FitNhealthy - July 2010

If you've read my blog the last few months, and/or if you follow me on Twitter (@CandidK - please do) then you know that I've joined my buddy Ami in her monthly FitNHealthy Challenges. You can find out more about these at her blog here.

Basically, however, each month Ami is challenging us to join her on some fitness challenge of her making, or if we choose, one of our own. If you click here you can see what I've challenged myself with the last few months.

I've been doing C25K, so last month, this was my challenge to myself: By the end of the month, I’m hoping to be able to not only finish week 5, but also week 6. If I can follow the C25K plan exactly, I should be ending Week 7 just as June comes to a close, but I’m giving myself a break, and taking my time with it, so I’ll be happy if I can be ready to begin week 7 by the end of June. (Week 7 is when the straight running, 25 minutes each day, begins).

Along with C25K, I’m also going to keep doing Shred on Mondays, and try to squeeze in a little bit more strength training on my in-between run days.

So, how did I do? Well, unfortunately, I only attended one Shred class in the month of June, because my gym cancelled the class at the beginning of the month to make room for the 6th Zumba class there...I'll save that rant for another day (sigh), but needless to say, no more Shred for this girl. I was NOT happy about this.

But, the good news is that my parents opened up their pool, so I decided to substitute swimming for shred a few days a week.

Except...uh...I've only done that once or twice so far.

BUT I have stayed with C25K. I've been running pretty much every other day this month with the exception of 2 weekends ago, when my cousin got married, and I, as a bridesmaid, was caught up in all the pre-wedding hoopla.

However, on the evening of her wedding I danced for about 5 hours straight, so,you know...that counts.

I'm not quite at week 7 of C25K yet, I can't seem to reach the 25 minutes of running straight yet, so I've been repeating week 6 for a while now. But, I'm still trying, and I'm pushing forward, and I'll get there.

So...now onto July's goals.

This month Ami is challenging to work on our eating habits, and I'm actually quite glad for that, because exercise has become a habit, and a need for me, but my eating habits can ALWAYS use improvement.

So, her challenge: Eat at least 4 servings of vegetables each day and incorporate one new-to-you veggie each week.

Okay, I think I can do that...I'm in.

Also, I'm going to continue to challenge myself with C25K, hoping to be much closer to running that 5K by the end of July, and I'm going to try and incorporate some more swimming, and some abs and other work into my routine as well.

What do you think? Will you join us? What fitNhealthy challenges are you up for this month?

Popinjay - Faith

I missed last week's Popinjay...really, in case you haven't noticed, I haven't blogged in two weeks. Things have been a little hectic around here. My cousin and BFF got married last Saturday and I was in the wedding, so you know...hectic.

But, I am back. And what better time than now to come back, guest hosting for Michelle on this week's Popinjay, with the prompt of "FAITH".

Perfect.

Because faith can be so many different things, and it is to me, but last Saturday, at my cousin's wedding, God was ever so present. There were so many ways in which faith presented itself.

The faith that all would go as planned, and that it would be a great day, despite so many obstacles and speed bumps along the way.

The faith of friends gathered together and having an amazing time, which is indescribable to anyone not present.

And of course, the faith of a couple to make their love official before God,

Just beautiful.

Show us your faith below. And please check back next week, when I'll be hosting again, and the prompt will be "DOUBT".

Popinjay - Savvy

This week's Popinjay is being hosted by my buddy Amber and the prompt is Savvy. Savvy...that's a TOUGH word to photograph.

Look up the word in a dictionary and this is what you get:

- verb: to know; understand;

- noun: practical understanding; shrewdness or intelligence; common sense;

- adjective: shrewdly informed; experienced and well-informed, canny.

Right...and how does one photograph that?

I thought and thought about it and I just couldn't seem to come up with a good enough representation of the word. Amber herself told me that I was a pretty savvy person, savvy about shoes, and fashion, and celebrities and other things. But...as much as I appreciated her saying that, and it made me laugh that my claim to fame my indeed be my knowledge of all things fashion and Hollywood, I still didn't have a photograph.

And then today I went by my mom's house to pick up my bridesmaid dress for my cousin's wedding next Saturday. My dress which was at mom's because she was fixing it for me. See, the dress fits me perfectly, except for one thing, due to my...um...ample bust, my lceavage in this dress was indecent exposure (to put it mildly).

So, we came up with a plan, trim some off the hem, and sew it at the top...I had the idea, but mom, mom has the knowledge, the know-how, the "practical understanding", to pull it off.

Because when it comes to sewing, mom is all kinds of savvy.

This is the finished product. If it looks like any other dress you'd see in a store, that's because mom's savviness makes it so. You can't even see where she added the fabric at the bust line.

Mission accomplished.

Be sure to stop by Amber's to see what other Savvy bloggers have posted. And she's hosting next week as well, the prompt is "Annoyed". Do join us, we'd love to have you!

fitNhealthy - June 2010

It’s a new month, which means it’s time for a new fitNhealthy challenge, but I’m a little delayed in kicking things off this month or even in tying up last month…

But, hey, better late than never, right?

Let’s recap last month first, shall we? Let’s see…according to THIS POST my goal last month was to do at least 30 minutes of exercise at least 5 days a week in the month of May.

I’ll be honest, I didn’t really keep track of my exercise to be able to tell you whether or not I was successful in this challenge, but I think it’s pretty safe to say that I was, because I’ve been doing Shred at the gym on Mondays(which is an hour long class) as well as usually 25 to 45 minutes of cardio before class, and then I’ve been doing C25K (more on this in a bit) at least 3 days a week. I don’t usually go more than a day without exercise, some days doing 30 minutes, other days doing 2 hours, so I’m going to call the May challenge a success.

Enter June. Ami’s challenge this month is to “try at least one NEW exercise activity each week”. We are also building on May’s challenge to exercise 30 minutes a day/5 days a week.

Before anything else, I have to confess that I didn’t start June off very fitNhealthy at all. In fact, I kicked the month off on vacation, and I decided to give my body a vacation from exercise and from eating healthy. I went away, I ate whatever I wanted, and I barely exercised besides some walking around for the first 4 days of the month. Throw in the last few days of month, and I gave myself a 6 day stretch of no exercise and eating like crap. And well, by that 6^th day, I felt like crap. I realized after coming home that those 6 days of no exercise were the longest stretch I had gone without working out in about 4 months. And my body wasn’t happy with me.

And this actually made me happy. My body craves exercise now, and so does my mind. This is a good thing, and I’ll take it.

So, anyway, onto June’s challenge then. I’m actually not going to join Ami on her particular challenge, because I’m sort of hitting the peak of my own.

See, I’m on week 5 of C25K. For those who are unfamiliar with it, Couch to 5k (C25k) is a 9 week running program geared toward “non-runners”, to do exactly what it says, get you from your couch to running a 5k. You can learn more about it here.

For those who are unfamiliar with me, and how I used to feel about running, let me sum it up in one sentence I used to say when people would talk to me about running: “I run if someone is chasing me”.

And then the damndest thing happened. Last year, while out on my “power walks” I decided to start running. And I loved it. Except, I was doing it all wrong, with the wrong shoes, on uneven ground, and I hurt myself. So, I decided once again that running wasn’t for me.

But I missed it.

Then this year, I learned about C25K, and I decided to check it out. I also decided to buy the right shoes for my gait (I underpronate, in case you are wondering).

And now, here I am, week 5, and right before my little vacation, I ran two 8 minute stretches. Without question, the long straight stretch of running I have ever done. TWICE. Up until 2 days ago, when I ran a 10 minute stretch and then an 8 minute stretch.

Because of my little break, I’m repeating week 5 starting this week, and gearing up for that scary day 3, which involves a straight 20 minute run. I’m not sure I’m quite ready for that yet, so I might repeat days 1 and 2 of week 5 a few times before I get there. But I will do it.

And that is my fitNhealthy challenge for June. By the end of the month, I’m hoping to be able to not only finish week 5, but also week 6. If I can follow the C25K plan exactly, I should be ending Week 7 just as June comes to a close, but I’m giving myself a break, and taking my time with it, so I’ll be happy if I can be ready to begin week 7 by the end of June. (Week 7 is when the straight running, 25 minutes each day, begins).

Along with C25K, I’m also going to keep doing Shred on Mondays, and try to squeeze in a little bit more strength training on my in-between run days.

That’s my fitNhealthy goal this month. What’s yours??

Sex and the City 2 - Not Really a Review

Last Thursday I saw Sex and the City 2. I know that the movie has gotten pretty bad reviews, but this is not really a movie review. I will quickly say though that those reviewers and critics who have picked this movie apart were obviously bored or expecting WAY too much. Let’s be honest, it’s Sex and the City. If you were expecting some sort of cinematic brilliance, you went to the wrong movie. If, however, you were a fan of the show, and were expecting to see just a little bit more of Carrie, Miranda, Charlotte and Samantha, their crazy discussions about sex and love, and some amazing fashions and gorgeous men, you will not be disappointed. The movie was everything I expected it to be. Campy, fun, silly, over the top, self-indulgent, hilarious, and even a little bit sweet. It was also so pretty to look at. Between the scenery of NYC and Abu Dabi, the gorgeous clothes, shoes, jewelry and purses, and the bevy of gorgeous gals and guys, it was a feast for the eyes. Even the soundtrack was on par, fun, exciting.

But, as I said, this is not a movie review.

I want to talk about the 10 things this movie made me want to run out and get.

1.

Gold nailpolish – Samantha sports this amazing metallic gold nailpolish through most of the movie, and I WANT IT. I want it NOW. Someone find it for me please.

2.

Flowy nightgowns – Carrie struts around the hotel in abu dabi, and her apartment in Manhattan in these amazing, completely impractical nightgowns and robes. No woman in her right mind would wear any of these to sleep in, she’d wake up completely tangled and frustrated. But they are glamorous and fantastic, and I think every woman should invest in a few to walk around in while she drinks a glass of wine and watches some television, before bed. Simply because…she can. I want.

3. Shoes – Oh come on, you knew this was coming. Really, it needs no explanation. OH THE SHOES…I want. I direct you to this blog for the shoes, because they did a great job of capturing some of the best ones.

4. Girlfriends – I have amazing friends from all walks of life, all over the place, for all different occasions and situations, most of them, long distance. But I do not have (and have never really had) a group of girl friends like these four women have on this show. I love the way they can jump to each other’s rescue just as quickly as they’ll jump down each other’s throats. The way they are willing to drop everything for a night of fun, or for a night of tears. Yes, I realize it’s fiction, but wouldn’t it be grand to have a group of girlfriends you can have a standing date with once a week, or even once a month? I WANT a group of local girl friends.

5. A relationship like the one Carrie and Big have – No, seriously, in the midst of all the crazy, the unrealistic, and even the annoying, they have exactly the type of relationship I want. They respect each other’s faults, they adore each other’s quirks, they understand that they won’t always understand one another, and they are completely mature about handling their immaturity. I’m not saying I want their exact relationship, I just want the love, the respect, the trust, and the honesty. That’s not asking for much is it?

Fine, can I just get the nailpolish then? Pretty please??

Popinjay - Reflective

This week's Popinjay is being hosted by Michelle Lee, and the prompt is "reflective".

I could have gone many ways with this one, but then I found this photo, and I kind of love it.

THIS:
Is what happens when you try to take a picture at a concert and the lights from the stage reflect all over the place. Pretty isn't it?

Popinjay - Finished

This week's Popinjay is being hosted by Michelle Lee and the word of the week is FINISHED.

Seeing as I spent the better part of last week and this weekend thinking about the fact that I STILL had not packed for my trip to Pittsburgh (for which I leave in a few hours)...I felt it appropriate to let you know that I am now FINISHED.

I believe Turtle would like to come with me...