outfit post: green military jacket, skinny jeans, ankle boots, floral scarf

on

Inspiration - Cindy Crawford

Happy New Year everyone! I hope you had a great 2015 and are looking forward to a fresh start of 2016!

I have a few of blog related New Years resolutions to share today -
  • Be more consistent posting - For the first few years of the blog I was pretty good about posting 6x a week and liked the rhythm of it. It wasn't too bad to find time to pop out a post before work or grab 15 minutes in the evening to look up some clothing links. But after this topsy-turvy year of adding a baby to the family - figuring out maternity clothes, not fitting my "normal clothes" and a giant new chubby time commitment - blogging consistently got a lot harder for me. As I am just about to celebrate keeping her alive for 1 year her 1st birthday I think that things are stabilizing a bit and I can get back in a routine to keep this blog updated more frequently. 
    • Resolution 1 - New post 5x a week.
  • Respond to all comments - I love getting comments and reading comments on posts. They pop up on email on my phone and I read every one. But by the time I'm at my computer, not working on my 'day job', it often becomes a question of having time to squeak out the next days post or take time for comments. Or else in my head since I read it hours ago - I feel like I've already responded. So stupid and rude of me. I super appreciate the fact anyone thinks it's worth their time to stop by and read the blog - and if they take the time to comment that's even more amazing. So it's super shitty of me to not show the appreciation I feel by being decent and commenting back. So I will make sure I do better this year.
    • Resolution 2 - Respond to all comments within 1 week.
  • Fitness tracking - I'm tired of not fitting into half of my wardrobe. And as much as I'd like to blame it on the fact I gained some pounds creating life a year ago - the past four months have been me not prioritizing my food choices or being active. I like healthy food and I like exercising (or at least how I feel afterwards) so why am I being a dummy and ignoring their place in my life?  So I put together a food & exercise plan for myself (details at the bottom of this post) and I will update you on my progress each Friday to hold myself accountable. Will also add a fitness link-up if anyone else is doing something health/fitness-wise this January and wants to share. 
    • Resolution 3 - Follow fitness plan outlined below & post Friday updates to blog.
Phew. Lots of words. Anywho - I think these resolutions will be good for me and this bloggity blog here.  Anyone who wants to share their resolutions (blogging, fitness, whatever) - I'd love to hear them in either emails, comments or the link-up below! :)

Top:
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Shoes:
Accessories:


FITNESS FRIDAY
My fitness plan has two parts:

1. Exercise Plan - I'm going to do three different tried & true workouts twice a week.
  • Stadiums (2x) - I love to join my super fit friends to do a stadium workout on Sunday mornings. I can bring the jogging stroller and it is a great leg workout with running, sprinting, hopping and climbing all over the stadium ramps and bleachers. And it goes by so fast with their fun company. (Plus I'll do it a second time per week on Wednesdays before work with just me & the kiddo.)  
  • Running (2x) - I used to play a ton of soccer and run 10ks and 15ks pretty frequently. But now I'm so out of shape, I couldn't run for more then a few minutes without keeling over. So I put together a rough couch to 5k plan to slowly bring my ability to jog up to 30 minutes straight over 12 weeks. I'll do 2 runs a week. (Which added to stadium workout should work on my leg strength & cardio 4x a week total.)
  • Elliptical & weights (2x) - I love love love watching Biggest Loser on my iPad and doing 45 minutes on the elliptical. I move it up & down/harder & easier every 10 minutes. Changing it up along with the Biggest Loser trainers yelling motivation always makes for a good but mentally easy workout. And when I finish - my gym has a "line" - a row of 8 machines to give you a quick full body weighted workout. They keep a little card for you and set up the weights so you can just cruise through. 
  • Alternates - Occasionally I want to sub in some of the classes my gym offers. And on any day I don't feel like working out - I give myself permission to skip the planned workout IF I walk 12k steps that day!
2. Food Plan - Eat lots of fruit, veggies and lean protein. Plus the good carbs like quinoa or sprouted grain bread. But most importantly TRACK EVERYTHING I EAT. This is always the key to me losing weight. I've found that if I eat less calories then I burn my body gets lighter. (Um hello captain obvious?) And by tracking it takes away a lot of weird emotional stuff food can bring - so what if I ate 400 calories in cake at lunch? I'll just have a lighter dinner and go for a longer walk in the evening to balance it out. It just becomes about numbers so don't beat myself up for screwing my plan up.

3. Weekly Weigh-In - I'd like to lose 16 pounds to be back to my pre-pregnancy weight. (Which is still slightly heavier then the weight I've been for most of the years since college but that's another future challenge.)  So I'll track the change in my weight here weekly.

4. Link up - I'll add the linkup to the bottom of the post for those of you who would care to share any New Years Resolution progress. (Or even just a cute outfit - I'd be happy to see that too. :) )

Anything else I forgot? Here goes nothing!

And I'll make sure to put this whole fitness blurb below the daily post so that those who aren't interested don't have to read! :)


Comments

  1. AnonymousDecember 31, 2015 at 5:48 PM

    You look great, so don't beat yourself up. I read all the time but seldom comment, I love your style. You sound like you have a very busy full time job, with the baby, the blue g, travel etc, make sure your goals are reasonable :)

    I have two teens, a hectic job, ( with a crabby boss) long commute, etc, I need to lose 8 lbs and exercise. I'm 45 so things don't bounce back that well :)
    Happy new year

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    Replies
    1. MKJanuary 4, 2016 at 3:25 PM

      Thank you for the compliment! I think it's two parts that are really motivating me: 1) I feel better and have more energy for family and work when I take care of fueling my body well and moving around 2) I miss a lot of my wardrobe and don't want to spend a million buck re-buying perfectly good clothing when I should just eat less Taco Bell :)

      You sound super busy too! Good luck with the balancing act! I'm right there with you!

      Delete
  2. AnonymousDecember 31, 2015 at 5:50 PM

    Auto correct, should be blog, not the blue g, wt?

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  3. Gina DailyDecember 31, 2015 at 5:59 PM

    LOVED reading your resolutions! It's very motivating. I love how specific and attainable they are. (And yes...keeping up with both contents and comments on the blog is quite time consuming!) I have been working on mine in my head this week but they are still too broad. I'm hoping to post about them next week in more finite terms like this...but am sort of scared to commit to them in print. Thanks for hosting the linkup! For now I just lined outfits but hope to add some resolutions next week. :)
    Gina || On the Daily Express

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    Replies
    1. MKJanuary 4, 2016 at 3:27 PM

      Thanks! Good luck narrowing yours down! I definitely played around with brainstorming for awhile before I reached a list that seemed reasonable.

      Delete
  4. JessicaDecember 31, 2015 at 7:07 PM

    Great recreation! I totally love your boots too!

    -Jessica
    www.wearitforless.com

    ReplyDelete
  5. BobbiDecember 31, 2015 at 7:47 PM

    Happy New Year! I read your blog every day, I just never comment.....on any blog. Maybe that should be my NY resolution, tell the "bloggers" that I follow how much I appreciate you and the time you take out of your life to post.
    Good luck with your resolutions!

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    Replies
    1. MKJanuary 4, 2016 at 3:29 PM

      Thanks for taking the time to comment. Now I feel special! :)

      Delete
  6. AnonymousJanuary 1, 2016 at 9:40 AM

    I too love your blog It's usually the first one that I look at for the day. You do have strong will power and are already doing so much, I know that you will be successful in this plan

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    Replies
    1. MKJanuary 4, 2016 at 3:30 PM

      Thanks for the vote of confidence! Fingers crossed I can keep it all balanced. :)

      Delete
  7. A Gal Named AlJanuary 1, 2016 at 10:22 AM

    Best of luck with your resolutions! I'm a mom to two young kids, and your workout plan makes me want to take a nap! If you're interested in shorter, high intensity workouts, checkout Popsugar Fitness videos on YouTube and Pinterest. They have a lot of 10 minute workouts that I have found highly helpful (I've recently lost 15 pounds) as a busy and exhausted mom. Their collaboration with P90X is also great- they feature a lot of celebrity trainers. Happy New Year!

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    Replies
    1. AnonymousJanuary 1, 2016 at 12:37 PM

      BodyRock.tv has awesome work outs too!

      Delete
    2. MKJanuary 4, 2016 at 3:36 PM

      Ohh thanks! That'll be great for when kiddo decides to take an inconvenient nap and I can jump around the living room instead of driving to the gym!

      Delete
  8. C0farveeJanuary 1, 2016 at 12:36 PM

    I love your New Years resolutions. This is my first year where weight loss is not on my list... It's been 5 years since my first pregnancy (2 since my last), and I am back to my pre baby weight. So this year's resolutions, 1) achieve the sub 60min 10K I have been working towards for several years. 2) Run/Bike 1000 intentional miles. 3) Improve my Spartan Burpee test score to over 60 burpees in 5 minutes.

    Your blog is helped me with my non SMART goal about dressing to project the image at work that matches my position. Been a PM for a few years, and I want to dress the part for the next job I want!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. MKJanuary 4, 2016 at 3:33 PM

      Good luck with your fitness goals! Those are great! Hopefully my running will improve this year so that next year's goal is more similar to yours and uses time metrics and not "don't walk". :)

      Glad you enjoy the blog and good luck getting that next level job!

      Delete
  9. RenaJanuary 2, 2016 at 12:51 AM

    Love the outfit ... it will be the inspiration for my next 'friday casual' ensemble. Your resolutions are great. I went with goals and I shared my post in the link-up.

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  10. AnonymousJanuary 2, 2016 at 9:56 AM

    I have read your blog for over a year now, and it's my favorite...down to earth, styles that I can re-create, and I've enjoyed the little glimpse into your working mom life (a life I had 20 years ago when my kiddos were tiny.) I hardly ever comment though...so here it is! Keep up the great work, good luck on your weight loss goals. I think you look great as you are, but when I look at old posts, I remember you were thinner before the bebe..you can do it!

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    Replies
    1. MKJanuary 4, 2016 at 3:35 PM

      Thank you for the kind words! Happy New Year to you!

      Delete
  11. VeronicaJanuary 3, 2016 at 12:23 PM

    My New Years resolutions are pretty extreme. One is to completely stop clothes shopping after I've noticed my closet is overflowing and I spend way too much time looking online for clothes, and the other is to completely quit Pinterest since I would often be late for things because I was scrolling through the darn site.

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    Replies
    1. c0farveeJanuary 4, 2016 at 7:47 AM

      Those are awesome resolutions. I have thought about quitting facebook for the reason you are quitting pinterest.

      Delete
    2. MKJanuary 4, 2016 at 3:35 PM

      Good luck! Those are tough!!

      Delete

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