Saving up a storm

First of all, I was so excited to have some workout partners today! Erin and Abby came over and we Body Rocked! It was hard, but we did all four rounds - ahh!! If you go to www.bodyrock.tv, it's the "Fierce Friday" workout if you'd like to try it! Working out is always more fun when you have people to do it with you. 

This afternoon Mom and I did our weekly couponing trip.  We were pretty successful today! At Publix, we got about 60 items (that includes 3 ten packs of mechanical pencils) for about $29! That's 50 cents per item folks!! At Kroger, we got 76 items for $112 (after tax), with a retail value of $215 - that's right, we saved over $100!! And we definitely have enough food to last us for a while! I was pretty proud of all the work I put in organizing the coupons, going through the ads and figuring out what we had coupons for that was on a good sale, and making sure we were getting the best price.  I'm kind of OCD about it, so it takes me about 2 hours to get everything sorted out and perfect! But here's the thing - it is not very hard at all and you can save TONS of money! So, thanks in part to my cousin Dana, I am pretty sure I am going to start a mini-business of couponing classes!! I went to a coupon class the other night, and I already knew as much as the lady leading it! So be on the lookout for updates about that :) 

Tomorrow is another day of Body Rocking! And trying to heat a little healthier than I did today ;) 

Terrific Tuesday

Good job me - I haven't blogged in a month.  I'm so lame! I don't even have an excuse, because it's summer and I'm not working.  I just haven't.

So I've been trying to lose weight this summer.  I've been semi successful - I've lost about 8 pounds so far.  But that's a far cry from my goal of 30 pounds.  I've been working out, but not consistently.  I've been eating pretty healthy most of the time, but going out to eat (which my family does a LOT) always kills me - I never make good choices :(  But this week I have been doing pretty well.  Someone told me this weekend they thought I was "taking the easy way out" towards working out and pushing myself.  Let's face it, I was ticked.  So instead of just being mad and not doing anything about it, I decided to work a little harder.  My awesome big, Kristin, blogged a while back about Body Rock, a free website that posts high intensity interval training (HIIT) workouts, workout schedules, nutrition tips, and has a community of "Body Rockers" that support each other and offer advice as well.  Well I tried it today - it's AWESOME! The workout was only 18 minutes long, but I literally collapsed on my floor, dripping in sweat, when I was finished.  I definitely had to modify some moves because the leader, Zuzana, is in out of control shape - I'm talking probably ZERO percent body fat. See her picture below!  But I finished it, and I did better than I thought I would, reps-wise.  If you are looking for a home workout, you should try it! It's definitely challenging.  I'm going to try really hard to do it every other day, at the very least. So like Kristin said, if you talk to me, ask me if I've done my body rock workout that day!!

This week I also planned out some meals for my whole family.  I don't think my mom likes cooking very much, and as a result we eat out a lot - very unhealthy.  So I looked through the Weight Watchers cookbook I got at a thrift store for 50 cents and found a recipe for Southern Oven "Fried" Chicken.  I made it, and it was delicious! If you want the recipe, I can send it to you.  It's SO easy, and only 6 points plus per serving.  I also made a WW version of chocolate layer cake (3 PP), which was alright, but definitely tasted like diet food.  Tonight, we had a slow cooker supper of enchilada casserole from All*You Magazine and it was pretty tasty as well (7 PP)! On my Stumble Upon, a recipe from Bethenny Frankel came up for low fat fudge muffins.  I made those as well, and they are AWESOME! I made a few modifications because her recipes are 100% natural and vegan and stuff, and we didn't have all the ingredients.  But I got to use my Truvia sweetener and applesauce instead of butter.  They taste just like the full fat version :) So I am getting used to cooking and I really like it! Hint: it's so much easier when you have a plan!!

I was also pretty excited about couponing this week.  We got all the ingredients for our meals this week at Publix, along with some snacks and stuff for lunch, all for $75!! That is really cheap for a family of five with a brother who eats everything in sight when he gets off the night shift each morning!

So I will try to update more about my adventures in Body Rocking, cooking, and couponing :)
Now I'm going to take a motrin pm (which I got with couponing) and go to bed, because I know I'm going to be VERY sore tomorrow!

Caroline