Some cool apps

For Christmas my husband got me an ipad mini, to keep me organized, and send me reminders of all the things I forget in one day. It has been so much fun finding apps that are helpful to my life as a busy mom. I will tell you of a few, since they go along with our goals for 2014.

Our main goals this year is to complete Baby Step 3 in the Total Money Makeover by Dave Ramsey. It has been a few years since we have become debt free, and we have never reached the point where we have 6 months of income saved for emergencies (there always seems to be something that comes up that needs our money more!). So, if we have to save 6 months of Scott's income, we have to do one of two things...either we earn more money, or we decrease in our spending. We have opted to decrease spending, to see how much we can really budget (especially in the area of groceries, since this gets out of control)

My next goal is to watch my health (not to lose weight, or run more, or any other goal that I might not complete), but to simply track my health and make better decisions.

So, with these two goals in mind, I went app shopping.
Goal 1 - Save money - Apps: MINT and Grocery IQ
Goal 2 - Be Healthy - Apps: Seven and Lose It

Grocery IQ - Grocery shopping made quick and easy with the features you expect from the #1 grocery shopping list app. Build lists from our extensive product database using text, barcode, or voice search; sync and share lists with other devices and the GroceryiQ.com website

MINT.com-Not only does it provide a birds-eye-view of your income, spending and investments, but Mint also recommends ways to save money on bank fees, credit card rates and insurance. Best of all, it’s free.

Seven - * No workout equipment & just minutes a day
* Fun achievements and rewards to keep you motivated
* Based on the 7-minute workout featured in NY Times Magazine

Lose It - Lose It! helps you set a daily calorie budget, track your food and exercise, and stay motivated to make smarter choices and achieve your goal. We think it’s the best, most seamless weight loss system available.

If any of you know of some more excellent apps to use, please tell me. I am looking for a place to store my weekly food menus, and to collect my most favorite recipes too. 

10 Benefits of Running

Change up the morning workout

I totally love the bodyrock.tv and am grateful for their free motivational workouts... but I am getting tired of watching Lisa's body. I liked her better before the breast enhancement, I really did. For small breasted women, like myself, I prefer to see someone love their body for what it is...rather than change it to impress someone else. Sorry Lisa..you still rock...but I have to change up my workout routine.
So..enough said...now when it is raining..since I don't have a treadmill...I put in Supreme 90 DVD's and get the workout done. In fact...after doing the same 10 DVDs so much..I don't even have to look up, I just concentrate on the workout, and feeling better about myself.
It is a great 10 disc set, that Scott found (very similar to P90X...but way cheaper!). You know us...Frugal Friesen Family. And, I can do it when and where I want to..though it is usually at 6am, before the kids wake, up, and just before Scott leaves for work. Yes, it is possible to fit in the things you want...you just can't be lazy (even when I want to stay in bed...I know the workout will never happen, no matter how many times I say to myself, I will do it later...it won't)

How to lose weight

Found this on a post in facebook about Rachel Ray sponsored by Body Energy Inc. Had to copy and post for everyone. Amazing how this simple principle gets lost when we want to lose weight fast. No more fad diets...don't fall for them! 

HOW TO LOSE WEIGHT FAST

If you burn 500 more calories than you eat every day for a week, you should lose about 1-2 pounds.

If you want to lose weight faster, you'll need to eat less and exercise more.

For instance, if you take in 1,050 to 1,200 calories a day, and exercise for one hour per day, you could lose 3-5 pounds in the first week, or more if you weigh more than 250 pounds. It's very important not to cut calories any further -- that's dangerous.

Limiting salt and starches may also mean losing more weight at first -- but that's mostly fluids, not fat.

"When you reduce sodium and cut starches, you reduce fluids and fluid retention, which can result in up to 5 pounds of fluid loss when you get started," says Michael Dansinger, MD, of NBC's The Biggest Loser show.

Diets for Fast Weight Loss

Dansinger recommends eating a diet that minimizes starches, added sugars, and animal fat from meat and dairy foods. For rapid weight loss, he recommends focusing on fruits, veggies, egg whites, soy products, skinless poultry breasts, fish, shellfish, nonfat dairy foods, and 95% lean meat.

Here are more tips from Dawn Jackson Blatner, RD, author of The Flexitarian Diet :

• Eat vegetables to help you feel full.
• Drink plenty of water.
• Get tempting foods out of your home.
• Stay busy -- you don't want to eat just because you're bored.
• Eat only from a plate, while seated at a table. No grazing in front of the 'fridge.
• Don't skip meals.

Keeping a food journal -- writing down everything you eat -- can also help you stay on track.

"Even if you write it down on a napkin and end up throwing it away, the act of writing it down is about being accountable to yourself and is a very effective tool for weight loss," says Bonnie Taub Dix, MA, RD, author of Read It Before You Eat It .

Besides jotting down what you ate, and when, you might also want to note how you were feeling right before you ate it. Were you angry, sad, or bored? We often focus so much on foods and calories, but our emotions are a huge part of our eating habits.

If you see a persistent pattern in your emotional eating, please consider talking to a counselor about it. They can be a big help in finding other ways to handle your feelings.

Exercising for Fast Weight Loss

It's time to move more! Losing weight requires close to an hour a day of moderate exercise, one study shows.

Plan to do cardio and strength training.

"Cardio burns the most calories, so it is ideal for fast weight loss, but afterward you need to include a few hours a week of strength training," Dansinger says. To burn the most fat, try to break a sweat after your warm-up and keep sweating for the entire hour, Dansinger says.

If you're not exercising now, and you have a chronic condition or a lot of weight to lose, it's wise to check in with your health care provider first. They'll be rooting for you! And they'll make sure that you're ready to work out.

Pace yourself. Don't do too much, too soon -- work your way up to help prevent injury.

One way to step up the intensity is to do interval training -- brief bursts of high-intensity, followed by a more mellow pace, and repeating that pattern throughout your workout.

"Interval training allows people to work harder without having to spend the entire time at the higher level, and over time, the more you do it, the easier it becomes to burn more calories," Blatner says.

Fad Diets and Crash Diets

I know how tempting diet crazes can sound, especially if you have a lot of weight to lose. You hear about stars who did it and look incredible.

But remember, if a diet plan sounds too good to be true, it probably is.

Also, please skip any programs that promote detoxification pills, laxatives, fasting, or potions, and any that promise weight loss faster than 2-3 pounds per week.

The truth is that cutting calories below 1,050-1,200 per day is counterproductive, because you need strong muscles to be able to exercise effectively.

"When you eat too few calories, you lose fat but also precious muscle, which is the worst thing you could do because it slows your metabolism and makes it more difficult to increase exercise intensity or duration," Dansinger says.

Fad diets also set you up for failure by depriving you of what you want. You can't eat like that for long, and it's too likely that you'll rebel and end up back where you started. You deserve better than that!

So by all means, attack your weight loss goal. Put it on the fast track. But please, do it right so you set yourself up for lasting success.

Night Race

Scott and I ran the Energizer Night Race in Stanley Park last night and were blessed to have good weather. The rain held off until we completed the race. 

I finished in 1:02:42, which is a PR for me. 

We live in such a beautiful area, and it is the first time that I have run around the sea wall. 

It was so neat to see everyone wearing bright t shirts, and headlamps. It was like a river of tiny lights bobbing along the entire sea wall. So amazing to be a part of it.

Mom..no time for a workout?

Here are some things I found that may be able to help you reach your fitness goals.

Try the Mom Workout..20 moves to keep you fit during every day tasks. 

There is also "Tabata, a type of high-intensity interval training that was originally developed for Japan's Olympic speed-skating team, which is fast gaining popularity as a high-speed new-mom workout. The Tabata method is used most widely by elite athletes. But Tabata has recently taken off among women looking to get back into postpartum shape. Named after Izumi Tabata, a former researcher at Japan's National Institute of Fitness and Sports, the compressed workout has a simple format: Do an exercise (such as push-ups or jumping rope) for 20 seconds at full intensity, and then take a 10-second break. Repeat seven times, varying exercises, for a total workout of four minutes."

That is why I posted my morning workout. It is a simple way to get started, combines cardio with toning, and only takes a few mins a day. Just remember, do the 20 or 30 secs at full intensity...take a 10 sec break and then go right into the next exercise. You will feel it.


Don't forget...physical activity doesn't mean only working out, it can include everyday household chores like raking the leaves, vacuuming, or sweeping the garage. 
Not only will you burn calories, but you'll get the satisfaction and pleasure of having a clean home. 

Share your workout...27 Activities and Workouts you can enjoy together.

The morning workout

Every morning I wake up at 6:00am.
Okay, not every morning...and I just started this week...but my goal is to wake up at 6:00am M-F. I want to wake up, do some quiet reading and then do a quick workout before my kids wake up...so 6:00am it is! I tried this for a few months before the summer, and found I loved it..so here we go again.

On Monday, Wednesday and Friday I do a short workout routine. I took some of my favorites from BodyRock, and made a simple and quick workout.
On Tuesday and Thursday I do a run (somewhere between 2 and 4 miles..depending on how I feel and if I am training for a race).

Here is my morning workout routine.
I use a timer on my watch...30 secs on and 10 secs rest.
If you do not have a timer, you could do 20 reps of each exercise.

Bottom Jacks (Jumping Jacks without the arms)
Squat and Kick out to the front
Heel Kicks (Run in place with heels touching your behind)
Squat and Touch Floor in front of you
High Knees
Squat and Leg out to the side
Lunges
Push ups (on the toes)
Sit ups (all the way up)
Mountain Climbers
Abs - Scissors Legs

This workout is about 6 mins long...if you have time repeat it again and again!
If you don't know what one of these are..check out Body Rock and they will show you.

Half Marathon Complete

Rock N Roll Seattle Half Marathon: June 23rd, 2012.

Jenny's Finish Time: 2 hours and 34 minutes. 

Scott's Finish Time: 1 hour and 46 minutes.

I did it. I ran a half marathon, and can walk today. HAHAHAHA!
The best feeling was when Scott gave me a big hug after the race and said in my ear, "I never thought I would see you do this. You are awesome. Way to go!"

Scott says, "Want to run another half marathon in October?"
Jenny says, "Ask me again in two weeks."

Lows: After the race, I had leg cramps, felt sick to my stomach, and had to sit and stretch/relax for about 1 hour before being able to walk the 1 mile back to the hotel room.
Highs: It did not rain during the race (which was a miracle considering it poured the night before and just after the race at 1pm), I was prepared (thanks to Scott), and had trained to finish in exactly the time I got. I did it!  I ran over 160 miles, burned over 23,000 Calories, and lost 10 lbs. There are a lot of highs...looks like I will be doing this again.

10 miles in the pouring rain

Soaking wet, shoes are drenched, two thumbs up....I ran 10 miles Saturday...only one week to go until the half marathon and I am feeling ready.
Good luck to everyone out there who is setting a goal to be more fit, and working hard to accomplish it....especially to all of you who run even if it is pouring outside.

Running in the Rain

Hot Date Tonight...Scott and I are reviewing our training schedule by candle light tonight during Earth Hour. 

There are three months left before the 1/2 marathon, and we are officially beginning our training. Up until now, we were just running three times a week, ensuring that we had a comfortable base of about 6-8 miles a week. Now, things get a bit more serious, and we have to complete our training runs each week in order to reach our goal.

Today it was raining. It rains here all the time, especially in the Spring...and Fall...and Winter. HAHA!
I have never liked running in the rain...but my coach (Scott) says that we must be prepared for any type of weather, and we might as well get out there and run, because the day of the race it could be pouring. Highly unlikely, I think..since it is at the end of June.

He showed me this clip: "No Excuses". 
Warhawk Matt Scott, for Nike, will tell you like it is.

I ran in the rain. I did not give an excuse, I just did it.
It actually felt reviatlizing to be soaking wet, and to keep on running.

I hope you all overcome that thing that is keeping you away from being a fit and healthy person. 

NO EXCUSES.

Running a Half Marathon

Seattle Rock N Roll Marathon Series
Scott and I signed up to run a half marathon on June 23rd in Seattle, Washington.
We feel with a goal to pursue, we are more likely to keep running, keep eating right, and stay in great shape to keep up with our three boys as they grow.
Scott has already run a half before, as well a two full marathons over the past three years. He is my coach and personal trainer in this endeavor.
I ran a 10km race last year, and thought I didn't need to run any further than that. I actually did not think I would want to run more than that. I was wrong.
I know that I need a goal to stay in shape. I need something to drive for, something as a reward to keep me motivated. Just knowing that I will be running with (and in front of) so many people will keep me motivated to keep up with the training.
It is kind of nice to do this together, and to be able to support each other in this goal.
What a romantic weekend we have to look forward to...pigging out Friday night at the all you can eat pasta place, waking up extra early on Saturday to get into our spots, running 13 miles, hugging each other at the end..(actually, Scott will be finished well before me...so he will be waiting there)...then trying to help each other back to the hotel room because we won't be able to walk and crashing for a nap before going to eat lunch. Hmmm...yes...romantic! HAHAHAHA!

What is the single best thing we can do for our health?

Scott found this youtube clip today and forwarded it to me. 

23 1/2 Hours. A visual lecture by Dr. Mike Evans

Go ahead, click on it to find the answer to the question...what is the single best thing we can do for our health. You may be surprised by what you learn.

Okay..I can't wait to tell you the answer (I am so impatient).

Exercise

I am so glad that I posted BodyRock yesterday, and I hope that there are others out there who try to exercise everyday.

Take good care of your body...it is the only one you have.

BodyRock - Best Home Workout Ever!

Bodyrock.tv

The answer to your workout woes.
If you have an internet connection and a desire to be more fit, you can do this.
Seriously...think about it...

• It is FREE - no sign up, no monthly fees, nothing! Just log on and start your workout.
• You can do the workouts whenever you want.
• You can wear whatever you want, because it is in the privacy of your own home. 
• You don't have to buy any extra equipment (unless you want to)
• No more lengthy workouts that take forever - each workout only takes a few minutes
• The hosts takes you through each exercise and shows modifications, so everyone, at any fitness level, can participate.

I have been doing bodyrock for two weeks and love it. This is not something that sounds too good to be true. It is work. They are quick, tough exercises that will leave you feeling tired and sore, but the reward is a healthier body.

There is no excuse now...if you want to be fit and change the way you look, you have got to try bodyrock.tv. 

Thank you to my good friend who recommended it to me.