No Sugar Challenge

Today I joined with friends to ban sugar for the next month (April 12 - May 12).  I can have natural sugar like fruit, but can't have cookies, candy, cake, brownies, donuts, etc.  There is a financial penalty for each sugary treat I eat.  My goal is to stick it out.  I'm not sure that's possible.  I will be going through my cupboards and freezer tonight and throwing out anything that could tempt me.

Please help me out by not tempting me with yummy treats!  I should ask the guys at Blimpies to help me out too... Lately whenever I've wanted a treat, I've been stopping by my local Blimpies and purchasing one of those really delicious soft frosted sugar cookies with sprinkles.  Definitely worth the 63 cents.  Maybe I can ask them not to sell me any more cookies.

Here's to a good month with no cheating!

I BEAT PETE!!!!

As I was driving down to this morning's Beat Coach Pete race, I was thinking about the title of my blog post (I know, I'm a dork).  I decided on the title "I May Never Beat Pete" with a first line of my post saying "... but I'll keep trying!"

Well, as you can see from the title of this post, I BEAT PETE! :-)  As I started the race, I couldn't see Pete at all, and I really had no hopes of ever seeing him during the race.  In previous years, you had to finish in under 27 minutes to beat Coach Pete.  I was pretty happy with my time earlier this week (I did a practice 5k on the treadmill) of 28:30.... But around the 1/2 mile point, Coach Pete came into view!  I was kind of excited, thinking I could keep the pace I was at, and if I could just keep Coach Pete in my sights, I might just be able to pull in front of him.  So that's what I did - I kept him in my sights.  I got closer and closer until we were only about 5 feet apart.  That's when he decided to get a drink from the water station and I ran right past him!  I was able to stay in front of him for the remainder of the race and finished with my personal best 5k time - 26:13.

I'm happy to add this "I Beat Pete!" shirt to my collection of "I'll Beat Pete Next Year" shirts :-)

Half Price Costa Gift Cards

My coworker Mandy forwarded me this deal today... but it's only good through the end of day today.  Get a $10 Costa Vida gift card for only $5!!

Boise Rec Fest

I wanted to share about an exciting event coming this summer - the Boise Rec Fest!  The Boise Rec Fest is a festival about all things recreation and will hopefully help fill the void left by the River Festival.  Anybody who lives in and loves Boise knows how important recreation is to this community... skiing, mountain biking, walking on the greenbelt, river rafting, recreational sports such as soccer or tennis, frisbee, fishing, etc.  The list goes on and on.  Well the Boise Rec Fest should encompass all of these things with exhibitors, workshops, demonstrations, exhibition games, and more.

The Boise Rec Fest will be held in Ann Morrison Park on June 26-27.  There will be activities such as disc golf lessons, fly fishing demonstrations, a rock climbing wall, bicycle maintenance workshops, etc.  I am really looking forward to it.  Part of my passion for the event comes in the fact that I am involved on the Leadership Team as the Exhibit Director.  I oversee all the back end communication with the exhibitors, including creation of the exhibitor manual, processing payment and creating invoices for booth space, coordinating tent/table/chair needs, making sure that park and event rules are communicated to the exhibitors, oversight of the move-in/move-out process, etc.  I am enjoying myself and learning a lot and am happy to be part of this exciting event.

I'll probably talk more about the Rec Fest as the event gets closer, but I hope you'll all mark your calendars now and plan to attend!  Here is the official Rec Fest poster created by Ward Hooper:

And here is the poster on a wall mural downtown at 8th and Main - the wall blocking the famous "hole".

Boise

I purchased this card at Ward Hooper's gallery when I attended the First Thursday event.  I thought the image was great :-)

Yoga Master

Okay, maybe I'm not quite a yoga master since I've only been taking classes now for three months, but I'm sure enjoying the classes a lot more than I thought I would!  You might remember that I tried yoga a couple years ago, but that was short-lived.  I'm liking this class a lot better - the teacher isn't as kooky and I feel like I'm getting more of a stretch/strength workout than just contorting my body into awkward positions.  One of the fun things is that several of the weeks I have been the only person in the class, so it's like getting a private yoga lesson... for $6.50 an hour!  Because of that, the instructor has been able to tailor the class a little bit more to my level.  Yea for me.  But that doesn't work out so well for my instructor.  I feel bad because I really like her classes, but she just hasn't had time to market to get more people to her class.  She ended up getting a job at a couple other gyms teaching yoga, so we're just going to finish out my last three classes that I have already paid for and then I'm done.  I could follow her to the gyms she is teaching at, but that would require paying their membership or higher class fees, so I think I'm out.  Bummer.  I'm thinking about getting a yoga DVD and then trying it on my own.  We'll see how that goes!

Here's a picture of me in tree pose for your enjoyment :-)

We are the Biggest Losers!

In January I received an email that some people in the Financial Aid office at Boise State were organizing a 12-week Biggest Loser competition.  I was already working toward a goal of my own to be healthier and lose some weight, so of course I jumped at the chance to participate in the competition.  I bought in to three categories - % weight lost, inches lost, and % body fat lost.

Friday was the last day of the competition and the results are in...  I lost 17.1 pounds in 12 weeks and took first place in the % weight lost category!  I also took first in the % body fat lost - down 5.2%.

I was also so proud of my friend (and boss) Kris.  She has been going to bootcamp with me since November... she took 1st in the inches lost category and 2nd place in the other two categories.

To celebrate, Kris and I went shopping at White House Black Market and took our trainer Brandee out to dinner at Bonefish.  We enjoyed a shrimp appetizer, salmon and fish tacos for dinner, and even splurged by splitting key lime pie for dessert. 

I have really loved working out with Brandee - her coaching has truly helped me to become a healthier person.  I am making better choices (most of the time) when it comes to food, and am making time to exercise.  I have not only lost weight, but I have gained quite a bit of muscle.  I am stronger and am working on getting more toned.  I also love that I am now at a healthy body fat percentage.  I know it's only been a few months since I started training with Brandee, but I feel that I have truly made a lifestyle change, and am looking forward to many more years of healthy living!