The Blonde Diaries

So over the course of the past year, I have gained 25 pounds. Eek! So not cool. Unfortunately there is no such thing as quick weight loss – boo! So with that said, I’ve been cooking a lot lately and hitting the gym. What I’ve found is that I am in love with Hungry-Girl and am planning to give all of my friends her cookbooks for Christmas this year. I just need to go find them on sale somewhere. My awesome Tuna Melt has finished digesting so I think I’m heading off to the gym for a while to try and sweat out the tequila from last night’s margaritas.

I normally would leave all workout questions to my other blog but this one gets more traffic and I wanted some opinions. When you are doing your cardio on the treadmill or other cardio machine, do you pay attention to your heart rate and the targeted heart rates for “Cardio (ie strengthening your heart)” vs. the “fat burner” setting? I’ve been curious about it as I typically find myself in the “cardio” range but I really want to burn more fat. But if I stick with the fat burner setting, then I feel like I’m barely working out. I mean I’d be walking at 3.0mph max versus my normal rate of 3.6mph. Not a huge difference but it adds up over time.

So do these target ranges really matter?

This is a Sponsored Post written by me on behalf of wellnessdaily.com. All opinions are 100% mine.

I’ve written a few times in the past about my job.  I am a financial statement auditor and I just finished my 5th busy season as an auditor.  I never thought I’d make it this far.  It has taken a lot of blood, sweat, and tears so to speak to get here.  With that said, it has also led to a 30 pound weight gain over those 5 years.  I stepped on my Wii Fit that I drug out of hibernation last night and I was greeted with a message telling me it had been over 200 days since I last used the Wii Fit program and in that time I’d gained 15.5 pounds.  Talk about a shocker!

Losing weight use to be fairly easy for me.  I’d just cut my calories and go to the gym.  I was also in college with quite a bit more time and less stress.  Now I barely make it home at a decent hour where I can cook and go to the gym.  It is quite frustrating and I need to find a more streamlined method.

Tonight, I did find a new website, www.wellnessdaily.com, that I believe will be beneficial to me and to any of my readers who are looking for some motivation.  This website includes healthy living blogs, quick and easy recipes, and videos on topics such as weight loss and exercising.   Quick and easy recipes are right up my alley especially if they are healthy and can help me cut my calories and cravings.  I am also excited about videos on exercising.  I am so tired of just riding an exercise bike or using the elliptical at the gym.  Though I am reading my books, it gets dull and boring.  I would love to be able to incorporate some new exercises into my routine.  I thing the videos will be able to help me do that without injuring myself.

This website is 100% free to join and you have access to all of the information.  If you sign up soon, you can download a rebate from from Jennie-O for $5 off your next turkey product.  I love ground turkey so I am going to search for a recipe that I can make in the crockpot with ground turkey and then send in my UPC for my $5 off.

We have just entered the third month after the new year and some people are starting to fall off the resolution bandwagon, some are trying to stay motivated to continue, and some, like me, are trying to get back on the wagon. Right now I have been working on changing up my diet to a more fruit and veggie diet. I’ve been trying to lower the carbs and add protein but it has been a little difficult there. But milk/dairy is protein and protein builds muscles so I just need to suck it up and get it done. In fact, there is a good muscle milk review out there on how adding milk can increase your muscle mass. The main thing you have to be cautious about is how much you are adding to your diet as you can overload yourself and “weigh” yourself down with the extra carbs and sugar that is found in milk. I am going to try and focus in on adding milk to my diet each morning and right after working out. That way it can sit in my stomach until lunch, thus curbing the snacking, and it can burn off quickly at night right after I work out just keeping in the extra vitamins and minerals I need.

Sometimes life can be so unfair. Here I am, weighing in at 166.4 and my closet is yelling at me. My husband on the other hand is trying to GAIN weight. Yes you read that right. My husband is complaining because he needs to gain weight and keep it on. How unfair! We just placed an order for protein weight gainer which is really easy to find all over the internet but to try and find the best weight loss supplements to help you lose a little weight is next to impossible with all of the ads and conflicting reviews out there. I just want to find something halfway decent other than a slimfast shake where i am starving all day. Is that too much to ask?