FRIIIIIDAY!

Horray! It's friday! The 10 girls who won the little prize for their awesome accomplishments last week will each get this "Challenge Your Excuses" motto in white vinyl lettering, 1.25" high and 6" wide, which you rub on and it transfers to any surface, but I was thinking right on your bathroom mirror, where you can see it every day and be proud that you're winning the battle against yourself, the battle against your excuse-making, the battle of the consious vs. the subconsious, the battle of your old self vs new self.  Celebrate that your new, real self is emerging every day!   Amy F runs her own vinyl lettering business and she is amazing :)  Amy's making them this weekend and so I hope to get them in the mail to you or drop them off to you next week!

Also a reason for a good "Horray" is Nicki is running in her first race tomorrow, a half marathon!  Everyone cheer her on!  I got this quote emailed to me from Runner's World Daily Kick in the Butt: "Spirit has fifty times the strength and staying power of brawn and muscle." - Anonymous.  I love that!  And it's so true!  Nicki, keep your spirits and excitement high, soak up the energy of the race atmosphere, and love yourself for having worked so hard to get there!  You'll do great.  I just hope I can keep up with you and Valerie!

Last night I started two little workout programs, the 100 pushups challenge and the 200 situps challenge.  I did the initial test for each and I'm going to start the first week of the 6 week programs next monday.  You can do it on the website for free or download the iPhone app for 99 cents.  I did the app.  I am SO looking forward to developing upper body and core strength over the next 6 weeks! Anyone want to try it with me?  Following some kind of a schedule really helps me stick to a program of working out, ie training for a race. 

Amy C., have fun on vacation this weekend!  Make your decisions ahead of time for what you will and will not do, then like Sarah F. said, remember that you're there to relax, enjoy the company, and soak in the sights.  I wish I was going :)  I have a work party tonight and so I'm practicing my resolve right now...hope I can resist a binge!  I'm going to just stick w/ lean meat and veggies, as many veggies as I want :)  Michele, Jessie, Kim, Tara, & Jeanie- we'd love to hear from you! Miss you tons & hope you're rocking your goals' worlds.  Have a tremendous weekend, everyone!

Feel the Burn Thursday!

Good Morning :)  How have you been doing?  What workouts have you been up to this week?  It seems everyone around me is sick- I hope you all feel better soon!  If Nicki is feeling better, she has a half marathon this Saturday- her first race ever!  Valerie and I are doing it, too.  Thought it's really short, check out this article on Don't Quit Your Workout Too Soon from the Oprah website.   What I find interesting about it is that your endurance and willpower in any situation in life comes from mental decision making.  Also a carryover from Dr. Cooper last week, he says our brains are hardwired for greatness, ingenuity, and breakthroughs, but our brains are also programmed to DEFAULT to laziness, fear, and accepting the easy route.  You just have to become aware of that pre-programmed default and then you can consiously overcome that with your decision making.  Weird.  I think so, too.  But nonetheless, there may be a grain of truth in it.  I know when I'm working out or running, it's COMPLETELY a mental game.  I decide to go further or to stop.  I decide if something feels good and exhaustive or horrendous.  I decide if I'm having an "off day" or if I'm having a spectacular day.  Physical illness is an exception to all of this of course.  What do you ladies think about mental decision making and will power affecting your workouts?  Let's say there's someone on the 10 in 6 challenge here who's having a really hard go and therefore doesn't have time to workout or eat right because she can't think straight.  What would you all say to her to encourage her?

Whatcha Eatin' Wednesday?

Full on recipe swap :), girls! Share your favorites that you haven’t shared with us yet. Share something you found recently that you are going to give it a shot soon. Any delish new snacks you’ve tried?

For breakfasts, I’ve been enjoying a lot of instant oatmeal (strawberries & cream is my fav) or an egg sandwich on whole wheat bread w/ fat-free Kraft mayo & pepper. This week I have been LOVING the late morning snack of a sliced Laughing Cow babybel cheese round on top of 7 reduced fat Triscuits (Thank you, Amy F. & Sarah F., for the idea!!!!). Yoplait fat free yogurts are always great (white chocolate strawberry is my fav). And I’ve been good w/ getting in my cold glasses of water the last 3 days, which is UNHEARD of for me- so yay! For dinners this week, we had asparagus frittatta for dinner Monday night, which we’ve had a few times before (recipe below), and it was so yummy. I ate a quarter of the dish and my hubby ate three quarters of it :). Last night I made chicken noodle soup by boiling 3 chicken breasts in a bit of water (then setting one aside in a baggie in the fridge for the hubby’s spinach salad today), slicing, then tossing in 12 ounces of Reames frozen homestyle egg noodles. Way simple but it hit the spot. Tonight I’m going to try this Brussels sprout slaw recipe (recipe below). I also tossed below a dessert/appetizer recipe for Strawberry Cheesecake Bites for entertaining that I made last week- favorite of mine! I can’t wait to hear all your recipes and give them a shot!

Natalie Coughlin’s Asparagus Frittatta (from Fitness Magazine):  Difference is I double the freshly shredded parmesan and only use one package of asparagus instead of two (the Target brand Archer Farms frozen steam in the bag kind works great- but I’ve also used Fresh before- just takes longer to cook). Hubby likes it w/ Frank’s Hot Sauce as a condiment.  You could really toss any veggie in there that you want- I'm sure mushrooms, onions, or peppers would be good!

Brussels Sprouts Slaw w/ Mustard Dressing & Maple-Glazed Pecans (from Epicurious.com)

Strawberry Cheesecake Bites (don’t know where it’s originally from but it’s on lots of sites) Difference is I use fat-free cream cheese and no lemon peel.

Tuesday's Motivation

Good morning, beautiful ladies :)  Not post-savvy this morning- sorry if you got multiple emails on the post being made! hehe  I am feeling tremendously better, full of energy, and fueled up w/ good eating and workout habits.  I am pushing for BIG happy results this week :)  It's amazing how healthy foods, workouts, and sleeping can boost your mood so much!

Today's post comes from Valerie- who pretty much rocks my world.  Here's her post on the Marshmallow Study all about Self Mastery:

If you’re thinking about the marshmallow and how delicious it is, then you’re going to eat it,” Mischel says. “The key is to avoid thinking about it in the first place.”

"This is a link to a story in the New Yorker about kids who were given a marshmallow and told if they didn't eat it they could get a 2nd one after 15 minutes. The result was that most could not wait and those who could were good at everything else in life. No surprise. However, The kids who could wait and not eat the marshmallow were able to do so because they had a method to distract them from eating the marshmallow.

No one can just sit and stare at a marshmellow and not eat it. That is impossible. The way to avoid eating it is to sing a song, or pretend it is a cloud.

With simple training, a few lessons on metacognition (the science of thinking about how to think) children were able to dramatically improve their waiting time.

I used to run 50mile ultramarathons, my last race was over 2 years ago. I am trying to get back into shape to do a 30 mile race this spring, and the distance running is daunting. I have been thinking about the psychology of running great distances lately. As I remember it, the way I got myself to do those was to break up the distance, focus on the podcasts I would have on the IPOD, and other wise distract myself from the physical discomfort of the exercise.

When I am trying to lose weight this week, I am going to avoid eating junk food by not having it in the house, earmarking it for the kids' lunches, and distracting myself by focusing on the TV I get to watch every evening after my healthy dinner. It is comforting to know that it is not really just a matter of "will power" but also a matter of strategy and controlling ones environment."

So what do you guys think?  What conclusions would you draw from the Marshmallow Study for your own weight loss and fitness goals?

Monday Check-In

End of Week 2, Beginning of Week 3
How are you doing?! 
Share w/ us your updates- how much you're up or down- changes you've noticed- encouragement & love for us to make this coming week stellar!  I could use a little extra positive energy so share away all your successes and joys PLEASE :)

Next Monday will be the half way point in our challenge, our measurement day, and the start of the next side-challenge (which will be much more lighthearted, positive, and easy than this last one- sorry if this week was high pressure, gals- not the best idea for a side-challenge!).