A Moment of Silence Please

Today...is a grave day... we will forever mourn the loss of Maddy's capability to hike/run/use her foot a lot these past 2 days...

Yet Maddy, like the brave young soldier she is, presses on. Ever stalwart in her goals. Although her foot may have abandoned her in her time of need. The rest of her muscles have not and so we continue individually but ever united in our exercise efforts whilst this tragedy attempts to resolve itself.



translation: Maddy bruised the ball of her foot so she could not hike or visit the gym. We had to exercise separately. I continued with the hiking plan and she resigned herself to various ab and arm workouts. Have no fear however. We have not slacked in our exercise. Merely changed it to avoid damaging ourselves further. We will lose that weight. Nothing will stand in our way.

Cooking Time! dedicated to Cheyanne Boyer

I Got a delicious waffle recipe from a good friend via Facebook and we just had to try it out.
Since it is Maddy and I, we had to make a party out of it...
so here's the recipe:
1 cup oats
1 banana
2 eggs

mix it all together till there are no banana lumps anymore. Throw it in a waffle iron and Voila! delicious, nutricious waffles

as a topping of our own design we decided to chop fresh strawberries over the top then drizzle honey over it all.

we documented our cooking adventure party with pictures for your enjoyment....

of course we started with a cup of water...






Katie helped us out a bit with the waffle iron...I guess we had to be smarter than the equipment...

Thank you Kaya Hartley :)

Here is a recipe given to me by Kaya Hartley which I was very excited to try...


Although, due to lack of ingredients I made a few of my own healthy changes...I removed the cheese since I did not have any on hand, replaced toasted almonds with chopped cashews and, due to a Red Wine Vinaigrette deficiency I decided to improvise a dressing. It took 2 tries and one...not so delicious...salad to get it right.
<--- this is try number one. (dressing: oil, Red Wine Vinegar, and a bit of pepper)



Try number two was much more successful. I used the same Red Wine Vinegar and Oil combination but this time around, rather than pepper I tried a small bit of honey drizzled over the top and then thoroughly mixed in till everything was lightly covered.


I love this salad now for when I crave something sweet (like today). Thank you Kaya! I will be trying a healthy waffle recipe from Cheyenne Boyer next!

For Love of Short Shorts

Ahhh... If only I had lived back then. I wouldn't be in this predicament now.

Anyhow, lets take a look at how it got this bad.

My mom always told me an interesting phrase, "Eat to Live, Don't Live to Eat." I realize now that this wasn't what I was doing. In high school I was at my lowest weight, mostly because as a cheerleader and dancer, I worked out for hours each day and didn't have much time to eat. However, with college came a severe lifestyle change. Exercise just wasn't a priority in a whirlwind of part-time jobs, dating, difficult academics, and just plain learning to live on your own. I have never been a good cook, due to my inattention to detail and because of my busy schedule. So I often ate fast food or instant food, compounding the problem. I have always been a yo-yo dieter. I've lost 11 pounds in one week, 15 in two weeks another time, but it never stayed, just the way my emotions didn't stay the same. While I wouldn't consider myself an emotional eater, I think that I often rewarded myself with food. I thought I deserved it for all the hard work I was putting in. That isn't wasn't fair that I had to try ALL the time. This was my thinking folly. I just didn't understand.

Good tasting food does not equal happiness.

Since I've starting this diet (4 days ago) I have never been happier! Instead of feeling like I'm putting in more work, I just feel like I'm accomplishing more all the time! I don't feel like I'm missing out at all. I love this diet and I love doing in with Sarah Dickson! She always keeps me in line! And its been working :) 6 pounds in 4 days! We can do this. It's happening.

Love,
Maddy

Progress Report

Weigh in time!!
Maddy: 149 (5 POUNDS!!!!)
Sarah: 158 (6 POUNDS!!!!)

Our adversaries saw us at the gym today and they laughed. Little did they know, we've already made a good start. We just smiled and said hello...and then proceeded to check them out when they turned their back. Just kidding. Sort of. Yet we shall not be distracted. Their condescending "September 1st ladies..." reminder only managed to renew our motivation.


Thanks to my sister we have found a beginner's training plan for a 5k. http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif

We have implemented this program as our warm up routine for every Gym visit. following our 30 minute cardio warm up, we proceed to strength training.

wish us luck!


love,
Sarah and Maddy

PS. any tasty recipe ideas you have for us we will try and then review on our blog for you :)

hell I just want a cookie...er...I mean, salad...

It's only day two and I'm starting to feel the strain. Every step I take, my legs renounce all their love for me.
I do stay on the diet fairly well however. I enjoy finding foods that are tasty and within my regulations. Here's one particular salad that I have found very pleasing...

Natural Directions organic spring mix
chopped carrot
chopped celery
chopped whatever vegetable we have around...
2 shots of rice vinegar
1 shot of olive oil
dash of lemon pepper.

throw it all together in a bowl. Add half a can of tuna or maybe a hardboiled egg for some protein if you are in the mood. sprinkle the lemon pepper on top then add the vinegar.

and there you have it. Simple, easy, and surprisingly tasty :)

The need to just shove a cookie down my throat or eat that day old donut sitting on our table is ever present for me yet I press on. So help me god I will make healthy equal tasty if it kills me.

Love,
Sarah

Game Plan

Just to give you guys an idea of where we are starting. This is us now...

Maddy:
height- 5'6"
weight-154lbs


Sarah:
height-5'7"
weight-164


as you can see we are hardly "fat". Merely...out of shape. Or well, we are a shape if you consider round a shape...

in order to reach our rather...lofty goal (dang you boys/pride/overexcited mouth) we have set a rather strict regime:

Diet
no sugar
no fast food
no fried foods
no white flour, pasta, or rice
no added salt (aka table salt or salted corn chips)
no red meats

7 cups of water a day (at the least)
1 cup of water required to drink before starting any meal

exercise plan
Monday: 10am Gym trip. 1 hour
Tuesday: 8:30 to 10:00 dance crew followed by 30 minute extra workout
Wednesday: 10am Gym time
Thursday: Dance Crew followed again by 30 minute extra workout
Friday: 10am Gym time
Saturday: no planned excersize. "Day off" woohoo
Sunday: outdoor adventure (hiking, biking, horseback riding, running, etc)

changes to said workout plan will be made accordingly as time goes on...