Weighing In & Wedding Planning: Venues

This morning was the first time I've weighed myself in a while.  Since I've been working out consistently for about 10 days now, I was of course expecting a miracle, but instead, I just got a reality check...

177.5

Still in the same area I have been for the past few months.  Now that I have a great workout buddy, a consistent workout schedule, a wedding to get in shape for, and I'm eating really well, I know I'll be out of the 70's in no time!

On a more exciting note, I am pumped to join the Wedding Wednesday link-up!

Mary at Little Bit of Class Little Bit of Sass will no longer be hosting after this week, but Kristyn at Chits & Giggles will be taking over.  I am excited to share my wedding ideas, and to read about the plans of others!

For those of you that did not read my last post, Nick proposed a few weeks ago!

Our wedding date is 6/6/15 so wedding planning is already in full swing!

We chose an early date because I am a HUGE procrastinator, unless I have a tight deadline.  If I had a year or more to plan, I would just wait until the last possible moment, and then scramble to get everything in place.

This week, I am going to share a little bit about the venues we chose.

The wedding ceremony is going to take place at Library Park in the town we live in.

The stone building was erected in 1894 and was the town's original library, village hall, firehouse, and jail, all in one.  In 1923, the village hall, firehouse, and jail were relocated, but the library remained there until 1978.  After that, the building was put on the National Register of Historic Places, and is used for local events. 

We had to put down a $100 deposit to reserve the park.  This deposit is fully refundable as long as there is no damage to the property, and we clean up after ourselves.  Our reservation also includes access to the first floor the library building, for no extra charge.  We plan on having the ceremony outdoors, but in the event of rain, we'll move into the building.

Conveniently, our house is only about a mile from this park.  The plan is to have the girls get ready at our house, or my aunt's (she lives about 2 miles outside of town), and the guys will get ready at the other house.  Nick and I do plan on seeing each other before the ceremony so we can get a bunch of pictures taken care of beforehand.  We will still do a first look shoot though, so there is still some element of surprise for Nick seeing me in my dress for the first time, hence getting ready at separate houses.  

Our reception will be a short 15 minutes away from the ceremony site at The Heights Event Center. 

I nabbed these photos of The Heights from the web since I haven't taken any myself yet.  

You can get an idea of the set up of the room from the first picture though.  Behind the point of view of the photographer, is the dance floor, the piece of wood sticking out to the left is the bar.  The second picture is of the foyer area outside of the reception hall.  

It's such a nice, large space for a very reasonable price!  The owner/event coordinator of the venue is also amazingly nice.  Like, the nicest person I have ever met.  He is beyond excited to work with us, and is ready to help us in any way possible.  The reservation fee for the center is $3 per person which includes set up and tear down, waitstaff fee, and white linens!!  We can also use any decorations they have on site for no extra fee.  What a steal!

The owner of the venue also owns a restaurant so they do in-house catering.  Nick and I already did a food tasting with him at his restaurant, and daaayyyyyuuummm, their food is SO good!  I'll save the food details for another post though :)

So far, wedding planning has gone very smoothly, and things seem to just fall into place.  I really hope it continues that way!

I'm back! Again!

I apologize, once again, for my long absence.

Life got a little crazy the last few weeks, and I just had to step back from blogging.

Some of the craziness included:  being super busy at work, and not having time to write; my brother calling off his wedding; my brother and 9 year old nephew moving in with us; wedding preparation activities for my friend Heidi's wedding that is in 3 weeks, and....

I'm engaged!!!!!!

Nick proposed over Labor Day weekend, and we have already been very busy with wedding plans. 

 We have chosen 6/6/15 as our date so we really need to be on top of things.  

Our ceremony site and reception venue are already booked, we have decided on half of our menu so far, our bridal party has been chosen and asked, colors have been decided and decor planning is in process, I am meeting with a potential photographer next week, and I have an appointment to try on bridal gowns on Oct 3.  

I think we're doing pretty awesome so far!

Not only has blogging taken a backseat over the past few weeks, so has fitness.

I have finally started getting back into a routine this week though.  

My neighbor, that has a two month old, wants to get back into shape, so we have become workout buddies.  

We made a workout schedule that goes like this:  Monday - Insanity DVD; Tuesday - Running & Abs; Wednesday - Barre DVD; Thursday - Running & Abs; Friday - Yoga to stretch it all out; Saturday & Sunday - on our own to do our own things.

We unfortunately didn't do anything on Tuesday because I ended up going to a bridal show after work, and got home late.  Monday, we did do Insanity and last night was Barre.  My body hurts, but it's such a good hurt!!

I have also been reading through Chris Powell's Choose to Lose book, and I will start carb cycling next week.

I am beyond excited to be back...back to blogging, and back into a fitness routine.  

I am also super excited to share some of my wedding planning details with my blogging family!

Strength Training & NSVs

A couple weeks ago, it hit me like a ton of bricks that really need to start strength training.

I was the passenger in the car with Nick, and I waved out the window to someone.  As I'm waving, Nick goes, "Hahaha, look at your arm jiggling in the mirror, it looks funny."  

I glance into the side mirror and to my horror, my "bat wing" is flapping around like I'm about to take flight.  Like flapping so much that I'm pretty sure the air flow created by it helped accelerate the car.

My arms have never really been muscular, but they definitely have never been flabby.  As we age, it gets harder and harder to maintain muscle definition.  The fact that I'm still in my 20's, and have some serious bat winging going on, I know I need to start incorporating strength training into my healthy lifestyle. 

Last year, I started, and stopped, Jamie Eason's LiveFit strength program 3 or 4 times.  

Well, I'm back at it, and this time, I am going to complete all 12 weeks!

This time is different though because I no longer have a gym membership.  Many of the moves are on cable machines, or other weight machines, so I have to do a lot of improvising and modifying at home.

For instance the seated leg extension that looks like this.

This is my at-home attempt.

I'm sitting on the coffee table, weight balanced precariously on my foot, slowly raising it and lowering it for 12 reps, one leg at a time. 

The weight fell of my foot a dozen times, but I just picked it up, re-balanced, and kept going.  This makes the workout take a little bit longer, but hey, I'm doing what I can with what I have. 

So far, I am half way through week 2, and my arms already feel less jiggly.  Before I get too far into the program, I should probably take some before pictures...

On to NSVs

First, I have been doing really well with getting my workouts in.  

When I get home from work, all I really want to do is grab a beer and either sit out on the patio with the dogs and a book, or watch TV.  Instead, I change into workout clothes right away, and I get shit done!  I feel great afterwards, and never regret it. 

Here is my 1.5 mile run from yesterday.  Holy pace on that 2nd half mile!  There is now way I could have maintained that for an entire mile at this point, but I'm still pretty proud :)

Second, I have been following my meal plan almost exactly.  I say almost because I had a little impromptu snack last night after dinner.  Around 8, I was hungry so I had two graham crackers with almond butter.  Probably not the best choice, but better than total junk.

Third, I have had ZERO candy in over 3 days.  I love candy and sweets! Love, love, love.  Standing in the Target check-out lane last night, the candy bars were calling my name, very loudly.  But, I have resisted all temptation, and will continue to do so through the rest of the week. 

Today on the schedule, I have a 2 mile run, legs and calves strength, and 2-3 mile walk with the dogs.

Have a healthy and happy Thursday, and be sure to link up with KTJ to celebrate YOUR non-scale victories!

WIW

It's Wednesday.  If you regularly read my blog, you know it's weigh-in time.

Up .1 lbs from last week. 

Not too surprised considering the poor food choices I made over the weekend, and all of the beer I consumed, but I am still disappointed.

I ate really well Monday and Tuesday, and busted ass last night, hoping to salvage this weigh-in. I was really hoping to see a tiny bit of a loss.  Even if I would have just went down .1 lb from last week, I would have been joyous.

This weekend, I have a bachelorette party and a bridal shower to attend.  If I want to see a loss next week, I need to make better decisions over the weekend, and really work hard the rest of the week.

Monday, I talked about my menu for the week.  Today, I am going to share my activity plans.

Monday, I was supposed to cross train and strength train.  I planned on walking the dogs and doing a workout video.  That didn't quite pan out though.  When I got home from work and grocery shopping, I had a splitting headache. I downed some ibuprofen, put away groceries, guzzled water, made dinner, and ate. 

 My head still ached.   

I ended up sleeping on the couch the rest of the evening, until Nick woke me up to actually go to bed.

Boo.

So Monday ended up being a fail in the workout department.

Last night, I changed into running clothes as soon as I got home from work, and headed out to get my two miles in. 

Not too shabby.  The accelerated pace of the 2nd mile really got me though.  I was ready to call it quits with 1/4 mile to go, but I powered through and finished.  I was gasping for breath and felt like my lungs were going to explode, but I felt great afterwards :)

It's tough to swallow, but I need to realize I am slower than I used to be from lack of training.  10:00 average pace, or quicker, is not where I am currently at.  In order to complete my long runs, I am going to have to slow it down, and be content with a 10:30-11:00 pace. 

After dinner, Nick and I took the dogs on a 2.24 mile walk, and I also strength trained.  Since I missed chest and triceps on Monday, that's what I did last night, and I will push back my other 3 strength plans a day. 

The rest of the week looks like this:

Today

1.5 mile run

2-3 miles with dogs (already have 1.04 done)

Back & biceps strength

Thursday

2 mile run

2-3 miles with dogs

Legs & calves strength

Friday

3 mile run

Shoulders & Abs strength

Saturday

Rest

Sunday

60 minutes of cross training

There you have it!

Link up with Heather, Ash, and Erin for Weigh-In Wednesday to meet some other awesome bloggers!

Weekend Reset, Meals & Goals

Why do weekends have to be so fun and derail all of my health plans?!

After another wonderful weekend of partaking in many libations, it is time to reset.  

I am guzzling water like it is going out of style to help eliminate alcohol and crappy food induced bloat, and eating as well as possible with what we still have in the house before I grocery shop tonight.

I am hoping that if I am strict with my diet and drink lots of water, my Wednesday weigh-in won't be a total disaster.  The rest of the week will be strictly meal planned also. The weekend will be a little sketchy once again because I have a bachlorette party...

Today, I have consumed/will be consuming:

Breakfast

Smoothie

1 C unsweetened vanilla almond milk

1 Scoop Sun Warrior chocolate protein powder

1 C blueberries

1/2 C strawberries

1/2 banana

Snack

1 lite string cheese

20ish baby carrots

1 T hummus

Lunch

2 leftover grilled ribs with bbq sauce

10 pretzel thins

Snack

Smoothie

1 C unsweetened vanilla almond milk

1/2 C blueberries

1/2 C strawberries

1/2 banana

Dinner

BLT

roasted carrots and zucchini

Dinners for the rest of the week will include:

Chicken sausage and veggie stir-fry

Steak and baked sweet potatoes

Chicken pesto bake with whole wheat pasta

Oven roasted ratatouille 

When it comes to meal planning, I decide on dinners for the week, and then I make enough so that Nick and I have can leftovers for the lunch the next day.  Then I just need to think about snacks.  My go-tos are Greek yogurt with fresh berries, lite string cheese, and vegetables with hummus. 

Besides meal planning this week, I have also scheduled all of my workout.  I unfortunately left my planner at home this morning, so I don't have my plan with me as I type this post.  Off the top of my head though, I at least remember what I have planned for today.  Crossing training and strength training.  

I will be taking the dogs for a nice long walk, and I will either do a workout video or play Just Dance on the Wii because that dancing shit makes me super sweaty and gets my heart rate up.  As for strength, I am on Phase 1 Week 2 of Jamie Eason's LiveFit plan, and today is chest and triceps.

On a final note, let's talk about some goals.

Last week, I had 4 goals.

#1 No beer during the week
Eh, I did alright.  I did have a beer Wednesday after work, and two glasses of wine with a friend on Friday night...Friday is technically the weekend though, right...?

#2 Track everything on MFP
I was doing awesome until Friday afternoon, and then I completely derailed.

#3 Run at least 3 times.
I ran twice. 1.5 miles each. Not so bad.

#4 Strength train twice.
Check!  I actually got 3 different sessions in!

This week's goals.

#1 Four strength training sessions

#2  No candy

#3 Log at least 20 miles between walking and running

What are YOUR goals this week?