Fit with Ruthie

Yeah i know I know.. its only 20 mins. but today is a miss too. coop was today.... not that that is an excuse. Its been a crazy day.. wont go into it here. .. but. I am frustrated with myself.. its late .. i am exhausted, and have a dirty kitchen to go clean. and then its bed for me! DH gets up before 6 in the morning.. Focusing on not quitting.. refusing to quit.. more lunges and squats tomorrow! (I am soooooo sore all over now.. legs, arms, chest, .. you name it.. its sore.. ).. more tomorrow. r STRATCH THAT!!!! CALL ME CRAZY.. ITS REALLY OK. but i am so stressed i feel the need to run. I cleaned the kitchen and i am heading to campus at 915 at night to go run. crazy.. thats me! more after i get back R UPDATED 1015PM ok.. I am back.. did around campus .. a little over a 12 min mile.. which isnt bad considering i walked just a tad and I did some stairs too! .. I feel sooooo much better! a lesson learned.. dont fight the feeling. that stressed out need to run feeling just get those dur...

Ok.. something was going on with firefox.. and i couldnt post.. but i have now switched to safari and its working fine :)..  Heres my update.  Missed yesterday. I told you I REALLY struggle when its cold. and yesterday.. I was literally cold all day. I really think something must be going on with my blood pressure being too low .. we need to get a machine to check it.. but i just flat out missed yesterday. We had a GREAT day homeschooling. but no run for me.  Today.. well.. today seemed like it was going to be the same old story. I woke up feeling good.. but by the time i got DH off to work and kids eating breakfast I was low on energy. .. We did have another GREAT day of schooling.. but I just felt like sitting around reading all day instead of cleaning or doing laundry or working out! Around 2 this afternoon i decided to take a Hydroxycut.. Those of you who remember a year or so ago I took one of these pills a day and got completely off of sugar and sodas for a while. The caffeine...

ok.. so D7 went well. I didnt eat perfectly but ate 6 meals, didnt over eat, and got some much needed fruit and water in :) I loved loved loved having my workout done this morning.. my day went so much better! I plan on getting up for a morning run tomorrow unless its way to windy.. then i might do some wii boxing :) .. I am absolutely loving the weather.. i feel like i made it through the winter months! it was 84 today..I know our winter is not over .. but ahh.. it sure felt like it today!

"When you say no, you're also saying yes" (this is from Bills Success Journal d65) "When you sit down and make plans for when you're going to workout, what you're going to eat, when your going to eat, as well as decided what goals you're going to achieve each day, you're not only making a list of things you will do, you're making a list of things won't do. For example, if your friends invite you out for pizza and beer and it's not your free day, you have to just flat out say no. Saying no to people doe not mean pushing them away or isolating yourself. It means that you're making changes for the better---changing your priorities, changing your habits, and changing your life. Realize that when you say no, you're also saying yes. You're saying yes to taking another step forward to looking and feeling better; you're saying yes to building your self-discipline, increasing your self-esteem, strengthening your willpower and gai...

ok.. I really really do need to make a few drastic changes in my BFL Life. Let me first say that here it is 915pm and i have yet to workout. No Excuses.. I just put everything else first. So.. my promise is that after i finish this post I will do some form of a workout.. before bed. Its time for me to face the fact that I have been letting life getting in the way of my plan. (or lack of plan).. Even before the Flu I let life get in my way. Thinking back on things.. when i was working full time, or homeschooling a friends three children as well as my own, or working part time out of the home as a art teacher... I was forced to MAKE time to workout, plan, and eat right. But over the last few months I have gotten out of what use to be my habit of getting up and working out FIRST thing in the morning. I also had a set time I ate everyday.. I was very determined not to fail, not to miss, and to make progress. I am tired of making excuses, tired of trying to "fight" to fit this in ...

well.. guess today will have to be a free day for me.. I drank a dr pepper late last night with my out to eat meal with A and wow.. I was awake until 2am! then my middle son walked in his sleep and woke me up at 330.. then the dh had to get up at 6 for work.. UGH.. i was tired when i was spose to get out of bed.. and I ended up not rolling out of bed until 850! .. well.. it through my day off.. did a bunch of running around and just decided to take today off .. tomorrow i will do upper body.. and run on sunday.. weather is spose to be beautiful the next 4 days or so.. so it will be nice to workout in the garage and run outside :) I am sooo sore. so thats good! ..leg workout was def. sufficient :) YIPPEE. more tomorrow after i lift! blessings r

thought you gals might enjoy this link Pam Browns QandA Pam Brown was the lady that first inspired me to really finally give bfl a true try. Many years ago i emailed her.. and she emailed me back.. quite a few times! i wish i still had those emails! wow. You gotta read this one!

"THAT felt GREAT! I recommend it to everyone in the family!" is what i said when i walked through the door 2 mins ago. 2.5 miles around campus 45 degrees running skirt, long sleeve, and a fleece pull over sunny and light wind felt AMAZING! everything felt great except for the bit of extra roll i added to my waist the last month! But .. if i just keep going i will get back to where i use to be:) no worries. Had coop today.. planned and set my alarm to get up and run at 645am.. but girls it just wasnt going to happen... actually ended up being late for coop! The day was great though and went by fast.. and those art supply boxes i carried up the stairs last week and thought i was going to pass out.. well.. they seemed light as a feather this week.. so maybe i just didnt have all my strength back yet. :) so i am pleased to have Day four workout completed.. I will be able to enjoy going out to eat with A later tonight and not feel guilty if i have a bread stick or two:) It is soo...

OUCH. Day three .. ugh walking lunges.. LOTS and LOTS of walking lunges. .. then squats.. UGH.. walking tomorrow will be painful.. .. wow... they are jello!!!! did back and bis too! .. feels great! I have had a bit of a problem getting out of bed in the mornings. yes... its true.. I have for literally FORCE myself to get out of bed. I have also been waking up hungry in the middle of the night again. I DO NOT like this. I am hoping a few more days of eating 6 meals a day and esp a good balanced meal right before bed will get me straight. If I dont see results in a week or so i will head back to the doc.. for blood sugar workup and low blood pressure test. I think the issue with not being able to wake up in the mornings is cause i 1. am not sleeping good cause i keep waking up hungry. and 2. cause my blood pressure could be too low. .. who knows. All I know is that when i am eating healthy and working out.. i dont have these two problems! so.. heres to a good day.. getting workout in! ....

After what seems like 2 months being sick and taking drugs.. after what seems like 2 months of no activity. and after what seems like 2 months of couch potato-ness.. I am soooooo happy to announce.. 6 hiits all at a speed of 10! which is as high as my mill can go! after a long warm up.. to get all the kinks out.. i laid it all out on that mill.. and i feel GREAT the rush i get from running as hard and as fast as i can is worth more and makes me feel better than any shot a doctor could give.! the last 2 min 30 secs i did a brisk walk on 15% grade in honor of Jess .. who just returned this morning (her evening) from a 6 hour hike on a section of the great wall that has not yet been restored! .. wow... cant wait to see those pictures! ok.. so.. i think i am really totally and seriously well and back from the depths of illness and lack luster energy from not being able to exercise! can i have a smile? YIPPEE!!!!!! PS.. My chest and shoulders and tris are soooooo sore! feels GREAT! off to ...

3:49 pm workout complete! Pushup test: 15 (yep lost a bit) use to be able to do at least 24 Chest: Bench Press 12.10.8.6 high point 85lbs burn out flies. 24 Shoulders: Flies with 10lbs weights 12.10.8.6 burnouts straight arm flies 24 Tris: extensions 12.10.8.6 with 10lbs only burnouts same with 8lbs 24reps Pushups for "fun" after workout could only squeak out 10:) Looking forward to being sore tomorrow. AHHH.. its so nice to hear my workout music again and have just a bit of alone time. My workouts were growing more and more to be my de-stress and alone time.. and I have really missed it. WOW and the energy I have when i am finished! feels GREAT! Thoughts for today: just begin where you are at.. forget about the past. focus on the future. lifting weights makes you feel strong being in shape wont just happen. we have to work for it. If I want a tummy like the gal in my header.. well.. I am going to have to work for it. plain and simple. (and a bit of computer generated altera...

well.. since I was a bit premature on declaring myself well last week ... I have decided to start over and tomorrow be day one ..... I can honestly say that it really feels like i am starting completely over! I have been so out of the habit for so long... I think it will take me a few days to really get back into it. Esp. the eating part :) I did my shopping today.. had a great protein fruit smoothie tonight :) But i can honestly say how i feel about myself right now: frumpy and out of shape I am hating my little baby belly right now.. which has steadily grown from lack of ab work, cardio, and being completely off on my eating while i was sick. I am really hoping this ole body of my will spring back into action once i get a few days of bfl back under my "belt" I plan on doing a few strength tests tomorrow to measure how much I have lost. I know i have lost endurance in my cardio.. as was evident from my attempt to break a sweat on Saturday :) .. so.. heres to the bumps in the...

well.. it wasnt anything to write home about.. but it was a start. I did 20 min of mostly brisk walking with 2 short sessions of jogging. I can tell its going to take a while to get back to where I was ... but at least today was a start :) The 20 mins was great de-stressing session :) Felt really great! YIPPEE!

are you sitting down? I AM FEELING NORMAL AGAIN! I realized it this afternoon when i made a run to the grocery store and i looked back to see i was walking sooo fast i was leaving the kids way behind! I was like "what is wrong with you children.. come on!" and then i thought.. OH.. I am walking really fast! .. and then was like "oh.. i feel soooo much better! " YIPPEE! I plan on doing cardio.. YES cardio in the morning! .. I cant wait.. ready to get this tight shoulder stress feeling out of my body and leave it on the treadmill! some cool news.. My friend in china got a gym membership and went to workout 3 times this past week! she did a spin class! .. can you imagine! .. going to the gym could be intemidating enough.. but to go knowing its allll in a completely different language! so cool! so inspiring! (she also has a workout buddy too!).. so cool! ok.. all for tonight check back tomorrow and see how many Hiits i actually manage:)

well.. slept awful last night... went and taught at coop today.. I felt about 75% all day.. but my energy levels just came and went. I figure since it took a good 10 days to get completely well at christmas it will probably take that long this time. I was totally shocked and a bit depressed at how weak i have become. I was exhausted just climbing the stairs.. and to carry the two big tubs of supplies was just exhausting! .. It was so strange! I am so use to being sooooo strong. and picking up things big and bulky without a second thought.. but wow.... my body has taken a pretty big hit this time around i think. the good news is i know it wont take me long to get my strength back... and a lot of it .. i hope is the fact that I am still not completely well. being sick really makes me appreciate, and MISS my healthy body and my workouts. I miss going for a run, i miss doing squats! , i miss doing push ups! I miss my ipod music :) Looking forward to next week and getting started up again. ...

I've had enough of being sick. had a rough night last night. and I am just exhausted. I have a Dr appointment for this afternoon. I think a shot is in order. will let you know what he says. signed. sick and tired of being sick and tired. (ps.. my leg ARE sore from yesterdays squats.... that's at least progress) UPDATE: 628pm ugh..long wait at dr office... sinus infection.. got one HUGE shot and one not so huge shot. (2 shots total:) no fun.. almost passed out. ugh. just laying around for the next day or so and see if i can kick this. yall have some great workouts without me.. at least now I can actually believe that next week i will be well. :) more later

good morning gals. well.. maybe today is the day for feeling better I am determined to start my next 12 weeks today even if i am not 100% . I totally had the flu again .. I was going to go to the dr today but i did some looking on the net and found that my feeling better for a day and then feeling worse IS the flu symptom. .. so .. I am not worried about bronchitis or anything .. and i am not running fever so.. I will do a workout of some kind today and eat on target. Here are my before pic.. I will come back when i have more time and set up a photo's page and list my goals etc.. (ps...I moved pic to side bar) I better get to my workout.... lots to do today.. eats: 1. banana, peanut butter, flaxseed, protein shake. Workout: 10.43am I did squats and deadlifts with just 10lb and 15lb hand weights.. and I am exhausted. I did three sets of both.. I left my weights out by the kitchen so i will do more sets later today. drinking my first big glass of water :) .. UPDATE: well.. today was...

heres is the anthem video.. I would love to re-do or add anyone elses pictures who would like to participate.. (Josha and Sara are the only ones who emailed to give me permission:) BUT ITS NOT TO LATE: if you think you would like to let me add you images.. please leave a comment.. I can get pics of you blog if you like I wouldnt have to have you email them to me.. unless you have specific ones you think would work.. email: ruthieartworks@yahoo.com

started feeling bad AGAIN last night. I guess this will be a 10 day illness just like at christmas. :(.. good news is.. 5 days are already scratched off.. so only 5 more to go. off to lay down. r

heres a fast post.. i am on a mission today to declutter my kitchen so i have no time to blog :) wanted to let you know that i just got home from a walk-jog.. well i jogged once.. beautiful day! blue skies and in the high 60s. gotta go. feeling great to be back!

oooooooweee I feel sooo much better! I .. (knock on the computer).. think i am almost well! I am full of desire and passion to get back on the BFL 'wagon'. I have given my life over to sickness and forces laziness for tooo long. I have a plan.. and I am stickin with it. Since I have blown two weeks of the blitz.. I have decided to just start another 12 BFL round beginning Monday. I will post weekly photos, do a weekly workout roundup video (if DH lets me use his fancy computer:) and will be getting and posting that menu asap. So Monday starts a BFL round that will end The first week in April! I am calling it my BFL SPRING FLING! Tomorrow I will do some form of exercise.. which will be my first in what seems like weeks. I will remeasure and weigh on Monday, post my stats. I will finally join the 14 water challenge too! and keep it going through the challenge. I Promise to follow the BFL to a T.. which includes Hiit training and making sure I fatigue my muscles at every workout. ...

Its official. I have the flu. been taking tamiflu and it seems to make it much much better than it was at christmas. I also think i am not as sick since I did have it at Christmas and this round is just a different strain. I am exhausted feeling, running a bit of fever, and get dizzy if i get up to quickly.. but NOTHING like it was at christmas. My DD started running fever this morning. she seems not as bad either (i think since she had it at christmas too). I am sooooooooo ready to be well, and to have a well family again. the longer i go without my "normal" working out ... the more I desire to get back at it. You know how when you dont workout and eat right for a while you feel yourself getting out of shape? gaining weight? feeling frumpy? ... thats me right now... and i don like it. ! I remember looking forward to going for a run, or lifting weights, and having tons of energy.. and just feeling great .... cant wait to feel that way again :) A word of advice, if you hear t...

Now I am feeling bad. more after i endure the next few days. hopefully the little bit of temp i am running and sore throat i have is NOT the flu again. this just flat out sucks. -r

wow.. what a week .. or has it been a week and a half? i forget.. so little sleep makes for a tired momma. took both boys back to the doc yesterday. My older son has developed bronchitis. my youngest (6) has the flu.. was up most of the night checking on them.. and giving meds. I will sleep this afternoon to prepare for no sleep again tonight AND my busy teaching day tomorrow. workouts? forget it. I have just decided to not worry anymore about it..and just start back up as soon as we get well. (monday? i sure hope so) eats? they are ok.. salads for supper, drank DP to keep me going yesterday.. but its hot tea today.. dreaming of they day when we are healthy again. more when I can. r

1.57 am up so i could give boys another dose of tylenol. youngest son had his night of high fever (103ish) and my middle son.. who hasnt had fever for a few days .. it came back.. so i am concerned about secondary infection. calling doc tomorrow.. this is just crazy. planned to workout tonight after my meeting but took care of boys instead. will sqeeze it in as i can and will post when i can.. might not be until they are well.. and if it is it might be at 2am! .. so far everyone else is flu free.. hope it stays that way.

more after i workout.. :) UPdate.. ok. just finished workout.. my arms are jello. ugh.. wow.. great workout.. off to watch the superbowl and eat a salad :) happy workout! UGH UPDATE just gave my youngest some tylenol.. hes is now running fever :( hold on for another interesting week here on the ole blog. my eats today were great.. no sodas a tad sugar in my tea water no bread but feeling the withdrawals. heres my eats list: 1. 1/2 banana with sprinkles, apple sauce 2. almonds with 1 dark choc square (small) water 3. oven baked chicken, green beans, potato tea 4. taco salad with a few corn chips. tea 5. almonds with 1 dark choc square (small) water lots of water during and after my workout Interesting thing is.. as soon as I realized that my sweet baby son (hes 6) was running fever.. I IMEDIATELY wanted junk food, a blizzard, cheese dip,,, you name it i would have eaten it if it was here in the house. .. Its so interesting that I turn to food when i am stressed. . well.. i am really m...

rough rough night last night.. had 2 hours of sleep. slept today for 4 hours.. and felt better.. but def not like working out. I plan on getting my workout back on track tomorrow.. if my son isnt up all night again.. (poor guy).. so far so good. Maybe this is the start of him getting well. :) hope so. I will post tomorrow after I workout. I also plan on posting my eats starting tomorrow .. its hard when life gets in the way isnt it?

yes.. my sweet son has the dreaded flu. remains to be seen if anyone else will get it. doc said we wont unless its a different strain.. which it could be. this sucks so its wait and see with the other kids and me i guess. DH is already on Tamiflu so he is feeling better. up lots last night with son. meds every 4hours for fever and then just waking to check on him :) so not much sleep. no workout today.. just didnt have the mental or physical energy. will tomorrow though.. unless.. .. someone else gets it. what a week.