"Summer" reading book list

I know this doesn't have much to do with fitness, but...it is a  huge passion of mine. I love reading, It's always been a favorite past time. I love reading ALL SORTS of books. It really just depends on my mood but I thought it would be fun to compile a list of books i've read/what I want to read. Last summer, with the help of my job at the coffee shop, I bet I read over 30 books (also thanks to my kindle) so..I kinda want to keep up with what I read and maybe get some input on some good books as well??? So, this is what I have so far, hopefully the list will grow larger and larger once I finish these books and find new ones. Amazon is my favorite way to find books I love the "customers who bought this book also bought..." feature. I've found some of my favorite books this way


Fun Reads

1. Jane Eyre
2. Julie and Julia, My year of cooking-Julie Powell
3. Leaving-Karen Kingsbury

Fitness/Nutrition/Self help Info Reads

1. Unlimited by Jillian Michaels
2. True you- Janet Jackson
3. Believe it, Be It- Ali Vincent
4. No OM zone, Practical Guide to Yoga-Kimberly Fowler

Green Level on Nike + CHECK

Nike + watch/usb/online program has different levels depending on how many miles you've ran since purchasing the watch/how many miles you've synced.

Since purchasing the watch in February I've ran a total of 158.46 miles!!!! = REWARD :) I'm officially out of the orange level and into the green :)

I'm waiting till pay day to claim my reward but yay!! so excited LOVE this reward system :)

Run 40 Miles in 4 weeks CHECK

So I could keep up with calories lost and miles ran, I purchased a Nike + watch. It's a watch that has a pop out USB drive that you connect to your computer. You can purchase the shoes to go along with it (um...too $$ when I found Asics at a discount store for $25) ANYWAY, So I keep the chip in wallet like compartment on my shoe laces and it's pretty accurate to a treadmill. Once I pop in the USB drive it automatically pulls up my Nike profile and all my runs, miles, calories, and even shows a little me running the path. On this site it has goals you can set for yourself. One of my goals was to run 40 miles in 4 Weeks, well.. I did it in 3! My husband works till about 8:30 pm so.. normally around 4-6 I go down to our exercise room, turn something on the tv, and run. On prettier days I run around Hollywood blvd while the sun is setting.

So I rewarded myself with a purchase of Woman's Health Magazine (Goals and rewards listed on left column). I love it. Every month it comes with a pull out section with exercises to work certain areas of your body. The articles are really beneficial and it also has nutrition in every edition as well. I'm sorry but I can't stand a lot of magazines that are mostly about sex and trying to sell me stuff that I can't afford or won't wear. This one, I like :) So...TA DA :)

One of my problem area(s) is my stomach. I really want to have some tight abs once it's officially bathing suit weather (about 3-4 more weeks) and so I've been doing tons of cardio and some ab exercises (not just your standard crunches) but stuff that really make me have to contract/flex my abdominals. I saw this magazine, read through it a little and saw some really awesome exercises and decided since I finished early I could do a little extra for myself. SO I got both.. I really like some of exercises and can already see a noticeable difference yay! :)

Meet Jillian Michael's Check!

Personal Fitness Cert Test- CHECK

Well, NOT completely, I'm still waiting on my results. BUT, I did attend the workshop and finished the practical (which I passed!) and the 2 hour written test.


The workshop was pretty exhausting. In order to get the date that I wanted, I ended up driving to a test site an hour (up to 2 with traffic) away from my house = me waking up before the sun to get there on time.

Some tips for those taking the AFAA Workshops/Test
-Bring a sweatshirt,,, our test site was freezing and I spent most of the time in a hoodie

-Bring a new notebook to record everything, she will only go over what is expected knowledge of the test, it's good to have when you go home and study that way you make sure you study the correct material

-DO NOT wait to fill out the study guide at the workshop. You have a MUCH less stress level if you know the information and you're not having to flip pages and miss what they are saying.

-BRING SNACKS, it's going to be a long day (second day is 10 hours) you may not be close to a place with food (my site wasn't very close to food and I didn't bring a lunch so I had to use the entire lunch break to go and get food and bring it back) snacking is allowed during the workshop


The first day consisted of 4 chapters = 8 hours (including a dinner break) .

She went over the first basic chapters: Chapter 1, Wellness, Chapter 4 Health screening, ( I thought this should have been chapter 2 anyway it based off of the info from chapter one) Chapter 3 Anatomy and Kinesiology, and Chapter 5 Fitness assessments.  We actually performed the assessments on each other IN the order instructed. That really helped

The next day we went over 8 chapters... it was quite a long day. I got home around 6:30 and stayed up till Midnight studying. I wanted to make sure I knew everything I could.

The next morning she reviewed the muscles in about 45 minutes and prepped us for a practical.

30 minutes later we began testing. Part of our certification was the practical portion. At random drawing we were given a muscle and an ailment to deal with. I was given Abdominals and my client was a pregnant. So I had to introduce myself to my client (another test taker) explain what we would be doing, why we were doing it, what muscles we would be using, and how it would benefit them. I had to demonstrate it, being VERY specific about what moves, how to breath, and  posture.  After demonstrating it I had to give her what to look out for/safety (don't move body, don't move neck, bend your knees, etc etc etc) and then lead them through the exercise with careful spotting/correct misalignment) After we were done I had to show two stretches as well as an opposing muscle function with progressive steps.

I was SO nervous I even teared up a little, I was afraid I was going to just blank out and forget everything! But honestly, it was easier than I expected..lol

The written test wasn't so bad, I know there are 2-3 I just guessed at, I honestly didn't know the right answer. I narrowed it down to the 2 best answers and picked the one that sounded the best. I should know within a month what to expect, so, HOPEFULLY it'll work out for the best!