Ahh, the payoffs of a little hard work

Just a couple good things to share today. Had a pretty productive weekend.

Yesterday, John, the kids and I volunteered at a Sacramento elementary school to help with some cleaning, planting and just plain sprucing up of the school. John and the kids shoveled bark all morning. I planted vegetable and flowers. It was fun! The mayor even showed up! The kids were on the KOVR 13 news yesterday. That was pretty cool.

Today while Zach visited a friend and John and his kids visited his mom, I set out to tackle what has turned into a jungle in my backyard.
After a lot of sweat it is looking good. I had to stop because I overfilled my garden waste can and then I couldn't move it!
1 $5.oo container of begonias (Wal-Mart) is enough to adequately fill a large planter!!! Great deal! So I filled 2.

With a lot of trimming I tamed the jungle!!! I am ready to BBQ!!!!

And since I was on a roll with the sweat thing going on, I tried out my new Leslie Sansone dvd in my garage. I love it!!! Maybe my broken vcr was a blessing in disguise, because this dvd is much better than the one I had. It is a great bargain as well. I got it at Target.com. It comes with the dvd and the resistance band for $14.99. I highly recommend it!!! I hope you had a wonderful weekend!!! I better go take a shower now! :)

By the way, my daughter said it is 70 degrees in Monterey today!!! Wow!

What a great weekend!!!!

The Diet and Excercise Adventure is underway

I promise that I am not changing my blog to a diet only page. I plan on getting to some Easter Crafts soon!!!!

I didn't post about my diet and exercise plan to fish for compliments. However I have to thank Julia over at Julialuvs2stamp for her kind words and encouragement. And thanks to Tammy over at T's Daily Treasures for her kinds words and for her encouraging story of diet and exercise success. If you go back 1 post, be sure to read her comments. Very encouraging!!! Way to take care of business Tammy!

I have managed to keep my exercise commitment this week. I did try the Lotte Berk Hip Hugger Abs and must tell you that I have weak abs! This DVD was tough for me. Maybe it will get better after a few more tries. I guess I do better with the Muscle Eats Fat because that focus is more on the legs, and I do have strong legs.

I do find that "social" life is going to be tough for me. There is always a lunch or dinner out for some occasion. There are always parties with lots of goodies!!! I really have to figure this one out. That will be my focus this week.

I am finding that the journal is a very handy tool. I look forward to looking back in a few months and re reading to see what I have learned.

I must admit that I did not make the Weight Watcher meeting as we ended up celebrating my parents anniversary that night. I will start that this Wednesday. Although, I didn't sign up, I have been tracking my calories in my journal. That is still a start! :)

I will come back with an update and hopefully some helpful hints in a week or so. In the meantime I have to get some crafting done so I can post on that!

I hope you are enjoying your weekend!

Being the best me I can be

I normally don't write long blogs. So bear with me, this is a long one. Is is not about crafts or baking. :) It is about my life long battle with dieting and exercise.

I think well over a year ago I blogged about the Lotte Berk Muscle Eats Fat DVD. I had heard about it from Skinny little Kelly Rippa (no jealousy here) on Regis and Kelly . She said it really worked. So I ran right on over to my local Target and picked it up! While doing the workout I could feel the muscles in my thighs and abs working. After a few workouts I could feel the difference in my legs. Even with the results, I did not keep up with it consistently.

Time goes by, life happens and my weight goes up and down and I exercise "now and then". I just lacked the "stick with it" attitude that is necessary to reach goals!!!
Last Thursday I took out the DVD and I did it, then I took out my Leslie Sansone 3 mile ab walk with belt/bands and did that too! I felt so great that night!!!! I was off the next day, so I did the two workouts again the next morning. And let me tell you, I felt wonderful Friday!!! I thought, how could I ever let anything come between me and exercise?? So, I am continuing to exercise and added a jog/walk (weather permitting :) around the block with dog, to keep her in shape too. :)
I also did some research on Lotte Berk and found that she also has a Hip Hugger Ab workout DVD. I read some of the reviews and they were good! So I ordered it! Her DVDs are inexpensive and well worth the small investment. If you are interested check Lotte Berk method site.

All this being said, I have decided that I do want to hip hugger abs and I do want to be in the best shape of my life before I turn 50! Which will be on December 12, 2011. I don't know how that can be true, but it is! It is very scary how quickly my years on this earth have flown by.

How am I going to do this you ask? Well, I am going to share my entire plan with you! And I will come back with progress updates. I hope to see results for myself, and also to inspire others to get moving and get healthy. Maybe we can start a group, who knows where this will go.

OK, here is the plan:

1. Keep a journal where I will keep my food diary, my exercise diary, and any notes of encouragement, helpful hints and any useful tidbits.
2. I will walk/jog my dog around the block a minimum of 4 days a week. I will do the Leslie Sansone DVD a minimum of 4 days a week. Lastly, I will alternate the Lotte Berk DVDs a minimum of 4 days a week as well.
3. I am going to join Weight Watchers tomorrow with my co worker.

I have already started to become more conscious of the food I am eating and started having oatmeal for breakfast. Today is the first full day of my journal. So far I have written down everything I have eaten today.

OK, I think that is enough for a start! whew!!!

Have you been successful exercising and dieting? If so, please share!