Happy Friday, everyone! I'm off for another adventure in Chicago with my sister-friends. It's my last weekend of fun plans before I move so I'm pretty darn excited! Make sure you check out my extra cool announcement below!

Five Workouts:
Workouts have been HOT this week. Let's face it, it's the middle of summer and Cincinnati is notorious for being muggy, sticky, and uncomfortable. This certainly isn't Texas with temps in the 100s but we are consistently in the 90s and the humidity makes it feel like I'm wearing an ugly Christmas sweater to workout. Whew! 

Monday: Boot Camp (45 min) 
Tuesday: 4 mile Run/Walk (50 min)
Wednesday: Hot Yoga (60 min) + Boot Camp (45 min)
Thursday: 4.5 mile Run/Walk (60 min)
Friday: TBD 

Five Thoughts:
1. Bug Bites
They just plain suck! I love being outside to run and workout but I don't love getting bit by everything. I bought some Bug Bands to wear but I keep forgetting to wear them. How do you all combat this buggy problem?

2. Sausage Fingers & A Red Face
Who else gets sausage fingers when they run? Mine swell up after about 5-10 minutes and won't go down until long after my workout. On top of that, I get big old red cheeks anytime I think of exercise & a lot of people don't. I wanted to find out why so here's a great little article that sums it all up. It's basically common sense now that I think about it - vasodilation from exercise = increased blood flow. The take away point I got from the article was a red face and swelling does NOT mean you are out of shape! It just means your regulatory reflex is more sensitive or reactive than others. Yay for homeostasis!

Darn red chubby cheekers!

3. Eating is Hit or Miss Lately
I tend to make pretty good choices until I let myself get too hungry - that's when I reach for something easy & quick. Like this morning I didn't eat breakfast at home because I have so many errands to run. I ended up stopping at Panera and getting a Mediterranean Egg White sandwich. Obviously not the worst choice but it's something I could make at home for fewer calories, less sodium, and less $. I need to break this habit! (It gets worse, I promise. Just an example.)

4. Birds (Caw Caw Caw)
My last semester of college I needed to take one last Biology lab & lecture to graduate so I chose Ornithology (birds) which included "awesome" field trips at 7 am throughout the semester. To be honest, I choose this class so I would only have classes on Tuesday and Thursday. It became a joke between my friends and I because I probably spent more time studying for that class than any of my other ones that semester. Plus it's just kind of weird. The surprising part? I actually enjoyed that class and have since grown to love birding.  Anyway I saw a Blue Heron on my run yesterday! So that's pretty cool. Another revelation? The dean of my med school is a huge birder as well as several other professors so that bird knowledge will come in handy!

5. Making Healthy Choices during Girl's Weekend
My goal is to break through the post-Advocare cleanse plateau and if I'm going to do that, I have to make smart choices this weekend. I'm so tired of gaining and losing the same three pounds from all my shenanigans the past two weeks. I work too hard to mess it up! How do you all deal with fun weekends with your girls? Suggestions? Low calorie alcoholic beverage ideas? 

And an extra special announcement:
One last thing! I'm participating in my FIRST giveaway! I never thought I would do one of these things but the opportunity presented itself and I thought it would be a great way to connect with new people! 

We're giving away a Sony Cybershot Camera. While I love my iPhone, the picture quality isn't always the best so I totally wish I could win this thing. All you wannable fashion bloggers, go check it out!

I've teamed up with a few fabulous ladies of some awesome blogs to host this giveaway!

Pretty Strong Medicine |Chatter Blossom | Lovely You | Coco in Magnolia | Perpetually CarolineRaising Reagan | Until Only Love Remains | At Home with the Hinkley's
 Just Mi! | The Accidental Military Wife | To be a Better You

The entries are simple...Bloglovin', Facebook and Twitter!
Be sure to read the Official Giveaway Rules.
Let's make some memories!!!
a Rafflecopter giveaway

Hey you little rascals!

This is my Friday Fit Test #2, but now it's Saturday.  I actually did this on Thursday (umm...a week ago) and had every intention of posting then but I decided to take my mini hiatus. I also like the alliteration of the "F"s and apparently so does the blog world. 

If I were smart, I would pre-write my posts but I usually end up writing on the spot and neglecting all the half-written posts sitting on my desktop. Those who know me know that I'm an excellent starter and not a very good finisher. I think they call that being inconsistent.

Two  Three weeks ago I decided I should be tracking my progress is some way other than pounds and inches. I'm definitely a person who likes numbers and data.  I'm very conventional and somewhat analytical so the more numbers and data, the better.

I also realized that getting smaller doesn't necessarily mean I'm getting more in shape or healthier. It's taken me a long time to get to this point but I don't just want to be "skinny."  I want to be strong.  I want to be tough. I want to be able to flip tractor tires like a badass. I digress. 

Have you met my boyfriend? He's 350 lbs of  love!

Using a modified version of the Chalean Extreme fitness test, I will be tracking my progress.  I was going to track every two weeks but I honestly don't think I'll see much change in two weeks so I'm doing once a month from now on! 

Results

Get ready for some high tech fancy results.  I need some line graphing software or something. Maybe some graph paper and colored pencils...

Looks like we're making a little progress.  That or I took it easy on myself the first time...I'm so bad at pushing myself which is why I try to attend workout class or boot camp.  I need direction.  Maybe I'm capable of more...

I think for the next test, which will be a month from last week (What?! July 5th), I'm going to get rid of the shoulder presses and bicep curls and add some plyometrics like squat jumps or burpees. If you'd like to play along, I'll post a reminder! Maybe we can make it into a link up so we can all see some progress!? 

Oh hey! Remember how I was all excited about Ripped in 30?  Now I'm just bored.  Not because I can do the whole thing balls-to-the-wall intense and perfect but because I don't have the attention span for it. I'm going to keep loosely fitting it in but I just cannot keep doing the same work out five days a week. 

Maybe I just hate working out in my room.  After doing boot camp for a while and running, I actually like being outside.  I like being able to move around and have my space without bumping into my dresser or my bookcase.  Girl's got some legs and she needs lots of room!

Happy Fitness Friday...or Saturday. Whatever. Have a good weekend!