My January Adventures

Instead of doing a 'Monthly Reads' post for each month, I thought I'd try making a monthly post recapping anything noteworthy that went on in my world such as the books I read, athletic adventures, travel or anything else interesting. Interesting to me, anyway, but hopefully to you, too.

January 2012 was surprisingly jam packed with adventure for me. This post ended up much longer than I expected. Feel free to scroll to the parts that most interest you. ;)

Reading adventures:
I had my all time record low reading month since December 2007 when I didn't read a single book! Last month, I read only THREE books!

1. The Longest Night by Kathleen O'Reilly
You can read my review for this book HERE, which I read for January's TBR Challenge.

2. Tides of Passion by Tracy Sumner
This book had the makings of a great story--interesting characters, a fun premise and a wonderfully unique setting. Unfortunately, I felt the main characters said or did things out of character one too many times and it weakened the credibility of their story.

3. Wife by Wendesday by Catherine Bybee
This book has been on the top of the Amazon Kindle charts for a really long time now. I don't know if the author has any secrets for keeping it up there, but I can tell you this story was really fun and I thoroughly enjoyed reading every page! It's a contemporary marriage of convenience turned true love story. Utterly adorable and believable, too! The ebook is only 99 cents!
Amazon Kindle
Barnes & Noble
Smashwords

I sure hope February is a better reading month for me or I'm never going to get to 101 books by the end of 2012! Good thing February has an extra day this year. ;)

Did you read anything good in January?

Health and fitness adventures:
So what was I doing with all that time that I clearly wasn't spending reading? Detoxing, working out and a bit of traveling, that's what!

As many of you already know, I started following the 28 Day Whole Living Action Plan featured in Whole Living magazine and on their website earlier in January. It's a food based detox-type-mind and body cleanse. It's kept me busy preparing new food dishes, healthy snacks and smoothies and because my caloric intake was naturally so low because of the plan and I wasn't drinking any coffee or tea with caffeine, I admit I napped a lot the first week or two. I have a few more days to go before I'm finished.. but already my diet feels close to normal again, but heavier on the fruits and vegetables. That's always a good thing!

Since the detox-cleanse is meant to be restful and healing, I eased up on my regular workout schedule a bit, which I thought would drive me crazy, but actually felt welcomed in the early weeks of the plan. Giving up coffee for the diet combined with fewer calories overall made me very tired and sleepy this month! I still managed to keep my miles and hours spent exercising at a decent level, though, so I'm happy about that. Here's a look at what I was doing in January to keep my body moving and my heart rate up:

Run ...................... 14.0 miles
Bike ..................... 56.7 miles
Snowshoe .............  3.5 miles

Spin class ................. 2.5 hrs
Kickbox ................... 3.5 hrs
Strength training .....  5.0 hrs
Cardio interval ......... 2.0 hrs

Total fitness challenge 'miles' ..... 77.5 miles
[My typical monthly goal is 100 miles where 1 fitness challenge mile = 15 min cardio or strength = 1 mile run or snowshoed.]

Other highlights:
I ran a 5K Race on New Year's Day hoping to break my 30:02 PR, but ran 30:31 which is still under a 10 minute mile, so that's cool. Maybe next time. :)

I started new small group TRX training classes in January after my gym had TRX Suspension Trainers installed. TRX suspension training is a fully body strength training workout in which you suspend your body weight by straps and do various strength exercises all the while your core is fully engaged.
Want to see a video? Visit trxtraining.com or go straight to the video HERE.

I went snowshoeing for the first time when I participated in the Tubbs Snowshoes Romp to Stomp out Breast Cancer Snowshoe event. and loved it! I want my own snowshoes! Thank you again to everyone who supported me and donated to the cause on my behalf! xo

How did your workouts go in January?


A photography adventure:
One last adventure to share with you. After three failed attempts at doing a 365 Project, I started fresh again for the fourth time on January 1 and so far I haven't missed a day! I'm doing this project exclusively using my iPhone 4S and Instagram. I know this is probably a ridiculous way of doing a 365 Project when I have a fantastic digital SLR, but the iPhone is SO convenient and I always have it with me, so I'm hoping the convenience of it will enable me to stick with the project and take a photo every day. Oh wait... I just realized this is a leap year. I guess this is a 366 Project? ; )

Have you ever done a 365 Project? 

Traveling adventures:
My husband, daughters and I took a long weekend getaway to Florida over Martin Luther King Weekend and had a really great time even though it was really cold that weekend! I wanted sunny warm 70s--not chilly, cloudy 50s. I heard it got warm the day after we left. Figures.

We have very close friends who moved to the Orlando area several years ago and who were always inviting us to come down to visit them, trying to lure us with all of the theme parks in the area. [We are more of a National Park kind of family--not the amusement park kind, but it was still really fun.] We really enjoyed visiting our friends the whole weekend in their lovely home. It was so relaxing staying with them!

Hogwarts
 Harry Potter World in Universal Studios
Orlando, FL

The first day we went to Universal Studios and pretty much beelined for Harry Potter World which was SO COOL!!! It really felt like you were walking through Hogsmeade and into Hogwarts castle. The ride in Hogwarts is a simulated broomstick ride and omg it felt so real! I admit I screamed when the dragon ... well, I don't want to give anything away. We went into Honeydukes, Ollivanders wand shop and of course, Zonko's! And we ate lunch at Three Broomsticks. We even had Butterbeer!
How cool is that? :)

Totoros!
From 'My Neighborhood Totoro'

The second day we went to Epcot. We had fun walking around, doing some of the attractions, visiting the international pavilions, but I don't know... it didn't seem so amazing. Even the fireworks were just okay. We ate lunch in 'Japan' and got giddy over the souvenirs from our favorite Hayao Miyazaki films.

The third day we went to an Indian Kite Festival with our friends. I had no idea kite flying was so competitive! We arrived with numerous kites in our arsenal. You'd think it's challenging enough to just get your kite up and flying, but no! All the other kite fliers will start maneuvering their kite to cross yours and with the right tension and direction, their kite string--which is actually finely coated with glass--cuts your string and your kite falls to the ground! So you have no choice but to be both an offensive and defensive kite flier to keep your kite in the air. On a side note, I ate some amazing Palak Pakoras [spinach-chickpea fritters] there. I had forgotten how much I LOVE Indian food. Mmmm I want some right now!  photo to come... maybe.

The Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB)
Kennedy Space Center
[photo taken from tour bus]

The fourth and last day, we went to Kennedy Space center. We spent time walking around the visitors center and then took the up-close tour of the space center and Vehicle Assembly Building. We actually got to walk inside the VAB and see the orbiter Endeavor up-close! Then bus took us around to the launch pad. Afterwards we spent an hour or two in the Apollo Saturn V Exhibit.

Endeavor 

I loved the up-close tour! I think it was especially meaningful for me because after college [I had just earned my B.S. in Electrical Engineering] I worked for an aerospace company that was a subcontractor of a subcontractor of NASA, updating and writing new test software for two electrical devices we built for the space shuttle program. So I was familiar with the very basic picture of preparing the space shuttle for launch and then the retrieval of the solid rocket boosters after each launch. Anyway, visiting the Kennedy Space Center was definitely a highlight of this trip for me!

Did you go anywhere special in January? 

Thanks for taking the time to read about my January adventures. I assure you January was unusually adventurous for me and future monthly posts will be much shorter!

Wishing you all a fantastic February! xo

My First Snowshoe Event

Today was the Romp to Stomp out Breast Cancer Snowshoe 5K and it was a blast! First and foremost, however, with the help of many generous friends, I am pleased to report that I raised $335 for the Susan G. Komen for the Cure foundation. Most of this funding is used to provide essential breast care education, screening and support to women without access proper medical coverage.

Thank you very, very much to those of you who made a donation on my behalf--your support is very much appreciated. Every bit will help stomp out breast cancer.

The evening before the snowshoe event, I drove up to the ski resort with one of my friends where we joined a group of women she knew who organized the rental of some condos at the resort. We woke up this morning to several inches of snow on the ground, which to me, made this event so much more exciting. It snowed all day while we were up there and I loved it!

The start line of the Snowshoe 5K. Go pink!

The snowshoe walk took place right on the slopes on trails marked off for walkers right alongside the ski trails. We shared part of the trail with skiers and other parts were just for the snowshoers. I had expected the snowshoe trail to be flat, but we actually had some decent inclines to walk up and down, making for a pretty decent workout! If you are a skier, the steep parts were walking up a blue trail. Of course, being the kickass athletes that we are {haha!}, three of us when up and down the steepest part of the trail three times before continuing on with the rest of the walk! ;)

A pic of me at the finish line. 

I had so much fun snowshoeing that I think I might invest in a pair of my own snowshoes!

Thank you again to those of you who supported my cause today. As always, I appreciate you wonderful support! xo

One Year Later

Here I go again talking all about myself and my journey to a healthier me. I apologize for the self-centeredness, but posts like this are effective methods of reaffirming my commitment to myself. Hopefully, I'm also providing encouragement and inspiration to anyone else on a journey to a leaner, healthier self. :)

Exactly one year ago today I wrote a post called New Beginnings in which I made a commitment to myself to make changes in my eating habits in order to become the healthy and fit me that I want to be.

I had already been exercising almost every day already at that time, but I knew the final steps to reaching a healthier weight were to make permanent changes to my diet. Those changes were pretty simple-- in theory, anyway. I basically started counting calories. Every single calorie. For a whole year. I won't lie and say this is not driving me crazy at this point, but it works, so I don't want to stop. Anyway, I counted calories by using the Lose It app on my iPhone almost every single day in the last year. I relearned portion sizes by counting and measuring and weighing foods and I reduced and eliminated a lot of snacks and desserts. I found great incentive in exercising every single day so that I could 'earn' those calories back into my daily budget. Believe me, there were many days that I wouldn't have had enough calories in my daily budget for dinner if I hadn't gone on that 20 minute run or that 10 mile bike ride.

I had a lot of success with the Lose It app and lost 37 pounds between April 1 and November 1 last year. I feel great --both physically and emotionally being where I am now and am never going back to that weight ever again. I just know it.

But, I'm not done yet! I hit that dreaded weight loss plateau last November and haven't been able to break it until very recently and even then, it's slow going. In truth, I gained about 8 pounds between late November and early March of this year. It baffles me as I've been counting calories all this time with the exception of several days around the holidays. And while I indulged a little bit over the holidays, I didn't go crazy pigging out and partying and I was still working out during that time, too. I started strength training two times regularly starting in October, so it is likely that I've gained some muscle mass and we all know that muscle weighs more than fat per volume, but not 8 pounds worth! Two different fitness professionals have suggested that I may have gained some weight back because I am not getting enough calories. You read that right. The argument is that you can actually slow your metabolism down by not getting enough calories to sustain your activity level. So your body sort of goes into conservation mode and stores the calories you consume instead of using your reserves, i.e., burning the fat you already have on your body. It just feels so counter-intuitive to actually eat more to break the plateau and start losing weight again, but I thought I'd try it. So I adjusted my program in Lose It so that my calorie budget was higher each day by about 250 calories, and guess what? I've lost 2 pounds over the last three weeks. Slow, but at least it's budging. I also think I'm at the point where what I eat is as important as the number of calories I eat. I'm going to start reducing the frequency of "white" foods--i.e., simple carbs such as white flours and simple sugars, etc. in my diet. I know it's going to be a lot easier said than done, but I'm going to make a conscious effort to do so and hopefully see some results.

I have 25 pounds more to lose to get to my target weight. I know I look healthy now and most importantly, I feel it, too... but why settle for looking and feeling good when I know with some dedication and discipline I can look and feel amazing, right? It's what I want, so I'm going to do it.

Maybe it'll take a little less than 25 pounds to get there. I'm not exactly sure of the numbers. I figure I'll know when I get there. :)

As always, thank you for your continued support and encouragement as I made many self-absorbed posts like this one throughout the last year and I'm sure will continue to do so in the future as well. I've got the best team of personal cheerleaders right here in you guys.
Thank you!! xo





You can download the FREE Lose It app to your iPhone, iPod Touch or iPad at the iTunes store.

You can also sign up to use Lose It on your computer at http://loseit.com.

In my experience, the calories burned for the exercises in the Lose It app database are often largely inflated. I recommend using the calories burned calculator at fitday.com for a more accurate estimate of calories burned for the activities you do and then creating a custom exercise for each activity in the Lose It app. Or purchase a heart rate monitor that has a calorie counting feature for even more accuracy.

This and That + 2 Winners

Can you believe it's May already? The days and seasons are just flying by. I don't know where the time goes and I sure could use some more time in my days, that's for sure.

HEALTH & FITNESS
I'm going to try to be brief on this topic, because Lord knows I can go on and on and on about diet and exercise these days. Back in the beginning of April, I blogged about starting a calorie counting program to help me lose weight using the Lose It app on my iPhone. I started on April 1 and am happy to report that I've lost 8 lbs. as of May 1! All I can say is thank goodness I got some great results right away, because I was pretty miserable--hungry and cranky--for the first week or two. Don't get me wrong, it's still not easy, but it's definitely easier than those first two weeks.

April was a great month in exercise for me. I've been working out 5-6 days a week now as opposed to the 4-5 days a week previously, which has been awesome. Not just because I'm burning more calories, but my body simply craves the daily exercise now, too. When a day off comes along, I get kind of restless and my body keeps whispering, "go, go, go!" but my brain says, "wait! ice, ice, ice baby before you get hurt!" I battle myself the whole day.

My friend Maureen, who is also my running class instructor from the gym, started up a mixed level bootcamp class on Friday mornings at 5:45 am and of course, I signed up for it. Last Friday was our first class and while the drills were intense, because it was the first class, there was also some downtime for her to explain things, so it wasn't brutal. During one drill she said we would probably have muscle soreness over the weekend, and I nearly tuned her out thinking that didn't really apply to me. I workout six days a week and even cross train! Well, I've got one word to describe how I felt over the weekend: OUCH! I winced and maybe even groaned out loud every time I sat or had to go up or down the stairs. I'm thinking this class will be good for me.

I only went running four times in April, but I made the most of those runs and worked on my pace. One of my fitness goals for 2010 is to run at a 10:30 minute mile pace and this morning I ran 2 miles in 21:05-- the first mile at 10:33 and the second mile at 10:32. Totally made my day.

My husband and I also went out on our first cycling rides of the season in April. I think all the running I've been doing since last fall has improved my cardiovascular fitness level because I only needed to stop once on two of the most challenging hills of my favorite route through the wildlife reservation. Last fall, I had to stop twice on each of those hills. I'm hoping to do the entire loop without stopping at all by the end of the summer.

COOKING
I've got a handful of recipes that I want to share and will hopefully get them up soon. Most are main dish recipes, but I also want to try my hand at making Angel Food Cake and biscotti that is less than 100 calories per piece. I love biscotti.

GARDENING
I really wanted to re-establish my vegetable garden this spring as I haven't had one in three years because of the addition we did on the house, but it's nearly time to plant summer crops here in Zone 6, and I'm no where near ready. I wanted to get a fence put up in the yard first because the garden will back up to it and I haven't even called anyone in for an estimate yet. So I was thinking for this year, to maybe plant some vegetables in with the flowers that are in my side yard perennial garden. It's a small garden between the house and the driveway, but it gets enough sun and I'll see it every time I go out, so I'll probably be more likely to weed and water it anyway. I just wondered if it would be too accessible to the deer, but then decided no. The deer would have to walk up my driveway, go between my car and the house that is only maybe 6 feet wide and the only way out is the way they came in because the steps into the house are right there. Well, clearly, what do I know. Look what I spotted in that space this past Sunday:

Isn't that the cutest thing! It was so small, I wondered if it was born there early that morning or the night before. A couple of hours later it was gone and I couldn't find it anywhere in my yard. I wonder if it wandered away alone or if the mother came back for it. I kind of hope I'll see it again so I'll know it's okay, but it'll probably be back in a month or two eating my garden! I wonder if I'll think it's a sweet little thing then.


2 KIDS AND A DOG GIVEAWAY WINNERS!
Finally, I used the list randomizer at random.org to select two lucky winners of the 2 Kids and a Dog Calendar giveaway! And the winners are ....

BRANDY and DOODLEGIRL !!!

Congratulations! Please email me at krauscakes[at]verizon[dot]net with your mailing address so the lovely Alexia from 2 Kids and a Dog can get your calendar out to you in the mail. I hope you get some smiles out of their calendar like I do! Thanks for playing! :o)

WHAT ABOUT YOU?

I want to know what's going on in your world lately... do you have anything to share?

Do you have a garden? Do you container garden? What vegetables, herbs or flowers do you like to grow every year?

List Randomizer

There were 6 items in your list. Here they are in random order:

Brandy
doodlegirl
Dru
orannia
Lover of Romance
nath

Timestamp: 2010-05-03 02:30:32 UTC