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Your Shape Fitness Evolved 2012 – Diary week 3

Thank you to Ubisoft for providing me with a copy of Your Shape: Fitness Evolved 2012 and sponsoring this fitness diary series. Please click here to learn more about Ubisoft. I was selected for this sponsorship by the Clever Girls Collective. All opinions are my own.

Well, I weighed myself this week.  I’m kind of glad that I didn’t do that at the start of my exercising because I would have put the focus on my weight instead of my overall fitness, which is definitely improving.  I got out a couple of my old shirts, which seem to fit better than they did when I put them away.  But at this point, I don’t have a lot of outward improvement.  What I do have is increased flexibility, more energy (which I’ve mostly been wasting by staying up too late) and more stamina for the workouts.  I’ll track my weight again in a few weeks, but I plan on building more muscle before I lose much fat.

Last Saturday, the team I’ve been coaching went to our first Lego robotics competition. It was a long day of standing and walking around, but I seemed to do better than I normally do in this type of situation.  What I was dreading was how I would feel Sunday and Monday, which is when I usually pay for an unusual day of activity.  But when I woke up, I was feeling mostly fine, which is my new normal. (I’m a little achy every day.  Not much, but I can feel my muscles all the time now.  I think this will wear off in time, but even now it’s not that bad.)

I’ve been trying out more of the activities this week.  My wife got me to try a Bollywood workout when we first got the program.  I’ve been doing it most mornings.  It’s low impact and not too fast, and I find it easier than even the Zen activities.  (At my size, slowly posing and stretching requires a lot of energy.)  Under an activity category, like Bollywood, there are multiple selections, each listing a level of difficulty (Easy, Medium, or Hard) and the number of minutes you’ll be working out.  After going through the two short and easy “training” sessions over a few days, I started doing a Medium, 15-minute routine that I’ve been doing most mornings this week.  Each routine is broken up into several different moves or exercises, and you do several sets of each exercise throughout the routine.  Each exercise has multiple parts and the program tells you for each part if you’ve done it correctly by marking it with a green dot (and a small chime).  At the end of each set, it tells you what percent you did correctly and then there is an overall percentage at the end of the routine.  This morning I got 90% correct, which I guess means I’m a grade A exerciser.

Several of the others seem to follow the same pattern.  I’ve done Hip Hop a couple times, but don’t have the hang of it yet, and Cardio Boxing, which is fun but definitely leaves me winded.

Bootcamp
Bootcamp: Running, push-ups, and attacking

The Bootcamp activity is a little crazy.  It includes these attack moves like the Sumo Squat Attack and the Double Knee Kick Attack.  It also has running and push-ups.  Now I haven’t done a push-up in my adult life (and not many as a kid) so I’m looking forward to be able to complete this one, but I’m not there yet.

I’m still working out every day and don’t have any plans to stop.  I’ve really been suprised how entrenched this has become as part of my daily routine.

I’ll be posting diary updates every week for two more weeks.  Here’s week 1 and week 2. After that, we’ll be giving away a free copy of YFSE to a random commenter chosen from the comments on one of the five diary posts, including this one.

Geeky Links 10/8

Well, it has been a whirl wind and heart breaking week in the geek world. We will all miss Steve Jobs! He helped to form the computer and geek worlds for Mac and non-Mac people alike. But life will and does move on. So lets go on to our normal geeky links….

I am very intrigued at the whole Facebook RPG idea. This could be very dangerous;).
With the DC reboot and the complaints about new costumes, Comic Alliance talks about Aaron Diaz’s new costume designs for some of my favorite comic book heroes!

The cover article over at Entertainment Weekly is The Avengers!!! Who knew that Joss Whedon knew all the dance clubs in Albuquerque?

Let’s Party!

Hey everybody! It is time for the Ultimate Blog Party from 5 Minutes for Mom! Thanks for stopping by! Can I off you a little chocolate treat? Maybe some chocolate cream pie?

I am a crazy and busy homeschooling mom of 4! I like to share recipes that are easy and yummy! I also share my meal plans and the occasional food tv post;)!

Thanks for dropping in! Before you leave do me a favor, please. Let me know 1 cooking technique (chopping, sauteing, etc) or recipe that you would love to see!

Ultimate Blog Party 2011

Party!!!

It is time for the Ultimate Blog Party!!! So for all of you who are new here: Welcome!! I am so glad to see you all here!

A little about NerdFamily Things: NerdFamily Things is a blog that just talks about all the things that makes the NerdFamily go ’round! I have 2 features: Frugal Homeschooler and Tech Tuesday. I also get to host the occasional giveaway! So if you are interested in having me review your product or having me host a giveaway, please email me at mom@nerdfamily.com!

And a little about me! I am just a nerdy mom who has many weird a diverse interests! I stay busy homeschooling my 4 kids and writing my 3 blogs! My life philosophy is that I feel that anyone can do anything they want to learn to do. I enjoy sharing my opinions and equipping other do things like save money, school their children and cook!

Thanks for dropping by my party! Please subscribe to my rss and make sure you come back!

Ultimate Blog Party 2011

Chocolate Peppermint Biscotti

Chocolate Peppermint Biscotti
The Finished Product

I found this recipe years ago for a super yummy biscotti. It is so good that my kids even like it without anything to dunk in!

Ingredients:

1/2 softened butter
1 1/3 cups sugar
3 eggs
1/2 tsp peppermint extract
3 cups AP flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup crushed peppermint mini-candy canes
1/2 cup mini semisweet chocolate chips
melted colored chocolate

Process:

Mix butter, sugar, eggs, and peppermint extract. Then blend in baking soda, salt, and flour. Then blend in crushed peppermint pieces and mini-chips. Yes, the batter is extremely stiff so I use my stand mixer.

Then dump dough onto either a greased cookie sheet or a silpat (or equivalent) lined sheet. Cut the dough in half and form into logs 10 inches by 2 inches. Bake in a 350 degree oven for 30 to 35 minutes or until they are golden brown. Then cool the logs for 15 minutes.

Next cut the logs into 1/2 inch slices and place back on the cookie sheet on their cut sides. Bake at 350 degrees for another 15 minutes or until lightly brown and crisp. I don’t wait to long since my kids like to eat them plain;). then cool on a cooling rack.

Next melt the colored chocolate in the microwave. I microwave the Meltables at 30 second increments until it is really loose and drizzable. Then I just drizzle the chocolate over the cookies. You can also dip them in semisweet chocolate (my husband’s favorite) and sprinkle with more crushed candies.

My Jeopardy! audition!

Last January, I took the online Jeopardy! test. (Yes, the exclamation point is part of the name of the show.)  It’s a 50 question test, and they don’t tell you how you did when you take the test.  I knew I missed a few, but not really sure how many (or how many I needed to get right).  I didn’t hear anything from them for nearly 18 months.  Then I got an email that said I was invited for an in-person follow-up audition (and that I had 48 hours to respond or they’d give away my spot.)

Friday at 11:30am was my audition at a hotel in San Francisco.  Well, mine and 20 or so others who passed the online test.  I got there about an hour early (with 5 anecdotes in hand) and was the first one in the waiting room, but people started coming in shortly thereafter.  I’d say most people got there in the last ten minutes before our start time. While we were in the waiting room, filling out paperwork, we’d occasionally hear bursts of laughter or applause from the audition room.  There had been a group that had started their audition at 8:00.  When it let out, one of the contestant coordinators came out and took a Polaroid of each of us. (They’re desperate for more Polaroid film.)  Then he led us into the audition room.

We then all took another 50 question test and once again, they don’t give you any feedback.  But this time, we had a break afterword where we could talk to the other potential contestants (I got a couple right that I wasn’t sure about) before we had our practice games.  They told us about how we’re not supposed to ring in until Alex finishes reading the clue (which I knew), that there are lights that are all around the board that go off when he’s done (which I’d heard) and we’re supposed to keep pushing the button rapidly until someone is called on (which was news to me).

I was in the first group of three to play a quick practice game (less that 15 questions) and I think I did fine.  I phrased all of my responses in the form of questions, and I always selected a new clue quickly after giving a correct response (both things they emphasized).  Then they got to the interview portion of the program.  Each interview was longer than what they do at the show.  (I’d heard that the interview part is heavily edited.) They ask you to tell a little bit about yourself, then they ask a couple question based on the anecdotes we’d turned in.  They finish with asking what we’d do with the money. (“Travel”, is a surprisingly popular answer.)  In a real sense, this is the part that I had been dreading the most.  I don’t generally feel comfortable with small talk, or talking about myself, but I had to do both.  I think I did fine.  I sat down feeling pretty comfortable with my interview.  I wasn’t too quiet and I was myself, only moreso.

When we were done, they told us that if we were selected, we could be called to come down to LA and play Jeopardy! for real anytime in the next 18 months. At this point, I think I did well enough to get on the show. That is, I don’t think I eliminated myself, either with the test or the practice game. Whether or not I’ll actually be chosen, I have no idea.  The audition was fun (I even like taking the tests) and I’m looking forward to seeing some of the other people that I auditioned with on TV (or better yet, I’ll see them in the studio.)