#DontJudgeMeChallenge

Good evening everyone,

Didn't get to the gym last night :( I'm super disappointed in myself but I am armed with my treadmill workout for tonight and I will get there and I will conquer it!

So has anyone seen that #dontjudgemechallenge ? As it becomes more in more popular I just want to grab all these guys and girls and shake them through the computer. This is literally one of the most dumbest things on facebook. And as we all know, that's really saying something!

The #dontjudgemechallenge is people putting marker all over their face as acne, unibrows, crocked/missing teeth, etc and then then tap the camera and poof! All that stuff is gone and they are gorgeous once again. So basically this challenge is a challenge asking people to not judge while judging others. I mean really, how hypocritcal can one get??

While I really like the concept of not judging this is totally the wrong way to go about it. These people are basically saying that people with acne or a missing tooth or unibrow aren't attractive and that they need to be fixed by 10lbs of makeup. This is not ok! And this is not a message we want to be sending to young girls! They've already got royally misguided body image issues as it is. This is basically adding fuel to the flame. It's beyond ridiculous.

But what I am here to say is that you, yes you, are beautiful!! Do not pay attention to these fools because they are the ugly ones, not you. There is no need for you to change. You just be yourself and honestly, fuck everyone else because at the end of the day it's your happiness that matters.

That's all I really have to say about this. If you're planning on doing this challenge please, I beg of you, do not do it, be the bigger person.

Let me know what you think of this challenge in the comments!

Love always,
Mandi

Modern Day Feminism

Good morning everyone,

It's been an uneventful past couple days except for the fact that I'm starting to panic about not being able to pay for my wedding, but that's a topic for a different day. But what I do want to talk about today is something that I've been thinking about a lot the past couple weeks and months and that is feminism in today's world.

First off, lets look at the definition of feminism. There's one key word that I want everyone to put their focus on. Can you guess which one?

If you guessed EQUALITY, you are so very right. I think what a lot of women forget is that we are fighting and advocating to be equal. Not to be treated special or better than men or even differently. We are fighting to be the exact same, as it should be. In today's world, women are not not fragile creatures, we are strong and independent. This is not the 1950's anymore. When we fight to be equal in the right to vote, equal pay, etc. we are also fighting for equal treatment in everyday things. So if I want to be looked at like I'm a strong, independent, fearless woman, just like a man is looked at, I should EXPECT to be treated as such. That means that if I make a stupid decision, I should expect to get the equal kind of punishment that a man should. If I hit somebody, I should expect to get hit back, doesn't matter if it's a man twice my size. I took the first swing, it will probably be reciprocated and when it does I should not be allowed to going cry to the police because a man hit me when I started it in the first place. When we constantly scream that we a strong and independent women and then go crying when our stupid decisions don't work out, that does a heck of alot more harm to the cause and it honestly makes us hypocrites when we do stuff like that.

We need to remember that when fighting for equal rights in comes with equal treatments as well. One gender should not receive special treatment just because they are built slightly differently.

Also, it completely baffles me when some women say that they are not feminists. How do they not want equal rights for themselves and others like them? I know some extremists have given feminists a bad name but the core of feminism is everyday, critically thinking women who just want to be treated equally. How can a women not be for their own equal rights? It'd be like a gay perosn not wanting marriage equality, or a christian not wanting religious freedom, or a black person to be against racial equality. It makes absolutely no sense. Just because some have tainted the word "feminist" with bad things does not mean that it is at it's very core, it is a good cause that every woman should stand behind. 

The last thing I want to talk about today is this man hating business. Just because a woman is a feminist does not make her a man hater. Men are our biggest allies when it comes to fair and equal treatment. We should treat them as such. Heck, I'm even a gay feminist and I don't hate men. We have to remember that we are in no way against men, we just wanted to be treated as their equals. This world cannot function without men, just like it can't function without women. We need each other. 

I think that's all I have to say for now. I may think of some more things later but will make a seperate post about them. Let me know what you think about all this in the comments!

And i will leave you with these words from Gloria Steinem...

“A feminist is anyone who recognizes the equality and full humanity of women and men.” 

Love always,
Mandi

Burn 500 Calories with this 30 Minute Arc Trainer Workout!

Good evening everyone,

Another uneventful day around here. I've been to about a million stores and firework stands today looking for sparklers and matches for our sparkler send off for our wedding. Had zero luck at each and every last one of them so I'm in the process of buying it all online. It's going to cost a little bit over $100 but that's a bit cheaper than the $150 I had budget for so I will call that a win.

I did a another pretty hard workout today that I thought I would share with you all.

TIME               INCLINE     RESISTANCE
00:00-03:00     10                 3
03:00-04:00     20                 7
04:00-04:45     20                 5
04:45-05:45     18                 8
05:45-06:30     18                 6
06:30-07:30     16                 9
07:30-08:15     16                 7
08:15-09:15     18                 10
09:15-10:00     18                 8
10:00-11:00     20                 12
11:00-11:45     20                 9
11:45-12:45     12                 7
12:45-13:15     12                 5
13:15-14:15     13                 8
14:15-15:00     13                 6
15:00-16:00     15                 9
16:00-16:45     15                 7
16:45-17:30     13                 10
17:30-18:15     13                 8
18:15-19:15     12                 12
19:15-20:00     12                 9
20:00-20:45     7                   6
20:45-21:15     5                   6
21:15-22:00     3                   6
22:00-22:30     2                   6
22:30-23:15     1                   6
23:15-23:45     2                   6
23:45-24:30     3                   6
24:30-25:00     5                   6
25:00-25:45     7                   6
25:45-26:15     20                 7
26:15-27:00     18                 8
27:00-27:30     16                 9
27:30-28:15     18                 10
28:15-30:00     10                 3

This one just like yesterday's was incredibly hard but i was able to power through it and was able to burn over 500 calories! You can def tell i did by the sweat on my face in the pic below. Feel free to share or copy and paste the workout above! Let me know if you were able to complete it in the comments! Good luck!

Love always, 

Mandi

Burn 800 Calories with this Elliptical Workout!

Good evening everyone!

Hope everyone is having a happy and safe fourth of July! I didn't do much today, just worked around the house a little and then went to my parents house to watch the Royals game. We lost but it was still good to spend time with them.

I did spend some quality time at the gym today! I wanted to share with you all the ONE HOUR elliptical workout that I did. I was honestly surprised i was able to complete it.

TIME                 RESISTANCE

00:00-03:00           3

03:00-05:00           6

05:00-08:00           7

08:00-09:00           8 (sprint!)

09:00-12:00           6

12:00-13:00           8 (sprint!)

13:00-16:00           6

16:00-17:00           8 (sprint!)

17:00-20:00           5

20:00-21:00           6 (sprint!)

21:00-24:00           7

24:00-25:00           5 (sprint!)

25:00-28:00           6

28:00-31:00           7

31:00-32:00           8 (sprint!)

32:00-35:00           6

35:00-38:00           7

38:00-39:00           8 (sprint!)

39:00-42:00           6

42:00-43:00           7 (sprint!)

43:00-46:00           6

46:00-47:00           8 (sprint!)

47:00-50:00           6

50:00-51:00           7 (sprint!)

51:00-54:00           5

54:00-55:00           8 (sprint!)

55:00-60:00           4

It was exhausting (if you can't tell by the beads of sweat rolling down my face in the below picture) but i was able to burn over 800 calories! I was very proud of myself for completing it so feel free to copy and paste the above workout or write it down and do it yourself. If you do, let me know how it went in the comments!

Love always, 

Mandi

Butterfinger Protein Breakfast Shake

Good evening everyone!

I came across this recipe for a protein shake that is suppose to taste like butterfingers. I tried it out this morning and it actually wasn't half bad! I have a 14 day supply of chocolate protein powder so I am going to see where this takes me on my weight loss journey! I'm going to have you all keep me accountable! This morning i weighed in at 312.6 and i will let you all know in 14 days what my weight is and if this shake has helped at all.

I have always struggled with my weight so I am always looking for new ideas and things to help, I will be sure to pass them on to everyone! Let me know in the comments if you have anything that's been working for you!

Love always, 

Mandi 

Introductions are in order!

Hi everyone!

Just a little bit about me to get this blog started!

My name is Mandi and I am 24 years old.

I am getting married in less than 3 months on September 27th to a wonderful woman named Angel.

I work for a bank and the Girl Scouts.

I have 2 dogs, Lucky and Boots, and a kitty named Buttercup.

I am obsessed with Harry Potter and softball.

I dream of being a stay at home mom (hence the title of this blog) so all of my posts will be about my journey to becoming one! I plan to post just a little bit of everything! From recipes to workouts to budget tips to my every day life. Hope you all enjoy! And of course if there are any questions, feel free to leave a comment, i will gladly respond.

Love always,
Mandi