ChaLean Extreme: 30 Day Results!

Howdy folks!  Happy Tuesday to all!  This weekend was another busy one full of pine cone collecting (I now have 481!  HOW did that happen???  Maybe I can sell my extras ;)), gown fittings (for my bridesmaid and wedding dress), and wedding crafting (making myself some sparkly sticks for decorations).  Yes, life has been crazy.  But all this craziness has made me SO excited for the next few months.  I’m trying to front load my work as much as possible to just coast and enjoy almost-wedded bliss. (Or at least that’s my valiant plan ;))  Sounds perfect, right??

With things so busy I’ve had to make some decisions blogging wise and have settled on a new goal of blogging once a week.  It makes me sad to reduce (and hopefully you too?!), but I think it’s the best move to both enjoy blogging and keep my sanity.  But the good news is less spam for email followers.  SWEET!  :)

Up this week: ChaLean Results!  Woot!

For the last 30 days I have been thoroughly enjoying the ChaLean Extreme Burn Phase.  It’s actually incredibly hard to believe it has already been 30 days.  This has been a great reminder to me that time passes quickly whether you want it to or not, so may as well make good use of the time.  My time with Chalene has definitely been the definition of time well spent.  I feel stronger, more toned, and happier to be back following a routine.  I can’t say enough positive things about this program.

Because I started out from a place of pretty good fitness (Just finished 1.5ish rounds of P90X and 2 half-marathons), I DID NOT expect big changes, if any at all.  This does not mean that you can’t get big results from this program.  Personally I don’t have the high numbers to drop huge numbers (like I did when I started P90X) – I’m fairly close the smallest I could be naturally (and healthily and/or not hiring a personal chef/trainer).  Keep this in mind when looking at the results.  Additionally, I measured myself.  I feel I am not as accurate as when Adam did my P90X measurements.  He is a meticulous measurer :)

These results are based on the following:

• Completing every ChaLean Extreme Workout
• Switching one of the cardio videos for my long run in the last week (I plan to do this moving forward).
• Increasing the Ab video from once (as directed) to 3 times a week (more similar to P90X).
• Running 3 times a week (starting on week 2).
• Aiming for around 1500 or 1600 calories per day.  There were 5-6 cheat meals throughout the month and overall I was not as disciplined as during P90X.  I have found it easier to remain disciplined during the week and relax a bit on the weekends.  This has proved to be a healthy balance for me.  But also has affected my results.  If you are looking to lose big time you’d have to be more strict.  My balance has been working great personally.
• I am NOT following the ChaLean Diet Guide – mainly because I can’t cook (oops) and there are not many vegetarian options (I don’t eat several types of meat).  Also I’m a picky eater.  Haha. :)

Tape Measure Results:

Waist:   0

Chest:  -.5

Hips:   0

Thigh:   0

Bicep:   +.5   (interestingly, -.5 in the left…hmm, user error?)

Weight:

– 2 lbs.  I was pretty surprised and happy with this.  I feel like these 30 days took off the little extra fluff I gained during my running/P90X vacation :)

Muscle Definition:

This one is a tough thing to measure, but I feel like I look more defined.  Two people have commented that my body looks more toned (unsolicited, I swear!).  My abs seem to be popping out a tiny bit more (I still need to lose a few more pounds to uncover them completely ;)) and my shoulders seem tighter.  Overall I feel I am looking more lean.  It’s kind of fun to be a strong girl!!

Body Fat %:

-.5%  This one was REALLY tricky to measure on myself.  I can’t say I’m 100% confident in my measurement, okay let’s face it… not that confident at all!  But I believe there was a slight decrease down.  Either way – I’m feeling more toned which is the whole point anyway! :)

Wedding Dress:

Hah!  Don’t you love that there is a category for this??  One of my biggest “signs of success” with the program: my bridal fittings.  When I went in to get my dress hemmed I had to try it on again.  It fit and it looked great. (PHEW!)  I’m really pleased with how my arms and back are toning up.  I took a few pictures and actually was a little surprised at how much I liked it.  I tend to be somewhat critical of myself (um, like every girl), and I was excited that I what I saw on the camera phone.  SWEET.

Up Next:

I have now moved into the “Push” phase and I’m excited to keep moving with the program!    So far so good.  I haven’t noticed “bulking up” at all.  Overall I feel the muscle gain has been very lean and slimming.  Can’t wait to see what Phase 2 brings!!  At this point I would recommend this program to anyone!  I’ll wait until I’m completely finished before making any large declarations though.  :)

Also – I would post my pictures, but my self timed pictures are seriously horrendous.  In what is visible, I was happy with the slight changes.  Hopefully next month I can get someone to take some actual pics.  It’s tough to do on your own!

Have a great Tuesday!

-Kelly

How to “Propose” to your Bridal Party!

Happy Thursday folks!   Let’s have a little wedding post Thursday!  Can you believe it’s almost the weekend?  I for one am breathing a big sigh of relief on that one.  I feel like I’m getting into wedding “crunch-time.”  Now many of you know my wedding isn’t until January… But I’m also the genius who signed up to do a musical the month before my wedding.  Yeah, interesting life choice.  ;)  So that means the next month or two is my “crunch time!”  I am working feverishly to get things done NOW so I don’t have to think about them LATER.  This is an entirely new concept for the queen of procrastination.  :)

So far the planning has been going pretty well – I’ve got my google docs and giant spreadsheet to lead the way, but I’ll be honest guys: it is stressful.  There are no two ways to slice it.  It is hard work, and it’s overwhelming.  Especially when you’re planning a 300+ (please dear goodness let more people say no) traditional winter wedding, with just little old you and your fiance (and on a budget for about 100 people).  We’ve been doing a good job of not taking out the stress on each other (hooray!).  Mainly it just ends with me ugly-crying to Adam via video chat over the type of cupcake liners we are using.  Dear goodness that did happen last night.  HAH.  Okay, clearly it’s not just about the liners, it is just the endless amount of little decisions.  People keep saying “it’s your day!  choose what you love!” but want I want to say is “You pick because I just want to marry Adam and am tired of thinking about irrelevant details that don’t matter.”  Hmm… maybe I’m not the best bride.   Is it too late to elope?  I kid.  I think.

Today I’ve decided to turn over a new leaf and just start making decisions LIKE A BOSS!!  Okay, I’ll settle for “reasonably decent decision maker.”  A few weeks ago I did a personality inventory at work as a team building exercise.  It was SO fun and informative. One of my biggest stressers/weaknesses according to the test?  You guessed it: decision-making.  So I’m glad to know what should be stressing me out IS stressing me out.

The funny thing – I’ve been so amped up on wedding anxiety lately that Adam actually asked me if I have still been working out!  HAH.  It’s true, I have been acting like a crazy person that hasn’t been exercising.  But truth be told, I’m plenty anxious that even exercising isn’t cutting out all the stress (yikes).  Maybe I need to go to twice a week yoga instead of once a week :) So this is me taking a zen moment to remind myself that stressing over the most happy day of my life is Dumb (with a capital D).  Because honestly folks, on January 18th, I am not going to give a flying hoot what color my cupcake liners are…so why am I letting myself agonize over them now?  Okay, going with simple white scalloped liners.  Done.  Next decision.  See, I’m learning!  Hmm.. but the blue polka dot ones are soo fun.  GAH.  (Do you see the cycle starting??)

Anyways, the end result will be fleeeeeping awesome!  But, it’s just a long journey to get there.  As I’m sure many of you can agree?  Any words of encouragement or advice to share?  And in other, more positive news: look a picture of SHOES!  Wedding shoes!

My shoes came in! I ordered them online (on sale for 30 bucks, originally like a million) and they FIT and are comfortable and it is TRUE LOVE!

Proposing to Your Bridal Party

And now, the whole purpose of my post: How to propose to your wedding party!  I have a pretty small bridal party (my sister, sister-in-law-to-be, and 2 flower girls).  They are all family so I wanted to find a special way to invite them to be a part of the day (instead of the usual ‘forced fun’ my family normally operates).  This gesture was mainly to get them excited, feel involved, and know how excited I am to have them be a part of it all.  So I decided to “propose” via Ring Pop.  I saw a fancier version of this on Pinterest, but being somewhat budget savvy I decided to do a bit cheaper version.  Here’s what you need:

Materials:

• Ring Pops (around 50-75cents, depending on the number you buy)
• Padded mailing envelopes (around 80 cents each)
• Ribbons or fun fillers! (around 2 dollars for all, but you could be creative with this one)
• Small card (1 dollar each)

Steps:

1. Write a nice meaningful note to your ladies.  Be sure to include, “Will you be my …” so the whole “proposal” thing is clear.  Makes it cutesy.  Oh you know how cutesy stuff is loved!
2. Address your mailing envelops to each of your ladies.
3. Put your note, ring, fun fillers/ribbons, and whatever else into the envelope.
4. Seal is all up and send!

All of my materials ready to go!

My note ‘proposing’ to my flower girl Gabriela!

All packed up and ready to be mailed!

SO easy and pretty budget friendly.  The thought, effort, and snail-mail aspect go a long way!  And honestly, it was pretty fun and exciting to mail them off.  Yay for weddings! :)

-Kelly

Running After Runner’s Knee

Well folks, the good news – I’m running again!  I just finished my second full week of running and I’m feeling pretty okay.  I can’t say great, but I also can’t say bad.  I’ll take it!  My knees still feel somewhat achy, but are not full on painful.  Additionally I’m taking it slow and being very patient with myself.  I feel like until my alignment is really 100% straightened out I will probably continue to have achy knees.

To recap, what I have done since my Runner’s Knee diagnosis.

• Took roughly 2 months off from running
• Worked to improve my hip strength and flexibility through targeted exercises and yoga.
• Stayed away from high impact exercises like Zumba, Insanity, or Plyometrics.
• Focused on strength training (for my whole body).
• Slowly working back into running following a running program from my doctor.

So far, it seems to be working, albeit far too slowly for my liking.  I know it takes time to develop the strength to improve my alignment, and it requires diligence.  From my doctor, research, and personal experience – these are the things to keep in mind when returning to running after Runner’s Knee.

1. Take it slowly!  You will not be able to BOOM run exactly how you were running.  And that’s okay.  Be patient and let your body get back into the swing of thing.

2. Continue to work on the root cause.  In my case, my runner’s knee is caused by week outer thigh muscles.  This is causing my knee alignment to be a bit off.   I have continued to work on these muscles even after starting up running again.  The exercises that help most: balance exercises, squats, or leg raises to the side.  Essentially anything that gets a little burn going in the outer thigh.  This is the number one thing to actually fix and lead to a successful recovery.  If you don’t attack the root cause – it will likely not “just fix itself”.

3. Maintain (or gain) a strong core.  Strength training can be a huge tool for runners to build endurance and speed.  I’ve continued to lift weights to remain strong and durable for my runs.

4. Increase mileage slowly.  I’m taking this one to heart and very carefully (and slowly) increasing my distance.  The most I’ve gone so far is 3.5 miles, with this week getting up to 4.5.  I really want to allow my body the chance to acclimate to distances.  No knee freak-outs please.  :)

5. Stay positive.  For me this translates to continuing to do other activities like ChaLean Extreme or Yoga.  If my knees hit another road block, I don’t want to fall into a dark pit of despair.  My positivity is also allowing me to focus on carefully and mindfully train.  I don’t want to get too excited and do some damage!

 

Until I’m back at it 100%, I’ll just keep plugging away at my recovery plan.  My doctor assured me that Runner’s Knee is relatively minor and it is totally possible to fully recover.  But I want to know…do any of you have success stories recovering from Runner’s Knee?

Have a great Tuesday!

-Kelly

Whirlwind Week!

Adam.  Adam.  Adam.  Adam.  Okay… can you tell that Adam has been around lately??  I’ve got Adam on the brain :)  Last week was one of his two blocks of vacation and I soaked it up in all it’s glory!  It was also one of those weeks where I had the time to either blog about not working out, or just work out.  I chose the latter and I must say it was the right call! ;)  I’m on week 4 and still loving ChaLean!  And because I’m still playing catch-up from a crazy weekend (where I played wedding photographer, yeah that’s a funny story for another time)…let’s do a photo time!

Last week consisted of a little…

TUBING!! We spent the weekend at the lake and it was divine.

Exciting times at the lake.

We also managed to squeeze in some wedding planning.  What a delightful ‘vacation’ for Adam :)

Inspired by pinterest we’re going to do photos as a part of our table numbers.

We started collecting the pictures. Let me tell you – hilarious.

We got our first wedding gift!! It’s starting to feel so real :)

I’m also collecting pinecones for my name cards project.  Last week Adam and I went out for a run and stopped in the middle of the forest to gather pinecones.  Then a co-worker of mine ran by, baffled as to what we were doing on a trail collecting pinecones in running clothes.  Anything to save a little money.

Aren’t these just the cutest!?

This morning I ran by a city worker cutting down sticks from a tree near my place.  You can bet your bottom dollar I stopped my run to collect sticks for the reception.  Really all this nature gathering is affecting my runs.  BUT it’s thrilling that I’m able to run!

Happy Monday and here’s to getting back to routine!

Kelly

Strength Training for Women

If you’ve been around here a time or two before, you know I LOVE lifting.  It keeps me strong and has been super helpful keeping my mind off running (or the lack there of).  It hasn’t always been this way though.  I used to be a little cardio monster…pretty much only doing cardio.  I had it in my head that I would bulk up with weights.  Genetically, it seemed completely possible to bulk up, as both my sister and I have always had arms a bit on the thicker side (really helpful in things like tubing behind a boat :)).

When I first started P90X last October, there was always this little bit of fear…am I going to turn into a manly lady?  Not that that’s a bad thing, just not what I’m going for here. Throughout round 1 of P90X, I found myself not bulking up, but actually toning up.  The heavier I lifted, the more it seemed to work and the tighter I got.  By round 2 of P90X I lifted as heavily as I could and guess what?  No evidence of going hulk!  In fact, I loved what the strength training was doing for my body!  As a previous cardio monster, I wondered how I was ever going to get that toned look.  “Come on, I’m running 40 miles a week – shouldn’t that be enough?!”  Well, for me the secret has been strength training.

P90X and ChaLean Extreme are both programs with a heavy focus on strength training.  Meaning we do curls, lateral raises, squats, tricep extensions, and presses – all with weights!  Most of the time I’m fluctuating between 5-15 lbs. per exercise, but this far exceeds my previous days of  my 5 lb. limit: “if I lift over 5 lbs. I will get bulky.”  In my experience, it seems that the only way I would get bulky is if I was trying to: supplements, hormones, or other means.  Amazing.  Mind blown!  (In a good way!)

Inspired by my experience of shattered ideas (that I’ve held for most of my life), I went to the internet to find some support.  Of course I found articles on bodybuilding.com or bodybuilder about the importance of strength training.  But what surprised me was the other locations that touted strength training for women (and training more than just the 2 or 3 lbs. that I thought would get me looking toned).  Discovery Health, the Huffington Post, Prevention, and Shape all had a few articles pop up in seconds, and there are literally hundreds more.  If you’re curious about women weight-lifting you’ll find all that you need in just a couple of clicks.  These were some of the highlights from my research (articles above) that stuck out to me, talk about empowering:

Reasons for Strength Training

• You burn calories after the session.  A study by the Journal of Strength and Conditioning found that up an extra to 100 calories were burned in the 24 hours after a weight-training session.  Take that cardio!
• Bye bye Belly Fat!  A study by the University of Alabama found that women who lifted lost more belly fat than those choosing cardio alone.  Yes please.
• Injury prevention.  The stronger you are, the less prone to injury you will be!
• A stronger core will make you faster (running).  This happened to me, and I was shocked!
• Strength training revs up your metabolism!  Chalene is always saying that we’re waking up our metabolism.  And that’s a great thing!  As she said, “higher metabolism, more food” Yay :)
• Strength training lowers blood pressure for 10-12 hours after the session according to William Haskell at Stanford.  This is one of plethora of health benefits – I’m not even talking vanity.
• Strength training gives you a sculpted, defined look.  Period dot.  My arms didn’t change “size” in measurements during P90X but holy cow did their look change.  Much more toned!
• Lifting weights is excellent for women because it can help with the battle against bone loss.  This is especially crucial to prevent osteoporosis.  Now that I think about it… I should really be talking my mom into this!
• You feel like a champ.  I mean, I feel like a lot of words after a good strength training session.  But let’s just say champ.  Or maybe like Will Smith getting out of the space ship after kicking the alien’s butts in Independence Day.  Yeah, like that.

So if you’ve never considered lifting or strength training, I highly encourage you to give it a go.  It may surprise you, just like it surprised me!

HAPPY FRIDAY!!

-Kelly

Are you a fan of strength training?  What benefits have you found?

Running and Wedding and Wedding, Oh my!

Half-way through the week!  Woot!  Somehow it’s been another busy one, full of lots of wedding planning, ChaLean Extreme (still loving it! :)), and trying to keep my sanity!  I’ve been a bit amazed at how much all this planning and business can be a bit anxiety-provoking at times.  However, I always remind myself that most of the big wedding decisions are complete!

It’s like every week I’m finding new, more irrelevant things to worry about.  Maybe it’s hormonal?  Maybe it’s the nature of big life changes?  Maybe it’s the pressure of planning a large event for all the people that matter in your life? Either way there are moments of extreme wedding planning joy (I love weddings, I can’t wait til January, oh my gosh this will be the best wedding EVER) and other moments of wedding disaster (Adam asking me when I want him to call back and me shouting “I can’t make another decision!!” Lovely.)

Running Updates

But before we get to the wedding stuff, let’s chat a bit about running!  Yes, I did say that 7 letter word!  I started running again, for the first time in a month?  And in June I only ran 2-3 times, so sufficient to say I took a very healthy break to allow my Runner’s Knee to heal up.  Though I don’t feel that I’m 100% miracle cured, I do feel it’s time to get running again.  My doctor gave me a progressing plan for running, and I want to start out with some smaller distances.  Hopefully my hip strength is a bit stronger now and this runner’s knee will give me a break.  I’m going to be patient with it and just try for a few times a week.  Let’s just say the first time back wasn’t pleasant: slow and labored!  It’s amazing how fast conditioning disappears.

I also officially signed up for my next half-marathon!  I know – kind of crazy.  But… there was a super discount if I signed up now, even though I was planning to wait (man am I a sucker for a deal).  And a lot of my friends signed up (total peer pressure).  And I figured – I will walk it if I can’t run.  Which sounds pretty long and unpleasant…let’s hope I don’t have to resort to that :) It’s in three months, so I’ve got time.  Fingers crossed that I’ll slowly, but surely be able to get at it.  Goals for the race?  Run the whole time.  No time, no pace… I will be ecstatic if I can just jog it.  Ecstatic.

Wedding Updates

The Jacket!

Alright…now onto the wedding fun!  This past weekend I was on the hunt with my future mother-in-law for a jacket of sorts for my wedding dress.  Because I’m getting married in January, I want something to cover my sleeves during the ceremony.  I just don’t want to look freezing!  The good news: I found the perfect one.  The bad news:  I can’t show you until January!  But, I’ll compromise and show you some of the runner ups :)

Note: not my dress, just a random one at a shop. Sadly, this lovely jacket did not win! First runner-up.

Again not my dress – random one in random shop. But, this jacket was edged out due to itchy lace and cost. 2nd Runner-Up.

The Decorations!

Decorations have been moving along quite nicely as well.  A great friend of mine is letting me borrow lots of her decorations from her wedding (and her 2 sisters, convenient).  The vases, overlays, and fake flower are beautiful – and FREE!  I will supplement the things I’ve been loaned and purchase a few new things like more blue bottles, fake snow, and some lights.  Not a bad deal at all.  When I sent out the “Hey do you guys have anything weddingish sitting around?” request to my friends, I was overwhelmed at how much people were willing to loan and help.  I’d definitely recommend reaching out to those close to you before buying everything!

Starting to mock-up some of my decorations! Everything in this picture was borrowed from a friend (except the frame).

Found these awesome frames for ONE DOLLAR at Ikea. I’ll put either table numbers or the menu/thank you/itinerary in here. They are double sided too! One per table.

My dream centerpiece on Pinterest. Just lovely! We aren’t budgeting enough for decorations to do flowers (aren’t these amazing??), but I LOVE the fake snow in this centerpiece. Looks so wintery and classy! I’m going to try some fake snow with my donated centerpieces.

Time with Adam!

And last but not least, Adam is on vacation next week!!!  I can hardly contain my excitement.  Due to his residency he gets three weeks off a year: 1 one-week block and 1 two-week block.  His 1 week is next week, and his 2 weeks is our wedding.  And that’s it until next July!  It has certainly made scheduling tricky.  Adam is coming up to Indy (exotic vacation right?), and we’ll split our time with relaxing/visiting family and wedding planning. I. Cant. Wait.  It will be amazing.  Ah-mazing.  Hopefully Adam will be wildly impressed with my self-sufficient skills I’ve developed.

And last – a big THANK YOU to those of you that commented on my photographers blog!  We just received our prize:  a beautiful large print of our choice.  It’s gorgeous!  THANK YOU for helping us get it!!  Makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside.

I surprised Adam with a trip down to Nashville and the beautiful print! Can’t wait to hang it up!

Have a wonderful Wednesday!

Kelly

Which jacket did you like best?  Do you have any wedding stuff you want me to take off your or hands or borrow from you? :)

ChaLean Week 1 Complete!

Happy Monday!  I’m excited to start my second week of ChaLean Extreme.  And when I say excited, no sarcasm here.  I am truly excited to keep at it.  Perhaps I’m still in the honeymoon stage, but I am seriously loving ChaLean (and Chalene :)).  Since I already gave you all the reasons I like it so far, I thought I’d share a bit of the schedule and type of workouts I completed this first week.

The first 30 days (of 90) is the Burn phase.  Each phase is 30 days and has a different focus (Burn, Push, Lean). I’m only assuming that each of the workouts reflect this focus.  I’ve definitely been feeling the burn with this first week!  There has been a big focus on lifting (heavy weight) and combination strength training.  Another nice thing about this program: 2 rest days a week!  This is perfect if you’re like me and enjoy variety.  I plan to do stretching or yoga on my days off to mix it up.

ChaLean Extreme Schedule:

Monday: Burn Circuit 1

• This workout is about 35 minutes long (awesome!) and starts off with a nice warm-up.  I used 5, 8, 10, and 15 lbs. throughout the video doing squats, curls, and presses.  I probably could’ve gotten by with less variety in weight, but I have them so might as well use them! I was sweating by the end of it and really liked each of the exercises.  Throughout the video there was always a low-impact option (which I always took).

Tuesday: Rest Day!

Wednesday: Burn Circuit 2

• Similar to Burn Circuit 1, this one is about 35 minutes long and focuses on lifting.  Many exercises had similar moves to circuit 1 and a similar lay-out – but it didn’t feel repetitive to me.  Again – another thoroughly enjoyable workout!

Thursday: Burn Intervals and Ab Burner

• What a fun little change!  The heavy weights were gone in this workout, instead focusing on reps.  I used much lighter weights (I don’t think I went over 5lbs), but we did about a billion reps.  I sweat a lot and loved the upbeat feel of this one.  This day is a bit longer with Ab Burner (10 minutes).  I think I was working out for about 50 minutes total?

Friday: Burn Circuit 3

• Back to heavy weights for this one!  More squats, push-ups, and curls.  A similar style to circuit 1 and 2, but again a nice new variety.  Loved it.  Around 30 minutes?  (Clearly I should’ve paid more attention!)

Saturday: Burn it Off and Recharge!

• Made up of two different segments, this workout was more about cardio.  We did some classic plyo moves and a few with some light weights.  Again, there was always an option for low-impact with I always took.  Fun and energetic, I enjoyed the variety.  The recharge element consisted of yoga-like stretching.  This was the longest day or tied with Intervals, at maybe 45-50 minutes.

Sunday: Rest Day

Progress So Far:

Call me crazy, but I feel like I’m already getting results!  Yes, they are very minor…but I am feeling stronger and healthier.  I’m watching my diet more closely and even attempting to cook!  It’s amazing what really clean eating can do.  I feel more toned and can’t wait to see actual results.  I think my results of this week are more a mental thing – I’m just feeling great!

This is real life. I actually made this. BY MYSELF! Egg whites, peppers, soy sausage on a whole wheat tortilla. I’m fancy.

This week I’m taking it to the next level with pre-chopped bags of veggies to add to my egg whites. Extreme fancy.

After upping my calories to around 1500-1600 calories I’m in a much happier place.  It seems to be a more doable amount of calories for my size and activity level.  I’m not quite as angry :)  I’ve decided to continue to use the MFP app to track my food during the week.  With this program I’m giving myself the weekends off – at least from strict tracking.  Honestly tracking your food is hard work, and allowing myself a bit of a break will hopefully allow me to return each Monday refreshed to track again.  I’m still planning to eat well on the weekends, just not quite as intensely! This weekend I attended a bridal shower and enjoyed some of the tasty yumminess as a treat. :)  During P90X I allowed myself treats around once a week and this strategy seemed to work well.  Everything in moderation!

Working on drinking more water. I even added these fancy cut limes to the water. Are you noticing a fancy trend?

I feel like I’m just gushing about this program, sorry for the annoying enthusiasm about it – but I have just been so happy with it.  It could also be a rainbow of happiness just to have a program I can follow again that I enjoy, and that my knees will allow!  My heart is just happy to be working out again!

Kelly