Healthy-Skinny vs. Healthy-Fit

I have a new addiction. Pinterest. If you don’t know what it is, in short: a virtual pinboard for your ideas, motivations, recipes, anything under the sun. But that’s not what this blog’s about. This is about what I found on Pinterest, a blog by an inspiring woman who went from “Healthy-Skinny” to “College, Beer, & Pizza Junkie” to “Healthy Fit.” This is not her description of herself, but mine based on the photos of her and how she described her transformation. The blog, Muffin Top-Less, has a crazy amount of information and inspiration. It’s very well organized too, so you don’t have to search for anything. It’s all on top of the page in white. Seriously, there is SO much on this site: ways to eat healthy, how to beat those binge cravings, ways to beat self-bashing, meal plans, workouts, etc., but I digress…
I have always aspired to be skinny, thin, slim, & trim. I’ve loaded up on cardio, a smidgen of weight training, more cardio, health food diets, a bit more cardio, and cutting WAY back on my food intake. Please note: I have never, EVER starved myself. (I have this obsession with food, but that’s for another day.) I don’t want to be Healthy-Skinny anymore. I want to be Healthy-Fit.

The difference? Here are MY definitions:

Healthy Skinny – When the body is functioning fine. It’s not overweight or underweight. It’s somewhere in between. The body isn’t starved either. There’s no real muscle definition. Has a body fat percentage of 25-30% (for women) Thank you, Wikipedia, for the average HEALTHY info.

Healthy Fit – When the body is tight, toned, and has obvious muscle definition. Again, the body isn’t starved (there’s nothing healthy about starving). Body fat percentage is 14-24% (for women) An Athlete to an avid gym goer.

Savannah (the girl from the blog) is Healthy-FIT. She had enough of her frumpy college lifestyle and starting following a body building regimen. She is not FIT like those scary women body-builders that you can only tell if they’re a woman from the front (google images). She’s FIT as in physically strong and mentally powerful, while maintaining a beautiful feminine physique. I want to be that kind of healthy. I want to be STRONG, not strong for a girl. I want to be CONFIDENT, not occasionally confident. I want a DEFINITIVE BODY, not a girlish figure. I decided to try her MTLC Workout.

The first week was painful, amazing, and motivational. It hurt. My legs felt like Jello after the first Superset on the first day, but I did it. After a week of it, I must say it always seemed like the second full day after a great workout that I would feel the most pain. It’s the type of hurt that lets me know I DID SOMETHING RIGHT, not the kind that makes me think I tore something. A thorough workout is all about form. That’s what I concentrated on this past week. Once you break form you’re ruining a great workout.

My confession: I am very week in my arms and the 5 billion people in the weight section at the gym looked at me like I was a fish out of water. So I did a few things at home. I wanted to have great form and still do the amount of reps she said to do. I couldn’t use the heavy weights we had at home. My arms were not quite ready. So, I used… don't laugh... vegetable cans. Ok, go ahead, laugh. But I had to start somewhere right? I used the biggest ones I could find in the cabinet. I did use the regular weights for some of the workouts. On some I found myself losing form and literally unable to move my arms to finish the second set. Some weight is better than no weight. I just have to keep moving-working-pushing myself until I get the HEALTHY-FIT body I want and deserve. Week 2 started yesterday. So far, I’m still pushing myself and loving it. I'll keep you posted with photos as I progress. This is me now. Pudgy-I know...

Room by Room by Roof

I’ll never forget the day we signed the papers on our home. When we walked out of the attorney’s office, after shaking the seller’s hand, I turned to Johnathon with the biggest smile on my face. He wasn’t smiling. He doesn’t get as overly excited as I do, but I couldn’t understand why he wouldn’t be at this momentous occasion! We just bought our “forever home”. We get to paint the walls, landscape the yard; we could run around naked if we wanted to! All the fun things of being a home owner! I boasted “Aren’t you excited about OUR NEW HOUSE?!” – “Yeah, I guess” – “You don’t seem excited.” – “I’m excited, but now the real worries begin: house notes and maintenance.”

What you should know about my incredibly wonderful, loving, sweet, awesome husband is he worries about nearly everything. He worries too much about most things and worries even more about the important things. However, he was right. The painting I was excited about is fun, until you run in to paint peeling everywhere when it should stick, cracks, and poor patchwork. The landscaping is fun, until the mower, weed eater, and tools tear up. Running around naked is fun too, until you realize you need more curtains. Maintenance. Ugh.

I had a checklist of things I wanted to do to our home over the first 5 years of ownership:
1. Create Johnathon’s Sports room and my craft room
2. Redo the kitchen (completely gut it and start over)
3. Renovate our master bathroom
4. Replace the fake stucco yellow stuff with vinyl siding
5. Landscape the yard like a PRO

After 2 years of ownership, here’s my REALITY checklist:
1. Paint rooms when we can afford them, one room at a time adding bits and pieces as we go
2. We can gut our kitchen in 30+ years, after the kids move out, and we’ve saved 30-40k to do it.
3. The master bathroom can wait 10+ years, my ideal bathroom is expensive and we’re paying CASH
4. The stucco stuff does need to be replaced soon (it’s rotting in certain places) but our roof needs to be replaced and that comes first.
5. Landscaping of the yard must be a little at a time as well. Thank goodness I have friend with a green thumb the size of Canada and she gives me free plants and help when needed.

Besides moving the furniture several times and hanging photos sporadically, here’s what we’ve done so far:

Curtains - We purchased blinds to cover the main room windows and a curtain for our front door. The bedrooms have hand-me-down curtains that don’t match, but the windows are covered. Other windows have sheets to help with the heating/cooling bills until we can afford the curtains I like. I admit, I have expensive taste but I’m a frugal shopper. I refuse to buy something to “just get by” when I can save the money and get what we REALLY want. Sheets get us by just fine. No one uses those rooms anyway.

The main kitchen wall – We painted it red and hung several items. HELPFUL TIP: If you’re painting a red wall, do not use white or pink tinted primer. It will make your wall look pink. Use the gray tinted primer, let it dry for several hours then paint your first coat of red. Let that dry for 24 hours (at least) then paint your second coat of the red. You’ll thank me. Also, your paint will appear to have streaks for a few days. Wait one full week for the paint to fully dry. THEN look at your wall and your streaks should be gone.

John’s sports/guest room – After a small fight between me, nails, peeling paint, and bad paneling, John and I sanded, primed and painted the room. We also touched up the trim and bookcase with a fresh coat of white paint. We’re in the process of hanging shelves and photos, as well as looking for curtains to complete the room. So far, we’re happy with it.

The Roof – My husband has been able to make patches but it still leaks in places. It will be replaced this summer.

The Yard – The grass gets cut. The trees lining our yard and the banana trees in the center get cut back each year. Other than that, nothing has been done to it.

All in all, it’s been a very busy and productive 2 years. Throw in a 20 month engagement and extremely detailed destination wedding, I’m extremely proud in how far we’ve come. Johnathon was right, maintenance is worrisome, but I was right too. It can be so much fun. Take some advice, one room at a time, pay cash for all renovations or “facelifts”, and try not to stress about how or when it will be done. Your home wasn’t built in a day but it does require maintenance, DAILY. Remember, you can always paint over it. Personally, I can’t wait to see what else comes along.

BAM! New Motivation!

You should know I get bored with projects easily but it also doesn’t take much to make me excited about it again. Everything in life can become exciting to me with a simple twist. I’m easily impressed by anything new, shiny, or well designed (functional and esthetically pleasing).

That said, I GOT MY NEW SHOES IN! I have been hitting the gym like I said I would. Routines become a “routine” after 20 consecutive days for most people. I’m currently on day 9. My new shoes actually came in on day 4; and if it hadn’t been for them, this would be day 0. The Saucony Stabil CS 2 is what I purchased. They’re not my favorite style, but they fit my feet and give me all the support I need. I am flat footed, so I need motion control shoes. I need the support. If you’ve never had your foot professionally fitted and feel uncomfortable going to someone, try going to RunningWarehouse.com. Watch the video on this link. It’s amazing the difference a good, fitted shoe can make. It seems strange, but if you take care of your feet now, the rest of your body will thank you for it later. Yes, it is sad new shoes motivate me to get off my butt. I do love them for every reason mentioned above- New, Shiny, and Well Designed. BAM! New motivation!

My other new motivation is a scheduled cruise for this summer. Please note: this motivation is similar to the one I had for the wedding – look good almost naked (in a swimsuit), but the twist is it's for a cruise instead of a wedding. It’ll be just me and my husband, AND my in-laws, AND thousands of strangers on this boat for a week. I want to look good all the time, but especially in a swimsuit. Doesn't everyone? I want to be able to wear those cute summer dresses without my arm jiggling like there’s an ongoing earthquake from my shoulder to my elbow. Plus, if I lose enough, I’ll need new summer clothes. Shopping for new clothes because I’ve lost weight is always more appealing than if I have to because I’ve gained. BAM! New motivation!

Lastly, my husband has always tried to motivate me in one way or another. He’s almost always successful. I say almost because there are THOSE days when a million dollars couldn’t motivate me to get out of bed. However, recently he’s motivating me in a new way. I don’t even think he knows it. Jonathon has always worked out. ALWAYS. However, lately, he’s been doing something different. I’m not sure if he has changed his workout or what he’s eating at work. But whatever it is, it’s working. I’ve noticed a physical change on him. He’s becoming more cut, defined. His shoulders and chest seem to be getting bigger as well. Why does this motivate me? I guess because I want to see changes on me too. I suppose it is true when they tell you couples who work out together lose more and stay at it longer. Jonathon would do it anyway, but he’s definitely pushing me. BAM! New motivation!

I lost a total of 27lbs for my wedding. I’ve gained back nine and currently weigh 169. My goal weight is now 155. Even if I don’t reach that exactly, I want to be slim, toned, and tan come time for the cruise (as well as the rest of my life). I can make it happen. I just have to keep pushing and looking for that simple twist on the old. All so I can have that feeling of “BAM! New motivation!”

Getting back to it!

Hello! Let me introduce myself, my name's Erica. I'm recently married and have no children at this time. Those closest to me call me "E" (notice the blog title). I work at a body shop in southern Mississippi as well as an independent consultant for Scentsy.


It's been over a year since I've blogged (I'm beginning to sound like I'm at a special meeting). I deleted my old one so I can start fresh! So, what am I going to blog about? Why did I decide to start back? The truth is I held myself accountable when I blogged. It relieved stress as well as helped others try new things.





So, nearly 5 months ago, I got married. Johnathon, my now husband, was/is better than I ever dreamed of. Our wedding was fabulous. Everything went perfectly. I wouldn't change one thing about it. It was on the beach with perfect, comfortable weather, a beautiful sunset, and about 300+ uninvited guests. Everyone who was at the hotel came out to see OUR wedding. It was incredible to have every balcony filled with strangers all watching my now husband and I exchange vows of "forever and always."



Saying our vows.



The set up we designed.











We bought our house before we got married, in October of 2009. The only thing we've completed so far to the house is to paint and decorate one wall in our kitchen. We have hung up photos sporadically, but I LOVE our kitchen wall. Forgive the low quality; it was taken on my cellphone. I'll get another photo posted with it fully decorated later.



Our newest project has already begun as nightmare. The third bedroom will be Johnathon's sports gallery/guest bedroom. He has wrestling awards and photos, baseball and football memorabilia, as well as comic collectables we would like to take out of a box and put on display. This room has that awful fake wood paneling in it. The previous home owners decided they would paint over the paneling without prepping it first. They did not sand or strip it like you should before painting the varnished wall. They also did not pull out any nails that were left. They simply just painted over it... When I started pulling out nails THIS is what happened...

I was beyond frustrated. My wonderful in-laws allowed us to borrow a sander and we got to work. The room is now primed. Next weekend we will paint. The really good news? The pastel poop color is gone. The room already looks bigger. I can't wait to show you what the new color looks like along with the repainted trim.

I suppose that's all for now. I'm trying to get back in to a routine at the gym. I bought new shoes for motivation (don't laugh, it works for me). I did lose a total of 27 lbs. for the wedding. I feel great! You'll be hearing from me soon! Lots of love and happy health!