I just need to get this out.
People.
Body Fat Percentage and inches mean EVERYTHING. Weight does NOT.
I've been doing Insanity for a while now, and every now and then when I'm feeling super demotivated, I go on youtube to watch insanity transformations. I know. I'm nerdy, and I'm not even trying to reach some crazy body type goals--I just really love working out and watching videos of people talking about Insanity forces me to work out for the day.
In so many of the videos (and in so many conversations around campus leading up to spring break/summer) I hear, "well, I've only lost [insert minimal amount of weight] but I've been at this for [insert specific amount of time.]"
For instance, this sweet girl talking about her insanity adventures was hesitant about sharing how much weight she lost and even sounded a little ashamed of it because the number was so small. But when she showed her before and after pictures she looked like a completely different person. She had to have lost at least a few inches off her waist and I would imagine a good percentage of body fat...she concluded by saying "well, I guess it was only two months long...I'm probably starting another program soon."
If you weigh 140 and are 25% body fat..you're way more unfit than the person that's 155 and only 22% body fat...and even dropping 1% of body fat is a HUGE accomplishment. Weight means next to nothing (unless it's being used ALONG WITH body fat percentages,) and I'm not just saying that-Chris is a wellness specialist and harps on this all the time.
Stop using a scale. Go get a scale that also measure body fat percentage or get a digital body fat caliper. I can almost guarantee I gained a pound or two during my first few weeks of insanity-but I dropped an entire pant size.
Muscle weighs more than fat.
Okay.
I am done.
Just please. Stop using the scale.
I guarantee you'll start feeling WAY better about your workouts/healthier eating habits if you do.
People.
Body Fat Percentage and inches mean EVERYTHING. Weight does NOT.
I've been doing Insanity for a while now, and every now and then when I'm feeling super demotivated, I go on youtube to watch insanity transformations. I know. I'm nerdy, and I'm not even trying to reach some crazy body type goals--I just really love working out and watching videos of people talking about Insanity forces me to work out for the day.
In so many of the videos (and in so many conversations around campus leading up to spring break/summer) I hear, "well, I've only lost [insert minimal amount of weight] but I've been at this for [insert specific amount of time.]"
For instance, this sweet girl talking about her insanity adventures was hesitant about sharing how much weight she lost and even sounded a little ashamed of it because the number was so small. But when she showed her before and after pictures she looked like a completely different person. She had to have lost at least a few inches off her waist and I would imagine a good percentage of body fat...she concluded by saying "well, I guess it was only two months long...I'm probably starting another program soon."
If you weigh 140 and are 25% body fat..you're way more unfit than the person that's 155 and only 22% body fat...and even dropping 1% of body fat is a HUGE accomplishment. Weight means next to nothing (unless it's being used ALONG WITH body fat percentages,) and I'm not just saying that-Chris is a wellness specialist and harps on this all the time.
Stop using a scale. Go get a scale that also measure body fat percentage or get a digital body fat caliper. I can almost guarantee I gained a pound or two during my first few weeks of insanity-but I dropped an entire pant size.
Muscle weighs more than fat.
Okay.
I am done.
Just please. Stop using the scale.
I guarantee you'll start feeling WAY better about your workouts/healthier eating habits if you do.
1. Chris and I got back late Sunday night from Charleston where we went to a wedding with my family. LOVE. WEDDINGS. I'm pretty much crazy about marriage-and this couple in particular reminds me a lot of myself and Chris in the way they approached and were looking forward to marriage! Needless to say, it was beautiful, and I loved how Chris squeezed my hand during the vows when they said some of the same things we did..it reminded me of how much value Chris put on the writing and exchanging of our vows.
2. I'm REALLY looking forward to spending time with my sissy in law this weekend-she's crafty and we have the same sense of style..so we're probably going to sit around and do all sorts of crafty things. Then when we get tired we'll go take pictures because she's a photo junkie too. How awesome is that! I'm sure there will be a post up after she leaves of a plethora of projects.
3. Chris and I are coming up on TEN MONTHS of marriage. Holy Bajolies! People keep telling me we're only considered newlyweds for 1 year. I say NO. We'll act like newlyweds foreva. (Don't tell me it can't be done, my parents are a prime example. Boom. Roasted.)
4. Speaking of my awesomesauce husband--he sings a lot and I love it. But, my love for his singing reached a new level when I caught him singing Adele's, "Set Fire To the Rain." No, seriously..that man is the cutest one on the planet. Don't fight that fact. I'll win.
5. My Mommy is coming to spend a day of my spring break with me in good ole' Pendleton=we're going to browse antique stores till we drop. Pendleton has THE BEST ones ever. (I'm SO excited, Momma!)
6. I commented on the post before about being super bummed about not being able to do a lot of cool stuff to our apartment because we're renting and that's a waste. Funny how things work out, our friends just bought a house so I've been helping with painting and stuff and living vicariously through them because they love all the same stuff we do. (Kim, I'm stealing all the same colors for when we move.)
7. Only 3 days of classes stand in my way until the last spring break I'll ever have! Bittersweet.
8. My little broski is sick but he's supposed to leave for a mission trip this weekend-pray for him!
9. In 2 weekends Chris and I are going on a tiny getaway for the weekend..the first one since we've been married! (I mean the first getaway with just the two of us.) That weekend is also the weekend the first hunger games movie comes out. Perfect. Thanks, Living Social deals. You're the only way Chris and I can afford stuff like this. :)
10. It bothers people sometimes when lists don't go to 10. Why? I only had 9 things so stop making me feel bad.
2. I'm REALLY looking forward to spending time with my sissy in law this weekend-she's crafty and we have the same sense of style..so we're probably going to sit around and do all sorts of crafty things. Then when we get tired we'll go take pictures because she's a photo junkie too. How awesome is that! I'm sure there will be a post up after she leaves of a plethora of projects.
3. Chris and I are coming up on TEN MONTHS of marriage. Holy Bajolies! People keep telling me we're only considered newlyweds for 1 year. I say NO. We'll act like newlyweds foreva. (Don't tell me it can't be done, my parents are a prime example. Boom. Roasted.)
4. Speaking of my awesomesauce husband--he sings a lot and I love it. But, my love for his singing reached a new level when I caught him singing Adele's, "Set Fire To the Rain." No, seriously..that man is the cutest one on the planet. Don't fight that fact. I'll win.
5. My Mommy is coming to spend a day of my spring break with me in good ole' Pendleton=we're going to browse antique stores till we drop. Pendleton has THE BEST ones ever. (I'm SO excited, Momma!)
6. I commented on the post before about being super bummed about not being able to do a lot of cool stuff to our apartment because we're renting and that's a waste. Funny how things work out, our friends just bought a house so I've been helping with painting and stuff and living vicariously through them because they love all the same stuff we do. (Kim, I'm stealing all the same colors for when we move.)
7. Only 3 days of classes stand in my way until the last spring break I'll ever have! Bittersweet.
8. My little broski is sick but he's supposed to leave for a mission trip this weekend-pray for him!
9. In 2 weekends Chris and I are going on a tiny getaway for the weekend..the first one since we've been married! (I mean the first getaway with just the two of us.) That weekend is also the weekend the first hunger games movie comes out. Perfect. Thanks, Living Social deals. You're the only way Chris and I can afford stuff like this. :)
10. It bothers people sometimes when lists don't go to 10. Why? I only had 9 things so stop making me feel bad.
I'm starting to like our guest bedroom more than our room. LAME. :( So here's the thing. I LOVE decorating rooms and I love super simple non-flashy things. And we LOVE finding cool things at thrift stores (such as desks and end tables) and fixing them up.
So, when we moved in--we didn't have a bed for the guest room for a while. It was starting to turn into our "storage" room which is not good at all for wanting to have guests come stay. Enough was enough, we decided. However, not much was going to change until we got a bed in there to spur on some craftiness.
I digress. We got a bed. Also, I wanted it to be my "crafty/studying" room when it isn't in use (isn't my hubby the best...) so I wanted it to be simple enough and uncluttered so it doesn't explode into what my room looked like for the majority of my childhood (sorry, Mom. Believe it or not...I can't get much work done with things cluttered everywhere anymore.) The point is, now it's basically done. And it's so simple and so pretty and I find myself just sitting in there for the heck of it sometimes wondering what Chris would say if I asked him if we could switch rooms. Ha!
If only we could paint, it'd be ten times better, but I found a way to work with the stupid yellow that it is. Oh well.
SWEET desk we found at a consignment shop--perfect size. And the top is now chalkboard to match the chair. (surprise surprise...)
He doesn't come with the room. But he's always lookin' mischievous.
Bed, and my favorite part--the love notes on the walls. :) I strung them up and put my favorite bible verses on each one...I'm kind of obsessed with it. (And there's Pax in the corner bein' sketchy as usual.)
And let's just talk about this for a minute. I FINALLY DID A PINTEREST PROJECT THAT I LOVE-but I did it for the guest room. Maybe this is why I love this room so much. It's the little things. I stinkin' love these book mobiles.
See, nothin' too fancy. I just love the colors and the hanging books and the wall of love. I better find a pinterest project for OUR room pretty soon so I can stop hatin' on it.
So, when we moved in--we didn't have a bed for the guest room for a while. It was starting to turn into our "storage" room which is not good at all for wanting to have guests come stay. Enough was enough, we decided. However, not much was going to change until we got a bed in there to spur on some craftiness.
I digress. We got a bed. Also, I wanted it to be my "crafty/studying" room when it isn't in use (isn't my hubby the best...) so I wanted it to be simple enough and uncluttered so it doesn't explode into what my room looked like for the majority of my childhood (sorry, Mom. Believe it or not...I can't get much work done with things cluttered everywhere anymore.) The point is, now it's basically done. And it's so simple and so pretty and I find myself just sitting in there for the heck of it sometimes wondering what Chris would say if I asked him if we could switch rooms. Ha!
If only we could paint, it'd be ten times better, but I found a way to work with the stupid yellow that it is. Oh well.
SWEET desk we found at a consignment shop--perfect size. And the top is now chalkboard to match the chair. (surprise surprise...)
He doesn't come with the room. But he's always lookin' mischievous.
Bed, and my favorite part--the love notes on the walls. :) I strung them up and put my favorite bible verses on each one...I'm kind of obsessed with it. (And there's Pax in the corner bein' sketchy as usual.)
And let's just talk about this for a minute. I FINALLY DID A PINTEREST PROJECT THAT I LOVE-but I did it for the guest room. Maybe this is why I love this room so much. It's the little things. I stinkin' love these book mobiles.
See, nothin' too fancy. I just love the colors and the hanging books and the wall of love. I better find a pinterest project for OUR room pretty soon so I can stop hatin' on it.
58: Intro Video from LIVE58NOW on Vimeo.
My brother recently went on a trip to visit an organization in Charleston, SC that promotes and provides clean water in developing countries. He told me when he got back a story that put knots in my stomach. He went to businesses trying to raise awareness and support for them. He finds one lady working in a shop and asks, "Would you be willing to display any information or flyers about this organization that provides safe drinking water for the developing world?" She responds, "I'm not sure, the owner isn't here and I can't make that decision. But anyways, shouldn't we be trying to help the people in our OWN country first?" I don't have anything nice to say about this, so I'm going to move on to the cause.
This may have been founded by Christians, but this is not just for Christians. It is for EVERYBODY who cares about the extremely impoverished and hungry. It is for those who wished no child would ever die of unsafe water, lack of food, or illnesses that should never kill. Create a team, invite your friends, see who you can impact together. If you'd rather join a team that's already established, feel free to join the one my husband and I are on called "DCF Mission Team."
I know this sweet girl named Emily McCanless who wanted this cookie recipe-so here it is :)
I NEVER bake. I seriously don't know why. I have a wonderful kitchenaid that we got from our wedding that I don't even use for baking. I use it for more extravagant things-like butterbeer (see post below). Bahaha. No, I use it a lot in just general cooking, but for some reason I always get frustrated when I try to bake. Needless to say, the "urge to bake" never hits this girl.
Well yesterday it did. It was possibly influenced by wanting to take some sort of treat to our bible study...or maybe I was doing some SERIOUS procrastinating. Either way--the one time I do try to bake, I realize I don't have butter. Boo.
I was an unstoppable force by this point--I had the rest of the ingredients out. So I looked up no-butter recipes and found one, and then changed it a little! It was pretty good, I missed the buttery flavor but I LOADED those suckers with chocolate chips...so all was well. Plus they're healthier, right!?
Here it is:
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 large egg
little less than 1 teaspoon vanilla
1 3/4 cups chocolate chips
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Stir together flour, soda and salt. Set aside.
Whisk together both types of sugar, oil, egg and vanilla. Add flour mixture to oil mixture and stir just until blended. Stir in chocolate chips.
Using a tablespoon measure, scoop up dough and shape into tight rounds of about ¾ to 1 inch. Space them about 2 inches apart on two ungreased cookie sheets. The mounds should be bursting with chips. Bake for 8-12 minutes. Cool for 2 minutes on cookie sheet, then transfer to a wire rack to continue cooling.
Enjoyyy the non-buttered goodness. Holla, Emily M! You'da best.
I NEVER bake. I seriously don't know why. I have a wonderful kitchenaid that we got from our wedding that I don't even use for baking. I use it for more extravagant things-like butterbeer (see post below). Bahaha. No, I use it a lot in just general cooking, but for some reason I always get frustrated when I try to bake. Needless to say, the "urge to bake" never hits this girl.
Well yesterday it did. It was possibly influenced by wanting to take some sort of treat to our bible study...or maybe I was doing some SERIOUS procrastinating. Either way--the one time I do try to bake, I realize I don't have butter. Boo.
I was an unstoppable force by this point--I had the rest of the ingredients out. So I looked up no-butter recipes and found one, and then changed it a little! It was pretty good, I missed the buttery flavor but I LOADED those suckers with chocolate chips...so all was well. Plus they're healthier, right!?
Here it is:
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 large egg
little less than 1 teaspoon vanilla
1 3/4 cups chocolate chips
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Stir together flour, soda and salt. Set aside.
Whisk together both types of sugar, oil, egg and vanilla. Add flour mixture to oil mixture and stir just until blended. Stir in chocolate chips.
Using a tablespoon measure, scoop up dough and shape into tight rounds of about ¾ to 1 inch. Space them about 2 inches apart on two ungreased cookie sheets. The mounds should be bursting with chips. Bake for 8-12 minutes. Cool for 2 minutes on cookie sheet, then transfer to a wire rack to continue cooling.
Enjoyyy the non-buttered goodness. Holla, Emily M! You'da best.
