party!

awesome! i will be there, i put it in my calendar! yayyyy birthdays!

Next week is a little crazy for me. We leave for Nebraska on Thursday for a wedding. My birthday is on Wednesday. We are going to a bar in NE Portland called Moon and Sixpence. I was going to invite you guys. I still need to nail down some details. Let me know if you are interested. If that doesnt work maybe we could get together the following week?

hi guys!
sorry i have been such an awful slacker. i really have no excuse. sigh.

as for me in the workout department, i slipped up a bit. when school got out, i lost my routine in my day! plus, i was getting ready to move, which didnt end up happening (long story), so now i am trying to get back into it. worked out yesterday and today. yesterday i went on the eliptical, did rowing, and lots of weights. today just weights and eliptical.

if you both are counting calories (im trying... i think i go out too much... oops), lean cuisines are great for lunch. they have some awesome new entrees that i like to have when i dont have time to make my lunch and i dont want to go out and eat something unhealthy. make sure you drink WATER with it- it has a bit of sodium in it. but eat it with a small salad and it is the perfect amount!

so how about we really try and plan something this time around? this week is looking a bit crazy for me, but how about next week? let me know when you both are free! if i dont hear from you by sunday, ill text ya. :)

Christine,
Ironically I just started couting my calories as well. I have been doing it for the past 3 weeks or so. I have been trying to stay under 2,000, but it comes out to be more around 1100, but that includes calories that I burn when I work out. So if you workout in the morning and burn 500 calories then I still have1600 calories left to use up. Because I start in the negative. Does that make sense? The more you work out the more you get to eat. I have been trying to monitor mine this way, eat about 3 200-350 calorie regular meals, and then 3-4 100 calorie or lower snacks a day. A lot of times I won't count the veggies in my caloric intake because they are so low. But I have found from keeping track of the calories I kind of know what snacks and foods equal about how many calories and it turns out to be not that hard as time goes on. Also, I am trying to drink A LOT more water. The other new drink that I have been doing is this smoothie called the green monster. Here is the link, http://www.yourtimewithkim.com/, the recipe is right on the front in the blog area. It doesnt taste bad at all and is really good for you. It packs about 258 calories, but the spinach is so good for you.

I hear ya on running with someone. It definitely kicks up your workout. It is hard, but very beneficial. I am probably not pushing myself as hard as I should be, but I am doing a better job of incorporating weights and strengthening into my work outs.

Sorry you haven’t had any luck with the job situation, Beth. Unfortunately this is not the best economy and even qualified people are not getting the jobs they want. I am just glad we all have jobs – PTL for that!

Jeff and I have three weddings this summer and one next March. It is amazing to me how many people are getting married.

I have to say that I am pretty proud of myself I have worked out every day since the beginning of last week (except for this weekend). Once you get into a routine, it really isn’t that hard. I ran with a friend of mine on a trail by my house and it really kicked my butt. She wanted to run a lot faster than I did (because that’s what she is used to) so it really pushed me. It made me realize that I could really stand to kick up my workouts a notch for sure…It is hard when you work out by yourself to take your workouts to the next level. I still have yet to do the Jillian Michaels video but I will do it one day when I don’t feel like going to the gym. I have also been eating around 1,500 calories a day (which I am pretty sure is a lot less than I was eating when I wasn’t counting at all but who knows…because I wasn’t counting!). Any idea how many calories you guys eat a day? I actually heard Jillian Michaels say one time…You have got to count your calories, or you are going to be fat. That kind of hit me since I wasn’t counting a single calorie that was going in my body.

Aaaanyway, I hope you are both doing well. Beth - thanks for the tip about the Chocolate Mint Cookie Bars and the smoothies. You are absolutely right. For the past week and a half almost I have been eating a lot of fruit, and you are right – it helps me not crave the sweet stuff. Fresh strawberries are the best! Yum!

Hey Guys!

It has been a long time. I just happen to go on here today and saw Christine's post. I have been pretty busy myself. My sister, brother, cousin and his girlfriend were in town this past week/end and we had a great time. Very busy. I need a vacation from that vacation. Other than that I have been staying busy with work as it gets even more busy everyday. I am still looking for a new job, without much success. So if you guys hear anything please let me know.

I would love to get together. I am very free for the next few weeks. I dont leave for our first wedding until July 9th. Stupid wedding season. Christine how many do you have? We have 4 from July to beginning of August.

Christine I am sorry to hear about the high numbers, but glad you have gotten it checked out and hopefully get it in check soon. I used to do ice cream all the time as well, but have cut that out. I really dont miss it. Last night I did take a little trip to Baskin Robbins. I find that if it isnt in the fridge then I don't miss it too much. Also, there are other sweet treats you can eat that arent terrible for your waisteline. For example Special K has new snack bars out that are only 90 calories and there are these things called Chocolate Mint Cookie Balance Bars that are just enough of a sweet treat and still good for you. Also, if you put more fruit into your diet you may notice less sugar cravings. Or you could also trick your body and put that fruit into a smoothie and then you really think you are getting a treat.

I was doing great on the working out until the fam was here. I got a lot of hiking a runnign in, but just missed out on the weights. I guess it wasnt that bad.

Let me know when we can all get together. I have missed blogging with you ladies.

BC

It's Been A While!

Hi Ladies!!! I hope both of you are doing well. It seems like it has been a long times since any of us have had time to post!! Things have just been crazy busy with me and in the next couple of months it seems like it is just going to be non stop with all of the weddings we are going to this summer!

I have been trying to go to the gym as much as possible (for me that is about 3 or 4 times per week). I don't think I told you guys but I went for my annual check up and both my triglycerides and cholesterol are high so I am really going to buckle down and try to make some lifestyle changes (i.e. not eating dessert after dinner every night - a bad habit we have gotten into...I freakin' love ice cream though so it is hard to stay away from). High triglycerides run in my family so it was not a surprise that mine were high. It's just a matter of exercising and eating right...Or, I could die by the age of 40 or so my doctor said! Crazy!

Anyway, how are you guys doing?? Do you guys maybe want to meet somewhere for dinner sometime in the next few weeks? We could even meet somewhere in downtown Portland and eat outside! I'm not sure the weather looks great this week or even next though. Ugh. Let me know what works for you guys.