Open Farm Day

We kind of love goat lady dairy.  Their cheese is flat out AMAZING!!  Daniel and I had dinner at the dairy a couple years ago and fell in love with the goats, the farm and the sustainability that they stand for.  I knew that the boys would love the farm if we ever got the chance to go back-- it's taken 2 years, but me and the boys made it out to "Open Farm Day" today. 

There were potters--

Chickens--  Leeland was more into and intrigued by the chickens than he was the goats. Funny boy.  He brought home a chicken feather and is planning to ask Daddy tonight if he can have a pet chicken. HAHA!

A tour of their brand new cheese room with info on the cheese making process--

... And of course, GOATS!!

The boys really loved the farm, and it was a lovely Fall afternoon to enjoy it.  Hope everyone else had a fabulous weekend!

Turbo Fire!!

So, many of you have asked about the end of P90x and what the next phase will be for me in my weight loss journey.  After doing some research and much debate and indecision, I decided on Turbo Fire. Turbo Fire is a high intensity interval training cardio program, quite different from the strength training I was doing with P90x.

So why the switch? Well, just looking for a little something different for one. Plus I've always been more of a cardio junkie. I have NO doubt that strength training works... And works well. I saw great results with P90x, but want to do a little something different. AND added bonus, there is a hybrid P90x/Turbo Fire work out schedule, so when I finish this round of Turbo Fire, the hope is that I will begin the hybrid schedule and find the perfect balance of strength training and cardio. 

I start this Monday! So here are the before pics and before measurements. I will not be doing the weekly wrap up posts this time around, but I do plan on pictures and measurements for 30-60-90 like before. (And actually this program has an added advanced training month, so there may be a 120 Turbo Fire post too.)

Before Turbo Fire:

Chest- 36 inches

Biceps- 14 1/8 inches

Thighs- 26 inches

Hips- 42 inches

Waist- 33 inches

Weight- 180 pounds

The winner is....

Sorry to the night owls who may have stayed up last night to find out who the winner was-- I tried hard to stay up and I think I passed out at like 11:45pm. I was close! Ha!

But without further ado, the winner of the 3 Little E's goats milk soap is.....

Jolene!!

Be on the lookout for a winning email girl, and I'll mail your soap Monday! 

Thanks so much Carrie for sponsoring this fun giveaway, and thank you to everyone who participated! 

P90x FINAL photos and measurements

I sort of feel like whatever I write here, you guys are scrolling through to the photos anyway and not reading this, but I just have to say, in the word's of Reed Timmer, "I dominated, dominated, dominated...." For real though, I feel great! A combo of my body feeling good because it's being treated right, happiness with the results and a feeling of accomplishment. I still have a ways to go to get to where I want to be, but this has been a fabulous kick start to a healthier me.

So without further ado, here's the pictures. (And I have no idea why it took 3 photo posts for it to click that I should use picstitch. Sorry to anyone who had trouble reading the 60 day because it was all out of line on mobile.)

Before p90x on the left in each and after on the right-

.... And the latest measurements-

So what's next?!? Well, I've signed up for a 5k on October 5th, so I'm taking the next couple weeks to somewhat have a little bit of a break from the 6 days a week grind, and I hope to focus on preparing for the 5k and running 4 times a week. After the 5k, I hope to jump right in to my next program.  I will continue to do before and after photos along the way through my next program, but I will probably end the weekly wrap up posts. 

I cannot thank my friends, family, challenge group, and coach for supporting me and encouraging me along the way the past 13 weeks. So thank you all!! 

P90x Week 13 Wrap Up

Confession: I really sucked this week! I could blame it on the busyness of life or the fact that we were all sick, or plain and simple losing motivation, but I really think it goes back further than that. It goes back to week 4, my first "odd week." In my mind, I categorized it as a "light week." It's not heavy training, very different work outs, a lot of yoga.... I really shot myself in the foot when I did that, so when week 8 came, it was a light week, and 13, was a light week.... Once I got to those weeks, mentally believing they were light and no big deal, made it easy for me to discount them and skip them as if they had no big deal. I never skipped as bad as this week.... But I really failed myself in my way of thinking. (And please don't read that wrong, I don't truly believe those work outs have no value. I'm kicking myself for missing them because I know the program works as written.... And no work out works if you don't do it!)

But without further ado, here's this weeks breakdown:

DAY 1- Yoga: missed

DAY 2- Core synergistics: missed

DAY 3- Kenpo: After beating myself up about missing day 1 and 2, I picked myself up tonight and made kenpo happen. I also added an AB Ripper after I finished in hopes of making up a little of the core I missed. And I thought my last ab ripper was last week?

DAY 4- X Stretch: missed

DAY 5- Core Synergistics: missed

DAY 6- Yoga: missed my yoga work out but I did mow our grass for 2 1/2 hours. It may sound simple, but we have a push lawn mower, so it isn't exactly easy work.  Something is better than nothing, right? 

Told you I sucked! 

DAY 7- Rest: I went for a run. I've mentioned before that I have a 5k coming up next month. I had 30 minutes to spare after church before a baby shower, so though I ran out of the house without a watch or phone or anything, I was determined to run for around 30 minutes.  In past runs, I knew how many loops I would do around the neighborhood, and it was always around 20 minutes and I clocked the mileage as 1.7 miles. SO, when I set out on this run, I was pretty much just determined to add an extra loop or push myself just a little bit further. I added 2 extra loops, and 2 extra side street dead ends and was feeling great!! Was nervous about the time so I came inside to get ready for the baby shower, then headed out and drove my route in my car before the shower to see how far I had went.... I was in total shock! 3.2 miles!!! 3.2 miles!!! A 5k is only 3.1. I did not intend to go that far and really can't believe I did. 

After yesterday's run, I can honesty say that regardless of what my final measurements this week show, p90x works! I am in the best shape I've been in, in a very long time, possibly ever.  The measurements that I'm looking for take time to achieve, they aren't a 90 day fix, but I have come leaps and bounds in 90 days. I feel great! 

3 Little E's Review and GIVEAWAY!

I am so excited to host another giveaway, and even more excited that it's one of my new favorite products-- goats milk soap!

I've always had incredibly sensitive skin, but it seems to have become even more so since I reached adulthood. There's no such thing as tanning for me, I burn and turn back to white, certain lotions and soaps cause me to rash and itch all over, I have eczema, and have even had to return expensive face washes that were meant for sensitive skin because my face itched all over and turned pink. With skin like this, usually when you find a product that works, you stick with it, but when a friend of mine started a new business venture making and selling goats milk soap, I knew I had to give it a try. 

The first bar of 3 Little E's soap that I ever tried was her coffee scrub. We're kind of coffee obsessed here at the Kroh house, so I knew it'd be perfect. It was amazing!! It has coffee grounds in the bar to help exfoliate, smells like a frappucino, and left my skin feeling clean and moist. AND no itching!!  Since then we have ordered pumpkin, carrot & apple, and the oatmeal, milk & honey. A perfectly fun soap for the sensitive skinned and "tough" skinned alike. And great for kids, but also adults too.

I also want to mention that my dear friend Carrie uses only quality, natural ingredients in making her soap, so you can trust that it's good for your body.   

Here's what Carrie says about her soaps:

"Imagine all natural, organic products that bring comfort, beauty, and better health to your family and loved ones thru raw goat’s milk, cold-pressed, organic oils, and high-quality essential oils and whole grains. Here at 3 little E’s, we pride ourselves in offering ourcustomers quality products that can soothe and help heal both mind and body at affordable prices.

Our eco- and body-friendly, handmade soaps moisturize and soothe sensitive skin when used regularly. Proven to reduce inflammation and heal dry, irritated skin, goat’s milk soaps can relieve skin symptoms including, but not limited to, eczema, acne, and psoriasis. Gentle and less allergenic than commercial, chemical-laden products in the marketplace today, our bar and liquid soaps also promote anti-aging! Enjoy the alpha-hydroxy acidic properties that soften the skin by breaking down the glue that holds dead skin cells together.

Honestly, not only do these soaps look, feel, and smell wonderful (consider fragrances such as lavender or chamomile and citrus), they are loaded with over 50 essential nutrients and vitamins like Vitamin C, B1, B6, B12, and E!"

So are you ready to go try some? Of course you can head over to her Facebook page and order your bars right now, but while you're here, I'm also giving away THREE bars! These 3 bars were generously given to me in my last order for the purpose of sharing with one of you, so make sure you head over to the 3 Little E's facebook and say thank you. You will win these 3 pictured, a tea tree and lavender, a coffee scrub, and an oatmeal milk and honey. 

Enter this giveaway below by following the directions on the rafflecopter form. (And I apologize to my international friends, this giveaway is open to the US only.)
a Rafflecopter giveaway

P90x Week 12 Wrap Up

12 out of 13.... I repeat... 12 out of 13!! So stoked!!

DAY 1- Chest, Shoulders & Triceps and Ab Ripper: I still can't believe I'm 12 weeks in. I really enjoy chest days because they allow me to reminisce a little back to day 1 and remember how I literally died doing like 5 push ups. I'm not really sure how I made it through the routine that day, and now here I am knocking them out and enjoying it.

DAY 2- Plyometrics: Daniel joined me today! That was a lot of fun to have a buddy to work out with. Couples who sweat together, stay together, right? Is that a saying? 

DAY 3- Back & Biceps and Ab Ripper: Just got my new dumbbells a few weeks ago and I'm already feeling like I could up them about 5 pounds each. I guess that's a good sign. If there's one thing I've learned, if you want to get strong, p90x is where it's at! 

DAY 4- Yoga: A miss. I know I explained it last week, but yoga is just so hard to do with kids afoot. I need relaxation, focus and my happy place for it. It also doesn't help that it falls on Thursdays and I keep other kids on Thursdays. Oh well! It's grown on me enough that I really like it, maybe it's something I can look into and advance in when the boys are a bit older.

DAY 5- Legs & Back: Holy Charlie horse batman!! My calves have been tight for a couple days, and those "sneaky lunges" today really did them in. Whew!! Finished the work out though and topped it off with a banana and protein.  Maybe I should try to make up that yoga day and stretch these legs out? 

DAY 6- Kenpo: Another fun workout WITH the husband. He's always been a workout enthusiast and gym rat, but it's been fun working out with him and having him home for workouts. We used to occasionally go to the gym together when we were dating. Who knows, when I'm all done with this challenge, I may have to hop in on some workouts with him as he continues just for the fun of it. 

DAY 7- Rest day! :)