Blog Makeover!

Finally!

No more boring stock image blog for me :o) I'm so excited! 

My blog has at last received the facelift it so desperately needed, 

thanks to the uber amazing Najla Qamber.

She's seriously fantastic!

I've even got my own button, which I've never ever had before. Totally cool!

Feel free to grab it and share it on your blog :o)

Challenge - Week 3 Results

No good news this week. I'd like to tell myself that my few days of weight lifting attributed to my results, but I just can't believe it. In fact, I know what caused them. It was my poor choice, while succumbing to the stress of having a broken water heater for 3 days.

I went to McDonald's. No, I'm not proud to admit it. The sad thing is, I don't even really like McDonald's! I know! What the heck was I thinking? If I was going to break the rules I should have at least gone some place I enjoyed. Sigh.

Despite my lack of self-control, I still went to the gym, but only 3 times this week instead of my usual 4. I cut my cardio in half, down to 30 minutes, and do another 30 on crunches, leg work, abs, etc. I guess I need to just keep chugging along, and maybe, eventually, I'll start losing again.

:o(

This weeks results = 1 lb. gained

Cover Art Coverage

I came across this fun post about some new covers and wanted to share my favorite of the bunch. (shown below) What do you think? I would definitely pick this one up off the shelf. 

Stop by All Things Urban Fantasy and find your favorite.

Peasant Couple

Got into editing again this morning and had a difficult time. There aren't very many helpful tutorials online for the software I use. I think I did an okay job, though there are a lot of elements I couldn't accomplish that were in the tutorial. What do ya think?

Just made these eyes so I thought I'd add them too. Again, a lot of the steps I had to skip.

Fall Apart

I've been messing around with my photo editing software and just learned this new trick.  I think for a total beginner, it doesn't look too terrible. I can't wait to become more proficient in my editing, but its going to take lots of time and practice.

Challenge Week 2 Results

I'm not sure I can say how proud I am of myself this week. I failed miserably at eating healthy. Okay, I wasn't totally bad, but I did have a piece of cake more than once, and a bowl of popcorn. Now I'm left with deciding if the bad foods I love to eat, are with the guilt I feel afterward.

I'll get back to you on that one lol

I sat there, eating my cake and thinking with every bite I should stop eating it, but I couldn't! Forget word count goals, junk food is my new nemesis!

I did manage to do another 4 days at the gym this week, and I must say that I am ready to adjust my workout. Doing an hour of cardio each of those 4 days is turning me into a zombie. Starting tomorrow I'm going to half my cardio and throw in some weight lifting. I must say that I am praying they have the little diagrams on the machines, cause some of them look like torture devices and I haven't the slightest inkling on how to use them.

My next new "great weight loss" idea is yoga. Starting next week, I'm going to do one day of yoga on whatever day it is that I don't go to the gym. I'm thinking gym on Mon, Tues, Thurs, Fri. That leaves Wednesday for yoga. I've never done yoga before, but I do know that's its no necessarily for losing weight. What I am hoping though is that it will help with muscle building, and maybe even help me relieve my shin splints.

On to my results. I can't say I'm very proud of this number. I was hoping for more, but deep down inside I knew that my cheating would come back to haunt me.

Weight loss this week = 1 lb.

Bookmarks Galore!

I just want to give a shout out to one of my favorite people, Najla! She is such an incredible artist and an absolute joy to work with. She has designed all my bookmarks and also the cover for Chaos.
Awesome, right?! I know! If you want to check out more of her wonderfulness, then stop by her blog

http://najlaqamberdesigns.blogspot.com/2012/08/bookmarks-galore.html 

Challenge - Week 1 Results

All week long I've been fighting the urge to jump on the scale and see if I'd lost any weight after each and every workout, but come last night I dreaded it. I wanted to lock the scale in my closet or toss it out the window. The fear and doubt finally kicking in and making me worry that I hadn't lost a single ounce. In fact, I had almost convinced myself that it was completely possible that I might have gained weight!

Crazy, I know.

I think for my first week I did rather well in regards to exercising. I went to the gym four days in a row. While I did manage to stay away from fast food, I could have practiced a healthier diet this last week. I'm guessing food is going to be my biggest struggle. Going to the gym expends a lot of energy and boosts your metabolism a bit, and this results in (for me at least) being hungrier!

I'm guessing this means I will need to hit the grocery store and focus on snacks that won't weight me down with added calories, but most of all, guilt. I actually felt guilty for eating a baked potato this week!

I did some searching online and found a lot of recipes that have been altered to make them healthier, so I'm going to give those a try this coming week. I'll try and add more vegetables and fruit, and most definitely some appropriate proteins to help curb my appetite the right way. I hear nuts are good, although I really wish french fries were a health food! I missed french fries this week. I don't know how many times I had to talk myself out of driving down to McDonald's to get some. I tried to tell myself that if I ordered a small it's not that bad, but who can just order a small fry and be satisfied? Not this girl, no way! I'm a fry freak, and if sweet potato fries are involved you better get outta my way!

Anyway, getting to my good news, I DID lose weight this week. I stepped on the scale first thing this morning and discovered that I lost....

Drum roll....

Exactly 2 pounds!

It's not much, but it's a start. I hope next week my results will be just as good if not better.

Challenge

As some of you may know, I am a military wife. If that ain't a tough enough job, I don't know what is. Right now my husband is deployed and I'm trying to think of things to not only keep my spirits up, but to keep me... I suppose the best word is distracted.

Distraction has been one of the best things to get me through these deployments (aside from my attention needy cat, chocolate and family); and even though we are on #4, it really hasn't gotten any easier. I thought it would, but I am quickly learning that I was wrong.

Writing has helped a ton, but I want to do more. So, against my better judgment I've decided to start exercising. Okay, maybe it's not against my better judgement, but my muscles would say otherwise. Not to mention that summer is probably the worst time to decide to get in shape. What am I going to tone up for, so I can look better in a knitted sweater or thick winter jacket?!

Have I lost my mind?

Anyway, maybe I'm crazy for deciding to share this journey, but I'm hoping that it'll keep me motivated by posting about it. This is definitely not the first time I said I was going to get in shape and totally quit! Besides it's always easier when you're not doing it alone right?

My goal is to lose 30 lbs. in 17 weeks. Now, is that possible? Probably not. Hell, if I could lose 10, I'd be ecstatic, but my goal is 30 and I'm sticking with it. Only time will tell how close I actually get to that goal.

I won't be doing any crazy diets like sprinkling magic dust on my food, or popping pills that will mysteriously make my mid-drift disappear. I've decided to take a different approach. Good, old-fashioned exercise, and healthier eating. Doesn't sound too hard, right? That's what I keep telling myself. It will be easy, I just have to do it!

So, tomorrow is day one, which means I'll be posting next Sunday with the first week of my results.
I currently weight X (Yes, I've chickened out in sharing my exact weight! A girl needs to retain a little mystery doesn't she?) I will, however, be posting the number of pounds lost during each weekly post.

So, wish me luck everyone and pray for me!