When you hit a wall...dance.

You know those days where it feels impossible to work out?  Not that you're too sore or you have a cold or something, but it just seems like something...you just really, really, really don't want to do.

I hit that wall...about every time I try to work out.  About 10% of the time I genuinely want to work out and I'm pumped to get going - the rest of the time is a struggle.  This is where it helps to have a work out buddy, but if you're fresh out because the really good ones live too far away - you have rely on yourself.

Because lets face it - making your husband your workout buddy is like asking for a whole sack of landmines.  "Are you going to workout tonight?"  "Why?  What are you trying to say?!"  It just can't come from a good place when it's coming from your spouse's lips.

So you must be your own motivator.  You can place little positive post its around the house.  You can avoid all of your little vices like, "But look, Cupcake Wars is on."  Avoid that one like crazy because cupcakes are my everest, I don't know about you.  Well cake in general.  I don't say no to cake.  I just don't.

So I avoid all TLC and Food Network.  That's when I turn to Comcast on Demand.  Because On Demand has Exercise TV!  Hooray!

And you can get a decent workout within the comfort of you own home - you know, in case that "But its so cold out" excuse gets the better of you.

Usually I'll start watching something and that will get my blood pumping because I think, I'll do this and I'll get my heart pumping and my endorphins going and I'll feel great.

And then sometimes even that doesn't work.

I started watching yoga, the reason being was I just wanted a very zen-like workout.  Especially on a Monday.  So then I pull up some Yoga program for intermediate learners.  Hey, I always bite off more than I can chew - always!  So I start watching and soon I'm very intimidated.  I don't know why but I don't like it when men are more flexible than me.  Its not a sexist thing, it just weirds me out on levels I can't explain.

I mean...really?

This John character got much more bendy than this.

And then he got into his poses:

At that point I just laughed to myself.  If that's not asking to come crashing down painfully on my neck, I don't know what is.  I exited out of that madness and went searching for something else to wake me up.

But it wasn't happening.

So I turned to the one thing that always works...no matter what.

I turned on the iPod (this one was my Christmas present from my husband - I LOVE IT) and turned it up so I couldn't hear anything else aside from my heart beat and I worked it.  

I danced my heart out.  I shook it, oh did I shake it and shake it good.  Now, I did this in the comfort of my home and I had the house all to myself.  The only person who saw how freaky with it I got, was myself.

And you know what?  Dancing is a great workout - fantastic even.  Dance is great for cardio, flexibility, coordination and strengthening.  That's fact.  Its also fun.  

So what if you don't have rhythm - I swear - 30 minutes of shaking it like a runaway felt fantastic.  I highly recommend it.

Highly.

Wasting time like a pro...

If you happen to follow me on Pinterest, you'll see I have a couple boards and pin a little bit.

Or maybe I gold medal in it...whatever.

Today I'm just going to throw out some stuff that made me squeal this week.

No rhyme or reason - I just like this stuff.

Pinterest

Pinterest

Pinterest

Pinterest

Pinterest

Pinterest

Pinterest

Pinterest

I could explain why...but you've probably clicked over to Pinterest where you'll spend the next few hours.

Enjoy.

Friday!

Fridays mean: I get to sleep in tomorrow.

And that my friends, is gold.

Fridays also mean that Peace, Love & Applesauce is celebrating shoes.

As well they should be!

Today I'm going to tell you about these:

Jessica Simpson

Back Multi Strap Boot

Victoria's Secret

Clearance: $144.99

I saw these boots live and in person, and I can vouch that they're not a heinous green/ yellow/ brown color as they look.

They're beautiful.

I remember it vividly.  I was at the Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part I preview with my Mom, and there they were, in the popcorn line in front of me.  I just about gasped.  The girl wearing them, I don't remember, all I saw were the boots.  I was contemplating asking her where she purchased them when the woman behind us in the popcorn line asked first.

"Oh, Victoria's Secret," she said sheepishly.  Why be ashamed of that?  They have quality products for under-thangs and clothing alike.  I googled and they're still out of my price range, even on clearance, but they are a wonder to behold.

A glorious wonder.

Other tales of beautiful shoes going on at Friday's Shoegasm.  Take a peek at all the wonderful candy for the feet!

No More Jiggles: The 100 Workout

Today I'll tell you about something that's been absolutely kicking my trash lately:

The 100 Workout

via Pinterest

I've now done this 3 different times.  By the end you're covered in sweat and the burning...oh the burning.  Especially in the calf area because of all the jumping jacks. 

I would include a pic of myself with the sweating but I prefer to keep that look to myself.  I'm pretty sure my raw animal magnetism in that moment should be kept off the internet due to the sheer pandemonium it would cause.

I'm dead serious - this is a fantastic workout.

And because I like to torture myself, I turned the 50 Crunches into 50 full on sit-ups.

That should make it so I won't be able to walk tomorrow.  But who needs to walk anyway?

Lets hope this works

Since my awesome handiwork trying to edit ANOTHER blog of mine and accidentally messing with this one, I am hoping that this template will work for me.

Obviously there are still some kinks but since I'm really awesome and all I need to tell you where a few things are because I couldn't change their placement if I wanted to:

As you can see --------->

The pages are located on the side.

I don't like it either but that's the only place they'll stay!

Please - lets hope I never accidentally move stuff around again.

A little help...

While trying to edit another blog's template I accidentally clicked on this one instead and wound up messing with the entire thing!

ANY HELP WOULD BE APPRECIATED!!!!

No seriously I'm about to cry.

No More Jiggles Wednesday: Green Shakes!

Today I am going to tell you about what I'm eating different to promote less jiggles:

GREEN SHAKES!

Ewwwwww, right?!

Wrong!!!!!!!

To be 100% honest - these are actually really tasty and they're CRAZY HEALTHY too!  Win-win!

I know, how can something that reminds you of the consistency of a blended ninja turtle taste good?  Well it turns out that spinach usually tastes better when blended with yummy fruits.

Spinach is fantastic for you.  All greens are fantastic for you - the more you eat, the better your chances of less jiggles.  Also - the better your chances are of less cancer in your life.  That's a true fact.  Eat more greens, people!

The recipe (or really, my recipe):

1. A handful of spinach - no I won't measure it, it's a heaping handful.  (Don't you scrimp on your handful either!)
2. Pineapple spears/ pineapple.  Instead of buying canned pineapple, I just bought the real deal in the produce aisle and skipped out on the sugars and processed canned junk.  I put in about 3 spears.
3. Juice of 1/2 a lemon.  I squeezed the crap out of it too.  
4. 1 banana.

Take your blender and blend until smooth.  Tip: if you blend everything OTHER than the spinach and feed the handful of spinach last - slowly, your blender will be less angry.  Unless you have a nice blender - mine is whiney.

I bought a trusty cup from GNC shown above because my husband was making comments about my "green cups" that were everywhere.  (There were two...in the sink...because the dishwasher was running but now I have my handy dandy shake cup so everyone's happy!)  I'll be able to take this to work and substitute the shake for a meal.  I usually substitute this shake for dinner.  If I'm still hungry I'll have some carrot sticks and string cheese.

So there you go - I promise you guys, I doesn't taste like spinach - it tastes good!  If the color didn't give it away, you wouldn't be able to tell it was even in there!

And what's awesome about this shake - is that you can throw any fruit you love in there.  Apples, oranges - berries of your choice!  (Stay away from the frozen fruit brands, because they're usually loaded with a lot of sugar and will defeat the purpose of your healthy shake.)  I've even heard of people adding greek yogurt or plain yogurt to make the consistency more creamy.  I tried greek yogurt once, but I did not care for the aftertaste.  I think it was the greek yogurt and lemon mixture that didn't go well together.

Tasty and fantastic for you!  You can't lose.

Also if you look above to the pages - you'll see I added a NO MORE JIGGLES page where I will link to all NO MORE JIGGLES posts and tips.  I'm not messing around guys - this will happen!

The No More Jiggles Campaign

I would like to start off by telling you that I do not do New Years Resolutions.

Why?  Because I never do them, I never keep them and I'm a master procrastinator.

I'm not doing ANY New Years Resolutions.  I maybe have weekly resolutions, daily resolutions but yearly is just too much for me to do.

But I did vow something to myself back in the beginning of December - that I WILL shed 15 pounds by Summer 2012.  That I will be able to fit into jeans without the dreaded muffin top.  That I will have a body I can be content with and not be self conscious.  

Therefore I decided to start a campaign:

The "No More Jiggles" campaign.  

Complete with a button!

<a border="0" href="http://jessajill.blogspot.com/" target="_blank"><img src=" http://i252.photobucket.com/albums/hh33/jessajill/Bloggy%20stuff/jigglethumb.jpg"/></a>
 (Really you should be so proud of me, I reject all HTML codes and they reject me so to get one that's working means I get to treat myself to a cookie...er granola bar.)

What the No More Jiggles campaign enables you to do keep yourself healthy.  Any diet that helped you shed some pounds or any workout routine that really helped sculpt.  I want to know about healthy meals you pinned and I want to hear all the motivational quotes from Pinterest and helpful workout tips.  I want to see your boards dedicated to getting healthy.  I want to hear about the great deals you found on workout gear and I want to hear about the tips and know how for why certain foods are better than others.

Most importantly - I want to hear about your progress, your tips on how to keep going when you feel like giving up and I want to hear about the ups and the downs.

How does it work?

Snag the button and you can either include it in your post or place it anywhere on your blog to show that you too have joined the campaign for less jiggles in your life.  Then post about progress, what you're trying, what you pinned that you think will help. 

And then email me at jessajill@gmail.com to let me know about it.  We will all be each other's work out buddy, we'll keep each other going and we'll keep each other out of the cookies.  I will DEFINITELY feature you and link to your post.  All efforts should be applauded and encouraged so I will do my best to feature ANYONE who lets me know that they posted about their NO MORE JIGGLES journey.

Also - if you have a fantastic tip - great workout routine that's given you results or a great diet that is helping - I would LOVE for you to guest post.  ***Only requirements - it must be actually healthy.  I don't want to hear about unhealthy starve-yourself-until-you-almost-faint-then-eat-a-block-of-cheese business.  No detoxes either unless approved by a licensed medical professional.

Any trainers and nutritionists are welcome to email me as well - all healthy tips and tricks are welcome!  Especially trainers and nutritionists!

EVERY WEDNESDAY WILL BE DEDICATED TO NO MORE JIGGLES 

There will be something new about a new quote, new pin, new healthy recipe, new diet, new routine, or new guest post on keeping those jiggles away.  

TOGETHER WE CAN STOP THE JIGGLING!

WHO'S WITH ME?!!!

GRAB THE BUTTON AND LETS ALL JIGGLE LESS IN 2012!!!

The first no more jiggles post by me will be Wednesday and I PROMISE, even if I post about NOTHING ELSE I will post about something that will help lose the jiggles.

And that's a real promise folks.

Also - I am adding a PAGE at the top dedicated to links to all healthy No More Jiggles Posts.  Make sure to visit all links and leave encouraging comments!  We can do this, guys!

Wanted: Guest Bloggers

Details coming soon on the topic requested.

Thanks!

For my next trick...

My husband has hung onto a mirror of his grandmothers for quite a few years now.  It's been in storage at his cousin's house for a little while now, but ever since the Great Wall Stenciling of 2011, we decided it was time to revive it.

I had forgotten what it looked like.  I thought it was smaller and more round, but when they brought this up from the basement I was overjoyed!  It's PERFECT!

Why yes, a college student did put this up at one point, why do you ask?

Could it be the surf sticker?

You could ask, "Who puts a surf sticker on a mirror like this?!"  But he was in college...you just have to shake your head and move on with your life.

Aside from the sticker removal and a good scrub, I probably will white wash the frame.  I know the fold has been there for many years, but I'll probably paint over that too.  Then maybe antique the crevices?  Who knows.

So this my friends, is my next large project...

Stay tuned.

Happy New Year

May you all have a safe new year.

And may the Mayans be way wrong come December.