Charity Miles Team!

Hey friends! So as you know I'm always looking for ways to give back. I've recently discovered an awesome app that allows you to help out a charity simply by walking. I've only used it once so far, so I'm not an expert but in this post I'll tell you all I know and how I've formed a team for us to work together.

So you can download Charity Miles on either your Apple or Android phone for free. When you open up the app it immediately opens up a list of organizations that you can choose to run or walk for. There are 37 to choose from and they are all wonderful!

As I mentioned before I have only used the app once and it was to go on a walk with Chris and Zoram. I let Chris choose and his pick was the American Diabetes Association, but you are able to pick a new charity every time you use the app. A lot of the charities are ones that I have previously or have planned to use for Charity of the Month. I'm thinking that if we can build up our team then we can just follow my pick for Charity of the Month and make a bigger dent in helping out an awesome organization. 

I'm getting ahead of myself, let's do a little more explaining.

The app uses the GPS in your phone to measure your distance. It can also use motion sensors if running indoors, but most likely it'll be less accurate. Personally I wish it could connect to my Fitbit and get my miles from there because I've been doing a lot of treadmill workouts. Maybe someday it'll happen. 

However, like with my Fitbit, there are always inconsistencies and room for error. So I wouldn't recommend using this solely to track distance for a workout. For me personally, I just let it do its thing and whether or not the numbers are completely accurate, I'm not going to worry about it. 

Walkers and runners can earn up to 25¢ and cyclists can earn 10¢ per mile. I realize this is not a lot, but as a team we can make a difference. (I promise I'll get to the team in a minute.)

The app is super easy to use. You just open it up, choose your charity, then start your walk. That's it. Insanely easy! When you're done you have the option to share your miles and progress on social media, if you want. This app is fantastic at not taking over any of your social media and posting things that you don't want to. 

I've also been able to connect this app to my Walgreens Balance Rewards account. Walgreens is amazing at helping out organizations in need and I'm able to get rewarded for my efforts using this app and taking care of my body through exercise. You can earn 20 points for every mile. Since I live in walking distance to Walgreens and it's my go-to drop in place, I love that I can get rewards in the store simply by walking, while also helping out charitable organizations. Seriously, how could it get any better than that? 

You can set reminders on the app as well so you don't forget to take your daily walk, run, or bike ride. 

If you have any further questions on this app you can check out their FAQ page HERE. 

Finally, let's get into teams. Because of my desire for Charity of the Month, I've decided to create a team for all of us to work together towards the same goal. Simply go to the menu bar, click teams then type in DancingCowHerd to find our team. I'm currently the only member (big shocker there) and the team page looks like this:

As I said, I've only used this app once while walking my dog, so our team mile total is very low, but I'm planning on doing a 5k soon and if I can find a good way to keep my phone on my person while I run on the treadmill at the gym every day (because I've been doing awesome at it), then my personal miles will go up. Also, hopefully, more people join our team and our team total will grow. 

Now I will continue to do Charity of the Month each month and if the charity I choose is one of the options on this app then I will be using it for the month. I would love if you joined me in choosing the Charity of the Month so we could make a bigger impact for the month, but you are always welcome to choose your own. I would never force you to ignore a charity you are truly passionate about. 

If you decide to download the app, please join our team and don't forget to track your miles. I would love to have you join my team and together we can make a difference. 

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I am not affiliated with Charity Miles or Walgreen Balance Rewards programs in any way. I was not compensated and any views or opinions were my own.

A Good Day To Start A Change

Hello friends! If you saw my last post you know that I've set some new goals for myself and one of them is to be healthier. Today is a Monday so what better day to start making a change for the better.

I would love for all of you to join me on my health/weight loss journey. Keep in mind, one of my main goals is to get pregnant again so weight loss, at least the goal weight I'm wanting, may not happen for a while if I get pregnant again.

For this go around I am planning on eating healthier and eating a good amount of calories each day. I will be going to the gym every night after work, starting with slow simple exercises at first and moving from there. There isn't a set plan to what I'll be doing on a daily basis but I would love for you to join me anyways in reaching your goals.

To help me achieve my goals I have two apps that I am using. For my birthday Chris gave me the Fitbit Charge HR . I have been loving it so far! I am using the Fitbit app to track my steps, sleep, and an estimated calories burnt for the day. Because I do not like how Fitbit tracks their food diary, I am also using My Fitness Pal. I absolutely love this app for tracking what I eat. What's especially nice is that these apps can be linked together, so in using My Fitness Pal, it will automatically subtract calories burnt from my Fitbit. It's genius and I love the way they can work together like that.

It is always easier to lose weight when you have friends helping you out. I will be tweeting about my experiences and you can check those out by following me on Twitter @cowgirl_kaylee. You can also friend me on My Fitness Pal and see my progress on there. My username is CowgirlKayls. You can find me on the Fitbit app as well, however I will not accept challenges from people I don't know (at least not at this time, maybe we can do a challenge all together someday though).

I've been through a lot recently and am still going through a difficult time but I'm committed to changing myself for the better. I've already been working on a change spiritually (more on that later), and I feel it's time I started working on the change physically. I love who I am and I'm continually working on growing a better self-image, and I truly believe this journey will help me to become the person I want to be and only make me love myself more.

I love you all and hope to hear about your weight loss or getting healthy experiences as well. And in case you didn't know... I have red hair now. :)

Pinterest Sunday: DIY, Foods, Neon, Cruel, Disney, Pink, Pinwheel, Roadtrip, Scriptures, Disney Parks, and Phoebe

This week I've pinned a ridiculous amount of clothing/fashion pins because I just want to shop and I'm so sick of my current wardrobe.... but I am going to save most of those pins for a Fashion Friday post this week. So stay tuned for all of those and I hope you enjoy this Pinterest Sunday post! 

As one of his Christmas presents, I promised my husband I would make a board/frame thing for the pictures of fish he catches. I had a pretty good idea in mind but then I saw this and knew I have to do this! But I could use like fishing wire and hooks! It'll be great! Stay tuned for a tutorial and video on it when I finally get around to making it. 

New Year, new me. I'm trying to lose one pound a week up  until my one year anniversary, because then I'll be at my wedding weight (yes I strayed that far off in the last 8 months). So I'm always looking for healthy foods and ways to lose weight. 

P.S. -I am already behind. I got sick so I didn't go to the gym at all last week and we still have tons of left over candy from Christmas (I have a theory that Santa gives us all so much candy so he doesn't feel as overweight himself) but this week I'll be starting a new routine (even though I still feel sick) and I'll be writing about it on here soon. 

Pinterest Sunday: Fitness & Health

So this Pinterest Sunday is more specific. I have gained about 25 pounds since my wedding and I am so sick of it! I'm not happy with my weight and my clothes don't fit me, so I'm doing something about it. So these are my favorite pins from Pinterest about losing weight, and some Youtube videos as the end. Enjoy!

You can find my whole Fitness board HERE. 

How Runners Build Endurance

50 Ways to Lose 10 Pounds

These are some really good ideas that are simple to do! 

My 2013 Resolutions

So we are halfway through the year 2013, which in my opinion went by super fast. This is a crazy year. I got married, I moved back to Logan, I'm starting school again in the fall... crazy. :)

So at the beginning of the year I made 10 New Years Resolutions. Since we're halfway through the year I figure now would be a good time to look back at those resolutions and see how well I'm doing and remind myself to keep working on some of them. So here are my 2013 resolutions and what I've been doing on them.

1. To limit my income of sugar and salt. (Okay, so this one I was doing pretty good at before my wedding. I didn't eat any sugar and salt in order to fit in my wedding dress.... but after the wedding I kind of lost it. I've gained about ten pounds since getting married, so I need to work on this goal some more again.)

2. To learn to love cooking. (I haven't worked on this one. I was lucky to marry a guy who is great at cooking and doesn't mind doing it. But I did cook something special that was very very delicious!! You can find it HERE.)

3. To become more flexible. (I haven't been working on this one either, however, I was stretching the other day and did my left splits completely. So I haven't lost any flexibility, which is good, but I want to be stronger in my flexibility, so I'll keep working on that.)

4. To become a better friend. (Yeah... I don't have anything to say on this one. I current don't have any friends in Logan except my husband, but when school starts I'll work on that...)

5. To work harder for my education. (I don't know if I'm accomplishing this or not. School hasn't started yet. But I am super excited for school and making sure I have all the right tools and study time for this semester. I'm so excited!!!)

6. To learn ways to spend less money. (Well I don't spend money right now because I have none. So I guess I'm doing this, in a way.)

7. To (finally) get my six pack. (Again, I worked on it at the beginning of the year before my wedding, but I'm failing at it now. Actually, no, I'm giving myself credit because I did a lot of abs workouts today. So I'm working on it.)

8. To be more organized and clean. (I am slightly surprised that our apartment stays as clean as it does. If you would have seen my bedroom before I got married you would never know it to be possible, but we work together and do a great job at keeping our apartment clean. We struggle, but we're still getting used to things.)

9. To blog more. (I regret to say I have not been doing this. This year, as stated above, has been crazy. With wedding plans, honeymoons, busy work schedules to zero work, this year has been filled with ups and downs and craziness that has kept me from writing as much as I would like. But lately I've been doing a bit better. We'll see though. The goal is to write everyday.)

10. To love Chris more each and every day. (I am very proud to say that I do follow this. I can honestly say I love Chris more than I did at the beginning of the year. I love him more now than I did when we got married. Heck, I love him more today than I did yesterday! I'm so happy to be married to him. We're having the best time in the world and being married to my best friend is the greatest thing that has ever happened to me.)

Pinterest Sundays: Babies, Beds, Talia, Weight Loss, Harry Potter, and Demi Lovato!

I have a board on my Pinterest called "Kids are so Darn Cute!" and I couldn't resist pinning this adorable child onto it! This picture just melts my heart! At the bridal shower I hosted this week they were trying to figure out who of the two brides-to-be would have kids first. They were both complaining about kids and saying they just like playing with them for a little while and as soon as they start to cry, they don't want them anymore. I'm not like that at all. When I see a baby cry, I just want to hold them and make everything better. I love kids so much! I need to work in a daycare again because I really don't want to have a baby till I finish school.

Also, this pin had a quote with it: "Take time to laugh -it is the music of the soul." (from an old English prayer). I really like this quote.

So I pinned this picture because 1. This bedroom is very cute and organized and I wish mine was cute and organized and 2. I REALLY want to get and/or make an end bench like this one. I think it would complete our bedroom and make it much better. But pink or coral wouldn't go in our room. We'd need red or black or white (which were our wedding colors and the colors everyone bought for us for wedding gifts). The pin is linked HERE, and I highly request you check it out because there are tons of other beautiful bedrooms on that link!!

This beautiful little girl passed away this week and I was so sad about it. She's was so incredibly beautiful and talented and had the most amazing heart and spirit. I know there is a very special place in heaven for people like her. Here is one of her makeup tutorials that I watched recently and am in love with:

50 Ways to Lose 10 Pounds! I read through all of these and they are really easy tips! Please click on the link because it's totally worth your time.

I read through all these Harry Potter facts for fun the other day (because I literally have nothing better to do with my life). Chris loves Scotland and wants to live there someday. He served his LDS mission in and around Edinburgh and so I told him when we visit Scotland, we are visiting this hotel.

I've written before about how much I love Demi Lovato. She is beautiful and talented and a wonderful role model and inspiration to me, despite the fact that she's younger. I really truly look up to her. I love this quote.

So I pinned a lot this week and with I could share it all with you... so click HERE to see all my pins! I love you readers!

The Wii Fit Diet

For anyone keeping tabs on me, it is now 8 days till my wedding!! I also am now jobless. I can no longer use the gym now that I don't work there. But I have basically one week to lose a few inches around my body in order to fit in my wedding dress.

So since I'm living at home for another week and it's one of my resources, I'm going to use Wii Fit to lose weight and show you my progress. I truly think this will work. It's not just the Wii, I have a diet plan as well. Here is how it will all work:

• Everyday for the next week I will "play" Wii Fit for 30-60 minutes (whatever I have time for). Doing each of the categories: Balance, Strength, Yoga, and Aerobics. 
• I will take the Body Fit Test everyday to help keep track of my progress. 
• I will also follow a diet of 1200 calories or less in a day, avoiding sodium, sugar, and grains (all foods that can help make you bloated). 

So today I "played" Wii Fit for a total of 32 minutes. But I also walked/ran on the treadmill for 10 minutes beforehand. I figure this is okay to also do a regular daily walk/run around my neighborhood daily. It will help boost my exercise of the day. 

My starting weight for this morning is 129.8 pounds. I will report back to you on Friday of next week (the day before my wedding!!!) to show you my progress, whether good or bad.

Some of you may think I'm crazy for starting a new and very risky weight-loss plan the week before my wedding. What if it doesn't work? Well here's how I see it: I'm not at an unhealthy weight and I can still fit in my dress (as long as I don't want to breathe). I truly believe that this plan can help me lose just enough to fit into my wedding dress. But it's an experiment to see how much I can lose in a week following this plan. 

If you want to try this diet, let me know how it goes for you! Leave a comment or send me an email. I love my readers!!!

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Update: I never wrote a follow-up post to this. I didn't complete this challenge for myself, although I was able to fit into my wedding dress quite nicely. :) I would like to someday try out this "Diet" and see if it would really work. If any of you try it out, please let me know how it goes! I'd love to hear about it!