Five on Friday - {Week 5}

Last weekend was a lot of fun for our family.
I went to church volleyball again on Saturday. Only this time, I ran there. It was 1.5 miles and 32 degrees but I did it. I overestimated my ability to get there in 15 minutes so I was 5 minutes late and my shins were screaming but I was so proud of myself!! Volleyball was fun and although we lost, I enjoyed playing!

Sunday was our little jaunt at Swan Falls. It was nice to relax and blog a little bit after Zeplin went to bed. I was happy to just ‘be still’ before my week started.

{ONE:}

I've heard amazing things about using Spaghetti Squash in place of noodles. When I did the research and found that it's 40 calories for a cup of squash vs. 200 calories for a cup of whole wheat noodles, I decided to give it a try.

I followed the simple instructions of baking the squash and then scrape the noodles out. The texture was still crunchy (like I like it) and the flavor was great!! I topped it with a low fat marina sauce and dished it out to my family. We try to cook most of our foods for what Zeplin would eat so I was a little concerned that he wouldn't like it but... he ate the whole thing!! It was a definitely success!

What wasn't a success in the kitchen was our homemade Moose Chili!  Well, at least not canning it!!
Matt made a double batch of chili on Saturday and we decided we would can it and freeze it. I had 12 brand new jars but once we filled all of them up, I had to figure out something else to store the chili in! I found some old quart jars that I assumed would be fine, but quickly found out they weren't.

Once in the freezer, our new pint jars were perfect but the big ones cracked! I was so bummed. We ended up having to pull them out of the freezer, scoop the frozen contents out, and eat the chili for dinner that night.

It was also our dinner for Tuesday night with the uncles and Wednesday night with my mom. Lol!

Good thing Matt's chili is DELICIOUS!! We have at least 10 dinners worth sitting in the freezer waiting for us!! Mmmmm mmmmmm!


{TWO:}
My hand weights have officially become too light for me. I love that it's only taken 3 weeks for the 10lbs weights to become easy to lift for almost all my exercises but if I want to progress, I need heavier weights.

I was eyeing an adjustable weight dumbbell set on Amazon but at $400 for a Bowflex brand (and nothing cheaper than $100,) I wanted to vomit! Even dumbbells are no less than a buck a pound!
But in my workout videos, there is an option to use tension bands, so that sparked my interest.... After talking to Matt about them, I commented that I would like to save up for a set of bands, since they would be considerably cheaper than weights.
Matt jumped the gun and surprised me with a complete set of tension bands! I plan to start using them when I start the 2nd phase of my ChaLean Extreme videos next week in February!

My hubby has been so happy to see me hit my goals that I think he enjoys making up reasons to surprise me with these things. He told me that these bands were a gift for hitting my weight loss goal in January a week early.


I feel sad to acknowledge that I had to cancel my kickboxing membership at the Meridian ATA. I received a phone call on Wednesday from the office manager that all classes were cancelled until February 2nd because they were moving locations and their schedule was changing.
After looking at their new schedule, I immediately knew that it wouldn't work for me. They only offer 2 night classes or 6-7am classes - but because Matt leaves for work between 6:45 and 7am, there was no way it would work. And if I only did 2 classes a week, it would make the classes almost $9/class. It's just unrealistic to be paying $70/month and not be able to attend as often as I was able to.

Some of my friends have given me some other options like joining Johnny's Fit Club, or Axiom. There are some other boxing locations or there is also Fitnessblender.com or bodybuilding.com. I'll have to figure it out asap so I don't get sucked into laziness.


{THREE:}
I have been pleasantly surprised with the weather this week!! It's been abnormally warm for January so we decided to take advantage of it. (Some of my friends have been taking advantage of it too... My g/f Kellie walked over with her two daughters and spent a couple hours at my house to play with Zeplin and visit with me!)

Zeplins eyes grew wide each day when he realized that we were going to go outside to walk around. He was even more surprised when I started harnessing Mr. Tedd to come with us.

My heart really changed when I remembered Kaycee's dog Sheeba having to be put down a few weeks ago and I really didn't want to let any more opportunities to take my sweet puppy out for walks pass me by.
In all honesty, it's been a long time since I've really taken Tedd out for a walk. He was a little rusty on the leash but he quickly got the hang of it again! He walked along side the stroller so Zeplin could pet him and talk to him as we walked. There were a couple times he tried to run towards something, causing me to get off balance and almost tip Zeplin's stroller.

I realize that it's my fault he's not as good as he used to be on a leash. There was a time when we would go for walks and he would never get more than 4 feet ahead of me and he always stayed on my left side. I communicated to him with hand signals. He was my perfect companion and I determined to get that puppy friend back. It's going to take some work because, now we have to contend with a stroller.

 Even though he's 6 years old, he still acts like he's only 6 months old like the day I got him. His energy is off the wall and he motivates me to be better!



{FOUR:}

Last week, my shin splints pain got so bad that I had to take some ibuprofen just to go to sleep.  It was horrible. I haven't taken pills in a long time since switching to organic remedies (essential oils & herbs).... But if you've ever had shin splints, you know this pain is almost debilitating.... I would wake up in the middle of the night from the pain.

The compression sleeves weren't helping and just taking a few days off from working out wasn't giving my legs time to heal. I've been doing some strengthening exercises but to no avail yet.

On my way to kickboxing on Monday, I stopped by the store and picked up some kinesiology tape. Although it was expensive, I'm so glad I decided to give it a try. It was a total night and day difference in the pain! I was able to get up on my toes to kick, and jumping jacks weren't killing me. I still struggled to do some of the exercises but overall, the pain was minimal!!

I've stocked up on some tape from Amazon because it's a few bucks cheaper than at the store. It looks pretty silly but I'll take the stupid stares over the pain any day!!!


{FIVE:}
This week closed out week 4 on the Slim & Sassy challenge and I lost 12 lbs this month!!! I'm officially 20 pounds lighter since I started my journey a couple months ago.
There are prizes every month if you lose 8 pounds (a month) and I totally earned the prize for the month!! It's a free Grapefruit essential oil! I love using Grapefruit in a capsule to help my metabolism. You can never have too much Grapefruit oil in your cabinet!! (and I think I already have like 3 unopened bottles. lol)


I only have to lose 4 pounds to earn the February prize and I'm pretty sure if I keep this momentum up, I've got that in the bag!!! BOOM!! (My only obstacle is that I was at this weight last summer and haven't been able to get past it before or since.... so I just need to get past this number!)

I love seeing my body transform. I love it almost as much as I loved watching my body change when I was pregnant. My legs are toning and my arms are getting stronger! Zeplin seems to love my booty pillow more than anything... apparently it's a good resting place to watch movies.

I'm having the hardest time losing the poochy tummy but I'm okay with that for now. It's nice to see the rest of my body change!!

I'm only 35lbs away from my target weight!!! Whoot Whoot!!

I struggled Tuesday to find the motivation to really make my step goal. I completed my weight lifting workout but I just felt physically and mentally exhausted. I made poor eating decisions and eventually went to bed early, praying that the weird funk I was in would go away.
I woke up Wednesday morning with a new determination to work out.

{BONUS!}

Check out Tasha, my gorgeous college bestie's, new family picture!!
Doesn't she have the most beautiful little family!!!?

I am so in love with this little family of three.

Mateo is turning 3 in March but it feels like just yesterday he was a teeny tiny baby!!
Isn't he so handsome with his dark complexion and mesmerizing eyes!!? Good thing I don't have a daughter . . . .

Tasha has been my rock, my safe place and my go to girl for so many events in my life! She's the kindest, strongest and most loving woman.

I'm so blessed to have the Lopez family as my friends and to call Tasha one of my bests!!!