Day 26: It's All In the ABs!!!

It is always a good idea to workout out your core to get the perfect abs that you are looking for!  You could try cardio that targets the ab area such as Zumba!  Or you could try different exercises that target your core!  I have collected some different types of AB Exercises that you could try out and use on a daily basis!

A-mazing core workout!

Via

Day 24: Out With the Old and in With the New!

One of the most important things to make sure you do after you have lost weight is to buy and invest in some new clothes that will fit your new figure!  You won't truly know how much you've lost until you go through your "old" clothes and see what fits and what needs to be sent to Goodwill:)

I had to go through my old clothes and try them on to see how much weight I actually lost because in my mind I didn't realize how much I'd lost!  It feels very cleansing when you are able to go through your things and pitch the ones that no longer fit you!  Here are some things that I had to get rid of:

Organize your dresser

Get rid of the old

Donate to Goodwill!

Organize your closet!

That's better:)

Day 23: Sign Up!

I'm sorry I'm behind with our:

I have been really busy lately planning for our Halloween party and everything else that comes along with work!  I might be a couple days late with finishing before October is over with!

Another bit of advice to keep you going is to sign up for some type of race whether it be a: 5K, 10K, triathlon, bike race or whatever you're interested.  This is  a great way to start a goal and it will keep you motivated to get to your goal weight.

I did a 2 5K's this year: The Color Run and a 5K that raised money to help out those who are victims of domestic violence.  Here are some pictures that were taken on the day of my 2nd 5K:

Before the race! 

It was a chilly one!  My sis and I did a 5K to raise money for victims of domestic violence.

My best time for a 5K yet!

Day 22: Feel Good!

Whenever you are ready to workout, make sure you have some fabulous workout clothes to do it in!  If you think and know that you look good when you're working out then you will have the extra confidence that you can push through the tough exercise and you will try you're best!

Via

These are definitely cute and would make me want to exercise!  LOVE:)

Via

How about some Zumba clothes?!?!  I think so:):):)  Someday, I'll be able to wear that outfit!

Via

Day 21: Motivation to Keep You Going!

If you're just joining me for my :

Then make sure you check out this post to read about all of the posts that I have put together for this series!

I have already talked about finding motivation, but trying to keep it is always difficult, especially when it comes to long-term weight loss!  I'm the kind of person who wants to see the results right away and continue to see those results!  If you're anything like me then this post is for you:)  I have been sharing with you all some motivational exercise or eating habit quotes and here are some for you all to think about!

Via

Throughout your weight loss, you will push yourself to do things that you never once thought that you could accomplish!  That's one of the best parts of weight loss is overcoming the "impossible" or so you thought!

Via

Day 20: Fruits and Veggies!

We're so far into the :

Via

Which brings me to eating healthy and eating your serving sizes of fruits and veggies!  Before I was so caught up on "light" or "reduced fat" or "100 calorie packs", that I didn't focus on eating enough fruits and veggies!  You need to make sure you are eating your fruits and veggies to fuel your body and so you can be happy and healthy:)

Day 19: Skinny, Mouth-Watering Manicotti

Alright!  This recipe is seriously the bomb and it is very low calorie for pasta!!!  This has to be my all time fav healthier/skinny recipe!  This is a HUGE fav of the hubby and he eats ALL of the leftovers for this one!!

This recipe does take a little longer to prepare, but it's soo worth it, let me tell you:)  This is what you need to make this delicious dish:

Skinny, Mouth-watering manicotti

Polk-A-Dottie!

Happy Sunday everyone:)  I hope you had a fabulous Friday and Saturday! I did! I ran in my 2nd 5K this year, and I did my best time:)  I will share some photos with you all in another post about this weekend!  For now, I wanted to share with you my fun nails that I did:)

This past week, I wanted to try something different with my finger nails, so I decided to make this fun creation!

Polka dot nails!

Day 17: Use Your Resources!!!

We're a little over half way through the 31 Days post...it's crazy how fast this is going!

I'm going to use my "teacher voice" for this, "Make sure you use your resources for your weight loss."  There are so many different types of technology that you can use to help you with counting your calories, keeping track of your workouts, or even having workouts with the touch of a button on your phone!  This truly has made losing weight that much easier because it makes it so much more convenient!  You have these tools with a snap of a finger, so there is no reason not to record what you eat or when you exercised!  The app that I use on my phones is:  Calorie Count! 

Via

You can keep track of your workouts and your calories!  It's a must-have for me right now:)

Slinky!!!!

Every year at my school, the teachers get to participate in a pumpkin decorating contest!!  I absolutely love this contest, probably because I LOVE crafty things:)  Well, last year I decorated my pumpkin like this...check out this post!!!  This year I wanted to try something a little different.  I did some research and what I mean by that is I searched already decorated pumpkins and found an idea of Slinky from Toy Story:)  Mine didn't turn out like the other ones I saw, but I must have done something because I got 2nd place in our pumpkin decorating contest!!!  I was pretty stoked about coming in 2nd!!  I even get to be in our local newspaper..cool, right?  So, here is my beloved pumpkin:

Head!

That was when it was a work in progress!

Slinky

It didn't turn out the way I wanted it to, but I must have done something right since I did get 2nd place:)  How do you all decorate your pumpkins?  Have you started yet?

Thanks for stopping by:):):)

Until next time!!!!!

Day 17: Nutella Cookies!

Happy Wednesday everyone!!!  I'm so happy we're half way through the week because this weekend, I'm running my 2nd 5K in over 6 years...woohoo!!!  I can't wait:):):)  Lately, I will go for my run no matter how cold it is because having a goal keeps me on track!

In my last post, I told you how busy I was with baking and cooking over the weekend and how I tried some new recipes that I wanted to share with you all and share for my:

Overall, I think that I will make these cookies again.  The hubby didn't like these as much as my Healthy Banana Muffins, but you can't win them all, right?!?!  I did like these cookies and the good thing is that there isn't any extra sugar other than what is in Nutella, which I'm sure is quite a bit.  For a cookie they, they really are a little skinnier than most:)

It's really simple, quick, and easy to make these!  I mean anyone could do this within a matter of 3 minutes to get your ingredients together and then of course time for baking.

Day 16: Healthy Banana Muffins:)

Alright everyone, this weekend I was one baking and cooking woman!!!  I made banana bread, banana cupcakes, Nutella cookies, AND manicotti!!  Normally, I barely make 2 things out of the week and to make all of those within 2 days is unheard of!  What can I say, I'm on a roll:)

I'm definitely going to be sharing with you all, the above recipes and how they turned out, but today I just wanted to share with you all a recipe for some healthy banana cupcakes for my:

31 Days...

In order to be successful with your weight loss goal, you need some lighter, healthier, and more nutritious recipes to add to your cookbook and this would be one of them(if you like banana muffins!)

Here they are in all of their deliciousness:)

Yummy!

Day 15: Vocab No, No's

 Words really do have quite the impact on the progress that you have made and how you will continue to make progress.  It seems almost silly how only a few words can change the way you think and feel about yourself and your life in general!

So True!

I do believe that you have to believe in YOURSELF and never say that you "can't" because you CAN do what you think that you can't!  You can change your habits to healthy ones:)  If I can do this then just about anyone can because I was in a pretty dark place before!

I would cry for no reason at all, on a weekly basis. 

I would worry about things that I couldn't control!

I would be so negative about myself and others.

I never gave myself credit for any positive things that I did for others!

I would become anxious for more than a couple hours!

I would beat myself up for eating out ALL weekend!

In the Spirit of Halloween!

Since Halloween is right around the corner and I was kind of bored one night, I tried out Pic Monkey's Halloween extras!!!  If you haven't tried it out yet then you should because they have some pretty neat effects.  I just tried it out on two of my pics and here are the creepy pictures:

Me as a vampire!

Us as zombies!

Yah...the second one is a little gory and it isn't as real looking!  My favorite one is the vampire one:)

These pictures remind me, today the hubby and I were relaxing and watching TV, flipping through the channels.  We came to AMC and there was a series called "The Walking Dead", and it is actually pretty good.  You might want to check it out, if you like movies/series about zombies!

Thanks for stopping by:):):)

Until next time!!!! 

Day 14: Top 10 Exercising and Diet Myths!

Hey All!!!  I thought that it would be a great idea to share some myths with you about your diet and exercise.  It's pretty important to get the right information to help you lose the weight along the way!

First myth:  Crunches will eliminate belly fat.  (False)

Via

You really can't pick which part of the body you would like to lose weight from.  So, with a combination of cardo and weight lifting will help with decreasing this issue.

Second myth:  Stretching before workouts is a must! (False)

Via

This one was hard for me to accept because I have always been told to stretch before I workout and especially right before I run!  There have been studies done and there really isn't much correlation between the two.  The studies have showed just as many people who don't exercise get injured as the ones who do!  I still stretch before my workouts.  I think it may also depend on your body.  In the study, it stated that if you have always stretched before a workout then it would be a good idea to continue to do that.  So, I'm sticking with stretching, but I just thought that I would let everyone know:)

Day 13: Skinny Chicken Stuffing Bake

Here is Day 12 to my:

Today, I have a recipe for you all and it is sure quite delicious:)  It is Skinny Chicken Stuffing Bake...yum, yum!!

DE-lish!

Trust me it tastes, oh, so good!!!  Plus, it's easy to make and it's relatively quick:)

Ingredients:
4 Chicken Breasts
Box of Stuffing
Fat Free Mushroom Soup

Ingreidents

 The directions are simple, first make your stuffing according to what it says on the box.  Preheat oven to 425 degrees.  Then place the chicken breasts towards the sides of the dish and leave space in the middle for the dressing.  Next, place the dressing in the middle of the dish.  Pour cream of mushroom soup over the chicken breast.

Put tin foil over the dish and leave in the oven for 40 minutes and uncover the dish and put back in the oven for 5 minutes!  Enjoy and serve some of this delisiousness!!!

Add a little broccoli and you're set!

I hope you are enjoying the weekend!!!  I sure am because I have been doing a lot of things around the house this week!  My first FULL weekend home since July!  It sure is nice:)

Thanks for stopping by:):):)

Until next time!!!!!

I've linked up to:

Quick Fashion Friday!

Happy Friday!!  That means it's time to have fun and relax!!!  That is what this girl is going to do:)  Lately, before I head off to school, I've been taking pics of what I'm wearings.  So, I thought that I would share them with you all:)

It was homecoming week and dress up day = Hat Day!

I love me a great fitting jacket!!!

Sorry these pics aren't the greatest quality, as you can tell, I took them with my phone!

I have at least a couple jackets right now and I LOVE them because it really nips you in at the waist and it makes you look really slim:)  Believe me if I could, I would buy so many more jackets, but they are pretty expensive, at least the ones that fit me right.  My fav. jacket is the gray one because of the details on the side!  I would tell everyone that jackets are a staple for your wardrobe!  I can pair so many different tops with each of these jackets and you can have a different look each time!!  Who else is a jacket lover?!?!?

Well, that's all I have for you!  I hope you enjoy whatever you have left to your Friday!!!

Thanks for stopping by:):):)

Until next time!!!!

I've linked up to :

Day 12: Motivation From...You Guessed It...Pinterest!!!

Yay for Thursday:)  Only 1 more day until the weekend, then I can FINALLY get out my Halloween decorations, clean the basement, and give the rest of the house a real cleaning!!!  It definitely needs it and pretty much every weekend since July has been busy driving here and there.  So, this weekend I will be SO happy that we're going to be home for the WHOLE weekend:)   Do any of you have big plans for the weekend?

On to 31 Days to a Happier and Healthier You!

I always post things on my blog about Pinterest and how much it has completely changed my life and that is so true, but I wanted to share a little secret with you!

Via

Day 11: Support Group

So, here we are on Day 11 of the 31 Days to a Happier and Healthier You!  It's crazy that we're already on Day 11.

One of the key parts of having a successful, weight loss journey is truly the support that you get from friends and family.  If you are with people who understand why you are embarking on a new journey and try to help you with this new chapter in your life then it makes loosing weight that much easier!!!  This is the one thing that I needed an extra little push in my.  Let me explain what I mean....I needed someone to not only give me support, but someone who was my "cheerleader" and workout buddy to get me started.  If I didn't have that then I don't know where I would be right now!  It's the honest truth!  Support from others can either make or break your weight loss efforts.  I understand that you have the ultimate choice and that is true, but when you are having a difficult time with jumping on the bandwagon to begin with and no support there for you; it just makes losing weight that much harder!

Oh..So Cute Nails!

I'm especially in the mood these past 2 weeks for giving myself manis and trying different things when painting my nails:)  I guess maybe I have a little bit more time, so why not, right?!?!

This one I tried I'm going to call Sparkly Teal Loving!

Teal Love!

Sneak Peak #5

Hope you are enjoying your Tuesday!!!  Here is the next sneak peak to my Halloween costume!!!  Have fun with guessing:)

Black Wig

 For some reason my picture is turned sideways...darn it!  I didn't take the wig out of the netting it comes with because I didn't want it to get all snagged and knotty.  It's a long black wig.  If you need to check and see what else I'm having for my outfit then click on this link and it will bring up my other Sneak Peaks to my costume!!

Thanks for stopping by:):):)

Until next time!!!!!