Day 4 - THURSDAY

Eating
Breakfast: Scarmbled eggs, coffee, bagel w/butter
Lunch: Salami sandwich, yogurt, celery and peanut butter
Snacks: Triscuits, animal crackers, granola bar, fruit snacks
Dinner: Cinnamon toast crunch


Exercising
I made the executive decision to take Thursdays off for the majority of my things. My Thursdays are already classes/work 9 AM - 10 PM (Only 8 today though!).
I did have Pilates (1hr), Modern (2hrs), and Teaching dance (3hrs) though. (I will have 2 hours of rehearsal on top of that on Thursdays from now on)

Day 3 - WEDNESDAY

Eating
Breakfast: Coffee, Cinnamon Toast Crunch, bagel w/butter
Lunch: Spaghettios
Dinner: Leftovers from Monday's meal
Snacks: 2 Granola Bars, fruit snacks, banana,


Exercising
Arms: WOOF! Wednesday arms are difficult! I'm not sure what it is but I definitely did not do 15 of each thing.
Legs: My Hamstrings were sore when I woke up today, but I was able to do the Romanian deadlifts just fine.
Abs: Definitely didn't feel this as clearly in my lower core today...

Day 2 - TUESDAY

Eating:
Breakfast: Coffee, Cereal, Bagel w/butter
Lunch: Salami sandwich, banana, celery w/peanut butter, 2 peanut butter cup cookies, diet coke
Dinner: Buttered Noodles and Flatbread (Noodles & Co.), Single Scoop Twix Mix Ice Cream (Culvers)
Snacks: goldfish, french fries,

Exercising:
Arms: Tuesdays have a lot that goes in to it... but it really isn't that bad!
Legs: I really enjoy the ball lifts. I feel like I can feel my hammys working.
Abs: Today wasn't as clear as yesterday.

Fitness - Day 1 - take two...

Right, so I'm just starting over fresh at "Day 1." Yes, those other days counted, and yes I still was aware of what I ate and everything... but I took four days off. SO, starting over seems right..

Eating:
Breakfast: Coffee, Scrambled Eggs, Bagel w/butter
Snacks: peanut butter chocolate chip granola bar, fruit snacks, animal crackers, 2 peanut butter cup cookies, more coffee...
Dinner: A ground beef dish that my family makes that usually gets me about four servings. Tonight I had it over some pasta.
Water: I didn't really track my water today... for sure like 1.5 of my large bottle (eventually I'll get around to measuring how much it holds...)
*Note: On Monday's I don't have time for Lunch (hence the snacking)

Exercise:
Arms: Arm Circles, Push ups, Tricep Dips. Not too bad today since I wasn't really sore from anything. Tricep dips are still really tough after about ten.
Legs: Hamstring curl. I'm not really sure I felt this one... although looking back now, I didn't do the "hold 30s in between each set" bit that I was supposed to, so maybe that'd make a difference.
Abs: I did some crunches in a frog/butterfly position with my legs. They're supposed to target my lower abs (what I struggle with). I didn't necessarily "feel the burn" during the work out, but I could feel myself using those more specifically and I didn't feel the burn in my upper abs - meaning I wasn't working them as much (I usually rely on my upper abs). I also was more successful in engaging my lower core throughout my ballet class, which I like to think is due to this exercise!
Other: I had ballet today. Like I said above I was able to engage my lower core more often throughout the class! In general I felt I had a good class.. figured some good things out and was able to work on them.

Fitness Routine - Days 2, 3, and 4

Day 2: Wednesday
Eating: 
Breakfast: Coffee, MultiGrain Dark Chocolate Cheerios, Bagel w/ butter
Lunch: Canned Vegetable Soup, diet coke
Dinner: Leftover taco meat w/ tortilla chips (my version of "nachos")
Snacks: Animal Crackers

Exercising:
I thought the exercises went well today, I was a little sore from the day before (both the exercises and dancing). I was starting to get sick so that wasn't fun either...


Day 3: Thursday
Eating:
Breakfast: Coffee, Scrambled Eggs, Bagel w/butter
Lunch: Leftovers from Tuesday's (Day 1) dinner, diet coke
Dinner: Salami sandwich, banana yogurt
Snacks: MultiGrain Dark Chocolate Cheerios, Popcorn,

Exercising:
I skipped the exercises today. I was really sick and really sore. I also had Pilates class today on top of my other dance classes, so I figured I'd still get somewhat of a "workout" in. Auditions for our Spring show were also Thursday evening so I figured I'd be dancing a lot through out the day. (7 hours!)


Day 4: Friday
Eating:
Breakfast: Coffee, MultiGrain Dark Chocolate Cheerios, Bagel w/butter
Lunch: Canned Vegetable Soup, diet coke
Dinner: Salami sandwich, banana yogurt, carrots
Snacks: Animal Crackers, Toppers Sticks,

Exercising:
I skipped the exercises once again. I had stayed up late the night before waiting for the callbacks list to come out, so I set my alarm for a little later than normal. I also have two dance classes on Fridays, along with the hours of callbacks today. (8.5 hours!)


So basically, I really need to get back on track with these exercises. I could make more excuses. But instead I'll make a goal to start back up Sunday or Monday.

Fitness Routine - Day 1

Day 1 of my Trial-and-Error fitness routine!
I'm posting these so I stay accountable for my actions and so that hopefully others can learn from my experience!

Eating
Today was the first day of the semester but I used my meal planning to make sure I ate all my meals!

Breakfast: Coffee, Multi Grain Cheerios Dark Chocolate Crunch, Bagel w/butter
Lunch: Salami sandwich on 12 grain bread, Banana Yoplait Light yogurt, baby carrots, Diet Coke
Snacks: Rosemary and Olive Oil Triscuits (after lunch), one Hershey's Kiss and one Reeses Peanut Butter Cup (the small kind from my stocking)
Dinner: Chicken breast seasoned with sea salt, ground pepper and dried basil, green beans, and a rice medly, Milk
*My dinner is enough for two meals, so I put half of it away for lunch later in the week.

H20: At least 2 large bottles so far (at 8:45 pm)
I've found that whenever I feel the "bored hunger" coming on, if I just pick up my water bottle and drink some of that I either get distracted or don't feel as hungry!

Exercising
It actually wasn't that hard for me to get out of bed and start doing push ups! I felt more awake in my shower than I usually do and I didn't feel as tired throughout the day!

Overall the exercises for today got me feeling a worked, but I didn't feel like I had run a marathon. Which is what I want. I have my technique courses in the mornings, so I don't want to wear myself out before them. But I do want to give my body something extra each day.

I really enjoyed the hamstring exercise I did today - this is the pin

Fitness Routine - Explanation

It's not the size on my clothes that bothers me, it's that I've gone up almost two sizes since I began college. And it's not that I'm "FAT" it's that my muscles are no longer as toned as they once were. So I'm finally doing something about it! (Don't get me wrong - if I lost a few pounds I wouldn't complain - but that's NOT my goal)

Eating:

Well, I try to cook most things, rather than making things out of a can or a box or whatever. I try to use fresh fruit and veg whenever possible/affordable. And I try to not eat junk food in general.

Goals:

• Snacks - Snack less in general. And limit serving sizes when snacking! And choose healthier snack options. 
• Plan my meals so I know I have everything and will be able to make the healthy meal I want.

Exercising:

Okay, so I'm a dance major in college - I sweat daily. But I've still managed to have this happen - so something's gotta change! 

Goals:

• Daily pre-shower work outs - focusing on my hamstrings, core, and arms. 

These are the three areas I'm least happy with so that's where I'm focusing my energy. I chose pre-shower because it allows me to immediately clean my sweat and it helps me to wake up in the morning. I found most of my exercises on Pinterest and have them pinned to my exercise board. 

Here are my charts:

*I plan to choose two random ones for on weekend*

For the rest of January I'm just using a set I found in one of my Pins

These are written for me to understand - if you want further clarification - ASK!

Ashlyn's Point

Well, I've done it!

Today I opened my Etsy shop and created a Facebook page!
On it you'll find my knitting project that I shared, along with other great scarves, headbands, and coffee cozies! I'm so excited to try this new adventure! Please consider following me on Facebook and checking out the items for sale!

This is something I wanted to do for a few weeks, I just had to build up my inventory and take pictures. Now that the semester is starting, I'm hoping that I can continue knitting at a decent pace!

If any one has tips or tricks for selling or knitting or blogging or anything I would be happy to hear!!

Leggings as Pants

So, maybe this topic isn't AS controversial as it was a few years ago. But I still remember a few years back:
I was wearing leggings with a big sweatshirt, and my friend walked up to me and pulled my tank top (undershirt) down. Like dowwwwn; below my butt. And personally, that's more unflattering than seeing tight pants around my behind.
Now, let's think about this, girls can wear yoga pants, which are basically leggings with flared bottoms. But, leggings is just too inappropriate. What about Jeggings? Just because the leggings are made out of a slightly thicker material the tightness becomes "okay"?

Here's my take:
If the leggings fit right in all the right places: wear whatever shirt you want!
If the leggings fit a little weird: either toss the pants, or wear a longer top!
BUT, most importantly: if you feel beautiful/cute/hot in the outfit... WEAR IT!

Braided Scarf

Today (and a little bit of yesterday) I knit a braided scarf! It was fairly simple, and the yarn was inexpensive (bought on sale at Michaels)

 the scarf on yours truly

 I used a loose braid

Here you see the seam of the scarf

I used Loops & Threads Charisma in Charcoal, but any yarn will do.
I used US 13 needles, which is what the yarn called for.
And I also used a tapestry needle to weave the loose ends and sew the whole thing together.

Cast on 16 stitches (Any number is fine - I went with even to not worry about which row I was on)
Knit 1, purl 1 (rib pattern) until end of row
Repeat until desired length. * make a little longer than desired scarf length since it will lose some with braiding.

Make three scarves like this. I tacked the ends of each one together so I could braid easier, then I sewed the ends of all three scarves together and flipped it inside out so the seam would be more hidden.


Sorry there aren't any pictures in the process! I encourage any fellow knitters to try this out!

Starting the Year Off Organized

Yesterday I bought a binder. No biggie - the semester starts soon - it's for a class, right? Nope. It's going to be my planning binder. I love my planner (last year I even had two!). But, the pre-made store-bought ones just aren't organized how I need/want them.

What I hope to put in my binder:

• Money 
• Typed out budget
• Table with places for: Planned budget amount in each category, actual spending in each category, and the difference. 
• Calendar with dates for bills to pay
• Cleaning Schedule
• Just a typed out schedule of what I expect from myself for each day/week as far as cleaning/decluttering
• Cooking!
• Menu Planning 
• Shopping List 
• I just got the App MealBoard, and I'm excited to try using it as an inventory of my pantry,
• Planner
• Weekly
• Monthly
• To Do
• Two pages dedicated to "Do Now" and "Do Later" Post it notes!

I'll upload pictures after I have it all printed off, but I want this to be something tailored to me - so it will be ever changing as the year goes on and I realize what works best! Eventually, I'll probably divide these sections into multiple binders, but for now - as a college student - I like having it all in one place.


ETA: Not sure why the pictures are sideways...

My To- Do List with more important things on one side. The Post-its can then be moved so that I can focus on the other things

Upside down - but my budget categories. To be filled in when I figure it out

A Place to record what I spend in each category. The Balance column will become useful when I have a set budget for each section.

Upside down- My Recurring expenses that have specific dates to be paid. As you can see, some are bi monthly, so I just crossed of those dates. 

Next Section - Meal Planning! Just a simple calendar for me to write what I have planned. I then make my shopping list based off of what I have and what I need for those things. (The MealBoard app has been fantastic!)

And my cleaning schedule - because I like to have things written down, even if they're things I already do...

After this I have a work-out plan for myself that includes Abs, Legs, and Arms.. I'll post about that later!