my facebook post explained…

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Yesterday morning, I made a confession to all of you on Facebook. For those few sane people out there that are not on Facebook(I like fb but I think we can all probably agree there are both positives and negatives to it), here is what I posted:

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(side note – I do post various messages/tips on Facebook that you may not see here on the blog so you are invited to “like” and follow me on Facebook too!) :)

Let me start by saying – oh did it feel great to be in the gym yesterday. I am one of those people that if my day starts well, I’m more likely to stay on track throughout the rest of the day. But, I DO have an excuse for missing the gym since Thursday!! My LEO left on a two week work trip on Saturday morning…boo hoo! A 5 day work trip I can handle but 2 weeks…2 weeks?!! Some of you are saying, “Well Kirsten, all the more reason to get your tush to the gym to get your mind off your LEO being gone” and I wouldn’t disagree with you one bit! But that didn’t happen, instead, I basically threw myself a pity party on Saturday and Sunday. I basically laid in my recliner and watched TV the entire weekend and left my house a total of three times: 1) to go to one of my volunteer commitments which I followed up with a Starbucks drink and three vanilla bean petite scones, 2) I went to a movie in which I consumed a small popcorn with butter, 3) Went to pick up a Papa Murphy’s pizza…but it was a thin crust…does that make it better?!

Many moons ago, I used to have bigger food binges than this. Many of those close to me actually may not know that I used to be a frequent binger (no purging though) and then feel horrible about myself for a week following. Do I feel guilty and horrible about myself because of the choices I made this weekend?? No, not really actually – it is what it is and I’m right back at it. And let’s be honest, I enjoyed consuming the popcorn and pizza on Saturday and Sunday even though my tummy wasn’t too happy with me afterward.

We all have our weaknesses, we all (or most of us) indulge once in a while…it’s not worth beating yourself up over though!(who wants to go out in public with a self-induced black eye anyway? that would be tough to explain to your friends!) Just get back on track! Those indulgences or binges will be less and less frequent and maybe one day, I’ll binge on broccoli or something…haha, yeah right!

How do you handle food temptations? Do you indulge/binge?

Tiny Tip Tuesday ~ it’s ok that we all have different goals

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One of our couple friends met us down in Puerto Vallarta for part of the week we were there. (btw, I kind of adore this couple – in a non-creepy sort of way – I seriously wished we lived closer to each other – and I’m not just saying that because I know they occasionally read this blog but because I truly mean it – it is ALWAYS a fab time with these two!) ;)

Today’s post is related to this Tiny Tip Tuesday post but takes it a tiny step further ~>

While in Puerto Vallarta, I was chatting with the Mrs. one evening about eating/exercising/etc while our LEO’s were out getting us pizza. (<~haha!  how ironic, right?!)  It became very clear, and I think we both outright said it to each other…our fitness/health goals are different.  As you all know, I want muscles muscles muscles and this is not the Mrs. goal, which is totally cool!  I think it’s important to recognize we all have different goals and not place judgement on or degrade others because their goals are different.(which, by the way, neither me or the Mrs. were placing judgement during this conversation!)  YOU are the only person that can determine what your goals should be or need to be.  Generally speaking, I think I can confidently say I would encourage my friends/family to have an active lifestyle and think about what they are eating…bottom line is that I want you all on this earth as long as possible so I can enjoy your wonderful company!  I’ll help and encourage you where I can but you have to figure out what your goals are!

Don’t get me wrong, I see pictures on the internet of women in the bodybuilding industry and think, “I hope I never look like.”  BUT I know that specific look is not my goal and I’m not working toward that goal.  It’s not about what someone looks like but it IS about recognizing the dedication and commitment it takes for all of us to meet our goals.  For example, my goal was to grow my biceps/arms during James Wilson’s program(see this post for my results) but others doing the same program had a goal of losing lbs on the scale.  Who are we to judge the goals of another person?

Some of you come to this blog for inspiration, fitness advice/ideas, or just to read what I’m up to.  I know you will take some of my trial/error and apply it to your own life and you’ll forget about other posts as quickly as close the internet page.  I’m ok with either – use what you can my friends!

Kudos to all of us for having a goal(s) and committing to it!

Life of an LEO Wife ~ oh, that phone call…

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My LEO does not leave me voicemails…period…end of story.  So when I see he called twice while I’m in a meeting at work and left a voicemail, I always have a moment of panic.  This happened on Wednesday and he followed up the voicemail with a text that said “left you a voicemail.”  What the heck?  Bottom line, which my LEO knows, is I like to be informed.  If he’s going to be 4 hours late one evening or is headed to something that could possibly be on the news, I appreciate a heads up.

The voicemail said(details left out & name changed for obvious reasons), “I’m at a call and I might be late.  Can you make up the spare bedroom because George is coming down from [insert town name] for the call as well.”  Aw yes…those lovely phone calls.  My first reaction is panic(keep in mind I knew my LEO wasn’t in any immediate danger or else that would have been my first concern!) because although “getting the spare bedroom ready” means exactly that from my LEO’s perspective, from my perspective it means “get the spare bedroom clean, clean the public bathrooms, make sure the kitchen is in order, & make sure the dog hair in our house is in a non-disgustingly gross place(meaning – do I need to vacuum?)”  Interesting the difference in interpretations, right?  My second reaction is - how conveeeeenient that he have this call when he was supposed to make dinner tonight…sounds suspicious to me! :)

I got over the dinner piece quick because I knew he was planning kabobs.  After I logged out of work, I quickly started cleaning but find out a few hours later that George was not going to be staying at our house.  It actually ended up that my LEO was home by 6:45pm and got home just in time to grill our kabobs!  Generally speaking, I sort of like the concept of “under promise over deliver.”  He set somewhat pessimistic expectations in that voicemail but there was a better than expected result so instead of a cranky LEO wife and I was a pretty happy LEO wife when he walked through the door.

What do “those” phone calls or voicemails look like in your household?

 

we’re back from vacation…what’s up next?

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Is it just me or do you also feel completely swamped the week before and after vacation?  You have to over-prep to be gone and then you have to work in overdrive to catch-up.  Well – I think everything is finally back to  normal…work, home, gym, & eats.

Here is one of our pictures from vacation in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico.  I’ll post a few more in a later post.  :)  My LEO LOVES and I mean LOVES LOVES LOVES paddleboading.  I enjoy it as well but I figured I’d catch a ride on his before I got my own.  Why not let him do all the work for a little while!??

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What’s up next for my healthful pursuit?  Let’s back up for a few moments – if you recall from this post, I was going to give calorie/macro tracking the good ‘ole college try before vacation.  I quickly learned that it’s just not my thing right now so I wasn’t very successful.  I think it’s maybe a tool I will attempt again in the future just to have a better understanding of what a “perfect” calorie/macro day looks like but I’m not interested in this right now.  On to my new goals…

1) Detox from vacation – at this point, I’m feeling pretty much back to normal.  By detox, I basically mean getting back to what was happening before vacation.  Water, clean foods, gym, etc…no crazy juice diets, cleanses, or anything like that!  Let me tell you that there was a lot of salty foods, alcohol, & a few boxes of shells & cheese (oops!) consumed on vacation and it was definitely impacting my body and how I felt.

1) I’m going to do James Wilson’s program again but I’m going to adjust a couple things: a) I’m planning to do more cardio and by “more” I mean 10-15 minutes 3-4 times per week(but not on leg days); b) On leg days, I’m going to incorporate 15 minutes of plyo exercises at the end of my workouts.  I’d like to focus a bit more on my lower body and I think incline walking and plyo will help lean them out a bit.  I’ll share my plyo routines on the blog.  And – a fun surprise – I convinced a special someone (no, not my LEO) to do the program with me.  I hope I can share this special someone’s before/after pictures here on the blog…we shall see.  :)

2) Water, water, water ~ still striving to get to a gallon of water a day!

3) Continue to work on my nutrition and “watching” my sugar intake.  I don’t really have a goal surrounding my sugar intake but I’d like to have a better awareness.  I can feel and see the impact sugary foods have on me so let’s have a higher awareness on this topic.

That’s it!  Simple and attainable.

What are your current health goals?

Life of an LEO Wife ~ do you appreciate the little things?

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You will soon find that this post applies to way more than a relationship with a LEO but since I’m married to a LEO, I’ve decided the message fits here at Healthful Pursuit of an LEO Wife.  :)

In my short marriage(3.5 years), I have learned something.  Do you recognize and appreciate the little things your spouse does?  Or do you find yourself only seeing the things your spouse isn’t doing…or…dare I say…not doing the way you would do it?  I’m not perfect and neither is my LEO.  We get angry with each other, annoyed with each other, & may not talk to each other for an entire evening…but…is it worth it?  Instead of focusing what he isn’t doing or isn’t doing “right,” take a deep breath and recognize what he is doing.  (I use “he” but obviously the same applies in reverse)

Example:  Monday and Tuesday were a bit stressful for me and my LEO was leaving on Tuesday afternoon for an overnight work trip.  Both of my days were packed with meetings.  My LEO typically has Monday/Tuesday’s off so he came to my office a few times to ask if I wanted to take a break to walk our monsters(aka dogs) but I just couldn’t get away.  He asked the same on Tuesday and I said I probably wouldn’t be able to get a lunch break due to meetings and he said, “So you’re not going to eat lunch with me?”  What I didn’t know is that he picked up some sushi(YUM!) for our lunch…so I got work to an “ok” place and took 30 minutes to sit down at the table to eat sushi with him and chat.  My counter may be covered with dishes right now(and maybe I wished he would have got the dishes done before he left for work) but gosh, taking a break w/ my LEO & enjoying his thoughtful gesture was really what I needed.  The dishes can wait.

It’s the small things folks!  My LEO and I have a fairly clear & agreed upon division of household duties but am I going to throw a fit when it’s his night to cook dinner and I end up cooking?(Well…I might throw a little fit;))  Let’s hope I don’t though – is it really worth it or that big of a deal?

I hope we all can take the time to appreciate the little things and enjoy each other.  Life is just way to short for the silly and pointless disagreements we have.  Bottom line, it’s just time wasted and I don’t think any of us like to waste time.

Do you appreciate the little things?

Tiny Tip Tuesday ~ spices

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There are spices I use every day, if not multiple times per day…Cinnamon, Garlic Powder, & Onion Powder. My very simple tips for you is: Try buying things in bulk. It’s just my LEO and I in my household and we frequent a bulk store and buy in bulk, including spices. 9.5 times out of 10 it is cheaper and you can typically learn to store extra to ensure you don’t waste money by tossing food. If you typically buy organic, there are usually quite a few organic options as well.
Here’s my giant spice bottles. (Pint glass is there to illustrate size)

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What do you buy in bulk?

I did it!!

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I did it! I finished James Wilson’s 12-week program! It took me 14 weeks to do it because I was traveling for two weeks in there but I FINISHED. I only completely skipped one workout that I can remember which means I’ve been strength training for 4-5 days per week for the last 12(14) weeks…Wow! Honestly, I’ve never stuck to an entire program and I can now see why I should ~ muscles!! :) I’ve mentioned this before but I did very little cardio during the program until recently because I really wanted to build as much muscle as I could. I’m planning to repeat a few weeks to get me to our vacation in May and then I’ll need to decide what to do next. I think I may repeat the entire program or at least weeks 5-12. James has created weeks 13-24 but I’m not sure I’m quite ready to tackle that program. I’ve also considered doing Jamie Eason’s LiveFit trainer but I’ve read reviews that indicate you can be in the gym for 1.5-2 hrs…not sure I’m quite ready to get up at 4am to get my workouts in before work.

Let’s talk about James’ program ~>

You can read a description of his program here. What I loved about it? Along with the workouts, he provides recommended supplementation and he provides an “approved” foods list. One of THE best pieces of this program is that you are able to join a private facebook group after you purchase the program and James is very active in it. If you have a question about a workout, about nutrition, about calories, or just need some motivation, you can post on this group page and find your answer. I will repeat…James is an active participant in this group. There are very knowledgeable people in the group but he, too, will respond and answer questions. What else do I love? It was a challenge but I loved every second of it. I tackled my fear of box jumps, I grew to love burpee’s, I can skull crush a 50 lb barbell, I went from 90 lbs on the leg press to 200 lbs, I experienced everything from super sets, tri-sets, & drop sets…it was tough folks but it was great. I remember the first day, I nearly dropped from exhaustion because I was bouncing all over the gym with a lot of active rests. What didn’t I like about it? Well…honestly…nothing. I can’t think of one thing I didn’t like about this program and that’s the honest truth!

I’m sure my LEO is tired of me asking, “Do you want to see my biceps?” What can I say…I like to flex them. :)

I will say this ~ My nutrition is not perfect but it’s getting better.  I’m eating 5 meals a day and I’m keeping it fairly clean.  If I was to guess, I’m probably about 80% on target for nutrition.  I absolutely know my results would be even better if my nutrition was closer to 90-95% on target.

Now – for the reveal – here are my progress pictures:

One of my favorites changes is that line between my bicep and shoulder. Love that definition! Also love the tricep definition but I want to do more drop sets to try to get them to pop more. My lower body is the slowest to respond and I never really took progress pics of it but there is definite strength and muscle happening down there as well!

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Have you ever stuck with a program to the end?  I would love to hear what programs you have you done since I’m trying to figure out what is next on my agenda.

uh oh!!!

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Ummm…yesterday, this happened ~>

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And then this happened ~>

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My LEO came home from a Target run yesterday and told me they had a sale on Easter candy and then plopped a box of Nerds on my desk(I work from home full-time). If you are a close friend or family member, you know I have little to no will-power when it comes to candy and sugary stuff. So sweet(no pun intended) of him to bring it home since I love Nerds…everything in moderation, right? Unfortunately, I don’t really have a concept of what moderation is when it comes to this type of candy. I’ve been known to eat an entire large box of Nerds in one sitting and then complain for the next four days that my teeth hurt. Just keepin’ it real folks…this is a fact!

But I have resisted finishing off my box of Nerds and my LEO is taking some of it to work with him. This is always my go-to plan..have my LEO keep it in his work truck so it’s not in the house tempting Kirsten. :)

Update on calorie counting: It’s only been a few days but I’m struggling to consume enough calories and I am not fulfilling my macros very well. It’s a work in progress. Using http://www.myfitnesspal.com makes it easy to track foods though so the task of tracking my food isn’t as daunting as I thought it would be.

Do you have a weakness? Sugar, candy, salt? How do you resist the urge?

Tiny Tip Tuesday – hosting a gathering

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Whenever I have friends over to my house, I always think I need to impress them in some way with the snacks & drinks I provide.  I’ve finally realized that it-really-does-not-matter.  I do not claim to be a chef and am really not out to impress people with my cooking skills.  Maybe if I’m serving an entire meal, I would care more about the food I provide but I try to keep it simple and that, my friends, is my tip for you.

I’m part of a book club and I hosted our monthly meeting back in February and these are the snacks that were out:

- raw veggies and hummus (I love raw red bell peppers and hummus!!)

- fresh strawberries (for the sweet tooth!)

- plain unsalted almonds (some healthy fats/protein)

Not only did I keep it simple, but I kept it fairly healthy and colorful.  I could have taken the super simple approach and threw some chips and salsa out but thought these choices provided enough variety for my guests.

What are your go to snacks that you use when hosting a party at your house?  

counting calories

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I think I mentioned that I was going to start counting calories and watching macros last week but I mis-calculated the time to our beach vacay and knew I probably wouldn’t be able to count calories for that length of time so I cut out a week.  My previous experience has shown that calorie counting is a little maddening for me and honestly sort of annoying BUT I want to give it the good ‘ole college try to see how my body responds.

Fit Foodies Healthy Life recently did a VLOG on calories/macros and included a few links to some good resources on http://www.bodybuilding.com.  Let me also mention that calorie/macro tracking is very different from one person to the next so just because I’m trying this way doesn’t guarantee it is what you should be doing.  With that said, here we go ~>

I’m planning to consume 1500-1800 calories to start with.  1500 on rest days and 1800 on workout days.  To be honest, I haven’t taken too many complete rest days lately so I’ll probably stick closer to the 1800 calories end.

Macros:  I’m going to start with 40/40/20 which means 40% of my calories will come from protein, 40% from carbs, and 20% from good fats.  The most common guide I have found is carbs=4 calories/gram, protein=4 calories/gram, & fat=9 calories/gram.  This is probably not perfect but I’m not looking to be perfect with this but to learn how my body responds and learn to be more aware of the types of food I’m eating.  I should also note that I’m not planning to track most of the raw veggies I eat.  Here’s an example of the math:

1800 calories x 40% = 720 calories

720 calories / 4 = 180 grams of carbs

How am I tracking all of this?  I’m using http://www.myfitnesspal.com.  They have an iPhone app so I just enter in my food each time I eat.  It makes it really easy and spits out all the macros and calculates how much I have left for the day.  You can also enter recipes in it to get the calories per serving and macros.  If you eat a specific food a lot(which I do), you can also save meals so you don’t have to individually enter things each time.  You can also track workouts and weight loss on the site but I’m not using either of those features right now.  Let me know if you need help navigating My Fitness Pal…go friend me on the site (user name: KirstCarp) and let’s help each other out.

In other news:  As I mentioned in this post, I’ve kicked up the cardio and water consumption big time.  I’m getting up at 4:50am on non-leg days to ensure I have time to get in at least 15 minutes of HIIT cardio after my strength training.  I also recently purchased a mountain bike so my LEO and I have been taking some bikes rides in the evening.  I do not think I’m quite at a gallon of water each day but I’m getting closer every day!

Do you count calories?  Do you track your macros as well?  What combination of # of calories and % of macros works for you?