The Last Thing Thursdays :)

This is my first time joining up with Jenna over at The Life of the Wife for The Last Thing Thursdays :)
Here goes nothin!

The last thing I ATE:

 

Source: google.com via Brooke on Pinterest

This was what I made for dinner tonight along with rice and a salad for myself (Josh isn't really into salad unless it's my mom's caesar). I must say, I have tried a few pinterest recipes...this is my favorite easy chicken recipe! All you need are some cornflakes, a hidden valley ranch packet, parmesean cheese, some butter, and a few chicken breasts :) This was super easy and super good....definitely not the most healthy thing I've ever eaten but I'm on week 2 of C25K so I don't feel super guilty :)

The last thing I did before showering:

Source: sidebysideblog.blogspot.com via Brooke on Pinterest

Ok, so I just realized how much of a goob I am appearing to be right now. My life isn't pinterest....ok, now I'm a liar. My life is pinterest. I pinned this workout back when I got pinterest about a year ago. I NEVER tried this workout until today after doing C25K. Let's just say I got about 3/4 down the page and stopped. I was dripping and dying. This is definitely a good little 30-40 minute deal. I was just exhausted from attempting to run prior to doing this.

The last bible verse I read:
Acts 19:11-12: "God did extraordinary miracles through Paul, so that even handkerchiefs and aprons that had touched him were taken to the sick, and their illnesses were cured and the evil spirits left them. " 
I had never read this verse until yesterday. I am in a small group at church right now and we are studying Ephesians. We read this verse to get a backdrop of who Paul was. My mind was blown when I read this verse. It really stuck with me yesterday, and I read over it multiple times today. I can't imagine being such a servant and such a person after God's heart that people would just want to have my handkerchief touch their sick relatives to heal them...and they would actually be healed. Seriously, what a testimony. How incredible!!!! I underlined this in my bible and sent it to a friend as well :)

The last song I listened to:



This has been one of my favorite songs for a few years now thanks to a good friend who loves to Indie Sway :)

Well, that's all for now! I think these posts are kind of fun. Wish I did something really odd in the last few hours that I could think of to share! Have a great night....it's Friday Eve :)

Foodie Freak & Healthy & Fit....is this a possible combo?

Today, I completed workout 3 of C25K. I have to say, I didn't dread it as much going into it today as I did yesterday. So, that was a plus! The only thing that disappointed me a little bit was toward the end of the workout/jog, I was really winded and over it. I am just wondering at what point running for 60 seconds won't be a struggle? It sounds so pathetic to say that out loud. I have been reading a lot about running for beginners and have read that one of the most common mistakes is trying to run too fast. I watched my pace very carefully today and every time I felt like I was having trouble, I just slowed down a little bit. Hopefully, this will get better in time :)

Another thing I noticed today was that I was SO HUNGRY! I waited until about 2:30 to eat...that definitely wasn't a good thing. I ate something small because I was about to workout and didn't want to get sick. After I did my workout though, I felt so hungry. I tried to just chug water but ended up having a sandwich and some more of the Southwestern Vegetarian Quinoa I made earlier....which leads me to the title of this blog post. Is it possible to be fit and still be a foodie? Geeze...my love for food will always linger. It won't ever go away. Anyhow, I will just leave you with this recipe. I was actually browsing blogs today and came across this recipe. I can't remember which blog I was looking at that shared that she liked this, so I will link you to where this recipe came from! This is SUPER EASY to make. The only catch is it is a little time consuming to slice all of your vegetables. If you go into this with chopping/slicing/dicing in mind, you are in for a treat. I absolutely love this and will most likely have this in my fridge at most times.

So, anyone have any tips? What do you do when you can tell that you really don't need any more food, but your mind is convincing you that you do? I knew that I had enough to eat, and seriously....there was no stopping me. I know I burned some extra calories today, but I don't want to eat unnecessarily and I'm trying to lose some weight. UGH! Any tips are appreciated, you fit people!!

Have a great week!
PS-Am I the only person who is just downright bothered by the word "quinoa?" Like, can we please just call it "quin noah" instead of "keen wah?" Ok, had to get that out. Seriously....the word bothers me, and I try not to say it out loud whenever I can.

C25K

Hello, bloggers!!! What is up in the world of blogging right now? I have slacked a lot this week...been reading everyone's blogs but have not been in the mood to post!

Well, since I told y'all a few weeks back that I am starting to try and eat healthier/make better choices, I thought I would keep you up to speed with what I began yesterday. I started C25K. Anyone ever heard of this? C25K stands for Couch 2 5K. This running plan basically takes people who don't run from sitting on the couch to running a 5K in 9 weeks.

I heard about this plan a long time ago and never did it. As dumb as it sounds, I thought it sounded so stupid that it could possibly take someone 9 weeks to run 3 miles. The funny thing about the rude statement I just made is that I have never been able to run a full mile in my entire life. I'm not kidding. Seriously....I can't run a mile. Actually, if I'm being 100% honest, I can't even run half of a mile without stopping. Thus, I finally decided it is TIME for me to start C25K. I figured....what the heck?

On Friday, I made the decision that no matter what my plans were Saturday, no matter what came up, no matter how I felt, no matter what we decided to do...I was going to do workout 1 of C25K. The first workout consists of a 5 minute warm up walk, then you alternate 60 seconds of jogging and 90 seconds of running for 20 minutes, and you end with a 5 minute cool down walk. I woke up early and convinced my brother to do it with me! I am so thankful and so glad he went with me, because I seriously wouldn't have finished without him. I definitely would've just walked for 30 minutes and called it quits.

So, how did it feel? To be honest, I was embarrassed and discouraged at how far I have to come. I was dying after about 45 seconds of running just waiting on the 60 seconds to be up. Whew...how embarrasing. But, I'm actually really thankful for this plan because it's DOABLE. Anyone can commit to 3 workouts a week that don't exceed 30 minutes....seriously. So, I'm done with the excuses and I'm sticking to it.

When I got home, I decided to do it again in the afternoon. Mostly because it was super windy outside. I felt alright yesterday afternoon. I don't know why I felt motivated, but I decided to hit it while I was feeling motivated because I know with me there are days that I am just downright NOT gonna wanna hit the pavement.

Today, I went out there and did it again. I was a little disappointed that my miles were actually 3 seconds longer today then they were yesterday, but I think it's because my legs are feeling really sore. Plus, I went twice yesterday. So, with that said. I am going to hit it again tomorrow and take Tuesday off because I have bible study.

Also, just so you know in case you are wanting to give this a try, iMap my run is an AMAZING app. It maps your route through GPS so you can see exactly how far you went and so you can map your route in the event that you want to run it again. Also, it tracks your pace and gives you a summary of your workout once your complete. I love this app because you can go out of it and change your songs, go to other apps, etc. and it will still track your workout until you tell it to. Also, the free C25K app is what I used as well and what I love about this app is that it actually says out loud "start walking" and "start jogging" so you don't have to constantly look at your time. Again, what I'm loving about this is that I was able to play my music, hear when to start running/jogging, and still map my route via GPS through iMap my run!

So, here goes nothin on the running venture! I must say, this does not come naturally for me...this is hard work. I don't have the lung capacity or leg strength yet which supposedly makes this joyful and fun, but I'm sick of gaining weight and feeling like a blob of poop. So, if I can do it!! YoU cAn Do It!!!!

Source: reasonstobefit.tumblr.com via Brooke on Pinterest

Sorry for the blurry picture, but every time I got discouraged, I just kept repeating this.....amazing how it motivated me to PRESS ON!!

Enjoy your Sunday evening, and have a great week :)
PS-If anyone has any good tunes with some phat beats, please share. I'm making a playlist....my brother usually makes these for me, but I'm open to PHAT BEATS, PEEPS!

Lastly, any ladies in Jacksonville, Florida? Join me tomorrow night at Celebration Church for Sisterhood Nights!!! Starts at 7!! Email me for details. I would love for you to come. Open the link for details!

A Daily Prayer for Renewing Your Mind

This is a great verse to memorize and meditate on every morning. It helps you renew your mind and get the day started remembering what is really important and what your focus should really be on.

"You will keep in perfect peace
him whose mind is steadfast,
because he trusts in you,
Trust in the Lord forever,
for the LORD, the LORD, is the Rock
eternal."
Isaiah 26:3

I just love this verse and all of its goodness. If I focus on the fact that the Lord is MY ROCK and in Him I find peace....I really don't have to think about anything else. Hope this encourages you this week, as well :)

Let's have a Hart to Heart with Leigh Anne :)

Today, I have a TREAT for ya! Leigh Anne from Hart to Heart is guest blogging! I found her blog in the midst of trying to find inspiration on how to be healthy, and Leigh Anne is all about the fitness, I tell ya! She is a pleasure to talk to and her blog is always interesting! Check out what she has to say and better yet, go stop by and say HI to her :)

Take it away, Leigh Anne!

Hello readers! It is so good to be blogging over here at Bnfunky! Brooke is seriously the sweetest thing and I just love reading her blog, so when she asked if I'd like to guest post I said OF COURSE! (: 

When it comes to guest blogging I always get overwhelmed with the questions of... what should I write about?... will the readers like it?.. etc. etc. but I did know that I want you all to realize what I am passionate about! 

My blog Hart to Heart is a variation of health and fitness, crafting, cooking and all the other random thoughts in my life. However through all the chaos of my blog posts, I want readers to realize the passion I have for the importance of maintaining a healthy lifestyle. So I figured why not share with you all a little bit of my background on how health and fitness became so important in my life! 

I began dancing when I was 4 years old and began taking it to a competitive/serious level when I was 11 years old. Dance consumed my life until this past year when I got married! My husband is in the Army which led us to make the great move from Ohio to Alaska. Unfortunately we only got a 'taste' of Alaska before my husband got orders to deploy to Afghanistan. So I guess you could say we made a 4 month visit to Alaska before he headed to the big sand box, and I headed back to Ohio to spend time with family and go back to school. 

See-- there I am, dancin' away..

For the 4 months we were in Alaska, all physical activity that I had been participating in ceased. Literally I didn't dance, run, swim, or even power walk for 4 months. This might not seem like a big deal to you, but when the past 16 years of your life were consumed with physical activity this 4 months of nothingness takes a tole on the body. Now I didn't gain a ton of weight, but I'd say the repercussions were worse. I was exhausted all the time, I had no endurance when it came to doing anything physical(like walking up stairs), I was moody, and I overall felt like crap. Yep the first 4 months of marriage I felt like I had hit a physical low. Oh and did I mention that my awesome husband and I spent  those 4 glorious months in Alaska eating out all the time, drinking amazing Alaskan brewed beer, and essentially caring less about what we put in our body.

My wonderful other half and I doing some Alaskan sight seeing

Needless to say, when it was time to come home for the deployment, I had to get some goals together for myself, because if I kept things up they way they had been going-- the next time my husband saw me, I'd be 900 LBS. Okay, I kid.. but seriously, when you don't see your husband for months at a time you want to be smokin' hot for the next time he sees you! So my motivation came from various places: wanting to pass time while my husband is gone, wanting to get an awesome beach bod for our honeymoon in the fall, and most importantly so I could feel better!

So on January 1st I mentally smacked myself across the face and decided it was go time. 7 days a week... 60 minutes of physical activity... no excuses. I dropped the pop, I kicked the delicious cookies and candy to the curb, and ultimately I cut out processed food almost 100%. 

via.

It's now March and I am feeling FANTASTIC. After 16 years of dance, I am finally feeling like I am on my way to being in my absolute prime condition. 

Now the point of sharing my story with you all, is so you understand when you come to my blog that I haven't been a workout fanatic my whole life. It is something very recent to me, and I am learning on a daily basis; however it is truly my passion! If I can help just one person find their motivation to change their lives for the better, than I have accomplished something great. 

Thank you to Brooke who so kindly asked me to guest blog, and thank you all for reading! I hope to see each and every one of you over at Hart to Heart! 

xo

Leigh Anne 

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I just jumped on the MARCHPHOTOADAY bandwagon!

 

So, I want to know? Who is up for the challenge with Chantelle at Fat Mum Slim? I didn't do this in February, but I am giving it a go!

Day 1: Up!

This would be me.....at work.....taking an awkward up angle shot...............
Toodles!