Cheers to a new beginning and to a fresh start! How was your New Year's? Mine - should you ask? Well, I was in bed by 9 o'clock sharp. Lame, I know.

I'm looking forward to this year and having a fresh start on other things. Many other things. I usually am not the type to set up some new years resolutions but I have made a list of doing  what I call fresh starts.  There are so many goals to my blog that I want to share with you as well. One of them, is changing my blog name. Maybe. The other, I've been getting a few requests to do more fashion posts, and doing more design/decor posts. There will be quite a few changes that will be happening on here. For now, they are going to be kept secret - just stay tuned!

My personal goals are to go as usual - like dropping those pesky pounds that I've been clinging onto for the past year. Another, I really want to read more - I need to.  Doing so,  I hope it'll to improve my writing skills. I think I'm not the best writer but I'm always looking to improve. My last goal for this year, is that I want to be a better photographer. Well, I think that is about it. Have you set any resolutions for yourself?

When going to the gym, I like having a goal to work towards. It's important to not have the same workout routine every time you hit the gym. Why? It would get boring quickly for one, plus you need to keep your body guessing as to whats going to happen next. This is what I do when I head to gym, at least a 1/2 hour of intense cardio. I'm going to sound super crazy but I do want myself really uncomfortable when I do my cardio. I know, I'm nuts! It must be that I've been watching a lot of Biggest Loser or something. And honestly, I think it's melting my unwanted pounds. :) For my HIIT Intervals, I start on the treadmill with a 5 minute walk (3.3 mph), then 2 minutes at a comfortable jog (5.4 mph). Then I start really making my self run somewhere between 6-7mph for about a minute & a half BUT the 30 seconds, I amp the incline to 4 or maybe 5. I'll repeat that for about 15 minutes. Then to complete my intense cardio, I'll do 10-15 minutes of the stair treadmill. Talk about being uncomfortable!!! I hope you'll enjoy this workout. I love learning or seeing new workout routines. What's yours? Please share!

For this weeks of my series of getting healthy, I'll be sharing with you my typical workout. It does vary really. Sometimes I play a game with myself on the cardio machines. But I always, always at least get in 40 -60 minutes in for the day. Always. The first cardio machine I head to would be the treadmill. You can find what I do here for my treadmill work outs. I do try to run on the treadmill for up to an hour but I tend to get bored. I'll either head for the elliptical or the stationary bike to finish the rest of the my goal time.

The gym I attend is Planet Fitness, and they have a great circuit training section. It includes stair stepping for adding cardio, and weight machines. I love the circuit training. Cardio and weight training for a half hour. It really seems to go a lot faster then you think. When it comes to time, I always at least do 30 minutes of hard cardio and then their circuit training.

On my long days, 45-90 minutes of cardio, and weight training. You should concentrate on a certain group of muscles like legs, arms, abs, you get the picture. What ever machines are there around you,  target the muscles you want to work on, and do 3 sets of 8/10.  I hope this helps you get an idea of what your wanting to do at the gym. Happy working out!

Thanks for visiting!

*But sure to consult with your doctor before doing any exercise program. I'm not a professional trainer in any way, this is all by my opinion and what I find works well for me.* 

Hi friend! Can you believe this is the first day of August?!? Oh my gosh time could slow down. Really. Either that, or I'm just incredibly busy. Which I am. A lot has been happening lately and I can't wait to share.


Here are the top five that has happened for me this week.

1. On Sunday, I convinced my sin to who I call my Idaho mom. I told her that I've only rode horse only 1 time since I went and finished college. She was in shock! This last Sunday I finally get to do my most favorite hobby of all. Trail riding or just riding horses in general. Yes finally after all the those college years. I had a reunion with my favorite horse named Moon Shine. It seemed that he remembered me and was nuzzling me in my arm. Anyways just a sweet horse. Here are a couple of the pictures from last Sunday and the others are old ones from when I lived and worked on the ranch.

2. We went to a location to measure a building of ours, and it seemed to be a quick flash back of good'ol studio days.

3. One of our venders for work just gave my firm tiles. Just gave them to us for a project! Let me tell you, if your a designer like me and when your told you pick out anything you want while your in a showroom - you get all giddy like your in a candy store. So awesome of them to do that for us! (Did I mention that your the top of my list for my future business.)

4. My husband came home from work one day to give me flowers. I love that man so much. I'd say he's a keeper.

5. Yesterday, I was offered a raise from work! Love my job!

How was your week? Tell me about it!

Thanks for visiting!

I have three weeks left of my series of getting healthy. Though I not really done with this journey; I still have a ways to go yet. For this week, I'll share with you what I do on my treadmill workouts I made up for myself. I kind of make em into a game. Sort of. Just to let you know, I'm not at all a very fast treadmill runner. This may be great for a beginner. Try for your self!

Thank you for visiting today! Let me know if this workout did great for you.

Another Friday has yet again approached us. It has been a fast and busy week for me. Oh - but very good! Unfortunately, I don't have many pictures to show for it. I wish I did. Seen so many beautiful sights this week.

So here's a look at my favorite moments for the week.

1. On Sunday, I had a great workout. Then right after, my husband and I did an impromptu date night. Sort of. We went for a walk along the Greenbelt for a few miles.  It was fun see the rafters floating down the river, taking a tour inside the nature center, enjoying the sites, etc,.. Then, we heard lightning and then it started sprinkling on us. Needless to say, it was such a great evening.

2.  Tuesday evening,  was time well spent with some of my family. One from Alaska, another all the way from the Michigan. We all sat down outside of the Cottonwood Grill, drinking wine, eating, and just catching up. I'm a big family gal, and I just love being with them.

3. Saturday night was the Snake River Stampede rodeo. That, my friend, has to be one of the best entertaining rodeos I've ever been to. I think it is better than the PBR! My favorite would be the bronc riders, and I'd say the steer wrestlers. I think my husband should become a steer wrestler... just saying.  On another note - how cute is this mutton busting?!

4. Wednesday, was an evening event for work. Just for educational purposes. But, I did see one of favorite friends that I haven't seen in a few weeks. Plus, I bought myself a kimono ( my new obsession). So comfy!

5. I'm so excited to say that they're going to be a lot of great things happening at my career. We got word about a certain thing that we've been working on for months. But I can't say what it is just yet - stay tuned.

How was your week?

Well I'm about 2/3rds the way through of my 3 month series of getting healthy. It's been a process that's for sure. Again, I was hoping by this point, I would be able to share with you my costumed  workout plan from the trainer. But, it seems that the trainer has quite the gym. They are, however, are in the works of finding a new one.  Soooo we will have to wait a bit longer, unfortunately. For this week, I'll  be showing my go-to essentials I use to keep myself on track. They are the bottle blender, gummy multi-vitamins, lean protein powder, camel back water bottle, my phone, ear buds, and a mini cooler. On another side note, I have another goal to work for. My new goal for the week is to really amp up my water intake. I've done my research, and come to find out I should drink an ounce of water for every pound that I weigh. Crazy, huh!? I'm thinking how and the heck can I drink all those ounces?! If a person weighs 180, that is drinking gallon and a half!

Thanks for visiting today. And please like my Facebook page!

Earlier this week, I was invited from a friend back in high school to do a free 30 day slim challenge. Of course, since I'm doing my 3 month getting healthy, I jumped at the opportunity!

You should join to! You even get a free coach! You can ask to join here to be included on this challenge. Then you'll need to make your profile under your assigned coach (which she is just awesome!), and you can find that here.

OH! And one more important thing, you have til this Monday to sign up!!!

So come and join!

I'm always on the lookout for the right tools to help me, motivate me, and encourage me with my weight loss journey. These tools are to help me keep on track and to add variety because I just get bored really fast. Especially with exercising. However, this past week, my husband and I decided to join a gym. Man am I glad I did! First off, the price was unbelievable. Like to good to be true. $20 for the both of us! Yep! Plus, we get to sit down with a personal trainer and come up with a workout program to fit our needs or goals. I was going to share that with you today but my appointment was cancelled because the trainer got sick. Hopefully next week.

For this weeks series, I'm going to share with you my favorite apps, sites, and other great tools to help keep you motivated and perhaps more accountable. At least give them a try.


Favorite apps:

myfitnesspal  - to track your food intake and exercises. You can even scan your foods to make tracking faster.

lolo   - this is an app as a personal trainer. There is an variety of them like training for a 5k, 10k, dumbbells, kettle bell, etc,.. I love working with kettle bells which is the one I have.You do have to pay like $3 for the app but I think it is well worth it. It does kick your butt! :)

10k - A free app to get training to run a 10k. I was hoping to do a half, but for the time I have left to train for one, I'd be pushing it and potentially setting myself up for injury. So I'm looking at a more realistic goal, and that is the 10k one.

Pandora - Do I really need to explain this one? They do have great music if you need to listen to       something else on your smart phone.




Favorite Site:

Skinnytaste.com - LOVE this site. I've been following her for years. She has a lot of variety of skinny dishes with great eye candy. She also breaks down all the nutrition value of her dishes so you can calculate it.




Favorite Magazines:

Cooking Light - great dishes and ideas to get creative with your meals.

Weight Watchers - Oh you know, keeping up with the latest science on weight-loss and such.

Muscle & Fitness Hers - Great motivating magazine and workout routines to try.



What are your other favorite media tools? Please share - I'm always on the lookout.

Time to head out to the gym!

It is yet another Friday, and this week has flown by! I hope you have had a fun and happy 4th with some great BBQ. Here's a look of some of my favorite moments from this past week.

1. For the fourth, my husband, my brother, and I didn't go all out crazy. We tried out a new brewery and had some light eats. Then we went attended the Shakespeare festival for the first time and it was awesome! Minus forgetting bug spray.

2. I met my bosses' new puppy this week. OH. My. Gosh. Soooo adorable! She has a cute French Bulldog - now I want one. But then again, I'm a big sucker for puppies.

3. My husband and I has joined a gym! Yay!!! I'm a bit sore though.

4. At my job, we are currently looking around for a new studio space. I went and toured a place with my boss yesterday and I really can't wait.

5. I got up at 4 AM to go to the gym. And I forgot how much I love mornings out here in Idaho. They're just beautiful!

How was your week?

This past week was pretty successful, but still not at 100%. Hey-that's okay! You know why? I'm learning to enjoy my process. My husband and me has decided to do a whole another level and join a gym. We will have a personal trainer to help get us started and will give us that extra push to get to where we want to be with our personal fitness goals. How exciting! We went to tour the facility today and we cannot wait to get started. I know that this is a short post but I'm still trying to figure out this journey and get myself on a more straighter pathway. Next week, I'll share with you what my trainer has given me for my fitness program. Until then, be sure to follow me on my fitnesspal under as CatieBuck2013. And don't forget to grab some tools that will help you along the way like these magazines. 

Let's be honest here - I'm struggling. The funny thing is, is during the day, I'm great and on track. But once night falls, I just give up. Why? Why do I consistently sabotage my "being good" during the day and totally fail at night? I'm kind of at a loss of words as to what I should do to move forward with this post.   I'm not going to give up totally with my 3 month getting healthy series. That's not what I'm saying. I'm saying that I'm just human going through the same struggles as someone else. Are you with me on this? Hmmmm, .... Okay, here is my deal. What if I commit to you I'll NOT sabotage my evening by doing just 3 of them for the week. There. I put it out there. Will you be my support?

Do you struggle at night as I do? Please, let me know!

URG! It's been a little bit ruff for me, I'll tell ya. One day I'm at it, killing it, the next, bad habits return. SO FRUSTRATING!! The thing is, I have a negative self image of myself. I hate that I don't feel good in my clothes, hate when I look at myself in the mirror! Just no self-confidence. Why oh why do I get myself at this point? What will it take for me to stick with it and stay? How in the heck did I do it a couple of years ago and pretty much kept it off? One of the reason why I know I'm at war with my body is my drastic changes that I've had in this last couple of years. I've seriously had the highest and the highs along with the lowest of lows happen. And please, I'm not saying feel sorry for me. I know that my events are probably even child's play against other situations. But for me, it was tuff - I know I'm still struggling to except was has happened. Anyway, now that I've gotten some of that off my chest, I'm starting to have more support through friends and family. That is so important to me to have someone have your back and are there to support you. Makes a world of difference. For this week, I'm sharing with you my motivation board.  One of the ladies that really caught my attention was Gina Neely. Do you know her? I don't really watch her show since I don't have cable. Her and her husband have a pretty popular food network show called "Down with the Neely's". I think. When I had t.v., I saw her with a few pounds on her body. Then recently one night I was watching my Hulu and came across Celebrity Wife Swap , she was on one of the episodes. She had lost weight and by looking at her and knowing what she does, I was really inspired! Here is this video of Gina explaining what she did. Have you ever don't yourself a motivation board? What has motivated you?

Hi there, friend! Well I'm here  reflecting on week 3 and I kind of fell off the wagon just a bit. I'm learning now that you have to just accept it, move on, and don't dare quit. I still need to remind myself to take it one step at a time. However, here is what I do know that has changed; I really don't care for pop anymore. Really. Actually, I've didn't care for it much before but, now it really doesn't sound good. I'm realizing that I prefer more veggies now, more so then ever. These are small victories that will make a huge difference later on. Again, remembering to take it one step at a time.

I should have done this a couple of weeks ago, however, this post will be about organizing yourself skinny, or fitter. Just a tips for you that I believe is very vital on your journey to transition on a more healthy lifestyle. You may already know of these.

1. Go through all your food and get rid of what I call empty calories which are the processed foods that I'm sure you have somewhere in your pantry. These would be donuts, (most) cereal, chips, those snack-like food that you find in the cookie, chip, isle. Really, get rid of it. Think of it as a long term investment for your body.

 2. Always have frozen "fresh" fruit in your freezer. This is a HUGE money saving tip. Sometimes I'm terrible at getting to my fresh fruits on time or I just forget that I even have them. Having frozen fruit might have more nutrients then you think. Or, when you pick-up produce from your local market,put them in the freezer just so they'll last longer. I have yet to try this, but place grapes in the freezer and then use them as a snack for later.

3. Next, perhaps one of the most important tip, is watching your portions. I know, so original right? Here is what you really need, a coffee cup and a salad plate. Really! Salad plates are obviously smaller than dinner plate but will also create an illusion that you are filling up your plate to the gills. It could also help you train your eye on smaller portions. Catching my drift?

4. My last tip on organizing yourself skinny is a food scale and measuring cups. Again this is suppose to help control the portions and to visually train what would be the right amount.

Oh wait, I do have one more tip. Its water. Always be drinking water and so much of it per day. I'm sure you might have heard if you drink so much of it before you eat, it kind of helps curb the appetite. It also make your skin look great and helps flush out some of the toxins. My favorite thing to drink out of is a camelback water bottle. They come in a lot of pretty colors to.

Also, I just want to let you know, I'm not a doctor nor a nutritionist. I'm sharing with you what I know and what has personally worked for me.

What has been your favorite tip that you always go to? Please share!

Well dear friend, I have managed to drop almost 4 lbs for the past week and a half! Some days are hard being tempted on those juicy burgers layered with cheese and .... Ah - I should stop! Anyways, I've done a bit of research on how much I should eat on protein, carbs, fiber, and fats. And don't forget the calories. It's really hard to manage all those numbers. I'm not gonna lie it's a challenge.

Although, I've noticed my energy level has been going up. I have been drinking more and more water and finding little ways to adding more activity throughout my day. Even if it's calculating. One of the things I have managed to put onto my schedule for this week (and will be doing for now on) is Jillian Michaels 30 Day Shred. Man, that girl will kick your butt! It's HARD! But I think it's worth it and can not wait to see my picture results. Don't worry I'll share them with you to.

For today, I'm going to share a little recipe that I love that is great for lunches or dinner. The skinny flatout margarita pizza.

Here is what you need:

Preheat oven to 365.

- I Flatout Bread
- 2 1/2 Tbn of Pizza Sauce
- 1/8 c. of shredded cheese
- Basil (preferably fresh)
- Balsamic Vinegar

1. Spread the pizza sauce evenly ontop the flatout

 2. Cute the basil into little pieces and add them as a topping, spread your cheese, and add dashes of balsamic vinegar.
3. Put into oven for 10 minutes or until cheese is melted and bubbly.

I hope you will enjoy this dish. It goes well with a great salad as well. The pizza is about 250 calories to eat. If you want to join with me on my journey, you can find my fitness pal under as CatieBuck2013. Find me and join with me on this!

K - D!

I don't know about you, but I've struggle with my weight for most of my life. Wait - what am I talking about? I believe MOST of us have this problem! Seriously, my weight goes up and then down. And now it's up - go figure.  However, I thought of this - every Monday, why not start telling and sharing about my journey?

Since last - oh - Tuesday, I've been eating cleaner and been tracking on what I've been eating 70% of the time.  I also been adding a bit more activity into my day as well. It's kind of encouraging to see my activity giving me added calories to intake throughout my day. Your probably wondering what I use as a tracker. Have you heard of My Fitness Pal? It's really a great tool to help you drop weight. If you track everything you eat, your more in likely to drop those darn pesky pounds you want gone.

Here's the best advice I've received that has kind of been my "Ah-HA" moment: Don't look ahead and see the whole mountain, instead, take it one step at a time.

This is my whole overall goal:

- I really want to drop 30 lbs.
- Run a 10k to a Half by Sept. 28th (Found the race I'm going to sign up for)
- Eating a lot more clean.

Oh gosh.. But here is my before shot. Its awful and so embarrassing that I'm putting myself out there like this.  Please be nice.

Urg! That's embarrassing! Who wants to join this journey with me? I'll give this challenge series 3 months and show my progress, recipes, workouts along the way. :)

Going to get my sweat-on,

Caty-DID!

Let's be honest here - I'm struggling. The funny thing is, is during the day, I'm great and on track. But once night falls, I just give up. Why? Why do I consistently sabotage my "being good" during the day and totally fail at night? I'm kind of at a loss of words as to what I should do to move forward with this post.   I'm not going to give up totally with my 3 month getting healthy series. That's not what I'm saying. I'm saying that I'm just human going through the same struggles as someone else. Are you with me on this? Hmmmm, .... Okay, here is my deal. What if I commit to you I'll NOT sabotage my evening by doing just 3 of them for the week. There. I put it out there. Will you be my support?

Do you struggle at night as I do? Please, let me know!