Fit Challenge Questions and Answers: Revised for MORE Questions

Here are a few questions that I have received about GET FIT CHALLENGE. Click here to sign up for, and find out about the challenge, or read through the questions below and you will gain more insight into this great challenge. If you have an unanswered question, post it in the comments section and I will respond to it as soon as possible. The last question might be the one that interests you the most, so read all of them!

Sometimes, knowing the intriguing prize is a big motivation!!! --Round in the Belly Rachel

Dear Round in the Belly Rachel and ALL FIT CHALLENGE PARTICIPANTS,
You are right! And the prizes are worth the work. Here they are. If you are chosen as a winner, you will win one of the prizes below. Read the last question to find out how to win a prize.
1. A $250 photography package from me. (I shoot, you pose, I make cd, you print)
2. Every Woman's dream Apron: this apron is adorable, fashionable, and flattering. Made in the most unique fabrics, you will be the talk of your home! (pictures to come)
3. My favorite pick of LIA SOPHIA jewelry (an $89 value)
4. A must have BEACH/POOL Bag...also made by me, it is washable, reversable, and big!
5. My favorite pick of workout music compiled on your very own CD!
6. A mix of every occassion salutation cards (created and crafted by me). You will love giving these out and passing them along to friends.

Where/when do we report on our days?--Shaking it Up Shelly

Dear Shaking it up Shelly and ALL FIT CHALLENGE PARTICIPANTS,
You are to keep track of your daily points and total them up each week, and monthly. Then at the end of each month, I will post a blog calling for your points. In the comments section, respond with your points and any success story or trial you want to share. I will post my call for points on the first day of each month to call for your points from the previous month. Winners will be announced one week from each call. The first call for points will be on April 1, 2008!...SO GET GOING!


I want to play. However, I am only gaining weight right now and I am quite limited in the amount of physical activity that I am allowed to take on (specific instructions: no optional physical activity). Any suggestions? --Hapai (pregnant in hawaiian) Haley

Dear Hapai Haley and a PREGNANT PARTICIPANTS,
Congratulations on your pregnancy! Pregnancy is a great time to keep in check with your 'fitness goals'. No, I don't mean you should be losing weight, but you should be eating your fruits and veggies, engaging in 20-30 minutes of light cardio activity (if possible), drinking at least 64 oz of water...and so on. You can compete in the fitness challenge, but do not pay attention to the weight loss portion. I would say you can do everything on the challenge but the weight loss...so get on it!


What? No "Spend an hour with your favorite local Yeti" on Saturday?! --Yoga Yeti

Dear Yoga Yeti and all YOGA LOVING PARTICIPANTS,
Yoga is an excellent mind and body workout. It helps you to center your thoughts and feelings and gain total control over your body. Yoga is a great way to earn your 'toning' points each day! You can use yoga everyday for your 'toning' points or just once a week...so Namaste!


I'm confused though about the weight loss one. If you have weight loss that day, then you get 2 pts? --Losing the Weight Leslie

Dear Losing the Weight Leslie and ALL FITNESS CHALLENGE PARTICIPANTS,
Weight loss is the only category in which you can earn more than one point. This can be totaled daily or weekly. I personally don't like to weigh myself everyday because I have to many emotional connections to the number on the scale, so I weigh myself once a week. Then for the amount of weight I lose that week, I earn 2 points per pound. If you choose to weigh yourself daily, you would earn also 2 points per pound. Consequently, if your weight goes up, then you would lose those 2 points per pound that you lost. Choose which weigh-time works for you and be consistent with it...Get on it!


I would love for you to fashion me some post pregnancy workout. . . --Post Pregnancy Price

Dear Post Pregnancy Price and ALL CONTESTANTS WHO HAVE HAD A BABY,
I know how difficult it can be to lose the baby bulge, to me it felt like a plague on my life. I would caution you to take your time, since it took 9 months to put on the weight it will take close to that to take the weight off. I know that I never felt 100% myself until my baby was close to a year old! That being said, start your daily workout at 30 minutes of cardio and 20 minutes of toning, but when you feel stronger add to your workout by increasing your intensity or the duration of your workout. Instead of 30 minutes of cardio, try 45, and instead of 20 minutes of toning, try 40. By making little changes in your workout on a weekly basis, you will see results much quicker...so GET ON IT!


I don't get how we earn a prize...--slimming up celia

Dear slimming up celia and ALL FIT CHALLENGE PARTICIPANTS,
This is the greatest question of all. I love prizes don't you? There are a few different ways to qualify for prizes.
1. In the comments section of the Fit Challenge Blogs, post your own story. You can write about your week's successes or failures. I will then re-post your story on the blog to for others to read and connect with. Out of all those who post on my blog, I will choose at random from the stories and send an alluring and exciting prize to that person...if you are the only one to post, than you are the winner!
2. Earn the most points! Every month I will tally who earned the most points. I will ask all participants to report the number of points they earned and a small story on how they reached their success. The person who earns the most points WINS!!! I will send out their prize within a week of the end of the month.
3. Post this challenge on your blog and encourage others to sign up for the challenge. Send me a link to your blog too so i can get re-excited about my own contest. I will then choose at random from the people who have posted this challenge on their blog. That person will receive an alluring and exciting prize!

Monday's Fit Tip Mania: THE GET FIT CHALLENGE

I am so excited about this post, that I posted it a day early. It is a well known truth that people who develop a support group or immerse themselves in a circle of people who have the same goals, are more likely to meet their end goals. In a recent post I wrote about an unnerving incident at a fitness group that I head up at my local church. I felt inspired by a close friend to add to this fitness group by introducing a: GET FIT CHALLENGE! This challenge encompasses more than just the obvious of physical fitness, this challenge encompasses the spiritual, and dietary aspects of becoming 'physically fit'. This fitness challenge is simple and guilt free. You can choose to focus on one habit to change a week or all, it is up to you. I will keep weekly posts about this challenge and urge you to post your own successes and failures. At the end of each month I will post alluring and tempting prizes for all who participated. I will draw winners from the great success and trial stories you share in the comments link. So be sure to post your name or a way to get in touch if you are chosen as a Get Fit Challenge Winner.

I challenge you to take the Get Fit Challenge!

Here are the rules.

1. There are a set of 12 given tasks that earn points. If you complete one, then you get a point for that day for that task. You can earn as many points a day as you want, or as little as you want, providing you complete the tasks that earn points.

2. You cannot earn double points for the same item in one day.

3. You cannot make up points for an item if you miss it one day and double it the next, doubling up on one item does not get you double points (*this excludes weight loss points).

4. Go at the challenge with friends or alone, either way, I will be your number one supporter! So feel free to email me questions or your daily epiphanies at erinsummerill{at}hotmail{dot}com.

5. You can wait to calculate your weight loss points till the end of the week, or the end of the month. Weight Loss is the only points that you can earn as many points as possible. If you lose 6 pounds in a month, you earn 12 points for that month for weight loss. I would caution you to NOT weigh yourself everyday as you might have emotional ups and downs that might affect your fitness goals.

MONDAY:
30 min cardio
20 min toning
5 fruit/ veggie
Breakfast
No soda
7 hrs sleep
Multi-vitamin
Water 64 oz
Stop eating at 7:30
Scriptures/Pray
No sugar
Weight loss (2pt)
TOTAL MONDAY POINTS:


TUESDAY:
30 min cardio
20 min toning
5 fruit/ veggie
Breakfast
No soda
7 hrs sleep
Multi-vitamin
Water 64 oz
Stop eating at 7:30
Scriptures/Pray
No sugar
Weight loss (2pt)
TOTAL TUESDAY POINTS:


WEDNESDAY:
30 min cardio
20 min toning
5 fruit/ veggie
Breakfast
No soda
7 hrs sleep
Multi-vitamin
Water 64 oz
Stop eating at 7:30
Scriptures/Pray
No sugar
Weight loss (2pt)
TOTAL WEDNESDAY POINTS:


THURSDAY:
30 min cardio
20 min toning
5 fruit/ veggie
Breakfast
No soda
7 hrs sleep
Multi-vitamin
Water 64 oz
Stop eating at 7:30
Scriptures/Pray
No sugar
Weight loss (2pt)
TOTAL THURSDAY POINTS:


FRIDAY:
30 min cardio
20 min toning
5 fruit/ veggie
Breakfast
No soda
7 hrs sleep
Multi-vitamin
Water 64 oz
Stop eating at 7:30
Scriptures/Pray
No sugar
Weight loss (2pt)
TOTAL FRIDAY POINTS:


SATURDAY:
30 min cardio
20 min toning
5 fruit/ veggie
Breakfast
No soda
7 hrs sleep
Multi-vitamin
Water 64 oz
Stop eating at 7:30
Scriptures/Pray
No sugar
Weight loss (2pt)
TOTAL SATURDAY POINTS:

SUNDAY FREE DAY!!!

WEEKLY Total:

My Weekly Fitness Goal:

Look at this darling baby girl. I have resigned myself to the idea that I will never have a girl of my own, but I sure can still coo over them. This little baby was so tiny...but she was a handful! I had a hard time getting a shot that I liked. She squirmed and squawked! But in the end, I loved how she stretched out her legs so much, so I kept the first picture. I don't think I have ever seen so much personality in a 2 week old baby. Isn't she sweet?

I saw this baby at the community recreation center, and fell in love with his blue eyes, so I snapped a few shots.

Amanda and Robert: Installment 1

Here is the first peek at the wedding I shot yesterday. These two crazy in love cow(folk), got hitched yesterday on Leap Day. Here are three that I loved as soon as they uploaded from my camera. There will be more to come soon after I spend some time in my digital dark room (aka. office and laptop).

Embarrassing Moment #3472

When: 9th Grade
Where: Orchestra Concert
Who: Me and a cute boy

I sat next to the dreamiest boy in the ninth grade orchestra. My orchestra conductor had seated us together a week earlier; I had proudly taken a second chair! Unfortunately, I had been afflicted all week with a terrible phlegm producing head cold, and had the most awkward time finding the right pitch. I had taken a warm shower before the concert to loosen up my sinuses and gave a good effort to farmer blow out what I could in the shower.
I showed up for the concert in my best black velvet dress and took my seat next to my ninth grade dream boat. He nodded and continued his conversation with a chum across the stage. As the orchestra filled in their seats, I desperately wished he would take notice of me...and secretly desperately wished that the other girls would notice his adoration of me and be jealous! Nothing like the sort happened. He didn't say one word!
The concert began as we fell into the well rehearsed Bach's Brandenburg Concerto. After the first piece finished my wish came true! Dreamy ninth grade boy leaned over and whispered to me, "you really played good." Flustered, and blushing bright shades of red, I meant to thank him for his comment, but instead blurted out a mixed "Tanks" as a hideously loud sneeze erupted from the depths of my lungs. He looked shocked and awed at first and then burst out a loud, "HA HA HA," before he turned away and muffled his laughter with his sleeve. I recovered from my sneeze to realize that he was laughing at the largest piece of greenish yellow snot phlegm that had flown from my mouth when I sneezed and landed directly on top of my violin! A large nickel sized phlegm ball oozed on my violin scarring my youthful peace in ninth grade and doing little to award me jealousies from the other girls.
Dreamy ninth grade by made little attempts to speak to me throughout the rest of the year, or the rest of high school, but when he did, he always recounted the flying phlegm incident!

I hope you Friday is phlegm-scar free! Have a fun Friday...

MELTDOWN!

Why me? Why me? Why me?

You know the old adage, when it rains it POURS! Such is my life. The other day as I sat at my computer I noticed how unorganized my picture file was. Last year I made separate folders for each year and separated the pictures into those years, but I hadn't done that recently so I started clicking, pasting and moving files around. I have a laptop and a wireless mouse (thanks to my sister), but sometimes the mouse doesn't drag right and gets a little sticky, accidentally grabbing the wrong file. The mouse did this very thing and accidentally grabbed the entire picture file (with all 20,000 pictures that I have) and dragged it to the file below (games).

Crap! I tried to drag the file out of games, but the computer wouldn't do it, so I copied all the files, and pasted them back in the picture folder. But the problem remained that I had pictures still in the games folder and pictures in a picture folder. And for some reason, the computer also made a second picture folder. When I tried to upload pictures, it showed an empty picture folder. I would then have to search for the secondary picture folder. AAAGGGHHHH! I tried deleting the empty picture folder and succeeded! Now I only had one picture folder with all my pictures in it and a games folder with all my pictures in it.
Recently Mark had mentioned that we were running out of memory space on our laptop because of all my pictures, so I decided to delete the games folder because I don't have any games in it and I don't need two copies of all my pictures.
I clicked DELETE, and the computer replied by saying that the file was so large and would be permanently deleted, not just sent to the recycle bin. I clicked, OK.

WRONG, WRONG, DESPERATELY WRONG MOVE!

It took me a few seconds to notice that as the files disappeared from the GAMES folder, they were also disappearing from the PICTURES folder! WHAT?!? Aggghhhhhh! I clicked cancel, but only in time to save 2007 and 2008...thus, all my pictures before 2007 have been deleted! What a Catastrophe. My memories wiped a way with the simple click of a devil button!
Have I ever mentioned that I HATE Computers! They are out to get me and I know it! Now that hindsight is 20/20, I admit that I probably should have stopped when I accidentally moved the PICTURES folder into the GAMES folder and waited until Mark came home. I admit it now, my computer is out to ruin my life.

VENTING MY GRUDGES

About a month ago I started teaching aerobics for free to women in the community...mostly in my church. We have been meeting at the church and using a large room. Since the class is an open invitation to anyone (near or far) the class size has grown to more than 30 women! 2 1/2 weeks ago we started doing the class in the church gym. There have been some minor scheduling problems, but we have worked around that with others that want to use the gym. LAST NIGHT a man all puffed up in huffiness, walked in and demanded we leave 1/2 way through our class because he wanted to play basketball with his buddies. What the crap? So we compromised and I left 15 minutes before our class should have been over. After the class, we saw him and his buddies again and they were acting very huffy and put out...plus, they didn't even have the gym scheduled...WE DID! oooohhhh I am bugged...

Which brings me to today's blog. I try not to be one to hold a grudge or to be unforgiving, but I was thinking today about instances in my life where I feel I was jilted in some way that I just can get over it.

1. LESLIE- my oldest sister, the impeccable one with fantastic style, did not wear makeup until she was 13, and even then she wore hardly at all...I on the other hand was trying to steal red lipstick from my mom when I was 8. It is because of HER that my mom would always say, "Leslie didn't start wearing makeup until after she was 13, so you will have to wait too!"

2. Nikki- my sister closest in age, the peacemaker and nice sister, well, she wasn't so nice when she pulled my hair out during a fight! To this day I still have thinner hair than the rest of my sisters...I think because of that one fight, my thinning hair is HER fault.

3. Rachel- the baby sister, the beautifully petite one, my only grudge against her is she was born last! Can you believe that? Because of HER I was no longer the baby.

Can you see now how repressed I have been in my own life? Thanks for letting me get that off my chest these trials can be so worrisome. Do you have anything you need to get off your chest? Today's the day to let it VENT!

STOP and see the Sites

Blogging: Have you noticed my new digs? Are you wanting to spend freakishly long amounts of time to pimp out your blog? Here are two sites that I have bookmarked and you should bookmark too!

SJH Blog Design

Tips for New Bloggers

Photography: Here are three photographers that are inspiring to me. I love their candid fresh approach and their bright clean style. They continually inspire me in my own photography quest!

Natalie Norton

Mark Lee's Holladay photo

Nicole Hill

Laughs: There are a handful of websites that I think are hilarious. Need a good laugh? Check these out.

Gurrbonzo

Nikki's Qwips

Confessions of a Pioneer Woman

Enjoy!

Monday's Fit Tip Mania!!!

...and mania it has been today! The alarm did not go off this morning, and when I say alarm, I mean baby waking at the crack of dawn. How wonderful it felt to wake to the chirp of bird and not the squawk of baby. What time is it? I wondered as I leaned over to check the time on my multi-purpose cell phone. AGGGHHH! I slept in, George would be late to school, Mark would be late to work, and the whole house would just implode. Frantically I raced through the house throwing some bread and crackers in a lunch bag for George, getting breakfast for the other boys, and prodding George along so he would only be mildly late.
In all my squabble this morning, I forgot to eat breakfast, and by the time I remembered to eat the only thing that lay in front of me was a large pan of cream cheese brownies. Of course I made the logical decision to forego the healthy bran cereal in the cupboard and I dug into, not one, but three cream cheese brownies.

Can you see where I am going from here? No, not straight to junk food city, but to my weekly blog entry. When it comes to a fitness plan, most professionals will agree that your success is dependent upon what you eat. Some will go as far as to say it is 90 percent what you eat and 10 percent physical activity. Although I think this statement takes the idea too far, it does accentuate the need for a better diet.
There are certain habits that set us up for failure and certain habits that lead to success. One of the worst habits you can have is skipping out on breakfast. A healthy breakfast jumpstarts your day and speaks wonders to the little guy in your brain called self-control. If you want to have success throughout the day, the most important decision to make is when and what you will eat for breakfast. Choose a breakfast high in fiber and satisfying in protein, like a high fiber cereal and low fat or skim milk, scrambled egg whites and fruit, protein shake and an apple. But whatever you do, don't skip out on this most important meal. Eating a healthy breakfast will start you off on the right track and help ward off strong hunger cravings that you would have had, had you not eaten a healthy breakfast. Choose a healthy breakfast and you will be choosing success!

Just another reason to 'shoot' your kids

I felt as though I would die, that is, perish right in front of the entire church congregation. My husband and I are fair weather friends of the church choir, we go when we feel they need the moral support. By all means, I am no great singer, and although my husband can carry a tune, he would agree that we are merely there to fill in body space. Our church choir is small in numbers and often has as little as 3 men singing. On this particular Sunday, we were singing a beautiful hymn for the congregation. We had worked on this number for quite some time, and we were preforming with our newly called choir director.
My youngest son has deep attachment issues, so my husband opted to bring him with us onto the stand. He fussed a little so Mark let him sit on the chair on the stand as we stood and sang. 1/2 way through the song I heard a low toned deep sound emanating through the building. At first I thought a plane was flying overhead, and then when I heard the low boom again, I thought perhaps a large diesel truck was passing by. It wasn't until I heard the disrupting sound the third time that it occurred to me to sneak a quick glance over to where Teddy, my youngest, was sitting. HE WAS GONE! No, that's not quite right, he wasn't quite gone. He was at the organ pounding away as hard and as loud as he could. A woman out of the audience rushed up and grabbed him, which immediately sent him into a screaming fit (remember he has attachment issues). At once the entire congregation followed him out the door with their eyes and then burst into muffled laughter.
If I had my camera on hand, I definitely would have shot him in the act! Here are some of my favorite kids shots I took over the last 6 months. Have you caught your kid in the act lately?

Unsolved Mysteries!

I was stalking my blog friends in cyber world today when I was inspired by two excellent blogs: my sisters and some pioneer woman's blog. Both by the way are excellent reads! Both blogs posted about unsolved mysteries in their lives, and like them, and I am sure like many of you, I too have unsolved mysteries that still plague me to this day.

Mystery 1: Another mystery still taunts me for I am not one who 'wets' the bed. After each of my children's births I would suffer from hot flashes and night sweats as my hormones would return to normal. Each night when the baby would want to feed, I would wake up soaked in sweat and have to change my night skibbies (that is code for underwear). One exhausted evening I am sure I fell asleep before my head even hit the pillow. I was out! Tired! Dead to the world! Like all nights I would wake about 3 in the morning to the intermittent sounds of my newborn baby squawking. I sat up to feed him and noticed that my night sweats were centralized around one particular area. I was dry from waist up but wet, like all other evenings, only this evening it was just around my nether regions. Hmmm...what a mystery. Had I in fact 'wet' the bed? I didn't think so. I perused the area, sniffed a little, checked the color of the moisture and even woke up my dear sleeping husband to help me solve the mystery. Both he and I are still unsure as to what really happened. Do people have night sweats only from the waist down?

Mystery 2: On Valentine's day I received a call from a number I didn't recognize. The husky male voice on the other end of the line simply said, "open your door," and then hung up as unexpectedly as he had called. I ran straight to my door, opened it up and to my great surprise found the most delectable caramel apple wrapped beautifully and adorned with a pink and white polka-dot ribbon. To this day, I do not know who or why the apple was placed on my doorstep. For days I interrogated many friends and followed leads and clues into the late hours of the night, but alas, I am still mystified.

Do you have a mystery that is still a plague on your life?

Cookin' again!

I made these last night for a friend and YUM!

Butterscotch Choco-oat delights

2 1/2 sticks butter
1 C brown sugar
2/3 C white sugar
2 eggs
2 t. vanilla
2 1/2 C flour
1 t. salt
1 t. baking soda
1 t. cinnamon
2 1/2 C oatmeal
1 C semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 C butterscotch chips

Directions:
1. Cream butter and sugars together.
2. Add eggs and vanilla, mix until well blended.
3. Sift together flour, salt, soda, and cinnamon and add to wet mixture until evenly mixed.
4. Fold in oatmeal, making sure to scrape the bottom of the bowl for even mixture.
5. Fold in chocolate and butterscotch.
6. Bake at 410 degrees for 10 minutes.
EAT!

my next project:

{For a close friend, who is expecting a baby girl, something so sweet}

Did you know

...that three of the greatest movies of all time are: Anne of Green Gables (series), Footloose (this is a timeless classic that brings laughter and great joy whenever viewed), and SERENITY (I typically am not a fan of these intense, action packed, futuristic space movies, but this show rocks. If you have nothing to do tonight, go rent it and then you too can see it's 'ROCK' worthiness).

...I have taught aerobics for 10 YEARS! I was inspired by the great aerobic instructors that I took classes from as a freshmen in college, so when a friend asked if I wanted to help her with her aerobic class, I jumped on it (and thus I am still 'jumping').

...an amazing friend of mine had her 4th boy a couple days ago! I had another fabulous friend in Hawaii that also had 4 boys, and quite a few close friends that have 3 boys...I have now come to the 'joy' that if I have another baby and he is a boy, that will be exactly what I want.
...I have NEVER flipped someone off while I was driving, I have NEVER given someone the bird on the road, when I am in my van I keep tall man tucked away, YET; when I drive it seems I have seen that offending finger more times than I would like to count.

I hope you enjoyed my four pointless points for Friday: Go to the video store to pick out serenity, park far away and jog it in, let the woman with 4 boys be first in line, and then keep your middle finger securely at your side when you drive home.

Something Sweet for Friday: Lemon Lusts

I have a friend who is an unbelievably amazing cook! In fact, if I get even the slightest hint that she is baking, I make a point to stop by and 'see' her. She made these scrumptious treats the other day and I had to post them. Thank Tammy for the dish!

Lemon Lust
Crust:
1 cup (8 oz.) cold butter
1/2 cup confectioners' sugar
1/4 tsp salt
2 cups all purpose flour
Filling:
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
4 large eggs
2 cups granulated sugar
1/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
2 tbls. lemon zest
Confectioners' sugar for dusting
Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees
In a food processor: Cut the butter into 1/2 inch pieces and return it to the refrigerator. In the bowl of the food processor fitted with the metal blade, place the confectioners' sugar, salt, and flour. Pulse until well blended. Add the chilled butter and toss with your hands to coat the pieces with flour. Process the mixture until it looks like a fine meal, about 15 seconds.
Transfer the crust dough to a 15x10 inch glass baking pan and press firmly onto the bottom. Place the pan on the center rack in the oven and bake for 15 minutes
While the crust bakes, make the filling. Combine the baking powder and flour. In a separate bowl, beat the eggs with a handheld whisk until they are well mixed. Add the sugar and beat until it is fully incorporated. Add the baking powder and flour in small amounts, beating after each addition. Whisk in the lemon juice and zest.
Pour the filling over the hot crust and bake for 15-20 minutes, or until the filling has set and is golden brown. Let the bars cool in the pan on a wire rack. When completely cool, dust with confectioners' sugar and serve.

Part II: Young Love...

These teenagers were the best and I have to admit, they put up with a lot while we were working on this photo shoot that I was completing for my photography class from Nicole Hill. I love her website because she profiles great photographers and her awesome photography. Since breaking into the 'photography' world is not that easy, I am sooooooo grateful that she has taught so much. I try to read up as much as I can, but there always comes a point when I don't quite understand the exact mechanics of the problem. This class has been a great class to take. My other favorite photographer...and perhaps probably my most favorite...is Mrs. Natalie Norton! Natalie is also a 'new' and exciting photograher that really pushes the creative limits. I could spend hours stalking her blog...and to be honest, I probably do. So Thank you to these two awesome photoghers: Nicole Hill and Natalie Norton!

Young Love's Ups and Downs

A Cute girl... meets a cute boy...
together they hang out with cute girl's BFF...

Cute boy finds more interest in BFF...
Cute girl finds another cute boy with a different hair do'

New hair do' cute boy likes cute girl...
Cute girls still BFFs!

Thank you to these 'cute' teenagers for this super cute photo shoot!

MONDAY'S Fit Tip Mania

Find something that works for you! Why is it that we start a new workout only to abandon it less than 2 weeks later? Most likely, it is a workout that doesn't fit with your daily routine, or your personal style. If you are casual about your day and don't like tight schedules, than it would be improbable that you would stick to the same sort of workout at the same time of day. Make sure your workout fits you and your personality. If you are on the go, set a goal of interspersed mini work outs throughout the day. 10 minutes of dedicated heart-rate raising intensity, spread out over the day, might be a better fit to your schedule than a 40-60 minute workout every morning at 6am. It is important to think about the type of schedule you already keep and choose a workout plan that fits easily into that.

I am the type that likes to do it once and do it right. I like to complete my workout in an hour and feel 'spent' after I am done. I feel most comfortable dedicating an hour in the morning or afternoon, and I schedule my day around that. Although this works for me; this might not be the right recipe for your fitness success. If you feel overwhelmed committing to an hour long intense workout every day, commit yourself to an extra calorie burn by taking the stairs at work, or parking at the far end of the lot at Walmart. Remember, better fitness comes from simply increasing your already established fitness regime. The tip for today, is to figure out what you are doing, and ADD to it in YOUR STYLE! Figure out what works for you and INCREASE IT!

Leah's Wedding, Isn't she Lovely?