Healthy Living Update

It has been two weeks since I last posted so I thought I would let you all know how my lifestyle improvements have been going!

When I did the 5 day juice fast last month I lost 7lbs. As of right now I have kept 4 of those off! That may not seem like a big deal but my weight has been at a plateau for many years and I really struggle with myself to get those last 10lbs off. I can proudly say that none of it is baby weight though! I lost all of that within a couple of months.

Mainly what I've been doing different is eating more vegetables, salads, fruit, whole grains, and less meat. As for exercise, I found a workout on Pinterest that I have been doing on my days off:

It takes about 30 minutes and gets my heart rate going! The first time I did it left me sore in places I didn't even think I had worked! I like the variety and how it works all major areas of my body with some cardio thrown in. I don't do the head tilt b/c I don't know what that is, and instead of the two sets of 10 crunches I do two sets of 20.

It may not sound like much but a long journey starts with small steps! Being unhealthy doesn't hurt anyone but yourself, and why would you want to hurt yourself? Being a nurse for almost 6 years now has shown me so many people who are literally dying from being simply unhealthy and making bad lifestyle choices. I don't want to be one of them in 20 years!

While we are on the subject of being unhealthy...here are some cuppies I made for Valentine's day!

They have brownie on the bottom and strawberry cake on the top with cream cheese frosting. YUM. Don't worry--I only kept a few for my little fam then took the rest to work!

For Valentine's Day we usually don't do much--I am one of those who feel it is a mostly commercial-centered holiday with no real purpose. We don't go out to eat b/c everyone else is out doing the exact same thing. For the last couple of years we grab a heart-shaped pizza from Papa Murphy's and enjoy a nice quiet evening at home! I got him some chocolates and he got me a gift certificate for a pedicure :)

Here is a small fleece baby blanket that I embroidered for an out-of-state friend:

I don't know if I mentioned before but I bought our tickets to Seattle! We leave in two weeks and I still haven't booked the hotel or rental car yet...yikes! I am definitely doing that this weekend. We are really looking forward to seeing the Pacific NW for the first time and seeing the mountains again. If you have any suggestions for what to see/do in the Seattle/Mt. St. Helens area please let me know!