fitness update: 6/14/11

Posted on by Julie Stiles Mills

exercise-log

If you’ve been around Compendium before, you know my goal: To be a good steward of this body God has blessed me with.

Even with the best of intentions, I’ve (once again) fallen behind this month. After a kick in the badonka donk butt from a few friends, I’m slowly closing the gap between my goals and my progress! I pray my lack of consistency, combined with my freakish self-competitive streak, will be an encouragement to someone!

June Totals as of 6/14 (SEE MY JUNE GOALS HERE)
Incline Miles Walked: 20 (should be at 28)
Flat Miles Walked: 2
Strength Training/Yoga Days: 0 (should be at 4)
2 Minute Planks: 11 (should be at 14)
Back Extensions: 130 (should be at 140)
BOSU Pushups: 120 (should be at 140)
Tricep Reps: 135 (should be at 140)
Oblique Crunches: 50 each side (not on the goal list, just working on the love handles)
Days Supplements Taken: 9 (should be at 14)
Fruit Servings: 16 (should be at 28)

June Daily Totals:
06/14/11 – Walked 5 (6.5) incline miles, 1 two minute plank, 10 BOSU push-ups, 15 tricep reps, 20 back extensions, 10 oblique crunches
06/13/11 – 1 two minute plank, 10 BOSU push-ups, 10 tricep reps, 10 back extensions, 10 oblique crunches
06/12/11 – 2 two minute planks, 10 BOSU push-ups, 25 tricep reps, 10 back extensions, 10 oblique crunches
06/11/11 – Walked 5 (6.5) incline miles, 40 BOSU push-ups, 2 two minute planks, 40 tricep reps, 40 back extensions,
                20 oblique crunches (each side)
06/10/11 – nuthin – I’m
06/09/11 – nuthin – gonna
06/08/11 – nuthin – regret
06/07/11 – nuthin – this…
06/06/11 – Walked 2 (6.5) incline miles, 20 back extensions, 30 BOSU push-ups, 3 two minute planks, 45 tricep reps
06/05/11 –
06/04/11 – Walked 4 (6.5) incline miles, 30 back extensions, 20 BOSU push-ups, 2 two minute forearm planks
06/03/11 –
06/02/11 – Walked 4 (6.5) incline interval miles, 2 one minute superman, 2 two minute forearm plank.
06/01/11 –

fitness update: 6/12/11

Posted on by Julie Stiles Mills

exercise-log

If you’ve been around Compendium before, you know my goal: To be a good steward of this body God has blessed me with.

Even with the best of intentions, I still slack – for days at a time. But I’m DETERMINED to catch up! I pray my stupidity and lack of consistency, combined with my stubborn nature, will be an encouragement to someone!

June Totals as of 6/12
Incline Miles Walked: 15
Flat Miles Walked: 1
Strength Training/Yoga Days: 0
2 Minute Planks: 9
Back Extensions: 100
BOSU Pushups: 100
Tricep Reps: 110
Oblique Crunches: 30 each side
Days Supplements Taken: 8
Fruit Servings: 11

June Daily Totals: (SEE JUNE GOALS HERE)

06/12/11 – 2 two minute planks, 10 BOSU push-ups, 25 tricep reps, 10 back extensions, 10 oblique crunches
06/11/11 – Walked 5 (6.5) incline miles, 40 BOSU push-ups, 2 two minute planks, 40 tricep reps, 40 back extensions,
                20 oblique crunches (each side)
06/10/11 – nuthin – I’m
06/09/11 – nuthin – gonna
06/08/11 – nuthin – regret
06/07/11 – nuthin – this…
06/06/11 – Walked 2 (6.5) incline miles, 20 back extensions, 30 BOSU push-ups, 3 two minute planks, 45 tricep reps
06/05/11 –
06/04/11 – Walked 4 (6.5) incline miles, 30 back extensions, 20 BOSU push-ups, 2 two minute forearm planks
06/03/11 –
06/02/11 – Walked 4 (6.5) incline interval miles, 2 one minute superman, 2 two minute forearm plank.
06/01/11 –

worms & dirt. and I’m not talkin gummy & oreo.

Posted on by Julie Stiles Mills

Leftover worms and dirt in my fridge.

REAL worms. alive and wiggling. in black, muddy, crumbly dirt that is pushing itself up and out through the air holes on the lid as the worms wiggle around, presumably trying to escape.

gross.

When I was growing up, it never occurred to me that worms might live in my refrigerator.

FirstHusband and PinkGirl bought the worms today for fishing in the river behind our house this afternoon. They had a great time and thankfully came back with nothing because they threw back the fish they caught. I’m really glad they had fun. (I’m also glad they threw back the fish they caught.) I just wish they had used all their bait instead of putting their little friends in the fridge, along with our food.

gross.

I don’t like worms in my refrigerator. Some might call me a city girl, but that label doesn’t fit. I’m FIRMLY a suburban girl.

A suburban girl with a question: How long will I have to keep worms in my refrigerator before I can throw them out? What is the life expectancy of a worm?

well, that experiment was a dismal failure…

Posted on by Julie Stiles Mills

For a few years, I’ve been logging my fitness progress on the internet. In March of this year, I decided to try setting specific fitness goals at the beginning of the month and logging them on the internet, hoping to make myself even more accountable.

I’ve got a fitness log, a side bar widget for running monthly totals, and I post my daily progress on my facebook fan page and in my twitter feed.

Last month, I didn’t set any specific goals. I thought that I could just go back to logging my progress and see how I did at the end of the month.

pit. i. ful.

Not only did I not consistently log my fitness progress, I worked out less consistently than ever.

sad. and pitiful.

clearly, I cannot be trusted.

So, I’m back to stated goals for this month. After much thought, here’s what I’m going for in the month of June:

Goal – Walk 52 miles this month – an average of 2 miles per day, with one day off per week. (I’m going for air-conditioned, treadmill miles at a 6.5 incline.)

Goal – 300 Balance Ball Back Extensions – that’s 10 per day. (I’m bored with the 1 minute Supermans I’ve been doing.)

Goal – 30 two Minute Forearm Planks – average one per day. (I’ve GOT to keep these up! It took me over a YEAR to build up to two minutes, I refuse to slip backward on this.)

Goal – 300 BOSU pushups – that’s 10 push-ups per day.

Goal – 300 Dips or Kickbacks (tricep work) – average 10 per day.

These are my minimum DAILY goals and if I miss a day, my plan is to make it up as soon as possible!

Goal – 2 HOURS of Yoga per week. If I miss my favorite class with Body In Unity, I have to settle for Brighthouse Exercise on Demands (FREE) on Central Florida Channel 306.

WHY am I doing this? Because just a few short years ago, I couldn’t. I’ve been given a second chance to take care of this body God has blessed me with and I’m determined to be a good steward of it. Did I mentioned I was DETERMINED?

I’m blogging my daily fitness updates in my exercise log, and posting my daily progress on my Facebook page and my Twitter account, so follow along any way you like:
1. Subscribe to the blog via email or RSS (there are widgets in the sidebar to subscribe)
2. “Like” my Facebook page to see the updates in your news feed or
3. Follow me on Twitter!

I would LOVE it if you would join me in fitness accountability by commenting either here or on the facebook page and letting me know your progress too!

Still lurking around, thinking about the possibility of making small changes in your day to get healthier? I want to encourage you to set a reasonable, sustainable fitness goal for yourself for the month of June and (here’s the key) make yourself accountable to someone! If you do it, let me know how it’s going and I’ll pray for you!

If you currently have an inactive lifestyle, consider exercising 1 minute a day. ONE minute. And (here’s that key again) make yourself accountable to someone who will support and encourage you! (If you exercise for ONE minute per day for a week, tell me and then I’ll tell you why I only challenged you to work out for ONE minute)

four minutes with God: Philippians 4:8

Posted on by Julie Stiles Mills

a Quote:
“An intellectual is one who loves ideas, is dedicated to clarifying them, developing them, criticizing them, turning them over and over, seeing their implications, stacking them atop one another, arranging them, sitting silent while new ideas pop up and old ones seem to rearrange themselves, playing with them, punning with their terminology, laughing at them, watching them clash, picking up the pieces starting over, judging them, withholding judgment about them, changing them, bringing them into contact with their counterparts in other systems of thought . . . suiting them for service in workaday life. A Christian intellectual is all of the above to the glory of God.”

and

“…the true intellectual occasionally sees some things, makes true observations and has insights that few, if any before him have seen or had. If there is any danger in this, it is not in having a one-track mind, but in having a mind with so many tracks that it either arrives at many places at the same time or it never gets out of the station.” (emphasis added)

(from Habits of the Mind: Intellectual Life as a Christian Calling by James W. Sire)

my Prayer:
Intellectual? That sounds so much better than “I just over think everything,” which we both know I have a tendency to do, Lord. Sometimes my head is filled with so many thoughts and ideas, I can’t focus. Sometimes I weigh alternatives to the point of inaction. So frustrating.

Even so, thank you for my love of reading and learning and thinking. And thank you for my limitations, both real and self-perceived. They keep me grounded and authentic. It’s so easy for education and knowledge to displace my trust in – and dependence on – YOU, especially in times of confusion or when circumstances seem . . . irrational.

Thank you for every day that I wake up with more knowledge and understanding than I had the day before. At the same time, thank you for making it crystal clear to me that – compared to all that is possible to know and understand in this world – I know and understand about as much as can be contained within grain of sand.

Thank you for the intricate details in this world, from the greatest wonders to the tiniest. That you are evident in the awesome beauty of the Grand Canyon as well as in the first breath of a newborn infant is just a peek at your perfect plan and limitless power. Every creation is filled with opportunities for discovery, every problem is an opportunity for ingenuity,

Through your power and grace and mercy, please help me to learn from my mistakes. Please help me to make different and better decisions based on what I’ve learned. Please bless me with insights and ideas and imagination, even if they sometimes overwhelm me. I want all that I am and think and feel to lead me to choices that place me in the center of your will. For your glory.

the Word:
“Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.”
Philippians 4:8

the lyric:
“With all my heart, with all my soul, with all my mind, with all the strength that I can find. Take my time here on this earth and let it glorify all that You are worth. For I am nothing, I am nothing without You ”
from Nothing Without You (youtube link) by Bebo Norman (amazon link)

and if you have an extra 3:33 minutes…

This was dual published on my Pragmatic Communion blog.

(Christian brain image from wallpaper4god.com)

there’s no coming back from this.

Posted on by Julie Stiles Mills

NOOOOO! FirstHusband taught FavoriteSon how to make Ramen Noodles!!!

800mg of sodium a serving! It’s WRONG. wrong, I tell you!

It’s like a drug dealer – giving an unsuspecting innocent child a “free sample.”

It’s like Microsoft in the 80s – giving schools free copies of MS Office.

It’s like giving someone a single Lays potato chip.

I was coerced into trying them – about three noodles. That should do me. For life.

(I’ve been told they make a low sodium version, it’s my only hope.)

fine dining.

Posted on by Julie Stiles Mills

Made Cheater’s Chicken Parmesan tonight. Calls for chicken nuggets.

We used DINOSAUR shaped nuggets. Because we’re classy like that. (and because they were BOGO)

I may have thrown a little too much at our debt this pay period. We’ll be eating VERY frugally for the next week and a half. SUPER cheap recipes are hereby desperately solicited!!

Me to FirstHusband: “WHY did you buy Ramen noodles?”

FirstHusband: “It’s for me and the kids.”

Me: “You could have just gone to the Tack Shack and gotten a salt lick.”

FirstHusband: “It was only 17 cents!”

Me: “and worth every penny.”

I just can’t do it, even if they are only 17 cents a package. 800mg of sodium. PER SERVING. (2 servings per package.)

I’m having a major childhood flashback.

Posted on by Julie Stiles Mills

PinkGirl.

That nut doesn’t fall far from the tree.

I just caught her reading in bed. 10 years old. 10:43pm on a school night. She’s just started reading The Last Olympian (Percy Jackson and the Olympians, Book 5) and she BEGGED me not to make her stop till she gets past “the good part.”

Oh, I remember that. Except I used to hide under the blanket with a flashlight. She has a reading light clipped to a shelf next to her bed.

I understand. And while part of me is upset with her for still being awake, part of me is over the top THRILLED that she loves to read this much. She’s going to love reading her whole life.

Call me a bad mom. I don’t care. I said: “You may NOT be mean to me in the morning and you WILL get up EXACTLY when I ask you to. Get to a stopping point fast.”

11:02pm. I just heard the reading light being turned off.