Drink Your Water!

I am in week 9(!) now of the Revolt Now Fitness program. I am still amazed at the results and have been (fairly) dedicated to the program. I find that the hardest part for me? Not the food, nor the exercise, but drinking enough water!

My life is full of water bottles!  

The program calls for a gallon of water a day. Yep, that's a lot of water. I religiously tried at first. I could hardly make it through hour long meetings! I have been really good about drinking a half gallon a day. But not so much on the gallon.

I have tried lemon in the water, different types of bottles, some sugar free drink mixes. It's just a lot of liquid. I know water is great for you, but the gallon just seems insurmountable! I've honestly also been struggling with the workouts this month. They are longer than the last months and I just can't fit it in - I think this has been making me less motivated. So I've modified this weeks to see if I can get it to be 30 minutes. 

So I know you are just dying to know my progress at this point, right? :) Well, I've decided to wait until 12 weeks to weigh/measure again! sorry :) I know it's not as great as the last time. I know some of it is motivation, and poor water drinking. I will improve greatly over the next three weeks - I must! Any advice on water would be awesome...

Want to Look Good While Exercising - Wear Ellie!

Disclaimer: I was provided a free outfit for review. All links are affiliate links.

Now that I'm looking good (better?) - I am finding that I am enjoying wearing cute workout clothes! I definitely spend more time in them now, so I want something comfortable that I can show off my new shoulder muscles and look awesome! There are some brands of workout clothes that I have drooled over in the past, but just can't spend so much money on workout clothes, as much as I'd love to ;) So I was excited to come across the Ellie line of clothing. I went a little out of my comfort zone and tried an outfit from April's Coral Crush collection. Here’s my outfit (not me in it!):

I love the pants! They are super comfy and a perfect length. The little extra splash of color makes me happy. I really like the design of the shirt I chose, but have to admit it doesn't fit me very well. I, ehhm, don't fill it out quite enough!

So how does Ellie work? 

1. You can just buy items from their collection separately as you would do on any other website. You can click here to get 20% off your first order. 

OR

Ellie has a subscription service program (I am so addicted to these!!) called the “Fit Fashionista” club program. You choose two pieces every month for just $49.95!  They introduce a new collection every month, so there’s always something new.

One Caveat: You must choose your two items by the 7th of every month otherwise Ellie will select a combo for you. You can also cancel at anytime.

If you don’t want to commit to the Fit Club, you can you can just be a non-member and buy an outfit whenever you’d like. Want to try Ellie? Just Start here (20% off).

Seeing a Change

Six weeks on the Revolt plan. Woohoo!

We went on a family vacation this past weekend and when we got home I was looking through the photos and thought - wow, I have some muscles :) 

This plan has been a big change in diet, exercise and attitude. I've definitely felt the difference in how my energy level and ability to do the exercises, but it was nice to see a difference too. 

I'm not really in it to lose weight, but rather to gain strength and muscle. I'm in it to be healthier and set a good example for my family.  I am excited to be on this path.

Just for fun - the numbers:
Week 1: 145 lb., 23.08% body fat
Week 6: 137 lb., 19.16% body fat
I've lost 8 lbs. and 4% body fat in the last 6 weeks!

If you are interested - sign-up here :) You'll get some awesome muscles, as well as a newfound love of spinach and brussel sprouts (no really, I swear)!

Trying out the Revolt Fitness Program!

I may have mentioned (a few times?) that I have trouble sticking to fitness programs. That I need some external motivating factor. I LOVE being fit, the fun of exercising, eating healthy food, running with my family...but just can't stick with it.

So I recently decided to do something about that...I joined a fitness program called Revolt Now Fitness! It's more than just an exercise program - it's a diet, exercise and support program. I'm only on day 3, but so far I am totally committed :)

I have to admit I was a little intimidated at first. There is a diet plan for each week - and you prepare it all on Sunday! But it wasn't too hard to prepare and it's actually really nice to have everything all set for the week. The diet is full of fresh veggies - yum! I did have to use every tupperware container in the house though :) My son gets a kick out of me using his lunch containers for "mama's food." He is also loving drinking the juice from my morning grapefruits. It's been quite the bonding experience!

There are also intense workouts 5 times a week. Nichole posts the videos on the site and they are super easy to follow! She makes a pretty grueling workout actually seem like fun. I am not quite ready to show pics of me working out though :)

The best part for me is the facebook community. There are 6-week "uprisings" - where everyone is doing the same diet/workouts at the same time. Even though I'm doing it at home there is a huge support network out there - which is exactly what I need to succeed. I have high hopes for the program.

Stay tuned for more updates!

Disclaimer: As a Revolt Fitness Blogger I received access to the program for free, all opinions are my own.

Happy Monday - Here's to your Health!

Happy Monday! I am so glad that you're here :)

I wanted to change things up a little today. I am still going to suggest a topic each week - in case there are some that need a little inspiration. But really, this is a time to collect happy stories. So feel free to link-up any post from this week that makes you happy - or share a comment about what makes you happy!

This week...exercising with my family makes me happy! It's proven that exercise makes you happy...but even better...I love running with my husband and son! This week we ran from our house to a hiking trail nearby. Once we were at top, the little guy wanted to get out and run just like daddy. I love that he is learning to love exercising too. He literally ran all the way down the hill with a huge grin on his face. He loves hiking with us too :)

I want that kind of happy when I am exercising! I have a lot to learn from my son.

I hope he learns to love family time and how much fun exercise can be. I hope I can set a good, healthy example!

What made you happy this week? Link up any post that makes you happy - the sky's the limit (or just comment if you don't blog)! Grab the button, link up and check out some other posts. Thanks for stopping by for week 4 of Happy Monday!

<a href="http://http://www.crazycasak.com/search/label/Happy%20Monday" target="_blank"><img alt="Crazy Casa K" src="http://i1327.photobucket.com/albums/u668/crazycasak/HappyMondaysmall_zps43a25dd6.jpg"/></a>

Make sure to join us next week for Happy Monday! I'll be writing about a hobby that makes me happy!

Enjoying the Great Outdoors - Paradise Falls

Sometimes I feel sorry for myself that I live in Southern California. There aren't really changing colors to mark the transition of autumn, there is no snow or really any cold. The grass is always green - or greenish brown - the sun is almost always shining...ok, no I can't feel too sorry for myself.

One of the things I love is that I can  go hiking year round, and in many ways winter and early spring are the beautiful seasons for hiking (if a little muddy). Just recently we went on a beautiful hike to Paradise Falls in Wildwood Park, Thousand Oaks. We may have gotten a little lost...but overall it was a wonderful way to spend a few hours. I would suggest finding a good trail map, since signage was not always readily available...

Some of my favorite parts of the hike:

Gorgeous Day!

So don't forget to get outside this holiday season. Whether there is sun or snow - take a minute to enjoy, maybe even get lost :)