Signs?

Do you believe in signs?

I sure as hell believe in this one!

The name of the restaurant in the hotel where Rob is currently staying. In Hawaii.

"Here's the story... of a lovely lady..."

In case you were wondering, that is Barry Williams, aka Greg Brady, and he is a regular. He is ridiculously nice!! Only charged me .15 cents for this photo! (He kids!) I want to set him up with my Mom. Seriously. Mom - YOU HAVE TO MOVE TO CALIFORNIA FIRST! :)

(Don't mind the horrible picture of myself. I'm not sure why I thought "hat hair" would be a good look.)

Hawaiian sunset

And we did it...

Today we purchased (with our 20% off coupon at BB&B) the Breville Juice Fountain Elite and so far, WE LOVE IT! I did quite a bit of research over the past few days on different brands and different types of juicers. This one by far got the best reviews that I could find. It's a bit pricey, BUT I justify that it's for the benefit of our health and who can argue with that?

I had heard that juicers can be quite messy and difficult to clean after using, but per the recommendation of my friend Leah, if you clean it immediately after using, even before you drink your fresh squeezed goodness, it's no big deal. And she was definitely right. This one has about 3 main parts that easily separate. It's mainly the mesh basket where the cutting disc is housed that I could see being a pain if you let the vegetables or fruit dry.

Anyway... my goal is to juice at least twice a day and (maybe next week?) do a one day juice fast. Eventually, I'd like to do a longer one. The book I'm reading, mentioned in my previous blog, touches on the wonderful benefits of doing juice fasts from a medical doctor's standpoint. The main thing is to do the research and do what works best for you, suits your lifestyle, etc. Also, just drinking fresh squeezed vegetable/fruit juice doesn't completely replace eating raw fruits and vegetables.

I do realize that I mentioned in a previous blog about not doing "liquid diets" BUT I was referring to doing another Master Cleanse, or the "cabbage soup diet," etc. Things that can fall into the fad category. Drinking fresh squeezed vegetable/fruit juice, getting a full range of nutrients from food from the earth, is NOT, or at least it shouldn't be, a fad.

Watch the video of Martha Stewart herself juicing with the Breville Juice Fountain Elite.



Photo from www.surlatable.com

"As a juice faster myself, and as a medical doctor who has prescribed and administered juice fasts to countless others, I have found absolutely nothing in either conventional or holistic medicine that can compare to raw juice fasting for ridding an unhealthy body of years of accumulated toxins, and for encouraging your unwanted pounds to melt away like that popsicle on a sizzling summer's day."

Sold.

(from "The Juice Fasting Bible" by Sandra Cabot, M.D.)

YEP!!!!

Katy Perry - New Music - More Music Videos

Week 2: Gluttony

Here's the thing... when my hubby and I are together, we have no concept of moderation. One piece of dark chocolate. Just one cookie. Forget that. We full out binge. The whole effin' batch of cookies in one sitting. So that was my week. I mean, it's a good thing that we're both fairly active on a regular basis. We ride our bikes to the beach all the time. He surfs for hours at a time. I run...but not nearly enough to counter balance my gluttony. Now that he's back to work, I can hopefully lay off the junk... until next week.

That water is cold, you know...

So I was watching "Weeds" today and was kinda stoked to see this chick (extra) in the background walking to the beach with her surfboard. I totally have one just like it! Well, by just I mean, the same "brand"- blue. I bought it in Santa Barbara a few years ago when I wanted to go to a shorter board. I mainly ride my 9' longboard, named Stella, that I bought in Florida and will never get rid of. I love it and I love to longboard. I also used to have a 7'8" that I liked, but ultimately sold. As for Rob, different story, I honestly don't even know how many he has now. I do know that two boards are currently in four pieces. Ouch. But anyway, my "blue" is 6'6" and red. Oh, just one other question... where the HELL is her wetsuit???

Loving it!

"Get healthy in June" - Week 1 in Review

For lack of a better title.

Last week I blogged about using June 1st as my starting date to get healthier and lose a few pounds. I've been counting calories via the iPhone app Lose It! and weighing myself in the mornings... even on mornings I didn't want to. Also, regarding Lose It!, I'm on a "lose 1.5lbs a week" plan, and as of today, it says I should reach my goal of 130lbs by June 24th. And with this app I track "net calories." So although it tells me in order to lose 1.5lbs a week, I shouldn't consume more than about 1,240 calories a day, that's 1,240 after taking into account the calories I burn working out. If I burn 300 calories working out, I'll eat 1,540 calories=net calories for the day is 1,240.  It's been one week since I started, how did I do?

I am down 1.8lbs! I started at 135.6lbs and as of today, I am 133.8lbs. And currently, my body fat percentage is at 21.9% and I'd ideally like to be around 20%.

Exercise:  I've been exercising daily doing different things - circuit training, bike rides, and running, usually meeting my goal of working out for at least 45 minutes or more. I decided this week that I'd like to get back into Bikram yoga, but my goal is to really only go once or twice a week for a good stretch. Also, I am starting my "pre-training" training for the Los Angeles Rock 'n' Roll half-marathon in October. My plan is to use a modified version of Hal Higdon's novice half-marathon training plan for June and into July, and then switch to the intermediate plan so I can incorporate speed work.  I haven't run consistently in a while, so I'm easing back into it. This week my workout is schedule is going look like this:

Monday (today)-full body circuit. Upper body, lower body, and abs. I go to "Video on Demand," Sports & Fitness, ExerciseTV, and wah lah, TONS of free exercise videos. I usually stick to Jackie Warner or Cindy Whitmarsh. They have fabulous circuit videos. Depending on what I do, it'll be 45 minutes - 1 hour.
Tuesday: 3 mile run
Wednesday: Cross-train (I'll ride my bike for at least 45 minutes)
Thursday: 3 mile run + strength (another full body circuit)
Friday: Rest
Saturday: 45 minute cross-train (bike, again)
Sunday: 3 mile run

Also, there are days we go on beach cruises. I don't count this really as "working out" since the heart rate isn't up, but I still count it towards my calorie burn for the day.

Blueberry Oat Bar (Photo courtesy of www.starbucks.com) 

370 calories of NOM!

Diet: It's been pretty good, I guess. My lesson for the week is to not bring home the free pastries from Starbucks. It was all good and fine until I brought home a package of the blueberry oat bars and four giant chocolate chip cookies! Ridiculous. They taste soooo good, but I just can't incorporate this into my daily diet. Other than that, I've been making an effort to eat more fresh fruit daily. I also had 2 Coke Zeros this week... which is more than normal. Since quite honestly, I probably drink maybe one soda a month. Probably closer to every other month. We never keep soda on hand, but I bought some for the little impromptu Memorial Day cookout I had thinking that whoever came would want something besides water, but I was wrong. We all just drank water.

The truth about losing weight though and getting healthier, once you see results and realize how GOOD it feels, that's my motivation to keep on going. Let week 2 begin!

"Little boxes made of ticky tacky..."

The latest show that I'm into is also from Showtime, called "Weeds." Suburban housewife/mom that's a pot dealer. All done with class, of course. But it's just a really great show. And Mary-Louise Parker is just fabulous AND gorgeous. I'm also starting to wish we had Showtime.

Rock 'n' Roll!!

As part of my quest to get healthier, I signed up for Los Angeles' inaugural Rock 'n' Roll Half-marathon! The Rock 'n' Roll races are pretty fantastic, in my opinion. They're held in various cities around the country... I know Virginia Beach hosts a half-marathon; San Diego, Las Vegas, and Seattle are a few of the other cities to host the Rock 'n' Roll series-some just marathons, some just half-marathons, some both. In 2008, as a training run for my full marathon, I ran the San Jose Rock 'n' Roll half-marathon. That was kinda weird... to actually run a race as a training run, but a lot of the training plans recommend doing that. It was SO much fun! My husband, sister-in-law, brother-in-law and little niece were there to cheer me on.

When I'm out for a run, I almost always listen to music.  But when I'm running a race, I never do. I like to take everything in! The excitement, the adrenaline, the race chatter, the whole vibe of everything around me. I feel like when you put the headphones in you miss so much of how fun it is to run a race! Also, what makes the Rock 'n' Roll series so awesome is there is music (LIVE bands) at almost every mile.

It's not until October 24th, and honestly, who knows if we'll even still be living in LA. Even if we're not, my husband made a good point, "it doesn't matter, we'll just fly out for it." Good point. Flight benefits, duh. So I'll officially starting training next week, but since most training plans are only 12-weeks, it'll give me time to build up slowly on my long runs and then I'll probably switch to an "intermediate" plan to incorporate speed work later on. Since I've already run a half-marathon, I'll be going for PR this time around.

"The miracle isn't that I finished. The miracle is that I that had the courage to start." -John Bingham (runner & writer)

It's June 1st...

Inspired by my friend, Brandi, she is embarking on a journey to be healthier - mentally and physically. Her blog was such an inspiration that it made me want to do that too. It's June 1st, it's officially the summer month, and I haven't been as good about exercising/eating healthy as I used to be.  I don't want to do it through a liquid detox, like I did before. It's just not healthy, nor is it a lifestyle change.  I'm referring to the Master Cleanse I did back in December. Granted, I did go from 135lbs to 123lbs, which I LOVED, but it's now June, and the weight (of course) is back. So I'm going to go about this the right way. Healthy eating and exercise. It's really the only way that is healthy. No diet pills, no fad diets, no liquid detoxes, but the good ol' fashioned tried and true way of eating healthy & exercising.

Another "problem" of mine is I have the "all or nothing" attitude. I need to learn to allow myself to eat a cookie, or whatever. It's like... "I'm going to run a marathon!" And then I train for 6 months, running 6 days a week, even when I was on a layover. 18 miles on a treadmill anyone? I run the marathon and then don't run again for months.  Or, "I'm going to do a 30 day Bikram yoga challenge!" April 30th rolls around, my last day of the challenge, and I haven't done Bikram since. I don't like that. I want to be able to enjoy things in moderation! I don't have a gym membership or Bikram yoga membership any longer, and part of that is about saving money. And if I lived anywhere besides southern California, I don't know if I could handle exercising outside. But the weather is still cool and it's June. June Gloom as it is affectionately referred to. And yep, it's basically cloudy right now. Not heavy clouds, because I can still see the sun poking through, but it keeps it cool.

So... a few goals.

1. I'm going to take this one month at a time.

2. I'm going to use the app on my iPhone called Lose It! to help me count calories. It really doesn't get as simple as: if you eat more calories than you burn, you gain weight. If you burn more calories than you consume, you lose weight.

3. I'm going to take a multi-vitamin daily. I still take the Trader Joe's Pre-natal vitamins. And NO, we are NOT, repeat NOT, trying to get pregnant. I just like that it's got all the essential nutrients, including folic acid and Vitamin B.

4. I want to lose a reasonable amount of weight. Five pounds. It's not ridiculous. Currently, I weigh 135.6lbs and I'd like to weigh 130lbs. Weighing 125lbs would rock, but I'll evaluate that once I hit 130lbs. And yes, I will weigh myself daily. I KNOW that weighing daily seems neurotic, but it's been proven to be essential in keeping the weight off. It's important to keep in mind, that you should weigh yourself at the same time of the day. I weigh myself first thing in the morning. Your body weight can fluctuate up to 5lbs (or more) a day in just water weight. So it's important to stick to one time of day at the same.

5. I want to exercise at least 5 days a week, preferably 6, for at least 45minutes to an hour a day. That is not out of the realm of reasonable for me. That's what I was doing before, if not more. Definitely more. I'll keep track of what I do on a calendar. My goal is 5 days (or 6) of cardio - running or biking, and 2-3 days of full body circuit training. Most likely I'll alternate between upper & lower body and do an ab workout every other day so as not to feel overwhelmed to have to do EVERYTHING all on one day.

6. I want to eat a healthy breakfast, which I'm pretty good at doing already. Low sugar, high fiber, high protein is the way to go. We regularly rotate between our favorite cereals - GoLean, GoLean Crunch, and a few Trader Joe's varieties. I sprinkle cinnamon on mine (read the benefits on cinnamon!), and always add fresh fruit. We don't drink cow's milk - our preference is Unsweetened Vanilla Almond milk. We'd like to eliminate dairy altogether, but we love cheese too much.

7. Drink LOTS of water. More than I think is enough. The "recommended" amount is 2 liters a day - or 64 ounces of water. If you're working out, probably more. My personal trainer (back when I had one) said I would need at least 3 liters of water when I was exercising. 3 liters of water it is. And water is basically the only "drink" we keep around here. Besides the almond milk. Confession: I bought a case of Coke Zero when I knew a few friends were coming over. But what did they drink? Water. Oh, we always have wine. I don't drink it daily and when I do, it's a glass. Usually.

I can't really think of anything else. Thank goodness, right? And I'm not a dietician, nutritionist, personal trainer, or anything other certified health person. All of this comes from the basic knowledge of eating healthy and exercising daily. Not putting crap into your body (artificial sweeteners, processed sugars, tons of red meat, food with a shelf life of FOREVER) but eating as close to the earth as you can. Lots of grains, fruits, and veggies.

Another thing is my spiritual health which also ties into my mental health. I just joined a women's Bible study through Mosaic, the church my husband and I attend. I'll be the first to say, this has made a HUGE difference in my mood and how I feel overall. I have connected with an awesome group of women with the same values. This is LA, we are NOT the stuffy "church type." We hang out through the week, have dinner, see movies, whatever. And these women are uplifting and positive. The next thing is getting involved in a couple's Bible study. We used to be, but fell off the wagon. And Rob wants to connect with men in the community like I have connected with these women. I can definitely appreciate having community. I know a lot people feel they don't have to go to church to be spiritual or whatever. I used to feel that way too. And of course, you can read the Bible (or religious book of choice) at home, and we do, but there is something to said about the importance of community that you miss out on. We don't go to church every week, but we go when we can, and never regret it when we do. And beyond just "going to church," getting connected. Getting plugged in. It's made a huge difference in our lives.

I have a new job at Starbucks down by the beach. I love it! It's given me something to do through the week and exercise my brain a little bit more. There are like a million drinks to learn! And of course, everyone (including me) has their own personal variation. But it's extra money, new friends, and something to do.

Ok, this is long winded. Sorry. Today is the day I get my butt in gear. Eat healthier and be more active. Time to go for a bike ride. A real one on my road bike.. you know, the only time I can wear spandex shorts!