Broody Hens

I decided in the early spring to bite the bullet and get some baby chicks. We had talked about it as a family, and decided that it would work well for us to raise chickens, and then have the eggs and the chickens to eat. We would know what we were eating, and we would know that the hens were happy and loved until we served them for dinner.
Raising chickens is fairly easy, but I did go from 8 chicks to 4 chickens pretty quickly. I lost 1 to my Chihuahua, 1 was a rooster (no roosters for me!) and 2 drowned in the cow trough. The 4 girls that survived have been amazing though. The kids walk around holding them, they're good, consistent layers and have overall great temperaments. We feed them from our hands and make them jump for treats (it's the only trick they know). They're so much fun, and I never thought I'd like chickens as much as I love these girls!
After spending 4 days in Oregon for Thanksgiving this past weekend, I came home to find that one of my hens has gone broody. I had to do a bunch of reading to find out exactly what that means, and what I should do about it. After doing a lot of reading, I think I'm going to give her a couple fertilized eggs to hatch. She's the sweetest of the 4 hens, and I think she'd be a great Mom, and I'm super excited to see the true process, that doesn't involve a feed store or an incubator. Love seeing nature at work!

My workouts are on hold until probably next week. I have walking pneumonia, more than likely due to not taking proper care of the vicious cold I had. It's definitely not fun, and not something I'd like to do again, but the antibiotics and such do seem to be working their magic, and for that I'm thankful. I'll be on them through this week, so I'm thinking that by Monday of next week, I should be able to be back at it, which is great, because I have a challenge group starting! Excited for the new group, and ready to be back at it!! I've got my mind back on the prize, and I have my motivating people in place for the days I don't want to work out. The first month is the hardest; after that it's second nature. Just need to get back to that point!

Beachbody Challenge - Day 28

I've been drinking Shakeology for almost an entire month?? On one hand, it seems like I've been drinking it forever. It's a normal part of my daily routine now. On the other hand, it seems like I just started! The results I'm seeing and feeling are definitely on the forever side though, and I'm so happy about that! Tomorrow I'm going to take some progress pictures, and I may even do a side by side comparison for y'all! I'm excited. I see the changes in my body, but it's always different when you see a picture of yourself.
I'm still not working out at full capacity. I'm coughing like a 72 year old smoker, and it's a crap shoot when I try to exercise. Some days I can make it through 20-30 minutes, other days I start coughing 10 minutes in. Regardless, my energy is low. I feel like I've been running at 50% for a month now, and I'm def tired of it! I guess it could be worse though. My doctor put me on preventative medicine because she's seeing this virus regularly turn into bronchitis and pneumonia, and luckily, I don't have either of those.
I hope this Veteran's Day finds you all happy and healthy, and working towards a stronger, healthier you!

Sniffle, Cough, UGH!

Do you exercise when you're sick? Does it depend on what type of sick you are?
I will normally work through most things. Not sure that's the right way, but it's been my way. I can't work through vomiting or nausea though. And this week, I've learned I can't work through coughing. It's making cardio quite challenging, to say the least. I'm trying to listen to my body, and I'm only doing floor exercises, stretching, etc, but I can't help but think that if I could really get my lungs working, maybe I'd cough out the rest of what's living in my chest and finally feel better!

And don't forget...we want to be strong and healthy. Not bony and frail. Get some peeps!

This Just In!

*THIS WEEK ONLY*
Order a challenge pack by Saturday November 3rd at midnight pacific time and get a FREE personal blender! This will come from me, separately from your challenge pack. Comment with a way for me to contact you for details! I've extended the start date of this challenge group, and you don't want to miss out!

Motivation...Where Is It?

Someone asked me the other day "how do you find the motivation to work out? It seems so easy for you!" HA! It's not always easy to work out, or eat right, especially when I'm surrounded by temptation! I struggle every.single.day. I have to make the decision to be a strong, healthy, skinny girl about 17,367,259 times a day, and that's only a slight exaggeration! But I know deep in my heart that I'm worth it. Having the body and health that I want is worth it. Being a good example for my children is worth it. Living to see my grandchildren is worth it. And being sexy naked is worth it! That's what motivates me, and depending on the day and the temptation, I pick one of those, and I pass up the temptation or I turn on the DVD. Today, it's not easy. And tomorrow might not be either. But it will get easy, and it will get normal, and in a few months I'll look back and wonder why I ever thought it was hard. I'll get there. And so will you. But it takes work. Anything worth having takes work. So let's do this! NO EXCUSES!

Beachbody Challenge - Day 12

Have you seen the movie "How Stella Got Her Groove Back"? It's a good movie...has nothing to do with my life or this post, but came to mind when I was thinking about posting tonight.
I only worked a half day today, which was fine since I worked a bajillion hours this week, and that meant I could come home and work out! Yes folks, I'm old, and I like to start my weekend with a nice sweat session :) As I type this, I can feel my body cramping up a bit. That's what I get for not working out this week, and that's ok. That means I worked out hard, and my body is kicking my fat's ass! I'll hit it hard again in the morning before I head out to work for a bit, and by then I should be nice and sore to go sit for a 3 hour tattoo session. Yes, the motto of this weekend is pain, and I'm going to love every minute of it!
Have you started planning your menu for next week yet? It's week 1 of my first challenge group that I'm running on my own, and I'm super excited! I have fun prizes planned and fun recipes to share! Speaking of, have you signed up yet?? You don't want to miss out!! Strong and sexy by Christmas, that's my goal :)
Speaking of menu planning, have you heard of Hungry Girl? I have gotten some YUMMY recipes from her, and they come right to my inbox every day. Can't be that! You should head over, sign up, and then sign up for my challenge group. You won't be sorry!

Struggling!

It's obviously hard to anticipate all of the things that will challenge us while we're trying to challenge ourselves to greatness. I anticipated things like laziness (let's just be honest!) and bad influences, but I didn't anticipate a crazy work schedule! Tuesday all hell broke loose at work, and I left in tears and completely overwhelmed. I went home, sat with my pups for about 30 minutes, and was in bed by 7pm. Wednesday (yesterday) I worked from 415am to 745pm. I went home and fell into bed so I could be back at work by 5am today. Needless to say, this schedule doesn't leave room for things like eating and exercising. So, I'm drinking my Shakeology and hoping that this weekend and next week will be better. I try to live by no excuses, but sometimes, there truly isn't enough time or energy left in a day. It doesn't mean you give up though, it means you try again tomorrow!!
In other news, my Beachbody Challenge starts MONDAY! Have you signed up yet and ordered your challenge pack? It's not too late!!! Let's all be strong and healthy on Christmas morning!!!