I am doing my first Diet Bet!

Post by Emily :)

One of our favorite bloggers, Jess at Blonde Ponytail is hosting a Diet Bet for the month of February. I have never participated in one so I thought it would be fun to give it a try. This game is a DietBet4, so I have to lose 4% of my body weight in four weeks. Sounds doable. Oh yeah, and if I lose the 4% I win money!

For those of you who are not familiar with Diet Bet here is how it works: you join a game (it costs $25) and you weigh-in two days before the game starts. There are all kinds of rules about weighing in, but basically they send you a word and you take a picture of yourself on the scale with the word on a piece of paper near the scale. The game runs for 4 weeks and at the end you weigh-out using the same weigh-in method. If you lose the prescribed amount of weight you split the pot with the rest of the players who did the same–the more player the bigger the pot! The main page for your game has a newsfeed where you can post. You can also weigh in throughout the game for a measure of accountability, but it is not required as a participant. I plan to weigh in every four days (or so) and be an active Diet Better! Need some extra motivation? Join me!

~Emily

I’m Back!

Post by Emily :)

Sorry for the long hiatus—I have been crazy busy with school and wedding planning!

As mentioned before, putting on muscle is very easy for me. In fact, it is a little embarrassing how quickly I can bulk up. I am well aware that many people say women cannot bulk—it is not a part of our genetics—but they haven’t met me. So here I am, trying to tone up for my wedding and I am putting on muscle!

Frustrated and looking for an answer I began searching for workouts that would help me and came upon the Tracy Anderson method on YouTube. Her method is unique, like waving arms unique, to say the least, and she is adamant that women use no more than three- pound weights. My normal self would have thought that this was bogus, but in my current situation I was willing to give it a try. Here is a short arms workout video–like I said, lots of waving and very different than a traditional arm workout. Give it a try!

 I started doing more research on her method and found the Metamorphosis program. For this program, you pick your body type before you begin, and the workouts are tailored to each body type. I chose the Omnicentric type since it sounded like an overall toning program. At first I was just doing the workouts from YouTube but I  believe in people getting paid for their work so I ordered the program. I was able to order just the DVDs on Amazon, so the price was a little bit lower than the original. I also had some Cashback Bonus saved up!!

I officially began my Metamorphosis journey yesterday, and as I expected, it was completely different from anything I had ever done. Cardio is Dance Aerobics and that is new to me! I am certain I look like a clown doing it, but that is the great thing about working out at home. It was also more difficult than I had expected—I mean I have done every “extreme” workout I can find, but jumping and dancing for thirty minutes was challenging. She explains in the intro video that she does not include any instruction so that you can get the most out of the thirty minutes and not stop for cues, which makes sense but the first day was rough—I couldn’t seem to figure out which way her hands were going at the same time as her feet. So here is to another program—hopefully I can get the results I am hoping for!

Stay tuned for updates.

36 minute Treadmill Speed Workout

Post by Whitney
Let’s face it. Winter is going to stick around for a while. It also has a habit of warming up on my rest days when I really, really need to rest, so I stick mostly with the treadmill. I recently stumbled across two great workouts from Active.com that are perfect for speed and hill training.

This workout is very straightforward and gives ample time for warmup and cool down with a great challenge sandwiched in between. I started it last week and actually walked for the two minutes after the two hard minutes. This week I was able to slow jog for one of the two minutes. Progress! Run at your ability and be ok with cutting back to prevent injury or hatred of your treadmill. The workout for me amounts to 3.5 to 4 miles and has improved my speed! Let me know how it goes!

Until next time, Whitney.

A Beautiful View

At the end of a long, tiring day that included a sad funeral, it’s a relief to step on the treadmill and disconnect my mind. Well, disconnect while reading Allegiant, the third Divergent book…read them!!

New year, New Shoes, New Goals!

Post by Whitney!
As I promised, I want to share some of my goals for 2014.
Remember a few posts back how I was really liking those Asics from Academy sports? Well, I found them online and they joined my shoe collection (which is larger than I’d like to admit). So far, I love them! My goal is to rotate them with my current Brooks Ghost 5s to prevent either pair from wearing quickly. It solidified my plan to receive an email with an attached article explaining why shoe rotation is important the same day my shoes arrived! Thanks cyberspace.

I’m in week three of my first 2014 goal of an April half marathon training plan. I’m trying a new slower approach after such a painful experience from overtraining in September. The below pic is my Saturday 7 mile long run. Other than the awful performance by my basketball team I was watching, the run was great!


After the half I want to……. Drumroll please…… Attempt a full marathon!! I know. Crazy. I think if I keep the slow and steady mentality, regularly visit my chiro/ART specialist/massage folks, and read up on it, I’ll meet my goal! Other than running I don’t have super specific goals. Mostly just continue to devour ice cream.


Go eat some ice cream.
Until next time, Whitney.

We have a domain!!

Post by Whitney 🙂

We are very excited to officially own fitnessontheprairie.com!! In the near future we will also have a new format with our gorgeous logo designed for us by my good friend Sarah DeGarmo over at Rise by Design.

Check her out!! She also created my MATCH: Mentor a Teen; Create Hope and Maverick Match Logos. Talk about talent. She also does photo books and many other production projects. Shameless plug for her! 

Very soon I will be sharing with you my running goals for the year (that may just include a very, very long run) and my training plan!

Until next time, Whitney

Colorado Adventure to start 2014!

Last weekend, my good friend Jana and I headed out to Colorado for a relaxing and fun three-day weekend. This is a photo recap of our adventures skiing, snow shoeing, and enjoying the beauty of Colorado!

Can. You. Believe. This. Westcliffe holds some of the most serene mountain views. The weather on the way to Monarch was outstanding. It drastically changed the closer we got, but that wasn’t going to deter us.


Though we met ridiculous blowing snow, these snazzy new goggles turned the day around.


This is a cool pic I caught of Jana cutting some mountain. Not really. I have no idea who that is, but it was a cool shot!

It snowed while we were gone, and my car had a nice surprise when we got back! It also made for an interesting drive home, but luckily Rog my father had everything under control.


Sunday morning we just had to play in the gorgeous powder so my pops took us on a snow shoeing adventure (please read that as Bilbo Baggins would.)

And to top it off, this phenomenal picture!! Does it get any better than this? I love me some Rockies. I hope your 2014 has started with as much fun!


Until next time, Whitney.