Journey to Fitness 9

Today is going to be full of pics and results and new things I have been trying out! Tons of things to see. First pic:

I earned my orange lanyard and I finally got my T shirt!
I haven't been following the calendar I set up in JTF 8 but I'll show you what I've been doing and explain my calendar.

So this is what I've been doing.  I cut out a lot of workouts just because I'm not giving myself any true rest days.  Koko is the Koko Fitclub I've been doing and I promised the "Shred" and as you can see I've done it everyday so far.  6.7 - 6.13 I did workout 1. on 6.14 I tried workout 2 and on the 15th I did workout3. The last 3 days I did work out 2.  It does get a little easier as you get stronger but it's still kicking my hiney! I've been also including dance cardio xbox zumba and some dance dvds.  I needed more variety and I'm getting burned out but I keep reminding myself of the kind of body I want and that's been motivating me but it's hard.

Next I've been doing the "green smoothie" GS on the calendar.  I've gotten lazy a bit and well I haven't done it in about a week.  

I don't think a blender does quite a good job of making them but it's ok.  It will clear you out and you will notice some odd things like sore throat, kind of weak feeling and it's all because your body is ridding the toxins in your body. I also did more kale than called for and I didn't use any sweetener.  I didn't notice much but the bathroom was my new best friend... I may go back but use kale instead of spinach.
After these results I'll have links to images but will post the last results to the current.  I may do once a month compare start and current images.  

Ok so now the results... well it's only been 17 days since June 2nd... 
                    June 2, 2013                      June 19th - week before mens.

 Neck:           15.25 in                             15 in

Shoulder:       47 in                                 46 in

Chest:            43 in                                 42.5 in

Rib Cage:      37 in                                  37 in

Waist:            41 in                                  39.75 in

Hips:              46 in                                  44 in

Left Leg:        26 in                                  27.5 in

Right Leg:      25.5in                                 28 in

Left Arm:       12.75 in                              12.75 in

Right Arm:      13 in                                   12.5 in

Weight:            202lbs                                208lbs
 Images:
         March 29                         to                           May 17                   and now                      June 19

                                                                                       
                                                                                                                                                                      Keep up the good work and let me know if I can motivate or help in anyway...    
-J                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        

Journey to Fitness 8

Hi,
3 days til end of school for the 2012 - 2013 year and 4 days til I am off for Summer Break! Yay!!! Why am I sharing? Well...... I've made a workout schedule for myself.  Yes busy as a bee! So as the days come through I can check off what I completed.  Looks like every other sat will be my result day. Strength test on the 5th so I'll post those results and maybe pics  side by side 3 in a row or something. I'll always show before and after on any major day weather strength test or results.

Very busy it will be this month! I have also added the 30 day Shred to my work outs and I'm also thinking on Yes, Jillian will be the go to for 30 and then I don't know if I will go to another workout video.  I'll review them as I complete them.   I will load pics on results day and share inches lost.  I don't have a goal but to be stronger, more toned and the numbers to go down. With all this workout though? Something's gotta give!   Most recent pictures are on Journey to Fitness 5  -5/17/2013
Wish me luck!

Journey to fitness 7

Hope your day has gone well.  I wanted to show you guys somethings: I am doing the diabetes workout and I wanted to share with you the Koko Fuel:  I don't have a meal plan.  I've asked before about the info and the trainer was going to look into it but I haven't found out anything other than there isn't a meal plan unlike the other programs possibly because Koko may be expecting a nutritionist that a diabetic may go to
would set up a meal plan.  Just to let you know this isn't the case for me.  I have gone to a nutritionist and found it to be useless and the meal plan Koko has, is not really helpful.  I've been using My Fitness Pal app and logging my food and workouts.  The way I do it is whatever I can input I do for my cals burned and eaten.  The MFP is just a rough guideline for me to know how much I'm taking in and burning and it helps me become aware of habits.  Like I've said before I'm not perfect, I do eat drive thru and junk food but I do try to take in veggies and protein.  Finally the images below are from my portal and they are there to show you what you will look at when you have your access. I have just erased part of my name but all the info is true as you would see it.  Please know that I am putting images that are just to give you a feel of what you will see and yours will be different from mine. Thanks for stopping by and please leave me your comments if you have questions.

This is small but I'm just letting you see what you may find on your screen  when you have access to your portal.

(image no longer - copyright)

This is just to show you my workout points.

(image no longer - copyright)

Journey to fitness 6

I have finally gotten 100% Pace and 1000 points = T-shirt!






























It was a hard workout but not sore.  I did the elliptical and kept up the pace.  I think I get a better work out on that anyway.
I'm still going at it.  I'm finding that sadly my workouts at Koko are getting mundane and I need a change.  This caused me to try to do my xbox during my off days.  I'm still working out all the scheduling for workouts as I'm trying to do more than days allot.   Last week I worked at Koko on Sun and Tues and Mon I did bootcamp and then on Wed I did a light workout on xbox and then I just stopped Thurs - Sat.  Sunday, today I finally went back to Koko and got the "Perfect Workout".. Last time I thought I did but they said no I didn't have 1000 points.  I was upset and the lady said oh no you will get it just keep working at it.  I said oh I probably won't ever get it! It was a rough week with changes at work and then not really giving my body a break, not getting enough sleep and having Aunt Flo visit didn't help.  Anyway, now that I got the points and hopefully the shirt there's nothing to really strive for except the lanyards and well those you get just for working out so many times.  So at this point the workouts for me are stale and I need a huge change.  I may just drop Koko for a little while but the hard thing is I'm paying for it. I don't know I need some inspiration. 

Journey to Fitness 5

Yay! I got 100% which means I had a perfect workout but alas no one was working the desk at the fitness club :( I got to share my moment with a nice lady at the club and so I hope her workout went well.  It's so bad that I can't remember her name but thank you for being there for me in happenstance. It's been quite some time since I've last journal-ed.  So just to fill you guys in.  I have been working on my weight loss since March 25th.  I want to control my diabetes (2) with food and exercise.  I've been drinking a lot of water, stopped a lot of soda though I still have a diet coke or dr. pep once in a while but other than that I am not really changing much of my eating habits which is not great but I have been logging them on My Fitness Pal app and I find myself working out to burn cals. to be able to eat what I want, though it's not always a healthy food choice. So here's some results I've been wanting to share:
I had my strength test:
8% strength gain! - Koko
Weight loss: 8 lbs - my home scale
waist inches: 3.5 - "Biggest Loser"

What I've been doing:
Koko, Xbox Zumba Rush and Zumba ABS/Core and Dance Central 1-3 Just started the "Biggest Loser 8 Week Challenge" at my apt.
I'm finding the Bat wings and lots of cellulite as I am losing the weight.
Apps I've been using:
Fooducate and Myfitnesspal to log my food. Ptracker (girl stuff) , Map my walk.
Wish to have:
Amiigo when it comes out!
Amiigo.com
 I didn't notice my body changes til I looked at these pictures and this is what I got.
**update** I didn't get the t shirt and was downer about the whole thing.  I was bitter and well I had lady stuff going on so I apologize to Koko manager for my behavior. 

Before                                                                                                 After

Journey to Fitness 4

It's been a long while since I've written.  I got some exciting news.  Yesterday I went to do my workout and wouldn't you know it I did extremely well.  I was able to keep up on the treadmill arms pumping the whole time.  I was also able to get 100% on all but the last 3 exercises, but the very last exercise I ended with 100%! Almost a perfect 100 on the smart trainer.  So I've been doing a few things different lately and I wanted to share with you.  I have been trying to eat even better than before.  I've been downing more water, and I've been eating salads, sandwiches, and on weekends I've worked out and also I allow myself to have what I want but typically I can't finish my meals. Trust me I'm a big eater!!!! The other thing I've started is a food log which I know I know everyone says it's what you are supposed to do.  Well I think it's great and all and now I understand why people want the nutritional counts on the menu. I am against the nutritional facts on the menu because if you are that  conscientious then you should be cooking your own food.  That is what I believe even though it may be easier to track if it was there for you.  I think if restaurants have the right to choose what they can and can't  put on their menus, should not be state governed.  Sugar drinks in theater and popcorn and all the junk is what made the movies fun.  You have the right to not buy those things.  I do think that theaters should offer healthier choices should the customer want something but again you as a customer have a right to just not go.  I digress, I have started myfitnesspal app on my android and while it's tough sometimes to find certain things and to upload what you eat I find it interesting how it graphs how you eat, what you eat and how much you are allotted to get to your weight goal.  It also has encouraged me to keep going to Koko.  So I am guessing by the the end of April I will do a before and after.  I've got a long way to go but I want to show that you can see a physical progress, which as slow as it may seem I feel a little bit is just the start of attacking something bigger. I'm not perfect in the way I am doing this and I am not amazing at what I am doing but I have started and hope that this inspires others and I know this is the way I can hold myself accountable for those days I think "not today".... I also want to encourage you, and give you a perspective I haven't found on any other blog with someone doing Koko.  I hope this gives you inspiration, and if this helps you to choose to Koko fantastic if not well I hope you will find something that works for you.

Just a tip

Hi all, just a heads up, if you are a diabetic and you decide to go to a nail salon make sure you tell them ahead of time. If the nail technician says " oh we have all vegan products" in response you may want to stop and go elsewhere.  They may also nip you on accident and that would be bad! I recently had this experience though I did not put it in my review of a place but I assure you this would be ideal to check on!

Journey to fitness 3

Here I go again today.... I think I am improving in some places... I am working these next 3 and I'll hopefully get to start my Fuel plan!

Journey to fitness 2

3/30 workout: Image is no longer -copyright

Hello... I went again today! Yay! So how did I do? Well, I tried the treadmill and that was a new experience.  I need practice with it but I did go to a ramp of 5 and stayed about 1-3.5 I tried to keep up but man I can't do well.  I accomplished finally 1 mile and I burned more cals than yesterday.  I got to try new things on the weight it's taking some getting used to.  I've maintained the 90% + and got a few 100% but I failed miserably the triceps pulls and the bicep curl bar thing.  For some reason the machine loved going back and forth on those for the last 2 exercises.  So far I'm still pumped. I'm not sure if I am going tomorrow since it's Easter and I've felt I've been going consistently but Monday will be a definite.  I'll keep posting as long as I am going.  I think it's my way of holding myself to it.

Journey to fitness

March 25th was my birthday.  I just turned 38.  I have realized the changes I need to make in my life. I am diabetic 2 and tired of the pills and being told while it's lowering I'm not doing enough. I also look at pictures and I find I shy away from cameras best I can.  So here you go my basic stats.  So I will try to post pics.  I'm not sure if I want to do a month to month or what right now but I will post them.
Age: 38
Weight: 210
Ht: 5'3
waist:46
Diabetic2: Metformin, Actos, Tricor.  I'll post my A1c when I get my results I hope to go in by summer...

I tried Koko fitclub:
Club was clean, small and easy to get around.  The idea is to have a personal trainer with out having one and to get in and out quick but never be bored.  There is 15 min cardio and about 20 min of weight training.  I had a groupon for $19 you get 12 session, they offered me a better deal and I accepted.

Today, March 29th is my first day of Koko. Today I will actually sign up, and officially join.  I hope you will follow me on my journey.  My ups and downs and through this I hope you will find inspiration. I've got to go but I will be back in about an hour to follow up and post my before Koko pic and share myself a little more. 

So I just came back from the 1st day.  I did a fit check and while it was a lot I feel pretty good.  I go back in tomorrow for my 1st day of actual work out and I will continue to post.

3/29/13 before

3/29/13 before

3/29/13 before

My Porta: Former image is no longer due to copyright.

Stab stitch binding!

This is the first book I bound hard cover with notebook paper  and hard cover covered with a fabric material! The tutorial for this was on youtube.  There were a lot of different videos but the best one was blueheronarts.  I found it to be most useful to watch but almost all the "japanese Stab Stitch binding" videos were good too.  Good luck if you give it a try.

My plates got stolen and I didn't know what to do.  Luckily I got my registration renewal, we looked for their number.  They make it very very hard to find however we did.  Mind you we are in Texas so you may need to know your laws, but going in blindly, we contacted them.  They will request for your sticker and plate that remain if you had any plates on your car.  Mine were both stolen and I had a back plate with a different plate on it with ugly old bolts that were not mine.  Tip: learn and check your plates! After calling them I then reported to the police and they will ask name, address, when you last remember seeing your plates.  I didn't notice cause I didn't drive my car often.  I noticed today simply because the front plate was gone and the back looked weird to me. Sooner you catch it the better. The police will not need the plates but it's always better if they can have it and it won't hurt since the County Office may not really need it to issue new plates.  So now what? If you live in an apt let your apt office know what's going on so that they may be aware.  Put your new plates and sticker on the car. It's 6 bucks for you to get new plates and I went a bit further and got new bolts with special tool to take the screw off and on.  Financially it's not really worth it but it may save you the headache of having to deal with all these things.  Oh if you have toll tags you may need to contact them and let them know what happened.  Keep your case number with you just in case. Hope this helps if you get in a bind.

Update: as much as I would have loved to have used these my car did not have big enough holes. I went to pepboys to get some fasteners and they gave me personal one on one help with getting the plates installed.  The manager said however that if your plates are going to be taken it will no matter how much security  you try to put on the plates.  He said it's easy to just snap the plates off with a big pull and they wouldn't care about the damage that happened to your car.  So just know that no matter how safe you want to be it could happen.

FOOD? DOG TOY? BOTH? WHAT?

Here is just a snap shot of what I have made these last few days while I was waiting for my computer to get fixed. All the dog toys have squeakers in them.  It was fun to make and a wonderful "thank you" gift for watching our dog while we went out of town for the weekend.  My friend enjoyed them. If you want to know I got patterns out of Yummi' Gurummi and Tasty Crochet. I'll post more projects as I make more.

Handmade box with paw print as serving tray.

Dog  Toy Sushi: tamago, eel, salmon, cucumber roll, futomaki, and wasabi and ginger

Dog toy: Chicken leg

cork screw for a friend's luggage tag

Homemade Onion Pancake: Chinese Snack

I have a special additional post today.  I was asked to post the recipe for this scrumptious food that brings me back to when I was a little girl!  Onion Pancake can be found in the Asian Markets frozen food section and typically eaten when you have Jook or Congee soup.  I wanted some Jook but I didn't have anything to go with it but living in Texas who doesn't have tortillas and eggs? So here's what I did.
bowl big enough to fit a tortilla or a deep plate
frying pan
spatula
butter
3 eggs
2-3 stalks of green onions
dash of garlic powder
dash of seasalt
dash or few twists of pepper
Tortillas

Heat up pan and cut a pad of butter in pan,
In the bowl  mix eggs, chopped up green onion, garlic powder, seasalt, and pepper.
Then dip the tortilla  in the mixture and  once melted butter has glazed the pan put tortilla down
Put some of the egg and onion mixture on top and then take another tortilla and dip in egg mixture
place on top of the tortilla already in the pan and press on the edge of the tortilla til sealed and flip.
If it puffs up it's ok, once flipped it will deflate and grow again.
Once it's a golden brown place on paper towel and use scissors to cut them.
Enjoy!

Sun-Activation Polish and Stamping

It's summer and it's time for some nail color fun!  I discovered Blaze by Solar Active last year and enjoyed all the color changing fun.  I also discovered the idea of nail stamping by Konad, I loved the nail art you get and it's easy to do.  This year I also found that you can use xanthan gum (xg) to thicken your polishes if they are too runny but most importantly it's useful when you are stamping and don't want to pay for the "special" stamping polish.  Just to let you guys know this is not a tutorial on how these products work. If you are interested you can do a search on all these ideas and products on youtube or the companies.  This is just to show what I did and keep in mind you can do the same with different colors and stamps and the like.  I just already had these colors on my nails from a mani/pedi I  had done and it was ready to chip. So the companies:
Konad.com- stamping stuff ( amazon sells other companies too however Konad seems to be better than other brands.)
Essie.com- This is just polish
Xanthan gum - Thicken polish:  can go to a specialty health store ie: whole foods, or sun harvest, central market
Sally Hansen- nail polishes - combined to form one color
Blazenailpolish.com- uv (sun) changing polish

So here's what I got: one hand was in the sun the other hidden and this was a huge color difference of my nails: left was in the sun and the right was hidden from the sun.
Here's how I did it:

You know how I said I had a mani? Well I was playing with my stamping and messed up the polish so then I grabbed my own stuff and re-polished my nails.  Sally's double duty  and then essie fifth avenue, and then topped off with sally hansen's top coat. 

While it was semi drying I mixed Sally Hansen's polishes a version of silver :220, 22, 230 and mixed in some xanthan gum (to a thick consistency) for stamping (bottle with the blue lid).

Took the Konad stamper and stamped an image (put polish on image, scrape excess and roll motion over the image and then place on nail).

Then I covered with the blaze polish since it goes on clear and then turns black in the sun.  So in the end the nails will go from design to black out and it's just an interesting look.
Hope this finds you well.  Sorry it's not a tutorial but if you want let me know and I can go over steps if you like. Enjoy!

Water, Water, Quench the Hot Days of Summer!



 I appologize for errors in grammar and spelling. It's late night and stupid netbooks not responding well. I can't wait for my computer to come back.




So water is water and there's not really anything too interesting about it. When you need something cold nothing beats ice cold water. Lately, I've been making spa waters. I have been basically tossing all sorts of fruit and herbs to liven up the water and get some good vitamins and minerals and well it couldn't hurt after all almost everyone is adding lemons to their water. Lemons are great and all, but it kinda gets a bit old. Let's face it, if we infuse so many things why not with water? So without further a do here's two waters I've made:

 1st is something that's been online and is a clense: Spa Cleanse water or water to loose belly fat: ginger, lemon, cucumbers, mint.  This helps appearently with belly fat but I think if you look at each of the ingredients you will find that there's more benefits than just belly fat. I found after a day of drinking this, I wasn't really hungry, skin looked much better and overall it was not a bad drink. Looking online for health benefits I found that:

Cucumbers - cools blood, lowers blood pressure, cleanse kidney, improve skin and purifies bowels, helps

                      with digestion.

Lemon - High in vitamin C, B, phosphorus, helps with swollen gums, colds, fights rheumatism

Ginger - Fights colon cancer, helps with morning, and motion sickness, reduce pain and inflamation,

                heartburn relief, fight cold and flu, migraines, menstral cramp and helps prevent diabetic

                nephropathy (kidney damage)

Mint - brightens teeth, freshens breath, helps keep you awake, eliminates toxins, bacteria, fungus, rid

            headaches and migrains

Raspberry - antioxidant, anti microbial, potential to inhibit cancer cells

Blackberry - fights obesity, also antioxidant, reduces risk of intestinal disease, high fiber, fights heart

                     disease, improve eye sight and helps with diabetes.

2nd water was Spa water: raspberry, blackberry, mint, ginger, lemons.  This water was just one of those things you look at and think what would sound good together.  I also like that the berries give a different feel to the water.  I hope you enjoy the waters and take time to look up different fruits and herbs you can mix and get health benefits from it all.  Enjoy it all! I'll post more waters as I start making more.

  



BP happened in my trunk (oil spill)

So the other day I had an oil spill in the trunk of the car.  Almost a full container spilled. Through lots of drying, washing and headaches.  Through searching online I have not found an exact cleaning method that suited me. I have tried so many different ways and I finally got it mostly clean and luckily it was a removable trunk insert! So how do you get oil out the carpeted trunk? Well here goes:
1. You can try to get cat litter and try to rub out all the excess oil which helps. 
     Pour cat litter on the liner and rub with hand across the soiled area to get it to soak the oil.
2. Take it to the car wash and use some dawn along with maybe a degreaser.
     Scrub the insert as the car soap is pumping out and then use the power washer to get it out. 
3. let it hang dry or dry in the sun.

If it's still greasy which I have found this to be the case go to day 2:
1. Get a stain remover special for cars, usually it has a scrubber on the lid.
     shake, spray and scrub.
2.  Blot dry with towels or you can wait for it to dry and vacumm.
      I blotted and let it dry in the sun.
3.  Touch to find greasy spots  which it still does have some but for the most part it is cleaned off.  I plan to try it again for a final time. 

Should you need to use your trunk after this I would suggest to get a trunk liner and see if that may protect things you place in your trunk.  Good luck!

30 ways in 30 days Hair Challenge

I just finished 30 ways in 30 days: Here's 30 ways to do hair that is shoulder length (barely). No heat or hairspray, just hair bands, headbands, pins and curl formers which I love!!! They just give you the ribbon like curls and holds pretty much all day! These styles were 10 min or less in the morning so no time to perfect but it does give you an idea of where I was going with the style.  Hope you have fun doing these too!

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