Plateau

Man, I would post a lot more often if Blogger would stop CRASHING on my phone all the time!!!!  Grr.  Anyway.  I guess it was just a matter of time before I hit the dreaded plateau.  I'm there.  It started off when the weight loss challenge at work ended.  I allowed myself to slack slightly on workouts and food, then things got stressful at home (nothing bad, just very busy and a lot going on), then I caught a cold that was awful for two weeks and lingered longer than that.  On the plus side, I've basically maintained (my weight fluctuates up and down every day, but basically it has a sort of average), which is awesome.  It lets me know that once I've gotten to a goal weight, I should be able to maintain it pretty well with 3-4 workouts a week and watching what I eat.  On the down side, I just haven't managed to buckle down and really get the routine back.

I had been doing an ab DVD, but I decided it probably wasn't as effective at weight loss as it is toning, so I'll save it for later.  I splurged a bit on phase 1 of Jillian's Body Revolution.  It's a slightly different program of hers.  Basically there are 5 workouts--4 circuit training and one cardio.  Weeks 1 and 2 are basically this:  Monday-Workout 1, Tuesday-Workout 2, Wednesday-Cardio, Thursday-Workout 1, Friday-Workout 2, Saturday-Cardio, Sunday rest.  Then weeks 3 and 4 is the same, but with workouts 3 and 4.  I like this kind of set up, something different every day.  It comes with a resistance band too, which is a nice thing to add to my repertoire, though you only use it once is workout 2 so far.  There are two more phases after this one, for a 90 day program altogether, although I can't seem to find anywhere that sells the second or third phase WITHOUT being bundled with the first, but I guess I'll figure that out later.  I did three days last week and then life happened and I got distracted.

I have to recommit.  With today's weigh in, I have officially lost 40 lbs (my ticker has been rounding down for the last two weeks since I last updated it--I had been at 39.6 so it bumped me to 40), but that's only down 3.8 lbs since 1/6 and I need to do better than that.  I can do better than that.  I'm not going to let it get me down, I'm still doing well.  I didn't stop watching what I ate altogether, I didn't stop working out, I just relaxed my habits a bit.  But its time to get serious again.  I still want to hit my primary goal weight of 155 lbs by my one year mark, July 11th.  That's 137 days from now or 19.5 weeks.  That basically means I need to average about 1.5 lbs a week.  So far I've averaged 1.2 lbs per week.  I can do it, but it won't be easy.  But to quote Bethany Hamilton (or the movie about her, at least), "I don't need easy, I just need possible."

I need to get back to tracking my calories.  I hate it, but I do better if I'm tracking.  And I want to get back to working out 5-6 days a week at least.  I need to MAKE time.  This is important.  I feel better physically having lost 40 lbs, I know I'll only feel better losing more.   I like how I look in clothing better now, but I know I can look better (darn stubborn tummy).

I can DO this!

In other news, had a great three day weekend to make up for a rotten/busy few ones recently. Adam's been working (installing flooring and doing two Saturday's this month) so we really needed a nice weekend and we got one.  Friday we hit a few Goodwills (he hunts for things to sell online) and I even scored with a couple of sets of ankle and wrist weights and a few other items (usually I don't find anything for myself).  We had a nice lunch with mom and the kids too and went back out in the evening for one more goodwill and dinner, just Adam and me and the boys.  Saturday was errands, hitting the mall for a few things, and buying a new microwave.  The Saturday evening was DATE NIGHT!  We had a great time, dinner at our favorite steakhouse and a movie.  There wasn't much out we were interested in seeing, so we opted to see Frozen, which twin said was awesome. She was right, it's adorable!  Great music, super sweet (and sad) story, lots of funny bits.  We felt silly, two adults seeing it, but I don't regret it. I wished we'd brought Tyler, but I'm not sure he's ready to sit through a whole movie.  Sunday was grocery shopping and then twin came over for dinner and I had her look through some of my old clothes that I'm getting ready to take for consignment.

Oh...one more thing I did on Friday.

Registered Tyler for kindergarten.

WHERE did my BABY go?!

Snoverit!

If you understand that title you win a prize!  And your prize is (most likely) a TON of that cold white stuff!

As most of the country is painfully aware, we've been getting a lot of snow this year.  Like A LOT.  This week was no exception and we got over 7 inches Tuesday-Wednesday.  It started snowing about 2:00 pm on Tuesday while I was at work.  At first it was just flurries, but about five minutes later it was seriously snowing.  My boss told us we could leave at 4.  Adam and I carpool, so I let him know and asked him if he could leave early too.  He agreed (sort of) but didn't come out of his office until 4:45 pm.  We headed home. Visibility was pretty bad and roads were definitely icing up.  Half way home, in an area called the South Split (Dead Man's Mile is what I'm going to call it--a few years ago we hit some sort of trailer hitch that was bouncing down the road and tore the oil pan on our Vibe apart.  Seriously, the exact same stretch of highway), BUMP!  Yep. We got rear ended.

So that was fun.  Luckily, it doesn't look like we have any real damage.  We haven't examined it really carefully, because it is SNOWY and COLD.  But we got the driver's info, so I guess if we need it, we can use it.  We finally got home and I slipped (didn't fall, just slipped) and pulled a whole bunch of muscles in my back. Boy was I glad to get home and stay there!

As for the rest of the week, AJ caught my awful cold and is pitifully miserable.  Adam installed flooring at his mom's house Wednesday and Thursday evenings.  Wednesday I put on a movie (Tangled--seriously probably my all time favorite animated movie) and the kids and I hung out and had leftover pizza.  AJ fell asleep just before 8 so I was able to put him down and get Tyler off to bed and I even got my workout in!  Success!  I'm back on track and I've unofficially dropped a little bit--SO CLOSE to 40 lbs down!!

Last night we had another Mommy Movie night and watched the Croods.  The kids were a little rough, AJ really wasn't feeling good and Tyler refused his dinner, but we got through the evening.  Neither of them slept well though UGH!

I also found out I'm going to be traveling to Birmingham in April for work. I've been once before, with the whole group of people that do my job across the company, but this time it's just me and one other girl with a group at the corporate office.  I'll definitely need to get some clothes that fit better before that trip!  I'm actually considering buying my first pair of SKINNY JEANS!  I love how they look with knee high boots, so I just might treat myself!  We'll see!

Stay warm peeps!  (I know, I know, impossible in this weather...Snowmaggedon out there!)

Withdrawl

I never thought it would happen...I'm having workout withdrawl!  I have a miserable chest/sinus/throat/infection/cold/whatever and I haven't been able to work out since last Thursday!!  Adam's dad was in the hospital all last week and we were sort of on alert waiting to hear if he'd need surgery or not (thankfully not!) so that was why I missed Friday and after that, sick won.  I missed work Monday and Tuesday (Tuesday it snowed again, just a few inches, but sick + snow = no way).  I'm starting to feel a little better, but still have a nasty cough (it's reminding me to keep drinking water though lol) and a runny nose, plus my temperature tends to go up when my cold meds start to wear off, so I know I have to lay off the workouts for at least another day or two and it's driving me crazy!  It makes me anxious!  I guess it makes me worry that once I've stopped I won't start up again.  But I really will this time.  I look in the mirror and I see results and I want MORE!  This is just a delay.  Delays are okay, as long as we don't let them stop us for long!  My weight is good though, which is a relief!  I've stuck to eating pretty well in the absences of my workouts and that's probably helped!

So much to do!  I have to schedule Tyler's bday party!  You guys, my baby turns FIVE next week!  I can't believe it!  *sob*

The kids have to get haircuts on Saturday.  Writing it down will make it so!  LOL  AJ is looking like a wildman!

Brunch with my friends Sunday!  Hooray!  Don't let the snow ruin it! (SO MUCH SNOW UGH)

That's all I have the energy for right now!  OH!  But here's a photo collage I put together from 2013 photos!  What a year it was!

What a difference six months make!

I have survived Snowpocalypse 2014!  Between late last week and over the weekend, my city got somewhere between 16-18 inches of snow.  The second storm, which gave us 10-12 inches was followed by sub-zero temperatures.  Seriously, it was like 45 degrees below zero with the windchill. One local weatherman reported that is was six degrees colder here in Indianapolis that in the SOUTH POLE.  Cold people.  For here, anyway.  So we got a ton of snow and didn't leave our house Sunday, Monday or Tuesday.  My workplace was actually closed Monday and Tuesday.  And the roads are still crummy, though improving.  So yeah, that was a fun and interesting start to the year.

But before that happened, I got to see my awesome friend Paul who moved from Indy to Texas a few years ago.  We had lunch and talked and talked.  He's working on a story/screenplay and we're bouncing ideas back and forth about it which I am super excited about.

SO!  Onto the title of this post.  As of today, it has been six months since I started trying to eat better, get healthier, and lose weight.  So I want to take a second to reflect on that.  I've tried to get healthy before, with varying success, but no attempt lasted very long or made huge impact.  I don't know why this time was different.  My mom says I was just ready.  I'm not sure if I simply found the right combination or if I was more determined, or if it was fueled by being unhappy with my appearance, but the motivation finally kicked in and as the weight started to come off, I was excited and encouraged.

I downloaded the My Fitness Pal app to my phone and tracking my calorie intake.  I was immediately shocked by how quickly the calories add up and just how many are in the kinds of foods I ate.  I started making some significant changes that worked for me--eating more fruits and veggies (low cal, filling), finding low cal "treats" to satisfy my sweet tooth while keeping my calories on track, drinking more water, eating smaller portions, and most importantly not depriving myself of food I love.  The last was was crucial for me.  If I completely cut out certain foods and treats, I just won't stick to a diet plan.  I like burgers and fries and pizza and ice cream.  And I can have those things--in moderation and sometimes slightly different than I would have before.  For example, I don't need a double cheeseburger.  A single is plenty.  And often I skip the bun or bread altogether.  Treats and ice cream are an indulgence and usually I just have a very small amount.  I trick my mind into thinking that one piece of pizza is two by cutting it in half (sounds silly, I know).  I tried and enjoyed vinaigrette instead of creamy french dressing.  Little changes made a world of difference. 

But eating better wouldn't do it all, I knew I had to get active.  I started off just walking.  Then I got out the Jillian Michael's 30 Day Shred video I bought just before I found out I was pregnant with AJ.  The first three or four days were agony.  My muscles rebelled and every inch of me ached.  But after those few days, it got easier and it almost felt....good.  I was surprised and please that I could do the moves and exercises.  Maybe they weren't pretty, maybe I had to modify a few, but I could do them.  But then my back problems reared their ugly head.  I took a few days off of exercising, and then eased back into it with workouts on my elliptical.  It helped me stay active, but I have found over time that I get a lot more results from my workout dvds.  So I went back to the shred and this time, I finished it!  It took a couple extra days, but I did 30 full days and was so proud of myself.  I was so encouraged I jumped right into Jillian's "Ripped in 30" workout DVD.  It's circuit training, like the 30 Day Shred.  I've found that her DVDs are great for me, because I get bored easily when it comes to workouts.  Each move comes up only once per DVD program and you only do the move for 2 minutes at the most.  Each DVD also comes with 2-4 workouts, so you only do the same workout set for a week or so before moving on to a new set of moves.  I don't get bored and I end up working different muscle groups all the time.

I finished Ripped in 30 a week or so before Christmas, so I repeated it for a few extra days, since I'd asked for a few more DVDs for gifts.  I was thrilled to get "Shred It with Weights" with accompanying Kettlebell and two of Jillian's Ab DVDs.  I jumped right into the Kettlebell workouts and love it!  It's a great change, very challenging.  It only has two workouts on the DVD so after about 3 weeks I was getting bored so today I started her Killer Abs DVD.  I'm betting I'll have trouble sitting up in the morning!

So that's six months of new eating habits and six months of workouts.  And six months of results!

Here are a few "before" pictures. 

December 2012 (I cringed to post this.  Bad angle, but wow)

May 2013 (you think an outfit is flattering, but then...)

I don't have a lot of pictures of myself along the way, but you can sort of tell from these:

August 2013, in jeans that don't fit!

September 2013, celebrating fitting into a smaller jean size!  This was about 15 lbs lost.

And here I am today, six months in as of Saturday, 36 lbs and 25.5 inches lost (I'm really bad with measurements, not consistent about WHERE I measure my waist, for example, but it's an estimate)!

In my workout gear. Forgive the mirrored-tile mirror left by the last owner of our house. Also the cup leftover from the kids' baths.

I've done some figuring and I should be able to reach my goal weight by mid June, so my conservative goal is to be at my target by my 1  year anniversary of getting healthy, July 11th, 2014.  I think I can do it!  It will be a total loss of almost 70 lbs in a year.  I know that might seem sort of slow, but right now my average is about 1.4 lbs per week and I think that's reasonable for me.  I'm okay with this taking time as long as I can keep the weight off and I think I'm more likely to do that if I take it slow.

And now I want to thank you ladies (and gentlemen?) who read my blog from time to time.  You've all encouraged me and complimented me and it means a LOT!  My family has also a huge source of support and encouragement. They never make me feel bad if I splurge or skip a workout here or there, but are the first to comment that they see the results and are proud of me.  My Facebook group has been a great help as well.  I'm so lucky to have the encouragement of those around me and I couldn't do it without you all!

Thanks always for reading!

Whew! Well hi, 2014!

Oh my goodness, I always forget how insane December can get!  I'm glad it's over, but I'm actually having a hard time adjusting to not being so busy!  I still want to do my ornament post, but I haven't had any luck getting good pics. My cell phone flashes too much.  We'll see if I get it done before we take down the tree!

Still going strong on the fitness front--I placed second in the challenge at work, with a total of 13% lost--the winner lost 14%, so close!  I'll get $100, so that's good.  I've been doing Jillian's Shred It With Weights, which is a kettlebell workout--super intense!  Next up is abs, I feel the burn already!

Christmas was very nice.  AJ still doesn't totally "get" it, but Tyler had a ton of fun. I'm loving my kindle fire (thanks babe!) and my mom likes hers too.  New Years was quiet and uneventful, aside from Tyler being a little bit sicky. 

And so!  Another year gone!  Last year was...well it was!  Nothing horrifically awful, nothing amazingly life changing!  So here's my yearly survey thingy!

YEARLY SURVEY!
1. What did you do in 2013 that you’d never done before? I visited the West Coast, California!  It was AWESOME!

2. Did you keep your new year’s resolutions, and will you make more for next year?  I don't know that I "resolved" anything, but I finally FINALLY made some major progress on losing weight and getting healthy.  I'm inching toward 40 lbs lost and I LOVE IT!

3. Did anyone close to you give birth? My friend Pam had her first baby girl in April!

4. Did anyone close to you die? Adam's Grandpa passed away just a few weeks ago. 

5. What countries did you visit?  Still no progress on that one.

6. What would you like to have in 2014 that you didn’t have in 2013? I would like to be able to buy a bigger house that suits my growing family better!--That was last years answer, but it REALLY needs to happen this year!

7. What dates from 2013 will be etched upon your memory, and why? Nothing really jumps out this year.  I'm okay with that though, we'll call it a rebuilding year

8. What was your biggest achievement of this year? Has to be getting healthier, dropping over 35 lbs and at least two pants sizes!

9. What was your biggest failure? I'd like to think I didn't have any major failures!

10. Did you suffer illness or injury? Nope, stayed pretty healthy this year.

11. What was the best thing you bought? Well we bought two "new" cars this year and I am really hoping they go on to be reliable long time vehicles for us!

12. Whose behavior merited celebration? AJ's milestones--it's so fun to watch them do things for the first time!

13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed? Nothing is immediately coming to mind.  I'm sure there were news stories that got to me though.

14. Where did most of your money go? Bills, cars, kids

15. What did you get really excited about? California and each pound that I lost!

16. What song will always remind you of 2013? Wrecking Ball by Miley Cyrus.  She annoys the pants off of me and that video is needlessly raunchy, but I like the song, damn it.

17. Compared to this time last year, are you: a) happier or sadder? b) thinner or fatter? c) richer or poorer? Happier, THINNER (YAY!), and about the same I guess

18. What do you wish you’d done more of? House projects!

19. What do you wish you’d done less of? I can't really think of anything

20. How did you spend Christmas? We stayed at home and enjoyed ourselves immensely!

21. Did you fall in love in 2013? More and more with my kids and hubby every day

22. What was your favorite TV program? Still gotta be the Big Bang Theory!

 23. What was the best book you read? A tie between "Single Infertile Female" and "Hyperbole and a Half" both written by bloggers I adore.

24. What was your greatest musical discovery? I'm sort of in love with Pink!

25. What did you want and get? Healthier!

26. What did you want and not get? A promotion and a house

27. What was your favorite film of 2013? Catching Fire!

28. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you? I turned 31!  I think we were all just getting over being sick and I was super busy at work, but I'm sure we had dinner and cake and loveliness.

29. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying? More SPACE!

30. How would you describe your personal fashion concept of 2013?  Well, not by choice, but baggy clothes!  Nothing fits, in a good way!

31. What kept you sane? My family, especially my kiddos, my friends, working out (it's true, it's stress relieving) and a little bit of relaxation time daily.

32. What political issue stirred you the most? I'm so sick about hearing about the healthcare drama I could puke.

33. Who did you miss? My sister, my grandparents and my great aunt--still true

 34. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2013. Take time to work on yourself is sooo important!

 35. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year."Say what you want to say, let the words fall out honestly. I want to see you be Brave!" Brave by Sarah Bareilles

Tricky Treating

What I consider to be first of the triple-threat holiday season (Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas) has come and gone!  Halloween was somewhat eventful, as for the first time in my life (to my recollection, anyway) trick-or-treating was postponed here in Central Indiana.

All week, they had been discussing the possibility of strong storms on Thursday night with very high winds.  I kept an eye on the forecast and came up with two "back up" plans.  The first was to take the kids to trick or treat at the local mall. That would involve leaving work early, as the hours were from 4-6.  We also would only attend that event if it was raining, but not REALLY storming (not dangerous to be out in the weather).  The second was Halloween cookie baking and "mini trick or treating" to my mom and sister for Tyler.

After some initial hesitation, the city officials did postpone trick or treating to Friday and so we stayed home and did option 2 (good thing too, they postponed the mall trick or treat as well).  Tyler didn't seem to phased by the whole thing and I was very glad we were able to stay in.  The wind was CRAZY!  My little guys would have blown away out there! 

PICTURES!!

At our local orchard/pumpkin patch-My two little pumpkins and their pumpkins!

 My mom snagged these awesome (and EASY) pumpkin decorations!  No carving required!

Side 1-SCARY!

Side 2-Silly!

Fat Bat!

And finally, my adorable little Treats!

Silly and Sweet Spongebob!

My little Monster!

AJ loved bopping along in his stroller!  Bonus-a place to dump Tyler's extra loot!

Tyler had a BLAST and was a HUGE hit! 

 Everyone loved Tyler as Spongebob and he was on cloud nine, losing his mind over getting Smarties and pointing out the costumes of all the other kids.  "Mommy, there's a BANANA!"  He didn't want to stop!  Finally after about an hour and half he was tired and we'd just about hit every house with their lights on in the neighborhood, so we headed home to give out candy for a little while. 

I have done a fairly decent job at resisting the Halloween candy, sticking to just a piece or so here and there.  The last week or so I slacked a little bit on food choices and tracking, but I still hit my workouts pretty well. I am back on tracking now and stepped up my elliptical workouts to include hand weights, so that's been a new challenge.  Although I didn't post a loss from last week, we did have first weight in for the weight loss challenge at work (not sure if I mentioned this or not) and I am in SECOND PLACE!  I posted a 7% loss.  The guy in first is at 9% and we are followed by a three way tie at 5%.  I was really surprised and happy to see that result, maybe I do have a shot at a little monetary kickback!  We'll see! 

Where'd he go?

You guys, where did this little baby go?

I swear, he was just here.  But it seems as though this big guy has taken his place. 

Don't mind the drool

He's ONE, already!  I can't even believe it, it doesn't seem possible.  I still haven't turned my mind completely off from all those months of trying to conceive him, and yet here he is, a babbling, toddling little (big) guy.

I'm a little late on this post, delayed by the remembrance day post and, well LIFE in general being super busy.  AJ turned one on October 12th.  On his birthday, my sisters came over and we did a small dinner with cake and presents.  Little man was having way too much fun and went to bed quite late!  He enjoyed smashing some chocolate cake, and let us give him a few bites as well.

Sunday afternoon, we lucked out with amazing weather.  We invited over our immediate family and had a barbeque with hamburgers, hot dogs, salad, au gratin potatoes, and pasta, plus cupcakes for dessert.  Everyone hung out on our patio and in the yard and we put out our corn hole set (you might have to be from the midwest to know what that is!) and some balls and frisbees.  I think everyone had a good time and AJ seemed to enjoy himself in the playyard and being passed around, despite his cold.

Presents?!  My smiley boy

Going for the covert nose-wipe. He hates it.

It all went off without a hitch. The food was good, everyone made it and we celebrated my little booger turning one, amazing!

He also had his check up last week.  My "little" guy is 23 lbs 13 oz and 32 1/2 inches long! That puts him in the 85% for weight and the 95% for height!  We're having some struggles with solids (non-baby foods) because his gag reflex seems a little strong.  He's doing okay with some new stuff, but so far he absolutely does NOT get the idea that he can pick up food and feed himself.  He won't do it!  I'm hoping he gets the idea soon.  Couple that with no more formula (YAY!  Saves $45 per week!) and starting the transition to a sippy cup, plus working through sleep training issues and there are a lot of changes going on in the life of AJ!  But he's doing great and we love him!

Aside from that, we're dealing with some car drama I'm not really feeling like getting into just now (except to say I do NOT recommend Ray Skillman's auto group anymore).  Tyler is doing pretty well, recovering from his own cold and maybe a tummy bug as well.  I have finally succumbed to the cold myself, after fighting not to come down with it for over a week (everyone else had it).

Still doing pretty well on the fitness front.  Today's weight it officially placed me at 24 lbs lost, which is over 10% of my body weight!  WOOT WOOT!  I realized tonight that I have lost an AJ!!  He weighs right at 24 lbs, the amount I have LOST! For some reason, that really blew my mind!  Pretty soon NONE of my clothes are going to fit!  In a GOOD way! :)  Not sure what I'll do about that though!  I finished the Shred and having been doing my elliptical, but I bought a new DVD, Jillian Michaels Ripped in 30 that I will try soon (after this blasted cold buggers off).

That's it!  We'll let AJ wrap things up.

LOVE HIM! :)

Seeing Results

I went ahead and tried level 3 of the 30 Day Shred on Friday.  WHOO It is pretty brutal!  I could definitely tell I was working muscles I haven't been working too much thus far.  I am still pretty darn sore, especially in the backs of my legs and my gluts.  I kept watching her demonstrate the moves and I would think to myself, "No way can I do that!"  Then I'd try it and I could!  There was only one move I just can't do successfully--RockStar jumps.  Basically, you jump straight up and kick your feet back behind you.  For some reason, that just KILLS my knees.  So I modify it, still doing a jump, but small keeping my feet under me.

Sunday my mom remarked that you could really tell that I'm trimming down, especially in my upper tummy.  It made me so happy to hear that! Then Monday at work, a coworker of mine that doesn't come into the office very often also remarked that I was "looking great" and he could tell I was losing weight!  SQUEE!! LOL  Monday's weight in has me down 19.2 lbs--SOOOO close to 20 now and really close to my next big weight goal!

Weekends can be a real challenge for me food wise, since we tend to eat out a time or two and I sometimes don't get a chance to track my intake until later.  Saturday I did well, get a burger at lunch, but only eating half of it and having a salad on the side.  My sister was with me and we did get some frozen yogurt later, but I kept my portion pretty small and it was easy to track the calories since you pay by weight.  We ran errands and I picked up a few things for AJ's birthday party (my baby will be 1 in less than TWO WEEKS!?).

When we got home, I was getting the kids out of the car when a pretty, reddish golden retriever walked up to us.  Luckily, she was wearing a collar with tags.  I put her in the backyard so she wouldn't wander away and once we got the kids settled, I got the phone number off the tags and called it. The number was for a service that helps reunite pet owners with their pets.  I gave the lady the ID number and name on the tags--Molly.  She tried to call the owners, but got no answer, so she gave me the owner's name, phone number, and address.  I immediately recognized the street name, she hadn't wandered far!  I called and spoke to her owner, an older lady and offered to walk Molly home.  She was grateful--she hadn't realized Molly was gone! Apparently they had some workers at the house, so things were loud and chaotic and she'd thought the dog was downstairs with her son.  Also, apparently this sort of thing was Molly's "one fault"--I guess she's done this before!  Tyler thought the whole thing was a great adventure, although I think he would have liked Molly to have stayed a while longer to play!

Pretty Molly and silly Tyler-Man

Sunday I made a diet boo boo.  We went to a picnic my dad's work was holding and we stopped to get Tyler a Happy Meal on the way, knowing he wouldn't eat there.  Adam got a cheeseburger and asked if I wanted one.  Thinking I might not eat much at the picnic and that a single cheeseburger wasn't too high in calories, I said yes.  I didn't immediately plug it into MFP and later I forgot all about it!  It wasn't until I was adding up my calories before dinner that Adam reminded me.  OOPS!  Well, luckily this was before dinner, so I was able to adjust a little bit, but I still went into my exercise calories more than I would have liked.  Lessons learned:  EVERYTHING at McDonald's is high in calories and track them when you eat them! 

The picnic was at a park, and it was drizzling all day.  We'd thought they would move it to an indoor location, but the joke was on us!  (Another lesson learned--bring extra clothes just in case!  I had to run across the street to Kmart to get the kids sweats so they wouldn't freeze!)  The owner of the string of dealerships my dad works for throws quite an event, giving away gifts to all the employees and all the children who come. Tyler was thrilled to chose a motorized Thomas the Train set and we chose a ball-launching toy that unfortunately seems to scare AJ.  He likes the balls, batting them around on the floor like a cat, but he doesn't care for the noise and the launching.

I did not work out Monday.  I was kind of bummed about it, and it makes me nervous in a weird way, like worried I won't get back into it.  We had to drop the van off at the dealership and by the time we got home it was after nine and I was supremely cranky.  Ah well, no rule says the 30 Day Shred can't be completed in 31 Days!  9 more days and I will have completed it!  I really think I'm going to make it this time!

OH!  One more thing to add!  AJ took his first steps on Monday!  GO AJ!!

Progress report

So I figured it was time for a little check in on how my fitness journey is going!  I'm actually really proud of myself, I have been NEVER worked so hard at it before.  I put my "start date" as July 11th. That was the day I did my first real workout.  That was 11 weeks and 2 days ago.  In the time (as of Monday), I lost 15.8 lbs.  I don't want to jinx myself, but I have had a few peeks at the scale this week, and I'm going to be posting a pretty big number next week, as long as something crazy doesn't happen!  My day to day body is unpredictable, so I'm really hoping it sticks around, because I am getting SUPER close to 20 lbs lost and SUPER close to under a big number I've been dying to get to!  I've also lost over 7% of my total weight, which is pretty astounding to me!  I still have a long way to go, but I'm feeling really good about everything I've done so far!  I even bought two new pairs of pants in the last couple weeks in A SMALLER SIZE!  :) That felt really good, let me tell you!  My clothes are really getting baggy!

I thought I'd put together a list of a few things that are really working for me:

Basic meal notes:

• Breakfast-I usually eat pretty light in the morning and I seem to strive to keep this meal pretty low cal since it's the easiest opportunity for me to save some calories for later.  I discovered a fruit crisp from Special K that I really like, although it's sort of high in sugar, but only 100 calories. They are my go to if I am running late.  I've also been eating a lot of cereal, namely cheerios (100 calories), Special K (their Cinnamon Pecan is really good and only 110 calories per serving and I think I'm going to try the chocolate strawberry next--TIP you really have to watch out for the serving size, some cereals have a service size of 3/4 of a cup, most people pour quite a bit more than that), or cinnamon chex (120 calories). I don't like milk in the morning, it tends to make me sick to my stomach if I drink much, so I don't drink what's left in the bowl.  Occasionally I'll have a low cal english muffin or a skinny bagel with half a wedge of laugh cow cream cheese. I've experimented a little with eggs and egg beaters, but I haven't found anything I really cared for yet.  I usually drink water, but occasionally I will have a small glass (about 6 oz for 35 calories) of low sugar OJ.
• Lunch-Varies pretty widely.  I try to have something fairly simple to put together, pre-made tuna or egg salad for a sandwich, along with veggies or a salad, some fruit (usually I end up eating it for a snack later), and maybe a low sugar jello (10 calories and a nice little sweet).  I usually allow myself a Diet Pepsi with lunch also.
• Dinner-This one totally depends on the family. Since I don't do the cooking and I have two other adults to think about, eliminating something is impossible.  I do my best with portion control and make small changes like for-going a bun.

General notes

• I'm definitely eating more Fresh veggies--these are the ultimate in snacks.  I have a hard time keeping my meal calories down enough to allow for a lot of snacks, so veggies are PERFECT for me.  Most veggies and a few fruits are really low in calories.  I eat tons of salad (romaine or iceberg lettuce, combined with carrot slivers, celery, cauliflower, and tomatoes) (approx 30 calories for 1 cup).  I pack little baggies of celery (6 calories per stalk), carrot sticks (about 50 calories per cup), radish slices (20 calories for 4 large radishes), and cucumber slices (15 calories per cup).  I made my own Pico de gallo to go with tacos and chips (carefully counted out serving of taco chips)(35 calories for 3/4 cup-I just use tomatoes, onion, cilantro, lemon juice and a dash of salt).  I also love little microwavable veggie sides like broccoli with cheese sauce for 40 calories. I know it's processed, but it's still better than chips or something to go with lunch.
• I love fruit, but it's typically a tiny bit higher cal than veggies and comes with extra sugar, something My Fitness Pal is showing me that I struggle with.  Here are a few of my favorites:  Watermelon (40 calories per 1 cup), Braeburn Apple (70 calories, medium), clemintine (35 calories), strawberries (10 calories per berry), grapes (62 calories for 1 cup).  I cut up a couple of strawberries to add to cheerios instead of sugar or munch on watermelon for dessert after a workout.
• Another slightly more splurgy snack (not really nutritious) 100 cal popcorn.  Pop Secrets home style popcorn-I eat it for a snack or with a sandwich at lunch. You get a decent sized bag and it's great!
• Bread.  I love bread, but I've found that regular old bread isn't something I can't live without.  I've switched over to a whole grain white low cal bread (35 calories per slice) for when I want a sandwich (I make up fairly low cal tuna or egg salad), but for burgers or hot dogs, I've typically been going sans bun altogether!
• Breakfast-I usually eat pretty light in the morning and I seem to strive to keep this meal pretty low cal
• Working out--right now, I'm on day 19 of the 30 Day Shred. It's about time to think about attempting level 3 and I'm a little nervous about that!  I'm determined to complete the challenge this time! 11 more days!  Once I'm finished, I'm considering a few options, either combining a few days a week of the shred with a few days of elliptical or I might pick up another workout DVD.  Not quite sure yet.  But workouts will still be a part of just about every day!
• I'm also trying to get in at least 1 brisk 15 or so minute walk per day at work.  My pedometer says a quick lap is worth over 1000 steps I think it's a small thing I can do so that my metabolism isn't too slow during the day, since my workouts are pretty much always late at night, which I know isn't great.

Two and a half months and going strong!  I am really doing this!

And away he goes!!!

Yep, he is pulling up and standing. And stepping around things.  I think it's a pretty safe bet that we'll have first steps soon, maybe even in days. Yikes!

 

I hope everyone had a great long weekend!  I did!  Friday, I had a girls night with my high school friends Gabby, Mandy and Pam. We had dinner, did some shopping and got frozen yogurt (how did I not know about Orange Leaf???).  I love spending time with them!  

Saturday I had lunch with my BFF from college, Kelly.  We went to Cheesecake factory for some yummy pizza and AMAZING Smore cheesecake.  OMG it was so good!  We laughed sooooo much, she is hilarious!  AND we set a "date" for our next lunch so as to squeeze it into busy schedules in the upcoming months!  YAY!

Sunday was groceries and cleaning and organizing toys.  Monday we did some shopping and had lunch at Fazolis.  Did you know they have DOUGHNUTS?  OMG amazing!

So I splurged a little bit on food this past week, but I was on point with exercising 6 days out of the week.  I was happy with that and I lost .4 lbs.  I think I know why it wasn't more too...a certain monthly visitor showed her face today :-P  But I'm feeling good!  The workouts are going well, I'm pushing myself in new little ways and it's really a routine for me now, I rarely struggle with sitting around saying oh I don't want to do my workout.  12.8 lbs down!

And just a reminder, I have a new blog!  Ask An Infertile already has 5 contributors!  It's already a great team!  But we're always looking for more involvement and we are definitely look for readers and feedback!  Stop by and tell us what YOU want to read about!!

Staycation struggles

Hubby and I took a few days off work last week. We did a LOT of running around!  Here's a rundown, bullet-style:

• Saturday was errands: Running to the Comcast Xfinity store for a new remote.  Our old one took a dip in Tyler's potty one day, thanks to Gracie knocking it off the couch one day when we hadn't gotten around to emptying it's contents.  Icky.  Then it was off to grab some lunch, then we stopped at the second hand kids clothing store (Once Upon a Child) for some great deals on shorts for both boys and a couple of onesies for AJ and a couple of DVDs for Tyler.  Then we did our usual shopping at Walmart.
• Sunday was grocery shopping and then my mom and Tyler and I went out looking for shoes for my mom.  She didn't find any that day, but I'm still tempted to go back for a pair of feather light super comfy sketchers I saw at shoe carnival!  

 

Mom and I loved these!  They were actually really comfy. Anyone know of a pair sans glitz?

• Sunday afternoon Adam, the boys and I went to Adam's sister's house for her middle's son's 11th birthday party.  He was born just a few months after Adam and I met.  Happy birthday Dagyn!  Tyler had a ton of fun playing with his cousins!
• Monday, we visited one of Adam's favorites, the Goodwill outlet!  He likes to rummage in the bins and find things to resell on Ebay. And of course Tyler likes to find little odds and ends, especially hot wheels!  Then we went to Walmart and my mom found some shoes and we purchased a much needed swiffer wet jet and a mini vacuum.  Crawling baby means vacuuming much more often!  We had lunch at a buffet and even AJ enjoyed it, eating quite a large portion of mashed up potatoes and carrots and some applesauce!
• Tuesday we did a little more Goodwill shopping where Adam found some great deals on software and I scored a 4x6 photo printer!  Then we stopped at the cemetary where my sister is buried and put out new flowers (we'd been meaning to do it for months!  We bought everything ages ago, but the weather was bad and then we just kept forgetting!).  Then we took a little picnic lunch to the park and had lunch and let Tyler run and play!

 

Tyler at the park.  He's not very sure of climbing still.

LOVE this kid!

AJ at the park.  It's a bit sunny for him!

• Tuesday night my mom watched the boys so Adam and I could go out for a little date night!  We had dinner at our favorite, Texas Roadhouse and then went to see Star Trek: Into Darkness.  BONUS, it was playing at the $1.50 theater!  It was a really good movie, I always like them a lot more than I think I will!  It was nice to have time with my hubby!
• Wednesday the weather was just perfect, sunny but cooler. We'd reserved it specifically to go to the State Fair.  We had a great time, ate all the great foods, browsed the shops, rode a few rides with Tyler, and my mom and I even got to take a turn in the Lottery's bonus booth, gathering up as many points as possible via flying papers to earn prizes!  It was crazy!  Tyler had a blast and AJ was good too, only really fussing when he was hungry. Love the fair!!!  I can't remember a year when we haven't gone!

 

You can't really tell, but that's Tyler in there.

• Thursday-Friday was back to work, where our brand new air conditioner had ceased to work. Again.  Good times.  It's not quite so horrible this time, it seems to be pretending to work just a little bit.
• Saturday and Sunday were various errands and general cold-induced lying around.

 

Bathtime for AJ!  Don't mind the mohawk

I was challenged with my calories while I was off. I knew I would be.  The fair day was an official "freebie" day where I didn't really worry about calories at all.  I splurged on date night as well, but I was fairly good the rest of the week, staying in my calorie goal.  I only got in a few workouts because my back was acting up again.  It's finally feeling normal again HUZZAH!  But now, I have the cold of DEATH.  BOO.  My weight in today showed that I was able to maintain my weight exactly, which I'm taking as a win this week.  So for now, I'm down 8.8 lbs.  I will be to the ten pound mark by this time next week, I am determined.  So determined, I allowed myself my 10 pound reward of a little shopping trip on Saturday, since I knew Adam will be working this weekend, so I wouldn't be able to get away.  My favorite clothing store yielded two cute tops, two pairs of earrings, and a necklace :) 

AJ is suddenly a master at crawling and sitting up.  He had us a little worried with his lack of sitting up unassisted and now he does it and is like, "What?  I knew I could do it." 

Forgive me, I'm trying to finish this up on my phone on the way to work
(
Adam is driving of course
) but
I am feeling distinctly fuzzy-brained. Blah summer colds

Sweating and Liking (?!) it and Photo challenge: What I'm wearing

So here I got again, back to trying to lose some of the pesky (and plentiful) weight.  It's funny, I don't weight any more than I have over the past 5 years or so.  I lost a little before I had AJ, but overall my weight has been consistent for 5 years or more. That being said, I feel like I LOOK like I weigh more now. Somehow it's distributed differently, even more concentrated at my belly and waist, although where I lost it to gain it in those places is a total mystery.  Anyway, I've been thinking about it for awhile and yesterday I had a "moment" of self-disgust and frustration, so my resolve is strong for the moment!  A friend of mine had mentioned that her doctor told her she needs to start trying to drop some weight and when she posted on facebook about it, I mentioned that I'd been thinking of creating a little facebook group to support each other.  Well, she liked the idea, so I posted a status about it to see if anyone else was interested.  That was just about 24 hours ago and so far we have 12 members including me. I'm super excited!

So I sort of failed on the calorie counting today (I use My Fitness Pal)--meaning I counted and it wasn't good.  But I still dutifully logged it and I resolve to do better tomorrow. I planned to walk at lunch, but Adam wanted to go out.  That could have been it for the workout plan, but instead, I waiting until Tyler and AJ were both asleep (about 8:30) and then I set out for a walk around my neighborhood.  The main loop of our neighborhood is just under 1 mile.  That was what I planned to do.  It was finally less than boiling hot here and it felt good to be out!  I put in headphones and listened to Spotify.  I waved to three kitties, one cute and large doggie with his front paws on a fence, and one little girl riding in a wagon with her baby brother or sister (too far away for me to tell) that was pulled by her daddy. That was cool to see, the mom and dad taking the kids for a walk together.  I noted houses for sale, cute yard decor (namely a little tree edger painted like a caterpillar).  I rounded the circle approaching my cul de sac and at the last second, I took the road to the right that leads to another smaller circle and I walked that too!  I even jogged/ran a little bit!  Probably .05-.1 mile, and I was huffing and had a stitch in my side when I slowed to a brisk walk, but I just wanted to see what it felt like!  My feet felt pretty good until about half way through the second circle, at which point I made a mental note that I now see the benefits to the popular "breathable", ultralight sneakers they are making now. Adam got me a pair for Christmas but they left my feet so cold I exchanged them.  Regretting that a bit now!  Anyway, by the time I got home, Map My Run told me I'd walked 1.71 miles in 31 minutes. Unfortunately, My Fitness Pal says that's only worth 196 calories (I estimated 3.5 miles per hour, which is actually a little less that what my pace was), but anyway, it's something and it's a place to start.

SO!  Two actual posts in a row!  And now for the daily photo challenge!

Cream cropped sweater with a lace back over a purple tank.