My Saturday Workout!

He He! This is how I got my workout on Sat! I will admit I played hookie from work on Sat because I needed to get out on my new mare! (I STILL HAVEN'T NAMED HER!) She is so awesome! She is VERY tall so it is kinda of funny to watch my fat butt try to mount her. ALTHOUGH, when I am not wearing my bibs I am able to do it without to much struggle! THANKS CARL!!! It is because I am getting stronger and losing weight that I was able to get on her! She is SSSSOOOO AWESOME! She is going to be a runner which I love! There is really nothing better in the entire world then having a horse sit underneath you running at top speed. It is really hard to explain. You can literally feel their muscles bunch and relax as they stretch their stride and run faster and faster at your urging. She has an amazing gait and is almost a prancer! For you non-horsemen, this simply means the style in which she walks. Some horses are just jerky when they walk but she is smooth as silk and is even better when she runs. PLUS, SHE IS SO FAST!!! I want to take her down to the rodeo arena so I can really open her up without fear of a twisted ankle or broken leg because of hitting a hole we don't see in this snow! But yes, it is a workout to ride horses, at least if you like to run! :)

Here I am carrying Pedro! OF COURSE I TOOK PEDRO! He is my puppy after all! Actually he did walk most of the way but when he got tired then I carried him which was kind of tricky! AND MAN MY ARMS GOT TIRED! He wieghs about 6 lbs but when you are carrying 6 lbs, in a crooked arm while trying to steer your horse with the other, it is not the easy and I AM SORE THIS MORNING FROM DOING IT! OH and before comments are made about how fat I look, I AM WEARING INSULATED BIBS and they are big on me so I look HUGE in these pictures. Granted, I am not small but I have lost weight! :)

Here I am bringing her to a stop after running her! It was cool because she jumped over a little ravine and then Seth told me to run back towards him so he could take my picture and this is one we got! AND YES I AM SMILING!! (while I am saying "Whoa!"). THIS IS WHY I AM LOSING WEIGHT!!! I LOVE TO DO THIS STUFF AND I WANT TO MAKE SURE I CAN FOR A LONG, LONG, LONG TIME!!!!

Here are my awesome riding companions! My gorgeous husband Seth and my beautiful little girl Shyanne!

Michelle 1-18-2009

It Must Be a Tuesday!

LOL!! SO I hate Tuesday! Ok, not really but Tuesdays are always SO busy! Not just for work, but also for the stuff the kids and I do. From 3:00 PM until 8:00 PM we are down in town running them around to a few of their after school activities. My kids do art, dance, and tumbling and I am so glad!

Here is the problem...
because we are in town so much, we end up eating in town and YES, I caved today and ate 2, just count them 2 Arby's Melts. I am sure they are like 5 million calories each, but I was hungry and tired! I have found that the more tired I am, the more I eat. Have any of you noticed that before?

I am sure that means I should go to bed earlier. LOL!!! I laugh about it, BUT it is only because anyone who has ever been a parent or tried to build a business from the ground up will understand my fatigue! Even better yet, if you have ever done both like Christine, Jenn and I are doing, then you will REALLY understand it! BUT, this also means that sometimes I miss my appt with Carl.

I AM SO SORRY CARL!!! I had a meeting come up and it was one of those important ones because it had to do with my kids!

OH WELL...I am constantly telling myself this...

"Short term sacrifices for long term gains!"

This simply means that I must do the stuff that is a pain in the butt for a little while, just so we can get to the point where we can begin to enjoy the fruits of our labors. The day will come and I will be able to fit into the those "skinny" jeans! I am going to see Carl tomorrow. I am not giving up. I did get in 4 sessions with Carl last week and that doesn't count the stuff I did on my own. I am getting there.

I am nervous because Jenn and I were talking today about trying on and fitting into some of our jeans that we keep buried in the back of our closets. I told her that I had lost enough weight that I was considering trying some of mine on, but I am SSSOOO nervous and scared that I don't want to. LOL!!! I just don't want to find out that I am still to fat to put them on.

Oh well, I will just have to pull up my panty hose and be a big girl, huh?

Talk to you tomorrow!

Michelle 1-14-2008

I DID IT!

YEAH! What did I tell you guys about Mondays? I LOVE THEM!! Especially when I get to go down to Kody's and make it through my workout!

Actually I have to brag on Jenn a moment because she was feeling icky with that wonderful gift mother nature grants us women each month...yes...you know what I am talking about so please DON'T ask me to spell it out for you! And she still totally kicked my a@& at the weights! AAAHHHH!!! I am going nuts! :) I am just only a LITTLE competitive if you haven't noticed!

No seriously! She really did do awesome and I mean she had cramps so bad she would have to stop for a second and take a breather and SHE STILL DID BETTER THEN ME! I was kinda hoping I might beat her today, BUT OBVIOUSLY NOT!

THAT'S OK! I figure if I have to lose, then I want it to be to her or Christine because they both work so hard and are both doing so awesome with this whole fitness thing. I am getting better each week though. I have to admit that I love getting to work out with either one of them because I feel like I push myself that much harder and I don't allow myself to slack. We were doing some pull down thingies with this rope on the weight machine and it was heavier then Carl and I normally do for me and it was so cool because Jenn was right there cheering me on! I LOVE IT! THANKS!!!

So I made it back after a not so hot weekend last week and I am glad. There is always a bright side to being sick though Carl told me...YOU NORMALLY LOSE WEIGHT!!! :) I think I did, in fact I might sneak a peek at my weight on the scale tomorrow when I go back down!

I will keep you guys posted! ha ha...get it...POSTED!

NIGHT!

Michelle 1-5-2009

Sick and Tired

So Carl sent me home early today. I almost cried! I was so sad. I went down at 9 AM this morning to work out and I wanted to make sure I got this workout in because I missed my workout on Wednesday.

I didn't want to miss it, in fact I really tried hard to get there but to be honest I just felt plain POOPY! I am not sure if I got the flu or if I just am feeling blue about the holidays or if it is because I am still struggling with the suicide of a young lady I know who lives by me, but I have been sick to my stomach.

I know that "they" say that you should go and work out when you are not feeling good because it will help you to feel better and so that is why I decided to try to push through and just do it this morning.

Well I barely made it through my workout on the stair climber today and normally it wouldn't even be that hard. Then he had me go out and try to do some arms work. Well we start the first set and he gives me 60 lbs which is what I did with it that last time and I ABOUT DIED! Seriously. There was no pushing through and still making it, I mean I literally got stuck and no matter how hard I tried to push, I could not get my arms to move. It was a bit disturbing to me.

Carl tells me "Why don't you go home and just rest? I can tell you aren't feeling good." HOW SAD! I was sad. I didn't want to go home early. THAT SUCKS! He told me that we will do it again on Monday and for me to get some rest. I hope he is right.

I have been through the depression thing BIG TIME and I DO NOT want to go there again. I am more afraid that is it that then anything else, SO I am going to read some books and veg with my kids and if I feel good enough, go and play with my horses! I WANT TO GET BETTER!

Michelle 1-2-2009

A Brand New Year!

Ok, Ok, so I realize that it is not officially the "New Year" yet, BUT for me it is the beginning of MY New Year!

Jenn and I went and worked out with Carl today. (You have to read her blog! It is a great story!) AND I got to weigh in. Well, I was a little disappointed but then I had to take it all into perspective and I realized that I am still doing good!

So the last time Carl and I weighed, I was down to 238.5 lbs. When I weighed today, I was 237.75 lbs. I am sure that for some of you it sounds dumb to even worry about 3/4 of a lbs. BUT HEY, IT IS WEIGHT THAT I LOST DURING THE CHRISTMAS BREAK!

I mean we had homemade caramel! (Seth makes to die for caramel!) LOTS of candy and cookies and pies at my parent's house, PLUS meats like ham (BAD) and prime rib (EVEN BADDER!). Yes, I know "badder" isn't a word!

I was just excited that I lost a little something and that I did not gain. I watched a thing on TV last night and they were talking about how something like 95% of Americans GAIN weight over the holidays. So I guess if nothing else I can say that once again I am going against the grain and not acting like everyone else! :)

I figure that if I just pretend that this is January 1st then I am done with my sweets and goodies and I can get down to the business of getting fit! I am serious when I say that I am not going to back down from this challenage! I know that Christine and Jennifer are serious about this too! I was WAY proud of Jenn today! We were both dying of heat exhaustion today and even when Jenn was hit with a wave of nausea, SHE CAME BACK AND FINISHED WHAT SHE STARTED!!!

Plus, I decided that I can't go and lift with Jenn anymore! She outlifted me and I just can't handle that! :) I AM SO KIDDING! She really did kick butt today! I am SSSSSOOOOO proud of her!

Tomorrow we go back and see Carl again! I can't wait! :/ I will survive though!

Michelle 12-29-2008

Play Time is Over!

AAAHHH!

So, I got a text tonight from Carl! It was at about 8:30 PM and it said, "Ladies, what time tomorrow?"

How Sweet! LOL!!! I won't lie, I was totally planning on going tomorrow anyways, in fact, Jenn and I were already making plans to be there at 9 AM tomorrow so that we could get a workout in before my dentist appt!

Call me crazy, but I m actually looking forward to the workout! I think since I have been working with Dr. Shurtlif on my thyriod issues, I am FINALLY after all these many years beginning to understand the "rush" that Christine talks about when she says she gets a rush from working out!

THANK GOODNESS! I am excited to weigh myself and see where I am standing weight wise after these long weeks of holiday goodies! I HAVE DONE NOT TO BAD! :) I think I will have still lost weight, but tomorrow we will find out for sure!

I will let you know! Talk to you later and GOOD NIGHT! 6 AM comes early when your up this late!

Michelle 12-28-2008

What Christmas Presents Really Mean!

YEAH!!! I got to go and pick-up my Christmas presents today!

To start off with I had to go and get another load of hay for our horses. It wasn't a ton of hay! (hehe for those of us feeding animals right now you know that this is kind of a joke since we usually do buy hay by the ton!) It was about 35 bales in the back of our truck.these are the smaller 50lbs bales so not overly heavy BUT heavy enough that after throwing the first 15 of them up into the back of the truck to my husband I was breathing hard! It was good! I am not complaining because it is just one more way to get exercise into my life. I told Seth, my husband, that it wasn't the hay that was so bad, it was the fact that we were wading through about a foot of snow in our insulated bibs and snow packers!

After we loaded the hay then we had to take it back to our house and get it unloaded and stacked neatly so that the horses can't get into it and eat it all before we feed it out to them!

THEN CAME THE COOL PART....

I got to go and pick up my Christmas presents! Any guesses what my husband got me? I will give you a hint, it has to do with the hay we went and got! :)

YOU GOT IT RIGHT!!! I GOT TWO NEW HORSES!!! That gives us a total of 6 that we now own and I am so excited! One is a younger dun colored mare who is broke and we have been told does really well in the mountains! The other is a gorgeous paint gelding with some very unusual markings on his belly and legs! He is not broke to ride at this moment, so now I have one more horse we need to break! Seth and I also own his sister who have been working with and who we now have green broke and she is only about 22 months old. She is good and we have been told he is even better because of how much more calm he is then her so I am excited to see how he does!

These two horses were in the fields up here in Hayden where Roosevelt City has its water well. We had to go and catch them up which was a fun challenge within itself because they had no clue who we were and while they really wanted the bucket of grain I had (I was trying to bribe them!) they weren't going to let me get close enough to get that lead rope around their neck! Keep in mind I am in my snow packers and insulated bibs which weigh a person down quite a loy anyways and here I am running around through the fields and ditches in about a foot of snow trying to get the horses to calm down and let me catch them.

It was kinda funny because I had to work with them for about an hour before I could get them both caught up and even then Seth and I had to traipse all over hell and back to get them caught up. I was laughing inside because I thought, "if Carl could only see me now!" It was a testament to me though about why it is so important to be in better shape!

I was glad that I have been working on getting in shape the way I have been these last 6 weeks as it is! I know I would have been able to do it even before I started losing weight and getting back into shape, HOWEVER, I would have gone home and DIED! I would have done nothing for a week after doing everything I did today because it would of fatigued me that much.

I am glad that this is not what happened to me today! I came home and while I will admit that I layed in bed for abouot an hour after we got home, it was more because I was freezing to death and was trying to get warm not because I was exhausted! I also took down my Christmas tree today which was no small feat seeing as our tree was over 10 feet tall and fully decorated. Plus I did laundry, cooked some meals, cleaned up the house, AND worked on some presents for my kids to give their friends next week. My whole point of this story is to say that being fit allows a person to do so much more on a daily basis! I am so glad that I am able to fulfill so many tasks that make up my life as mom, wife, and business owner!

AND TODAY it all started with my Christmas presents!

Michelle 12-27-2008

NO MU-MUS FOR ME!!

SO...

Today was weigh in day! AND GUESS WHAT....

I LOST FIVE AND HALF MORE POUNDS!!!

YA! Now according to Carl's scale, I weigh 238.5! I am so excited! Actually the big deal is that I got a shirt on today that I have not been able to get around my belly to button up ever since I bought it!

I am horrible that way! I have probably somewhere in the thousands of dollars worth of clothes in my closet or packed away that I keep telling myself, "One day..."

The reason why I do this is because they simply do not have cute fat girl clothes. I am sorry, but they don't! The shirt tails are ALWAYS to short, the chest area is never big enough to accommodate what God gave me in the bra department. It is ridiculous!

I DON'T WANT TO WEAR A MU-MU FOR CHURCH!!!

In all seriousness, I mean I do realize that the front cover of Sports Illustrated Swim Suit Edition will never be for me. I have had several major ligaments torn in my abdomen due to my beautiful children and only a good Doctor will ever fix that, HOWEVER....I can still lose enough weight to look hot in all of the beautiful clothes I have bought over the years but leave hanging in the back of my closet or in a box someplace downstairs!

IT IS GOING TO HAPPEN!

IT IS HAPPENING!!

I RAN FOR 25 MINUTES YESTERDAY AND I DIDN'T DIE! Trust me, I thought I was, but I didn't! And I even told Carl that he was going to have to catch me so I didn't fly off the back of the treadmill because I was so TIRED! But I did it!

And he worked me just as hard today and I go back and see him again on Friday!

Seriously you guys! I love the fact that Carl doesn't let me say "NO"! If I start complaining then he tells me, "Where's Your Power?" or "AAAAHHHH". (smart ass anyways!) :) I am so glad though because I know for a fact I would not have done what I have in this contest thus far if it were not for the help of Carl, Dr. Shurtleff, and my friends and family!

I don't have such great will power when it is just me, but I will work really hard to please! AND now that those AWFUL pics are out there for the whole world to see, I GOTTA CHANGE HOW I LOOK RIGHT?

oh and by the way! I AM SO THE WINNER AT NO DIET COKE!!! :) Bow down and worship me girls! (that means you, Jennifer and Christine!) It has been how long now, I don't know, like a month and I seriously think, that this is the only reason that I am able to do the running I am doing right now.

OH AND GET THIS, (yes, it is my blog so I get to brag about myself a little!) WHEN I AM DOING MY RUNNING, it is on 3.5 incline in the treadmill and at 4.5 speed. I am not sure what the incline is equivalent to, but the 4.5 speed means 4.5 miles per hour! YESTERDAY, I did a 13 minute and 27 second mile! I am sure for some that is lame, BUT considering about a month ago I couldn't even do 30 seconds without about passing out...I AM HAPPY! I will admit that I used to run cross country in High School and at the time, I was able to run a 7 min mile. Once I even got down into the 6 minute range. MAN, that seems SO fast compared to what I am doing now but at least I know I can do it right!

Well, I am going to head to bed! I am sore and VERY tired! I have spent the last 3 or 4 nights up VERY late working on the layout and I am DEAD! It has been an awesome week for both exercise and the magazine and we are all so excited to see what happens this next year!

Later

Michelle 12-17-2008

Mondays...UGH~

Ok, So a while ago I said that I loved Mondays, and I still do, except for the fact that Mondays are now my....(GASP!)...dreaded weighing in day with Carl! UGH!

Actually, I feel really bad because I didn't get to go and work out with Carl today. After a meeting I had this morning, my 4 year-old started to not just complain, but cry profusely that his ear was hurting. I knew that there was no way I could feel good about me dragging him to the gym and working out with him being in such pain. That is not what a good mom does.

Instead I went home and got him settled into watching a movie and then I set about the (GASP!) wonderful task of cleaning my office. Ok so I will admit that I am not a dirty person, but I am a cluttered person. I am a classic stacker! I can have piles and piles and piles of paper and for the most part, I know where things are. Most of it is my fault because I simply need to get better organizational tools, like filing cabinets and book case and a bigger desk, but the other part of it is that I am a procrastinator and I will wait until the last minute on somethings when I really shouldn't! BUT, at least my going through stacks of paper and organizing things was productive and NOT eating candy. (today was stressful at work!)

BUT GUESS WHAT!!! I am going in tomorrow to work out with Carl and then again on Wed and hopefully Thursday too! I am doing SSSSOOOO good at avoiding those Christmas treats and I can not wait to see what to see how much weight I am hopefuly gonna lose!

WISH ME LUCK YOU GUYS!!! I am nervous and scared, but I am hoping that I get to see those numbers go DOWN!!!

YEAH!!!

A little bit of insight...

Ok, So I went in today and got to see Dr. Shurtlef again. It was good! It also sucked because even with the counting calories and excercising, I only lost 2 pounds! Ok, so my earlier excitement of thing I had lost a bunch of wieght was swiftly shot in the ass and quickly deflated!

So the moral of this story is...

ONLY WEIGH ON ONE SCALE!!!! Or two actually, the one with your doctor and the one at the gym because they can vary!

So Dr. Shurtleff did tell me he was very proud of me and the fact that I actually lost weight over the Thanksgiving weekend. He said most patients are lucky to maintain because all those holiday treats are hard to resist! AND THEY ARE FOR ME TOO!!!

I told him I had a couple of breakdowns where I had indulged in candy, BUT I was still excercising and NOT DRINKING DIET COKE!!!

He said he was proud of me! YEAH!!

I must also say that even though I broke down and ate that candy, it was like a handful of M & M's instead of the whole 2lbs bag. (yes, I have done that before!) Also when I did do these things, I made myself work extra on my treadmill!

It is coming, I know it is. I had Carl, Jenn, and Christine tell me that they can see it in my face that I am losing weight. I am so glad, I want this SSSSOOOO bad! I really am trying so hard to be good with how I eat and excercise. It is hard but like I told Carl last night,

NO PAIN, NO GAIN...RIGHT?

Ok so to prove how serious I am about doing this, check out my knuckles! This is from using the punching bag. AND YES, I HAD MY KNUCKLES WRAPPED!!! I was seriously trying to hit that hard! THANKS CARL FOR KICKING MY BUTT INTO SHAPE!!!These are my knuckles after last night's bout with the punching bag! I know they are kinda gross! BUT WORTH IT!!!

Weigh Ins

Ok, So I have to admit today was very bittersweet for me! I went and got to work out with Carl today right! It was great and I can already tell I am going to be sore tomorrow! Well, I weighed in also, just like Jenn!

I WAS SO DEPRESSED!!!

When I weighed in with Carl, the scale told me I weighed 244. I am going to chalk this massively disappointing event to the fact that this is not the scale I normally weigh myself on and so there is a still a chance that I have lost the weight that I thought I did last Fri when I had a scale tell me that I weighed only 238!

Here is the hard part though...

I was so deflated about this, that I totally came home and ate candy! Ok, so not a ton of candy, but I am sure I are enough that all the work I did today is probably null and void!

I seriously feel like a loser right now! Hopefully it is just PMS and I will be over it in a week! LOL!!!

We will see. I go back and see Dr. Shurtleff on Thursday and hopefully his scale has better news for me then the one at the gym today!!

LUNCH MUNCHIES

Ok, so I was good at lunch! LOL!! I totally had a salad with BAKED CHICKEN, and water!! YEAH FOR ME...

EXCEPT,

GUESS WHAT...

I AM DYING RIGHT NOW!!!

I want a diet coke SSSSSSOOOOOO BAD! I am not going to cave in though. I have way worse habits then diet coke, but if I can over come them one at a time, then I think that I will be much better off!

AND YES,

CARL GAVE ME THAT LOOK TOO! I didn't do it! :)!!!

Michelle 12-4-2008

A NEW MONTH!

A brand new month! I am so excited! I am not so worried about the holiday treats because I have decided to just keep them out of my house!

LOL!!! I know I am mean, but seriously isn't better for my kids too? I figure that we can limit our Christmas meal to something healthy and that will be even better.

AND SANTA IS GOING TO HAVE TO SKIP THE COOKIES IN MY HOUSE!!!!! :) I am sure this is probably sacrilegious in some homes but we figure it won't hurt his waistline either!

So I got to go and workout with Carl again today and he tortured me all over again. YES, I SAID TORTURE!!! He got me to run 20 full minutes! WOW, like I was going to stop with Christine running right next to me. Please she is the one who just had the baby, I can't let her beat me right? LOL! Then we got to go and do bag work. And no, not the bags under my eyes! Just kidding! It was really cool other then fact that my knuckles are killing me now because we forgot to bring gloves or tape for protection. I will not make that mistake again. I got a missing piece of skin on almost every knuckle. OUCH! But it is a good ouch!

I still love Carl...for now! :) Tomorrow may be different when I am hauling magazines around town for delivery! YEAH!!! Make sure to pick yours up off the newsstand ASAP!!! IT IS AWESOME! What til u see the fun things the girls and I put together for you guys this month. AND STILL NO DIET COKE!

Hip - Hip - HOORAY!!!

Michelle 12-1-2008

CAN YOU BELIEVE IT?!?!?!?

Well, it is the day after my first workout with Carl! OUCH!!! And you know what sucks? IT ALWAYS HURTS WORSE ON THE SECOND DAY! LOL!!!

I have to totally laugh though because when it came to my upper body strength, I truly thought I was pretty ok. HAHAHAHA!!! That was until Carl decided we needed to do upper body training on Sat that I was suddenly and most rudely was brought out of my wonderful cloud of ignorance as to what my strength IS NOT! He kicked my butt! I AM CRYING A LOT RIGHT NOW!!! I am sure you are all laughing and that is totally fine because I do realize that this pain is going to help me to shape my body into something sexy! AND YES, I WANT TO BE SEXY!!! LOL!!

It was a really amazing week overall though. Other then today, I have made a real effort (and succeeded) at making sure I exercised 6 days out of 7. So understand that not everyone has to do that, but I am really serious about wanting to lose weight and look good for this upcoming summer season when my girlfriends and I are able to take our husbands to Vegas and have a well deserved trip.

It is overall really nice to have this ache back in my muscles because I know that in the end it means that I will be stronger and healthier AND WILL BE ABLE TO HIKE UP AND DOWN THE MOUNTAIN ON THE ELK HUNT WITHOUT DYING!!!

I am supposed to meet with Carl again tomorrow and I am a bit apprehensive because I worked out so hard this last time that I was literally sick to my stomach last night. BUT it definitely made me not want to eat dessert after dinner last night because I knew I would have to do extra work to take those pounds off.

Oh, don't worry, I caved today and ate two desserts to make up for yesterday! BUT, at least I have been off the diet coke for almost a week now. That is amazing and probably another BIG reason why I am getting sick! LOL!!! My poor body is just trying to flush all of this crap out of its system!

This week I lost 4 lbs. CAN YOU BELIEVE IT!?!?!? I am so excited but so nervous about whether or not I will be able to keep it up (the losing weight part!) I will never miss an appt with Carl and I will see him at least 3 times per week because this is how my level of commitment goes!

I KNOW WE ALL CAN DO IT TOGETHER!!!

Michelle 11-30-2008