A little Extra Somethin for Ya!

I already posted for today but I got so excited I had to add a lil note.
I was talking with one of my buddies and I just blurted out that I love my eye color and that I think I have pretty eyes! I, Candice Daniel said something positive about myself...... yipee. The next 20 days wont be as hard as I thought... j/k, but it will get easier. (see below if confused)

Have a great weekend everyone and a safe New Year!!!

I do NOT like working out while others are watching me from the couch!

I had one of those days yesterday. I had the energy and enthusiasm to work out, but didn’t feel like I accomplished much from it. I was stuck at work in a ghost town, most everyone else is still on vacation. It’s been pretty slow so the time drags….. I keep fighting the urge not to goof off so I’m trying to work on projects that I usually don’t have time for. My best buddy Olivia and I try to take a break at least once a day and walk around our work’s pond. Yesterday we were both pretty pumped to get some exercise in and not just sit in front of a computer so we went twice…… even in the cold rain. When I got home I was still wanting to do something so I went for a short walk but it was getting dark so fast, plus it looked like it was going to rain again so it was pretty short. After dinner I thought I would do my 30 day challenge on the EA Active. My grandma, my husband Bill, and my lil Evan was all in the living room. Now I don’t mind my grandma or my son in the living room when I’m working out but I really can’t stand when my husband is in the room. I love the man, but when he is critiquing my form from the couch it’s really hard to fight the urge to throw something at him. I was doing fine with the game till I was doing lunges with knee lifts. I can do side lunges fine but not the ones where you go straight down with your knee to the floor and then up with the same knee. I had lost my balance and I had to put my hand down….. my hubby sipping on his Coke was like “babe you are cheating, that’s not how you do it”. So my loving response was…..” really, oh I didn’t know. I thought it was normal to feel like your knee cap is splitting in two. Let’s see how well you do, oh and can you put on an extra 85 lbs and see how it feels”. I got upset quit the game and went straight to my spinning bike. “I’ll show him, I’m getting my work out tonight”….. literally five minutes later….”Urgh… I’m not into this”…. I get off my bike and cleaned the kitchen. While cleaning the kitchen my husband sneaks behind me and tells me he loves me and that he wasn’t trying to be mean. I know he wasn’t. I just get so self conscious and sensitive. I know when I move it’s not always graceful and I know it’s important to do the movement as accurate as possible. So last night my hubby said he wouldn’t just sit and watch me exercise anymore that he would join me and help if I need it. It made me feel better. So once we kissed and made up I went back to my spinning bike and did about a 45 minute routine. I felt much better afterwards!
Yesterday I had posted my new goal to do for 21days straight. A short recap: Positive words about myself. For the next 21 days I will not make a crack about my weight or anything negative about myself. Well folks it’s going to be harder than I thought…. I broke the goal twice yesterday. I cracked two jokes about myself….. I can do this, right? Of course I can. In addition to not saying anything negative I am going to list either an improvement from my healthier lifestyle or a physical or character trait that I like about myself.
Day 2: I am noticing that I have a lot more energy and a stronger desire to get in shape. For everyday that I keep up with this journey I am more excited about where it’s going to take me! I am really greatful for that.

I got my butt kicked by a video game!

Hey everyone, hope you all made it through the “season of food temptation”! I am happy to report that I stayed on point. I didn’t over eat and I stayed to my plan. I don’t feel that I missed a thing, if anything I’m pretty proud. I know my body will thank me later for it.

Well, Santa came to visit….. I guess I was a good girl this year. Bill and I decided not to do too much for each other this year since money has been a little tight. We had fun spoiling are little one and the rest of the kids in the family, but Bill…… I mean Santa decided to buy something that I needed. He got me a new pair of running shoes, since that is where my new adventure is taking me. He also got me the EA active game for the Wii. Let me just say for the record I feel so embarrassed that I was sore for two days after just playing one day. I have read on other’s blogs how fun this game is, and yes this is true; however, I realized that in the past few months I have not focused on working my lower regions of my body. After completing the first day of the 30 day challenge my thighs were killing me. I now see I have been avoiding squats and lunges for a reason. I’m not sure if I can write this is a way that would be funny to those of you reading this but my husband got a kick out of it.

I did the first day of the challenge on the EA active game on Christmas morning, later that day I could feel it. The next morning I wake up to go to the restroom and sit on the toilet…. (Little side note we have an old house with very old windows in the bathroom. The kind that just have a screen and glass slates, basically keeps rain out but not the cold air) I get completely woken up because I feel like I just sat my bare bottom down on a sheet of ice, so naturally my body tries to escape. I try stand up but it feels like my legs have been broken. The cry that I let out wakes my poor husband so he comes running to my rescue, to find me hovering over the iceberg and not really able to straighten my legs. After doing stretches for most of the day I was able to work out the stiffness that I was feeling, and the past few days I have enjoyed playing the game for an extra workout…. But for those who are like me and are just getting into the whole workout thing, be warned it may be a video game but you can feel it!

As for my 21 day goal that I had set about increasing my water intake just call me Candy the Camel because I reached that goal. I am drinking at least 8 -8oz glasses of water a day, and for the most part that is all I am drinking. So with this goal down and now a habit, it times to pick another goal to achieve or to work on for 21 days. I thought about this goal long and hard and decided for this goal I am not so much as going to pick a goal that I will achieve by doing something physical but something I need to achieve for me emotionally. So for the next 21 days I will work on not saying anything negative about myself. Wow that sounds so easy, but it going to be the hardest yet. I have gotten in such a bad “habit” of doubting myself and just dragging myself down with my own words. The majority of my life I was always the skinny girl. For the most part through school I was always skinner than my friends and when I moved to Pa. for college, I was thick but never really fat. I remember having family members tells me that I was too skinny and that I needed to gain weight….. well boy did I. So now when I talk to people I always crack a joke or make some kind of comment about my size. I guess it’s my way of beating people to the punch. I even catch myself doing this with my husband, who has NEVER, EVER said anything about my weight. He sees me through a different pair of eyes. So for the next 21 days I want to do the same. I will NOT put myself down and make comments about my size. I will NOT doubt my ability to get back into shape. Instead I am going to recognize all of the positive things that I am doing and all the positive changes that I am now seeing. I will list one thing for everyday that I am seeing either improved or that I like about myself. This can be either a physical feature or a character trait.

To start the list, for Day 1:

I am noticing that my complexion and skin has more of a glow and appears healthier (it’s probably a result from all that water that I have been drinking). I included a pic from today that I took with my cell phone. See……. peaches and cream (=

Candice the Red Nose Mommy

So in preparation for the coming Holiday I have my shopping complete, my tree up and I myself look like I can star in a Christmas story about a famous reindeer. I can’t believe I got sick again!!! My poor baby boy is sick too. We are both starting to feel better, but I have to be honest I really can’t ever remember being so tired. I manage to get at least 8hours of rest a night, but that doesn’t seem to be enough. So needless to say I am not really looking forward to doing our normal run around to everyone’s house on Christmas day tradition. Though I know it will be fine. I do enjoy getting to see everyone, and it’s really rewarding to see how much my family loves my son Evan. Which, what’s not to love… that boy knows how to capture hearts!
Bill and I our pretty excited to have Christmas morning this year. We are going to start our own family tradition with having a home cooked (healthy, but good) breakfast. We usually eat breakfast separately and usually something simple, like cereal. Now I just have to decide on what we will make. Once we have breakfast we will let Evan open his gifts…… I cannot wait. He is 16 months and he is going to love playing with the wrapping paper (=
The past few weeks I have been so ill with very little energy, but I really want to work out again. I can’t wait to get over this bug and get my work-out on. I feel really inspired today. I was checking out a few blogs and I ran across one of someone who at one time was a little bigger than I am, that now looks fabulous. Truly, absolutely beautiful and is enjoying an active lifestyle. When I saw this blog I thought to myself, why not me. And that my friends is exactly what I am going on, why not me. If others can do this so can I. I have so much in my life to motivate me and I know that one day someone will be looking at my before and after pictures for inspiration!!!!

Well everyone have a wonderful Christmas and Live well!

Mother Freaking Nature

WARNING: This Blog entry is not for those who usually yell “TMI” when people speak to them about personal information………… read at your own risk (=
If you are continuing reading, well bless you cause I need to vent to someone! I had a good start to my week despite the fact that the temperature outside keeps dropping and we have seen nothing but rain. It’s rained enough, that our back yard is starting look like Shriek’s swamp. The puppies love it! Every day this week I have had to clean them up when they come back in from their potty breaks. I feel bad cause I have not walked them much this week, it’s just nasty outside….
So I am feeling like a bad puppy parent and haven’t been able to go outside to exercise, so I thought I would just workout this week in our garage that we have set up with our exercise equipment….. WRONG. I worked out a little earlier this week, but started feeling like I was coming down with something again….. well I came down with something alright (for those who missed the warning note above I will try to modify the details a bit). My aunt flow came to visit and man she is a bitch this time. I haven’t seen her in awhile but she has so politely brought cramps, bloating and the need to snack on something salty & sweet. I typically do not crave sweets, and usually during this interruption I usually don’t get a lot of symptoms……..but not anymore. Lately when I get this visit, I also get severe stomach problems and usually spend most of my day having diarrhea…. Wow what fun that is, if the huge landing strip of a pad in my underpants doesn’t irritate me, my ass starts to feel raw from having to go several times a day. So as you can imagine the thought of getting on my spinnig bike, not to appealing. To add to injury, I think my husband is now on my cycle. I don’t care what people say my husband has PMS too…. Matter of fact he started first this week. He is so moody and grumpy, and chocolate doesn’t fix him!
I haven’t reached my own personal goals for working out this week, but I have still been pretty good on my calorie intake. The only moment I had was went I went to the store I passed the sale they for “Flipz” Chocolate covered pretzels. They are 10 bags for $10. NO, I did not but all ten bags… just 3. My husband wanted both the chocolate and white fudge…. I just wanted plain old chocolate….. like I said earlier, Salty & Sweet!!!!!! But if you noticed I wanted my own bag. Now before I start getting lectures, I didn’t eat the whole bag, and I still managed to stay under my calorie intake for the day….. I just felt guilty because it was my first moment in 60 days that I wanted to just tear some food up!
I know next week is another week, and this one will be past me soon. A friend sent me this quote this week, “ The man who removes a mountain begins by carrying away small stones.” -- Chinese Proverb
Even the ancients knew things take time. Take care and Live Well!!!!

It's been awhile

I have not had a chance to write about my progress, but thought I would give a little update. Things are still going on track and I am starting to notice a few positive changes. For the most part I have stayed under my target calorie intake and have been doing moderate exercise. For the past week and a half I have walked my sweet boys, Brutice and Woodrow. It’s getting much easier, it doesn’t feel like they are walking me as much…. Well as long as they don’t see any critters we are good!

The one thing that I am really proud about is that I have managed to keep going. No matter if one night I may eat something not on my meal plan, I’m not letting it sabotage my whole routine for just one meal. Before I would get so frustrated with myself if I couldn’t resist one craving and then the next day all the bad habits started all over again. I was left feeling hopeless and like a lost cause. I finally realized it doesn’t have to be that way. I know I can change my habits and lifestyle and will reap the benefits from it, so I am all about it. No more excuses or letting others let me down. This is something for me . So speaking of all about me………… I am so excited to report that I am officially down one pant size! One pair of pants that I have are so large now, nothing on my natural body will hold them up. Matter of fact I had lost them as I was walking across the parking lot at my job….. one embarrassing moment that I can laugh about! It is so nice to finally see a bit of a physical result. It just feeds me the reassurance that I am on my way. I think I am finally at peace with knowing it will take time, but once I’m where I want to be I know I will continue to take the time to stay that way.

Now it's not a success story overy night. I am struggling with a few areas still. For one, water. I am not allowing myself anything else, but I am just not a big drinker of any kind. I may have a drink with each meal, but not always. I have tried having a jug of water at my desk and keep a cup on my desk and fill it up first thing, but I’m lucky if I finish that. I am over the water is not exciting enough for me bit, it’s just I don’t get thirsty….. (wow wish that was my problem with food. Could you imagine having a fresh baked loaf of bread sitting on your desk all day, and never touch it cause you never get hungry). I wanted to go 21 days with drinking 8 glasses of 8 oz of water a day. To start I think I may need to set my alarm to remind me to drink a glass. I know that may seem drastic, but I think that might work for me. Who knows unless I try it, right?

The other thing I want to incorporate is the intensity of my workouts. I am gradually getting stronger and more energy, so I have been increasing the workouts a bit. Once I reach my goal for my water, I will up my workout routine by a few notches.

Well folks have a great day and thanks for reading!

21 Days

Well I have decided today to keep up with my goal of changing something and keeping it up for 21 days. I was able to make my first goal of exercising every day and staying under a 1700 calorie diet for 21 days. So I was thinking why not add something else to the mix.
I have been a little bummed that I have been unable to exercise for a week, but I am ready to get back on it. So in addition to exercising and staying under a 1700 calorie diet I am going to drink eight 8oz glasses of water a day. I have had a hard time with drinking enough water throughout my day. Now with working out I see how important it is, so let the chugging begin!
Overall I have had a good morning so far. My girl Olivia came over this morning and helped me walk my horses, I mean puppies. I say puppies, but they recently had their first birthday. For anyone that knows about Rhodesian Ridgebacks they are the perfect dog to have if you want to live an active lifestyle and have a good walking companion. Boy it feels like they are taking me for a walk at first, but they did good today.

Starting to feel a little better

Sorry I haven't posted anything in awhile, I have been sick for days. My cough is starting to sound normal and not like a seal barking. My energy level is still pretty low and will be a while till I can really get my workout on. I didn't bother wearing my Body Bugg since I stayed in bed for four days straight, butI did stay under my calorie intake. I was a little bummed on Monday that the scale had not moved, but next week is another week. So I plan on as soon as I kick this mess jumping back into it.

So as corney as this may sound, I can visualized myself being a healthier me. I know I have had several people in my life praying with me to beat this fight with cancer and other problems that have held me back for the past few years. I know I can do all things and will do all things. I may never get back to the double zero days, but thats fine with me. My hubby likes the junk in my trunk. I just want to feel good about myself and have the energy to keep active. So my goal for the next thirty years of life, I will continue on this path to fight for my health and for my self-esteem. This time when I reach it I will appreciate it!