers to get your calendars printed and filled out for tomorrow!


Here's what you do...

1. Print calendar {or leave email in comment & we'll email you a calendar}


2. Fix your calendar up!


3. Fill in your daily work outs!


4. Take picture of your calendar for the week!


5. Post a Picture of your calendar on YOUR blog!


6. Comment back to us so we can go look at your calendar & stalk your blog!


Since no blog post is complete without a picture I'm going to leave y'all with this. Honest to gawd... when I googled "calendar" this picture came up like a sign from God!


Motivation? Go work out, girlfriend!

Who's with us?

This is the LAST weekend before September starts, so I wanted to make one more push for our 30 Day Challenge in September!

I think the most important this is that we're MOVING, no matter what we're doing! If you're walking Disney World, running a marathon or pulling weeds in your garden at least you're moving! SO ~ don't let not owning the 30 day shred be just another excuse to not get control of your weight.

The reason I'm wanting to do this is because I've been so focused on my running training that I'm needing a change and I need to make a big change to get me from eating bagels and english muffins to sweating it out daily with Jillian, and that's what works for me!

Now ~ I've given you a few days to think about it and mull over all the excuses that will keep you from joining this challenge, and I'm here to ask again ~ who's joining us?

1. Lesli
2. Allie
3. Lindsay
4. Ryan
5. Christina
6. Lynn
7. Tiffany
8. Rikki
9. Steph Mc
10. Mandi
11. ??
and so on!

The Hills...

Amy invited me to run a 4 mile loop near her house on Saturday, and of course I was happy to join. Her and her jogging buddy were so sweet, and totally slowed down to keep up with my pace. What she didn't accurately describe are the MASSIVE hills that were involved in this run. I promise 2 miles of it was COMPLETELY up hill. I have only been running on flat trails, so this was a BIG change for me. After the run, I was exhausted and my butt and thighs are STILL sore! Apparently running up hills is great for training and conditioning. Here is some information I found about the benefits.

In hill running, you are using their body weight as a resistance to push against, so the driving muscles from which their leg power is derived have to work harder. The technique to aim for is a "bouncy" style where you have good knee lift and maximum range of movement in the ankle. You should aim to drive hard, pushing upwards with your toes, flexing your ankle as much as possible, landing on the front part of the foot and then letting the heel come down below the level of the toes as the weight is taken. This stretches the calf muscles upwards and downwards as much as possible and applies resistance which overtime will improve their power and elasticity.

You should look straight ahead, as you run (not at your feet) and ensure your neck, shoulders and arms are free of tension. Many experts believe that the "bouncy" action is more important than the speed at which you run up the hills.

Hill work results in the calf muscles learning to contract more quickly and thereby generating work at a higher rate, they become more powerful. The calf muscle achieves this by recruiting more muscle fibres, around two or three times as many when compared to running on the flat. The "bouncy" action also improves the power of the quads in the front of the thigh as they provide the high knee lift that is required.

Hill training offers the following benefits:

• Helps develop power and muscle elasticity
• Improves stride frequency and length
• Develops co-ordination, encouraging the proper use of arm action during the driving phase and feet in the support phase
• Develops control and stabilization as well as improved speed (downhill running)
  promotes strength endurance
• Develops maximum speed and strength (short hills)
• Improves lactate tolerance (mixed hills)

My goal is to incorporate this run into my workout, so that I can get even stronger for the marathon. I did check right after this run and the course at Kiawah Island is supposed to be really flat... thank goodness!!

I finally did it!

Hey everybody! Hope everyone had a wonderful holiday weekend. I really enjoyed mine! I have some news. {And NO I'm NOT running a marathon!} Guess what I did three times last week and again this morning? EXERCISED! I've talked about NOT doing it since we started this blog, but have known that I really HAVE to for much longer than that. Angie has been my partner, I find it SO much easier if I have a work-out buddy. We aren't pumping iron yet, but are getting our heart rates up and sweating, which is the important part, right?

Have an awesome week!

Patience....

It is so funny to me how everyone's weight loss jouney is different, yet the same feelings and frustrations are true with all of us. I, like Allie have been feeling a bit frustrated lately, but for a different reason. I knew last week after my weigh in post exactly what I wanted to write about today. While I feel I have been doing a good job with the food aspect, for the past month I have been back on my workout plan, and really focusing to get the last 18 pounds that I need to loose off. Despite my hard work, all I have seen is my weight fluctuate around the same place as usual.

I am a bit of a hypochondriac sometimes, and of course I think there is something wrong with me. Do I have thyroid issues? Oh my gosh.... am i PREGNANT??!!

The answer is NO. The answer is, I have to be patient with myself. I know that the first 12 pounds that I have lost have been a result of me eating better. I feel like my body has adjusted to this now, and I have to burn more calories so that I can loose more weight. I have really started to focus on workouts, and of course I think that it means that I am going to drop pounds instantly...but the truth is, the body doesn't always work like that. Here is a little bit of an article I read about this subject.

Just because you start exercising doesn't always mean your body will respond to that immediately. As Cathy Leman puts it, "...in some instances the body needs to sort of "recalibrate"' itself. Increased activity and new eating habits (taking in more or less calories) require the body to make adjustments." Cathy recommends that you give yourself several weeks or months for your body to respond to what you're doing.

So I have decided to re-focus, and be grateful for the things that my increased exercising HAS made a difference with:

More energy - I am WIRED all the time. I pop right out of bed, and have not slept in, or felt like I needed to sleep in for weeks. I have been MUCH more productive, am really happy with all the additional things I accomplish every day.

Better sleep - I am out like a light. I have had trouble falling asleep for the past year...I blamed it on stress. As soon as I started working out harder, my head can't hit the pillow fast enough.

More confidence - I feel stronger, leaner, and more flexible everyday. I like that I can make it through a run or an hour long cardio class, and feel good after...not nauseous and dehydrated.

Sometimes the scale is not the only measure of success on a weight loss journey. I am choosing to not get frustrated, but to stay consistent. I am positive that the minute that I stop STRESSING about the scale, and start enjoying the gift that I give my body by taking care of it, I will see these pounds drop and drop...

Trample the weak, Hurdle the dead...

I announced on my ~personal~ blog last Friday that I have been training for a marathon. Did you hear me? Oh.My.Gosh. I'm following a training program & in 16 weeks {14 now} I will hopefully be ready for the Tupelo marathon.

These are the last 3 logos for the Tupelo Marathon. While the skull & crossbones are quite fitting for my Chi Omega background, they are slightly terrifying when representing a marathon. Needless to say... I am scared to death!

Why am I doing this? Because I have something to prove to myself. I believe in myself & I believe whole heartedly that I can do this & I will do this. In all my runs I've questioned if I could really do this, and on Saturday I ran 6 miles & when I finished I knew that I could do this indeed!

Have I ever thought about doing this before? Yes! I even half heartedly started running more, but I never stuck with it, because I had no discipline & I had no solid base built up. Now I've been running since January, and my life has changed and my mind has changed. I'm in the right place mentally & physically.

Here's where you come in... Have any of you ever done this before? If so, what is your biggest piece of advice you can give to me?

I am all ears, so please oh please enlighten me! Oh, and thanks to you ALL. Honestly, I probably would NOT have gotten this far if it hadn't been for all of your sweet comments and words of encouragement.

Lesli's Work Out

Happy Wednesday, Sister-Friends! First of all... thank you ALL for being too kind to me last week! It kind of scary putting a picture like that out there knowing that there are enemies & ex boyfriends lurking around every corner & for those that aren't pointing and laughing my hope is that I NEVER come across as braggy or arrogant. I like to think of this as a meeting place for us to struggle, survive & live to tell it!

With that thought in mind, last week I received a comment from a Fat Chick Friend...

The GG says:
Wednesday, May 20, 2009, 10:04:54 AM
“WOW you look AWESOME!!!! Dude, you can see the start of your six pack.. NICE!! I just had a baby (4 weeks ago csection) and bought the 30 Day Shred to help me lose the fat!! I think I will also do WW (always worked for me in the past) How often do you do it? How often do you do cardio? Way to go! You look great!

Hi, The GG! Great question!

Before December I NEVER worked out, so we can definitely call me a BEGINNER. Ok that's not entirely true... I would walk around Marshall's for cardio. I started with The 30 Day Shred By Jillian Micheals.

from December to February I did mostly levels 1 & 2 ~ Roughly, 2 months of only the shred. When I got stronger, I would do 2 in a row.

then I added Cardio in to supplement the little bit of cardio in the shred. Typically I would spend 20-30 minutes jogging on the treadmill in addition to doing the shred.

by March I felt ready to start Sculpting, so I added in The Biggest Loser Weight Loss Yoga & The Biggest Loser Power Scuplt & Jillian Michaels' No More Trouble Zones. this was also right around the time where I kicked my workouts up a notch and worked out 1hr in the morning and 1hr in the evening. mostly, I wanted to see what if I could do it, and I found out that I could, but it made me exhausted in my day to day life.

now I stick to an alternating pattern of Running {different mileage throughout the week}, yoga to properly stretch my muscles out & strength training so I can bulk up. I'm kidding. I only lift 3-5lb weights, but I strength train to make my muscles leaner & stronger.

~ My Advice ~

1. Throw out your excuses. There's ALWAYS going to be an excuse to NOT exercise. On any given day I can think of 1,000,000 things to do at my house or at work. Throw them out... you want to be fit & beautiful, right?

2. Make a work out plan that will work for you. My plan works for me now. Where do you have an extra 30 minutes in your schedule? It did not work for me to work out twice a day & carry on a normal life, so I had to scale back.

3. Set Goals & achieve them like it's your job. I have a weekly goal to get at least 6-7 hours of exercise from Sunday - Sunday. When I started treating exercise like it was something I HAD to do, it became a habit and apart of my routine. Remember, back in December I HATED working out and NEVER did it.

4. Enjoy becoming the new you. There is no magic exercise that you can do tonight, and be skinny tomorrow. There, I said it. It's going to take a lot of hard work and your muscles are going to ache and you might hate every minute of it, but trust me on this one... when you're healthy and you start seeing results, you are going to love the new you. And you should, you've worked hard for it!

~~~~~~Let's Come Together ~~~~~~~

Tell me about y'alls work out routines. I want to hear what y'all do ~ what you LOVE, what you HATE, what all of us HAVE to try!

Do you have a pedometer?

Pedometer: Pedometers count steps. Step counting is a great way to keep active, aiming to increase your steps by 2000 per day towards a goal of 10,000 steps per day. The best pedometers can calculate and display other interesting stats such as distance, calories burned, speed, elapsed time, steps per minute, and function as a stopwatch and alarm. Some pedometers have fancy features such as talking, playing music or reading your heart rate.

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I’m in the market for a pedometer. I’ve been reading articles and watching TV shows and every doctor highly recommends at least getting in 10,000 steps a day. Well, I have no idea how many steps I take a day. Do you? I found this article on About.com below, here’s what Dr. Catrine Tudor-Locke has to say about your steps.

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How many steps per day are enough? Dr. Catrine Tudor-Locke has been studying pedometer walking and released a new opinion in the January, 2004 issue of "Sports Medicine."

10,000 Steps a Magic Number?

A goal of 10,000 steps per day has become common, based on promotion in Japan by pedometer companies and its adoption by walking clubs. But there was no body of research to back up that number. Numbers as low as 6000 steps a day were shown to be correlated with a lower death rate in men in the Harvard Study.

Many people view 10,000 steps a day as too few for children, yet not achievable by many who are aged, sedentary, or who have chronic diseases. Some suggest instead of using a blanket 10,000 steps per day that instead the goal be based on the individual's baseline plus an increment of steps. For example, a woman who wears a pedometer in her ordinary activities notes that she logs 4000 steps per day. Her goal should be to add the equivalent of a half hour of walking to her day, for example 2000-3000 more steps per day.

New Goals

Based on the best evidence, Dr. Catrine Tudor-Locke recommends the following:
Classification of pedometer-determined physical activity in healthy adults:

1) Under 5000 steps/day may be used as a "sedentary lifestyle index"

2) 5,000-7,499 steps/day is typical of daily activity excluding sports/exercise and might be considered "low active."

3) 7,500-9,999 likely includes some exercise or walking (and/or a job that requires more walking) and might be considered "somewhat active."

4) 10,000 steps/day indicates the point that should be used to classify individuals as "active".

5) Individuals who take more than 12,500 steps/day are likely to be classified as "highly active".

Top 10 Peometers from About.com

Omron HJ-112 Pedometer

Yamax Digiwalker CW-701 Pedometer

Omron HJ-720 ITC Pedometer

New-Lifestyles NL-2000 Pedometer

Yamax® Digi-Walker™ SW-200 Pedometer

Sportline Fitness Pedometer 360

Sportline Pedometer 330

Walk4Life Elite Pedometer

Freestyle Pacer Pro Pedometer

Sportline Talking Safety Alarm Pedometer

****************************************************

If anyone has a pedometer I would love to know what kind! I have found serveral at Target and Amazon.com, but I can't pick one.

I Finished!

Well... I did it! I kept the faith, and finished the race. And let me tell you... it took a LOT of faith to finish this race! I totally thought that at any moment someone would jump out of the bushes and say, "PYSCH ~ You're on candid camera!"

It started when I woke up at 4:57am with killer cramps! Oh no you didn't! I was in so much freaking pain, but knew I had to go on, so I loaded up on the profen. Headed out to the race site a few hours later, and it totally began POURING RAIN. By the time the gun went off it was only sprinkling, but if you know me in real life there are a few things I don't like but one thing I really don't like is being wet with my clothes on. ICK!

Whatever... I'm tough and I had to do this. When I pressed shuffle on my iPod, guess what song started playing... you can stand under my umbrella ella ella eh eh eh. Rhianna was totally mocking me, and I could have SWORN that my iPod some how sensed what I was going through and played songs accordingly.

Before I left that morning I set a goal of finishing the race in 1 hour and 10 minutes. I did the majority of my training on a treadmill, so I assumed I could finish 6 miles in at least an hour, but wanted wiggle room. I did a google search and found out that when I ran the Cap 10k in 2001 I ran it in 1 hour 12 minutes and 48 seconds.

When I hit the 2nd mile of my race, the time they called out was 17 minutes. Holy crap... I am running MUCH faster than I thought, and assumed that I would more than likely slow down considerably. Then the next mile, I had gotten faster. And the next mile the bottom.dropped.out.of.the.sky. OMG. My mascara was stinging my eyes and my iPod was singing...OHHHHH I've been traveling on this road too long, too long just trying to find my way back home...no doubt!

I kept on and astonishingly finished the race in 58 minutes and 9 seconds! Can I get a what what? It would have been 58 minutes flat, but I stopped for a couple of seconds to program my iPod to play What have you done today to make you feeeeel proud so I could end the race Biggest Loser style! Lame, I know, but I could NOT be happier with myself. Me thinks there will be MANY more races in my future and I will definitely try and plan around my circumstances a little better!

{thank you ALL for your kind words of encouragement. i thought about your comments while i ran, and they cheered me on! xoxo}

Dance Dance....

My arms are sore....my back is killing me...my legs are burning....One hour of dance and my body feels like I worked out with Ty for 3 hours. It is a wonderful way to welcome me back to the world of dance. I walked in the studio, bought four classes and a pair of dance shoes. Dressed in all black and wearing my new dance shoes....i figured i looked the part....maybe I won't look like a complete klutz....

The instructor went through the first 8 count, and asked," Everyone got it?" Uhhhh....no. Don't got it lady...haven't danced in 6 years. She was a VERY good instructor, and by the end of the class, it was just like riding a bike...I was back in my groove again, and apparently shakin it a little too hard, cause my butt is sore too!

I looked up how many calories I burned dancing for an hour, and it calculated to about 500. Not bad! I felt so good after the class that I immediately wanted to take another. I fear I may go through all 4 of the sessions I got in this week alone!

Lesli is in Atlanta and gets to my house tomorrow afternoon and I can't wait! We have tentatively planned to take a class on Thursday night...but you can't talk in dance class and when her and I get together, we seldom shut up!

Anyone else out there dancing off the pounds??

Ready to Run!

We got home last night & after eating some chips and salsa for Cinco, we started Biggest Loser. Did y'all watch? OMG ~ how freaking inspiring was the marathon? Tears were POURING down my face when Ron crossed the finish line, and hear me now - he isn't even my favorite! So inspiring in fact, that my husband went and put on his running clothes (mine were already on) and suggested we head to the gym.

Thank goodness he did, because oh by the way... I'M RUNNING IN A 10K THIS WEEKEND! I am on the tapering end of training, so I only had to run 2 miles tonight, and almost slacked them off! ALMOST! Amazingly, it was probably the latest I've ever worked out, but one of the best runs I've had in a while! I ran the 2 miles easily at a 6.0 in 20 minutes.

I'm so excited for this weekend! It's my second 10k ever and my first race in many many years. I ran the Capitol 10K in Austin, TX back in 2002 with my good friend Meg {check out her blog... she's dazzlingly prego with TWINS!}. Since I registered a few weeks ago, I've been visualizing the race and visualizing myself finish in a good amount of time!

Please check back next Wednesday to see if I actually did it! Wish you were ALL going to be here to cheer me on ~ your encouragement means sooooooooooo much to all of us!

She's Baaaack!!!!!

Hello my fellow FFC followers....SOOO glad to be back in action this week! It's been two weeks of packing, stressing, moving, working, training.....blah blah blah.... However, I am very proud to say that I was convinced that I would not let all the changes going on in my life effect my goals for my healthy lifestyle....and i DIDN'T! The last time I blogged, I was talking about the changes that would make living a healthy lifestyle in the south much easier. I am here to tell you that they have already started!

First, I now work two days from home, so on those days, I am using the time I would have taken to commute and working out in the FREE GYM in the building right next to my townhouse. I am literally 20 steps away from all the cardio and weight equipment that I need! No more truckin' through the snow to get a workout in and fighting -20 degree wind chill to snag 45 minutes on an elliptical!

Second, before I left Atlanta 3 years ago, I desperately wanted to take dance classes at this awesome studio that offers them. When I found out about it, I was already moving. I looked up their website yesterday and they have DOUBLED the classes that they offer, and all the classes that I want to take conveniently fall at the right times. Also, it's on my way home from work. I grew up doing dance and cheerleading and I have missed using that to be active, because dance is seriously the only type of exercise I truly enjoy. I find that dance classes offered at gyms tend to not challenge me enough, and in Chicago, classes at studios were so expensive that it would have ruined my experience thinking about how much it was costing me. I have found the perfect answer with the studio here in Atlanta and I go to the first class tomorrow evening!

Finally, I GOT MY WORKOUT BUDDIES BACK! I speak often on my personal blog about how much I missed my friends and family here in Georgia. When I lived here I was ALWAYS doing something with them and the plans are already rolling in for that. Long walks with my dog, jogging on Silver Comet Trail, hiking up the mountain in Kennesaw were all part of my daily life before, I cannot tell you how happy I am that it is going to be a part of my life again.

I am going to post the WHOLE story of how this move happened on my personal blog this week. It really is inspiring how it all played out.

It's time for me to hit the gym my friends! Have you ever heard excitement about that from me before? I am looking forward to weigh in this week!!

On a side note....does anyone have any good suggestions about a pair of dance shoes I should buy? I need to pick some up today!

Back in Action!!!

- Christina G.

The Dirt on Calories

I have been so busy in the yard this week and I was wondering how many calories you burn while playing in the dirt? To my surprise you burn a lot! Gardening for 1 hour burns 272 calories! Shoveling dirt burns 341! This is good! I enjoy being outside and planting a garden is the perfect exercise in my eyes. It’s rewarding to watch your plants and vegetables grow, and I bet you’re more likely to eat your vegi’s if they were fresh from the garden.

Here are some pictures of the tree’s I planted this week. I’m not done!
You can find all your burnt calories at www.fitday.com. I used them to calculate my gardening.

Exercise Stats

20% Percentage of American gym-goers who join clubs in January (the most popular month)



30 The number of minutes a day that a person should walk to cut her or his heart attack risk by up to 40%



30% Percentage of American adults who actually get the recommended amount of exercise



52% Percentage of Americans who think their spouses should go to the gym. So much for "love" handles! (hehe)



288 Number of calories burned playing an hour of miniature golf. (you'll double that burn shoveling snow, but wouldn't you rather putt off the pounds?)



"When I'm at home, I work out five days a week. It's a battle, I have to say. I have to stop myself from eating. Ask anyone around me: I have to struggle to have this hot body!" Gwen Stafani