Updates

Ok so I have some good news!! 

Yesterday I went to a doctor's appointment, and like every other appointment that you go to, they weighed me.  And guess what!!!  I weighed in at 175 pounds!!!  Yay!!  So three more lbs down!!  GREAT!!  However I did miss going to the gym today.  :(  But on the plus side, I have the day off tomorrow and on Monday I only have to go into work for an hour!  So that leaves time to workout and make up for missed time.  I will let you know how it goes!!  How is everyone else doing on their workouts???

Nifty Apps for Your Phone That Can Help You Stay On Track

Nowadays, I know nearly everyone has some sort of smartphone and if you are like me, it is slam packed full of rockstar applications that help you track stuff and games to keep you occupied whenever you are waiting around for a meeting or appointment. 

Today I would like to share some of the applications that I have either seen or that I use on my Iphone.  Now before I start, I don't want to get too techy and nerdy but I LOVE LOVE LOVE my Iphone.  Alright, alright...  I get it.  get on with it right?  :)  Here are some of the applications that I have on my Iphone:



This application from Everyday Health is a marvelous tool that you can use to choose more healthy snacks in the 50, 100, and 200 calorie ranges.  I alos gives you ideas on activities that you can do to burn those same calories.



Lose It! is another great application that I use quite frequently.  Here you can set up a daily calorie budget, your goals, and compare with other friends that use this application.  I started with the Lose It! application.  You can click on the goal button and configure your starting weight, current weight, and goal weight.  It will show it in a graph and suggest a healthy daily calorie budget according to you goal. 



Everyone know America's toughest trainer!!!  Jillian Micheals has an application for Iphone called Jillian Micheals Slim Down.  This application gives you daily tips to keep you on track, exercises for specific areas that you might want to improve, circuit workouts, recipes, and Jillian herself giving you motivation and advice.  If you have any of this woman's DVDs, then you know she knows what she is talking about!!!



This is a fairly new application for me.  In fact my good friend from  Taylor Made Home introduced me to this application today. (*pst...go check her blog out for wonderful home decorating and organizing tips!!!!)  This application allows you to track your food and exercises in a log and alos link up with friends to help you stay on track.

I hope that you try some of these out and tell me what you think of them!!!  Do you think that a program such as one of these would be beneficial to you when they are available at your fingertips?  What other applications have you come across that you like to help you with your diet and exercise?

What Is Expected of Me? (as a Navy Sailor)

Even though I have been in the Navy for almost 7 years, it never occured to me when I started this blog to share what was expected of me in the physical fitness department.  So, after a suggestion from my new ladies at The Sits Girls, I felt that it was a very great idea!!!  So thank you ladies!!!  And here goes!!!  :)

Luckily, we are not in these days that this old school Navy ad suggests!  Now we GIRLS  can serve proudly as sailors in the finest Navy of the World!!!  (Ahem, excuse me while I get out of my promoting uniform!)  But as any military service member, we still have to uphold certain fitness requirements to stay fit for full duty and serve the Navy proficiently!!!  As sailors, we are tested twice a year on our abilities to run or jog a mile and a half in a certain time frame, the amount of situps that we can do in two minutes, as well as the amount of pushups in two minutes as well.  Now, don't not fool yourself and believe that this girl just hangs out all year long until two weeks before this assessment and passes with flying colors!!  Not the case at ALL!!!  Though it does not sound hard, when you are actually doing these activities, you just wish that it is over as soon as it started.

I, according to my age, has to make the mile and a half run in 15 minutes and 15 seconds.  I actually opt to do the station ary bike, which is also an approved method of taking the assessment.  During this assessment, I must burn as many calories as I can in 12 minutes.  In my case, my limit is a minimum of  90 calories.  Now, if you have ever tried to ride the stationary bike with a calories burn/ time limit goal orientation, you will find that it is not very easy!!!  (Unless of course you ride every single day and are just a kickbutt ROCKSTAR!!!)  Usually, after my 12 minutes on the stationary bike pedaling my little heart out, my legs are jelly afterwards!!!  So, even though I prefer it to running a mile and a half track outside, it is still no JOKE!!!

Yes, I understand that not all of you are in the Navy and do not need to exceed military requirements.  But, I challenge you!!!  Try to give yourself your own little Physical Fitness Assessment.  How many pushups and situps each can you do in two minutes?  How many calories can you burn in 12 minutes on the stationary bike or elliptical?  (Hint:  Try boosting you resistance levels on the bike in order to reach your goal!!)  Boosting your resistance will make it harder to pedal but will burn more calories per minute.  Try this test and see how well you do.  And if you don't do as well as you like then just keep training to get to your goals!!!

Here is another tip!!  To build up your endurance, use the elliptical instead of the bike and only test yourself on the bike once a week.  The elliptical has a larger range of motion and stretches your movements to better train all areas of you legs and arms, as well as your cardio!!!

Try to make changes in your daily life to promote healthy living!!!!  Challenge yourself as Navy personnel do all over the world!!!  For details of requirements, just google "Navy PFA (Physical Fitness Assessment) Standards"

Also, you can just look up different workouts that help you get to your goal.  To point is to challenge yourself and see a difference in your body and confidence.

Fitness Tunes

Have you ever got set to go for a run and when you put your headphones in, you seem to spend more time skipping song after song after song that you have already heard it seems like a thousand times?  Well maybe it is time to revamp your Ipod.  I had to do this not to long ago because I was in the same shoes.  I was getting so frustrated in having to skip song after song because I just couldn't listen to it any longer!!!  When I was on deployment, as bad as it sounds, the best workouts I had was when I was so mad or fed up with everything!!  I would throw on the most fast pace rocking song I could find on my ipod and run for miles!!!  And, I know that makes me sound like a phsycopath, but when I finished my workout, I felt so much better, my anger had dissipated and my muscles were so very sore!!  But it worked for me in both directions.  If I were to put on some uplifting fast pace music with a solid beat to run with, then the same results came. 

My husband has always told me that music was not imparative to a workout and that I shouldn't listen to music because I needed to focus on what muscles I was using and what i was doing to train.  I have to DISAGREE!!  I mean come on!!  Running is quite repetitive and if you aren't careful, you will get burnt out easily (of course, unless you are like Micheal Johnson!!!).  I mean who really enjoys to run that much!!!

Here are some songs that I have on my Ipod or have had at some point:  (I understand though that everyone's tastes are different and you should go with what you enjoy to listen to!)



"Never Again"  Kelly Clarkson
"Addicted"  Saving Abel
"American Woman"  Lenny Kravitz
"Bad"  Micheal Jackson
"Burning Down the House"  The Used
"Champion" Chipmunk (feat. Chris Brown)
"Country Grammar"  Nelly
"Crickets on a Line"  Colt Ford
"Dream On"  Aerosmith
"I'm Moving On"  Rascal Flatts (cool down)

These are some of the songs I have but obviously, music taste definitely vary!!!  The point is try to get a good play list on you ipod or music player to help get you motivated to get going.  Try it, and maybe it will work for you!!!
 

Summer Fun!!

Just because it is the summer, doesn't mean that you have to be bored and chained to your home.  You can have your house in order and have the most fun you can imagine. (And you are sneaking some calorie burning activities in there too.)  For some great tips on keeping your house in order during summer fun, shoot on over to Taylor Made Home .  This girl has got it together!!!  She has some great ideas to keep the chaos of household management down to a controllable flow.

Now we all know that even as excited as kids are about getting out of school for two months or so, the enevitable words "I'm bored!!!" are right around the corner!!!  So, think about things that everyone loves to do to get them up and moving.  Of course, the home still needs to be ran and taken care of to keep the chaos from becoming the "elephant in the closet". 

So after the daily quick chores for around the house are done, what should you do?

Here are some ideas:

1.  Is there someone in the household that hasn't learned to swim yet?  Most YMCAs or local swimming pools offer swimming lessons, and there are many that are free.  Take it from some one speaking from experience.  Every child should learn how to swim at a young age.  They should never have time to become frightened of the water.  Swimming is an invaluable skill and could save your child's life one day.  And besides!!!  Swimming and splashing in a pool during a hot summer day is always a GREAT idea and will ususally get everyone involved excited.  And whether you are swimming laps or doing cannon balls, you can not believe how many calories you are most likely burning.  Just treading water takes a tremondous amount of effort and muscle work.
  

2.  Is there are local softball league you are interested in, or maybe a family league that everyone can participate in?  Not only is playing softball or baseball a ton of fun, but it will also teach your children important skills like teamwork!!  And you may never know!!!  Your PreModonna 9-10 year old daughter just might find her calling in softball.  Open different opportunities to your child and they just might surprise you!!!


3.  Get the kids together and build a tree house.  Now I know if you have ever done this you know the tremendous amount of effort that this takes and you surely know how sore you are when you are all done.  WORKOUT COMPLETE!!!  Just please remember to stretch before hand and practice all safety precautions necessary!!!



Or maybe a playhouse for your daughter:



4.  Go for a hike.  Just because you may not live in the mountains,doesn't mean you can't enjoy the great outdoors.  There are several nature trails that you can kind that are free to go on.  You and you children can learn all about nature and the different plants and animals and you are throwing in your cardio!!  Please make sure not to forget to pack several bottles of water and the bug repellent and sunscreen.

 

How does this compare to the way you spend your summers?  What could you do to make them more adventurous and fitness friendly?