Sharing my thoughts!

So here I am ... It has been awhile thats for sure.

I contemplated on letting everyone know my situation but maybe this is what I need. Maybe i need to get it off my chest on here to help me figure this all out.

All starts with me being not so wise and getting three student loans equaling a TON of money. Now I have to pay it back. I then made the mistake of getting so many credit cards and then I wasn't able to pay them.

So here I am a few years later, I have 3 student loans, a house, 2 credit lines, 4 credit cards.

On top of those bills mind you the student loans all together want 800 dollars a month and I CANNOT consolidate them because my credit is bad now because of not being able to pay student loans!

So.. This is going to be a long post I apologize but maybe this is just what I need.

On top of those bills, I have lot rent and trash, water, sewer, and electric, that comes to me in one bill, then I pay electric, cable, internet and cell phones!

Not to mention groceries and gas and car insurance!

So you see I have a ton of bills - yes I make 13 dollars an hour and get a 270 dollar a month bonus(before commission taxes are taken out) but this still isn't enough money for me to live and pay all my bills.

I contemplated bankruptcy and currently trying to figure out how to go through it all. It is going to cost me about 1200 dollars to go through with it. I have the money or will have it saved up to do it. My problem is my car is paid for. Since it is paid for if I file a chapter 7 they will take my car sell it and use some of that to pay creditors.. thing is I used my student loan to buy it so I was able to get to and from school.

So if they take my car I am still going to have to be paying for it because im still paying for my student loans. (not wise I know, but did what I had to do at the time).

Im living in ga now and have a boyfriend living with me - he has lost his jobs.

We will be moving to Ohio but in ohio you have to be there for six months to regain residency in order to be able to file in Ohio. This is a huge mess and Im really stressing out about it.

I miss my family and friends in Ohio and really want to be in Ohio. That is where I am happiest. I am awaiting a call back from an Attorney in Ohio to see what I can legally do. Can I just up and leave me house stop paying and move to ohio? Who knows...

Will talk with both my parents tonight and once I get out of work which I hope is super soon then I am going to try and call the attorney back and see what she has to say for legal advice.!

I am soooooo stressed and its driving me nuts!

Sorry

I apologize for not blogging much as of late.

I have decided to stop counting my calories because its becoming a stressor.

I will definately be upping my protein then cutting down on my carbs.

And limiting my fat all around.

In doing this-- I hope to tone a lot quicker than I am now!!

Wish me luck!

Friday Cardio

Swam laps thirty minutes tonight...extremely exhausted got lots to do.

Hope I can get everything organized to where I can get back on my game for these posts.

Thursday Weights

Abs:

4 sets of 20 @ 50lbs

Chest:

Bench press:
3 sets of 12 @ 45lbs

Incline bench press
one set of 8

butterfly machine
3 sets of 15 at 20

Back:
pull down to the back
1 set of 15 @ 30lbs
2 set of 15 @ 40lbs

Calves:
2 sets of 25 at 90 lbs

Mary Kay Products

I know this is my workout blog but I am trying to get the word out that I am selling Mary Kay products starting in the beginnig of Decemeber.

If anyone is interested feel free to email me at sgartin06@yahoo.com (subject:Mary Kay)

Feel free to pass the word on to people you know!!

Tuesday Weights

Sorry I have been behind a bit lately. I have been extremely exhausted and theres never enough time at night.
I am now able to copy and paste from my Spark Fitness YAY!!!! Ok the numbers after each exercise are in this order:

Sets/Reps/Weight
Abs - regular 4 20 50


Arms - concentration curls 2 10 8

Arms - hammercurls 3 15 8

Arms - one arm pull down -rope 3 10 20

Arms - Vbar pushdowns 1 15 40

Arms - Vbar pushdowns 2 15 50

Arms - One arm pushdown 3 10 20

Legs - leg extensions 2 12 20

Legs - step up machine 2 12 20

Calves - straight 2 25 90

Calves - Outward 2 25 70

Im back

I am back!

Extremely exhausted!

Will try to post an update blog from the amazing weekend I had.

I am going straight home after work and taking a nap!

This Weekend

I will be in Ohio for the weekend and I will do a short summary post of what I do for workouts. It wont be much since I have limited visitation time in Ohio but I will still be doing some sore of exercise so that I keep on track!

Have a great weekend everyone!

Tuesday Weights...OOPS

Forgot to put this on here sorry guys or gals rather.

Abs
4 sets of 20 at 50 lbs

Arms:
Concentration curls - 2 sets of 12 at 8lbs
Hammercurls - 3 sets of 15 at 8 lbs
One arm pushdown - 3 sets of 12 at 20 lbs
V-bar push downs - 1 set of 15 at 30 2 sets of 15 at 40

Legs:
Step up machine - 3 sets of 12 at 20 lbs
Leg extensions - 3 sets of 12 at 20 lbs

Calves:
Straigh - 1 set of 25 at 70lbs and 2 sets of 25 at 90 lbs

Wednesday Cardio

One word. Ouch! Yesterday I swam laps various ways for 30 minutes.
Back Stroke
- 10 minutes burned 123 calories
Breast Stroke
- 10 minutes burned 154 calories

General Swimming (like in picture)
- 5 minutes = two laps (down and back is one) calories burned = 46

Holding on to edge of pool and kicking my feet
- 5 minutes burned 77 calories

Thats a total of 400 calories burned yesterday in a half hour workout. Compared to my 460 I would burn on the elliptical for an hour!

I LOVE SWIMMING! It is great on your joints and just absolutely the best cardio ever!

Monday Cardio

Last night after I got off work I went to the gym. YAY!
Im working on my 4th week in the gym now. Last week I had a few misses but to be expected with being sick. The best part of it is I am back on track!

Swam laps for most of the thirty minutes straight. I added a few walking fast/jogging up and down the lane in the pool to catch my breath and take a break from swimming. Im not the best swimmer so as you can imagine it took me quite a bit to get up and down those lanes.

I am in the process of working my way up to 60 minutes of swimming. Its the best exercise out there and right now all I have to do is wait for a lane approx. 20 minutes. The hotub allows me to relax!

Ten minutes of breastroke burned : 154 calories
Ten minutes of backstroke burned : 123
Ten minutes of treading burned : 154 calories

Weighing In...

November 9, 2009

Previous Weight: 195

Today's Weight: 194

Total Loss of: 1 Pound

Total Weight loss So Far: 17 Pounds

Left till Ultimate Goal : 54 Pounds

This Friday I will be heading to Ohio right after work, my flight leaves at 7:09. I will try and get my hour of cardio in once I arrive at my parents house :).

Saturday Weights

I worked out my Abs, shoulder, neck and some back because I have missed some this week due to being sick.

Abs
4 sets of 20 @ 50 lbs

Shoulders:
Seated dumbell press
-1 set of 12 @ 10 lbs
-2 sets of 15 @ 10 lbs

Shoulder machine
-1 set of 10 @ 35lbs
-1 set of 12 @ 35 lbs

Shoulder fly machine?
- 1 set of 15 @ 20lbs
-2 sets of 15 @ 30 lbs

Side latterals
- 3 sets of 10 @ 3lbs

Shrugs:
3 sets of 15 @ 35lbs

Back
Pull down to the back
- 1 set of 15 @ 30lbs
- 2 sets of 15 at 40lbs

Sunday is supposed to be rest day but I went and wanted to get an hour of cardio in. I think I may have done a little less than half hour. Burned 123 calories not much at all! :(

Im back...

Im feeling somewhat better, the nose is starting to run a little bit now though. uck!

Coming up next week in the kithcen will be:

- Potato - Ground beef bake
- Home made vegetable soup

Also coming up, I will be out of town next weekend. I am heading to Ohio Friday the 13th after work and returning to GA that sunday night sometime. Going up there to see my newest little cousin!! As well as my "bro", the foreign exchange student my family had while I was in high school always comes back to visit and will be there with his parents that weekend! Fun filled/busy weekend! Cannot wait!

Sorry...

Haven't been posting much...been sick and not really up to it :(

Home made Sweet and Sour Chicken

2 chicken breasts cubed
some chopped onions
some chopped green peppers
1 cup uncooked rice - makes 2 serviings cooked
home made sweet and sour sauce

Sweet and sour sauce
1 cup water
1 cup white vinegar
1 cup ketchup
1 cup sugar

some may want to add pineapple to this. I would recommend mixing sugar and ketchup first then adding the water and white vinegar. It says to cook on low heat till its bubbly and thickening. It will get thicker when its cooler.

Wednesday Cardio

Didn't go to the gym felt horrible and cant home from work early :(

Tuesday Weights

Abs:
4 sets of 20 at 50 lbs

Ill finish posting this tomorrow im hot the laptop is hot and im tired...

Monday Cardio

Due to a dentist who delivered me some really awful news last night, I did not go to the gym.

There is no way that I could have focused on my cardio and burning the calories I needed to burn if I went last night. Decided to save the gas, and just go home and ball my eyes out.

After doing that I relaxed and went to bed because I had a not so nice headache. I was extremely tired this morning and did not feel like getting out of bed, watcha gonna do. No one else is going to pay my bills so off to work I went.

I will make up for this cardio on sunday.

Weighing In

I weighed in this morning at 195!

Thats a total of 4lbs lost this past week.

Combined total of all that I have lost is at 16lbs!

Sunday Workout in place of Fridays

I did an hour on the elliptical tonight and burned 460 calories! whoohoooo

My goal is to always beat my last amount of calories I burned on the elliptical, my previous was 454 so I beat it this time by six :D

Saturday Weights

Abs
4 sets of 15 regular at 50lbs

Forearms
2 sets of ten each way at 3 lbs

Shoulders

Seated dumb bell press - 3 sets of 15 at 10lbs
Shoulder press machine - 2 sets of ten at 35 lbs? not sure have to see what just the machine is with no weights added

Rear delt machine - 1 set of 15 @ 20lbs
1 set of 15 @ 30lbs

Side laterall raises - 2 sets of 10 at 3 lbs

Neck

Shrugs 2 sets of 15 each way 35lbs ( not sure have to check what just the machine is)

I missed my cardio on Friday due to a birthday party for my bf's grandson so therefore I will go with the bf to the gym tomorrow while he works out and do my hour then.

Homemade Breakfast Bowl

My homemade breakfast bowl = DELICIOUS!

2 small slices of green pepper chopped

Some chopped onions

1 small potato chopped up

2 eggs scrambled

1 egg white scrambled

1 slice of american cheese

Once potatoes are chopped up I used a tiny bit of canola oil in the frying pan, started cooking potatoes first.

While potatoes were cooking I chopped up some onions and green peppers and added them to the mix.

After I let the potatoe onion and green peppers cook, I put the eggs on the frying pan coko them up.

Once everything was cooked I put the eggs in a bowl then the potatoe mixture, mixed it up a bit, then one slice of american cheese on top.

Friday Cardio

Will do my hour of cardio tomorrow had a birthday party right after work tonight.

Will update more tomorrow

Thursday Weights

Abs

4 sets of 15 regular abs at 50lbs

Chest:

bench press - 3 sets of 10 at 45lbs

butterfly machine - 3 sets of 15 @ 20lbs

Back:

behind the head pull down - 1 set of 15 @ 30lbs and 2 sets of 15 at 35 lbs

Pull down to the front - 1 set of 15 @ 25lbs 2 sets of 15 @ 35 lbs

I was going to do calves as well as one more exercise for chest and back but I cut it short this week.

Behind-oops - Wednesday Cardio

I did a short workout on cardio this Wed.

I wanted to start incorperating swimming into my working out schedule so I made one of my cardio days a swimming day.

This week I only did 30 minutes because I was soreeeee.

I swam laps various ways as well as ran/walked in the water for 30 minutes straight. stopping only to catch breath a couple times.

Awesome Inspiration!!

I got this from a friends SparkPage. It is SO true!

DON'T QUIT!

Don't quit when the tide is lowest,

For it's just about to turn.

Don't quit over doubts and questions,

For there's something you may learn.

Don't quit when the night is darkest,

For it's just a while til dawn.

Don't quit when you've run the farthest,

For the race is almost won.

Don't quit when the hill is steepest,

For your goal is almost nigh.

Don't quit, for you're not a failure,

Until you fail to try.

-Jill Wolf

Is that not awesome! I had to share it!

Tuesday Weights

Abs

4 sets of 15 regular ab machine at 50 lbs

Arms v bar pushdowns 3 sets of 15 @ 40 lbs
Arms - seated dumbell curls 3 sets of 15 at 10 lbs
One arm pull down with rope 3 sets of 8 at 20 lbs
hammercurls - 3 sets 15 8lbs
one arm pushdown metal handle- 3 sets of 10 at 20 lbs
concentration curls - 3 sets of 12 at 8lbs

Legs:

step up machine - 2 sets of 15 at 10 lbs
leg extensions - 2 sets of 12 at 20 lbs
leg curls - 2 sets of 10 at 20 lbs

calves:
inward - 3 sets of 20 at 70 lbs
outward - 3 sets of 20 at 70 lbs
regular - 3 sets of 20 at 90 lbs

4:45 to 6:05

Monday Cardio

I was in pain and did not get much cardio done today. At least I pushed myself to actually go to the gym. I went on the bike and did a lite cardio day of only 30 minutes.

Back to the elliptical on Wednesday though.

Sunday Weights in place of Saturday Weights

Worked out abs, shoulders and neck.

Abs:
4 sets of 15 regular ab machine

various stretching

Shoulders:

Seated dumbell press - 2 sets of 15 @ 10 lbs

another shoulder machine not sure what it is called

2 sets of 10 - the weight was whatever the machine is I didnt add any weight to it.

then the butterfly machine but you sit the other way i think its rear delt fly or something im not positive but did 1 set of 15 at 20lbs and 1 set of 15 at 30 lbs

then the exercise where we sit on flat bench i take a 2.5 lb dumbell in each hand sit up straight shoulders down *not curved just at resting state* lean forward a bit and elbows back then raise arms up to side (not sure what its called)

Neck

Shrugs

15 to each side once. ( neck was really tight from doing shoulders)


I will work on getting the names of these exercises next week.

Weighing In

So Im not sure how accurate this is but the last time I weighed myself before I stareted this whole balanced eating and working out thing I was at 211. That was around October 2nd 2009.

I weighed in this morning at 199.

That is a total of 12lbs. Now that I have a firm accurate number of 199 we will see how much my progress changes in the next coming weeks!

Homemade Chilli!!!

Not completely finished cookin in this pic but man o man once this was done it was delicious!!

Tomato Sauce
Diced Tomatoes
Kidney Beans
Chopped onions
Chopped green peppers
Chilli Powder

Also cooked some Jiffy cornmuffins

Yummy Snack Time

So at Kroger the other day I bought some Jell-O brand sugar free blackcherry jello and some fat free whip cream. It is delicious.

ONLY 10 calories in the jello then 20 in the fat free whip cream.

Really cheap and great snack idea!

Saturday Weights...

Saturday Weights didn't happen today due to the bf and I getting his grandson. I didn't get to do my other errands either but I did get the house cleaned and laundry done :D.

Will update tomorrow on my weights after I get home from the gym.

Friday Cardio

Did an hour on the elliptical burned 454 calories.

I was soooooo tired.

I almost qanted to stop short of the hour but kept pushing myself to do it!

I completed it and felt very accomplished :D

Weigh In 10/23/2009

This morning I weighed in at 209.

The last time I weighed myself I weighed 211 on my home scale and 206 at the doctors office. That is a difference of 5lbs.

Because I don't go to the doctors alot I will just be going by what my home scale is telling me.

I am also going to be weighing in again on Monday but I could not wait any longer, I was anxious to see if I lost anything yet. I am feeling a LOT better than I was a few weeks ago.

From here on out I will be weighing in every Monday. I will be measureing tonight and then again at the beginning of the month. From there on out I will be measuring at the beginning of every month.

Because I lift weights along with trying to eat better and doing cardio, the scale isn't always going to show my progress.

I am excited to keep this journey going and to get this weight and inches off me!!!

Homemade Spaghetti Sauce and Meatballs

My very first time making my own spaghetti sauce and meatballs!! Absolutely delicious!

Meatballs:

1lb hamburger

Cavenders Seasoning (salt free)

Basil

Onion Powder

Garlic Powder

Parsley

Spaghetti Sauce

One medium size can of hunts tomato sauce

One small can of dianes garden spaghetti sauce ( use whichever sauce needed depending on how much sauce you are making)

One medium size can of hunts diced tomatoes

Onion powder

Garlic Powder

Cavenders Seasoning (no salt)

Parsley

Basil

After you make it, its definately better the next day after sitting in the fridge over night.

Thursday Weights

Abs

Regular ab machine
4 sets of 15 each

Chest:

Bench press
2 sets of ten

Seated bench press

1 set of ten
1 set of 7

Butterfly

2 sets of 12

Back:

Lat pulldown to the back

1 set of 12 @ 25 lbs
2 sets of 12 @ 35lbs

Lat pulldown to the front

1 set of 12 @ 25lbs
2 sets of 12 @ 35

Inverted grip - pulldown

1 set of 12 @ 25
2 sets of 12 @ 30lbs

Forearms

One set of 10 each way at 5lbs.

Had a great workout tonight! Took about 50 minutes.

AWESOME Website!

I went to GNC last night and bought me a Fitness and Food journal called the ~DietMinder~ it was $14.95.

Today in searching for a website to help me count my calories, I stumbled across SparkPeople.com.

This website is awesome! You enter your weight and height and can have a plan set up for you for FREE, and you add your daily foods on a list and it will automatically fill in the nurtirion information for you.

Anyone interested in losing weight and keeping track of their food and fitness should definately check this out.

Oops, I forgot Yesterdays Blog

Here I am only three days into this whole new lifestyle and I am forgetting to blog my workout for the day.

I began with the elliptical only lasted 25 minutes and then decided to try the treadmill. WRONG!

I shouldn't have done that because on the treadmill I wanted to run a little bit. I started to run at 5.0 and my kneels felt like they were going to fly off! I ran for a minute and stopped. Unfortunately because I did that I lost 20 minutes on my workout.

NOTE TO SELF: No treadmill until I've been working out for two months and lose some weight :). All in all it was just too soon to get on the treadmil. Who knows, I may not be able to do it ever again because of my knees. Only time will tell.

Food Diary Day 3

Breakfast:

Bowl of granola raisin cereal
Soy Milk
Glass of Oranje Juice

Lunch:

Olive Garden's Grilled Chicken Spiedini
Sprite to drink

Dinner:
Left over Spaghetti and meatballs
2 breadsticks

No dessert.
I didn't have any dessert last night either, after im done eating my dinner I am satisfied and don't feel like adding on the extra calories of a piece of cake :)

Olive Garden's Grilled Chicken Spiedini

Delicious!

I had this today for lunch, my friend took me out to eat for my birthday which was actually yesterday. Absolutely recommend it!

Yummy Snack

A very yummy mid morning snack!

Lowfat Yoplait strawberry yogurt mixed with my offbrand granola and raisin cereal!

Tuesday Weights

Today I worked out my abs, legs and calves.

Abs
4 sets of 15 regular crunches

Legs

2 sets of 12 step up machine
2 sets of 12 leg extensions
2 sets of 10 leg curls

Calves
2 sets straight
2 sets inward
2 sets outward

This was a light leg workout due to me not working them out in FOREVER!

Food Diary Day 2

Breakfast
one egg
one slice cheese
2 slices whitewheat bread
ketchup
(egg and cheese sandwhich)

Lunch
Spaghettios
small baked potato
cheese, bacon bits, light ranch

Dinner

Home made meatballs and spaghetti sauce
noodles
garlic breadsticks

Dessert

small sliver of carrot cake for my Bday :)

Workout Schedule

Mondays

One hour of cardio on the elliptical

Tuesdays

Abs
Legs
Calves

Wednesdays

One hour cardio on elliptical

Thursdays

Abs
Chest
Back
Forearms

Fridays

One hour cardio on elliptical

Saturdays

Abs
Shoulders
Neck
Arms

The Beginning :)

I have tried getting fit and losing weight multiple times throughout my life. I have cut out all the things I loved in the past and that just didn't work, I always went back. This time around I am going to eat what I love sparingly and small portions. For example If I were to eat two egg sandwhiches before for breakfast, now I will only eat one with two eggs. Simple. Increase the good ingredients and decrease the bad.

The BF and I started working out at the gym back in January of this year (2009). Since then it has been a rollercoaster trying to stay there. In tweaking my workout routine I believe I will be able to finally stick to this and not give up. Instead of going to the gym Mon, Tues, Thurs,Fri and Sat. I will now be going Mon- Saturday but switching up what exercise I will be doing.

Wish me luck!