Monday, May 28, 2012

Monday Motivations- Happy Memorial Day


Today I would like to dedicate this Monday Motivations and Memorial Day post to my cousin, Felipe, who is in the Army and has served 4 different tours in Afghanistan. I am Thankful for him and his comrades, for their service and their sacrifice. I am Thankful that God has returned him to us alive and well, although he has lost fellow soldiers in this insane war!
 
Let us remember all the men and women who have fought and lost their lives, and for those who are still out there fighting for our freedom. 

To all who serve...Thank you!









May you all enjoy this day with your friends and family 
as I will be doing with mine.

 Happy Memorial Day!

From my corner to yours...


Friday, May 25, 2012

Foto Friday- Two Subjects

"Two Subjects?" How and what?? But then I remembered I took these pictures about a week ago of my two youngest "subjects" on 2 different walks we took along the week. I took these with my iPhone and with Instagram program and I just loved the way they came out.






I love that that in both I was able to capture the feeling of the motion of them walking. In this one I love that the rays of a 6pm sunset came through.



In this one, I love that I caught the opposite motion of an early Saturday morning walk and the early morning sun. But, I mostly love that they weren't afraid to be caught walking in their sporty pajamas! LOL!

My two baby boys are very much two peas in a pod and its soo funny how it actually shows up on these pictures. Notice that they're both positioned the same and they're both walking in stride in both pictures. 

 I love walking with my boys!!

Its such a great time to have a conversation with them, a chance for them to ask questions about things they see, a chance to smell and notice the flowers, and get them to do something healthy at the same time. I don't know...its just cool and I'm soo glad that they now enjoy these walks as much as I do.
 
I hope you get a chance to take a walk with your favorite "subjects" this weekend too!



Happy Foto Friday!!


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Wednesday, May 23, 2012

Weight Watcher Wednesday- Success Shout Out #2

So it looks like these might turn into a regular feature on my WW Wednesdays...and I hope you all don't mind. They will all be similar but different as this is an evolving post, and everybody's experiences and results are different as well.

I keep finding friends that are going through their own weight loss journey and succeeding in one way or another, and I think its important that I share any as many of these as I can. I feel that in sharing these different stories, although the goal may be the same, we will all find a different inspiration, or something that will resonate or click and that may work for us as well.

So this week, I'd like to give a "Shout Out" to my school friend, Emmy,  who I just found out has lost 80 pounds over the last 2 years!!! Wow!! What an accomplishment, but I'm not surprised. In reconnecting with Emmy on Facebook, I have come to find out that she has become an incredible athlete, and an exercise fiend. She never stops! So of course, I had to ask her what plan she was on or what her secret was so I can learn from her.

She let me know that she has been doing her own plan with her own philosophy as to how she's been succeeding.

This is what she told me, and I will let her tell you in her own words (some of it is paraphrased)

Emmy says:

"There are 3 ways to lose weight the right way:

1. THE BEST WAY & THE FASTEST: EAT HEALTHY & EXERCISE
2. EAT HEALTHY
3. PAY YOUR DUES: THAT WAS MY WAY. burn more to have a daily caloric deficit.

Sandy I LOVE to eat & I didn't want to have to go thru life missing out on good food. I've done all the diets & you know they don't work because people always put it back on...so you have to decide to make a lifestyle change & that is what I did.


MY WORK OUTS.
I fell in love with spin...you burn more in 1 class than most people do spending 2 hours in the gym & it's low impact. I SPIN A LOT (PAYING MY DUES - SO I COULD EAT. LOL) Then I do cross-fit on Saturdays to change it up so I don't plateau because after a while my body was so adapted to spin, I had to confuse it. Then I do Zumba so I'll have a fun workout & not get bored.


TAKING CHANCES
Instead of saying I CAN'T do that...I ask myself  'I wonder if I COULD do that'...and that's how I did my first triathlon...ever since then I want more. It's a rush crossing that finish line!

MY DIET:
THE BIGGEST CHANGE
-
1. Switched to brown rice (can't tell this Asian girl not to eat rice. LOL)
2. Portion control - I still eat pretty much the same foods but just cut it in half.
3. Stopped eating out (restaurants don't care how much oil or butter they put on your food - just as long as it taste good).
4. I try to eat 500 calorie breakfast & lunch since I am by myself & for dinner i like to eat what the family is having. it's a pain in the ass cooking 2 different meals. (Emmy is hysterical btw)

Oh yeah, that's one thing i didn't do - weigh myself. I said I was gonna go by my clothes & not a number...'cuz I know me...if i didn't see an improvement it would discourage me, especially with all the stuff I do & they say muscle weighs more than fat.

Hope this helps -It's been a 2 year journey & still going. just remember it's a lifestyle."

                                                                 *************

Thank you Emmy for sharing all of this. You are awesome and you inspire me all the time!! I love that your message is also about not having to miss out on eating what you want...just find a way to work it off . There is always that misconception of having to deprive ourselves. It truly doesn't have to be that way.

Your idea of taking chances...that is staying with me! I hope to reach my goals using that idea.

Did you relate to something Emmy said? Did anything strike a cord with you to try or change?

Again, I hope that these stories help someone out there and show you that there are many ways of taking this weight loss journey and that it is truly a lifestyle change. Just go for it!

Thank you for stopping by and I wish you all a great Wednesday!

From my corner to yours...

Monday, May 21, 2012

Monday Motivations- The 3 C's!!!


The theme for this week coming to you compliments of my friend Emma who shared this on FB last week and I loved it...


 


What a great statement to live by!!

So get out there this week and make a choice, take a chance and CHANGE your life!!

Have a great week, from my corner to yours...

Friday, May 18, 2012

Foto Friday- Feathers or Fur

Funny that this week's Foto Friday theme is Feathers or Fur because I actually had a run in with feathers this past Sunday.



I went on a morning jog and 3 blocks in, what did I find just standing on the sidewalk?...A shivering cute little birdie. I thought for sure it would fly away as I got closer, but it didn't so I knew something was wrong. I bent down to check it out, I reached out for it and it allowed me to grab it in my hand. As I picked it up, I realized it was hurt on the left side of its head. It must have flown into something and got disoriented. I didn't want to end my run, but I couldn't leave the birdie alone! I had to help it, right?! So I had to take it with me of course. So I had the most unlikely of running partners in my left hand and my phone in the right and I ran until I got home with it...LOL!



It was very comfortable in my hand, I kept it warm (without crushing it) and it slept the whole way. The cutest thing was that I could feel one of its talons wrapped around my ring finger like a baby holding on to a mommy's finger....Awwww!



I got home and although tmy boys surprised me for Mother's Day, I think I surprised them more by bringing home the birdie which was soon named "Sinji" by Daniel (who ironically was scared of it, lol).

We put it on a perch outside with some bread crumbs, and to Jerry's disbelief I put some Neosporin on its little head, LOL! Come on, wouldn't you have done the same???

Anyway, all of this must have helped because by the time we left for church, it was well enough to try to fly away, and it was gone by the time we got home. So we were happy to think that "Sinji" was back at home with its own family. Fingers crossed we saved a birdie's life on Mothers Day! ; )





Happy Foto Friday!!

From my corner to yours...


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Wednesday, May 16, 2012

Weight Watcher Wednesday- Success Shout Out

I want to do something a little different today with my WW Wednesday post today.  

I'd like to take this chance to do a quick "Shout Out" to a childhood friend of mine, Linnette.


She joined Weight Watchers
 about 8 weeks ago and has already lost 16.8 pounds! 

Way to Go, Linnette! 
 
You look great and you should be proud of yourself!!

Keep doing what you're doing!


I would love to know if anyone else out there has started a weight loss journey of their own with Weight Watchers or any other program. Please, let me know...I would love to share whatever has been working for you and bringing you success. Different things work for different people...the goal is to make a change in our lives.

Thank you Linnette for letting me share your success with others, and I hope it has motivated somebody out there today too! 

Have a wonderful Wednesday...from my corner to yours,




Tuesday, May 15, 2012

Music and Running


I guess music is turning into this week's theme around here...

 

I need my music to exercise! There is no other way I can do it.  Well, I guess I can if I HAD to, but it it would turn into a time of torture for me; constantly looking at the clock, counting every second before my workout out is over. Music changes all of that for me, and now that I am jogging it has become even more important.

Music has actually become a inspiration, a motivator for me. I love hearing music on the radio and finding that song that has a great beat to run to.  So lately I've been enjoying building up my iTunes library and setting up my running playlists with some of the newest songs to pump me up.

In talking to my SILs, Betty and Gaby after both successfully completing their half marathons (Congrats again girls!!)  they also expressed how important their playlists were in keeping them motivated through 13...long...miles!! OMG! Gaby mentioned that for her there were certain songs in her playlists that pushed her through some of her harder moments. Soo awesome!

I've done some research on music and running and found a few interesting articles on the subject. One article starts off by quoting an expert that says "Music is a legal drug for athletes." AMEN! It is for me. Hearing the right music actually makes me want to run! Go figure! He also claims that listening to music while running can boost your running performance by 15%.  I can also vouch for this, maybe not by the percentage, but just by the way I can push myself when I hear the music running through my ears.
  
However, did you know that elite runners cannot be eligible for prize money during runs if they race using headphones??? Wow!! That's pretty serious! Apparently, it also mentions that the more serious runners tend to not need music or find any added benefit using it. My cousins, Carolina and Natalia, very avid runners, are apparently at this point. Natalia has told me she likes running without music because she uses the sound of her breathe to pace herself...how interesting is that! And Carolina, says that she doesn't usually do her races with music, only on occasion if she feels she needs some particular motivation or for longer runs. Everybody does it their own way...

And speaking of that, for right now, I will keep my headphones on for motivation so I thought I'd share my latest running playlist. This is what pumps me up right now.  How different is yours??



I have a mix of all kinds of music including some Spanish in there. They all vary in different beats. It starts off at an average beat, then speeds up, then slows down again just to allow me a good beat to walk to if I decide I need to walk/run. I've been learning a lot about what I need during my runs, so I am constantly adjusting my list accordingly.









So is music important to your exercise/running regimen? What does your playlist look like? What music do you prefer? Does it help you improve your performance?  I think it would be interesting to know, so comment if you're so inclined.

Well, I hope that if you haven't already tried exercising with music, do so now. It might just make a difference for you.

So go out there, put your playlist together and... Rock your body!!!


From my corner to yours,





Monday, May 14, 2012

Monday Motivations- Music is Feeling




Music seems to be my thing lately...but music has always been really important to me, and it just seems like I remember my life through music, the good and the bad times, how I was feeling, and what happened to me during what year of my life all based on when a certain song was playing.  My husband has always been amazed that I can remember the most random things about my life based on my music timeline. Do you have one??

Anyway, I realize that how I feel is usually what kind of music I am listening to or decide to listen to. Does that happen to you too?

Does music...Motivate you? Or depress you?
Does it drive your mood? Does it help you get through certain moments?
Does it help you just feel? 

Think about it and find that music that sounds like what you feel like or want to feel like this week! It can change everything.

Have a great week from my corner to yours...


Friday, May 11, 2012

Foto Friday- School project and Color Collage

Its Foto Friday and I have some special pictures to share. Yesterday, I was one of several parents of Mikey's 3rd grade class that was asked to help out to with their class project for CHIME's Annual Project they do at the end of each school year.

The 3rd grade has been learning about nature, and finding something out there that "speaks to them," and how to look at things in nature close up to gain a different perspective of things. Soo cool! So the parents were asked to bring their cameras, take individual children out to the school's Garden Classroom to pick something "that spoke to them,"and help THEM take our cameras to take a close up picture of the nature item they selected.

It was a lot of fun, and it was soo interesting to see what each child would end up picking, so in turn I learned a lot about a child's perspective in photography as to what they saw through the camera lens...always a neat thing. There were quite a few parents who helped so I got about 7 students to myself, and here are some of their shots.

 
We were instructed to take a picture of them with a whiteboard showing their name so we knew what picture belonged to whom. So this is the picture  Buck (my good friend's son) took. I love it! Cactus up close are very cool!                                                     
 So this next one is the one Mikey took of the strawberries growing in their garden. It was cool to see him take my camera and know exactly what he wanted to get in his shot. The other neat thing I noticed when Mikey took my SLR camera, is that because he is a natural "lefty," he had to look into the lens with his left eye. I am a "righty" so it is natural for me to assume that is how everyone looks through the lens, lol. I had never seen anyone do that, so I learned something new about my son too.  Loved this project!                                                                                   

  I had to do just some minor cropping edits as the teachers wanted these pics to be as up close as possible, but these are the shots some of the other kids took:
  


 I think they did such a great job! Don't you? Can't wait to see how the teacher's end up using these pictures.  
Thank you Mrs. Aram and Mrs. Cherniet for allowing me to help with this special project!!
 
And since I was in a place of natural inspiration, I took advantage and snapped some of my own pictures. The Foto Friday theme for the week, is technically a One Color Collage, but since  it turns out that all the flowers I shot were yellow, red and orange, I think it still works as one combined color? Anyway, here is the collage I made with my flowers.


I dedicate these beautiful flowers full of sunlight and nature's glory to all the special ladies in my life that are mothers on this Mothers Day weekend...especially to my Mom!  I love you Mom!

May all your families fill your special day be with lots of love, sunlight and happiness because you all deserve it and so much more!

Happy Mothers Day!!

XOXO from my corner to yours,








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Monday, May 7, 2012

Monday Motivations- You Go Girls!!

This week's motivation comes from my SIL's Betty and Gaby who are both doing a 1/2 marathon in Santa Barbara this coming Saturday. They have been training very hard and I've been soo impressed with their efforts. Betty is running for Tourette Syndrome in honor of her son, Jordan, and Gaby has never done a 1/2 marathon before so preparation was key for her. They have totally inspired me to one day want to train for a 1/2 marathon myself. I have a long way to go, but if they can do it, I know I can too.

I just wanted to let them know that we already think they're winners and that they will be Victorious whenever they hit the finish line. They have sweat and prepared and they've earned their success.

 
Betty and Gaby, I'm so proud of you, and I know you're going to do great!

You go Girls!!


I'm going out to run...Happy Monday everybody! Wishing you all a wonderful week!

From my corner to yours,

Wednesday, May 2, 2012

Weight Watcher Wednesday- Not giving up


Ok, So I can't give up! I know that, but this week continues to be a bit tough for me. After all the pushing myself to be on plan, working out to feel better and to get out of this funk, I weighed in today expecting to see some result and instead I gained this week. I don't get it! Ugghh!

Not sure what the HELL is going on, but please excuse me if I take this small chance to vent today. I'm frustrated! I'm down right now, BUT I will not dwell on it too much. Instead, I will also take this opportunity to remind myself that I can't give up.


                                      



I've worked too hard, and I ultimately know that all the hard work I put in will eventually show up and the working out is making me healthy no matter what. I'm in it for my health too!






                                                                                                                                                                          


I'm done with the griping
Thank you for listening
I hope that none of you will give up either...Fight On with me!!


Forward and onward...from my corner to yours,







Tuesday, May 1, 2012

A Pinterest Experiment- DIY Green Onions

So I figured this week would be a good time post a set of pictures I took over a week ago based on a post I found on Pinterest about DIY re-growing green onions in your own kitchen. Not that I didn't believe it, but I wanted to try it out for myself, and I took pictures to document the process. I found this fascinating, and I needed to share. I took them with my iPhone, and I didn't take them with any special style in mind, so they're not spectacular but they give the story.

So here was the daily process:


Friday, April 20th
I started with a set of onions I had just cut down to almost the white of the onion.
I took the short stems in the glass jar full of water, and set them by kitchen window sill.

Monday, April 23rd
After a few days, I was shocked to see the growth

Tuesday, April 24th
Wow, even more just overnight!

Wednesday, April 25th
And it continued...

Thursday, April 26th
And after just 6 days I have a new stalk of green onion to use!!

Isn't that the coolest thing ever! I don't know, I thought so, lol! It was almost like a science project for the kids too and they loved it. It was just a fun and simple experiment to do, and one that I will be doing often.

So again, I just wanted to share something fun today. Hope you'll try it at home too!

Thanks for stopping by and Happy Tuesday from my corner to yours...