End of C4, light my fire challenge.

Today I finished C4 off with a circuit cardio program. It was an aewsome feeling finishing another challenge. Yesterday was my last chest and back routine and I really pushed that also. Now I'm getting ready to proceed on with the torch challenge in memory of Julie. I will go back to the basics and follow BFL. I've got a little more planning to do, and I have read a few things on tracker that I must have missed when I read the book. I think this challenge is going to light a new fire in many of us, and I hope we all complete a successful challenge in the next 12 weeks.
Anyway eating has been on plan. I wish I could spend more time outlining my excercise and eating but I have been extremely short on time. I hope to take pics and do measurements and get them posted on tracker tomorrow.
"You now that I would be untrue, you know that I would be a liar, if I were to say to you, girl we couldn't get much higher,
Come on baby light my fire........
I feel she has lit a fire in all of us, let her memory keep our desires lit.

She slipped me the goobler again!

Nothing new to report from the wild kingdom. Today was a good day and just spent most of the day cathing up on choirs.I also spent an hour playing with a radio controlled boat on the pond. It was another one of my Christmas presents.
As far as the workout today I did 3, 10 minute intervals on the recumbant, the dreadmill, and the elliptical.I started off with the ab routine 1st. It was another ripper and totally wore me out. I think I'll use this for my cardio for the Torch Challenge.


As far as eating, everything was authorised foods and on time.I did experiment with the veggie portion for dinner. I sauteed onions, mushrooms and fresh spinach in a tbsp of olive oil. I added some garlic and balsmic vinegar near the end of the cooking, and it came out pretty good. I'd definitely cook it again.For the meat I seasoned center cut pork chops and cooked them in the broiler, and for the carb it was pinto beans with jalapeno's. All in all it was a great meal, except cleaning the kitchen totally sucks. Well, Susan's been super busy at work so she's been slipping me the goobler on the cleaning the kitchen part, lol. That's life and that's about it.

Julie Whitt's favorite color

That's what Julie p.m.'ed me on tracker when I had this parrot on my profile.Blue was her favorite color. I was thinking about that today and thought I'd post this pic. This is Crunch! She is a Hyacinth macaw. We named her Crunch! because of her enormous beak and the fact she can crack open macadamian nuts with no problem.This is the biggest macaw in the macaw family. Form head to tail she is around 3 foot. She is extremely friendly and affectionate. In the aviary world they are referred to as the gentle giant.
In other news at the farm, yesterday I tried circuit training. I rode the recumbant for 10 minutes, then did 10 on the treadmill and finished that off with 10 minutes on the elliptical. It definetly was a butt ripper.Before hand I did my ab routine and it went fairly well.
For today I did shoulders and arms. everything was performed with 3 sets of 8 reps. On the 3rd set of every excercise I bumped up the weight and either hit 8 reps or went to failure.Eating has been on plan, and as I wind down this challenge I am looking forward to the Torch Challenge. Maybe I will finally get that 6 pack I have been working so hard on. If I do I'll have Julie to thanks for that.
See you soon.

Almost forgot

I've had 2 full days off work since Thanksgiving. I'm off until Friday so needless to say it's been hectic. I haven't had a chance to blog alot. I can read everyone's blogs at work, but I can't respond or keep mine up. I haven't missed a workout day since my last blog entry, except yesterday, when I had to dig a 4foot wide by four foot long by four foot deep hole. It was leg day so I counted that. My eating has gone well except free day started at Sat. night 10p.m.Sunday is my normal freeday, but considering it was the Holidays I held out almost to the end lol. It was the fried turkey they brought to work that did me in. I usually don't care for it, but I had a nibble (breast meat no less) and that was all she wrote. Anyway thought I'd tell ya'll what's up, and I will continue on through this week with my current routine. This will be the end of 12 weeks, Challenge 4 on Sunday, and then I will start the Carry the Torch challenge in Julie's honor on Jan. 2nd.

Zola

We lost our favorite Mini cow yesterday. Her name was Zola. She was a Zebu cow that we have had for 5 years. We lost her mate Zippy in February, so we no longer have our pair. Our vet said she died of old age, which was comforting to us because we really didn't know how old she was.She was a friendly pet, always there with a nudge to be fed or brushed and she gave us 4 babies we still have. She was such a great mother also.Gentle with her babies, and would let us handle them when we needed to. I know it's not like losing a dog or a cat, but we really have enjoyed our cows because most of them have been friendly and have their own little personalities. We laid her to rest next to Zippy where I hope they get to enjoy eternity in cow pasture heaven. Who would have thought Susan and I could become so attached to these guys. We have enjoyed having them in our lives. Rest in peace my little girl.

To my friends,I think I understand.

I sent this to Jess this a.m. and she suggested I post this on my blog:
Hi Jess,
Yesterday to say the least was a very rough day. I was trying to understand why I was so upset with Julie's passing. I had the fortunate experience of exchanging p.m.'s with her and enjoyed her comments on my progress and the pics of my animals.In learning how to navigate using the computer I discovered her personal blog and her BFL guest blog.Through her writings I learned more about her and what a strong woman she was. I learned about her compassion for life and her lack of fear of death.She took life on life's terms and had no complaints. I learned of her bond with her husband Matt. This is the stuff a movie could made about, and I got to meet her, although not in person. So far, she is the closest thing to an angel I have ever met, including my late grandmother . I, as we all will miss her very much.
What I have learned from Julie is the power of a new type of friendship. It's the friendships I have made on the computer. I have confessed to you that I use your favorites list for the blogs that I have discovered. Some of the people I already knew from Tracker, but as you and I began to correspond I felt we have started to build a foundation to a different type of friendship. It's a friendship in which we might never meet in person. We share some of our deepest thoughts, our likes and dislikes, our triumphs and tragedies. And yes even the loss of people we love dearly. Through the blogs we have build several special friendships with people we can connect with.I have learned allot from all of these special people in the short time I have been blogging. I think the things each and everyone shares draws us to a closer understanding of ourselves and the friendships we are making. Soon I will learn about birth from Karla's point of view, we will see a future star in the making with Bev, we will learn about astrology with Persephone, we will see Karenna overcome her obstacles and write a book, we will witness Parttimemom's and Goddessa's transformation in health, we will watch as Janel becomes more of a super mom than anyone can imagine, we will see Christy's business take off, we will watch as Teresa and Carol compete and win in competitions, and Teresa get a pink Caddy, we will hear of Stef's family adventures of snow skiing in far away places, we will celebrate when Steve bench presses 300 lbs, we will rejoice when the Stone Oak comes back and shows us his body like Arnold's.And Tracey and Melanie, wow I just like to read ya'lls observations. We will meet other friends and welcome them with an open mind.
Through all of these we will witness the ups and downs. The happiness and sadness. And that's what I have discovered with Julie's passing. I have friends that I deeply care about. Friends that I might never meet, but all the same, friends that I will go through all the same emotions that I am going through now. I hope and pray that it will always be the triumphs of life and successes of living.
And for you Jess, what I want to share in our friendship is when you meet Mr..Right, when you land that new job, and give Howard Stern some kickass competition as the best D.J. in the world, and you get to the physical condition YOU want to be in. As your friend I love you just the way you are, but if you need that support or that kick, to get where you want to be I'm here,
Your friend, and student
Troy

A thought and a prayer

Today is for Julie Whitt. I'm thinking of her and praying for her and her family.

Still crazy, as in busy

Woke up at 12:30, did elliptical.
Garage selling until 4p
Eat and go to work.
Awesome cardio workout, and eating the right foods, just been heavy on the mixed nuts and ffcc duee to fridge problems at home.

Busy, busy, busy

Got up at noon,did chest and back and it was an awesome burn. Got really pumped up and could hardly put my shirt back on. I'm out in the garage doing the garage sale thing for a spell before I go to work. I didn't get the fish that was promised last night for me so I existed on mixed nuts ffcc, fruit, veggies, and yogurt. I really didn't think I would be able to lift as well as I did today, due to the lack of meat. I guess protein is protein. Anyway it is cold as hell out here and we are short on people wanting to buy our junk lol.Not a good idea to have a garage sale so close to Christmas. So due to lack of time just wanted to say workouts are going well and food is basically on plan(portion control as usual). See ya'll later.

I need 26 hours in the day.

Figured I better drop in for a line or two. I don't think I've had but two days off in Dec. yet, and I'm destined to work non stop until the first of the year. People are dropping like flies with bronchitis and pneumonia, and 5 of them are off through the last 2 weeks with vacation.We are having a garage sale Fri- Sun, and I have to work 16 hours on Fri, and 12 hours on Sat. The only time off I'm getting is the half day off when I go from nights to days.
With that being said, my excercise is still going strong, and my eating has been on plan. You should see the giant bags of food I bring to work lol. My problem is that I type like I am using my elbows so it takes me an extremely long time. So if something has to suffer due to my lack of time it will be my blog.
I need to go do abs and elliptical. I am trying to keep up with you guys so on your blogs, and that's even tough.Everyone have a great day and I'll write soon.

Same stuff

Dreadmill : 2,04 miles 20 minutes. 260 cals. burned.
Eating was on plan.
Bye

Friday's day at the home gym

Started days today, Fri- Sun, so I got up at 0300 to do my workout. This a.m. was chest and back. It didn’t go to well because I didn’t sleep worth a poo last night. The change over and the graveyards had me a little out of sync.
Week 9, 3 sets of 12 reps or til failure:
Push ups wide grip: 3 sets 15 reps
Incline Bench Press: 1 set 55 lbs, 2nd set 55 lbs 7 reps, did 5 more reps with 50 lbs, 3rd set 50 lbs 9 reps
I arm row row row your boat: 60 lbs
Bitch press(that’s no typo): 1 set 60 lbs, 2nd set 6 reps 60 lbs, did 5 more reps 52.5 lbs, 3rd set 5 reps 52.5 lbs did 3 more reps with 50 lbs.
Bent row: 47.5 lbs
Incline flies: 1st set 47.5 lbs ,2nd set 5 reps 47.5 did 5 more reps at 40 lbs, 3rd set 7 reps 40 lbs
And thank God I got this far…. Dumbbell pullovers 52.5 lbs
Well that was extremely grueling this a.m. I was still shaking several hours later. I have lifted more and the plan was for more to be lifted, but it wasn’t going to happen this a.m. I pride myself in the fact I gave it my all and was able to get my routine done .
Food for the day:
4 am shake with whey down yonder, 15 oz ff skim milk, and a banana
7 am ff cottage cheese, yogurt and an orange
10 am turkey bacon melt, ff cheese, onion on a ww tortilla
1p salmon, potato, salad
4p ff cc the rest of the yogurt, and an apple
7 p Susan’s night to cook, but it’ll be on plan
9:30 what else ff cc and some type of fruit mixed in, maybe a berry, maybe a grape, who knows, just some frickin fruit.
Thought for the day: Man I’m just glad I can physically get up and move in the a.m.!
Have a great day, and may peace be with you.

The Parrot's Hilton and stuff.

I was trying to put some newspaper in the macaws barrels to provide a little warmth. It finally got cold here today, in the 30's and I was a little worried.I opened up the side door on Caicos and Sammy's(blue and gold macaws) barrel, and as fast as I could put the paper in they were hauling it out.So I tried Rockie and Little Bit's (yellow collard mini macaws)barrel and they were more afraid of the paper and left it be, so it's still in there.I thought I'd take a pic and show where 2 pair of our macaws reside. Alex and Taz(green winged macaws) are due to move out in the third section when they become bonded and unhandleable. This is what we call "The Parrot's Hilton".I came up with this aviary idea and finally put it to use. The tops are old satellite dishes I found throughout our area. There are three "condos" and are 10 foot across and 9 foot tall. They have heavy guage wire on the inside and aluminum screen on the exterior(for mosquito control).The floors are concrete and painted so the bottom is easy to clean.I made louvered doors at the very bottom so I can wash the floor from one side to the other.When it gets real cold we can wrap the Hilton with tarps and put a heater in the hall(that's the section with the white door, I made it as a double door system so no one accidentily tries to fly out). We've also hung a bunch of grape vine and wood toys out there to stimulate them. Most breeders belief is not to do this becomes it distracts from breeding. These were pets first and foremost, and a big part of our lives. Susan and I want them to be content, stimulated and happy, so if they have babies fine, if not that's o.k. also. The blue and golds have had 2 babies and we kept the 1st one. His name is Junior and he is a trip. I'll profile him later. Anyolhoo, when I'm not doing animal stuff, I like to be like an animal in the excercise room , and this was achieved on the dreadmill.

First it was the ab routine 7 different ones some using weight some not, doing 2 sets each at 15 reps or until fatigue, which I made it all today.It's all goooood!
Then the dreadmill: I was like an animal possesed on that thing today and I didn't even want to do it, but I played a mind game and pretended if I could break 2 miles that someone would let me break out the hedgetrimmers, lol!
Now I got to go find those suckers. Man,what a little hedgetrimming can do for a man! I did 2.02 miles in 20 minutes and burned 257 cals(a new personnal best).Yahoo! Snip snip, trim and cut! Oh well it got me there didn't it.
Ok now to food
12 noon shake, 2 scoops of whey, 15 oz ff milk and a banana
3p 3egg white, 1 whole egg, onion, jalapeno, ff cheese, on a ww tortilla
6p planned, salmon, new potatoes, salad
9p ff cc and mixed fruit
By the way with them new potatoes, what do you think a portion consists of.They are about the size of a ping pong ball so the only thing I could think of is a portion would be how many I could put in my mouth at one time. 7 almost 8 but that 8th one was pushing the 1st one down my throat, lol.Anyway what do ya'll think would be a good portion.
Later!

Wednesday

Needless to say I slept in a little later than normal on my last graveyard. Luckily it rained so I didn't mow, nor was I in the mood to. It took everything I had to work out after I got up, even after an extra scoop of NOX! Afer that kicked in I was ready to get after it. Starting week 9; 3sets 12 reps
Shoulders and Arms:
Shoulder Press: 40 lbs
Lateral Raises: 17.5 lbs
Upright Rows: 35 lbs
Triceratops 1 Arm Extensions: 22.5 lbs 1st 2 sets, 3rd set only 6 reps left arm,but "I got by with a little help from my friends"..... the right arm gave assistance to finish the last 6 reps.
Biceps Curl: 27.5 lbs
Seated Triceps Press: 52.5 lbs 1st 2 sets, 9 reps 3rd set
Seated Hammer Curls: 27.5 lbs
Forearm Wrist Curls: 27.5 lbs
I was surprised I did what I got done. I picked this set of weight to start week 9 from the weight I was at in week 3 when I am doing 8 to 10 reps, so this is a fairly good bump up. But I always like doing arms!
Now for the food tales:
3p protein shake, with nat. p.b. and a banana, oh I used 2 scoops of whey today since I am only going to get 3 meals in due to waking up later than usual.
6P As we speak the EFL chili carne is on the stove simmering for our soon to be feeding fest.
9p what else is there for the last meal, ff cottage cheese and some frozen mixed berries.
That does it for another day. Good beans, good meat, good God, let's eat!

A few days off

Tonight's my last graveyard after working 9 12 hour shifts in a row. I 'm ready for a few days off! It has been tough getting things around here done but that's life. As for some of the critters, I think they miss their time out. 2 of my parrots have been out in 4 days, so while I was cleaning cages I let Boy George out and he stuck to me like glue. He also showed me his appreciation by crapping on me several times. And it was wet and cold, but again what are you gonna do?
Anyway it was back to the dreadmill and I did a jam up job, 1.98 miles in 20 minutes and burned 254 cals. So it only took me 14 more secs to hit 2 miles! I guess the next goal will be 275 cals burned in 20 minutes. But I might ought to stay with the 2 mile feat for a few more runs.
Food for the day:
3:30 p.m. 3 egg beaters, 1 egg with onion, jalapeno and ff cheese rolled up like a big ol number in a ww tortilla with 5 slices of turkey bacon.
the rest is BFL approved and packed for work and again I have run aout of time so trust me on this one, I will eat correctly!
Ya'll have a fantastic rest of the day and see you soon in blog land!

Smashed Chicken

Smashed chicken isn't a fancy dish. It isn't an exotic oriental dish. What it is, is an observation in cooking techniques with certain appliances. The George Foreman grill to be exact. Now I don't read instructions so I'm not an expert on how to use this thing, but common sense would dictate proper handling procedures.I brought our extra to work and it is used in the same manner as it is used by our BIG one at the house. After the chicken is marinated, rubbed or dashed with any found in the cupboard it is thne laid on the grilling surface and the top portion is closed on the chicken to cook both sides at one time.Here is where the observation and the name has come into play.I notice after the top is closed that everyone that I've seen used this thing(except for yours truely)then puts both hands on the lid and applies enough pressure on it to wring moisture out of a cotton ball. What's the deal? Then all your left with is a flat dried out piece of chicken breast(at least has flavor) that's as flat as a tortilla.Hence my name for this new dish.... smashed chicken.Of course when someone else is cooking for you and the meals are all on plan(BFL style) one must never complain. So I give smashed chicken my thumbs up! When I get a chance I'd like to discuss pressed ham!
Anyway the workout for today was legs. I'm on week nine and back to 3 sets 12 rep rotation. I am having problems lifting the weight I am using because 80 lb dumbbells in each hand trying to squats are killing my hands. So even though I had to modify my workout, I still hit some tens, but I don't have enough time to list what I did today. Eating will be on plan also, but I need to go make breakfast, get my meals ready for the rest of the night and get ready for work! You guys have a great rest of the day, and I'll try to go make some cheaper gasoline!

Tis it the Season Yet!

With temps in the 80's here it's hard to get into the Christmas mood. Still mowing, weedeating and sweating your ass off while wearing cutoffs and tank tops just doesn't help. Anyway I've been hearing tales of snow and sleet and frozen pipes on the other blogs and can't even imagine what it is like. This picture was taken last year on Christmas day. I think it was the first time it snowed on Christmas day in 100 years. Yes Virginia , it does snow in South Texas. Anyway Susan took this picture when she went to check on the animals reaction to the white stuff. Our horse is Shoney, and the llamas are from left to right, Sierra, Pearll, Javier, Patches, and you can't see Dottie(the bitch) didn't know what to think of it lol. I'll profile each one of them later in Critter of the Week mini series. But right now I needed a little help to get in that mood lol.
Well when I ain't animal tending here's what else I do: exercise
The routine was yesterday and it was recumbant:
I burned 291 cals in 20 minutes, needing only 48 secs to hit that 300 cal mark!
In order to fuel that endeavor of almost epic proportions the feeding went like this:
4p smashed marinated chicken breast(done on the Forman lol) bfl fries, salad
7p ffcc and yogurt
10p sirloin steak, leftover bfl fries, salad
1a tuna steak and an apple
4a ffcc fiber one cereal mix
Well that was a short menu, but graveyards screws up my times of eating . Other than that I weighed and measured today and due to the lack of nothing really changing , I'll post results some other time. Everyone have a great w/e and blog at you later.

Friday's routine posted Saturday

O.K.so I'm a day late with my post. I'm working graveyards now and didn't have time at home to do my blog. I had to run a bunch of errands today(Friday) before I went to work this evening, and actually it's already Saturday. I have to do some work under the Royal Queens carriage (I have to change the oil on her car for crying out loud, lol!!!!!) so I'll have to post a day late again. For Friday it was the Chest and Back routine, 3sets at six reps, for the 8th week. Here's how the quest began:
Push ups:3 sets of 15 reps Lying pull overs:62.5 lbs, did 8 reps all 3 times Back shrugs: 47.5 lbs 1st two sets, 50lbs 3rd set 8reps Decline bench press: 65 lbs 6 reps Bent row, palms in: 52.5 lbs 8 reps Seated lat raises: 30 lbs 1st two sets, 32.5 lbs last set, 8 reps each Flies all green and buzzin: 55 lbs 1st two sets, 8 reps, 3rd set 5 reps. As you can see I usually up the reps a couple and only add 2.5 lbs from the previous week. I am getting to the point where I'm going to have to get some different equipment in order to get up in the higher weights. I might post measurements after Sunday, because I typically measure every 4 weeks.
The eating schedule for Friday: 9A protein shake with ff skim milk and banana 11:30a 3 egg beater omelet w/ jalapenos, onion and shrooms, with 1 multigrain pancake, sugar free syrup and that butter that has no values on it, but can't remember its name, oh and I slice of Swiss cheese on that omelet
Power Nap from 2 to 4p before starting work tonight 4:30p sirloin steak sliced up and served in 2 low carb tortillas with onion and 1 slice 2% pepper jack cheese 7p ff cc and ff yogurt 10 p sirloin steak, yam, and salad the rest is planned 1a ff cc and an orange 4 a ffcc and yam 6am crash and burn! Hey somebody's got to stay up and make this high priced gasoline! See ya'll on the fly, color me gone!

Thursday w/o

Woke up at 3:30 to do cardio. Will do ab workout Sat. I just needed the extra 30 minutes sleep. It was the recumbent again and I did a little better today than Mon.
20 min. 256 cals burned
22min 49 secs 300 cals total
Today is the last day of overtime, so I start graveyards tomorrow night and at least I get to sleep in for awhile.
Feeding is as follows;
4:30a shake and banana
7:a tbmelt
10a ff cc and yogurt
1p burger wrap on ww tortilla 1 slice 2% cheese, carrots
4p ffcc and an orange
7p dunno yet, but it'll be healthy, maybe grilled fish and a veggie
9:30 ffcc and mixed fruit.
That'll do it for today.
Insert for 7p(told you guys it would be healthy) grilled tuna and a salad.