No More

Last week I decided I wanted to take my extensions out - made it a whole 4 months haha. I love them, but they are expensive, and I feel like I have to be SOOO careful with them or they'll come out. And I realize they aren't as expensive as they could be but still - $60 or $70 every month adds up. And I know some people spend that much on getting their hair colored. I don't. So I decided to take them out to save some money!

The last time I really did my hair curly - gonna miss those long locks



I did it straight or up everyday after, since I knew they were coming out and didn't want to spend tons of time on it everyday

My amazing hair girl Kariann wasn't available to get me in for a little while, so I had my neighbor Betsey take them out for me. She did an awesome job getting them out without pulling my real hair out, and got all the hair glue out, and then did a great job shaping my hair since I haven't had a real hair cut in a while!



In the car leaving Betsey's

On the couch the next day

So far I really like my hair. I totally miss my long hair, but I can get ready SOOOOO much faster now. Blowing my hair dry takes less than 3 minutes. Straightening and teasing is over in less than 7. So I can do my hair in less than 10 minutes. Took me that long to dry it before! And I can run my fingers through my hair and in the shower and not be worried about pulling anything out! And Jake has been touching my hair again, which I really missed. At the same time it's annoying when I get my hair just right and he pulls it out but oh well. I'll take it! Hopefully it grows quick now that I'm on prenatals and I can have my same length of hair but naturally soon!!

Updated Crazy Cool

It occurred to me the other day that I don't really have any goals that I am working on. Which would explain why I am totally treading water and not really accomplishing much. So time to update my goals and post my newest 10 Crazy Cool things!

If you haven't read a Crazy Cool post before, it's something like this: Chalene Johnson, my mentor and hero {creator of all things Turbo!} asks that you write a list of 10 things you want to accomplish, from scratch, and you write them in the present tense, like they already happened. And these are things that would be like STELLER and AMAZING if they happened within a year. So, with that preface, here we go:

1. I am sealed to my husband.
2. I am pregnant.
3. I weigh 152 pounds {100 pound loss from when I started last year, 140 pound total loss}
4. I have quit my job so I can stay home and be a mom and wife 
5. We have $13,500 in our Emergency Fund.
6. Jake & I have performed an endowment session together at all Utah & Salt Lake County Temples {Provo, Timp, Draper, Jordan River, Oquirrh, Salt Lake & Bountiful} 
7. I have crossed the finish line of a half marathon race while pregnant 
8. I have received my Young Women's medallion 
9. We are still debt free {except our mortgage} 
10. I gave birth the all natural way! 

Some of these are time consuming, some I don't have a lot of control over. But these are all things that'd be AMAZING to have happen in the next 12 months, and that's the point of these goals. I'll keep you posted on our progress as we go! 

Motivational Monday: My best weekend yet!

Ok I had an AMAZING health weekend! Like, one of the best weekends I have ever had as far as "healthy" weekends go! Friday night I had my Boston 5K and then had a protein bar, veggies and crackers for dinner. Counted out my portions. Had an awesome calorie deficit for the day.

Then I went to my girls night with Suzie & Calli and we had SO much fun. We watched "Vampires Suck". Hilarious movie. And they had pie and I had NONE. BAM - GO ME!!

Pajama's are required at girls night!

Saturday, I woke up and got dressed and went straight downstairs to go lift weights. I did ChaLean Extreme Burn Circuit 3 and was shaking by the end. Then I had a banana & a protein bar and went to go visit one of my neighborhood bestie's Athina. And then, I went for a 6 mile jog in preparation for my half coming up. Other than on the treadmill in St George, this was my first time running since the day I ran my last half marathon back in October!!!

I wanted to drive somewhere and run home, rather than make a loop or to run to a point and then run back. For some reason, actually GOING somewhere makes it more fun for me. I just happened to choose a bad route. I started almost in City Center in Eagle Mountain and then ran to the highway and along it back to the Ranches. Once I got to Maverik, I would have done 6 miles and I could walk home from there.

Getting out of City Center sucked. It's flat. It's brown. It's ugly. There's no landmarks. So I just felt like I was running and getting NOWHERE. There wasn't any "ok run to the end of that street and then you can walk" because there are NO landmarks! And there was no shoulder so I either ran in the road or on gravel. Seriously, BAD route. I won't run there ever again haha. I walked more of it than I wanted to. But once I got to the highway it went much better. I was able to run the majority of the highway part and I was proud of that.

I read on another healthy blog that you should train for runs with a heart rate monitor. And even though you want to go a certain pace, you train at the optimal heart rate level and as you get fitter, you can run faster to stay at that heart race level. So I tried it and it worked pretty well! I was totally able to go at a good pace for me while still getting in a good workout. And that helped me mentally - because I was PROUD of how long I could jog at that pace.

With the warm up and the cool down walk, it was like 7.3 miles. So my time sucked but right now I am not too focused on time. Just want to get my lungs and legs ready for this run since I haven't been as consistent with my workouts the last month.

I was SOOO excited to see my house haha - that meant my run was done!

After my run, I drank about a gallon of water and then made an egg sandwich with mandarin oranges on the side. And half hour later was shaking still from hunger, so I had some tuna with hummus & crackers. Even though I burned over 1000 calories in my run and over 200 in my lift, I didn't want to ruin all that hard work and eat a ton of junk! After my second lunch I felt more stable. I did a quick stretch and then rested my muscles for a few hours before we ran some errands and then came home to eat Cafe Rio on the couch while we watched Motocross.

And I said before - if I work out on Saturday I can have Ice Cream. Well, I worked out. And it was Saturday. So I got me some ice cream.

Arctic Zero Ice Cream - 150 calories for the whole pint!

Sunday I did AMAZING on my calories. I ended up going over by a few, but it was on a salad and extra asparagus with dinner. I knew I was starving, and I knew I needed to eat something else or I would eat the pantry, so I added a light salad to my dinner and it totally fixed it - I was pretty close to full by the end of my dinner! And I didn't eat sugar afterwards - no ice cream, no Hershey's kisses, no brownies, nothing! BAM!!

This morning, I was able to get up and workout. I had enough energy, on a Monday, to do it. That hasn't happened in a WHILE! And I got on the scale.

And it said 178.6.

Yeah, I lost 6.4 pounds since Friday.

So either there was some water weight or I was bloated or I just ate AWESOME or something but yeah I was SOO happy to see that number go down so drastically! And it made eating healthy over the weekend SO worth it!!

I saw this on Facebook from a fellow Turbo addict/Beachbody Coach and loved it!! I've heard of the "jar" concept where you put money in one jar, and then as you lose weight you move the money to the other jar. With this concept though, you put in a motivational quote for each pound you want to lose. And as you lose a pound, you move it to the other jar. And on days you don't feel like working out, you read the inspiration in the "pounds lost" jar. What a good idea right?!

One thing I have noticed over the last few days is that I am hungry. Like all the time. I know on days that I lift weights I feel hungrier, and I lifted today & Saturday so maybe that's why? It's been slightly hard though - thinking you are hungry and telling yourself to ignore it is WAY harder than I remember! But it's ok. Seeing that lower number this morning was TOTALLY worth it!

Speaking of lower number. I have a new goal. So my highest all time weight was 292. January 1, 2012 I was 252. So I lost 40 through cutting out soda over a 1.5 year span. I want to ultimately get to half my original weight - so 146. But before that, I want to get to 152. 100 pounds lost since starting weight watchers & tracking my calories, since adding Turbo to my life. And even though those 2 numbers are super close, it'll give me 2 different things to celebrate! If I lose a consistent 2 pounds per week, that puts me at 152 on July 29. I can TOTALLY do that!! Just need to listen to my body and push it in my workouts, and acknowledge when I am hungry so that I don't "try to wait" and go nuts on calories when I do eat. And then I'll give myself another month to lose the other 6 pounds since those last few can be stubborn! I'm excited to have a goal. And I'm excited to see what I look like at 146 pounds - at half my weight. That's a LOW number. And I can't WAIT to see it on my scale!!

Extension Progress

Last Thursday I got my extensions tightened. Again. My hair grows SO fast - which is nice, except I have to get my extensions tightened more often than the "average" person. This time was the first time that we took the extensions all the way out and then put them back in "from scratch". Which means this was the first time I got to see how long my hair is getting!!

Definitely making progress - I can TOTALLY tell it's growing!

On the left it was straightened, on the right it's round brushed so the difference isn't QUITE as dramatic. The left was the day I got them put in

And a pic yesterday with them in - they are a little longer this month because of where we put them! LOVING it!

Like I said last month, I am ready for them to be out {mostly for financial reasons} but for now, I am LOVING how long my hair is and that I didn't have to wait for it to grow!

Running for Boston

2 weeks ago, there was a bombing at the finish line of the Bostom Marathon. It was almost like something out of a movie at first - there was a stand off and the city of Boston was on lock down for almost an entire day while they searched for the accused gunmen. But they caught the guys, so we're good there :)

A lot of people were injured from the bombs though. I have heard that it was only bystanders, and I've heard a few runners were affected. I've heard only a few died with smaller injuries to the rest, and I've heard that there was extensive injuries to almost everyone - like limbs being amputated. Either way, it's been horrible to hear about and think about.

To be a runner, and THAT good of a runner that you qualify for the Boston Marathon, and then lose a limb? That'd be devastating. And I've been reading on a lot of my "fitness friends" blogs about runs they have done and dedicated to those affected. And I just thought that was AWESOME! And then I saw that Eagle Mountain was sponsoring a 5K, and all the money goes to the Boston families, and I KNEW I wanted to do it!

I posted it on Facebook to see who wanted to do it with me, and my mom was all over it! I was SO excited that she did it with me!!

We met at my house and then drove over together. My mom suggested we wear Boston Celtics shirts - what an AWESOME idea right?! It was at Nolan Park in Eagle Mountain. After my mom paid our registration fees {thanks mom!} we walked around and waited for the race to start. And then we noticed this guy.

Yeah he ran the Boston Marathon. He was at mile 24 when the bomb went off. He had no idea what had happened until his wife called him in a panic. He didn't end up getting to cross the finish line because they shut the road down. To be THAT close to crossing the finish line at the BOSTON MARATHON would just suck!! But he had a good attitude about it - no harm came to HIM so he was ok with it. Good attitude Dan!

My mom pre race

Me :)

This shirt is 3 or 4 sizes too big for me - that's why I wanted to wear it. Despite the few pounds that I have put back on that I wasn't happy with, I still am WAY too small for this shirt. Gave me some good perspective 

Another view of just how big it is

The 2 of us pre race

Right before the race started, they had a little program. The boy scouts presented the flag...

We all said "The Pledge of Allegiance" and then a runner sang "The Star Spangled Banner".

And then my parents neighbor Aaron Asay played "Amazing Grace" on the bag pipes. Uh tear jerker much?!

After everyone regained their composure, they had the runners from the Boston Marathon line up at the finish line to start us out. That was SOO cool - I am SO glad they did that! There were 4 runners there with us.

And then, my energy just took over. I haven't had adrenaline like that before a run - like ever. I was SO ready to do it - to dedicate this run to people who couldn't run for themselves. My phone was SO close to dying - I was way worried that it might not make it through the run, but it did! My first song that came on was "Lose Yourself" from Eminem. Uh yeah - good song to start out!

About a mile or so into the run, we found our fan base! Rick, Jeannene & Buzz were waiting for us!!

Then I just HAD to get a running shot of us!

We finished the race in just under 40 minutes. Not a PR for me, but we wanted to race together so I decided not to worry about my time and just have fun. And burn like 450 calories in the process haha!

After we finished!

We found Dan after the race and asked if we could get a picture with him. Seriously - SO inspirational that he was there!!

Side note - the fact that my sleeves fell down {or something} makes me look like a BLIMP - I am NOT loving this picture haha

I had a girls night planned that night and chose to do the race AND girls night. That means I ate a healthy dinner on my own, and got a workout in {since I overslept that morning}. What an AWESOME way to start my weekend!

And I am so proud of the difference in those two pictures. Of what that shirt means to me. That I CHOSE to run a 5K. The day of. And didn't die. That I can do things like that on a whim. It's a REALLY cool feeling! :)

The best question...

4 years ago today, my amazing Jake asked me to marry him. And oh my gosh was I excited!! Figured since I've never posted the story before that I would post it today!

We had been dating for about 8 months and I was SOOOO ready for him to ask me. We {read I} talked about the wedding ALL THE TIME. We went to Las Vegas at the beginning of April for his birthday - my treat. And I just KNEW he'd propose. We had gone to Schubach Jewelers a few weeks before the trip and looked at rings and I found THE ring - it was gorgeous and the center stone was princess cut {just like I wanted} and turned at an angle. And it was pink. And it was $4000. But I figured I was worth it and that he should buy it for me.

So we're in Vegas in front of the Bellagio water show, at night, with music playing... And nothing. No proposal. And the next day, a few chances came up {like at the top of the Stratosphere} - nothing. I was determined not to say anything because I didn't want him to realize that I knew he was going to propose. Until we drove home - then I kinda let him have it for not asking me!

He told me he had gone to buy my ring but backed out because it was too expensive. I got defense because this is MY ring - I LOVED it and he knew it. Wasn't I worth that 1 time investment??

So of course I insisted we keep shopping since the one I wanted was a no. We went to Shane Co with a VERY strict budget and I found a ring I really liked - still pink. Wasn't love like the one at Schubach but I did really like it. It was quite a bit smaller and THAT'S what I was wanting - a big ol' rock.

We put it on lay away so that Jake could make payments on it and then we'd own it and get it, rather than making payments after we already had it. So I figured it'd be a whole before he asked me.

A few days later, Jake saw a catalog for Kay Jewelers on his parents counter. He flipped through it to the back where the men's rings are and was surprised to see they had a black wedding band. That's what he wanted and we'd looked EVERYWHERE to find one, with no luck. Seeing that SOMEONE really did make them got me excited, so we got in the car that second and drove to Kay.

We walked in and immediately found it. He tried it on and the display fit, so we wouldn't have to order one! I told him we were buying it, even though he technically hadn't asked me yet. He agreed, and we told the guy we wanted it. He noticed I didn't have a ring and asked if we wanted to look at some stuff.

I got annoyed {we already agreed to buy something - don't upsale!!} but Jake was the always polite one and agreed to look at a few. I was pretty snotty and made sure the guy knew we wanted pink, and I was SURE they wouldn't have anything. He immediately walked to the counter behind us and said "oh we have a case full!" Great.

And immediately one caught my eye. I pointed it out and tried it on. Perfect for. The main stone was pink with smaller pink colored sapphires underneath, and then had small diamonds leading up to the main stone. It was GORGEOUS. And HUGE - exactly the size stone I wanted. Jake looked at me with that "I don't want you to be mad but you've got a budget" look and we both knew it'd cost more than the ring at Schubach, let alone my ring on hold at Shane Co. I turned it over, saw the price and about fell over. I showed Jake and his eyes about bulged out of his head - it was WAY cheaper than the Shane Co ring. Like half the price. We asked the guy if it was right, and he let us know it was wrong {we both looked bummed at each other} because it was on sale and was cheaper than THAT!

Needless to say, we bought it. Both rings went in a bag in the closet and we agreed not to look at them until he had proposed. I was DYING knowing my ring was so close but couldn't wear it.

The next day, Jake asked me to get them out so we could look at them. I jumped up and grabbed them and handed the whole bag to him. He opened the box with my ring, pulled it out, and made a BIG show of putting it on my finger while laughing and said "Girlfriend, will you marry me?"

So he ALWAYS called me girlfriend. It was my name. And he always proposed. In the grocery store aisles. On the phone. At work. And every time I'd say "Can I put it on Facebook?" and he'd say no - he was just playing.

So I let him slide it on my hand and asked if I could post it to Facebook. And he said yes.

And I just stated at him.

And then I started screaming and called my mom. Without saying yes. Without kissing him. Just called my mom in the other room.

We screamed together and then I posted it on Facebook. Before we could call Jake's parents. Whoops....

And then Jake came out and said "Can I have a kiss at least?" I felt SOOOO stupid - got so excited to tell the world I was engaged that I neglected the amazing guy who asked.

We drove to see my mom that night at an event Brynne had in Lehi and showed them my ring. And 4 months later, we got married :)

I'll have to do a wedding re cap one of these days too! Yay for 4 years of getting to wear a gorgeous pink ring on my left hand!!

Disappointed

The last few weeks, but DEFINITELY the last week or so, I have noticed my clothes aren't fitting quite right. Little tighter than I remembered. And I pulled the whole "well I just dryed this - it must have shrunk in the dryer". But after EVERYTHING started fitting different, it made me realize something must not be right. I decided yesterday to bust out my scale again, even though I "broke up" with it and see where I am at.

Last time I weighed {and posted on the blog} I was at 168, about 6 weeks ago. And I knew I had gained from that. I just hoped I was still in the 170's. So this morning I got the scale out and got on. And seriously about cried.

185.

My lowest was 164 the week I turned 25. What an awesome birthday present to myself right?! I was 4 pounds from my original goal weight! 4!!!! I slowly gained some of it, like I said - I was at 168 6 weeks ago. So in 6 weeks, I have gained 17 pounds. Yeah that hurts.

And that's the thing - I'm not mad. At all. I'm sad. I'm disappointed in myself. But I am not mad, and I am not all that surprised. The way that I binge totally makes sense. It makes sense that the number would be that high.

And it's something measurable that I can work on. It can take a few weeks to see my clothes fitting differently. It takes a week or less to see the scale move.

So that's the plan - back to what I was doing before. And actually sticking to it this time. Even if I have a bad day. Even if I over sleep. Even if I am craving ice cream so bad it's painful. I am worth more than this.

So Monday's are going to be weigh in day again. And knowing that people do read this occasionally makes me really want to make that number go down so that I don't have to be embarrassed that it's not moving.

And I have a "deadline" - our sealing is coming. Like really coming. As soon as the date is concrete I will post it but I have got to get my buns in gear if I want to look good and feel good for that.

I don't think I look TOO different from before, just slight differences. But I feel WAY different and I don't like that. I know that I can fix that. And I'm going to. Stay tuned for the post on Monday saying that number on the scale has dropped!