Another One Bites the Dust

Sorry I've been absent.  I've been attempting to enjoy my break.  So far, so good.  I've been working as well as exercising and catching up with friends.  More on that tomorrow!

Some of you may remember that one of my goals for this year is to read 25 books.  It's been a slow start, but I finally finished my second book and am well into my third book.  I know once school is done I'll have a lot more time for reading, so I'm just trying to do the best I can for now.  The book I just finished was a gift from my professor that I have an independent study with (she really is so sweet).

This is it:

I wasn't sure what to make of this book when I got it, but I was intrigued.  It is certainly based in science, but I found it easy to read.  I think the author does a great job at portraying the subject in a way that any reader could understand.  The overall gist of the book is how women change throughout life.  Specifically how hormones shift and change and how that affect how we as women act.  She goes chronologically from conception to the teen years to having children and right through menopause.  It was most interesting to read the about the phases of my life that I have already been through or am currently in.  I found myself agreeing with much of what she was saying based on my own personal experience.

I also found it interesting to read ahead to see what is yet to come.  I think this book can be an informative tool to help women understand more about why we are the way we are.  I also think that the author makes a valid point in that no matter how hard we fight it, men and women are different.  I think the author did a good job of taking the middle ground on the gender issues she brought up in this book.  The only thing criticism of the book I have is that I felt the author needed to point out that even though things like hormones are affecting how we act, we still need to be responsible in our actions and we can't use something like hormone shifts as an excuse when there are currently so many options to help women control them.

I'm now passing this on to my mom to read.  I hope that she'll find it as informative and interesting as I did.  I would recommend reading it and then convincing your significant other to read it because I think it could be eye opening for them.  I would have Patrick read passages that I found particularly interesting.  Have you read this book?  What did you think?

And this is what I'm reading now:

It's been on my radar for awhile now, so I figured I'd take the dive.  I'm about 150 pages in and I'm enjoying it.  Have you read this book?  Thoughts (no spoilers!)?  And did anyone see the movie?  Was it worth watching?

Three Things Thursday

1.  My new Jillian videos came in yesterday!  Yay!  I'm planning on running today, so I'll probably get to try them out tomorrow or Saturday.  I also got myself this as an early birthday gift:

 I think I'm going to make some of these for Patrick for Valentine's Day (ssshhhh, don't tell!).  Although, my birthday is only a few days before Valentine's Day, I figure that it will be a nice way to celebrate my birthday too.  I'm not sure that this was the best thing to order while doing Weight Watchers, but it should help me portion control my cake, right?

2.  I had a thesis meeting this morning!  Which really is a miracle.  It went really well and my thesis project is coming along.  This thing is going to be done by May!  And I will graduate on time!  One of my advisers actually said that my project would have made a great Master's project.  I told him I have no problem if he wants to give me a Master's along with my Bachelor's.  That could really save me some time in my academic career.  Hahaha...

3.  I weigh in tonight and obviously, I'm hoping for a loss.  Although I'm not really confident.  I'm feeling like I'm not exercising enough.  I think I'm doing ok with portion control and making healthy choices when it comes to food, but the weather has been making it tough to even just get out and go to the gym.  It's kind of hard to drive in a foot of snow!  I don't know about you, but spring can't come fast enough!  (Or at least warm enough temps to melt some of this snow!

Happy almost weekend!

Weekend Things

Patrick and I did a track workout again on Sunday.  We warmed up for .5 miles and then did .1 walk/ .1 run (fast) ten times with a .5 mile cool down.  Total miles: 3.0  Total Time: 38ish minutes.  Awesome, considering we walked half of the miles.  The legs felt really good and we were able to hold strong on the run laps.  We were trying to push it and go fast.  I really want to work on my 5K time, so I know I need to work on speed.  Patrick is just trying to work on getting back to running regularly and I may have convinced him to run a 5K with me in April!

I also tested out my new running skirt yesterday.  I am in love!  This thing is quite possibly the most comfortable (and the cutest!) piece of running gear I own.  My only complaint is that I ordered the size based on my pant size and it seems a little big.  And since I'm in the process of losing weight, I might have to buy another one or else mine will be falling down.  But I love it!  I can't say that I will be running out and buying any at full price, but I will keep my eye on the sale page (or I will gladly accept them as gifts)!  You can find Running Skirts HERE.

 One of my goals for 2011 was to read 25 books this year.  For those who are interested, I'm going to share the books here.  I stayed up until 1:30 in the morning finishing this book (oops!) on Saturday.  I should mention that I am someone that can sit down and read for hours on end if the book is good.  I really love to read. 

My first book of 2011 was Atonement.  I really enjoyed the book and plan on watching the movie soon, although I have heard it's not nearly as good as the book.  I have a hard time summarizing the book without giving it away, so I don't want to say too much, but I may have cried a little at the end.  Any recommendations for my next read?

Stay tuned this week!  I have at least 2, if not 3 giveaways coming up!