Christmas done...

So I'm trying out blogging from my iPhone so this is kind of a test.

Hope your holidays were jam packed with fun like ours were. New years will be quiet for us though. We usually stay home with appetizers and movies.

So I got a huge hungry girl cookbook for Christmas. I am loving the simplicity of it. And so far everything is good!

I am sure I have gained a pound over the Christmas feasting. But I'm ok with it. We made lots of good memories. It was our baby boys first Christmas and he made out with some awesome toys! Out daughter got what she asked Santa for too! It was a good year. I'm very proud of my family.

I have caught the cold. I don't feel too bad just drained. Keeping moving and keeping on with the food logging on My Fitness Pal and I will conquer all! And lots of water!

So let's see if this blog post will go through... I'll blog more later.

Sent from my iPhone

Wednesday Weigh In and other tidbits...

The number today...(drum roll) 182! Loss of 1 lb!  I am steadily losing in a healthy fashion and it is great! I feel great!  I have to say seeing this weight is a big relief.  I haven't seen this number since before I was pregnant. 

I would like to thank My Fitness Pal for their continuous support and positive actions to get me to the lowest number on the scale.  I would like to thank my blogging friends Prior Fat Girls, Tricia, Real Fat Blog, and all my twitter friends.  Of course I would love to thank my family for their continued support and putting up with all my crazy meals! Oh, I am running out of time, I will have to just thank all my fans! Que the music! HA!

This time of year is a sneaky calorie one.  All the goodies and parties!!! I must plan accordingly and so far so good. 

So my husband took a try at my roasted Kale chips again and I told him the last time I made them I did it wrong that this batch would be better.  He loved them!  I kept catching him eating more and more!!!  I had to stop him or I wouldn't have any to snack on today!!  What a funny thing, to make a family member stop eating veggies!  Never thought I would see the day!

So I must go and log my kale chips into My Fitness Pal... until next time!

A fantastic week!

So I am on Twitter and I love it...especially on my new iphone! I have been able to update easily and not have to wait forever for the page to load like on my blackberry. And then I have my fav healthy people on there and the opinions and tips are great! Not only is Twitter helping me stay on track, so is the application My Fitness Pal.  This has been a life saver in food tracking and the ease of it makes tracking very slick. I can also track my cardio and strength training and water.  It has a friends area where you can hook up with other fitness pals and see what they are up to.  It lets you enter your weight and it gives you kudos for doing well.  At the end of the day I submit my daily tracker and it tells me what I would weigh in 5 weeks if I continue on that same eating track.  The whole thing is very sweet!

With these new ways and new tools, I have seen the scale drop!!! So tomorrow should be a good weigh in day!!!  :)  Stay tuned!

Tonight I am going to get some kale roasted for some snacks.  In the afternoons, I am dying for something to snack on so I think that would help me tremendously.  The other night we had roasted broccoli....YUM!  Next I will try roasted cauliflower! :)  Even my daughter loved the broccoli! 

Christmas time is hectic around my house.  Lots of family and lots of crafting! I think I have most of my crafting done, just a few little things.  I am excited to see every ones reactions when they open their gifts!!! I got my husband some snowshoes for hunting...speaking of hunting...so I have went with my husband coyote hunting.  This was the funniest thing I have ever done!  We are crouching, walking, quietly, sneaking up on them.  I am behind my husband who slowly turns around and signals me to crouch lower and to shush (like finger to lips shush).  I bust up laughing...I feel like a Elmer Fud cartoon!!!  He looks at me like I am crazy and motions "what?" I quietly tell him about Elmer Fud and he shakes his head and tells me again to shush.  LOL!  I can't stop laughing!!! Tears are rolling down my cheeks cause as we sneak up to where we will aim at the coyotes, all I can think about is "Rabbit season, Duck season, Rabbit season, Duck season"!!! HA!!!  Heck, no my dear hubby it is Coyote season!!!!  He hasn't taken me again since. 

Wednesday Weigh In

Lost another pound to bring me to 183! I have been doing The Shred at lunch and I am noticing a difference and I guess others are too! I have been getting compliment after compliment about how good I look!  I must be toning in places! :)  My butt still looks big but maybe it is a little higher up! LOL!  Thank you squats!

The holidays are coming close now and the stress is on!  I stayed home from work yesterday to go to appointments and such and I got so sick in the morning!  But it passed as I went to my appointments.  I think the stress finally got to me.  I sat for about 30 minutes and watched a show on my DVR and I just got so nauseated! 

I have been doing some craft swaps and have been getting some awesome stuff!  I just got a package from my crafting partner in England and oh my did she spoil me!!!  I got all sorts of pouches and some cool wooden colored pencils.  All sorts of yummy low cal/low fat goodies that they only sell in England!!  Can't wait for the next swap!!! 

Last night we made our gingerbread house. My daughter did an wonderful job!  She is so creative...she must get that from me! LOL! Then we wake up to find that the cat ate part of the head off the gingerbread man during the night!

Well on to tomorrow...after tonight.  :)

I lost something....

A POUND!!! LOL!  I lost a pound this week to be at 184.  What a wonderful thing to lose!!! :)



A non scale victory (NSV) for me today was getting up early to exercise! My treadmill is on the frits it seems so I did a weight program from the Oxygen Magazine I purchased a few weeks ago.  It is the Off the Couch issue.  And I have learned a ton from it.  Heck, I carry it around in my purse to flip through for motivation!!! 

I have been having people ask me if I have been losing weight cause there is something different about me.  I want to tell them, "Yep, I have lost weight, in my feet! It's nice you can tell that when I have my shoes on!"

But I do feel different.  I feel happy with myself.  :) I have been clapping my hands cause I know I'm happy!! 

I think that I am going to switch things up a bit.  Move things around, try new ideas. I am going to have weigh in's be on Wednesday's.  I think that will help me switch gears when needed.  I can't always be perfect on the journey, I have figured that out! 

Oh and I did something nice for myself yesterday!  I took a nap!  My hubby took baby boy to town and I slept! I always feel like I am missing out on my day and on doing something when I nap.  But you know, I was doing something, something nice for me.  And darn it, I deserve it! And the hubs deserves some quality time with baby boy! He never gets one on one time because he works all the time, 7 days a week. But he does have some things that he is responsible for when it comes to caring for our little one.  But I often feel so sad because he misses out on a lot of the growing up stuff.  I take a TON of pics and send them to him all day on the weekends! :)

Weekends are crazy...this weekend will be a busy one too!  I enjoy the holiday season of making presents and goodies for everyone and all the activities!  I have a cookie swap to attend!!!  I am going to make a low cal cookie to share. My daughter will be home from her dads, and I have an idea for the kids to do for grandparents for Christmas!  I will share with you after the holidays as to not spoil it for the grandparents that read here!!!  :) 

On to lose more, move more and drink more! ;) Water that is....

If your happy and you know it...

clap your hands!  :)  I sing this song all the time to my kids.  I think it helps to remember to smile. 

I had achieved Tuesday's goals of water consumption and movement.  Ate well too!  I got in over a 100 oz of water, not sure of exact amount.  But I do know it was over 100!!!  I walked at break time and at lunch and did lunges and a ton of hustling around the office.  Instead of emailing or calling my co-workers, I walked to their desk.  I am sure it drove them crazy but it actually saved me time because I got an immediate response instead of having to wait for their reply or call back. 

Awesome dinner of whole wheat spaghetti!  Small portions.  No dessert. 

I got up at 4am this morning.  Was planning on 4:30 but my little boy decided 4 was better! :)  Although he went back to bed at 4:40 and I stayed up.  I am sure I will be sleepy later, but it was worth not having a hectic morning and it will be nice to not have a busy night! Don't know if you know the Flylady, but she is helping me get through my weeks!!!  Her system works great! And I am getting a kick out of the "No Parents Left Behind" emails I get! Gotta check it out! My husband has helped me keep the sink shiny and to not have a ton of things to do on the weekends is fantastic! 

On Twitter this morning, one of my twitter friends said she wouldn't speak to her friends the way she speaks to herself.  I thought me neither!  Why do we talk so badly to ourselves??  So I tweeted her back saying lets not do that today!!!  A challenge!!!  ;)  So today, only good self talk. 

Keeping on with my goals one day at a time, one ounce of water at a time, one minute of movement at a time! 

Is everyday truly a good day???

This health journey I am on is definitely a roller coaster.  I would have to say the one thing I am blessed for is that I haven't gain any weight! LOL!  This week, I am seeing a difference on the scale which I haven't really seen in a long time.  Considering my obstacles, this is a good thing, a good day.  But really, can every day be this good?  I know good things happen every day and it our choice to see them or not, but can every day be giddy good?  Nope, I don't want to be unrealistic.  I want to share the bad things too.  Not just the good.  What is the point of blogging if your not honest.  I know that some use blogs to be someone their not or to "enhance" themselves.  I don't want to be that someone.  I want my blog to be real and so far I think it is!  I can be all jolly happy some days and some days I just want to take a hiatus from people and life.  Those days I want to be quiet.  Life is hard folks and by golly, share those too!!!  When I read blogs and read some of the difficulties people go through I relate more and feel good that others aren't perfect.  I can take what they say and take a deep breath and know I can move on too. I want to thank those people who keep it real...it is hard to admit defeat, but I think when admitting to it you are a winner.  The hardest thing in life to do is to admit when your wrong.  But you can then dust yourself off, it is out in the open and off your mind so that you can be winner. 

So I may not have had the success others have had but life is one step at a time and I have plenty of steps to go!  I will get there...through the good and the bad days. 

My Monday...

How did I wake this morning...to doggie poo...in the bathroom in front of the toilet.  At least the dog knows what the bathroom is used for!!  But it was my husbands dog, so I got to wake him and make him pick it up!!!  I figure I change his sons bottom, he can pick up his dogs poo!!! Seems fair to me! 

The weekend was nice and long and unforgettable.  I crafted and went shopping and got my daughters BIG gift for Christmas.  So the only big ticket item I have left to buy is my husbands. 

I am doing good on the not binging aspect.  I made it through the holidays without gaining any weight.  I am back at work today doing squats at the copy machine and desk push ups whenever I get a chance.  I have been running around the office too and got a walk in.  So I am doing very well I think!  Trying to get movement in whenever I can.  Heck, I did calve raises in the shower this morning!!! 

I went to the store and got some yummy and good for us stuff.  I found some yummy grape seltzer stuff from Welch's that is 70 calories per serving.  I will give that to my family instead of soda.  I got some pita chips and laughing cow cheese.  We are cereal eater, so I got my fav Honey Nut Cheerios and the fruit ones for my daughter.  I got us some fruit to put in our lunches and some Greek yogurt.  I try to find the one with the most protein and I found one with 23 grams!!  My favorite breakfast is the Greek yogurt with some old fashion oats!  Awesome texture!!!  I am going to look into some gluten free bread next and other gluten free items. 

I have had some stressful moments in the last week, but I conquered! 

Happy Post Thanksgiving

Well I made it through the holiday without any binges. I lost 2 pounds
in fact! Probably because I was running around with my head cut off
making sure everyone had what they needed. I just wanted everyone to
sit and eat but they all insisted of standing and talking! HA!
Everyone was happy and chatting and it went great! First year with
both my sister and her family and my dad and my hubbys dad and his
wife, her daughter and family and my hubbys brother and girlfriend. A
ton of people of my little home but it was a kick to see everyone
milling around. We had an occasional toddler running around with his
pants down and other little kid antics with food! We got things
cleaned up and we are so blessed with our crazy family. We were in bed
by 7:30! HA! Now we are planning Christmas dinner!

Today I'm relaxing a bit and going to work on my baby food jar advent
calendar. Going to drag the treadmill back out and fit in a nap!

Good luck to you crazy black friday shoppers! You people are insane! :)

--
Sent from my mobile device

Studying...

So I got myself a book, Overcoming Binge Eating by Dr. Christopher Fairburn.  I have learned a ton from this book about myself!!  And I am now following the steps in the book to overcome this addiction. I am logging my foods, even the bad binges, and putting comments on how I felt and where I ate it.  I am also doing a weekly worksheet on a summary of my weeks.  This will be the tool to let me know when to move on in the program.  They say to log foods for 3-4 days to see where and when the binges occur.  Then I move onto setting up a scheduled eating plan which means I only eat at certain times to get my brain functioning to normal eating habits. This will be hard for me because I am a huge snacker.  I got into dieting all the time, I told myself I could eat 1200 calories a day, and so I would just snack my 1200 calories all day!  Cause as long as I stayed under 1200, I was good.  It didn't matter to me how or what I ate.  Well then of course, I wouldn't count everything because of guilt...so the calories in and calories obviously didn't work for me.  I know it COULD work for me!  If I did it right! LOL!  And I work my battooty off exercising!!!  My frustration would only lead me to indulge in something yummy sweet!!! 

The book says that the first thing to do is NOT TO DIET! Which makes sense to me because when you binge, your not dieting anyways.  I am just making myself feel more guilty and my self esteem level zooms down to the lowest.  So I am not dieting.  But I know what makes a healthy day with food.  So I have a plan...I eat breakfast at 8:00, (which I do everyday anyway) have a mid morning snack at 10:30(which I want to be a fruit) and then lunch at 12:30 which will have a vegetable, and then a afternoon snack at 3:30 of a fruit and a dairy and then dinner 7:00 and then a evening snack if needed.  I do want to stay away from the evening snack or maybe just have it consist of tea or something.  I go to bed early every night, so it shouldn't be too hard! :)

So I found 16 steps that I have printed and I look at often.  I have crossed out the things I have done already and wrote little notes afterwards! :) 

1. Tell someone. Even if only one person knows about your disorder, at least you will no longer be alone in your struggle.
2. Seek out treatment and therapy. Enroll in an eating disorder treatment facility or attend therapy session. Be willing to learn and make yourself vulnerable.
3. Carry limited amounts of food at home. Although this may be more of a hassle, it will limit temptations at home. I don't binge too often at home because we don't have the bad foods there! And it is harder to binge in front of my family.
4. Relax. Set aside time to enjoy life and take part in a fun activity.
5. Forgive yourself. You can’t change the past, you can only learn from your mistakes.
6. Exercise. Plan out an appropriate exercise program you will desire to maintain.
7. Determine the causes and triggers of your disorder. By doing this you can then take steps to prevent further binges. Working on this!
8. Eat breakfast daily. Those who do not regularly eat breakfast are more prone to binging and eating high calorie meals later in the day.
9. Share your concerns with friends and family. Never isolate yourself. Working on this!
10. Take adequate nutrients. If you do not consume enough nutrients for your body, consider taking vitamin and mineral supplements.
11. Find self-help books. These books will encourage you and often offer helpful advice, especially if they are centered on binge eating. Although I would love to find more GOOD ones!
12. Attend a support group. Knowing that others struggle with the same problems may relieve stress. I don't think I could do this...
13. Talk with a nutritionist. He or she can help you set up an appropriate meal plan.
14. Write in a journal. This may help especially when you have the urge to binge eat. In progress
15. Do not diet. Fad diets rarely help for long periods of time and very strict diet plans may only make your disorder worse.
16. Love yourself for who you are, not what you look like. In progress

Day 2

So last night was the first night in a long time that I didn't feel guilty about eating dinner because I didn't really binge to bad yesterday!  I was actually starving at dinner time!  Maybe not starving but I was HUNGRY! :)

This morning I feel pretty good for the most part.  I almost wasn't going to get out my journal and do like I usually do and say oh, I will be good and not eat anything bad and stay within my calorie intake. But no, I know that is a lie!!!  So I got out my book and wrote down my breakfast, which is a yummy breakfast scramble my husband made for dinner last night! And I wrote down my feelings as well.  Eating beacause it is breakfast time and because I don't want to over eat later. 

It should be interesting to knowingly go throughout my days with this lingering in my head.  I had a bad nights sleep due to the little one being up a lot.  On these kinds of days, I normally binge on candy and even just typing that makes me want to go buy a bag!!  Isn't that crazy! So now I have to try and focus on something different!!!  LOL! 

So I did the 20 minute express Zumba and the Abs DVD yesterday.  My lower back muscles are sooo sore today!!  And my sides, I think those are the obliques right?  Goodness!! 

Here's to a good day folks...thank you for being kind and than you Trisha for sharing!!!  It is crazy how much we have in common. :)

Hard to type this....

I have had a very emotional couple of weeks.  Almost more than I can handle cause everything happened at one time without much good in between!  But there seems to be a light at the end of the tunnel!!!!

So this whole healthy lifestyle experience has been interesting to me.  I have learned many things about myself and what I can do with my body and mind.  I know that I can live this lifestyle and lose the weight BUT I haven't really lost much with all the time and energy I have put to it.  I have been frustrated over and over but I haven't given up.  I have been talking to a friend of mine who is a nutritionist and I have been discussing with her my problems and trying to tweak my eating and we got down and dirty and I told her secrets I have never told anyone about my eating.  She told me that there is a condition known as Binge Eating Disorder and I should check it out and get with a doctor. 

I am so embarrassed to type this.  I don't know if I will be able to hit the publish button when I am done.  But I need to be honest with myself and not hide anymore.  I do very well eating good foods and then when I am home alone I make these cookies that have three ingredients, peanut butter, sugar and an egg.  And I eat the whole batch!  Seriously in one sitting!  I will double the batch just so that no one can tell I ate a dozen on my own.  I will hide sweets or sneak some ice cream.  I don't want anyone to get more than me.  Then I feel so awful...I tell myself I will skip lunch or dinner so that my calorie intake won't be as huge.  Calories in, calories out right?!?!  I actually think about calories when I am eating this crap and figure out a way to justify it? At work is the worst...I sit at my desk and eat everything.  I hide food in my desk so that just in case I forget to bring lunch or a snack or something (I never do forget.)  Basically, I hoard it because I might just starve sometime! A lot of the time I forget about what is in my desk drawers but it is still there, like a support of some kind.  When we have food at the office, I can't stay away.  I sneak it when no one is looking.  I eat alone so that no one can see how much I have or what I ate so that when I go back for more, they don't know how many I have had already.  When I go out of town and we run into my favorite things, I have to buy it and I try to save it cause I don't know when I will get it again, but I end up eating it all.  I know I shouldn't, but I do and I feel awful afterwards.  Because in all actuality, it will still be there the next time I visit!  For instance, the fudge in Winthrop. I get really down on myself about not losing weight and my eating habits.  I get mad at myself telling myself I know how to do this, WHY WON'T YOU LET YOURSELF WIN FOR A CHANGE!?!  So my friend and I came up with "because I won't let myself be happy."  If I were to follow through on anything, that would be a good thing.  And for some reason, I think good things don't happen to me.  I sabotage myself and it is easier to feel guilt and remorse than happiness and proud. Happiness and proud are unknown feelings and I don't feel them often other than with my children.  And even then I get upset with myself for feeling proud!  LOL!  It really is a vicious cycle when you lay it all out!

So all of that leads to....I emotionally eat.  When I get stressed, I have snack!  I have to have some sugar or I will die!  Even if I can't find it at the office or at home, I will go and buy it somewhere. And I will eat it all in one sitting.  Like a bag of stupid Halloween candy!!  UGH! 

I have tried to stop.  I have gone a couple weeks without sweets.  But then I can't stand it anymore! 

It is a crazy cycle and I have been this way since I was a child. 

So here I am doing a challenge with Trisha to lose weight which is my ultimate goal.  And I am getting  no where.  But now I know why! And now I understand why I have never gotten anywhere with my weight. 

So for now, I have an appointment to see a doctor.  I am going to start there. My appointment isn't for a couple weeks but I did get recommended a book.  So I ordered it through the library. 

I am afraid of what people will say.  Will they judge?  Will they ridicule? But the thing I am most afraid of right now because of this stupid disorder is will telling people make it hard for me to get my fix?  I am afraid I won't be able to eat that bag of candy!!!  Will I hide food even more now?  Or hopefully with my journaling, it will cause me to more fixated on NOT doing these things to myself.  Maybe I will be more aware and maybe being honest about this will help me start the process of getting better. 

Does anyone have any ideas or pointers on this?  I need all the help I can get! :) Ok I am going to hit publish and see if my world ends.  I will just close my eyes and wait for what comes next. 

Thank you for listening and possibly being the first step in the right direction. 

I could Zumba my days away!

I got up this morning at 3:12 to let the dogs out 3:50 to feed baby and figured I might as well stay up cause my alarm is going to go off at 4:12.  So I got up started the coffee and got dressed in workout clothes.  My husband gets up and I am like "what are you doing up?" He says he wants to spend time with me, so I told him to get his shoes on!!! So since he hasn't had a chance to try this yet, I was nice and put the basics on and he learned the moves until baby boy woke up again.  He was such a trooper!!!  It was a blast with him!!! Although he didn't think he could do it and says that he may just jog on the treadmill while I do this Zumba stuff!  LOL!  :) 

So my lunchtime workout is again Zumba cause I love the way it makes me feel mentally and physically! And I need the energy cause it is date night!  No going to bed at 7 tonight! ;)

Shake your money maker!

Oh my goodness is Zumba fun!  I was shaking my thang for all it was worth and my thighs are a bit sore today!  I did it on my lunch hour yesterday and it was a blast! I am going to try to do it again today at lunch if I get a lunch hour.  I may be the only secretary at lunch time so I may not get to take a lunch.  So that would mean I would try and fit it in tonight! :)

I wish I could Zumba all day! LOL!  It brightened my mood and made the rest of the day so much better!  It gave me the energy to make good choices and energy to be with my family last night.  Maybe I will just practice my moves at the copy machine! :) 

Shake My Grove Thang!

ZUMBA!!!!

I AM GOING TO SHAKE IT TONIGHT!!!! And the best thing...my family is going to do it with me! It is going to be so much fun! I am so excited! I can't wait to see my husband attempt this!!! LOL!! 

I have the older version with the little sticks.  I can't wait to get the moves down.  I was supposed to go with Trisha today and do a class, but my co-worker is out sick and my boss is gone, so I was left alone here to man the phones and the front counter.  I AM SO BUMMED! I so badly want to do an actual class, but maybe some other time. There is a Zumba party this weekend so I may see if I can go.

I am on a roller coaster ride with weight.  But I can't get discourage.  I can do this and I will...

Stay tuned for my interpretation of ZUMBA!

Bummed...

So I walked to the track today at lunch to see about some jogging.  I got my inhaler for EIA (exercise induced asthma) and was all set.  I haven't jogged much since the race because of pain in my legs when I run.  So I was all stoked to get going! 

I couldn't.  I got there in about 10 minutes and walked a lap and a half for a warm up.  I stretched first too.  Then I went to jog and IT HURT SO BAD! From my ankles to my knees! I was so disappointed!  It doesn't hurt to walk so why is it hurting when I jog?! UGH.  I was getting frustrated and about to just go back to the office, but I didn't.  I did a long walk for the rest of the hour I had.  I walked fast and strong! Just because I can't jog, doesn't mean I can't exercise right?!

Just makes it even more exciting for my Zumba DVD's to get here!!!  :) 

Mental Hurdles

How long is the race of mental hurdles?

During my course of healthy living, I have stumbled across a lot of things I didn't know about myself. 

1. I like me!
2. I like to walk!
3. I like to hike!
4. I am my own worst enemy!
5. I am smart!
6. I talk myself down!
7. I point out my own negativity's!
8. I tell myself I can't!
9. I have muscle!
10. I talk to myself a lot!

My first major hurdle I need to overcome is me.  I was walking on the treadmill this weekend and was reflecting on what I have done over the week.  Not much.  And then I thought why?  Because I was feeling really down about jogging.  The way I feel after I jog and how I want to like to do it but my legs won't let me. I would rather walk. Fast! LOL!  So then after a mile of walking fast, my legs felt loose and I thought, maybe I need to walk a mile before I can jog? It seems like such a lot of time to take to warm up to jog, but I guess if that is what I want to do, then I have to do it.  Then I thought, I don't want to.  I like to walk. I could walk all day long!!  So instead of quiting like I would have done before because I couldn't do something, I am going to do what I CAN do and go from there.  I need to stop putting myself down!!  I'm telling you, it is horrible the things I think!  So then when someone pays a compliment to me, I have taught myself not to believe them.  Because, how could I possibly be what they see?  They can't possibly believe what they are saying, they are just being nice.  Now, how is thinking like that going to do me any good?  I need to feel good about me!  In order to make change physically, I need to change this inside crap! 

So after 2 miles, I thought "how do I change the inside crap?"  Still looking for the answer...but I am going to take it one day at a time.  First, I am going to look in the mirror in the morning and pick out something I do like about me and say it out loud.  And believe it! Does that sound like a good start??

I have read on many healthy lifestyle changing blogs about their mental hurdles about what they thought of themselves.  I didn't really pay any attention to how I was treating myself at the time.  I kept thinking as I read, how silly they were because they are beautiful women! 

So on my last mile on the treadmill, I saw a show on MTV "I used to be fat."  It was actually a pretty good show.  It seems to me that most people going through changes like I am going through go through this mental ickiness.  But by conquering their fears and moving past their comfort zones, they get to this better place. 

Does that really happen?  Will I get to that better place?  And when? 

Weigh in and decluttering!

So I just weighed in on the challenge blog. I have lost a pound to bring me to 184. 

My weekend was great!  I finished my 5K in 41 minutes, and I jogged a good portion of it.  I went at it alone but I had Trisha in my sights the whole way.  Everyone was so nice!!!  Next year, I am jogging the whole thing! I was sore for the next three days!  My shins felt like the bone was bruised and I couldn't even touch my them!!  My ankles were sore and couldn't twist them around.  I made sure before the race that I stretched out really good in those areas because I knew doing my mock run that they would hurt.  I think, well I know, that I need to work on form and breathing.  I mentioned in the other blog that I had EIA (exercise induced asthma) before, and I know it doesn't just go away but I haven't had to use an inhaler for many years. Course I don't think I have ever done anything this intense for quite sometime! But I had the wheezes for that night and the next day.  I am seeing about a refill on my inhaler! See how that helps my endurance!

Yesterday, I did my lunchtime workout and went to the bleachers and then for a long walk.  My thighs are feeling it today!

Tomorrow is my daughters Jog A Thon and I am going to see about doing a couple laps with her!  We shall see, she is pretty quick! 

I haven't written down my food the last couple of days.  But I haven't went over 1300 calories because I eat the same things everyday!  ;)  Tonight is NOT leftover night, so I am tracking today.

I am going through a phase where I need to declutter, everything.  I want to simplify my life a tad bit.  So at home I have boxes that I am going to go through each room and see what I can throw away and/or donate and/or store in storage.  Our house is small and we don't have any extra space and I feel cramped!  I also need to give my jeep a good cleaning on the inside.  And I am going to work on my procrastination.  I think that goes hand in hand in decluttering!  :) 

Life Challenges

I am taking all these life challenges with stride this week!  Today I have to take my baby boy to the doctor because I want to make sure he is hydrated cause he has a cold.  Then my daughter is at her dads this week but I got a message that she is sicky too.  My poor babies!!!  I hate to see them like this! I got my dog spayed yesterday and she is at home resting but has no clue what is going on lol! She has been staring at the dryer all morning!  Still loopy from the meds. My husband has been working late every night this week which means no help at home.  BUT...I am not sore anymore, I took a rest day yesterday on my exercising.  I have still packed my food for the day and kept it healthy...although I did have a slice of homemade carrot cake last night but I also didn't get dinner.  So not really extra calories, just not too healthy! But it has carrots right??  LOL! I have done really well considering what life is throwing at me.  I am exhausted but I am chuggin along!!!  Usually this is when I fall off the wagon and just land in the puddle of processed foods!!  The quick and easy unhealthy stuff! 

So, for my food journal:

Greek yogurt with oatmeal and flax: 225
Chicken with carrots and celery: 185
2 Fruit snacks (keeps me from the snickers) - 120
Hard boiled egg - 78
Ritz crackers - 70 (did you know a single package of those things are 1983 calories?!?!  I stuck with 5 at lunch with my chicken and veggies!)
carrot cake - 375
Pear - 81

Total: 1134

It Hump Day!

Yes, Wednesday came on quick and busy!  Had to take the dog to the vet first thing to get spayed and then drop off money at the school for pictures and then drop off the baby at the sitters and then go to work.  My day is zooming by!!! 

So Trisha is doing things that I want to try.  I have started to journal my food.  I know that I said I was going to do this before but I didn't follow through.  But it is working for her...so it should work for me too right?! :) The challenges we do work for me so this should too!? ;)  So for the last couple of days I have been writing down my intake of calories and I am doing pretty darn good! Especially since my calories out is good too!

So here is yesterdays journal:

Greek Yogurt with oatmeal - 225
Cherrys - 50
Protein Shake - 100
PB&J - 400
coffee (black) - 10
fruit leather snack - 60 (helps with my sugar cravings)
homemade BBQ ribs - 338
1/2 corn on the cob - 30

Total: 1213

Calories out: walked 5K at the track and Ash hill on break - 479

Break time walks

So this is the route I take on my break at least once a day.  Yesterday I did it twice! :)

http://www.mappedometer.com/?maproute=47489

It's a good sized hill!!!  Good bootie workout! ;) 

It's Tuesday!

I so totally couldn't think of a more fun title!  I am tired!!  My brain is not functioning today and the negative is creeping in...so I thought I would hop on here and finish up my food journal for yesterday and see where I ended up. And also blogging makes me feel better. :)  I must be in a funk!

So food journal:
Yesterday afternoon total: 601

slice of cheese: 60
Homemade toast with butter: 225
glass of milk: 122
snickers mini: 45

Night time total: 452  (not the best dinner but I was craving carbs!!!)

Day total: 1053

I walked a total of 5 miles yesterday!!  And I didn't get to sit down until I went to bed at 8! So it was a pretty good day! See I feel better already! :) 

Thank you blog world!

lunch time walk

HI!  So yesterday I did a mock run of the 5K in 20-25 mile/hr winds!  It was crazy I tell ya!  I didn't do very well, I did it in about 45 minutes. It was really, really hard to do with the wind and I got a charlie horse in my calves lol!  But I did it!!  I plan on working on some endurance this week and maybe another mock run on Wednesday and then resting a bit Thursday and Friday with some light walking so that I am fresh and ready for Saturday.  I didn't realize how hard this was.  It sounds so easy in my head! LOL!  I think I am feeling a little down on myself but my husband keeps telling me positive stuff about how good I am doing and how proud he is of me and that he can see a difference.  I don't feel that I push myself enough when I am by myself.  I think on Saturday at the race, it will be different.  I know now how to prepare just a bit better.  I definitely need to stretch more! :)

So today at lunch, my co-worker asked me to walk the hill with her.  I mapped it out at Google pedometer and it is 3 miles! And two hills!!!  I did that in 45 minutes!  Walking!  So I just don't get it!  Why is my mock 5K the same as this walk???  Maybe I timed it wrong?  I totally need to do it again. 

oh, the view... :) totally worth it!  It was a nice cool, drizzling day and it was perfect!  I needed it! 

What I have eaten so far today:
Greek Yogurt with oatmeal: 225
Pear - 81
Carrots and chicken dip - 125
protein shake - 100
Fruit snack - 70

The hard time of day is coming for me...the 3 o'clock munchies!!!!  And everywhere you look there is candy corn, snickers mini bars, bad sugar monsters!!!  I will put a piece of gum in my mouth and chew chew chew until my mind stops playing tricks on me!  It is like Halloween every day in my little brain!!!  :)

I am a slacker!

On blogging but not in the realm of exercise!!! I have been busy busting out the C25K program to prepare for my 5K next Saturday.  I won't be done with the program but I will have a good start!

This weekend, Trisha and I have a challenge and I am going to do a mock 5K out on the road by my house.  I have it mapped out for a couple hills and even a little dirt road! :) My husband helped me out by seeing how far 1.5 miles was from the driveway that I will use part of for my warm up.  He was amazed by how far I am actually going to go!  I think that helped him see how big and important this is to me and really how hard I have been working on this.  He wants to do it with me now!!!  :) 

This weekend is going to be busy.  Lots of family functions all weekend long! So I will be getting in lots of activity. 

I have been eating good.  Keeping the bad stuff (ice cream) to moderation and watching my calorie and sugar intakes.  I do see that I am way more hungry the more that I run!  I am on week 4 day 2 of my C25K and it isn't as bad as I thought it would be!  LOL! :)  Definitely hard, but doable. 

I will keep you posted on my run!!!  I am getting nervous!

What a cool thing to do for your kids!

This post brought to you by UPromise. All opinions are 100% mine.

So of course anything for my kids and their dreams!  My daughter is a BIG time dreamer and I so wish I could bring her an elf!!  She tries and tries to catch one every year on St. Patty's day...but I tell her "They are magical, you can't catch one!" But they sure leave goodies after they visit!

 I couldn't pass up the opportunity to share her dreams and as well as my dream for her and my baby boy. We want so much for them and want so much for them to grow up happy.  To achieve their hearts desires.  We want our children to be able to achieve anything they want with out roadblocks that are often set by society.  We want them to dream big and be able to reach those dreams.  Although my daughter won't be getting an elf, she can sure learn from the goodies he/she leaves behind each year on St. Patrick's day! 

Check out others dreams and make one of your own...I had a blast doing this!  I feel like I made a wish on a star! www.upromisetodream.com  and of course the rules!  dream wall official rules

Off to the races!

Or so it felt!  :)  I did day 1 of week 3 of the C25K and holy smokies it was tough! I never thought I would be doing this and I have started this program many times to only stop after week 1, so I have hit a milestone and I feel the need to carry on!!  I have downloaded a program to my phone so I have a little voice telling me to jog and to walk.  I need a play list though and I think then my negative thoughts won't be so daunting to me and it will be easier.  Today though, I just kept telling myself how good I was going to feel and that if Tricia can do it so can I!

It is about time to do measurements again.  I feel different so I want to know what the difference is! LOL! :)  But in the meantime, I took a pic of myself in the mirror after I changed back into my clothes after my lunch time workout.  Here is a pic of now...



 And here is me before...hmmm.  maybe i should pose like the one below and see??? I don't really see a difference! LOL!  and gee, my phone takes crappy pictures! 

So until next time folks...I am going to bask in the glory of finishing my workout and eat lunch! ;)  

Monday weigh in and such

So this morning the scaled tipped to 185.6 so that is a loss of 1.2 lbs for me!!! :) 

I have submitted my registration for the 5K Autumn Leaf Run on October 1st.  I want to jog the whole thing but I don't want to set myself up for failure, so I am doing the C25K training up until the race and I will do intervals accordingly at the race, and if I end up jogging the whole thing, that will be awesome!!!  I did sign up to be timed which I have never done in the past.  This is my personal challenge to me.  Something I can own in my health journey. 

I did get up this morning and do Day 3 of week 2.  I had two voices in my head...one telling me to "just stop and get my cup of coffee and relax, your too tired"...and the other voice, "just 15 minutes, you will feel accomplished when your done, you only have 2 more jogs until your done, your rockin for waking up and doing this!" Lucky for me, the good voice won! LOL! :)  My hubby keeps telling me good job and how proud he is that I am doing this.  It is nice to have someone support me and my changes and to eat differently and to step up with chores and make it a bit easier to fit in exercise.  Doing this race will give me the adrenalin to keep going and to challenge myself even more!!!

A week or so ago I got one of those weight lifting type magazine for women.  It has some good articles.  I don't have a gym membership so some of the weight programs are hard to do at home. But I have to say, after all these years, people still do the very same weight lifting exercises!!!  I laughed and told my hubby that nothing has changed!!!  So obviously, just like eating fruits and veggies and lean proteins, weight lifting techniques are pretty solid too!  Just put together differently!  HA!

So today the start of a new week in the weight loss world.  Clean slate!!! 

Oh Ya!! Go Me!

So I posted my weigh in yesterday of a gain.  Not a big deal, I can handle that.  I have reread some inspiring "About Me" stories and got my mojo back!!! 

I got up this morning at 5 and I fed my baby boy and got him all comfy on his play mat and I looked at the clock, 5:15...still had time.  Still had time to put on my shoes and do intervals on the treadmill...AND I DID! :)  I am so happy with myself!  Working out in the morning is very hard for me.  I am always telling myself how I don't have time and I will be late and blah blah blah!!  But me, my health and I are more important than blah blah blah!  So I did 15 minutes, better than nothing!!!  I got my heart rate up and moving...I feel good!

Then, at lunch, I did this...

I walked to the local track about 13 or 14 minutes away and I walked the corners and jogged the straight stretches.  I had a meeting right after my lunch hour so I only got in 2 laps and then I had to head back.  I probably could have done another lap but I didn't want to be late and all sweaty, so I played it safe.  I felt good too!!! 

I am going to kick that gain to the curb!!!  :)

ohhh yaaa!

Remember these?  My best friend "the bleachers"?  Well I rocked them at lunch!!!  :) 

Legs are officially jello!! 

Feeling unmotivated today

I slept all night for the first time in a very long time but I am feeling unmotivated.  I think because of my dads surgery tomorrow, I am a bit stressed and just want to veg.  But I am going to exercise today anyway.  I am going to do the bleachers today....get this emotional bug out of my system!

Oh what fun!!

Had a great weekend!!!  How about you?  Trisha and I had a challenge this weekend of one hour of intense exercise and 125 oz of water.  DONE!!! I am very proud of me!  :) 

I did a lot of intervals on the treadmill while baby slept or played on his mat next to me.  He is starting to move about on his own so I had to keep an eye on him!  I would split up my exercise by doing 30 minutes in the morning and 30 minutes in the evening.  It seemed easier that way and I thought maybe I would burn more calories! :) 

So my weigh in the is morning:

last week: 186
this week: 185.5

only a half a pound but I will take it!  I am still feeling a bit bloated so I bet I see a pound or so gone this week.  I would like to set a personal goal of two pounds.  This week is going to be stressful.  My dad is going in for open heart surgery and I am a bit worried.  Ok, a lot worried!  I am going to bring lots of fruits and veggies to snack on and some fruit leather. My water bottle of course!  I am an emotional eater so we will see how this goes.  I am also going to try and chew more gum.  I find that I don't snack as much when I chew gum! 

I need to find some exercises to do while at my desk.  I sit where people in the lobby can see me, so I have to be kinda sneaky!  I do have one of those little pedal cycles under my desk, I need to use that too.  It isn't a workout so to say but I would be moving! :)  Got any ideas for me?

Back to Basics

So today I am starting the Back to Basics in all areas of my life.  Everything from health to home seems to have gone awry.  I look around and my house is messy and unorganized.  Can't stand it!  It makes me frustrated and angry.  I don't want to feel like that.  I must unclutter and cause I can't keep up.  I need to reorganize and go through papers and magazines and baby stuff!  I must go through clothes and only keep the stuff I will wear and go through everyone else's stuff too!  I need to just do it, to buy those plastic totes and put away the seasonal clothes when the season ends so that I have more room and less clutter.  Maybe I should have a yard sale!!!  I can't get ahead of myself, baby steps.  I just need to make more time available and less clutter both body, mind and home!

With my healthy lifestyle journey, I need to revamp my eating habits. I need to journal and be truthful.  I am going to admit, I will cheat myself if let unattended! :) I think I have been consuming more calories than I realize because I just guess on calories and figure I will burn it off later.  So I am going to keep a food journal and I am going to post it and most importantly, I AM GOING TO BE HONEST WITH MYSELF!!!  I have read it many times in other blogs about this.  It just makes sense.

Why is it so hard to be honest with ourselves? 

Finally Friday

It's Friday folks...in case you didn't already know! ;)  I am going into the weekend with a challenge from the War of the Scales.  Check it out! 

The week has been busy and stressful and sad and happy and lots of exercise!  I am ready to just sit and be still for like 5 minutes this weekend! LOL! 

So I am in the need of some good healthy lunch ideas and dinner ideas.  I need to revamp my recipe book and to keep it simple and quick.  I need to incorporate more veggies and fruits.  And some healthy grains.  So send me some ideas!!! 

Also, school starts next week here...what are you doing to get organized and get the kids ready? 

My Measurements

First the beginning - 7/11/2011

Waist -38
Thigh - 25
Hip - 47
Bust - 42
Arm - 13

As of 8/18/2011

Waist - 34
Thigh - 24
Hip - 43 1/2
Bust - 37 1/2 (holy crappola!)
Arm - 12 1/2

Total of inches lost all over this darn good lookin body - 13.5 

That is soooo worth smiling about and to put the number on the scale in the dust!!! 

Time to confess...

I didn't lose any weight this last week.  But I also didn't gain.  It is TOM so I am hoping that is the culprit that caused me to fail at my goal. 

I have been exercising a lot and I miss it now when I skip a day.  It has become important to me and I like it!!  I have been making good choices in food and eating correct portions.  But I need to focus on my water, I don't think I am getting enough. 

I am going to start walking up Ash hill on my breaks again.  And then today a lady at the office wants to walk up Kermel with me!! Tomorrow is a bleachers day and then I am also going to fit in a walk at night too.  I want my family to be active so after dinner I want us to go for a walk. 

This week is my first week of getting a CSA veggie/fruit box!!!  I am super excited.  It will have a loaf of homemade bread too!  I will pick that up on Thursday. 

I went to a beautiful wedding this last weekend.  My baby boy did sooo good!  He didn't fuss a bit!  So that made it a lot less stressful for me!  My hubby was in the wedding so he was busy helping and doing his job.  We stayed a cute little motel Friday night so it was like a mini vacation! 

This week seems busy and its only Tuesday!  I think cause work isn't my favorite place to be for sooo many reasons, it makes life a bit harder for me.  But at least I have a job!!! 

Do any of you participate in a CSA or food co-op?  How do you like it?

A contest I want to win!!

I will do EVERYTHING I can to win this!!  I want a Hydrapak so badly!!!

http://www.enduranceisntonlyphysical.com/2011/08/hydrapak-review-and-giveaway_09.html

Fingers crossed!

Where have I been!?!?!

Geeze, I have been neglecting my blog!!  But I have not been neglecting my weight loss journey!  I am 186.0 this morning. That is down 1.5 from last week!  I am down a total of 9 lb from the beginning. I am seeing a difference in my hips and bust area.  I feel thinner!!!  YAY! 

This weekend I exercised when I should have napped LOL!  But I felt like jogging.  My body isn't ready for a full out jog, so on Friday I put baby in the stroller and we walked and jogged for about 2 miles.  I was sweating up a storm!  Then Saturday, the stroller tire was flat so after baby boy went down for his nap, I hopped on the treadmill and walk/jogged for 30 minutes which ended up being about 1.5.  Then on Sunday I did the same but this time I went farther in the same amount of time.  I really felt good and time flew by!  I would walk for 2 minutes and jog for a minute.  5 minute warm up and 5 minute cool down. 

Today I am going to do bleachers.  That seems to get my week off to a good start and is so hard for me!  I can only go up and down 4 times and I am spent! Then I walk for about a mile.  Then tomorrow the plan is to walk up the Kermel hill. 

My goal this week is to lose 2 lbs.  I seem to have the 1 to 1.5 down, so I need to challenge myself to 2 lb loss.

It was Stampede weekend here and I was very proud of me!  I didn't eat any junk food and we only went for about an hour on Saturday afternoon.  It was so blazin hot that we decided it would be more fun to be at home in the air conditioned house! LOL!  We are getting old!  None of the fried foods looked very good so I was glad for that! And not only did it not look appealing, but it also wasn't worth eating and ruining all my hard work.  My husband was like "your month of hard work would be gone in 15 minutes, crazy huh?" Definitely! 

Don't forget to check out the War of the Scales!!!

Ode to Watermelon

Oh watermelon, how I love thee.  You help me through the sweet times and keep my cool.  My health will forever be indebted to you!

Thank goodness for a new week!

I read this blog entry this morning from one of my favorite bloggers, Tricia

Dear Stephanie, (I added my own name here, on her blog, she had her name of course! LOL!)

You were handed something amazing this morning: a clean slate, a new day, a fresh start.

Now its up to you to go forth and ROCK IT!

Love,
Me

I think I need to remember this every morning when I wake up.  I think it will help me throw away the "garbage" of the day before.  You know the kind that sneaks up on you and weighs you down.  Not scale wise so to say, but life wise.  I have been bogged down with the ickies and I am feeling better physically.  I need to work on "me time" this week and it looks like the only time I will have will be at lunch.  Normally I do my grocery shopping at lunchtime so that I can get home at a decent hour and still cook dinner and hang with the family, but I need to exercise...I need that time and I miss it!  So after I scoop up the kids after work, they are going to help me shop so I still have my "me time" at lunch.  I deserve it and I need to make me a priority. 

This weekend was a whirlwind!  I didn't exercise like I wanted to but I was busy and my baby was wanting to be held a lot!  So I got a good arm workout and a lot of pacing! LOL! 

My weigh in for today is:  187.5, not a huge loss but a loss!  Not too bad with feeling under the weather. 

Today, I am doing the bleachers and maybe a jog if it isn't too hot.  But bleachers for sure!! 

Now time to log in and post in the War of the Scales!

I gots da cold...

UGH! I feel like crap!  I feel unmotivated and lazy.  I feel sleepy and drained.  All I want to do is to sit still and close my eyes.  It is killing me to type and seems like I am moving mountains to put effort into anything.  I just want to sleep.  Feeling like this puts me on edge too.  A bit grumpy if the need arises. 

But I did walk today anyway.  I thought maybe it would make me feel better.  Not so much.  My throat is scratchy and sore...time for tea. 

On my walk I was going to stop by the school and do a couple set of the bleacher steps but it was locked up due to the landscape being treated with chemicals.  I took it as a sign to come back to the office and rest.  I did get a 1/2 hour in though...better than nothing!

I feel unmotivated even though last night I put on two pairs of pre-pregnancy jeans and they went up and buttoned but they were tight!!!  But still I should be super duper excited!!! But I am too drained...

I feel like Eore!

It's Monday!

So I weighed in this morning and I am at 188.8, which is a loss of 1.2 from last Monday.  Not as big of a loss as I would have liked to have seen but since it is TOM time, a loss of any kind is great!  :)  So I need to boogie on over to the War of the Scales and post my weigh in and check on Trisha! 

I will post more about my weekend later...

Something new...

I spiced things up today on my lunch hour and holy moley I will be doing it again! I wanted to burn a little extra calories so I walked to the local football field.

Yep, those are the bleachers and yep, I did 4 sets!!!

Oh my it seemed like a long ways up!! But since I had to watch the step in front of me, it didn't seem so bad.  It was tough and not an easy task, but it was totally doable!! 

One step at a time!

In between sets, I walked a lap around the field.  I was planning on doing push ups and other boot camp type exercises but there were some teenagers there and I was feeling a bit self conscious so I just stuck to the stairs and walking.  I did two sides of the bleachers because one side the stairs were closer together and more of them and the other side (pictured above) were more spaced out and I had to lift my legs higher. 

Then afterwards, I wanted to stop at the health food store to just look and see what they have.  I was going to buy some dried fruit or banana chips but they all had sugar added.  So then I thought, a little dark chocolate won't hurt me (they sell it by the square), but I didn't buy any of that either.  I AM SO PROUD OF ME! Instead, I bought a bottle of water and some dry roasted Edamame! 

Good for the heart

Today, this morning, has been a frustrating day for me.  Work drives me crazy.  The nosey, gossip hounds that never stop, the miscommunication, the people who think its all our fault something is wrong.  And all of that happening at the same time is just too chaotic for me.  It has been proven that my blood pressure is wayyy high when I am at work.  I have had it tested.  Well today folks is a blood boilin day!  So I walked...

I walked up the big hill.  I wasn't prepared with a change of clothes but I did have my walking shoes.  The toning ones and I could feel it!!  My tush is going to be hurtin!!!  But OMG! I feel so much better!! I no longer feel like I could explode in foul language, and I can breathe a normal breath without cursing.  Now I can start my afternoon with a clean slate and say, "BRING IT ON WORLD!!!  I CAN HANDLE IT!!  I WILL JUST WALK IT OFF!!!"

So eating this clean diet is paying off, I feel good.  I have to be honest and say that I miss my treats!  But when I can learn to have them just as treats and not everyday...I will have them again.  Yes, dear sweet ice cream...I will have you again.  Just smaller portions! :) 

Results of hard work!

What was my reward for taking what life throws at me and crunching it up and throwing away the excuses???  A freaking 4.4 loss my friends!!! 

I have never in my life gone this long without cheating on my "diet". I have never given myself a chance to succeed.  I have always failed.  But I feel so stinkin good right now!  I am on cloud 9!  I have succeeded and only have more success to go!

But let me tell you.  This is very, very hard.  I never imagined it could be this hard! No processed foods, no sugars. I didn't cheat when I dished up my daughter some ice cream, I didn't cheat when I made her a nutella sandwich, I didn't cheat when I watched my husband eat my favorite cereal (Lucky Charms), I didn't cheat when we went to the tractor pulls and I so badly wanted nachos.  I told myself, want is different than need.  Instead of ice cream, I ate strawberries, instead of those nachos, I ate an apple.  I got the sweet and crunch and I was fine!!  I did it! I didn't feel like a failure and I didn't start the chain reaction of regret. 

One thing I have figured out, I am addicted to this crap!  I use to smoke in the past and I thought that was hard to quit, holy cow, this is 10 times harder!  But if I have done it a week, I can go another week and another.  Baby steps.

So my plan is after I beat the addiction and know that I will live without all this crap I have fed myself in the past, I will give myself a little bit every now and then.  But I won't live on it.  It will become a treat not a lifestyle because I am changing and I like what see!  It is hard work but I will fight!

What life throws at you...

Life can be so hectic and chaotic.  When you want to achieve something it is like life takes that moment to throw the most difficult things at you.  I have had a crazy busy week but unlike a lot of other hectic chaotic times, there is a light at the end of the tunnel!  And also unlike all the other times, I have kept to my diet and exercise!!!  This is a first for me.  I usually fall off the wagon and use the busy time as an excuse, but not this time!  I have grabbed that bull by the horns and gave it a what for and a swift boot to the past!  Darn tootin straight!  This time it is about my health and me which in turns benefits everyone else in my family and around me for that matter!  I have not eaten a piece of cake that is once again in my office...I have not eaten any processed foods or sugars which is our next challenge over at the War of the Scales!!! I am going to see a difference at my next weigh in and I am kicking booty folks!!!  whoooo....seems like I have a tad more energy too!

So updates:
Over at the War of the Scales, Trisha and I are starting another week long challenge and weekend challenge.  Trying to stick to habits we have started that we want to keep and challenge ourselves at new ones we want to start.  We also have a cool question and answer session happening.  This is a fun challenge Trisha and I have got going on! 

I have been exercising still.  Just not taking any pictures right now because I have been working on intensity and getting all I can out of my walking.  But we are getting close to a new month and I want to update my picture...I am hoping to see a slight change!!  fingers crossed!

One thing I have learned with this processed food deal.  My body was dependent on it and getting unhooked from it sucks!  I can't believe how that stuff gets in our bodies and does weird things to it beside making us fat.  It is an addiction.  I thought the convenience factor would be hard to overcome, but making good fresh foods doesn't take any longer than the processed stuff.  And if you can read a recipe, you can make anything! 

So far this has been the hardest part of my journey.  I hope to see some results lol! 

revamping my eating habits

So starting this morning I have redone my eating habits.  I need to kick this weight loss in the butt and since I didn't have a loss last week, I need to see some numbers drop!!!  I want to win my competition!!!  So I have cut out processed foods, period.  No "just a little bit" for me!!!  It's bad for me and I know it, so why eat it?  No refined foods.  It's not good for me, so why eat it? 

So the result in doing this...

I feel weird!  My mind is trying to trick me and get me to eat those yummy little mints and just have a doughnut.  BUT I WON'T! I am an adult and I need to put my foot down!!!  I will love the outcome and how I will feel in a few days!  It will be worth the mind struggle....Right?? 

busy weekend

We had a wedding to go to Saturday and then off to visit nana and papa.  I walked Saturday before getting ready for the wedding for 30 minutes so that I did my challenge and I felt so good about that!  I did my walk on my dino treadmill, but darn it!  I am walking my hiney off!! 

Sunday I got my walk in and my hubby and I shopped for a few hours and I am sure that helped too! 

At the wedding I did not have cake!!  We stopped at the grocery store on our way out of town and I got a  salad that was corn, black beans, green peppers, jalapenos, cilantro and tomatoes.  It was very refreshing and super yummy!

I drank a ton of water!  It was a long trip to the wedding and to nana and papa's!  A lot of bathroom stops for me!  LOL! 

My husband said something super cool to me yesterday.  He said "honey, your mood has been so good the past week!  You seem happier!" I FEEL HAPPIER!  Although I was bummed this morning on weigh in day because I had no loss, but no gain either.  But all the changes I have made and the movement has improved my mood and my outlook.  That in itself is a weight loss!  It is nice to know that people are seeing a difference cause I feel the difference. 

Work wants to kill me...

This is what I ran into on my way to the lue...WTH!!??  I must add to the left of this is another table full of chips, cookies, and other fattening choices.  OMG!!!!  I take a deep breath and I....WALK ON BY! YAY for me!  There was some fruit and veggies on the table but I don't need any of it because I have a ton at my desk already.  I need to stop the habit of getting something from the table of goodies.  This place I work at will put an additional 10 pounds a year on someone with all the "gatherings" of food. 

This tempting table will have food on it all day so I MUST go a different way to the bathroom.  I do not want the temptation every time and I am going a lot with all this water consumption!

Switching gears a bit.  I bought a pair of those walking shoes that are toners.  Not the rocking kind but the one with what feels like balls in the soles.  I don't know if they are toning but they sure feel good to walk in!  So far I love them! 

I thought that I wasn't going to get to walk today but I think I will be able to after all.  That makes me happy!  I think it will a bit shorter though because I used up some of my time to go grocery shopping.  Multitasking...

So my entry yesterday about sweet snacks and how I was having issues.  Well I bought some Nutella.  I will eat it with my apple.  That should help me out and not want to jump up and eat my co-workers M&M's!!  Oh yes, not only is there a table of goodies but just about every cubicle has treats too!  SHEEESH! I am just going to plant myself in my cubicle and never leave! :)

Snacks...

What I want...


or...

But what I am actually eating...

 

 

I so badly want to snack on sweet stuff and love on the sugar.  But I won't, not today.  Why is this so hard?  



ZZZZZ's

This is me right now!  I am so freakin sleepy! I feel like I am on auto-pilot.  I took an allergy pill this morning and that must be the problem.  I hope to snap out of it soon.  Course yesterday as I was starting my walk, I felt super tired too. 

Speaking of my walk...I did the Kermel Grade route.  I decided I would do it since it wasn't extremely hot outside. My legs were a bit tender from the lunges I did the day before, but I could work past it.  I got to the top and realized, "I have to use the bathroom!" So I had to walk fast back to the office!!!  It was a long ways too, well it seemed like a long ways, but really it is only a mile! Total distraction and I felt cheated out of my time with myself and thinking and picture taking.  Oh well...I walked! I had texted my husband and he told me to just use the bushes...MEN! 

Today, I can barely walk.  I put icy hot on my thighs last night.  That was awesome!  But today, super duper sore.  I am going to walk today on my breaks and a little at lunch cause I am going to get new shoes at lunch time!  YAY! And I have to buy shoes today cause I forgot my walking shoes at home...

So why is it that when your tired, your more hungry?  Good thing I have some chicken dip and veggies and some fruit. I don't think I would make it! LOL! I am pretty sure I would wither away to nothing.  Or find a candy bar! 

Here is the link...

To my new challenge!
http://warofthescales.blogspot.com/

I am so excited and so ready!  I am nervous tho too because I think this could be the ticket to reaching my goal!  It will be interesting to see how I do this blog and that blog since they are a lot alike but this blog I can talk about other issues too.  Life issues. 

I am very sore in the legs today! LOL!  I even wore heels today to work and I feel my muscles that I worked yesterday with every step I take.  Why did I wear these shoes today?  I think because I feel pretty today!  It is a first time in a long time that I have felt good like this.  So I must be making some accomplishments. 

Had some yummy salmon patties over brown rice last night for dinner!  I am having it for lunch today too.  I went to the store and got some veggies and fruits.  I am doing good!  My father in law is with us for the week and I know he doesn't eat healthy so he is having to at our house! I think he could be having some health issues so I am going to have a lot of fish and chicken this week and lots of veggies.  My family could use an extra good week too! ;)

check out the new challenge!!!  http://warofthescales.blogspot.com/

Tried something different

So for today's walk I went to the local track.  I wanted to take a shot at jogging a bit and not worrying about how silly I look when people see me! LOL!  No one at the track and there is a slight breeze, I start walking and think to myself "I can do this!" I start jogging after a lap of warm up walking and OMG!!!! I feel like I have never moved my body before!  Like I couldn't pick up my feet! But I went along anyways and jogged the straight stretch and walked the corners for two laps.  I think I need different shoes cause I could feel every pebble and they weren't very supportive.  I guess that is what I get for $15.00 Walmart shoes.  Maybe I did burn the soles off them the other day! LOL!  So then I walked a lap and I thought "I will do lunges on the corners!" What the heck!  Have I gone looney tunes?  At first, it was good, I did 10 and the walked and then on the exit corner did 10 more and then walked the straight stretch and on the entry and exit corners did 10 more.  All I could think about was, " I WILL FIT INTO MY JEANS AGAIN DANG IT!" "I WILL WIN THIS CHALLENGE WITH TRISHA!" "I WILL NOT FAIL!" So then I did a cool down lap and stretched cause I know I worked muscles that haven't been used in a long time.  After stretching I walked away from the track...thinking..."OMG, I am already sore! Why did I do that to myself?" I did it so I can do it again tomorrow! :) 

I have been reading up on my favorite blogs (that you can find on the side bar over there). And I have learned so much from those girls and gotten so much inspiration.  Life really has been hard on me lately and I think exercising has kept me from going over the deep end, seriously.  I just want to say thank you ladies, for being in my life.  I know you don't know me but you are important to me. And of course my husband and my bestie... :)  Cause they are always proud of me!

Tomorrow I will link you up to the challenge!  :)

UPDATES, UPDATES!!!

Lots of news!!!  First off, I wanted to post my weigh in of 194 last Thursday but I have had a really crappy run of things in my life.  Sometimes I feel that post partum depression is going on or some kind of depression.  But my husband and I talked about it and I think life is just giving us a run for our money and testing our limits.  Communication is key people.  Gotta have it in every relationship you have in your life. I had a crappy weekend too.  Again, pushed to my limits.  I ate crappy too.  Not horrible though.  Just not how I wanted to.  Stupid ice cream!  It will be the death of me! LOL!  Chocolate with peanut butter swirl...it is sooooo yummy!

But I have news...I am in a challenge.  A friendly challenge.  With my daughters step mom!!  I am so excited for this!  We have been through every battle we could rage on each other for the last 8 years. We are finally at a point where we can get along and make decisions based on facts and the goodness of my daughter's best interest, instead of what would hurt each other more.  We are very competitive of each other, so what a good way to put that competitiveness to use and challenge each other to reach our goals! We are going to blog about our adventures and our contests and such and I will link ya to it when it's all set up. 
This is going to be fun!!!! 

stay tuned!

Today is just not my day...

I have very good intentions to have a good, normal day.  But every door has been shut in my face!!!  Sheesh!  First, my husband texts me and tells me I left the burner on when I made my oatmeal this morning.  Then he texts me and asked where the burritos I said I was going to make him out of leftovers were.  Well I forgot to make them.  UGH!  Then work crap happens, people just can't worry about themselves I tell ya!  It is retarded! But I move on, I try to keep that smile on my face and chug through the day.  I think to myself "can't wait for my walk at lunch!" 

Lunchtime roles around and I change my clothes and fill my water bottle and hit the streets. To the hill...

Going up!!  This is what we call Ash Hill.  It is a good jaunt and pretty steep. 

This is half way up... the steepest part.

THE TOP OF THE HILL!  I love the top of the hills I climb!  It is a good accomplishment no matter how many times I have walked it!

Then I walk around a neighborhood that I haven't been through in a long time.  It seemed more runned down and not as pretty.  But my mind is diverted to my feet because I feel like the rubber soles are being melted off as I walk!  My feet are HOT! But I keep going, bound and determined to have a good walk!

I come around and start back towards the top of the hill.  And as I am figuring out which neighborhood to walk through for the next part of my walk, my husband calls me.  He asks, "honey did you feed and water Fluffy lately?" (Fluffy is our guinea pig of 5 years) I say, "yes honey, I did yesterday, why what's wrong? Is Fluffy dead?"  My dear husband says, "Ya, I'm sorry honey." Then he asks, "are you crying?"  "No", I say, "just feel bad and hope she didn't suffer". I am sad.  I cut my walk short and just head back to the office.  I am just going to face the facts and my day sucks.  Now I have to tell my daughter...

Miss me? I was a busy bee!

Hello folks, sorry for my absence I couldn't seem to get my blackberry to blog this weekend.  It was a busy weekend and I did get some walking in!!! YA for me! I got through a weekend and still walked.  I seem to have trouble with that, especially with both kids there.  So here is a break down for you...Saturday we waited around our friends house, standing outside, while 5 horses got some shiny new shoes.  Then on Sunday we went to the lake with some family so that was fun exercise! Then on Monday I walked on the treadmill for a half hour while my baby boy watched me in his little seat.  My daughter was watching cartoons and doing a craft project.  My treadmill is OLD! I think it might be on its last leg too cause it won't hold it's speed so it's a bit challenging! LOL! 

There it is...the mean machine!  I don't think she is too accurate, so I just go on time when I walk on her.  The one nice thing is that when it's a 100 outside, it is cool in the house and walking on the treadmill is wayyy better!!
Speaking of hot...I walked on Tuesday outside. 

Down the dirt driveway which is about a 1/2 mile one way I believe. 

Then down to the straight stretch in front of the ranch.  I walked probably 1 mile down and back. 

The back has a little hill to walk up, pushing a stroller up is a GREAT workout!!!  Holy smokes! 

My stroller...I had to walk beside it so that my boy could see me.  He cries the WHOLE TIME in the stroller.  I have tried everything but he just doesn't like it I guess.  Anyone have any ideas on how to get him to like it?  Will he just grow out of this?  He cries in his car seat too all the way to town which is a 1/2 hour each way!  UGH!  LOL!  Love the little bugger! 

As I look at that picture, it just makes me want to not stop moving!  I want to reach my goal and I want to reach it fast!!! 

I watched an interesting show on Dr. Oz the other night about his diet that he promotes.  He was talking about what foods to buy in the store and to just keep to the perimeter for the "good for you foods". He talked about canned Salmon and how it is just as good as the fresh but way cheaper.  So I bought a couple cans and I am going to give it a whirl.  Also that a rutabaga can be substituted for a potato for more nutrients and less carbs.  So I am going to give that a whirl too!  He also had the Dean Brothers on there to make healthy cheap meals!  I am going to go back to the website and check those out!!!  What tips have you learned along the way???  My challenge will be to get the rest of the family to eat my experiments! :)  I just won't tell them! :) HA!

So tomorrow is weigh in day...I don't feel like I have lost much weight, if any, but I feel better physically and mentally.  I feel empowered and strong(er).  I have a long ways to go but I will get there. 

Still working on the secret challenge...waiting to hear back from my challenger! :)

Goals and Guilt...

So I have been thinking a lot about goals and guilt.  Two "G's" that seem to go together.
Goals both long term and short term.  Long term is easy peasy...I want to:

Look this cute in this shirt.  Right now, total back fat role and belly...UGH.

I want my butt to look this cute in my jeans too!  :)  I know it can...I just have to lose a few layers!

So long term goals: check

Short term goals are a bit harder.  I am so afraid of failing them.  But if I write them down and get them out there then there is hope.  :)  I can be held accountable.

1.  Get in the habit of exercise.
2.  Eat a cleaner/healthier diet.
3.  Make time for me and still be a good mom and wife.
4. Get over my sugar addiction.
5. Get to 180
6. Get to 170
7. Get to 160
8. Get to 150
9. Get to 140
10.  Be less stressed

That is just the beginning. And funny that they all go hand in hand.  Before, I gave myself a list of rewards for accomplishments.  I never reached one.  This time it will be different.  I have been reading other blogs and I start from their starting point and read to most current.  They all start the same.  They all start the same way I am starting.  Fears, failing, starting, failing, starting again.  You could see them drop off the blog world for a bit only to come back and feel bad.  But then a miracle starts happening, and it happened in all the blogs I read, they start seeing a difference!!!!  They start weighing less, losing inches, feeling good, and their blogs start to get more positive! They talk about the past and what is different.  They keep at it and WALA...they reach their goals.  So what if we started out more positive?  What if we don't be so hard on ourselves and just breathe and keep moving forward?  How come we let guilt take over and cause us to fail?  Darn it, if I can see this then why do I let it happen?  So there, it is out there in blog land and out of my mind where it can swim and fester...guilt is out!  Positive in... moving on to achieve my goals.