My very first workout post

I've been going to the gym with my mom or before class sporadically over the past year. After the actual work out I feel good, but there haven't been any long lasting effects. I've been taking small steps to try to get healthier overall and finally found a good motivator and a buddy to do it with.

In November Missa and I are going to Disneyland!
Three full days - open to close.
That is going to take some serious walking!
Padded on either end with a few days in Pacific Beach for a 10 day trip, where I won't be driving at all so we will have to ride bikes and walk everywhere we want to go.

My main goal is to be ready for all the physical activity during the trip. My secondary goal is weight loss - because really, if I'm going to feel better I'll need to be putting less stress on my body.

Missa and I get together on Wednesdays for lunch, so we decided to use that as our starting point. Instead of eating every time we hang out, we would only do lunch every other week and counter it with work outs. We'll meet each other at the gym Tuesday and Thursday on "Lunch" weeks, and Monday, Wednesday, Thursday on off weeks. Then work out on our own the days we aren't meeting. I'll meet my mom at the gym on my off days so I always have someone to keep me motivated!

We are also both using a diet tracking app called My Fitness Pal that we can plug in our meals and snacks, and even keep track of our work outs. I've been trying to eat more fresh fruits and vegetables as snacks, and replace fast food meals with breakfast shakes (chocolate meal replacement shakes) and "Lean Cuisine" type frozen meals. I'd also like to phase in "real" foods where ever necessary, for example raising my own meat (rabbits and chickens), eating eggs from my own chickens, and would love to try using real dairy products fresh from local cows and goats. While these things might be higher in fat or sugar, I think my body will feel better eating fats and sugars with less artificial additives.

I stuck to my "diet" for a school week and felt great! I felt full, I had energy, and I even ate less calories than my diet app's max without trying, just only eating until I was full. then the weekend hit. After hosting the whole family for enchiladas on friday, having pizza on saturday, and eating fast food on sunday, I felt like crap. I can really FEEL the difference between my no breakfast, cookie/chocolate/ice cream laden diet of the past and my fresh food and light food diet in less than a week! That alone is ample motivation.

Part of my workout plan is to keep record here on my blog of my weight, measurements, workouts, eating habits, and of course new healthy recipes to stay motivated.

My plan heading toward my Disney Trip is to change my habits to healthier ones while I have the motivation so that living a healthier life will be easier in the future.

Darla

Red has been having a rough time with her last couple litters. The last one started out as a litter of 9, and within a week was down to 3! One stillborn, one runt who didn't make it, and the rest dragged out of the nest box early on who froze to death or were eaten by the chickens.

My fav picture of the surviving three - 2 girls and a boy

This litter started as 7. The first casualty was a fresh born kit whose toes and one back foot were nibbled off. I don't know if it was by a chicken or a rabbit, but it was pretty awful. I put that one down myself. At 5 days old two kits were found huddling outside the nest box across the hutch, apparently dragged out by Red because they were still attached to her when she decided she was done nursing them. When I returned those two to their nest box, I found two more were missing.

A full 36 hours later the two missing kits were found under the hutch buried in the dirt, STILL ALIVE. They were cold and dirty and skinny. I cleaned them up and put them back in with the others. They nursed and did just fine, but I decided to bring all the kits in the house in a shoe box for the next week or so while I got the hutch and nest box fixed.

At 3 weeks old, their eyes are open, they are eating solid foods, and the baby bunnies are all running around the hutch playing and nibbling things. The two that were lost in the dirt were significantly smaller than their 4 other siblings. The next day I found the small boy bunny had died. 

Darla became a house pet! She is inside in her own cage with her own food, water and hay. She gets tons of attention from us and any visitors. She is half the size of her siblings, her coat is dull and looks rough despite being bathed brushed and blow dried. She might have a parasite or simply have organ damage from not getting fed at such a young age. For now we will keep her inside with us until we know for sure that she is healthy and is growing and gaining weight like she should. I'd love to keep her here with us, I think she has the coolest markings!

White with both orange and gray spots!

Darla's ratty rough fur

Compared to a her fat siblings smooth fur

But a cute little face!