Fitness junkie: setting new goals

I just finished registering my husband and I for a tough mudder race in Colorado for June.  I'm not as nervous as I was for my first mudder last September because I've been through it before.  I am setting some goals though.  I want to be able to make it accoss the monkey bars (harder than it sounds.  The bars are covered in mud and some rotate.) And I wouldn't mind being one of those cute girls running in my sports bra...last year I was just glad that we were wearing black shirts, as black is a slimming color. 
Can't wait to get muddy and feel like a bad@ss again :)

Health nut: the apple cider vinegar experiment

Day 1:
Apple cider vinegar is one of nature's cure-alls.  If there is something wrong with your body, chances are apple cider vinegar can help.  One of the benefits, they say, is that it can help you lose weight.  How could I resist testing this out? 
So today I made a quick stop at the grocery store for a good brand that isn't as filtered and diluted as the Walmart brand currently in my pantry...I read somewhere that good quality will help.
I did my Insanity workout, hating Shawn T. for what he was making me do and at times (in an unladylike manner) giving my TV the middle finger.  Once done, I made my usual berry smoothie to recover, adding three tablespoons to the mix.  There was a slight burn in my throat as I drank the smoothie that I'm hoping honey will alleviate in the future. 
Within 20 minutes I could feel my body reacting...it felt like my nerves were firing up, if that makes sense.
My goal is to do this after every workout (6 days a week) for a month...until April 20.  We shall see if it makes a difference.

Fitness junkie: ugh! Monday

I feel like Garfield today..."I hate Mondays".  I am desperately trying to make myself workout.  I know I will feel great when it's over, but gosh it would be great to take today off.  So I thought I would have to do it if I posted it...I'm going to workout.  Wish me luck.

Fitness junkie: too funny not to post

Fitness Junkie: the best compliments come from kids

About a month or so ago I was watching an info-mercial for Insanity on TV, trying to motivate myself to get off my butt and do my work out.  My Ethan was sitting with me, watching it with interest as different people shared their success stories and 'before' and 'after' pictures were being shown. 

"Have you lost a hundred pounds yet with Insanity mom?" He innocently asks me.
"Not that much," I say with a smile.  "But I did lose fifteen.  I think I'm doing pretty good.  What do you think, Bud?"
"Yeah," he pauses to think, "but you still have this," he points to that darn bit of fat clinging to my waist for dear life.

That was enough motivation for me to get up and keep up with my work outs.  Kids are so brutally honest.  So yesterday, as I was bending over to fill up the bathtub for Ethan, my sweatshirt lifted up a bit on my back. 

"Mom, your back is getting smaller!  You're losing weight," Ethan says to me proudly.

Thanks buddy.  That was the best compliment I could have gotten because I know it was honest.  Made my entire week!

A novel idea: starting from scratch on a new chapter

One new chapter leads to another.  After finding some flaws in the way one of my main characters was designed, I gave him a whole new backstory that is much more endearing and is making my entire novel stronger...but now I have a LOT of re-writing ahead of me, as well as another brand new chapter for chapter 8.  Looking on the brightside...my editing goals have surpassed my expectations already for March.  My first seven chapters are solid enough, I believe, to call 'finished'!  (the author pauses for a momen to pat herself on the back) 

I can feel my novel turning into something with a strong, entertaining story, and I am so excited about it that I have become addicted to writing every day....sometimes for endless hours.  Coffee, you are my sweet motivation.

"I never laugh until I have my coffee." -Clark Gable

A novel idea: turning a setback into a comeback

I have a confession to make.  I took four days off from writing.  I know I promised to write every day this month, but sometimes you just need a break! Or at least I did.  Today after working out, showering, etc. I brewed another half pot of coffee and turned on my computer.  It took me a few minutes to even remember what I had last written, which could have been avoided if I hadn't stopped writing.  But I sipped my coffee and, like Popeye with his can of spinach, I sprang into action. 

Before I knew it I finished my new chapter, and satisfied with what I wrote, I made the move from creating new chapters back to editing.  As I read through chapter five, occasionally changing or adding something, I realized that I was truly enjoying what I was reading.  I felt like these newly edited parts were now something I could be proud of.  They were now something entertaining me and leaving me wanting more.  My head swelled with pride and I kept going, only stopping long enough to pick Ethan up from school.  Around five o'clock I finally had to stop for the night so that I could get dinner made.

It was such a successful day of writing that I can't wait to dive in again tomorrow.  So sometimes I guess you just need a few days off.