Ericka: It's Been A Long Time 12.5.13

It really has been a long time; two and a half months to be exact. During that time my son turned 2 and immediately became terrible, and that's about it. So what have I been up to? Not much really, which I'm sure you can tell by the lack of blogging. By not much I mean not much exercising, not much healthy eating, not much weight loss (quite the opposite actually). I have a lot of reasons for not keeping up with my healthy lifestyle. The following are my top 5 reasons:

1. No buy in from my partner. My husband slacked off, so I decided to slack off. 
2. No buy in from myself. I think blowing out my hair was the start of my downfall lol. I got a taste of the not working out life, and I loved it.
3. Laziness. It's so much easier to grab a meal on the way home, especially when you have a hectic work and home life. Dieting requires preparation, and if you know me, you know that I am quite the procrastinator.
4. Lack of time. It's too dark in the morning and in the evening to go for a jog, and I've been so busy at work, that I have not been able to go to my lunch time workout. I could get up at 5a, since I'm up at that time anyway due to daylight savings, but I've been using that as my moment of tranquility- sleeping baby & sleeping husband = happy mama/wife
5. I don't wanna!

While I have reasons for falling off, I don't have any excuses for doing it. I have been working out here and there, but not much. My latest fitness challenge is this step class at French Riviera on Earhart. This is not your ordinary step class, and it is not for the faint of heart. My friend dragged me to the class a few weeks ago. It started at 9:30a and around the 10:15 mark, I started my countdown. I was giddy with excitement over the fact that the class would be done in 15 minutes. However 10:30 came and went. Then 10:45 then 11. Holy shit! The class was an hour and a half. She neglected to mention that part to me.. The instructor, Jerry/Geri just turned 60, I believe,, and looks barely north of 40. She has so much energy that it's sickening. The class incorporates walking lunges, squats, and ab work in addition to the step portion. At the end of the 1st hour Geri the Tyrant, as I like to call her in my head, makes us do 400 jumping jacks straight! Then we started with the lunges. 

Since I haven't been exercising, I put on a couple pounds, and by a couple, I mean 8. Luckily, since trying to do better over the last 2 weeks, I lost 4lbs. Nonetheless, I am utterly disappointed in myself. While I have started embracing eating well again, I have yet to get the physical fitness portion together. I have to do better.
So yes I faltered, but consider me a cautionary tale of what happens when you start to slack off. It's a slippery slope that starts with a missed workout or overindulging a meal or two. I hope you are doing better, than I have been doing lately. I've paused the challenges until I get mentally prepared. My current plan of action is start with eating right and exercising 3 times a week. Once I can do that consistently, I will start the challenges again. I believe I owe you guys a video

Please continue to root for me, and I will do my best to keep you updated as to my fitness successes and failures.

E

Ericka: I'm Not My Hair...I think (9.25.13)

Five days ago for the anniversary of my 27th birthday, I decided to change things up a bit by getting a blow out. While the results were nothing short of amazing, shout out to my hairdresser for taming the beast, it made me less inclined to anything that could mess up my do. Which means avoiding sweating at all cost. Needless to say I haven't worked out since I got my hair done. For shame, I know. Unfortunately, I am not the only one who has sacrificed my health for my hair. A lot of women, particularly African American women, will avoid working out because it may mess up their hair. Well after today, I am going back to the fro. The next time I decide to wear my hair straight, I will make sure to look up some ways to preserve the do when working out.

As to the honey do list. One thing has been completed thus far. The garden has been weeded! I should have taken a before and after picture. Chris has yet to give me my task, and we only have a couple more weeks to go.

Till next time,

E

Chris: I'm baaaaaaaaaaaaack (9.17.13)

Alright y'all, I know I been on hiatus. But in the last couple of weeks, Deuce has been sick twice and I was sick once. I know you are wondering how can Ericka still post, but Chris hasn't............... Well, you got me. But I'm back for the 3rd challenge. I wasn't as strict on the 2nd challenge but I dropped 8-9 lbs. However, I'm ready to get serious and coming back with a vengeance.

Just to follow-up on some things that I talked about previously, my bowling team finished 3rd in our 1st bowling league. So, we are back for season 2 and looking to win it all. I have my own ball, so I think I'll be able to do much more damage this season. I've already seen some improvement and looking to get my average up this year.

Also, football season has started and so has fantasy football. My fantasy team is 2-0 right now and is looking like we are ready for a championship run. Also, the Saints and LSU are out to fast starts, so it's always more exciting when you're teams are winning.

Well, that's all I have today but I'll be back tomorrow and will be around from here on out. See you guys tomorrow!!!!

Ericka: Challenge No. 3 Picked and Starts Today (9.15.13)

Saturday night we, with my mom, my cousin, and my sister's assistance, picked our 3rd set of challenges.

1. Random: Honey Do List
2. Diet: Alternate 7 days of  No Whites with 7 days of No Carbs for dinner
3. Fitness: Learn Choreography to Favorite Video

The Rules

Random: The Honey Do List



Chris and I have to come up with a honey do list for each other that must be completed within the 30 day period. Some of the things on the list may be a shared responsibility. If you want to join in on this challenge, come up with a list of 5to 10 things that you have been putting off. I've come up with the following:

• Convert Deuce's crib to a toddler bed
• Clean the gutters
• Remove weeds from garden & plant new flowers in the flower box
• Get a medicine cabinet & other cosmetic things to spruce up bathroom
• Organize closet

While this is my list for Chris, I will be helping him complete it. I just need to come up with one more

Diet: No Carbs/No Whites
Yes another carbs challenge. Don't shoot the messenger. I didn't pull it. I swear that's not the only challenges we under have under diet. We just somehow keep picking that sort of challenge. I think, well I hope, that's the last carbs challenge. Considering we didn't do to well on the last challenge, I guess this is like a do over. You can either alternate the 7 days or do 14 days straight. I think I'm going to do 14 days straight, and those 14 days will be the last 2 weeks of the challenge. I just think that will be more of a challenge for me.

So No Whites means no sugar, including fruit, no salt, no carbs, no dairy products, and no alcohol. It's a detox diet a trainer told me about. So not looking forward to it.

Fitness: Choreography
I am so excited about this challenge. I'm not even sure which video to choose. I'm looking for choreography that is fun, doable, and provides a good workout. We will definitely post it at the end of the challenge. Here are my front runners:

Michael Jackson: Remember The Time- We can do this one as a couple

 

Janet Jackson: Pleasure Principle- As a kid I used to try to do the chair move and would fail epically every single time

 



Janet Jackson: Rhythm Nation- A Classic

Beyonce: Who Run The World- Mainly because the choreography is sick and would be physically challenging to say the least

For this set of challenges, we are going to have a guest blogger. My sister has decided to join us for the challenges, and she is going to give you guys her perspective too.

Okay guys. The challenge begins today and ends October 14.

Happy Sunday!
E

Ericka: The Results Are In! (Part Deux) 9.12.13

So I weighed in today, and as expected, I didn't lose much. Well correction, as much as I had hoped for going into this challenge. What I envisioned was moving into a new weight bracket. I only had to lose 4 pounds, and I wouldn't be in the 90s anymore. Instead I lost 3 pounds on the dot. Chris managed to lose 9.5 pounds!

The Good:

At least it's going in the right direction. Considering I really only stuck to the diet for 2 and half weeks, that's a pretty good weight lost. In the past, if I started to slip into an overeating, no exercising relapse, it would last for months, and I would pack on even more weight. This time I got back on the wagon relatively quickly. While I didn't jog 3 times a week, I did push myself and got in 12 jogs regardless of the week. 

Weight loss grade: A- for Effort; C+ for results D for eating Which averages out to a C

The Bad:

I did not, whatsoever monitor my good deeds. Lesson learned: my challenges need to be more specific. To remedy that, I created a "volunteer an hour every week at a charitable organization" challenge. Since I know I did some nice things for people, even if I didn't write it down, I give myself a C-. The minus is because I didn't always go out of my way to do these nice things.  

The Ugly:

You know what grinds my gears? The fact that men seem to lose weight a lot easier than women. I mean come on! Chris lost 9.5 pounds, and I swear he didn't do half the things I did. He didn't get in his 3 jogs a week, he didn't even try to make up for the first two weeks when we didn't run, he pretty much ate what he wanted, lived how he wanted and reaped the rewards. When I saw he lost 9.5lbs, I said "I'm sure that stomach virus helped you out a bit." His response, "Nope, it's all in portion control." PORTION CONTROL! PORTION CONTROL! Did this boy really tell me it was due to portion control? Portion control my butt. The only portion he controlled was the amount of exercising he did, i.e. the lack thereof! Perhaps I should portion control sex (thanks J for that witty response, if I only I had it earlier) My friend said she thinks I have grounds to divorce him. There is also the option to sabotage him a la Mean Girls style. I can tell him I made him a delicious low calorie, low fat smoothie when in actuality it's filled with cream, sugar, and all the bad stuff that makes life more enjoyable. Am I jealous? In a word, yes, but at least I can admit it.

Okay I'm done with my rant. Back to being a supportive wife. In all seriousness, I'm proud of him and actually happy for him. We both have goals to achieve, and I'm glad he is closer to his. Chris just know that it's on! I'm coming for your ass. Love you babe! Keep up the good work.

As for my measurements, I lost anywhere from a 1/2 to an inch for the most part. The biggest loss though was in my waist. I lost almost 3 inches there. Of course, there was no change in my butt or my chest. If anyone has a flat butt or chest, I can definitely give you some.

E

Ericka: Late Night Cravings (9.11.13)

Right now I'm fighting the urge to eat something, anything. I brushed me teeth, flossed, and rinsed my mouth out with Listerine all in the name of trying not to eat. Oh and for the prevention of the gum disease GINGIVITIS! Usually late night teeth brushing deters me from eating, because who wants to ruin fresh breath with unnecessary eating.  But tonight there is a string cheese stick calling my name. Why can't I just fall asleep already? Usually I'm asleep by 9:30.

Maybe I have a little extra energy from my evening work out. I met up with Jennifer and the boys. We did the usual jog/walk around the City Park track for a total of 55 minutes. Then we did 15 minute NTC "cardio killer". As per usual that workout was extended by at least 5 minutes since we had to stop and run behind the boys.

Tomorrow is weigh in and measurements day. I'm a bit nervous, because we truly only worked out and followed the diet for 2 and a half weeks. The first 2 weeks were a wash with everything that was going on. Hopefully the scale reflects at least a 3 pound weight loss. I haven't been checking the scale on a daily basis, because I am afraid of what it will reveal.

Good night. I'm going to force myself to go to sleep.

E

Ericka: Last Day 9.11.13

Let's catch up shall we. On Who Dat Sunday I did indeed get in my last 2 jogs to make a total of 6 for last week. Chris, Deuce and I went City Park with my cousin's fiance and their two boys. We put the boys in their respective jogging stroller, Chris pushed since it's the equalizer that allows me to keep up, and we went around the extended track. After 30 minutes of jogging and walking we stopped and did some calisthenic exercises using the equipment in the park; the boys ran around and disrupted some of the other people trying exercise (oops). I guess it's been awhile since I've gone to City Park. I had never used the extended track before, and I did not even know there's work out equipment. Good job New Orleans! After about 10 - 15 minutes we got back on the track and did  another 30 minutes of jogging and walking. As a treat for the boys for putting up with being in a stroller for such a long period of time, we took them to the playground to burn off some energy and wear them out.

Monday I decided to skip cardio and did some stretching instead. My body needed the break from the last 2 weeks of jogging. Yesterday Jennifer and I decided to meet up at the park again. We went around the track, jogging and walking, for about 30 to 40 minutes. We then finished our workout off with a 15 minute NTC cardio workout. Well of course it wasn't just 15 minutes for us. The boys were running around, asking for food and drinks, and being just being kids. We were going to go around the track again and maybe even take them to the playground, but we were exhausted.

Jenn and I discussed doing this more often. She's trying to lose a little post baby weight, and I'm trying to lose a little post overindulging for the past 4 years weight. So it looks like I have a new workout buddy yay! Chris doesn't know it yet, but Jenn, my sister and I have decided to meet up Thursday for a workout sans the boys. Guess who is going to be in charge of them.

I can't leave before telling you a Deuce story. Last night while getting him dressed for bed he began trying to lick his own nipple. I tried not to bring attention to it, but when he exclaimed "Mommy I eat nipple!", I couldn't help but laugh. I also learned my child is an escape artist. Chris told me a few months ago he could get out of his crib, but I didn't believe him. Well I saw it with my own eyes yesterday. We have been co-sleeping with Deuce since the day he was born That was not the plan going into this parenting thing, it more or less was forced on us, because our kid would not sleep through the night unless we cuddled with him. So long story short we are lazy and did not want to hear him cry. We've tried letting him cry it out before, and we actually broke him once when he was about 6 months. Then Hurricane Isaac hit, and we had to share a bed again, and he never adjusted to sleeping by himself since. We tried the CIO again, but neither of us could bear going through the week of crying. In fact Deuce became more resilient. The 1st time we did CIO method he cried for 30 minutes at the longest. Every day following the 1st day, his crying time got shorter and shorter until he finally stopped crying. Well not the 2nd go at it. I think he was about 10 months and boy could he wail and shake the crib. The crying lasted far longer. When we thought he stopped and fallen asleep, it turned out that he was just taking a break! We then tried to let him sleep on a mattress next to our bed, but every night/morning around 1:30a.m I would be awaken by the kid climbing over me and into the bed.

 Anyway last night I decided enough is enough. No more cosleeping. I set up a pallet for him in the game room. We haven't converted his crib into a toddler bed yet, because somebody has yet to get the parts out of the attic even though I've asked him repeatedly. I read him a story and put on Dora. He laid down wit a little bit of a fuss, but then he was quite. 2 minutes later he was up and in the living room. I brought him back in the room, he came back out. This exchange occurred 5 times, then I threatened him with timeout. He said okay and walked to his chair and sat down with his head down. He preferred timeout over going to bed alone even though he was tired. We then did the dance again. I put him in, he came out. I turned off the tv, he came out. I put on the Jungle Book he came out. I put him in his crib, he escaped under 30 seconds. Finally I closed the door, because I know he has trouble twisting the knob. He banged on the door and cried out for me, and only me. Of course he has to make me feel like a horrible mother. Hey Deuce can you throw some guilt your father's way?! Then the noise stopped. I waited 30 minutes to go in, out of fear that he was just getting his wits together. Finally we went in. We found him laying down next to the door holding his teddy bear; he was fast (slow) asleep.

Okay guys. Time to get my day started. But before I leave you, I would be re-missed if I did not call attention to the people we lost on 9/11. The lives lost were mothers, fathers, husbands, wives, sisters, brothers, daughters, sons, and friends. Military personnel, and first responders. Their ages ranged from 2 to 85. More than 90 countries lost citizens on that day. We Americans learned that we can be attacked on our soil. So please take a moment today to reflect, pray, or just think about the lives lost, and the family members and friends who have had to find a way to go on without their loved ones.

E

Ericka: Patient 0 (9.7.13)

He struck again. That sweet, precious, precocious, cutie pie that I always talk about is also a germ bomb. Last year, November 2012 to be exact, my son infected at least 15 family members and friends with the mother of all stomach viruses. I'll never forget the night it hit me. It was the night of my cousin's 21st birthday. A friend of mine and I attended her celebratory dinner. My friend bailed on going to the club, because she wasn't feeling well. I pushed and went to the 2nd stop, but I too had to leave, because I felt nauseated. I attributed my downfall to the alcohol, even though I hadn't had much, the loud music, and flashing lights. I distinctively remember thinking "well old girl, your days of partying until the wee hours are over."  I got home and then bam; it started with vomiting and then it got worst. I will spare you the details, but if you have ever had a stomach virus then you know how ugly it can get.

My friend called me first thing in the morning. She sounded a little out of sorts. I asked her how she was feeling, and she said "I think I have food poisoning." I told her that I too wasn't feeling well and told her about my ordeal. We both busted into a fit of laughter, because she, her boyfriend, and I had all gone through the same ordeal all night and morning. We tried to pinpoint the culprit. First we blamed it on a piece of chocolate cake, but we nixed that. After exhausting all options we came to the conclusion it had to be Deuce since he was sick days earlier, and we had all been in contact with him. We started laughing again and both got off the phone to pay tribute to the porcelain throne.

Then the bodies of the infected started to add. Chris got sick. Then my parents, my brothers, Chris' parents, a cousin, and Chris' brother in Texas and his family. The virus crossed State lines all because his brother happened to be in town that weekend. The funny thing is that Deuce never seems to get it as bad as the adults.

Well the stomach virus has reared it's ugly head once again this week, and it hit both Chris and myself. The culprit, once again, was Deuce. Luckily, we were able to contain the outbreak: knock on wood.

I started feeling like myself Thursday, but unfortunately my jogging count by that day was 0, but I didn't want to press my luck with a jog. My sister came over that night and forced me to go to the grocery store and cook. My plan was to skip dinner, because I was being lazy, my kid was quarantined in Prairieville, and my husband was scared to eat. Anyway, I quickly broiled 3 thin ribeye steaks and sautéed a mixture of super greens.

Friday morning I was really feeling myself and decided to go for a jog. I started with a 5 min warm up walk, followed by some stretching, then a 15 minute jog, and finally a 6 min cool down walk. During the cool down, I called Chris and told him to join me for my second leg of jogging, and he actually did. Chris is not a morning person, so I was quite shocked. We then did a 25minute C25K, which added up to 10 minutes of  jogging minus the warm up, cool down, and brisk walking.

I'm not going to lie, I could feel my stomach in my throat at times, but I persevered. I have to get in 4 more jogs this weekend. Wish me luck.

E

P.S. Chris and I are idiots. Well I'm an idiot. When we got home for our jog Chris told me to unlock the door. I informed him that I didn't have a key, because when I left, he was still at home. Chris then informed me that he assumed I brought my key. I then pretended to call my dad, because I had indeed picked up a key, but thought it would be funny to pretend otherwise. Chris thought the same thing, because he proceeded to pull the key out of his pocket. I showed him mine too, and we both had a chuckle. Then Chris pointed out that I had the wrong key, and we started crying laughing. If it wasn't for Chris, we really would have been locked out of the house.

Ericka: So About that 6x a Week Thing... (9.1.13)

I did it! Well let me rewind a little. I know what y'all were probably thinking, "she hasn't blogged in a few days. She must have fallen off." Usually that's how it works. If I'm not vocal about my activities, then I must not have anything to report. This time however, I was just plain busy.

Thursday I skipped the jog. I don't know what happened. All I know is, by Thursday I still had 4 more jogs to go, and I consider a jog to be at least 20 minutes, with the majority of that time, or at least half, being spent actually jogging. Oh wait, I do remember. I changed into my workout clothes right before I left from work. The plan was pick up Deuce, go straight to City Park, then go to the grocery store, cook a meal and have a couple of girlfriends over. Well as I was leaving work, I got a call from Deuce's teacher. She suspected he wasn't feeling well, because he was cranky and clingy all day among other symptoms that I won't mention. So I pick up Deuce and start to head out for the grocery store. I decided to nix going to the park, because if he was sick then being in the heat wouldn't help things. On my way to the store I realized I forgot my wallet at work. After a not so quick detour back to the CBD from the Lakeview area I finally made it to the grocery store to pick up my ingredients for Southwest Salad topped with Grilled Shrimp. Luckily Deuce's mood had improved, so he bared with me while I ran all of my errands. Well there was this slightly embarrassing, well really embarrassing moment. This lady had just finished complimenting me (ok Deuce) on how cute, sweet and smart is. Deuce was being his usual chatterbox self. Then he did the unthinkable. He pointed to the lady's butt and said "Mommy, she made poo poo." The lady turned around said "What did he say?" I tried to cover and tell her we are in the middle of potty training (we're not) and that he said he had to poo poo. Of course Deuce repeated his accusation. Now I'm not goint to lie on my baby. Someone passed gas, and it wasn't me and it wasn't Deuce.

I looked down in shame and tried to hurry up the check out process. Back to the dinner. It was really quite simple. All you need is kale (or whatever green leafy vegetable you prefer), a little bit of quinoa, 1 avocado, diced red onions, cilantro a little evoo, cherry tomatoes, corn and black beans. I grilled the shrimp in my grilling pan using salt, pepper and garlic. Voila! The ladies (my sister and 2 of my good friends) brought the wine and dessert.

On to Friday. I got up early for a for what was supposed to be a quick 30 minute walk jog set. I started out with a 5 minute warm up walk then I jogged for 15 minutes straight! I am still in disbelief as I type this. I don't know what came over me. Perhaps my all Beyonce playlist. Perhaps it was the good weather. Or perhaps it was just pure determination. In other news. Friday was my Joey's (my youngest brother for those of you who don't know) first dance! He looked so handsome, and apparently he painstakingly picked out his outfit at the mall with some assistance from the Leonards.

Saturday, Chris and I took Deuce to Audubon Park. We did week 3 day 1 of the C25K plan which involved sets of 1.5 minute jogs and 3 minute jogs with walking in between each set. That took 24 minutes including warm up and cool down. Then I, and I alone, took Deuce to the Cool Zone at the Zoo. Geesh prices have gone up. It would have costed us $50 for the day of fun, but due to an unexpected family discount, I only spent $16. We met up Jennifer, Auntie Carla and the boys, and they all had a blast. At the end of the day I was soaking wet and exhausted. Deuce slept for 3 hours straight. I wish I could say the same. Of course that long nap bit me in the end, because he didn't go to bed until midnight.

Sunday/Today. My sissy came over and in an attempt to get Deuce to sleep we decided to take him for a stroll in the hot sun at 1:45 p.m. I utilized the time to get 2 jogs in. The first set, I followed the week 3 couch to 5K plan. Then after my cool down I jumped right back in for a jog a block walk a block routine for an additional 20 minutes. I AM EXHAUSTED! And of course Deuce never fell asleep. Chris finally got home around the time I was finishing up. He went play golf with his Dad and brother. Apparently they used the golf cart, so don't let him fool you into thinking he walked the entire course. I wonder if they always use the cart....hmmmm.

Now for my good deeds. I have cooked a meal for friends, gone to Dillards to pick out an outfit for my sister (on my parents' dime) I hope she likes it, and been in charge of the Deuce monster the majority of this weekend so that Chris can get in some QT with his friends, dad and brother for fantasy football drafting, LSU Tigers watching (GEAUX TIGERS) and golfing.

Okay guys. I'm beat. Enjoy the rest of your labor day weekend.
E

Ericka: My neck, my back.. (8.28.13)

Truth moment. This jog 6 days in a row is not going to be as hard as I thought...it's going to be harder! Today I decided to do what I thought would be a light jog. Instead of starting with week 1 of the C25K plan (because I am way past that level of fitness, right?), I skipped to week 4 day 1. All I had to do was start with a 5 minute warm up then jog 3 minutes, walk 1 1/2 minutes, jog 5 minutes, walk 2 and half minutes then repeat that rotation once. I thought "I did 3 sets of 8 minute jogs yesterday, this should be easy peasy." Boy was I wrong. Every time the 5 minute jog came around, and it only came around twice, I thought it was the longest stretch of my life. I would look down at the stopwatch after what I thought was a considerable bit of time only to discover that a mere minute had passed. I have to do this 4 more times this week! I don't know what I'm going to do tomorrow. I may have to start with week one, but even that seems like a daunting task.

In addition to aforementioned struggle fest, my back, but and thighs are super sore. Usually I get delayed muscle soreness a day or two after introducing a new exercise to my body, but this time it kicked in immediately.

Today's good deed: Picked up some trash in the neighborhood. Today's meals: Breakfast 1 boiled egg, Lunch- Spicy Tuna Sashimi Salad (yumyum) from Thanh Thanh and Dinner- I haven't decided yet. Perhaps an egg sunny side down. I didn't purposely skip the carbs today. I just didn't have any options for breakfast, because we have to go grocery shopping. For lunch, I couldn't pass up my one of my favorite dishes on the Westbank since I was on that side for work. As to dinner, no food in the house and lazy.

Well guys it's getting close to my bedtime. See you tomorrow!
E

Chris: Back to Reality (8.27.13)

Sorry guys, but a lot has transpired over the last 2 weeks. Three family members had significant losses in their lives. And while I tried to support them as much as possible, I can't even begin to feel the pain both of them are experiencing right now. However, I know they are both strong mentally, and that they will be okay after the grieving process is over at some point.

While I'm not sure how to transition, I'll just move on to the past two weeks and how I've done with our challenges. Well.......................................................................................................................... ............................ In other words, I haven't done $hit!!! But, I have been weighing in and I haven't gained any weight. While I haven't been exercising regularly or eating right, I have been eating smaller portions and less frequently in general. Still, I'm mad because if I had been exercising regularly, I could've lost more weight. I won't dwell on the past, so I'm going to stay positive and strive towards my goals. Ericka and I went for a jog today, and I plan on picking up where we left off.

And before I go, just a few updates. My bowling team finished the season in 3rd place, not bad for our first time out there. Also, it's football season, and that means it's fantasy football season!!!! I'm not sure which one I enjoy more, lol. My big fantasy draft is this Saturday, so I'll keep you posted on my team. Goodnight!!!!

Ericka: HIATUS OVER! (8.27.13)

I am so sorry I've been away so long, but for the past 2 weeks I've been reflecting, crying, mourning, smiling, healing and helping my loved ones through the grief process. Our hearts are on the mend, but we will never forget our little one who is gone before we even got a chance to get know him.

During these last 2 weeks, I have not been sticking to the challenges whatsoever. The first couple of days I didn't eat and as a result lost a few pounds, then I moved onto emotional eating..i.e. eating everything in sight. After the emotional eating phase was over, I was in a rut and I continued to eat whatever I wanted, but that stopped today. My body doesn't even feel right, and I'm sure the scale will reflect that, because of all the junk I've been eating. I'm even considering going on some sort of organic foods only detox.Today I didn't eat any carbs after 2 p.m.

As for the exercise portion, I have not done anything until today. Chris and I just finished a jog through the neighborhood. We walked for 5 minutes at a moderate pace, then did 3 sets of 8 minute jogs and 2 sets of 2 minute walks followed by a 5 minute cool down walk at a slow pace. Total time-38 minutes. My jog pace was a bit of a struggle, but at least I got out there. For an extra challenge for Chris, he pushed Deuce in the stroller. For me the jog in and of itself was enough of a challenge. Because we have missed so many jogs, Chris and I have to jog 6 times a week for the next 2 weeks! Even if we accomplish that goal, I still won't give myself an A, because the challenge was 3 times a week not 6 times a week.

Pay it forward. It's not that I haven't done nice things for other people, but I haven't kept a tally of the things I've done. I know I was on cheer up duty for awhile, there has been bringing snacks to my coworkers, giving a few dollars to the homeless person on the street, being nice to my kid (oh that doesn't count?) Regardless, I really want to do something that has more of an impact.

On top of all that I got a sinus infection with bronchial inflammation. I went to the doctor last week, and he prescribed me 4 prescriptions and 2 shots in the arse. My butt has yet to let me forget about those shots, because during my jog I felt some tenderness around the injection sites with every step!

Again sorry about the impromptu hiatus. I will strive not to go M.I.A again. To those of you who sent prayers and words of encouragement...thank you. To those of you who have been there for me and especially my loved ones...thank you.

Good night all,
E

Ericka: A Heavy Heart (8.15.13)

Things can change so quickly. One minute everything is fine and then the next minute the sky is falling. Right now my family and I are going through the process of grieving and eventually healing after losing a little one Since it's not my story to tell, I will not go into details. However what I can tell you is I saw firsthand the meaning of family, friendship, compassion and paying it forward. Our family truly gathered around our loved ones as they had to say goodbye. We cried, we prayed, we laughed and cried some more. I think, and I hope our presence uplifted them through such a difficult situation.

Because of the events that have transpired in such a short amount of time, I have not had time to blog, the desire to eat, exercise or even think. I'm looking forward to an afternoon jog to clear my mind.

Don't take life and loved ones for granted.
E

The Challenge Part Deux

Today is Day 1 of the challenge. The last day will be September 11th. We recruited our nieces, Madison and Sydney, to assist Deuce with picking the challenges.
The video is taking forever to upload, but here are the challenges:

1. Pay It Forward- Every day we have to do something nice for someone else
2. Jog 3x a Week
3. No Carbs After 2 p.m.
1. It's a take on personal trainer Bob Harper's no carbs after lunch rule. Here's a link to all 20 of his skinny rules http://www.sparkpeople.com/myspark/team_messageboard_thread.asp?board=5819x22195x48080313

I'll upload the video later.

Ericka: You can audibly hear my disappointment when the jog 3 times a week challenge was pulled. Did I mention I hate jogging? I woke up and my body was aching every where from yesterday's jog. Speaking of yesterday, we spent the day on a boat with our family. So basically I was snacking and baking in the sun all afternoon until a torrential downpour hit us. We then went to Pappasito's where I proceeded to eat my weight in chips and dip. I guess that's the last time I'll be eating carbs that late. I already planned on cutting carbs out for dinner, unless I was dining out, but now I can't even use dining out as an excuse. Sheesh we just came off a no carbs challenge! There's only 2 carbs challenges in the bowl, and we would pick them back to back! This morning I ate the dinner I packed up b/c I was too full from appetizers to eat it. So I had black beans with cilantro rice and a salmon filet. I have 32 minutes of cardio to get in and a pay it forward to do so I am going to do 2 in one. I'm going take my in laws dog for a walk. No jogging for me today, because I just did it yesterday. My goal is to jog Monday, Wednesday and Saturday mornings.

Chris: I'm excited about the exercise challenge. I actually think jogging is an effective way for me to lose weight. Last time I lost a lot of weight, I was able to work myself up to jogging for an hour. During that time, I dropped almost 80 lbs in a 2 year span. Jogging is also a stress reliever for me. It's one of the few things that helps me clear my mind, and I don't think about anything else when I'm jogging. Now for the eating challenge, I was extremely disappointed. We just came off of no carbs and now we have to remove carbs from our diet after 2 pm. It's not that I was going to go crazy on carbs, but it's the fact that I can't eat them if I want to for dinner that bothers me. I guess it will benefit us in our efforts to lose weight so I'll stick to the positives. I am also excited about the pay it forward challenge but think it'll be very difficult to attain on a daily basis just due to working everyday. However, I will look for a variety of ways and get creative to attain this goal. I am looking forward to the next 30 days.

Ericka: The Very Hungry Ericka (8.10.13)

I started yesterday out on such a good foot. I had 2 boiled eggs for brunch and a granola bar for a snack. Then dinner rolled around. We went to the Palms Steakhouse. It was fancy smancy. We pulled up and there were Bentley coupes, a vintage Rolls Royce and other exotic cars. So let me give you the run down of what I: 8 sweet potato fries, 1 1 dirty martini, 1 piece of bread with butter, garlic green beans, 1/2 a rib eye steak, a glass of merlot, a bite of potatoes au gratin, a bite of lobster and a bite of lobster bisque.

Why I'll Never Be A Vegetarian

After all that food, I made sure to get up and exercise. First I went for a jog with Chris. The plan was to jog a minute walk 90 seconds, but my cell phone was dead so I couldn't use my C25K app. So I set my Nike+ Fitness app on the iPod to 30 minutes. I started with a 5 minute warm up walk, then I jogged 8 minutes straight (I shocked myself), walked 2 minutes, jogged 8 minutes, walked 2 minutes and finished with a 5 minute walk. After that I was spent and very proud of myself. I don't know the last time I jogged for more than 5 minutes straight. It's been years!

I then hopped on a bike for another 33minutes.  I must admit I got lost. I have no sense of direction. Luckily I ran into what I hoped was a nice family. A husband, wife and there young adult daughter. I said "they  have to be okay, they have a daughter", and thank God they were. Tim, Sherri and Morgan not only let me use their phone, but they invited me into their home to look at a map of the neighborhood, then proceeded to drive me around until I found my brother in law's house. If you all are reading, i want to say thank you guys! While riding around Sherri revealed she just lost 75lbs and her husband 30lbs using medifast. Not only did they give me a ride, but they inspired me to push forward .

I only have 32 more minutes to go to finish the week, and tomorrow starts a new challenge!

E

Chris: The Results (8.8.13)

Intro

I have to apologize readers!!! I am out fo town and forgot my measurement sheet to post my measurments. However, I did lose inches in most cases. I will follow-up when I return home.

Measurements: L=Lost NC=NC G=Gained

1. R. Upper Arm-                              L. Upper Arm-  
2. R. Forearm-                                   L. Forearm-
3. Chest- 
4. Bust- 
5. Midriff- 
6. Waist- 
7. Abdomen-
8. Hips- 
9. Arse- 
10. R. Upper Thigh-                      L. Upper Thigh- 
11. R. Mid Thigh-                          L. Mid Thigh- 
12. R. Lower Thigh-                      L. Lower Thigh-
13. R. Knee-                                 L. Knee- 
14. R. Calf-                                   L. Calf- 
15. R. Ankle-                                 L.Ankle- 

How you feel

What You've Learned about each challenge?

How you plan on incorporating into your life

In the meantime, I will answer the questions above after finishing our 1st 30 day challenges. I feel GREAT!!! For one, it feels good to accomplish the goals we set forth at the beginning of the challenge. The no carbs was difficult at times but it wasn't as bad as I thought. I definitely don't need carbs for every meal going forward, and my plan going forward is to limit my daily intake of carbs. The exercise challenge really pushed me to set aside some time each day. And I also realized that 300 minutes is not a bad expectation on a weekly basis and a plan I expect to stay on going forward. Eating a meal ech day with Ericka also made me realize the importance of eating together. That time allowed Ericka and I to unwind and catch up on each other's day. We also talked aboutvarious topics and just enjoyed the conversation of the day.

On a side note, my bowling team is now the #1 team in the league with only 2 weeks left in the season. Our team is hitting our stride at the right time and feeling confident going down the home stretch. I'll keep y'all posted.

Ericka: French Fries! (8.9.13)

Yesterday for my first official cheat day I ate a kid size McDonald's french fries! They were so yummy. I swear McDonald's has some of the best french fries, followed by wing stop. Homemade fries of course tops them all. Now that I got the McD's fries out of my system, I think I can go without them for a little while. Other than the fries, my 1st cheat day wasn't too bad. I ate one of my collard green wraps for breakfast, I had some hummus with a  light salad and 1 falalfel for lunch, and a smoothie for dinner.

This morning I worked out for 70 minutes, and that's after getting in at 2:00 a.m. Ok, I can't even lie. I fell asleep 20 minutes into the road trip. I hear Deuce fell asleep shortly thereafter. The last thing I remember is him saying "I want to get out" and "I'm stuck" as he struggled to get out of the car seat. I believe I woke up briefly in Lake Charles, went back to sleep and didn't wake up until we reached our destination. Of course I was wired when I got in, but a nice glass of red wine helped me go back to sleep.

Back to the work out. I did 45 minutes of H.I.I.T and 15 minutes of abs using NTC, and then I jumped on the trampoline for another 10 minutes. I have to get in 107 minutes between Saturday and Sunday. I also got all 9 sets of my Friday jumping jacks in, and I did one set of the Monday through Thurday exercises. Goal for the end of the trip, to not weigh more than when I left.

Ok guys, time for me to go hang out with the crew.

TGIF!
E

Ericka: Short & Sweet (8.8.13)

Got up this morning to chip away at the 207 minutes of exercise left for the week. Since I waited until the last minute to pack, I only got 30 minutes in. My legs were killing me with every squat, because I did wall sits every hour yesterday. Today is triceps dips. Oy vey!

It's going to be tough to get 177 minutes in while out of town. We're staying with family, so there is no gym to grind it out in for 2 hours. I have my NTC app, but I can't do that for 2 hours straight. Plus it's family time, so carving an hour to 2 hours out for myself every day is going to be tough. We shall see how this goes.

We have 3 cheat days (Thursday, Friday & Saturday). Like I said, I am not trying to undo all of my hard work, so I am going to still be mindful of what I eat, but indulge from to time. I see salsa WITH chips in my near future. We will start a new challenge on Sunday. I'm looking forward to it, unless I have to give up my wine for 30 days.

In other news, Deuce's school orientation is today. A new school for my baby. He started daycare when he was 8 months home, and it was a home school. Only about 6 kids, 1 teacher and 1 teacher's assistant. The set up was amazing. First of all it was only a block away from my house. Second the teachers were so loving and attentive. I cried the last day of school. In fact the both teachers still text me about how Deuce is doing. Third. Deuce was the youngest child there. Everyone else, other than 1 kid who was 6 months older than him, was 1 to 3 years older Deuce. Therefore, Deuce was forced to talk and engage. I think that environment contributed to him having not just a vast vocabulary, but it also helped him communicate. I am going to miss the school, but new adventures are on the horizon, and I can't wait to see how Deuce adjusts. Hopefully he will keep the cursing to a minimum, and he does not share his knowledge of A Few Good Men and the Young & The Restless.

Happy Thursday,
E

Ericka: The Results Are In!! (8.7.13)

Sorry I skipped out on the last couple of postings, but I was not feeling well. I don't think coconut water is for me. I added it to my smoothie Monday morning, and had to leave work early to get in bed. It's either the coconut water or the dairy that did me in. The jury is still out. Clearly I didn't workout Monday, which sucks, because I was looking forward to my evening Tabata class. Chris got me a Sprite, orange juice, and Pho to settle my stomach. I went back to work Tuesday thinking I felt better, and even went to my lunch time Tabata class. However, 5 minutes into class I almost tossed my cookies, which is weird since I skipped breakfast out of an abundance of caution and I hadn't had lunch yet. I fought through it to finish the class.

Yesterday marked the last official day of our 1st 30 days challenge. Although we have elected to abstain from carbs one extra day so that our cheat days can fall on the days we are out of town this week, we are going to give you our results now since it's the official end of the 30 days period.

This morning I weighed in 7.5 pounds lighter than I started! That's almost an average of 2 pounds of weight loss per week! That brings my total weight loss thus far up to 16.7 pounds. My scale also computes BMI and Body Fat Percentage based on height, weight, and sex. I shaved off .7% off of my body fat percentage and 1.3. points off of my BMI.

As for my measurements (NC= No Change  L=Lost  G=Gained):

1. R. Upper Arm- L .5in                     L. Upper Arm- L .5in  
2. R. Forearm- L .25in                       L. Forearm- L .5in
3. Chest- L .5in
4. Bust- L 2 in
5. Midriff- L 2.5 in
6. Waist- L 3.5in
7. Abdomen- L 2in
8. Hips- L 2.5in
9. Arse- L3 in
10. R. Upper Thigh- L 2in                      L. Upper Thigh- L 1in
11. R. Mid Thigh- L 1in                          L. Mid Thigh- L .5in
12. R. Lower Thigh- L .5in                     L. Lower Thigh- L 1in
13. R. Knee- NC                                   L. Knee- L .5in
14. R. Calf- L 1in                                   L. Calf- L .5in
15. R. Ankle- NC                                  L.Ankle- L .5in

(Sorry I haven't filled in the measurements yet, but I will update it as soon as I get a tailor sewing tape measure. I had one, well 2 actually, but somebody called himself tidying up, and that somebody now doesn't know where he put them. We are replacing the tape today, and I will update the blog with the results.)

Updated: It feels great to see my results on paper. I'm addicted to my scale (sounds like I need a ditch the scale challenge), so I knew I was losing weight, and I could feel the difference in my clothes. But putting it on paper confirmed it. The results in black & white are keeping me motivated.

No Carbs: A

I did pretty well with this challenge other than the bite of cake and the pho I had to settle my stomach on Monday. I didn't cut out all carbs, but I did cut out the particularly starchy ones like potatoes, rice, bread and pasta. Carbs, especially white carbs, need to be eaten in moderation. I think I've learned that from this challenge. 

300 Minutes/5 Hours of Exercise/Week: A+

I spanked this goal out of the park! I picked 300 minutes, because I read somewhere that's the amount of time you need to put in to lose a significant amount of weight. I used a mixture high intensity interval training, jogging, gym classes, dancing, biking, weight lifting and walking to keep it fun. Doing the same things over and over again gets tedious and boring plus changing it up gets better results. I know myself, and if I did the same thing over and over again, I would have fallen off. Also by counting down the minutes vs the hours, I felt like the task was more manageable. I think working out has become a habit for me. I've been doing it for 6 weeks straight. This morning I got up, did a 4 minute dance warm-up, followed by C25K walk/jog (28.5 minutes + the 5.5 minutes it took me to get home) and concluded with a 10 minute workout. I am going to put that in the bucket for this week. Adding those minutes to the 45 minutes I spent in Tabata on Tuesday and I have a total of 93 minutes for the week thus far. My goal is to get in the other 207 minutes by Sunday. It may be tough since I'll be out of town, but I am going to make it a priority. 

A Meal Together Every Day:  C

Definitely some room for improvement here. Perhaps doing this every day with a child was a bit of a high order, but we definitely slacked in that department. We did substitute this type of quality time by getting quality time in other weighs, such as going on date nights, and exercising together, but that was not the challenge. We have to do better in that department. Family meal time is the most important part of the day for couples and their children. It's the time where we discuss our day and make plans. Although Deuce can't fully participate yet, he is learning from observation. This challenge will definitely be an ongoing challenge.

Now What?

So how do I plan on incorporating what I've learned from the challenges into my every day life? I am going to strive to get at least 300 minutes of exercise in every week, I am going to drop the carbs at dinner time unless it's a night out/special occasion, and I am going to work on making time for QT with the hubby.

After today, I have 3 cheat days. The goal is to not undue all my hard work by going H.A.M. on my 3 cheat days. It's going to be tough since I'll be eating out a lot in H-Town, but I don't want to start the next challenge weighing in more than what I weighed today. 

The next challenge starts Sunday August 11th so stayed tuned,

E

Chris: It Hurts Soooooooooooooo Good (8.4.13)

It has been an eventful weekend, at least in terms of exercising. Saturday morning, I woke up to Deuce hitting me in the face. And as soon as my eyes opened, Deuce said "I wanna go bye-bye" and "doughnuts". How could I say no to my lil man, so I crawled out of bed at 7:54 am (Yes, that time is correct) and took Deuce to the Buttermilk Drop for some glazed doughnut holes. And if you're wondering, NO, I didn't eat any!!!! I wanted to but didn't. Anyways, after that, we all went to the gym. We dropped Deuce off at the gym daycare, and Ericka and I went to work. I jogged a mile and the ran/walked a 2nd mile. I hit the weights for another 45 minutes and then played Ericka's friend in a game of racquetball. It was the same woman who beat me 15-1, 15-0 and 15-0 last week. Well, this week I came out with a bang and jumped on her 5-1, but I fell apart and lost 15-5. But, I am getting better and I should have her beat in about 2 more weeks. So, I got in a good hour and 30 minutes (Total time for the week after the workout was 4 hours).

So, today, I still needed an hour to get to my goal of 300 minutes of exercise this week. And last week, my coworker and frienemy, Jim McAnelly, called me out saying that the last hour of exercise at the driving range shouldn't have counted. Now for anyone who knows Jim, he is a HATER!!!! But I took it to heart, so this week I planned on playing a round of golf for exercise. Now, today it was 109 degrees with the Heat Index, and I was out on the course for at least 5 hours, so I'm pretty sure I can claim one hour of exercise. And it has been awhile since I played a round of golf, so along with probably being on the brink of dehydration, my feet, back and arms are feeling it tonight. What do you think Jim?????? I would venture to say that I reached my exercise goal of this week!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Last, but not least, I would like to thank my lovely wife for cooking a great dinner tonight and some meals for the week. Tonight, we had spaghetti squash with meat sauce and it was rolling!!! I ate it all in about 5 minutes. Thanks babe!!! Alright y'all, Cdub is out, holla at ya boy!!!

Ericka: Weekend Chef (8.4.13)

I just realized I haven't blogged since Thursday! When I left you last, I had 150 minutes of exercise left for the week. Friday I took the majority of the day off so that I could spend the day with my babyface before he headed back to Prairieville for the week. Friday morning, since I was in no rush to go in, I got a late start on my morning fitness. When I finally got out of the bed, I did a 4 minute warm-up followed by 15 minutes of high intensity interval training courtesy of NTC. Then Deuce got out of bed and wanted to go outside, so I took him for a 20 minute stroll. I jogged every other block in the heat. 39 minutes down 111 minutes to go.

Saturday I went to the gym with my usual crew in tow. Chris and I hit the track first. I went around 12 times, jogging every other lap. I did a little over a mile in 13 minutes! I followed that by getting on the elliptical and Stairmaster for 17 minutes. Then I hit the weights. As I walked in with Es & Chris I saw my dad working out! HEY POPS! Essie and I focused mostly on legs but did some abs and arms. After 30 minutes Es and Chris went play racquetball while I finished pumping iron (lol) for an additional 10 minutes. I was able to catch the last 10 minutes of Chris' game, and I must say he looked good. He has definitely improved. Then I played Es in a game of racquetball. I managed to score 5 points against her! I know she doesn't play me as hard as she plays the guys in her league, plus she had just finished playing Chris, but Es said I played better and that I got in some good shots. I'll take it! We played for 20 minutes

This morning I only had 21 minutes left for the week so I did 2 of Tony Horton's 10 minute trainer routines, cardio and power yoga, plus a 2 minute warm-up and a 2 minute cool down. Mission accomplished.

I then went to the grocery store fresh from my workout sans makeup and this young man, about 20 y.o., thought I was in school! I told him I was far from college age, and he then tried to guess my age. Ugh, no good can come from that right. He said "Well since you're not in school, you must be older...26! I'll take it! Anyway, after my quick stop at the store, I came home and made a few dishes for the week. I made meat sauce with lean ground turkey, and instead of pasta I made spaghetti squash. If you don't know about spaghetti squash, it's a vegetable that when baked and shredded with a fork gives the appearance of spaghetti. I also made a delicious salad. Thanks Malgorzata for the recipe! I used kale, radicchio, a little Quinoa ( a healthy high protein carb), a little corn, avocado, red onion, tomatoes and olive oil. The last meal I made was collard green wraps. I used a similar recipe from last time, but I added quinoa. For brunch I made myself a parfait. For an extra boost I added Qia, which is a mixture of chia seeds, buckwheat and hemp seeds. After all that cooking in the hot kitchen, I took a nap with Deuce.

Meat sauce & spaghetti

Salad

Parfait

I plated the pasta for dinner and paired it with a nice glass of Merlot. I didn't take a picture of the wraps, because you've seen those before.

Bon appetite!

Can we talk about how hot it is for just a second? I mean seriously, it's sweltering out there! In fact, it's down right dangerous. Deuce wanted to go outside after his nap so I put him in his little push car for a quick spin around the neighborhood. I went half a block and Deuce said, "It's hot". I finished the block and went right back home for indoor fun.

Now I must confess I had a little bit of bad carbs. My grandmother makes birthday cakes for everyone's birthday, and because we only have 1 family birthday in July, I haven't been tempted by her delectable cake. Well that 1 birthday, Kaleb West Cunningham who made 5 on July 16th, was celebrated a tad bit late. We had his cake yesterday. At first I passed on the cake, but everybody kept saying that it was one MaGen's best cakes so I had a teeny tiny bite, and I must say it was amazing. I'm not even feeling guilty about it. Sorry not sorry.


Enjoy the rest of your Sunday,

E

Chris: Only a Week Left (8.2.13)

I know, I know.....this is my 1st post since Monday. Sorry about that, but it has been a pretty uneventful week, and I didn't want to bore y'all with words for the sake of posting a blog entry. Quick recap.....Ericka and I went to see Wolverine on Tuesday. Four words - Don't waste your time. We went to the movies since my parents were watching Deuce this week and the lineup for the movie theater was pretty unimpressive, so we settled on Wolverine. That was one of the worst movies I've seen in the last year, but I am a pretty harsh critic. However, the plot was horrible and action wasn't very entertaining but I digress. Wednesday, I had my bowling league and Thursday I had a work dinner to attend. Needless to say, I didn't workout Tuesday - Thursday.

But today was a good day. I knew I needed to get a good run in today in order to set the tone for the weekend, and to put me in a good spot to reach my 300 minute exercise goal for the week. So, I jogged for 25 minutes and walked for about 5 minutes in 90 degree weather this evening to put me at 150 minutes for this week so far. We plan on hitting the gym tomorrow, and I have a 9:30 am tee time on Sunday with a couple of friends. I've lost about 5 or so pounds since starting our 1st 30 day challenge. However, it's how I feel that has been really noticeable to me. I have more energy throughout the day and just feel better in general. Also, my clothes are fitting much better and are becoming loose, which is always a great feeling.

I promise I'll get back on my blog grind this weekend, lol.

Ericka: Can't Get Right (8.1.13)

Let's start with Tuesday evening. You already know I didn't go to my Tabata class, because I accidentally got there a half an hour late. The plan was supposed to be to go workout after work, but Chris and I decided to go see "The Wolverine".  Please indulge me as go I into fangirl/geek mode. I love the X-Men franchise. I became a big fan as a kid when Fox aired the animated series on Saturday mornings. So of course when they turned the comic books into a movie franchise, I was the first one in line. For the most part, the series has yet to disappoint. I must say the first X-Men movie was a bit slow, and Storm's hair was a mess, but it had a good message about tolerance. However I thoroughly enjoyed the subsequent movies including X-Men: First Class and X-Men Origins: Wolverine. I can't say the same for the latest Wolverine movie. While I never set the bar high for action movies, I did expect a bit more. There were cheesy one liners and cheesy music. The love story was a bit of a throw away, and I had to suspend disbelief a little too much. However, the action sequences were good. So I give it a C+. While it wasn't the best in the franchise, it also did not deter me from seeing future X-Men related movies.

Now back to business as usual. Wednesday was my second failed attempt at exercising. Yesterday's challenge was 1 minute wall sits every hour on the half hour. I only got to do 4, because I was in court all day yesterday. I almost asked the judge to let me use her chambers to complete my mission. Just kidding, kind of. The thought did cross my mind briefly. I assumed I'd be done with court no later than 3. Then I was going to go to the gym, grind it out a little bit before picking Chris up from work. I was also supposed to drop him off at the bowling alley and then head straight to Prairieville to see my babyface. However, I didn't finish up with court until after 6. Chris had to get to the bowling alley by 6:30 so he had to leave without me. Which meant I was stranded at work. Luckily my friend Tiff picked me up. So no workout on Wednesday.

This morning I got up and got a good 30 minutes in, and the plan was to go to lunchtime Tabata to cut down on my remaining minutes for the week. I double checked the time to make sure it was for 11:30 a. I got to the gym at 11:20, got dressed and then realized I forgot my tennis shoes! Really!?! Really!?! On my way out I ran into the hot girl in my class. She's perky, and fit and cute. She asked me "Where have you been?" I gave her a quick rundown about showing up late Tuesday and forgetting my shoes today. As I am debriefing her she disrobes. She doesn't turn around modestly, she doesn't look shy. She just whips her dress off over her head as if it was no big deal. And in truth it was no big deal. I mean what did she have to hide. I could already tell from when I've seen her in her workout clothes that she had a great body, but seeing it in all of its glory confirmed it. Honestly it didn't discourage me or make me jealous. It motivated me. So thank you hot girl for being so hot. As for today's challenge, yes, I've been doing 25 triceps dips every hour and I finished the wall sits I didn't get to do yesterday.

I'll give this exercise thing another chance tomorrow.

E

Oh I made a parfait for breakfast yesterday, and it came out better than store bought because the granola wasn't just on the top. I layered non-fat vanilla Greek yogurt with strawberries, granola and honey. I topped it off with almonds. Yummy

Ericka: Twerking Tuesday (7.30.13)

This morning I got back to my juicing! I had been on a juicing hiatus, because I accidentally went on a making groceries strike. This morning's concoction was mixed baby greens, mango, banana, raspberries, strawberries, almonds, non-fat vanilla Greek yogurt, honey and a little bit of cayenne pepper.

As you know, every day I have to do a different hourly challenge at work. When I got to work, my cohorts and I decided that triceps dips were a little too much to face after yesterday's push-ups so we decided to switch Tuesday and Thursday. Therefore we had to do 25 squats every hour. Jacqueline, who is ever the one upper, wanted to incorporate twerking somehow because she liked the sound of Twerking Tuesday. I don't know when it happened, but twerking a.k.a. popping a.k.a booty shaking has become somewhat of a phenomenon. I blame Miley for mainstreaming it. There are twerking classes in New York! Twerking has been a dance popular in the NO since the beginning of time. Okay maybe not that long ago but you get my drift. Artists like Big Freedia and Sissy Nobbie are bringing our style of music and dancing to the forefront, and it's kind of cool, but a part me wants to keep our thing, but I digress.

So to oblige her I decided that we will alternate regular squats with twerking squats every other hour. How do you do a twerking squat you ask? Well I tried different variations, but the one that created the most exertion of energy was the squat that involved what I like to call twerk knees (See Free Workouts:Keaira Lashae's r hip hop booty shaking workout). Basically you get into the squat position, alternate bringing each knee in while simultaneously turning your foot with your heel going out and make sure to pop your but OUT at the same time. Another variation is to squat and bring your knees in and out at the same time while popping. Now do that for 10 knees in and out, or 5 knees in and out on each side if you are alternating legs, then come up. That's 1 set. Do 4 sets like that and you have the twerk squat. It should work your thighs. 

The plan was to also take a Tabata class at lunch. I booked it over there only to learn upon arrival at 12:20 that class started at noon, not 12:30. I proceeded to turn around and go back to work. Yes I could have stayed and worked out, but the thought of getting on the elliptical or the treadmill without any music was depressing. I just can't. I'm already stationary. I need something to distract me from what I'm doing. Chris and I are going to workout together this evening to make up for my missed gym class.

And for your viewing pleasure here are the golden sisters' take on twerking:

Happy Twerking!

E

Chris: Puttin' In Work (7.29.13)

Mondays are by far the worst day of the week, I'm convinced. They start slow, the work day goes by slow, and the only thing you have to look forward to on Monday...............Is frickin Tuesday, are you kidding me. Anyways, Ericka and I slept by my parents' house last night since we dropped Deuce off, so we had to get up at the crack of dawn just to get back to NOLA at a decent time.

Now, as y'all know, I had to grind this past weekend to get to my 300 minutes of exercise, so since Deuce is by his grandparents, Ericka and I decided to put in some good work at the gym after work. We did an hour and a half worth of gym classes, including an ab workout and Tabata class. Afterwards, we put in a half hour of racquetball, so we finished with 2 hours of exercise on Monday, leaving us with only 3 hours left for the week. Now, I would like to get more than the 3 hours remaining, but with my bowling league on Wednesday and a work function on Thursday, it was important to grind today in order to put us in good position for the rest of the week. Our plan is to hit the gym hard tomorrow with at least an hour, but I am shooting for an hour and 30 minutes so we can leave no doubt about reaching our 300 goal. 

Last but certainly not least, I talked to my lil man, and he had a very eventful day. As normally the case, my parents bought him another toy (I think he gets at least 1 every time he's with them, lol), this time being a build-a-bear named Papa. What is it about your parents becoming grandparents???? I mean there is nothing my parents won't buy for Deuce or my two nieces, Madison & Sydney. It's crazy!!!! I had to get damn near straight A's in school to get a Nintendo game. And the grades were only part of it, let's not forget cutting the grass, vacuuming the carpet and the occasional baseboard cleaning while listening to my mom's favorite songs she liked to listen to while cleaning. All Deuce or my nieces have to say is that they like something, and my dad will get it, lmao. I'm ranting but it's cool seeing my parents' loving to put a smile on their faces. Well, that's about it for me. A very productive Monday.  

Ericka: Only 9 More Days (7.29.13)

It's the final countdown! Chris wants to add a day to the challenge so that our cheat days fall on the days we are in Houston visiting family. The jury is still out on that.

I started Monday with a bang. Every hour on the half hour I did 25 push ups for a total of 225 pushups. After for work I met up with Chris at the gym. We did a 45 minute Tabata Class and a 30 minute abs class. After that we played racquetball for 45 minutes. We didn't play an actual game; we just practiced, but it was still a good work. It's only Monday, and we already got in 120 minutes of exercise. Only 180 more minutes to go for the week. It was easier for us to put in a long day at the gym, because Chris' parents have Deuce for a couple days, because my mom had to go back to work and Deuce doesn't start school for another 2 weeks. Since they live in Prairieville, about an hour out without traffic, it would be a bit difficult to travel back and forth every day to exchange him.

I really miss my baby. It was weird not having him wake up and say "Good Morning Mommy" with the biggest grin on his face. It just melts my cold little heart. Since we won't see him for a couple of days, we decided to test out Google Hangout with him. I got to see my little face before going to bed.

No my baby doesn't wear glasses, but it would be too cute if he did. He's wearing his teddy bear's glasses; now he can stop putting mine on. Deuce got a kick out of the funny faces we were able to make using the hangouts animation.

Good night all,
E

Chris: 300!!! (7.28.13)

Well, I am excited to announce that I got 300 minutes of exercise in this week. I was at 200 minutes coming into today. After taking Deuce to church, in which Deuce repeatedly said "I wanna go bye bye" for the last 30 minutes of mass, I got home and went to work. I ran and walked for 55 minutes in the HEAT. That left me with 45 minutes remaining. So Ericka and I spent some time with Deuce and went visit Ericka's grandmother. We then headed to Baton Rouge to drop Deuce off by my parents. My dad and I decided to hit the driving range, and we hit balls for an hour, so that put me at approximately 315 minutes. Goal Accomplished.

Now is it me or is it hard as hell to enjoy Sundays? I remember during an internship one summer, I described Sunday to my roommates as a "24 hour countdown to Monday" lol. I think that is a pretty good description of how I approach Sundays, which is not good. I have tried to get out of that mindset for years, but it always creeps into my mind as soon as I wake up on Sunday.

In other news, the Saints started training camp this past weekend. FOOTBALL IS BACK!!!! Man, it's been the dog days of summer but football is right around the corner. I'm a huge Saints and LSU fan, and I feel like both teams are being overlooked going into this season. I think both teams are going to surprise the pundits. I've been told I'm an optimist when it comes to my sports teams, but I feel good about LSU this year.

Ericka: On the Run (7.28.13)

After yesterday's successful jog, I decided to incorporate jogging into today's workout. Well jogging outside is a lot harder than jogging on the track. I don't know if it was the heat, the street or what, but I was moving much slower and working a lot harder. I used the Run Double Couch 2 5K app and started on day 1. Excluding the warm-up and cool down, I had alternate jogging for 60 seconds and walking for 90 seconds for a total of 20 minutes. After 20 minutes, I decided to go for another 30 minutes of alternating jogging a block and walking a block. 50 minutes down. The last 15 minutes I really started to feel it, but then Jay-Z's "On the Run" came on. How apropos. Actually it came on like 5 times, because I accidentally put on repeat.

Then I came home, took a 10 minute break and did a dance warm up. 4 minutes. Followed by two 15 minute NTC workouts; one for arms and one for abs. 30 minutes. Total time 84 minutes which made 301 minutes for the week. Wooh chile, I'm tired, and I still took Deuce to a splash park.

Random thought/observation: Have you ever noticed how children literally squeal from excitement? When was the last time you go so excited about something that not only did you laugh, and maybe even scream, but to squeal too! I was mesmerized watching Deuce laugh and squeal with glee. Gotta love the kids! They really know how to enjoy life!

Deuce & Big Cousin Blake Jude

Happy Sunday and don't forget to enjoy life.

Ericka: Who Run the World...Girls (7.27.13)

Yes girls run the world! That's the title of my post not only because that song gave me the energy boost to push myself on the track, but also because Chris learned that very lesson the hard way. I'll get to the latter later.

This morning we went to the gym. Thankfully, we belong to a gym that has a daycare. We dropped Deuce off, and he didn't even look back. We met up with my friend Essie, because I wanted to get in some more racquetball lessons. Since Chris had been talking smack all week about how he could whoop Es, I let them play first so that there would be no excuses like "I was tired from my workout." So while they got it in, I decided to skip my usual elliptical workout and get on the indoor track. As you know, jogging is the bane of my existence, but it is such a great cardiovascular workout.  In the past, whenever I wanted to lose weight quickly, jogging produced the most efficient results. Nonetheless, I still hate it. It's not just a physical challenge, but a mental one as well. I remember way back in high school we had to do the mile every Friday, and we were supposed to do it in 10 minutes. I used to jog to a bush and wait it out then jump back in as if I did something. SMDH. I think one of my goals for the future is to do a half marathon.I think the longest I've ever jogged was an hour. After an hour I would wonder why I am doing this and just stop. 13 miles will definitely be a test of will.

Back to the track; 11 times around equaled a mile. I decided that I was going alternate jogging and walking for 20 minutes. When I jogged around the 1st time, I noticed a clock so I decided to time my laps. The first lap was a minute and 8 seconds and my walking laps were like a minute and a half. Then I jogged around again. About the 3rd jogging lap, I started to feel it and wanted to slow down, but then Beyonce came on & I said to myself "I run this track, the track does not run me." When I pushed it, I noticed I shaved some time off my lap. I kept pushing and pushing until I did a lap in 59 seconds. Every time I saw the clock, which was located at the home stretch, I pushed myself. Thank you clock, and thank you Beyonce.

Now back to Chris' thrashing. Like I said, he had been talking smack all week. He truly underestimated Es. She's short (Essie you are short just like me) and unassuming, if you don't know her. I was looking forward to the match, because beating Chris in a competitive sport has eluded me. Does air hockey count? Before I started my jog, I watched those 2 play for a little while. Chris was swinging and missing, running into walls and working while Es was cool as a cucumber. After a few minutes I saw where this was going, and I'm not going to lie, I got excited. I mean I was as giddy as a school girl. Jumping up and down and smiling from ear to ear. What does that say about me as a wife? Lol. I don't usually relish in Chris' failures, which are few and far between, but to watch him get his butt handed to him by a girl made my day. I felt like I was the one schooling him! I only watched for like 3 minutes and came back after my jog. When I got back, Chris was drenched in sweat while Essie was simply glowing. He only scored 1 point in 3 games. When Es wasn't in earshot he still talked a little smack until she admitted she actually took it easy on him.

Es then watched us play against each other a little while. Then I practiced rallying, my backhand and hitting off the back wall. Then Chris and I played again when he got back from his jog. Essie watched us again so she could give us pointers. While I lost 15-3, it was 3 points more than I have ever scored against him, and it was 2 more points than he scored against Es! I made him work for his points, especially game point. I am going to continue to practice until I am the one schooling him. Just kidding, not really. I do foresee this as a sport we can enjoy together though.

After that, we scooped Deuce up, which was about 2 hours after we dropped him off. He wanted to go swimming so we took him to the wade pool which only had 6 inches of water and a waterfall. He wanted to go to the big pool, but we forgot our swimsuits. We then enjoyed a nice lunch at Chipotle's, and then went home where Deuce and I proceeded to take a 3.5 hr nap on this glorious rainy overcast Saturday.

So all in all I say I got about 100 more minutes of exercise in, leaving me with 83 minutes for tomorrow.

I hope you all enjoyed your day as much as I did.

E

Chris: Finish Strong (7.27.13)

My post title says it all! I haven't had an eventful week, so I didn't want to bore y'all with mundane posts. So, just to recap, going into Friday, I had only had about 50 minutes of exercise. With bowling and other things popping up in the middle of the week, it's really hard to fit it in. But, I woke up Friday morning and did a 30 minute Nike Training workout routine. Also, I watched Deuce by myself since Ericka had a get together with her friends and I feel like I should get credit for at least an additional 30 minutes, lol. But I doubt Ericka will give me that.

So with only about 80 minutes worth of exercise in for the week, it was vital to put in work this morning at the gym. Ericka and I met up with her friend and former co-worker for some racquetball. Ericka told me she was really good so I talked a little trash just to make it interesting. We played 3 games and it's best to 15. Well...............I only scored 1 point in 3 games. In my defense, I play some tennis and I thought the two were very similar. But, they're not!! Needless to say, Ericka LOVED that I lost bad. She gets some weird sort of pleasure from watching me lose in sports, I don't know why though. Maybe she can explain it in her post later today. I am surely interested to find out. But outside of getting my @$$ handed to me, I must admit it was one helluva workout. I played for at least an hour and a half. Then I went run a mile and walked a half mile as a cool down. Deuce went to the gym's daycare center while we worked out, so we took him to the gym pool after picking him up. For those counting, that's a 120 minutes of exercise today for a grand total this week of 200 minutes. Damn, as I'm typing this, I realized that's still an hour and 40 minutes left.

But I feel like I'm getting results. I was told by someone at work yesterday that I looked like a lost some weight. That's always encouraging because it's normally very hard to see the weight loss yourself until it's very noticeable. So, that really made me feel good and served as a motivation to keep pushing. Well, until next time.

Ericka: Flashback Friday & THE MOVEMENT (7.26.13)

 I didn't post yesterday, because I didn't have anything to add because I didn't do anything. I know Whomp Whom Whomp. The plan was to workout and post for throwback Thursday, but now it's a Flashback Friday Post.

Let's state the obvious. Clearly I was smaller. I believe this photo was taken circa the summer after freshman year of college. Not only was I smaller, and that was after the freshman 15, well maybe 20lbs, had kicked in, but I was also tanner. I miss that tan. But let's further dissect this photo of me and my bestie Dr. B. Notice the awkward poses, the fauxberry purse, our gauche appearance, the look of naivete on our faces, and the matchy-matchy clothing. le sigh. I remember that summer well, and will forever look back on it fondly. While I miss being smaller, I am a tad bit more sophisticated, just a tad, and I have stepped up my street wear.

On to today. This morning I woke up, did a 4 minute dance warm-up and then did a 30 minute NTC workout. Deuce joined in on the fun and did his usual Rocky Workout Routine. Just 183 minutes to go!

I decided to give myself an extra challenge today. I told myself "Self, you are going to do 20 jumping jacks for every hour you are at work." So far I've done 3 sets of 20. The next set is coming up at 11:30 a. I then started recruiting my co-workers/work family/friends for life to join in on the MOVEMENT. At first I called it Fit Friday, but then Margaret K decided to call it Fit Forever, and we have to do it every day of the work week instead of just on Fridays. Jack kicked it up a notch and added a twist. Instead of just doing 20 jumping jacks we are going to do 25, and we are going to do a different exercise every day of the week.

Get Fit Crew

• Monday- 25 Push ups 
• Tuesday- 25 Tricep dips
• Wednesday- 1 minute Wall sits
• Thursday- 25 Squats
• Friday- Jumping Jacks

Join in on the movement!

   Happy Friday!

E

Chris: Time is at a premium (7.24.13)

There isn't enough time in the day. I didn't get in a workout yesterday, because we got home late after picking up Deuce and then getting a bite to eat. Then I woke up later than I wanted to, and I had to hustle to get to work at a decent time. It's Wednesday, so as you know, it's bowling league night!!!! While I enjoy it, it is not really feasible to work out afterwards, because I get home fairly late. As it stands, I only have 50 minutes of exercise this week, so I got to get on my grind the next few days and definitely have to get in about 2 hours on Saturday to hit 300 minutes for the week. I think I can do it..................rather, I KNOW I WILL do it!! I gotta get positive. I'm not gonna lie, I'm a getting a little frustrated. I haven't lost a pound in a week, HOWEVER I haven't gained a pound either. Guess I'll have to look at the glass half full, eh!?!?

Bowling Update: We entered this week in 3rd place. We have 4 weeks to go after today, and I must say after a strong performance by myself and my team, we have moved into 2nd place. My average has been steadily going up from an initial 124 to a 130 after about 12 weeks. Today, I rolled a 130, 164 and 159, surpassing my average twice in 3 games. I have really enjoyed joining the bowling league more than I thought. The team consists of me, my dad, my uncle, my cousin and my boy Mike. It's just cool to get together with the fellas and kick it for a couple of hours while bowling. Stay tuned for our bowling status next week.

Side Note: I think I'm going to hit up happy hour on Friday with a couple of friends. Nothing like unwinding after a long week of work with a couple of drinks. Anybody have any new, cool spots for happy hour in NOLA? Let me know. I've been hitting up Handsome Willy's last couple of times, but I may try to change it up. Alright, time to hit the sack. Later