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Showing posts from January, 2017

Crush The Sugar Cravings With Dark Chocolate

If you struggle with sugar like I do, and if the thoughts of cutting it out makes you break out in hives, I do have some tips that might help. First of all, I admit I'm still struggling with moderation. In fact, I'm planning on cutting sugary junk snacks ( except for dark chocolate ) for the next couple of weeks. Why? Because I'm drinking way too sugary drinks, eating too many donuts, candy bars and other sugary snacks. Sigh.. I know. But you know what, it's a journey, and it's a learning process. And, it can also be fun to experiment and find out what does or does not work. So, I'm not discouraged. I'm learning, and learning to me is progress. So, I reset, and then find my moderation. I can do this, and you can too if it's your desire to do so. And what I found when I cut out sugar last time ( How I'm Going To Overcome Sugar Addiction ) was that after a couple of days I really did crave dark chocolate. No seriously, it was bad. I tried a magne

Confession Friday The Scale And Me

I put off going to the doctor for 6 months to a year. Why? Because I didn't want to weigh on the scale. Wait a minute, hear me out. I didn't want to weigh on the scale because I was afraid that the doctor would say something to me about me weight. But after being close to a year late for my gynecological exam, I knew that I needed to go. It was silly not to get regular check-ups because of my being afraid the doctor would harp on my weight. So last January, I went. And.. yep... the first thing he asked me was was I still running? I had gained about 20lbs in a year. The weight needed to come off. I was considered overweight now and the comments went on and on. I left the office feeling dejected. And I vowed to lose the weight. I was going to do this. And I did.... for the most part.. I dropped down to the 111 or so range.. still above my 105 but still a loss. And I was miserable and obsessed and began hiding to binge eat ( no I didn't purge or develop bulimia, but I di

The Workout Of The Week Is Physical Therapy

And before you blow off this post as something not beneficial because you aren't injured, stay with me here. These are great core/hip/glute exercises that physical therapy has started having me do. Each session we are adding more, but I thought I'd share with you the ones that I am doing so far. We started with wall squats . I've haven't done these in years ( hmmmm... maybe that's why I'm in physical therapy with an injury ) (No, this is not me at physical therapy, but me practicing at home)

What To Do When You Are Side-lined By Injury

Step 1, grab a spoon. Step 2, grab a gallon of ice cream and find a comfy spot ... just kidding . Although I admit this briefly sounded like a good idea. But since I'm trying not to stress eat, well we all know this isn't the solution. As most of you know, I've found myself on the injured list again. ( Why You Need To Listen To Your Body ). And with each injury, I learn something new. This time, it's my hip, but it stems from underlying problems. My back and pelvis are out of whack which is usually the result of poor form along with weak muscles. And honestly, I'm tired of finding myself here. If I know that my muscles are weak, then I should work to make sure they get strong. So with this injury, I'm determined to make some changes.

6 Useful Photo Editing Apps For Social Media

This is by no means a comprehensive list. In fact, if you know of an awesome app, please leave me a comment below. But since I am a blogger, and I am very active on social media, I do use several apps to help me edit and create pictures. And even if you aren't a blogger or a social media fanatic, these apps ( in my opinion ) are still great for personal use to create great photos. So let's get started....

It's All About Perspective

If you are waiting for my weekly weigh-in, it's probably not going to happen. I don't want to step on the scale. Because the hard cold reality is that number dictates my mood. A number on a metal box will either make me feel happy or sad or a little of both. And I don't want to give that number that kind of control. And I'm currently not looking at measurements either or exactly how my clothes fit. Because the truth there is that they aren't loose or falling off of me. They are however fitting me different. And when I look in the mirror I am seeing a stronger version of myself. I'm seeing tiny muscles emerge that weren't there before. I feel strong. And I'm starting to see confidence... which is something that I have lacked for most of my life. But I still have problems with perspective. I posted a picture of me on instagram,

Why You Need To Listen To Your Body

I had a nagging ache, and I thought it might be more than just soreness. But the truth is, I ignored it. I ignored the something doesn't feel right feeling. I pushed through. And time and time again, I pushed through. I suppose I started having a few issues when I had my freak accident last year with the neighbor's dog. ( When The Unexpected Happens )  Things have felt off since then, like my body is just twisted. I've always had issues with my pelvis being rotated, and I knew that was an ongoing issue. But this week after a particular faster treadmill run, I had pain in my left hip. Not just tenderness, but I was feeling pain. I did back off slightly with exercise, but you'll notice I said slightly . Yesterday, I hopped on the treadmill for a 2 mile run. I felt the hip, but I didn't really feel pain until around mile 1.80. And of course I didn't stop. I mean, I could make it to 2 miles right? And I did, but I hobbled off of the treadmill. I knew then

My Weekly Recap 1/13/17

I was thinking of a way that I could sum up this week, and I decided to try my hand at creating a video. This is my first one... So, for your viewing pleasure... ( please watch, I worked hard on it  LOL ) .... enjoy... I would love to hear how your week went, so drop me a line in the comments section .

The Workout Of The Week Is Push-ups

I hate them... no.. I really really really really hate push-ups. I guess the reason I hate them is because they are so hard for me. But if you've read my previous post ( How I'm Learning To Do a Pull-up ) then you know that I want to be able to do a pull-up by my birthday in March. So that means I'm going to have to get stronger. And one way to do that is with push-ups. Doing a simple google search on push-ups will give you list after list of websites telling you how beneficial push-ups can be. The cliff notes version is that they work your entire body, they help build core strength, can help with balance, and help build and define muscle. Oh, and they are easy to modify. When I start losing form, I drop to my knees. Another benefit about push-ups is there are so many different types that you can do. To make things more challenging you can always use a stability ball or a bosu ball. I also use my Plyo Box and do decline push-ups. And if you really want to get into

How I'm Learning To Do A Pull-up

Back in the fall, I got a pull-up bar from Target. I've wanted to do a pull-up forever, and I was a little intimidated trying at the gym. So, one day when Lil Man and I were out shopping, I decided to pick one up so I could start working on pull-ups at home. I had NOOOOOOOO idea they would be so hard to do ha. So I put the bar up, got a stool for support and tried to do one. Not only could I not even pull myself up, I couldn't even hold myself up. I mean... not even for a second. So I started out with my foot on the top of the stool/chair and used it for support. Then I started working on doing a hang where basically you start at the top and try to hold yourself. Like I said, when I stared I couldn't even hold myself. This was me in September after a couple of weeks of working on just holding myself up.

The Truth Is I Usually Don't Fit

The truth is... I'm not like everyone else... I'm not. I never have been, and I never will be. And sometimes that leaves me a little sheltered, sometimes broken, because I tend to take things a little too personal and serious. This week it was pinterest. Yep, pinterest. Pinterest had me in tears. Why?

8 Tips To Keep You Running In The Winter

Finally we have been getting a little snow here and there in Pennsylvania. I run year round, but Winter running does require a little more thought sometimes. Here are 8 Winter Running Tips to help you with your winter running.

It Doesn't Have To Be A New Year For New Beginnings

Are you a resolutions kind of person? I used to be, but then realized I didn't keep most of them. Or I put too much pressure on myself to try to change too many things at once. If you make resolutions - great - do whatever works for you. But I'd like to add that it doesn't have to be a new year, or a new month, a new week or even a new day to decide to to make a change. For so many years I told myself "I'll start tomorrow... Monday... next week.. whatever excuse ( because for me personally that's what it was ) that I could try to validate. "I'm going to eat the rest of this bag of candy, and once it's gone I'm going to eat healthier." And that my friends is how I started binge eating.