So, you’d think someone that writes a fitness blog would be pretty confident that they could pass a fitness test… especially if the fitness test wasn’t actually graded…lol.

For my pilates class at school, we were told we were doing a fitness test on Thursday and at the end of the semester so we could see if we improved at all. As soon as I heard the word “pushups”, I was shaking in my Soffe shorts.

I of course had to find the weirdest image available to go along with that last statement…

So we started off with some stretch tests. Easy like freshman at a frat party. And then came the pushups. I think I was just nervous because I suck at military style pushups, but our instructors said we could do them bitch style (on our knees) if we wanted. Most people if the room chose this style, and I definitely prefered it as well. Even if it makes me a puss. We were only allowed to do them until our tempo slowed, so I was able to knock out 25. And then we saw how many roll up crunches we could do in a minute (41) and some more stretch tests. Why was I afraid of this thing again?

Anyway, I’m super happy because I was able to find 90% of my textbooks for this semester at the library. Obvi, I’m a cheap ass.

But hey, if I save money on my textbooks, it means that I could properly fund the “get rid of all of the clothes I own and replace them with an entire wardrobe from the Gap” project. Or you know, get a couch for my apartment. Not that the big pillows currently on the floor aren’t an excellent alternative.

I’m working til 1 and then going to the gym with Tom. Weeeeeeeee!

Have a great weekend,

Lexie

An evening post? How awkward.

I feel like since vacation, I haven’t exactly fallen off the health wagon, but I’ve seemed to have forgot how to say no to temptations. And it’s not like I’ve exactly gone out of my way to indulge, but I’ve taken advantage of the things that are around me. For one thing, for freshman move in, there has been free pop (soda), pizza, and icecream down in the quad beside my work building. I’ve taken advantage of that for 3 days in a row. There have also been donuts and cookies at work that I’ve indulged in, where normally I don’t think I would have. Nonetheless, I’ve definitely had a healthy breakfast and dinner for the past week, it’s just been outside of the house that I’ve been struggling.

I’ve skipped my workout two days in a row, I think probably because I was feeling down after a not-so-successful run on Tuesday and another one on Sunday. I’ve definitely felt sort of defeated by the fact that the gym isn’t open. Luckily now that school has started, that’s changed.

At the beginning of last week, I fortunately got an e-mail asking if I’d accept a review copy of Caitlin Boyle’s Operation Beautiful.

Um, duh!

It arrived two days later and I finished reading it the next morning. It was exactly the kind of pick me up I needed out of this rut that I’m in. But now that I’ve said the mushy stuff, I want to give it a “professional” review.

A fan of the idea of Operation Beautiul, I wondered what the book was going to offer. When I noticed the book contained a large percentage of personal stories written by people other than Boyle, I was kind of thinking, “Oh, well Boyle didn’t even write most of this book!” But after reading the book, this makes perfect sense. What’s the use in just seeing how this impacts one person’s life? I appreciate the fact that Boyle removes herself from the book a lot in favor of other people’s personal stories because it show that the movement is bigger than the person that started it. It shows the selflessness of the movement.

The book is bound to be imfortative for those that have tried and failed on fad diets and weight loss plans. Those that are already on a path to a healthy lifestyle can still benefit from the book though. It’s not a book that’s about what to eat or what work out to do, which is refreshing.

And let me admit, that I’m not really a fan of ”overly feel good” type things, so a part of me questioned whether I’d like this. But even I, cold hearted bitch that I am, found myself actually crying during one person’s story.

I also was concerned that this book would encourage the “fat acceptance movement.” I’ve said before that I think people of all sizes are beautiful, but there comes a point where your size can make you unhealthy. I think the book does a pretty decent job of promoting health over size acceptance, while still maintaining the feel-goodness of it all. Regardless of your size or appearance, you will walk away from the book feeling better than before you started it.

So there you have it.

Workout:

This morning’s workout was a brief 15 minute treadmill workout. I did a mile in 11 minutes and 40 seconds with a brief walk break. I had to stop after 15 minutes because of how thirsty I was. I drank a lot of water before I went to the gym, but failed to take any water with me. Anyway, I thought I might get in a little workout in my pilates class today, but we just basically went over the class rules and left. Oh wells!

Have a great night dearies!

Lexie

Ahoy!

Today is my first day of school as a senior in college!

I started my morning off early at 7 AM to play with Margaret Thatcher (my chinchilla). I then met my friends at Chatham to work out. Chatham has much nicer gym equipment at Pitt. It’s also closer to my apartment this year. I ran about 2.25 miles with 2 walk breaks.

This semester I’m going to be taking between 15-16 credits (I haven’t quite finalized my schedule, lol). I’m also working two nights a week at the Pitt News and working 12 hours a week at disability services. I also have a writing internship with my friend Lindsey’s wellness consultation company, the Real You Nutrition. So basically, you’ll understand if you don’t see me around as often as in the summer.

Tomorrow I will have a fab book review for you, and I’ll also talk about how I fell off the health wagon (kinda).

And for your entertainment, here’s a picture of me laying on the ground at a bar after attempting to compete in a pushup contest. Obvi I need to work on my push up skills.

Ahoy!

As I’m sure you know, season 2 of Jersey Shore currently airs on Thursdays on MTV. Whether you love the show or hate the show, you have to admit one thing:

Sammi Sweetheart looks bangin’.

From Life & Style:

Jersey Shore’s Sammi “Sweetheart” Giancola gives Life & Style the skinny on how she shed the bloat while still partying up a storm down in Miami for Season 2 of the hit MTV show. “I just changed my diet, and the next thing you know the pounds just came off,” Sammi tells Life & Style. The reality star, photographed here exclusively for Life & Style, lost a whopping 15 pounds — without missing out on any of the fun. The first order of business: cutting out the carbs. “I miss it like crazy, but I don’t eat pasta anymore,” she tells Life & Style. “I eat my vegetables and try to stay healthy.”
Sammi also worked off the extra partying calories with an intensive cardio routine. “I do soccer drills — I jog a lap, then sprint, jog the rest of the way, then sprint again,” she says.
“You have to look good in Miami because beautiful people are everywhere you look! You don’t want to turn into a slob,” Sammi tells Life & Style. And to finish off her new beach-ready look? The gals’ version of the Jersey Shore guys’ mantra, GTL (gym, tanning, laundry): “HNT — hair, nails, tan!” she cheers.

How precious. My guess is, girl ate a lot of pasta, because if I stopped eating pasta, I wouldn’t see such dramatic results. Then again I’m not Italian. I’m French. Bring on the cheese.

What is your favorite celebrity weight loss story? I think I’m going to have to go with Drew Barrymore. I never found her attractive until recently. She’s getting so much better with age.

Workout:

Yesterday’s workout was an outdoor run through Squirrel Hill with Tom. The first part of the run was all uphill. Kill me. Anyway, yesterday really wasn’t my best run. I was pretty down on myself afterwards, but I guess all runs can’t be good runs. I’m sort of anxious for the gyms to reopen, 1) so I can start resuming my pullups and 2) so I can run on a treadmill again. I find running on a treadmill so much more motivating, especially since I don’t have a garmin. However, I definitely think running on hills is important, too.

30 Days of Insight

Day 12- Your favorite musical artist’s life story. WTF, seriously? I don’t think so. I don’t even have a favorite musical artist….

Day 13- A memory that never fails to make you laugh. My little brother used to play Barbies with us when we were younger. He was probably only about 3 or 4 years old at the time, but he dressed his Barbie up in this huge ball gown and walkedher  up to Maddie and my Barbies. “Do you think I’m beautiful?” he asked in a girl voice. “NO!” barked my Barbie. Brad walked his Barbie away slowly and had her sulking and in a soft voice, “I just wanted to know if you liked me…” It was so random, and so funny. We still all laugh about it.

Have a great day guys,

There’s a chill in the air in Pittsburgh…and I love it!

Fall is my absolute favorite season.

I love being cuddled in a blanket, so yesterday I busted one out and layed on the floor to watch Family Guy (we still don’t have a couch). BIG mistake.

I ended up falling alseep from 7:30-9:30. So much for my run…

But you know what? Because I missed my run yesterday, I absolutely cannot wait for my run today. And I’m going to need it. They are handing out free pizza in the quad at my school for freshman move in, and even a health conscious person like me is not insane enough to pass up free pizza. Come to papa, pizza.

30 days of insight:

Day 10- A dream you had this past week described in detail. (I’m skipping this one until I have a good one)

Day 11- Favorite picture ever taken of yourself. This is a hard one, because I’m extremely attractive and photogenic.

This was a picture of me taken before my senior prom. This was my favorite dress, my favorite flowers, my favorite updo, and well, my original hair color!

I think everyone should post their favorite pictures in their next posts! Yinz are soooo shecksy.

I’ve been procrastinating on today’s post for a while now.

But here it is!

Workout:

Last night I went for a run in my pretty little neighborhood, Squirrel Hill. I don’t have a Garmin or anything. No. I have to track my runs much more ghetto-ly than that. I did it by measuring the length of the songs I listened to on my iPod (which may or may not have been songs from the Titanic soundtrack) and Map My Run. I went about 2 miles in 22 minutes. Shibby!

I had never used Map My Run before, but it worked pretty well I think. I should probably map out the run beforehand so that I can be sure to run the distance goal I have in mind.

How do you track your runs? Or don’t you track them?

And in honor of last night’s season premier of Keeping up with the Kardashians, I’m curious to know…

Which Kardashian are you?

I’m definitely the Khloe of my family. Basically, I’m the funniest one and I’m also really inappropriate. Oh, and I have the smallest boobs. lol.

Have a great evening everyone,

If you missed my Punta Cana recap, check it out.

Also, I’m still titling my posts like episode titles of the show Friends. You’re still welcome.

Remember in Charlotte’s Web where Templeton eats all the garbage at the state fair?

Yeah, that’s how I feel about yesterday. Haha. I seem to still be eating like I’m on vacation, and I need to get a handle on that.

Workout:

So because the campus gyms are closed until the semester starts, I’ve had to take advantage of no gym workouts. So I was contemplating what to do on Friday when I remembered Jillian Michaels No More Trouble Zones. I hadn’t done the video in probably a month, so I thought it would be a nice change of pace. Oh, and Tom agreed to do it with me. I was so excited. He always gave me the impression that he thought my videos didn’t count as a strength training workout because the weights I use are too light, so imagine my delight whenever he had to switch to lighter weights before the first circuit was even over. Booyah, Tom.

Anyway, I’m still sore from that workout! And by sore, I mean I can barely walk. Although I did walk yesterday with Nana (my family’s dog, not my grandma). I was feeling a little antsy, so I decided to run with her. It felt great. Although I still can barely walk.

I’m a little behind on the 30 days of insight:

Day 9, 5 things you want to see change:

• the obesity epidemic in the United States
• my likelihood of finding a job in my field after college (lol)
• the number on my scale (I’d like it to go down, haha)
• my weekly running mileage (I’d like it to go up)
• the amount of money in my bank account (I want there to be more!)

Okay, those were really hard to think of.

What are your tips for me to switch off my vacation mode eating?

What are your tips for reducing soreness?
I’ve heard that bananas help with soreness.

Have a fab Sunday,

I decided I’m going to start titling my blog posts like titles of Friends’ episodes. You’re welcome.

So now I present to you my Punta Cana recap.

This was my first time flying and I loooooved it. I wasn’t scared at all.

The resort we stayed at was the Majestic Colonial. Interesting fact? The bathrooms in the hotel rooms are open. No walls. Luckily Tom and I had our own room or this would have been super awkward.

I don’t have any cool pictures of food because for the majority of the trip, we ate at a buffet. Gross. I know. At first we were all really impressed by the buffet. It seemed really nice and elegant. After eating there 3 times a day, it gets old. Despite no cool pictures of food…

You know that’s the coolest looking drink ever. Actually, if you’ve had a cooler looking drink than that, I’m going to need to see it.

Also on the menu were orange slushies with rum. These basically tasted like cream sicles and I had to make sure to not have more than one per day because they were so delicious.

On Friday we took a bus trip to Santo Domingo. This was one of the cathedrals we saw on the way.

We also stopped at this cave that had the prettiest, bluest water in it.

And finally, in Santo Domingo, we went to the first church in the  Americas.

That’s Christopher Colombus btw.

The pool at the resort was amazing.

And right before that picture, those parrots were on my head. This photographer and resort employee walked around with them and took pictures of you holding them and stuff. I didn’t want to hold them, so as I was laying in my lounge chair, they came over and put them on my head.

I was also laying with my eyes closed the one day when I hear some man say “Don’t move.” I opened my eyes to the guy trying to put a huuuuge iguana on me. He ended up making me take a bunch of pictures with it, including on top of my head. I of course didn’t buy the pictures because I’m cheap smart with money.

My favorite part of Punta Cana had to be the beaches. The sand was super soft and silky. The ocean was clear. I’ve never been in clear ocean water before, so it was pretty amazing to me.

And this was where Tom proposed to me:

LOL JUST KIDDING. I’m too young to be engaged!

When I was walking on the beach one day with Tom, I told him it looked like Apocolypse Now.

As it turns out, parts of the movie were filmed in the Dominican Republic! I’m so smart

My workouts on vacation were less than I’d imagined. I went to the gym at 7AM the one day, only to find that the treadmills were in Spanish and the metric system. I tried to run anyway, but it seriously kept shutting off on me after a few minutes. I probably ran about 15 minutes before I gave up. I tried the elliptical too but couldn’t figure out how to change any of the Spanish settings. lol. I definitely was sweating though because the gym was one of the few places that wasn’t air conditioned. WHY WHY WHY!!!! So the gym didn’t happen again after that, so my only other “workouts” were walking on the beach or swimming. This paired with thousands of buffet meals could explain the bloat I’m currently feeling….ugh.

And as the title says, unfortunately Tom was sick for a lot of the vacation. We think maybe he ate some bad shellfish or accidently swallowed some of his shower water. Poor little guy

I’m so glad that I can now say that I’ve been out of the USA and on an airplane. I’m also really grateful to have been invited to go with Tom and his family on vacation. It was worth the couple of pounds I think I gained!

Lesson: whenever you’re in Punta Cana, eat like and drink like you’re in Punta Cana. Except not the water unless it’s bottled. And not the shellfish, cause you might get sick like Tom.

Have a great day everyone,

I prewrote and set this post to publish on August 12. Apparently I’m a ruh-tard and didn’t do it right, so I’m going to publish it now until I can get my Punta Cana pictures on my computer. I had also asked my sisters to update the blog a few times while I was gone, thinking it’d be a nice change for you guys to hear from them. That didn’t happen either I guess. I truly wish I could have blogged on vacation, but the internet there cost $5 for every half hour! I can’t wait to see what you’ve all been up to, and I will have a fabulous PUNTA CANA RECAP for you tomorrow!

Lexie is currently away from her computer (Derrick) because she is here:

She very cleverly wrote this post ahead of time to publish the day after she leaves because she loves you all soooo much and because she is an attention whore that never shuts up.

So as you’ve probably noticed, everyone is in freak mode about the following gap advertisement:

Put some pants on! Because we can’t all look good in shorts.

The Huffington post did a story on it questioning whether the gap ad was offensive or clever.

I’m going to go with clever…

This actually reminds me a lot of the Urban Outfitter’s “Eat Less” shirt that sparked some controversy.

I thought that people severly overreacted to that shirt, just like they are overreacting to that ad.

The ad really isn’t trying to give people horrible self esteem problems, it’s just supposed to be funny. And quite frankly, even if I did have a self esteem problem, I wouldn’t find this to be any more emotionally triggering than I would find the majority of product advertisments with models that look better than I do.

Seriously, that’s what you whiners sound like. And be truthful, not all of us DO look good in shorts… but that doesn’t stop us from wearing them.

I know I may sound insensitive, but I often find the blog world over sensitive. I think it’s good to promote positive self image, but we don’t always have to take ourselves so seriously. That gap ad was funny!

Did you take offense to the gap ad?

30 Days of insight:

Day 08- Someone you think would make a good president. Michael Polan. He is my hero afterall.

Love ya,

The time has come, my dears.

Tomorrow I will, for the first time:

• board an airplane
• travel to another country
• and stay in an all inclusive resort

I’m going to Punta Cana in the Dominican Republic with Tom and his family!!!

My original plan was to blog while on vacation. Tom, however, thinks it’s too risky to be taking my new laptop (Derrick) with me. And you know what?

Tom usually knows best. Usually.

Plus, internet might cost extra.

So I will reluctantly leave Derrick at home and relinquish my blog password to my sisters, hoping that they might find it in their hearts to entertain you all in my absense.

Let’s address being healthy on vacation. First things first, if Punta Cana isn’t a splurge occasion, I’m not sure what is. Nonetheless, everyone warned me that I should fast beforehand to make up for the 10 pounds I’m going to gain while I’m there. Yeah… I don’t really want to do that. That being said, here is my game plan:

• I’ve seen pictures of the resort and know there is a fitness facility. If all goes according to plan and I’m able to access that, it’d be nice to use it about 3 times during the week.
• Load up on fruits and veggies.
• Not tooooo much alcohol.
• Just keep swimming, just keep swimming.
• If I’m going to lounge in the sun all day, adjust calorie intake accordingly.

So cha, it’s not the greatest most insightful game plan, but since this is my first trip out of the country I really don’t want to restrict myself too much.

Also, why did shark week have to be on right before I’m going to the beach?

*Faints*

To continue on my 30 days of insight:

Day 06- Earliest thing you can remember: I have memories before I was 3 years old. I know because my little sister wasn’t around you. I have very vivid memories of living in my families old house in Ohio. Whenever I would wake up in the middle of the night, I remember walking around to the other side of my parent’s bed to wake my dad up instead of my mom. He was always much friendlier to wake up :-p

What other countries have you been to?

I’ll miss you, boos.