Sweet Tooth

I'm not sure if this has happened to anyone else, but since I've cut back on sugar (kids, I used to have a ridiculous sweet tooth, which probably, well most likely greatly contributed to my weight gain) I've had an increased interest in sweet smelling shower gels and bubble baths... weird huh?

Especially considering that Bath and Body Works Warm Vanilla Sugar still makes me barf a little. I like food. I usually don't like smelling like it. Especially any lotion or potion that smells like vanilla or chocolate... maybe because they are normally too cloying?

But when doing a little last minute shopping new years eve (pre-birthday, whoop whoop!) I got a sample of something truly yummy for my birthday. Behold : Sephora Vanilla Cupcake Body Wash

Now I'm not quite sure I would dive into the whole vanilla cupcake set, but it sure is nice after a hard workout to get a treat like this =)

Speaking of hard workouts...I slept in this morning. Usually I'm up around 5:30 to be by the gym by 6 a.m. I stayed up late last night and just couldn't will myself out of bed..

So after work, I sucked it up, stopped by home to change clothes and headed to the gym. I could feel the boredom before I hopped on the bike, so I would need to switch it up to get a good workout.

Today's workout consisted of 15 minutes on the stationary bike (hills). I'm becoming a fan of the bike! My first day back in the gym I thought I was going to meet my maker on it, but it has slowly been growing on me. However, I can't say the same for the next 15 minutes of my workout... the stair stepper..

I am convinced that that piece of equipment was created to torture. By the 5th minute, I could feel my heart beating in my teeth. My teeth, y'all...it was something crazy!

Around the 15th minute, I was not only proud of myself, all sweaty and breathless, but I was craving more! Maybe I'll hop on tomorrow as well..

The last 30 minutes was hills on the elliptical...something I've stayed away from until now, but it wasn't half bad =) Needless to say, I came home and had a nice hot shower with my new favorite body wash.

Dinner was a turkey burger with barbecue sauce and a side of grilled zucchini and red pepper. I tried to keep it light since I got back from the gym so late.

I'm getting soo sleepy as I write this, so I'll have to update tomorrow. Night!

Back on Track

Before I get into how last night's cardio session made my legs feel like lead, I suppose I should *officially* introduce myself. My name is Karmen, and I'm a twenty something, ok 25 year old nerd =) I created this blog to track my weight loss (25-30lbs.), my interests (beauty, design & crafting), my life with my wonderful husband, Fabian and anything else I deem awesome.

You might even find a couple of pics of our super awesome kitties Izzy and Frankie on here too..we'll see =)

So to my amazement, I've been able to get right back into the swing of things when it comes to working out and eating right. I think for me, having a set schedule really works for my body. When I was on vacation, it was a little more difficult. That, and I hadn't been grocery shopping in a while! So here's what a typical day/week looks like for me in terms of exercise:

Monday-Friday
45-60 minutes of cardio
I usually break it up into different chunks of time on different machines..my new favorite is 20 minutes on the elliptical and 40 minutes on the bike

Since I've gotten back into working out, I mainly did cardio, as that was about all my little attention span could handle. However soon (as in this Saturday) I'll start incorporating strength, scaling back the time I spend doing cardio and using Sunday (and maybe an additional day) for Yoga, the Bar Method, or Pilates

I think thats about it for now, I'll start posting pics very soon =)

-Karmen

No Resolutions..

It's almost midnight, but I've slept so much that I'm not exactly tired. Though the new year started about 4 days ago, (happy birthday to me!) The official start of the new year for me will be tomorrow.

Good thing, since I have kind of fallen of of my nutrition plan (sigh), but not the exercise part, which is pretty good for me. With that said though, we all know how important it is to have both the fitness and nutrition...right?

I'm feeling a little guilty for over indulging in sugar, but you can't live in the past huh? Onward, and upward and all that jazz!

I'm planning an hour workout tomorrow prior to work, and back on the 6 meals-a-day plan. Morning breakfast: 1/2 cup oatmeal with walnuts, raisins and a teaspoon of natural pb, two hard-boiled eggs and a grapefruit.

Post tomorrow!