I've Moved!

I've moved! Please visit the new and improved site by clicking HERE!  See ya over there!

Please be my guest(post!)

So I am currently getting my learning on ;)  I am taking the Sits-tah 31 Days to a Better Blog online class!  I am ready to take this blog to the next level and I am learning how to do just that!  Over the next month, you will see slow changes to the blog.  I am learning so much and it's a fantastic learning experience.  I definitely encourage you to enroll in their next set of classes!

Each day, we have a lesson, a reading, and an assignment.  And that's where you come in!

My assignment is to find fellow bloggers in my niche that would like to guest post for me and in return, if you like (and I hope you do!), I will guest post for you as well!  It's a great networking tool!  Come on SCC girls, let's network!

Topics I am looking for you to guest post about:

1) your weight loss story
2) Body image - personal experience overcoming negative body image
3) fitness tips/running tips etc

Please email me at Livinghealthyforhim@gmail.com or post a comment!

Weighing in with Him: SCC style

It's been awhile since Snoopy  has danced, but he is FINALLY dancing again! (And for those that have just recently started following me with the Spring Chick Challenge, Snoopy dances when there is a scale victory!)


Weight on 12/23/2011- 133.8 lbs 
Todays weigh in: 131.2 lbs
Loss of 2.6 lbs!!!!!


I have FINALLY got away from 133/134 lbs.  I have pretty much  been stuck there for the past 2 1/2 months. Seeing as I haven't been working out very consistently while on vaca, it totally has to be a result of tracking.  I did work out! (see my workout log!), just not as consistently as I would like.  But now that I am home, that should improve.

Week 2 Goals and Results

• Drink 64 oz of water each day- Still didn't track this.  Why is that so hard?  I know I am drinking alot of water, so I gotta be getting close!  I am really going to focus on this goal this week!
• Log at least 6 workouts this week and make a plan to add in extra workouts to make up for those missed in the past week and half. I logged 7!!! Although there was a 4 day stretch where I didn't get any good workouts in :( I made up for it though by doing extra work for a few days last week.
• Track my food in MFP YES! I am meeting this goal! I have logged into MFP for 15 days in a row!  I really dont want to lose that streak I got going!
• Drink Shakeology at least 3 times this week. I only drink it once :( But I am drinking it now!!!
• Blog 1-2 chapters of Body Clutter Still haven't managed to get this one blogged.  :(
• Make a plan for the video blog about Body Image Work in process!
• Introduce another challenge (a faith related challange) I am participating in DONE! Loving this challenge: Proverbs 31 Wife

MAJOR NSV---- I bought jeans back in November because I had ZERO, NADA, ZILCH jeans that fit me.  And those jeans are now falling off my booty.  Although, I have ZERO, NADA, ZILCH jeans that fit me again, it's great to know that those lbs are still coming off!

Week 3 Goals 

• Actually track 64 oz of daily h20
• Log at least 12 workouts, add in some extra to make up for lost workouts last week.  Ultimate goal is 18 workouts. That's a huge number!  (Remember, a workout is a session of physical activity- A turbofire workout, a jog, a chalean extreme, zumba etc)
• Continue to track on myfitnesspal
• Drink Shakeology 5 times this week 
• Blog 1-2 chapters of Body clutter ... for real!
• Blog about the weekly Proverbs 31 Challenge

Announcement!! I am officially a SITS girl (Secret to Success is Support).  I have joined the SITS online community and I have enrolled in thier online class "Probloggers 31 days to a better blog."  I would like to take the blog to the "next level," although I am not sure what exactly that means yet! ;)  I would love to reach out to more readers, helping others to Live Healthy For HIM :)

What are your goals for the week? 

I wanna be a Proverbs 31 wife!

I was playing around on Pinterest (as usual) and I stumbled upon a pin that I just had to check out.  It was a book that a friend had pinned called "My So Called Life as a Proverbs 31 wife."  Sad to say, No, I don't have Proverbs 31 memorized.  So naturally, I pinned it because I heart pinterest and I heart Jesus and I want to be spiritually fit. So after checking out Proverbs 31, I decided I want to be more like the Proverbs 31 wife of noble character...

but there is a problem here...

1) I'm not noble and 2) She has 22 verses to describe her awesomeness.  I am confident that I am not nearly that awesome.  But I do desire to be! 

 So I proceed to click on the pic associated with that pin and found myself at the webpage/blog of MyProverbs31Life.  Pure Awesomeness.    This is just what I need.  

One of My New Year's Resolutions  is to make a point to spend more time with my husband having fun (we have a weekly designated stay at home date night now!) and spending time with him in the Word (We have a weekly designated bible study night together planned as well!)  Our lives have changed so drastically with having a baby (as all you parents know) and we wear so many hats that sometimes it is hard to find time in our busy schedules to make time for each other to just BE together, even if that means sitting around the coffee table doing a puzzle and chatting, or playing a card game, or sitting outside in the moonlight talking (it better be warm when we are doing that!). I desire to be a better wife to my husband.  I am madly in love with him and he deserves a Proverbs 31 wife.  

I got a lot of work to do ;)  

Although I haven't read the book yet, (but it's next on my list!), I have joined Sara (the awesome author of My So called Life as a Proverbs 31 Wife,) on her blog in her Proverbs 31 Challenge.  I know, I know.  This is a weight loss blog, right?  Sort of.  It's about LIVING HEALTHY FOR HIM, remember? ;) And we are working towards getting spiritually fit around here too!

So I will be blogging about my P31 experience as I follow Sara's blog and do the exercises in her challenge.  I am super excited about this! Please join me! let me know in the comments if you want in on the challenge.  It's simple.  Follow her blog and get in on the challenge.  And if you blog about it, link up here!  

You must check out this POST and this POST where Sara explains how the awesomeness that is the Proverbs 31 wife is something she becomes over time, over seasons, not in a 24 hour period.  We get so consumed with getting things marked off our to do list and living in the NOT NOW, RIGHT NOW, that we feel like we can't measure up to the Proverbs 31 wife.  She goes on to explain that the Lord uses different seasons of our lives to teach us.  Her challenge is to figure out what season you are in and what steps to take to make this year a year of growth.    

Since I am currently a stay at home mom, (I'm an RN and I intend to work again in the near future, but right now, I believe the Lord has me right where He wants me),  I feel like the Lord wants me to focus on relationships.  A relationship with Him (spending daily time in the Word, reading Christian books, spending more time in prayer).  My relationship with my husband (taking time for just us) and growing spiritually together.  And my relationship with my child.  I want my husband and I to lead our little 1 year old boy in a Godly direction and raise him to know the Lord.  

My ultimate goal is to grow closer to the Lord as a wife and a mother.  

I want to end by sharing my word for the year.

Trust.

We are going to experience alot of changes this year as my husband graduates with his PHD and we relocate for his career.  I plan to begin working again after we are settled wherever we move.  And (the most exciting change of all), we plan to start trying for Little E's sibling.  (YAY!)  We are trusting in the Lord to guide us this year as the many changes head our way.

Epilogue: The Wife of Noble Character

 ^10 [b]A wife of noble character who can find? 
   She is worth far more than rubies. 
¹¹ Her husband has full confidence in her 
   and lacks nothing of value. 
¹² She brings him good, not harm, 
   all the days of her life. 
¹³ She selects wool and flax 
   and works with eager hands. 
¹⁴ She is like the merchant ships, 
   bringing her food from afar. 
¹⁵ She gets up while it is still night; 
   she provides food for her family 
   and portions for her female servants. 
¹⁶ She considers a field and buys it; 
   out of her earnings she plants a vineyard. 
¹⁷ She sets about her work vigorously; 
   her arms are strong for her tasks. 
¹⁸ She sees that her trading is profitable, 
   and her lamp does not go out at night. 
¹⁹ In her hand she holds the distaff 
   and grasps the spindle with her fingers. 
²⁰ She opens her arms to the poor 
   and extends her hands to the needy. 
²¹ When it snows, she has no fear for her household; 
   for all of them are clothed in scarlet. 
²² She makes coverings for her bed; 
   she is clothed in fine linen and purple. 
²³ Her husband is respected at the city gate, 
   where he takes his seat among the elders of the land. 
²⁴ She makes linen garments and sells them, 
   and supplies the merchants with sashes. 
²⁵ She is clothed with strength and dignity; 
   she can laugh at the days to come. 
²⁶ She speaks with wisdom, 
   and faithful instruction is on her tongue. 
²⁷ She watches over the affairs of her household 
   and does not eat the bread of idleness. 
²⁸ Her children arise and call her blessed; 
   her husband also, and he praises her: 
²⁹ “Many women do noble things, 
   but you surpass them all.” 
³⁰ Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting; 
   but a woman who fears the LORD is to be praised. 
³¹ Honor her for all that her hands have done, 
   and let her works bring her praise at the city gate.

SCC: Week 1 Results and Week 2 Goals

Spring Chick Challenge Week 1 Results and Week 2 goals

Last weeks Goals and Results

 

• Drink 64 oz of water per day and track on waterlogged --> And Fail.  I know I got close each day (cuz I drink alot of water!), but I failed to track it each day on my iphone.  Why is it so hard to track this? Ack!
• log at least 8 workouts this week (12 will be my normal weekly goal but considering I feel like death, I'll shoot for 8!)  These workouts will consist of non high impact workouts until I feel better :(  I felt so awful last week that I was only able to get 4 good workouts in.  On the good side, each day I had done some kind of activity (50 crunches, 100 squats, 50 step ups on each leg etc), but I don't really count that as a workout.  A workout is a turbofire, a jog, Chalean Extreme, etc...So yes I have stayed active, just not meeting my own standards of what counts as a workout for my challenge.  At first I was totally bummed about this, but I am determined to make it up.  And I intend to do so over the next few weeks.  The beginning of this week has been difficult as we have had out of town guests and are still out of town ourselves with my parents. I know...excuse excuses! I am doing a little something every day, so that has to count for something, right?
• Track my food in MyFitnessPal. Done! Yes! 
• Drink shakeology 5 times this week. I drink it 2 times this week.  This is so much easier to do when I am at home and  not of out of town!
• Blog about at least 1 chapter of Body Clutter by end of this week  This week, I promise. I really want to finish this book so I can start Made To Crave! (which I intend to blog about!)
• Blog my New Years Goals by end of this week. Done! And I am super excited about my goals!

Week 2 Goals

• Drink 64 oz of water each day
• Log at least 6 workouts this week and make a plan to add in extra workouts to make up for those missed in the past week and half.  
• Track my food in MFP
• Drink Shakeology at least 3 times this week.
• Blog 1-2 chapters of Body Clutter 
• Make a plan for the video blog about Body Image
• Introduce another challenge (a faith related challange) I am participating in 

2012 New Years Resolutions!!! Making it happen!

In previous years, this was me and my husband.  Except the roles were reversed. I have always been a "list" person.  I am the kind of person that lives off a to do list and I actually really enjoy checking things off my list.  I have a planner that contains pretty much my entire life.  My husband...not so much.  He is very much a "go with the flow" kind of guy.

This year is different though.  This year, we sat down together and discussed our goals for 2012 as a family and we are both very excited for what this year holds for us :)

Much like one of my favorite bloggers, Fat Chick Fed Up, we broke down our goals into categories.

Faith

• Spend time in the Word every day.  In 2011, I made a goal to read the bible in 1 year and I made it happen! (although at one point, I was 2 months behind because I was an exhausted sleep deprived mother.)  But I made up for it and by Dec 31st, I read the entire bible in 1 year.  Now it is a habit to read a little bit of the Word each day and I want to continue doing this.  I am currently reading THE STORY which is excellent. I HIGHLY recommend it.  It is a really fun way to read the bible.  My husband has committed to spending 30 minutes of quiet time a day studying the bible as well.
• Improve my spiritual walk by reading Christian books. I really didn't read much last year and I LOOOVE to read.  I haven't read much in the past few years because I was in nursing school and let's face it...you have no life in nursing school.  In 2010, I picked up reading again, but after having a baby in 2011, goodbye books!  I am currently reading "Hind's Feet on High Places" which is soooooo gooooood! 
• Tithe.  We have always tithed.  But somehow the past few months, we have fallen off the bandwagon.  I just plain forgot to bring the check and would intend to bring it the next week and forget.  I have set up an envelope system that will ensure this doesn't happen again.
• Bible Study with the hubby.  The hubby and I have committed to spend Monday evenings doing a bible study together.  We are both pretty excited about this :)

Family

• Date night.  So often after the baby is in bed, the hubby and I cuddle up on the couch and watch something on the Dvr.  And with so many good shows (Once upon a Time!, House, Fringe, Person of Interest, Chuck... the list goes on), we always have lots of good options.  But what happen to the days of long ago when we would play a board game, or sit outside and just chat, or play cards, or sit with guitars in hand and sing, or have a candlelight dinner in our own kitchen....well, those days are coming back!  One night a week the tv will remain off and we will have a date night in our very own home.  B.B (Before Baby), we had a going out date night once a week.  But A.B (After Baby), that isn't as easy so why not have date night in our own home. ;)  Thanks to good friends and Parents Night Out at Church, we can still have going out date night about twice a month, but date night needs to happen weekly ;)
• Establish Career and Move. This goes for both of us.  Hubby will finish up his PhD this spring and we will most likely move over the summer.  Hubby is hoping to become a professor and I hope to work as an RN with either an oncology unit, cancer center, or hospice center.
• Little E needs a sibling.  This is a BIG ONE! Once the hubby finishes up his PhD in May and we get all moved, we plan to go for #2.  We don't plan to start trying til late this fall.  But it is in the plans!!

Finance

• Budget.  We live debt-free and that is an amazing, freeing feeling.  But we need to focus on saving this year.  We have a system set in place that involves a budgeting app on my ipad called Ace Budget 2, logging receipts and being more aware of where our money is being spent.  We will also have a monthly meeting about our finances to review how the budget is working and what changes need to be made.

For Me

• Read.  As I mentioned before, my reading has been lacking the past few years.  And I miss it sooo much.  This year, I want to read, read, read.  I LOVE pinterest and thought of a fun way to track my books I read over the coming year.  I have a Pinterest Board for Books I want to Read, Books I am Currently Reading, and Books I have read.  If you follow me on pinterest, then  you will find that I read several books at once.  I always have read many books at once.  I think I got that from my mom.  She does the same thing!
• Blog.  I have so enjoyed my fitness blog and loved to see it grow.  It has been the best accountability partner I could have asked for.  For some reason, this works for me.  I would love for both my fitness blog and my craft blog  to grow and to help and inspire others.
• Craft Often. And blog about it.
• Learn to Sew.
• Cook Often. 

Fitness

• Spring Chick Challenge - I am super excited for this challenge.  There are guidelines, mini challenges and goals to meet for the challenge itself, but you also design the challenge to meet your own goals as well.  I have joined a great community of bloggers that are so supportive.  It is so fun getting comments from everyone and commenting on thier blogposts.  It is so encouraging!  My big goal for this challenge is to log 122 workouts by March 19th.  That is ALOT of workouts, 2 a day 6 days a week.  I plan to make it happen. :)
• Track.  Both the husband and I have committed to tracking on Myfitnesspal daily.  I even set an alarm on my phone to remind me!
• h20.  I really want drinking 64 oz of water a day to become a habit that I don't even have to think about.  Right now, I still have to think about it.  21 days to make a habit, right?
• Exercise 6 days a week.  I have a plan that involves jogging, ab workouts, turbofire, zumba, biking, circuit training and brazil butt lift.  Perhaps other workouts too?  It sounds like alot.  But really, I work out an hour and half to two hours a day...during Little E's naptime!  The hubby has plans to do circuit training, jogging and swimming, as well as racquetball and biking.
• Blog.  I know, I know, I already mentioned this one.  But I really want to blog at least 3 times a week.
• Video Blog.  I really want to tell my story about dealing with severe negative body image issues on my blog/fb page.  I feel very passionately about this subject.  I am excited about this project!
• Run a 5k this spring.
• Lose weight.  My original goal weight was 125 lbs.  But I think I am going to make that goal 120 lbs.  On Dec 23rd, I was 133 lbs.  I think it will take a little more than 8 lbs to lose the love handles and the thunder thighs. ;)  Especially since my body is so different post baby.  My ideal weight is 118 lbs so I am thinking 120 lbs is the ultimate goal.  My husbands goal for this year is 220 lbs and he is currently at 255 lbs.

So there you have it.  

Week 1 Spring Chick Challenge GOALS: The TMI Version!!!

Week 1 Spring Chick Challenge SPECIFIC GOALS

So there I was.  All excited and ready to start this challenge (I still am!).  A New Year.  A New Day!  And then (TMI), New Year's Day arrives and Aunt Flo makes her appearance.  Sometimes its not so bad, but other times, she tries to kill me.  This time, she is trying to kill me.

TMI Alert, right? 

Well, on this blog, I'm open and put it all out there.  

I am the girl that had to go on birth control in high school to help get my cycle on somewhat of a schedule and help alleviate some of the pain that comes with the oh so lovely cramping and nausea.  I get cramps in my back, my abdomen, my thighs....I pretty much die.  Well, I chose to not go back on birth control after the birth of my son this year.  When I went on birth control many years ago, my boobs and love handles grew exponentially.  What the heck?  So I went off of it this year so I have one less thing to battle while trying to lose weight.  It is my choice to have to deal with feeling like death for 1 week of each month, and it sucks.  But its a choice I must deal with!  So these days, when Aunt Flo visits, you can find me curled up with a heaty pad and a blanket.  And I try to stay there and not move. ;)

So my goals for this week are not what I had originally planned.  I already commited to 122 workouts over the course of this challenge so I will have to make up for any missed workouts elsewhere.  I still plan to workout this week, but the plan I had already created included alot of cardio and with my nausea level where its at right now, that would not be a good idea!!  I shall revamp my workout plan!

The SCC challenge of the week talks about having SMART goals.  I have copied over the details of what SMART stands for so you too can put them to work in your own goals.

Specific: A specific goal has a much greater chance of being accomplished than a general goal. 

To set a specific goal you must answer the six “W” questions:

*Who:      Who is involved?

*What:     What do I want to accomplish?

*Where:    Identify a location.

*When:     Establish a time frame.

*Which:    Identify requirements and constraints.

*Why:      Specific reasons, purpose or benefits of accomplishing the goal.

       

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Measurable - Establish concrete criteria for measuring progress toward the attainment of each goal you set.

When you measure your progress, you stay on track, reach your target dates, and experience the exhilaration of achievement that spurs you on to continued effort required to reach your goal.

To determine if your goal is measurable, ask questions such as……

---------How much? How many?  How will I know when it is accomplished?

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 Attainable – The third term stresses the importance of goals that are realistic and attainable. While an attainable goal may stretch a your abilities, time, etc in order to achieve it, the goal is not extreme. 

An attainable goal will usually answer the question:

• How: How can the goal be accomplished?

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Realistic- To be realistic, a goal must represent an objective toward which you are both willing and able to work. A goal can be both high and realistic; you are the only one who can decide just how high your goal should be. But be sure that every goal represents progress.

---

Timely – A goal should be grounded within a time frame. With no time frame tied to it there’s no sense of urgency.

A time-bound goal will usually answer the question:

• When?
• What can I do 6 months from now?
• What can I do 6 weeks from now?
• What can I do today?

My weekly Goals

• Drink 64 oz of water per day and track on waterlogged 
• log at least 8 workouts this week (12 will be my normal weekly goal but considering I feel like death, I'll shoot for 8!)  These workouts will consist of non high impact workouts until I feel better :(  
• Track my food in MyFitnessPal
• Drink shakeology 5 times this week.
• Blog about at least 1 chapter of Body Clutter by end of this week
• Blog my New Years Goals by end of this week.

And on a side note, I will not be weighing in until I get home late next week.  I was 133 lbs on Dec 23rd when I last weighed myself on my scale before I left to visit my family for a couple weeks.  We will find out if that has changed when I get back home late next week ;)