1/26/14: Latest Progress on Jenny Craig

You may have read my previous posts about going back to Jenny Craig to be happy about myself again and set a good example for my kids.  I am now happy to report I am down 21 pounds* in two months.  But even better, I am down 14 inches!!!  They gave me this ribbon to show how many inches I have lost off my body.  I still have about 30 pounds to go, but this is a great start.

Some changes in my attitude about losing weight this time is that I am taking in one day at a time.  In the past I was always worried if I made a bad choice I would give up for a day.  Then a day would turn in to a week, then a week would turn in to two weeks, then a month, then more.  This is the exact problem that got me in to the situation I am in today.  I also changed my expectations of myself on exercising.  I know my body is not what it used to be and I need to be patient to build back up to where I was in the past.  I did add strength training this week but started with less weight than I have done in the past.  I felt good, didn't injure myself, and felt accomplished.  

I am constantly evolving but the old Gilda is hiding inside and can't wait to be back.

Check out what programs they have on their website. Don't wait another day!

Like them on Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/jennycraig

Follow them on Twitter:  @jennycraig

Follow them on Pinterest:  http://www.pinterest.com/jennycraiginc/

Disclosure:  I was given a 50% discount on my food for review purposes.  No other compensation was received and all opinions are my own.

*Note:  Members following the Jenny Craig program, on average, lose 1-2 lbs per week

1/19/14: Gymnastics Exhibition Meet at GymStreet USA

Yesterday Lauren participated in an Exhibition Meet at GymStreet USA.  The whole experience simulated a Gymnastics Meet without the judges for the Pre-Team.  Lauren did awesome!

 Lauren was a bit nervous and wanted to get there early to practice. I started spotting her for front walkovers and back walkovers but soon she was doing them on her own. 

 Pretty impressive for a 6 year old.

 She wanted me to get her in flight.

 Hand stand time.

 Here they are marching in as they were introduced.

 Then they went to practicing and then "competing" each event.  Here she is on bars.

 Then it was time for beam.  She was very nervous about beam.  She was practicing her routine at home a lot.

 Then Floor Routine.

 

 She was so nervous about her bridge kick over, but she nailed it.

Here is some video of all the events.

 I love the little march to the next event.

 Last was Vault.

She did awesome!

 Awesome job!!!!

 Here she is getting her medal.

 Great job to all the kids in Pre-Team!

1/17/13: New England International Car Show Boston

Every year we usually go to the New England International Car Show in Boston.  We were lucky enough to attend last night.  It runs until January 20th so there is still time to go.  There are six football fields worth of cars on display from 36 manufacturers.  There are over 500 2014 model year vehicles from all the major car manufacturers with factory product specialists on hand to assist.  It is the perfect place to go if you are looking to buy, lease, or just want to check out the latest automobiles on the market.

Plus on Saturday the 18th Chrysler is bringing in Nickelodeon star, Diego from the hit TV show “Go, Diego, Go.”  He will be available for a “Meet and Greet” from 12 noon to 3pm.  So make sure and bring the kids.  They also had a driving simulator that is cool for kids. 

Show Details:

Boston Convention and Exhibition Center

415 Summer St, Boston

Tickets and more information available at: www.BostonAutoShow.com

Jan, 17th Friday: 12:00 PM - 9:00 PM Saturday: 10:00 AM - 9:00 PM Sunday: 10:00 AM - 7:00 PM Monday: 10:00 AM - 6:00 PM

Adults: $12 Adult Children (6-12 yrs): $6 Children under 6: free

There is even a Zombie killing "Walking Dead" Machine Car display from Hyundai.  This Hyundai is ready for a zombie apocalypse with their Elantra zombie equipped machine on wheels!  You can even get zombie-fied, the perfect photo op. Tag #HyundaiWalkingDead in your pictures of it during the show on Twitter.  

This Audi R8 was one of my favorites.  Plus it is in my favorite color, blue!

Nice Camaro.  I like the color.

 Great vehicle for trips to the beach.

 For the Corvette lovers!  Red, a great gift for Valentine's Day.  While still upholding legendary Corvette values like massive power, grip and tires, the 2014 model addresses some historical shortcomings. The interior quality has finally been given the attention it deserves, while a more rigid body structure, carbon fiber roof and hood, and revised 6.2 liter V8 improve quality all around. Both the convertible and coupe models are at the Show! 

 More information on the show:  Highlights include the Toyota Highlander Hybrid, Mercedes-Benz CLA45 AMG, Honda Accord Plug In Hybrid, Kia Cadenza and 2015 K900, Chevrolet Corvette Stingray Convertible, 2015 Silverado HD, Suburban and Tahoe, 2015 Cadillac Escalade, and 2015 GMC Sierra HD. EXOTIC CAR SHOWCASE The Auto Show offers visitors the rare opportunity to admire their dream cars up close. Some of the most expensive vehicles in the world will be on display, including exotic beauties from Aston Martin, Bentley, Lamborghini, Lotus, Maserati, and Rolls Royce. Total value of vehicles on the show floor: $16 million dollars. You can also shop a variety of automotive specialty-equipment retailers, offering restyling products and accessories to customize your new vehicle. Custom wheels and rims, synthetic oil and lubricants, car audio and video systems/electronics and detailing products will be available. 2015 vehicle introductions.  Ride and Drives available on Saturday, Sunday and Monday during daylight hours from Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet, Ford, GMC, Kia, Scion and Toyota.  Muscle cars from the Ford Mustang to the Chevy Corvette Stingray.

EXHIBITING MANUFACTURERS: Acura, Aston Martin, Audi, Bentley, BMW, Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet, Chrysler, Dodge, FIAT, Ford, GMC, Honda, Hyundai, Infiniti, Jeep, Kia, Lamborghini, Lexus, Lincoln, Lotus, Maserati, Mazda, Mercedes-Benz, MINI, Mitsubishi, Nissan, Porsche, Ram, Rolls Royce, Scion, Subaru, Toyota, Volkswagen, Volvo. 

Find them online:

Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/NewEnglandAutoShow

Twitter: https://twitter.com/BostonAutoShow #BostonAutoShow

Disclosure:  I was provided with tickets to attend the New England Auto Show to facilitate my review.  No other compensation was received and all opinions are my own.

1/12/14: FIRST Block Party FTC Qualifier

I had the joy of being a judge at the latest FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) Tech Challenge Qualifier at Andover HS.  My company PTC sponsors the FIRST to inspire the Engineers of the Future.  This is a competition for students to build a robot and compete in many categories.  You can see previous games in my past posts here.  My son loves robots and when I brought him in to the PTC Family Picnic he loved controlling the robots.  Evan and Lauren were lucky enough to get a behind the scenes look at the teams practicing in the pits with having a Mom as a judge. 

As the judges we could award teams for Innovation of Design, Design aspects, Motivation, Connection with the community, Think - for their Engineering Notebook, and Inspire as a combination award of who placed highly and did well in matches.  Here were our judging volunteers.

 

The competition started with opening ceremonies with a very excited crowd of students and family ready to see their team compete.  It felt like a sporting event and the enthusiasm was infectious.

 We had some front row seats right next to the ring to see the robots in action.

Vision for FIRST: "To transform our culture by creating a world where science and technology are celebrated and where young people dream of becoming science and technology leaders." - Dean Kamen, Founder  

This year's competition was called Block Party.  The full game description is here but the highlights are that teams need to put blocks in to containers with end game points at the end if the robot can hang from a bar and make a flag go up.  

 Here you can see a couple hanging which was really cool to watch.

The first 30 seconds is done autonomously and then the last 2 minutes is done by controlling the robots.  There is also extra points for lifting up another robot.

I was on the team of 3 judges to go in to the pits and interview each of the teams and see their robots up close.  It was so nice to see so many young people with a true excitement for the engineering design process.  

It was also wonderful seeing so many women involved.  Being one of 3 women in my Aerospace Engineering classes I knew what it was like being in the minority in an Engineering field.  The skills these students are learning at such a young age are phenomenal.

Many of the teams were sponsored by PTC.  I have been with PTC for over 15 years so this is always exciting for me to see our logo proudly displayed. 

I loved seeing the enthusiasm for the game.  Seeing the teams with matching team shirts and hearing shouts from the crowd for their school's team was so fun.    There were so many extraordinary teams and it was so hard to decide who should win.  

PTC is a Strategic Partner of FIRST and provides donated software and nearly a million dollars of funding in support of the program.  They donate the most advanced CAD (Creo) and Collaboration (Windchill) software to all FTC and FRC teams.  Here is a video that PTC put together around FIRST.

I hope my little ones are inspired to become the engineers of the future and get involved with FIRST.

Find them online:  http://www.usfirst.org/

Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/pages/FIRST-For-Inspiration-and-Recognition-of-Science-and-Technology/184063051616518

Twitter:  @firstweets

Disclosure:  No compensation was received for judging, this is an activity I volunteer at as I think it is a wonderful endeavor.

1/10/13: Latest Progress on Jenny Craig Adding Exercise

You may have read my previous post about going back to Jenny Craig to gain back my old body.  I am so happy I started before Thanksgiving and am happy to report that I am now down 17.5 pounds!  I love this visual about habit because it is so true.  

I am a creature of habit and needed to change my routine and create a new habit.  My motivation was my frustration at looking in the mirror and hiding behind my kids in pictures.  This week I added my workouts back in to my routine.  I really needed to focus on just the food at first but now it was time to add exercise.  Up until about 2 years ago I was teaching Step Aerobics, Strength Training, Cardio Circuit and Abs.  It was a part of my daily routine to go to the gym at work at lunch.  I got out of this habit and I knew I needed it back.  

This week I am happy to report that I worked out 4 days!  Not up to what I used to do, but I will take it.  It is a start and I didn't injure myself.  I tend to go all out when I go back to it thinking I can do what I did before, but this time I realize I need to scale it back and try to do what I can do in my current body and fitness level.  I think this is a great realization for me.  In the past I have tried to do what I used to be able to do and I end up injuring myself and getting frustrated.  

I know I can do it!  I just need to keep going and take it one day at a time.

I am still evolving and have a ways to go, but I know I can get back to the Gilda I used to be.

Check out what programs they have on their website. Don't wait another day!

Like them on Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/jennycraig

Follow them on Twitter:  @jennycraig

Follow them on Pinterest:  http://www.pinterest.com/jennycraiginc/

Disclosure:  I was given a 50% discount on my food for review purposes.  No other compensation was received and all opinions are my own.

*Note:  Members following the Jenny Craig program, on average, lose 1-2 lbs per week

1/6/14: VitaFrute Low Calorie Cocktail from VeeV

As you may know I have been on a quest to lose weight and be healthier.  While trying to lose weight it is sometimes hard to drink alcohol.  I tend to drink higher calorie fruity alcoholic drinks so I was excited to be offered VitaFrute cocktail to try.   It is the first organic super fruit cocktail in a bottle and only 125 calories per serving! 

 Perfect to drink if you are watching your weight or even if you aren't it just tastes good.  I really liked the Margarita.  Just put it in the fridge, shake it a bit as it does settle a little, pour, garnish and drink.  It was sweet and tasty.  All of the flavors are made with VeeV açaí spirit and it comes in Margarita, Lemonade, and Cosmopolitan.  They are 15% alcohol per volume (30 proof).  

At VeeV they donate 1% of all sales to rainforest preservation and environmental initiatives because they would never want to lose sight of the little berry that inspired it all.  They are committed to ensuring that the açaí berry, along with all the wondrous superfruits and flora in their rainforest habitats, is around for generations to come.  They even use partially recycled bottles, labels are printed with organic soy ink, and cases are made of post-consumer waste.

VitaFrute also has a special consumer offer this New Year's (where legal). VitaFrute will offer savings on any Fitness Class, Gym or Health Club Membership or Monthly Fees. You just need to purchase 2 bottles of VitaFrute and mail in the rebate form. 

Check it out!
Like them on Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/VeeV

Follow them on Twitter:  @VeeV

Disclosure:  I received this bottle of VitaFrute for review purposes.  No other compensation was received and all opinions are my own.