4 Weeks, 4% Challenge

It's February!  I love new starts.  They are a great time to evaluate your goals.  How have your health and fitness goals been going since January 1? 

Mine, not so well.  While I really had an itch to compete in a competition in March, I have not been mentally focused enough to go through with competition prep.  (Part of the reason is my future life UN-plans; my mind is just somewhere else.)

Recently, I have been following the FB page of The Anti-Jared. 

He has lost over 200 pounds, and I really like his posts.  Most are real-life inspirational (none of this "Aim to Fly High and You Will Soar" bullshit) and he puts priorities on non-scale victories (NSV), which are just as important (if not more) than seeing the number drop on the scale. 

He recently had a post about the Dietbet

It's a weight-loss challenge to lose 4% of body weight in 4 weeks. So, as he explains, if you weigh 200 lbs, by the end of February you should lose 8 lbs.  It's a pretty attainable goal.  You can participate in his challenge (a $50 entry fee, and if you attain the goal, you can split the pot with others who have also accomplished their 4%) if you want. 

I am going to do this challenge on a personal level.  One of my new year's goals was to stay within 5-7 pounds of my competition weight.  But I have failed.  So 4% would put me back into that range.   

I also have a NSV I would like to achieve.  After watching a video of IFBB Bikini Pro Brittany Tacy rock out a bazillion pull ups, my new goal is to do 1 UNASSISTED PULL UP!



I have NONE! NIL! ZIP! ZERO! upper body strength.



Don't let those muscles fool you; I can get lean and toned, but building muscle is hard for me. While I can hold on with death grip to the pull up handles, I can't really move more than an inch. 

I will post some workouts and recipes as I go through out the month.

If you so feel inclined, I ask that you follow with me, and if you don't need to lose weight, make a NSV for yourself; clean dinner 3x/week, bringing lunch to work everyday, healthy protein-fueled breakfast every morning, go for a run/walk 4x/week, attempt a new exercise or a new class, try to lift the dumbbell weight up from where you are, etc.)

New Beginnings

Oh hey! Remember me? I use to blog.

I have been quite busy lately, which as left this blog sad and unwritten.

Here’s what’s kept me away:

- Finished my clinical hours; so only one more class and I will be done with my Masters! (And hopefully a working acupuncturist!) 

-I've been spending time with Hubs.  6 months: This is the longest time we have spent together since we've met almost 5 years ago.

- Took a month off to travel to Ohio and Hong Kong, where I was able to celebrate with my mother-in-law’s birthday, enjoy time with family we don’t get see often enough, and “meet” my still-in-the-womb-soon-to-be-world’s-most-handsome nephew.

- Attempting to figure out what to do with my life ….

- And we're EXPECTING ....

... To MOVE into our very first HOUSE!  

Way back in November, we decided to "look into" buying a house.

Hubs has lived on a boat for the past 16 years and I have moved over 12 times in the last 11 years.  

Trying to put down "roots," something the Hubs and I haven't really had in years, was a bit overwhelming.  And let's face, no place will be as close to my heart as Cincinnati is, so I was a bit indifferent about the whole situation. 

Not only that, but I insisted on a very good school district.  Hubs insisted on a pool and/or water view.  Both add up to: $$$$.  

  And everything in our price range, in the school district I wanted, with the water options that Hubs wanted, were second-homes for snowbirds; great for entertaining, not great for having a family (small out-dated kitchens, small bedrooms off the kitchen, no yards and relatively unchanged since being built in the 70s and 80s).

Hubs is a bit stubborn. A trait that I love and loathe.  This time it pulled through.  After realizing no matter where we lived we'd have to renovate EVERYTHING (also equaling $$$$), he asked the realtor about new builds. She quickly responded that there are no new builds in the area we were looking. 

So we decided to stop looking for a bit.

Two days later she called with a new build.  Three days after that we turned in our deposit check. 

I absolutely love it, and I can't wait to take pictures.  The house won't be finished until spring, but it's been fun to figure out how to make this house a home. 

Obviously I have not left the Pinterest site since December.  Here are some of the home porn that I have dreams about: 

Nicky Hilton's dining room.  I saw this years ago and fell in LOVE with the Martinique wallpaper. 

For the entry way. 

Wish I had the balls to do this ...

But I am more of a neutral chick. And these are the colors of our kitchen.

I love the subway tiles and the lighting! I need this lighting.

Dream bedroom.  No, actually I will make ours as close as possible to this.

Any homeowners have tips or lessons learned from moving in and breaking in a new house?