As of today, I’ve lost 42 pounds! Woo-hoo! I’ve really come to like going to the gym. I feel like I can challenge myself there. I use the treadmill quite a bit - I do a “Calorie Destroyer” routine that I cut out of a magazine that takes 30 minutes and includes a shift of in incline and speed every two minutes. I usually do a warm-up on the arc trainer too. The arc trainer (according to the machine) burns 100 calories in about 6-8 minutes (depending on how much energy I expend) and the treamill routine burns about 340 calories (according to what the treadmill says). Yesterday I included an extra 10 minutes on a stationary bike and 10 minutes on the elliptical - I burned a total of 625 calories! Woo-hoo! Of course, I ate that all back later in thee day when I went out to lunch with my grandma. I love fajitas. :o)

www.my-calorie-counter.com     

I leave you with a few funny “fails” from failblog.org:

Good stuff indeed. :o)

Well, I took a part-time job at a local grocery store (Food Lion) to help us pay the bills. Yeah, I have a Masters Degree and I’m working retail. Oh well - gotta do what I gotta do, right? The paycheck is nice. Plus, I feel like I’m not totally lazy just sitting around. The sub jobs stopped a while ago after Roanoke City put a hold on allowing teachers to request subs due to budgeting issues. In the meantime, I’m applying literally everywhere for a full-time teaching position for the upcoming school year. I’m talking withing an hour and a half drive from our house. I SO want a job where I can utilize my degree!

On the weight-loss front, I’m down 26 pounds since I started my “diet” back up in late February! That’s a total of about 35 pounds since September! Yay! I’m losing probably an average of two-three pounds a week as of late February. I’m counting calories (I aim for about 1600-1900 calories per day), but I don’t deprive myself and I exercise three-four days a week. We completed one of my 101 goals, which was to join a gym. I love the elliptical and the treadmill. We still get out and enjoy the spring weather by walking on the greenway. Plus, standing up for hours on end at work burns calories, so that’s a plus. I’m feeling a difference in my clothes, many of which actually fit now! Woo-hoo!

In other news, we’ve started going to church! We’re going to the Unitarian Universalist Church here in Roanoke, and we love it! I really get a lot out of it - it really fits my philosophies on life, drawing on many different religions for its teachings. It feels so right!

That’s pretty much when life is all about right now. Working, weight loss, hanging out with friends and family, and church. OH, and we’re going to our first geocaching event tomorrow! It ought to be fun - we get to meet fellow Roanoke geocachers!

Hopefully too much time won’t pass again before our next blog post. I should really try one of my 101 goals soon - to write a blog post every day for one month. We’ll see.

The first part of the trail behind us, then...

A stile going over a fence! - made us feel like real hikers!

Looking along a grassy hill with an AT directional post pointing us in the right direction.

Looking down the hill...

Hiking Paynes!

3.5 miles up - eating lunch (finally).

Even Roxie was tired!

Devoring my sandwhich.

Near the top and going down - looking out at the Blue Ridge.

About a mile away from our car.

Looking up at the mountain we had just hiked.

Johnny happy to be almost done with the hike!

Trail signs along the road.

Walking on a rickity bridge over a creek.

Another "bridge."

Last strenuous part - up that humongous hill!

Heading towards the car - finally!

Oh, and by the way, click here to enter for a chance to win a free jar of Barney Butter! Good stuff, indeed! I love me some almond butter!

Whole grain breads...

Almond butter (which is funny because I don't like peanut butter, but this is awesome on a banana or on a multi-grain waffle with jelly)...

Almond milk...

Spinach (I don't buy lettuce anymore because this is so delicious and much more healthy as salad or on a sandwich or burger)...

Frozen yogurt (I think I actually prefer this over ice cream!)...

Turkey! Ground turkey, turkey sausage and breakfast sausage - just as good as beef and so much healthier!

Lots of fruits and veggies...

Yogurt! I love Yoplait's Pineapple Upside Down Cake and Kroger's French Apple Pie.

Oats - my new go-to breakfast!

Go-to breakfast: 1/2 cup of dry oats (cooked makes about 1 cup) with 1/4 cup almond milk, 1 tablespoon of flaxseed and 1 tablespoon of honey. SOOOOO good!

Nuts and seeds: here we have pumpkin seeds, mixed shelled nuts and ground flaxseed.

Beans! Kidney, black eye peas, chickpeas (great on salads and in indian dishes), navy, black, pinto and great northern.

Whole grains: whole wheat flour, barley, quinoa, couscous, and brown rice.

More whole grains - this time in pasta!

Even more whole grains (see a pattern here?) - tortillas and english muffins (great for burgers)

Awesome snack - pita chips (and veggies) with hummus.

I drink LOTS of water - about 140 - 160 ounces per day!

A pedometer is a great way to track your steps ( aim for about 10,000/per day for weight loss) - and it's so motivating (it really challenges me to go further).

It would definitely be difficult to exercise without my music!

Roxie helps a lot too - she loves going for walks and could go on forever.

I think focusing on not putting too much crap into my body has been a big motivator for me. Just thinking about what certain foods can do to your body is motivation enough not to eat it. I think many people don’t focus enough on what their bodies really need versus what they want or have come to love because of our society. We eat way too many processed foods and don’t get nearly enough of what we need. I’m still totally guilty of it - drinking diet sodas that are full of chemicals, eating Splenda (chemicals) in yogurt and in my baking, not eating a lot of organic foods (which aren’t pumped full of pesticides and/or preservatives). If we made more money, we would do all of our shopping at our local co-op , which has nothing but local, organic, free-range, and healthy food. Unfortunately, we’re not able to do that. But, I figure that as long as we are making better choices where we can, we should be good-to-go. I know that I’m eating so much healther than I used to, and that’s what’s really important. Hopefully my choices will continue to help me in my weight-loss endeavors!

Read Mountain - from the bottom.

The start of the Read Mountain Preserve trail.

Johnny, Melissa, Skyler and Jason prepping for the hike.

A view out from the parking lot.

Me, Melissa and Johnny near a water tower next to which a cache was hidden.

Cool hiker...

Stone steps helped us up the mountain.

Johnny with part of the trail behind him

Melissa splashed some cold creek water on her face to cool down.

Melissa with Skyler and Jason.

Melissa and I cheesin' for the camera.

The guys.

The view from halfway up.

At the top - Hollie the explorer!

Johnny rockin' the pose...

We came across a first aid kit at the top - complete with a defibrillator!

Johnny checking out the cache at the top of Read Mountain.

Jason and Skyler looking on as Johnny explores the stash.

Even Skyler was thirsty after a long hike!

Johnny replacing the cache to its hiding spot!

View from the top...

Johnny, Melissa, Skyler and Jason getting ready to head down the mountain.

1.9 miles down!

That hike was definitely a motivator for me to try more hiking. The following week, I hiked 3.7 miles round trip along the Star Trail going up Mill Mountain here in Roanoke - three times! Two times I hiked just with Roxie and the third was with Melissa and Skyler. The feeling you get from conquering a mountain is indescribable. It’s really a great way to get out and enjoy nature while getting some kick-butt exercise. It’s really great to live in an area that offers so many outdoors activities. I’m just happy that I’m finally starting to take advantage of it!

So, #6 on my list is complete. But, this won’t be the end of my hiking forays. I plan on doing it recreationally for a long time to come.

We’ve never seen her make that face before. I quickly grabbed the camera and snapped a few photos. I think she knew we were laughing at her.

By the way, if you have any free time, stop by The Health Nut for a chance to win a Nalgene Water Bottle. Because nothing says good for your bod like a BPA-free water bottle! Good for you, good for environment, right?

And take a look at the view from our back porch. Beautiful!

Well, this wasn't yesterday. This was Sunday afternoon. Snow started falling (unexpectedly - I had no idea we were supposed to get snow until it started!) and it continued off and on for the remainder of the afternoon and evening.

View of the backyard on Sunday.

Monday morning - Johnny woke me up and told me that it had snowed like I had wanted it to all winter. It must have been quite blustery too, because our arbor was on the ground.

The front yard...

Quite a juxtoposition - the willow budding and screaming Spring with winter present, loud and clear.

It looked like frosting - so smooth and velvety!

Digging the cars out would make for a fun task later. Not really.

Where's the bird fountain?

Before Johnny went to work, I made us a nice hot breakfast of whole wheat yogurt pancakes, turkey sausage and bananas, complete with hot coffee.

Roxie wanted in on the action.

Yum!

I ate mine with a healthy, sweet and tart cranberry chutney that I froze a while back. It was just as yummy as it was the day I made it!

Johnny chose to coat his in Country Crock and real maple syrup, a palatable but nonetheless less healthy alternative the the cranberries. He hates cranberries and called my pancakes "ruined."

Okay, time to dig out the car. I used a highly technological tool - my broom. I need a new one now.

Meanwhile, Roxie was having a blast running around in the snow.

Her paws must have been cold...

...but she didn't care!

It took an hour for Johnny to leave. After uncovering the car, he couldn't get out of the driveway. He just kept spinning.

While Johnny was trying to leave, the neighbors' snowman was chillin' out.

Johnny was sliding around the driveway. Fun times!

The road was quite slushy and gross.

I ended up having to dig out my car and move it down the road for him to maneuver his car out of the driveway. Then he was on his way - finally!

Snowy pant and shoes...

I love the snow! It’s crazy because when we first moved to Virginia, we would get three or four of these “big” snows each winter. Now, we’re lucky if we get one (global warming?). I wish we’d still get the three or four. It’s so beautiful!

With that, I leave with with the panoramic of the front yard that Johnny so proudly created.