How was everyone's weekend? Did you follow your rules for success this weekend? What are your plans to stay on track this week? I'm focusing on fitness this week and trying my hardest to get this body, smaller than it once was, moving. I found these tips on a British fitness website. Some of them made me smile (I like the idea of finding someone's "bum" an inspiration!) and others were just great advice. What kind of fitness plan have you created for yourself? Mine is comprised of cardio/weights at the gym and spinning classes. I try to spin twice a week and hit the gym three times per week. Some weeks are certainly better than others! I hope this week is a great one. Mondays are very hopeful days for me. It's the beginning of a new work week and I have the opportunity to meet my goals. Let's go after those goals! Have a wonderful Monday! Hugs, Stephanie ********************************************************* It's a fine line that divides motivational success or failure. Missing one evening's training could start the slide back to the sofa rather than going out running, swimming or whatever activity you had planned. Here are our top tips to keep you motivated, no matter what! 1. Set goals for your fitness and be specific The more specific the better. For example, aim to complete a running or swimming event, or to lose two inches off your waist rather than just generally aiming to get fit. You are more likely to fulfill your goals, if they are specific. Be realistic with your goals but make them hard enough to be a good challenge. Strike the balance - an unrealistic goal will kill motivation but a goal that is too easily achieved will lead to boredom. 2. Get a training plan! This will give you a daily goal, even if sometimes it is just telling you to rest. You could get one from a personal trainer, or you could download one from the online shop. A structured plan will increase your motivation and your chances of success. 3. A huge de-motivator is if you overtrain. Don't increase the duration or intensity of your training too quickly as you will soon become disinterested or injure yourself. This is another reason to get a proper training plan. 4. Role models Find out what totally motivates you and then surround yourself with it! It could be photos of inspiring sportspeople, men's or women's magazines, or Kylie's bum - whatever works for you! Place these things where you can see them every day. 5. Record your progress Keeping a logbook of your gym visits, running times, swimming pool visits, or whatever, will keep you focused on the tasks in hand and allow you to accurately check your progress. Many people regularly review their logs to provide motivation for the future. 6. Cross-train Nothing is more likely to keep you going than adding some variety to your fitness training. Look at what else you can do - running, walking, cycling, rowing and swimming all add to your training and improve flexibility, strength and general fitness. 7. Go shopping! New gear can equal a new you, which can subsequently result in improved motivation and performance. Get out to your sports or fitness specialist and find out what's new in-store. A new top, shorts or shoes could inspire you to keep going. The better you look the better you feel and you are much more likely to keep motivated. 8. Make it social After a fitness session, treat yourself with a drink at the pub or by meeting up with friends for dinner - you deserve it! 9. Get a pedometer for the daytime Current thinking suggests 10,000 steps per day are needed for good health. Try walking whenever you can in your day - you will be further motivated as you see the steps clock-up! 10. Visualise your success If you picture yourself achieving your goal and what it will feel like, those images and feelings will help to motivate you to achieving them. Picture yourself feeling amazing as you achieve your goal!

Just needed to share with someone other than DH. First, I was doing some shopping on Saturday. Stopped in Fashion Bug, which now I can buy only in the regular size Fashion Bug. )))) anyways... they had a lot of stuff on clearnce, so I took a look around. Saw some pants I liked and thought I'd try them on. At first I grabbed the 14's, then thought, let me try a 12. (I have previously bought a pair of 12 Levi jean which was the biggest thrill in my life! I don't think I posted on that. But I had 14's that were feeling roomy so tried 12 and they fit perfect!) So, I got brave yesterday and tried these 12 pants, they were like cords. And guess what, they fit too!! That's more than one style I can wear in a 12. I was thrilled. I didnt end up buying them becuase they fit, but I felt I probably could even get into a 10, but alas no 10s available. So I just bought some new undies there. It was just so cool to be in more 12's. Now if I could get the top half of my body out of the XL and out of the bigger suit jackets I'd be estatic!! The other big thing and this is the biggest of them all!!!!!!! You know that upping the protein shakes, doing more water and the workout I've been doing on the elliptical? Guess what!! As of today I now weigh 167!!! Yes 167 after 4 1/2 months of bouncing from the quick flash of 169 and then back to 171 to 175. I made it back to the 169 a few days ago, held there for about 3 days and today 167.1 I did a woohoo at the scale! LOL Now Im afraid to do something to mess it up and go the other way! EEKS! But the plan is to keep doing the plan and do what I've been doing. I was beginning to think I'd never see under 170 again. Thanks for listening, I know you can relate. Hope your weekend has been good. I have off tomorrow for MLK day and DH took the day off. I think we may be going to the museum. That's the plan for now, but I know I should stay in and do some stuff in the house. We shall see.

Only 114 miles to the Amtrack station in LA, can we make it Marchers!! We've made it this week to Barstow, CA. The population here is less than 24,000 people, nice little break from vegas population? Tomorrow is the 4th Annual Calico 30 and 50K Run, maybe we can be on the sidelines cheering them on! This looks like an interesting tour, Walk along old Rte 66 and check out the Main street Murals! http://www.mainstreetmurals.com/ theres a Western American Railroad Museum to see http://www.barstowrailmuseum.org/ and a Rainbow Basin that looks beautiful, heres a slide show http://aeve.com/digitaldesert/ddaa/rb01.html Will our count be 114 miles for next week and we'll be amtrack bound back to NY? Lets see! On another note... We're only 72 miles from Rebeka's house, hope you're finished recooping from your previous company because we're about to crash in girl!! heres our latest map Marchers, maybe our second to last one? we'll see what next week brings! http://pic20.picturetrail.com/VOL1609/9234421/16931981/299441129.jpg

I bought a cheesecake protein product a while back and kept forgetting to try it. I decided to make it as a "trial run" for tomorrows game. The recipe calls for 2oz water, but I changed it to milk. While its in the fridge it combines and makes a really yummy cheesecake base! Its more of a NY cheesecake (the baked one) instead of a creamy cheesecake. After tasting how good it was I pureed Murray's gingerbread cookies, added a little butter and made a crust for a pie shell pan. Mixed 4 packets of cheesecake powder with 8oz milk, poured it in the crust and let it set for an hour in the fridge.. After it set I topped it with crushed pineapple and is it delish! good thing it was a "trial run" because bf and his brother just finished it! neither one could tell it was sugar free. Each packet of cheesecake has 12 grams of protein (when mixed with water), (add 2.5 grams per 2oz smart milk) and you got a great snack! heres the link if anyones interested: http://www.bariatricchoice.com/wonderslim-bariatric-diet-protein-cheesecake.html hope everyones having a great weekend

Oh boy...now there's big time pressure! I'm saying YES to the Pats for sure! I predict PATS and PACKERS in the big game. We'll see what happens. I know all of the right things to say YES to. I couldn't seem to say YES to exercise yesterday. My body is sore from my Tuesday spinning class, I was wiped out and not feeling great so I skipped my spinning class last night. Sigh. I'm determined to go to both classes next week. I'm also hitting the gym with hubby on Saturday AND Sunday. No excuses! Have a great weekend! Hugs, Stephanie