Feel Good Friday

Good morning, girls!

Check out this study on laughing: http://www.weightlossresources.co.uk/calories/burning_calories/laughing-burns-calories.htm  "The researchers discovered that laughing increased both heart rate and calorie expenditure by up to 20 per cent – and the longer participants laughed for the greater the effects.  Using the results, the scientists then went on to calculate that just 15 minutes of laughter a day will burn 10 to 40 calories, depending on a person’s weight and the intensity of the laughter. That’s enough to shift between 1 and 4lb a year."

I hope you all have a fantastic weekend!  And HAPPY BIRTHDAY TODAY TO HEIDI!!!!!

Chuckle away at all these weight loss cartoons :)

Feel the Burn Thursday

Good morning, shrinkin' divas!
I hope you're all having a great week!

A friend of mine just got recruited by her church to teach a "Frugal Fitness" lesson to a group of women, varying in age from 18 to 100.  She and I have been brainstorming ideas and I've had a lot of fun helping and learning from her.   One of the things she's going to talk about is lifting weights using water jugs, big cans, etc.  Another is doing workouts on a playground with your kids.  Have any of you ever tried either of these before?  Share your experience and what you did!  If you haven't tried, then share an idea for at-home or no-cost workouts.  At this link, www.ehow.co.uk/articles_2355-p63-exercise.html scroll down to the bottom of the page and there are a TON of playground workout ideas.  And at this link, http://www.ehow.com/video_4953237_water-jug-exercises-plie-squats.html are a lot of water jug workouts w/ videos.

What workouts have you been up to this week?  I hope you all decide to make today an active day :)  It's all about the attitude choices we make.  A 30 second workout is better than none at all. 

Whatcha Eatin' Wednesday

Good morning, girls!
I hope you've all been making this a phenomenal week. I really enjoyed all your insight yesterday. 

What have you been eating lately? Any great new recipes or snacks you've tried?  Share with us! Since I've been craving and loving fresh fruit this week, here's a fun recipe I have that's originally from Amy T. in Indiana for Pampered Chef (Isolde & Amy F know her :) ):

Apple Berry Salsa with Cinnamon Chips


CINNAMON CHIPS

4 (7-inch) flour tortillas
1 tbsp sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

SALSA
2 med Granny Smith apples
1 cup strawberries -- sliced
1 kiwi fruit -- peeled and chopped
1 small orange
2 tbsp packed brown sugar
2 tbsp apple jelly

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. For cinnamon chips, lightly spray tortillas with water. Combine sugar and cinnamon in flour/sugar shaker; sprinkle over tortillas. Cut each tortilla into 8 wedges; place in single layer on round baking stone. Bake 8-10 minutes or until lightly browned and crisp. Remove to cooling rack; cool completely.

For salsa, peel, core, and slice apples. Cut apples into quarters; chop with food chopper. Slice strawberries and chop kiwi. Place fruit in 1 quart bowl. Zest orange and juice. Add orange zest, orange juice, brown sugar and apple jelly to fruit mixture, mix gently. Serve with cinnamon chips.

Does anyone else have summer BBQ recipes or fresh fruit recipes?  Strawberries are almost in season!

So there were too many to post as a comment on yesterday's post, so here are most of my songs on my marathon playlist.  Don't judge me- if you don't deem them appropriate- then let's just say I have the edited versions- just shake them hips, girls! :)

• Mamma Mia- A* Teens


• Take a Chance on Me- A*Teens

• I Love Rock & Roll- ACDC

• Walk This Way- Aerosmith

• End Transmission- AFI

• Beautiful- Akon

• Right Now- Akon

• Superwoman- Alicia Keys

• Swing, Swing- All-American Rejects

• Nothing on You- B.O.B. featuring Bruno Mars

• Feel Like Makin’ Love- Bad Company

• No Sleep Till Brooklyn- Beastie Boys

• Timebomb- Beck

• Steal My Kisses- Ben Harper

• Get Me Bodied- Beyonce

• Irreplaceable-Beyonce

• Single Ladies- Beyonce

• Ring The Alarm- Beyonce

• Baby Boy- Beyonce

• Crazy in Love- Beyonce

• Don’t Phunk w/ my Heart- Black Eyed Peas

• Meet me Halfway- Black Eyed Peas

• Hey Mama- Black Eyed Peas

• Imma Be- Black Eyed Peas

• Pump It- Black Eyed Peas

• My Humps- Black Eyed Peas

• Boom Boom Pow- Black Eyed Peas

• I Gotta Feeling- Black Eyed Peas

• All the Small Things- Blink 182

• Blue Skies- Blue October (this one’s from Nicki)

• Love Drunk- Boys Like Girls

• Break the Ice- Britney Spears

• Womanizer- Britney Spears

• Short Skirt Long Jacket- Cake

• Evacuate the Dancefloor- Cascada

• I Want You to Want Me- Cheap Trick

• Broken- Daughtry

• Candyman- Christina Aguilera

• Fighter- Christina Aguilera

• Get Up- Ciara

• Viva la Vida- Cold Play

• Higher- Creed

• Fortunate Son- Credence Clearwater Revival

• Born on the Bayou- Credence Clearwater Revival

• Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger- Daft Punk

• Ecstacy- Darude

• Sexy Chick- David Guetta featuring Akon

• Let ‘Er Rip- Dixie Chicks

• Boom Boom Pow Remix- DJ Ammo

• Give me the Beat Boys- The Doobie Brothers

• Best I Ever Had- Drake

• Lose Yourself- Eminem

• Enur MIMS Remix- Calabria featuring Natasja

• Love of My Life- Erykah Badu

• Bring Me to Life- Evanesance

• Tambourine- Eve featuring Swizz Beatz

• Fergalicious- Fergie

• Clumsy- Fergie

• Glamourous- Fergie feat. Ludacris

• Turn It Up

• Barracuda- Fergie (Shrek the 3rd soundtrack)

• London Bridge- Fergie

• Superman- Five for Fighting

• Jump- Flo-Rida feat Nelly Furtado

• In the Ayer- Flo-Rida feat Will.I.Am

• All My Life- Foo Fighters

• Don’t Stop Believing- Glee Cast

• Mercy- Glee Cast

• Somebody to Love- Glee Cast

• 99 Red Balloons- Goldfinger

• Leave- Chemical Brothers (Gone in 60 Seconds soundtrack)

• Slide- Goo Goo Dolls

• When I Come Around- Green Day

• Time of Your Life- Green Day

• 21 Guns- Green Day

• Bananas- Gwen Stefani

• Strength, Courage, & Wisdom- India Arie

• Beautiful- India Arie

• Feedback- Janet Jackson

• In My Head- Jason Derulo

• Young Forever- Jay-Z feat Mr. Hudson

• Spotlight Remix- Jennifer Hudson

• Jumpin- Jeremih

• Leavin’- Jesse McCartney

• Baby- Justin Bieber feat Ludacris

• What Goes Around Comes Back Around- Justin Timberlake

• My Love- Justin Timberlake

• Rock your Body- Justin Timberlake

• Dance Bailalo- Kat DeLuna

• Tik Tok- Ke$ha

• Somewhere Only We Know- Keane

• Say Goodbye to Love- Kenna

• Use Somebody- Kings of Leon

• Live Like We’re Dying- Kris Allen

• Lookin’ For a Good Time- Lady Antebellum

• Poker Face- Lady Gaga

• Everything UR- Lindsay Pagano

• Four Minutes- Madonna feat Justin Timberlake

• Just Stand Up- Mariah Carey, Beyonce, Mary J Blige, Rihanna

• The Climb- Miley Cyrus

• Lose Control- Missy Elliot

• Pocketful of Sunshine- Natasha Bedingfield

• Saturday Night’s Alright- Nickelback

• Some Kind of Beautiful- Nikka Costa

• Everybody’s Got their Something- Nikka Costa

• Sinnerman- Felix Da Housecat

• Running- No Doubt

• The Way You Move- Outkast

• Fireflies- Owl City

• So What- Pink

• Don’t Stop Me Now- Queen

• You Are the Best Thing- Ray LaMontage

• Snow- Red Hot Chili Peppers

• Distrubia- Rihanna

• Please Don’t Stop the Music- Rihanna

• Umbrella Remix- Rihanna feat Chris Brown

• Fire Burning the Dancefloor- Sean Kingston

• She Wolf- Shakira

• Hips Don’t Lie- Shakira feat Wyclef Jean

• Pedal Pusher- Stereophonics

• All I Want to do- Sugarland

• Eye of the Tiger- Survivor

• Life your Life- T.I. feat Rihanna

• Crank That- Travis Barker & Soulja Boy

• Smile- Uncle Kracker

• Yeah- Usher feat Lil Jon & Ludacris

• Ella Me Llama- Wisin, Yandel Feat Sean Paul

• Way Away- Yellowcard (this one’s from Heidi)

• Esta Amor

• Noches Enteras Sin Dormir

• Jai Ho- Pussycat Dolls Remix (slumdog millionaire soundtrack)

• Dude Looks like a Lady- Aerosmith

• Beautiful- Beyonce feat Shakira

Tuesday's Motivation

I am ever in awe for how upbeat and awesome you guys alll are :)
Good morning, girls!

Meghan, I hope you continue to feel better and great job rockin' the halfie training!  Shanda, I hope your knee heals soon or else that dancefloor is going to be missing you something fierce!  Tara, how's your halfie training going?  Mini Me, I hope your unpacking is going well and I am SOOO majorly impressed and stunned that you are already at the gym in your new town!

Something I've been thinking on lately is that you all are becoming such experts in your own weight loss and fitness journeys.  We know exactly what it is that we need to do to lose the weight.  It's a simple matter of burning calories and staying at that net calorie goal each day.  "Simple," right? When we know what we need to do to hit a goal and we don't do it as a consious decision on our part, then we feel worse or more guilty than we would have had we not known how to lose weight.  Does that rambling make sense?  I am completely guilty of this sometimes.  I know EXACTLY what I need to do to lose weight, just sometimes my bad mood overrules my desire for my goal, and BAM! Welcome to funktown, but there ain't no disco playing here. 

I would love for you all to brainstorm and share how you all overcome that.  I know I'll definitely benefit from it even if the rest of you don't :)  How do you still find success?  How do you overcome chaotic days and wild children?  How do you overcome hubbies being out of town?  How do you overcome bad moods?  How do you overcome stress?  How do you overcome emotional eating?  How do you pump yourselves up?

For me, setting really exciting goals help me to lift up and out of funktown like an arcade game claw grabbing a stuffed animal.  I love finding a new race to train for or finding a new workout to experiment with.  Also, if I want a treat I negotiate with my self (I'm nutso and talk to myself regularly :) ) and tell myself I can have it if I complete a particular workout FIRST.  I've shared this before, but buying a new workout top or something workout-related cheers me up, too (Marshalls is great for that!).  I try to overcome emotional eating by working out.  Knowing how hard I work at working out, I'm less likely to want to "throw that away" by downing junkfood/fastfood.  And a good drive in the car BLASTING high-energy workout music really loudly and singing along- that always pumps me up and makes me laugh and smile :)  I've got a phenomenal workout playlist I adore.  Let me know if you ever want me to share- I can list out some good suggestions on here.  So those are my ideas, what are yours??????

Monday Morning Check-In

Good morning, girls! How was your weekend? Share with us your results!
How much are you up or down? How do you feel? What's your game plan
for this week?