A Healthier Me

Sick and Tired....

2012-01-03T14:29:00.000-08:00

...of being sick and tired! This is the 2nd cold I've had this winter. Last month it was the stomach flu that made it's rounds about my house. Doesn't this virus know how hard it is to exercise when it is clogging up my head and chest? Not to mention my body feels like I've just run a marathon after only walking up the stairs. :( I hate everything about the winter months. I hate cold, sickness, dark short days, and especially being stuck inside all the time. UGH... sorry just needed to rant for a minute. Boohoo! I am soooo looking forward to March! Only 2 more months to go...

Starting a clean New Year!

2012-01-02T09:40:00.000-08:00

Along with losing weight and becoming "physically" healthy this year, I also have goals to become emotionally healthy. For me, my emotional health has a big part to play in how well I am phyically. And my home life decides most of my emotions. If my house is calm, clean, organized and bright, I feel GOOD! If my house is cluttered, dirty, gloomy, and loud I feel BAD! It's not an easy task, keeping my house "happy". I have 2 boys. One is a preschooler. He is hyper and has a wonderful imagination. The only problem with his imagination is that my couch cushions and pillows become his fort, my clean (folded) laundry pile is his ammo against the dark forces, my bathroom is his personal beach at bathtime, my walls are his canvas, the dog food bowl is the perfect place to make frog eye soup....it goes on and on. I love him, I love his excitement, and his neverending joy of life. What I do not love is the constant cleaning. I try to get him to keep it in his room, I've tried to teach him the fine art of getting his trash into the trash can and keeping the crayon on the paper. We are making a little progress now. He started preschool this year and is learning about responsibility. He will usually clean up after himself after being told about 10 or 20 times. Now, my 9 year old son is another story. He is 9 going on 30. He is past the point of imagination. He runs the show, or so he thinks. He has impulsive type ADHD. He is a genius in school, a master of all sports and just earned his yellow belt in martial arts. BUT, try getting the kid to hold still during a movie, or actually "sit" at the dinner table. I wouldn't call him "lazy" but like most 9 year olds, the thought of making his bed, doing his homework or putting his toys away is worse than murder. The important things in his life are his video games and friends. My happines is not even on the list! I have made my mistakes as all parents do. I have done everything for my children. From day one, mommy was at their beck and call. Not anymore. I don't want to be the "evil mommy dearest", but I know for all of our sake, my children need some responsibility. I just can't do it all. So this week, I am cleaning out my house and my life. I'm getting rid of all the clothes "i might fit in some day", I'm getting rid of clutter and junk, and I'm giving my kids chores! AGGGHHH the dreaded word. Don't get me wrong. My kids help when they are threatened, but I don't want it to be that way. We all need to changes some habits! I feel overwhelmed. I work 8 hours a day, come home, do laundry, pick up, homework, pick up, dinner, dishes, pick up some more, baths, pick up and bed! I literally do not sit down (other than dinner) between 4 and 9 PM! My husband "usually" helps out, but he is also exhausted after working all day. Well this post strayed a little from where I planned on it ending up. My point is, a happy clean home makes for a happy mom! And a happy mom has more energy, motivation, and excitement to become a thin, healthy mom!

So far 2012 is off to a great start! How is yours going?

So glad this year is over

2011-12-29T09:47:00.000-08:00

Wow I totally sucked this year! I sucked at exercising, eating healthy, budgeting, organizing, and well....pretty much everything I set my mind to way back on Jan 1 2011! Why? More than likely it is because I am just too damn lazy. I'm not going to sit here and kick myself, but the truth is the truth no matter how much sugar you put on it. Obviously I have a serious lack of motivation. Now, some of that definitely has to do with the season. I hate winter! I love the warm sun and green everything of summer! I get cabin fever about this time every year. I want to sit in front of the TV with hot chocolate, cheese and crackers, hot pizza (everything else I shouldn't have) wrapped in a blanket and hibernate until March 1st! I need change!

Here is a little catch up, since I've also been too lazy to post on my blog for ohhhh about 2-3 months! Since August of 2010 I have gained back all 15 lbs that I lost that year and even accumulated an extra pound or 2 or...ok 5! I am at my highest weight ever right now! While I am not technically obese, I am overweight! I am unhappy and uncomforatble. Why was it so easy in 2010? In 15 weeks I lost 15 lbs. But this year I just couldn't do it. Well, enough of the past. It's time to look at the future. I do not make resolutions, but I do have goals for the coming year. Not just for my weight, but for the health of my life in general. The health of my family, home and relationships.

-I WILL organize my home and life
-I WILL work harder at losing weight and watching what I put into my body
-I WILL exercise!

I hope all of your (and my) goals/resolutions/hopes will become realities this coming year!

Still here....somewhere....

2011-10-19T11:36:00.000-07:00

Yes, I lost all motivation right out of the gate. Sometimes I feel like I just don't have time for myself. My husband has been hunting all month which leaves me home with the kids. It's hard to exercise with them constantly on my hip. Not to mention work, homework, housecleaning, laundry and the kids sports. By the time I get 10 minutes to myself, it is past bedtime! Just to wake up and do it all again. I finally got some time last night and went on a 3 mile walk (more like hike) with a friend. It felt great and Heaven only knows how I needed a peaceful moment! I hope having someone to exercise with me will keep my motivation up and make me own up to myself. I need to learn how to fit some time in for ME!

I'm Back....again!

2011-09-28T09:04:00.000-07:00

Yikes! I didn't realize it had been so long since I posted. Didn't have the best summer as far as weight loss goes. I've managed to gain back nearly every pound I lost on weight watchers last year :( Time to start over! Luckily I logged in just in time to find a 90 Day Challenge over at Healthy Loser Gal. I'm reclaiming myself! I'm tired of my pants getting smaller and smaller! Oh wait, that's my waist getting bigger! Here we go! I did not weigh this morning, haven't for a few weeks... I will have a number for tomorrow along with a goal by Christmas!

Exercising my demons!

2011-03-18T14:01:00.000-07:00

It's been a while and I've made some changes. I have started working with an online trainer. Exercise is my biggest problem. I DO exercise, I just don't really know how...if that makes any sense. I don't know if I should be doing cardio, weights, how much, how long, which ones! So I enlisted the help of a professional. She has been awesome! Today is the last day of week 3! She has me going non stop for 1 hour 3 days a week and I feel great! I haven't been counting my calories like I should. I try to pick the healthiest food choices and limit my quantities. But as of right now it's more about getting in shape, gaining strength and muscle than actually losing the weight. I know the more muscle I have, the more calories I burn and the higher my metabolism will be. I will start weighing again next Friday (the end of week 4) and start counting my calories again. I feel like I can accomplish more if I add things on rather than trying to do it all at once. I hope you are all doing great with your weight loss programs. I will try my best to update as often as possible! Happy Healthy Dieting :)

"Green" Smoothies

2011-02-03T06:53:00.000-08:00

I have finally decided to be brave and make a green smoothie for breakfast. It was ok, but kind of tasted like a fruit smoothie with dirt in it. I found a recipe online that I thought sounded pretty good. Here it is...

1 C. Spinach

1/4 C. Alfalfa Sprouts

1/2 Banana

1/2 Braeburn Apple

1/4 C. Blackberrys (Frozen)

1 C Water

I also threw in some ice cubes to make it more "smoothie like"

I think I'll try something else next time. My youngest son liked it...he even helped me make it. My older son liked the first few sips then decided it wasn't very good. Do any of you have any tasty recipes??

Deja Vu...HELP!

2011-02-02T08:11:00.000-08:00

I'm having a feeling of deja vu. It seems this time last year I was starting my weight loss plan, counting calories and exercising...and not losing any weight! Then in May/June 2010 I started Weight Watchers and finally started to see some progress. In November 2010 I quit Weight Watchers for financial reasons after losing 15 lbs! So here I am again...no WW, no weight loss :( What am I doing wrong? According to all the sites (sparkpeople, myfitnesspal, calorie counter) I should be eating 1200 cal a day. But according to WW I should eat 21 pts per day (+ 30 freebies a week) which is roughly the equivilant of 1050 cal. (+ free points) = 1264 cal! I don't understand how I could lose the weight on WW with 1264, but I can't lose it on my own with 1200! It just doesn't make any sense... Any ideas??? I only have 21 lbs to go....something's gotta give here!

Weekend Fun

2011-01-18T09:40:00.000-08:00

Well, I'm all recovered from my dental surgery and I'm ready to go! I weighed Sunday at 156.6 (-1.4 lbs) YAY! If I can keep this up I will reach my goal this time :) I've started organizing my home, work and life. Everything is going well so far but I have a lot of work ahead of me.

I don't have much to write today as far as weight loss, so I'll just do a little post about my weekend. My hubby and I took our 3 boys to a Utah Jazz game on Friday. My son played Jr. Jazz basketball this year and got a free ticket to the game. They had a great time and we won! On our trip to the "big city" we also took them to the state capitol building. I think they liked that better than the basketball game. Here are a couple of pictures for you...

Good luck to all of you on your goals this week!

Yes we sat in the "nosebleed section" but I can't complain about free tickets :)

My handsome little men at the Capitol Building

Ideas??

2011-01-12T07:33:00.000-08:00

I had my wisdom teeth taken out on Saturday. I was kind of hoping that I would lose a few pounds since I can't eat anything, but alas...nothing. I had lost 2 lbs by Monday but now I'm back at 158 :( I guess I shouldn't complain since that is not the right way to lose weight anyway.

I will be starting my exercise and diet plan on Monday. I had to wait a week because of the dental surgery. What are you all using as far as diet? I was doing weight watchers last year but it became too expensive. I'm curious what is working for all of you?? I need some ideas to start this off right this year.

Also, do any of you use Wii Fit? I've really wanted to buy it, but I would like some opinions first. Does it work?

Thanks in advance for any ideas or opinions :)

Refresh, Rejuvinate, Re-make ME!

2011-01-05T12:28:00.001-08:00

I'm back! I fell really far off the wagon there for awhile. But I'm back and motivated to start this journey again. My last weigh-in was in September and was 155.4 lbs. I have gained a couple pounds through the holidays but all in all stayed on track. I weighed a few days ago at 158 (not too terrible) But surely not where I wanted to be by the first of the year. So here we are again. I'm ready to look smokin' hot in my bathing suit this summer! I normally don't do New Year's resolutions for fear of failure. But this year I have made some easy to attain "goals"

1. Lose 20 lbs in 20 weeks! (starting now!)
2. Quit Smoking (AGAIN) ugh
3. Get Organized (home, work and life!)

That shouldn't be too hard, huh? Let's get this train rolling!

Losing It!

2010-09-27T08:13:00.000-07:00

Yes I am back on track! WOOHOO For the first time in 2 weeks I have a loss. I spent most of last week trying to get everything ready (house cleaned, laundry done, etc) before my hubby's surgery Friday. I didn't have too much time for eating. I hit 155.4 on Friday. That's a 2.6 lb loss from the week before (but only 0.6 lb loss from the beginning of September). It's a little frustrating that I haven't even lost 1 lb this month, because of my little gains each week. But things are looking up! Hope you all have a great Monday and even better week!

I looove Blogger Awards :)

2010-09-21T14:02:00.000-07:00

I won an award! Thank you to Kelly over at Journey to a New Me for the blogger award! There are some guidelines to follow for this award;

1) Acknowledge the person that gave you the award;

2) name 10 things you like or things about you; and

3) award 10 other folks with blogs that you follow regularly (be sure to notify them).

1. I love fall. The cool evenings warm days and beautiful colors.

2. I'm a pet person. We have 3 dogs, 2 fish and 3 frogs (I would have so many more if the hubby would let me!)

3. I love cleaning when I'm stresses out.

4. I would die without my coffee :)

5. I'd rather read blogs than write them. I like to know everyone's story.

6. I love Weight Watchers!

7. I wish I could wear a "little black dress"

8. I've always wanted to visit the eastern seaboard or New England, but

9. I have a fear of airplanes...and

10. Over the last few years I've developed quite a few phobias :)

And My Nominees Are:

1-Suck It In Buttercup

2-Katie J Is On Her Way

3-Jen's Losin It

4-Love Me For Who I AM

5-Kreating Kristen (even though she already has one :)

6-The Crumbling Muffin Top

7-CBGBlog

8-Healthy Loser Gal

9-My F Words

10-Adventures of a Done Girl Named Alex

PMS Monster and a cold

2010-09-17T06:58:00.000-07:00

Yes I still have this damn cold! Going on 3 weeks now! And to top that off, TOM decided to show up again for the 2nd time this month! Grrrr! The PMS monster has been wreaking havoc on my weight loss plan. I'm eating anything and everything that is NOT good for a diet. A cold and TOM have to be the worst possible combination for anyone trying to lose some poundage. I gained almost 2 more pounds this week :( I feel sick that I've gained back nearly 3 lbs this month. So I'm starting this week with a plan! I WILL NOT go over my WW points for any reason this week. I WILL get some exercise in if it kills me! ...hmm let's see if that works :) Hope you're all having better luck than me this month! Sorry my posts have been so short and non-uplifting. I'm stuck in a rut right now. Will someone please kick some motivation into me!?

Fail!

2010-09-10T08:47:00.001-07:00

I gained almost a pound this week! :( We went on vacation for Labor Day weekend and I didn't eat very healthy. It's so difficult when you're out of your element. To top that off, I've been sick with a nasty cold for about a week. I always tend to eat more when I have a cold. I think it's partly because I can't taste anything so I never really feel "fully satisfied". And partly because I'm not motivated. All I want to do is sit on the couch in a blanky with a box of crackers and can of processed cheese LOL! Ewww....I know! So now I'm going to list my "fails" and "cheers" for the week. I may make this an every Friday thing. It always helps when you let it out for the world to see the bad things you've done. I always strive to do better when I know I have to answer to someone. Here goes....

Fails - 2 pieces of pizza for dinner last night, way too much processed food over the weekend, a salty peanut roll almost everyday this week (bad bad bad)!

Cheers - 40 minute hike with the kids on Sunday (really that's all the exercise I did this week?)

Here's hoping this damn cold goes away for a much better number on the scale next week!

New Thing

2010-08-26T12:14:00.000-07:00

As if changing the families fat, salt, carb (you name it) intake wasn't enough...we recently found out that my oldest son may be allergic to cow milk. My family loves milk and sometimes we can go through an entire gallon in 1 day. Weaning an 8 year old off of something he truly loves is not an easy thing. After some research and taste testing we have found something that he likes...Almond Milk! I have always been a dairy lover, but I must say the almond milk isn't bad at all. I buy him the vanilla flavored, it's a little sweet for my taste but he and his little brother enjoy it. And it's like 1/2 the calories of 1% cow milk!!!

As for me, I've gone over my weight watchers points by 9 pts. this week! Yikes! And haven't had any energy for exercise. School started this week and it has been very hectic around my house. Hopefully once we get into a routine, I can add back in my daily exercise. Weigh In tomorrow, here's hoping for at least a little bit of a loss!

WOOOOHOOOO!!!

2010-08-13T10:36:00.000-07:00

The scale looooves me today :) I weighed in at 159.2 this morning! Finally...the 150's! I was pregnant with my son over 3 years ago the last time I weighed 159! Now resetting my goal to 149 :) I'm feeling super motivated right now, I wish there a was a gym close by! I'm so excited I don't even know what else to blog about... Hope you all have a great weekend!!!

Exercise

2010-08-10T07:15:00.000-07:00

I have noticed in the last few weeks that I have not been exercising, I have lost all motivation! I have so much more energy throughout the entire day when I start it off with a good exercise routine. Even if only for 20 minutes, it makes a huge difference in how I feel the rest of the day. That being said, I am starting again tomorrow! No excuses, no whining, just going to DO it! I lost my first 5% (8.4 lbs) on WW and now my points have dropped by 1, so I don't plateau. I'm doing really great this week! Usually by the time the weekend is over I have used all of my "extra weekly points" and this week I have more than 1/2 of them left! This is the first week in a long time that I have had extra points to use. Now if I could only find the willpower to trade my morning vanilla cappuccino in for something more nutritious and filling, I'd be set :) And since I forgot to blog my weigh in last week...I lost 0.4 lbs. (160.6)I know it's not a very good loss, but it did get me to my 5% goal. I'm really pushing for at least 159 this week, hopefully a little more!

I love this one!

Slow and Consistent....

2010-07-30T09:30:00.000-07:00

...is the way I am losing this weight. I know it's the best way, but I'd love to see a big number! I didn't hit my 159 that I had hoped for this week. But did lose 1 pound which is better than nothing. It's been rainy here most of the week so my exercise has suffered. I'll definitely be getting a bike ride in this weekend though. I don't have mych to say today other than "Keep on, Keepin' on!" LOL Good motto I think! Hope you all have a great weekend.

It's been awhile....

2010-07-27T12:40:00.000-07:00

...and I've been slacking on my poor blog! So it's been over a month since my last post, yikes!, and I have good news :) I have steadily been losing 1-2 lbs per week. I am soooo close to the 150's! I haven't weighed in the 150's since "during" my last pregnancy! My last weigh in on Friday, I was 162.4 ... (-8lbs) from my starting point. After working at this diet thing since January, this is my biggest consistent loss. Weight watchers is really working! I'm really hoping this fridays weigh in will break 159! Wish me luck! I've been doing some swimming and yard work for exercise. I need to get back in the habit of biking every night, it's just been so damn hot! By the time it's cool enough to go outside, it's bedtime. We have some cooler temps and rain in the forecast this week, so hopefully that will help with my efforts to get in some good exercise! Hope you're all having a fit and fabulous week :)

Another loss...

2010-06-18T09:49:00.001-07:00

....this week! WootWoot! Not as big as last week. I only dropped 1.4 lbs this week but any loss is a good loss! I haven't exercised much this week. I rode my bike about 2.8 miles last night. Felt pretty good, I wasn't as worn out as I was after my very first ride. Although I don't look much thinner I am feeling thinner. My husband says he can see a difference after losing nearly 5 lbs...I can't. I've done well at sticking with my WW points. I did use almost all of my extra weekly allowance this week...I need to keep an eye on that. Otherwise everything has been going as planned. Hopefully I can stay at my 23 points next week and lose a bigger chunk of weight! We are going camping this weekend. Camping is not a good idea when you're on a diet LOL Guess I better bring lots of fruit and veggies to snack on! Here's hoping you all have a fantastic weekend!

Friday Weigh In!

2010-06-11T10:29:00.000-07:00

This weeks weight loss total is......3.4 pounds!!!! I am so excited (does the happy dance) If I keep this up I might finally reach my goal of 10 lbs in a month! I've been so motivated this last week and weight watchers really seems to be helping me! We will see how the next few weeks go. Hope you all have a fabulous weekend! :)

WW is working wonders!

2010-06-09T07:46:00.000-07:00

I've been on Weight Watchers for almost 2 weeks. The first weekend I actually gained 3 lbs! YUCK I know! But it was all me...no discipline..."oh well if I go over my points, I'll just exercise more"...HAHAHA yeah right! Well this last week I have been determined like never before. Since my weigh in on Friday I have lost 3.8 pounds (that's 2.6 from my starting weight)! Can you believe it!? And it's only Wednesday! I feel great, I feel thinner already, and I feel completely rejuvinated! I rode my bike nearly 3 miles last night! I am so out of shape, but I made it all the way to the park and back and only had stop and walk twice for a few minutes. Mind you, our park road is uphill both ways I swear! I felt totally satisfied and PROUD of myself for making it that far! While I could barely breathe, couldn't talk and thought my legs were going to melt into the ground like boiling jello...I MADE IT! (big deep breath!) and on to the meal plan...

Oatmeal

Smart Ones Roasted Potatoes and Broccoli

3 oz. Chicken Fried Steak (Homemade NO gravy)
2/3 C. Mashed Potatoes (also NO gravy)
1 C. Asparagus
1 C. Milk

1 Orange
1/3 Serving Sunflower Seeds

Points - 21.5

Hope you are all having a wonderful, happy and healthy week!

I took the plunge.....

2010-06-07T11:05:00.000-07:00

...and joined Weight Watchers online! I've been trying hard to do this on my own, but after nearly 6 months and no real weight loss, I've decided I need help. I had a rough memorial weekend and in 1 day ate nearly 3 times my daily points! I gained 3 pounds that weekend :( Last week I lost 2 of those 3 pounds, but I'm still up 1!My wonderful hubby also bought me a new bicycle for my birthday :) I'm planning on short rides every evening this week and working my way up to 2 miles 3 0r 4 times a week.

Oh oh oh...I am so proud of myself! We went to Wendy's last night for dinner after picking up my bike. I ordered a chicken club with grilled chicken and NO mayo (only ate a little more than half) and ate 1/2 a medium fry! This is a serious step for me. I usually get chicken, but have to have mayo and always get a LARGE fry and eat the whole thing! I was so thrilled with myself and after I put it into my point tracker on WW online, I had only gone over 1...yes 1... point for that day! I stayed on track all weekend! I even passed on greasy dutch oven chicken (mmmm) and ONLY had the vegetables and potatoes! I'm back!!!

Today's meal plans

Apple
Grapes

1 Bagel w/ 3 tbs. cream cheese

Smart Ones Chicken Quesadilla

Stuffed Chicken Breast
Steamed Veggies
1C. 1% Milk

Points - 22

Baby Steps....

2010-05-25T10:46:00.000-07:00

I weighed myself this morning expecting the usual...168.8 and got....drum roll please.....167.6!!! YAY I lost 1.2 lbs since yesterday's weigh. While this is not an official loss (not until friday's official weigh in) I am thrilled to see a slight decrease on the scale! Baby steps...right!? Now to keep myself going in that direction!

I did 40 minutes of gardening last night. 30 of weeding and planting my dahlia's (finally!) and 10 mins of shoveling up grass in my rose garden. According to sparkpeople this should've burned about 238 calories. While I didn't track, I am pretty sure I reached my goal for water consumption as well :) Yay...all of my goals were met yesterday!

Meal plans for today....

1/2 C. Cream of Wheat
1 tsp. Sugar
1 Apple

3 Slices Ham
2 Bread
1 Slice Cheese
1 tsp. Mustard

2 Eggs
2 Turkey Bacon
1 Toast
1 C. 1% Milk

2 oz. Pepper Jack Cheese (Snack)

Points 22, Cal 1005, Carbs-93, Fat 46, Protein 55
**will have to add some fruit or veggies for a few more calories and carbs....

Changes

2010-05-25T10:37:00.000-07:00

I have changed my blog look a little. I changed the background and added some "pages/tabs" to the top. As far as changes with my diet...I'm trying weight watchers points AND counting calories for awhile. So my goals for this week are as follows-Wish me luck that some change (on the scale) happens this week :)

1. WW Points = 22
2. Calories (1200-1300), Carbs (163-200), Fat (32-50), Protein (60-100)
3. Exercise at least 120 minutes (30 mins x 4 days)!
4. Drink 72 oz. of water per day!

Today's menu is...

Coffee
1/2 Bagel
1 tsp. Cream Cheese
Orange

Banana
1 tsp. Peanut Butter
1 Pc. Bread

1 C. Spaghetti Noodles
1/4 C. Alfredo Sauce
2 C. Steamed Veggies
1 C. 1% Milk

Points- 22, Calories 1071, Carbs 164, Fat 33, Protein 34

Weigh Yourself Daily??

2010-05-19T07:56:00.000-07:00

According to some new research (find it here) you should weigh yourself daily! I've always been a firm believer in weekly weighs, because of daily fluctuation. But, according to this article, unless you have an eating disorder, it actually benefits weight loss to weigh yourself every single day! I think I need to buy a new scale :) I don't know if my old one can handle my fat butt stepping onto it every day. Also, I am now doing 5 meals a day (no snacking). Through lots of journaling I have found that I tend to binge on "not so healthy" foods when I am bored. So instead of piling all my food into 3 hours a day, I am going to spread it out through the day and hopefully curb that "bored eating". I will eat at 8, 10, 12, 3 and 5/6. This way I will have small meals every couple hours rather than large meals every 4-5 hours. I hope this keeps me feeling full and satisfied throughout the day. Here is my meal plan for today....

Breakfast
Apple and Cinnamon Oatmeal

2nd Meal
Tortilla w/ peanut butter

Lunch
1 C. Brown Rice
No Cal. butter spary

4th Meal
1 C. Cottage Cheese
1 Apple

Dinner
2 Eggs
2 Turkey Bacon
1 Toast
1 C. 1% Milk

72 oz. Water!

Calories 1263; Carbs 153; Fat 39; Protein 72
(Right on track!)

It's Friday....

2010-05-14T07:31:00.000-07:00

....and that means, weigh in! No loss this week :( I also didn't exercise at all this week. I fully believe exercise (not so much diet) is the key to weight loss! It seems the only weeks I lose any weight at all are the weeks I exercise myself to death! Next week I will be losing myself in exercise :) Elliptical, bicycling and walking walking walking! That's my plan! I'm really thinking about buying the biggest loser or ea active wii games. I've heard they really help! We are also doing a total diet remodel in our house. My son has adhd and we are trying to change our eating habits to help him as well. No more processed foods, no more artificial colors, no more sugars or white flour, rice, bread etc. We will be adding more protein, and flax to our diets. This should be interesting. I better get started on my meal plans for next week. Hope you all have a great weekend!

Breaking bad habits

2010-05-10T14:42:00.000-07:00

Over the weekend I fell back into some bad habits of not finding time to eat. On Saturday we had an all day yard sale. I was so busy that I skipped breakfast, had a bagel for lunch and like 1/2 c. of pasta for dinner. That was literally ALL I ate the entire day! Sunday wasn't much better. I had a sausage, egg and cheese biscuit for breakfast. No lunch. Then lasagne, garlic toast, salad and banana cream pie for dinner. Wow, I feel like a teenager all over again LOL. I could eat whatever, whenever, skip meals, add meals, and never gain weight or lose energy. Oh to have that metabolism again would be a miracle/blessing :) I haven't eaten that well today either..probably because I pretty much starved myself all weekend. Today I've felt like I haven't eaten in weeks! I don't want to post todays meals, but I am going to so I can look back at it all week and not fall into these bad habits!

Here goes.... today

Breakfast
Oatmeal
Coffee w/ cream and sugar

Lunch
Whopper Jr. w/ cheese
Small Fry
Sprite
(OH MY GOSH I KNOW IT'S TERRIBLE!!!)

Snack
ham and cheese lunchable (this is sooo not a snack at 200 calories!)

No water as of yet...really this is bad! OK so for dinner I will be having Veggies and rice with lots and lots of water! I'm skipping exercises tonight. With the state my body is in right now, I don't think I could make it more than 5 minutes...seriously! Tomorrow will be much much better! I promise myself!!!

No calories,carbs,fat or protein counts today...really, what's the point??

The Mother's Day Blog

2010-05-07T07:16:00.000-07:00

Happy early Mother's Day to all you mommies! I never post on the weekend, so I thought I'd just get this out there now. This Mother's Day weekend we are planning a yardsale for saturday. I will also be planting my garden...yay! On sunday we will probably just hang out and relax most of the day (maybe go fishing) and have dinner at my parents house that evening. I don't normally look forward to Mother's Day as something bad usually happens to me LOL! 3 years ago on Mother's Day I woke up to an ant farm in my car. I know you want to hear the story....

The night before, my hubby, myself and some friends were night fishing. They decided to take my Ford Escape to collect wood for the fire. Hubby's nephew ripped a dead tree stump out of the ground and threw it in the back of my car. YIKES! The stump had a wood ant nest in it and every single ant decided to take up new residence in the back of my car. No one noticed until the next morning. We went to get in the car and it was literaly crawling with wood ants! AAGGHHHH I sprayed the hell out of everything with wasp killer and made hubby vacuum out every square inch and did a thorough inspection before I would get in the car. Now every year we have a running joke about getting the wife an ant farm for mother's day.

The next year was ok. I don't think we had any mishaps.

Last year everything was great until that night. Mother's Day morning, we did some yard work, went to hubbys moms house, had dinner at my parents and went home. When we arrived home I walked out back to water our freshly planted garden. On the way to the garden I stepped off a short (about 12") ledge in our yard. I lost my balance, stepped just right and snapped my ankle in half. My foot was pointed the "wrong" direction! Luckily hubby was about 50 feet from me! I yelled "Holy S*** I just broke my freaking leg in half!" He and my kids came running over to find me laying in the driveway with a completely twisted up ankle. I spent the rest of the evening in the emergency room doped up on all sorts of medication and also found out that not only had I broken my ankle, I had also broke my leg! I had surgery 2 days later and now carry a plate and 6 screws in my right leg and ankle. One screw was removed (that one was to fix the ligament that had also torn in half). So as you can see...Mother's Day is usually not the best holiday for me. But since the tragedies seem to skip years I should be ok this year :) Here's a pic of the after surgery x-ray....

On a happier note...I lost 1.2 pounds this week! I worked my butt off! I wish I had a bigger loss to show for it, but, a loss is a loss! Yay for me!

Last weeks weight - 169

This weeks weight - 167.8

Here's hoping for a bigger number next week! Happy Mother's Day to all of you!

Here I come skinny jeans!

2010-05-04T09:43:00.000-07:00

I didn't make it the full hour on the elliptical last night. But I did make 30 mins. with a calorie burn of 250! Sweeet! I know it's not much, but not bad for my first day back on the weight loss wagon :) Tonight I will be mowing my lawn. This will be a good workout for me. My yard has hills and I use a push mower (it has automatic front wheels, but they are broke, so it's all me!) I'll have to wear my heart rate moniter to see how many calories I burn by doing this. I hope it's a lot... I'm feeling really motivated today. I really hope I can stick with it this time and find myself in some hot skinny jeans by August! And on to the menu for today....

Breakfast
Oatmeal
Coffee w/ Creamer

Lunch
Whole Wheat Pita
Ham
Cheese
Light Mayo
Mustard
Lettuce

Dinner
Rice Casserole
Steamed Veggies
Milk

Snack
Dried Cherries

Calories 1291; Carbs 150; Fat 50; Protein 56 (i'm a few points under on carbs and protein today)

Edit: According to SparkPeople, mowing my lawn for 90 minutes (what it usually takes me) will burn 522 calories!!! WooHoo!!!

The Good and the Bad

2010-05-03T11:31:00.000-07:00

I'm not feeling real good about posting more failures. But I guess you take the bad with the good. We have had a lot of cancer pop up in our lives lately. A good family friend was diagnosed with terminal cancer a few months ago, one of my best friend's mom was diagnosed with breast cancer last month and the worst...A high school friend passed away on April 15th. She lost the battle with stage 4 cervical cancer at 27 years old with 3 young boys. She won't see her baby's first birthday :( It really hit home for me. My graduating class had about 60 students, so we all new each other pretty well. She was my age and I also have 3 boys. With so much in common it was hard for me to not put myself in her shoes and wonder how I would deal with dying. I know it will happen, it always happens...you can't hide from death. But I am so not ready to even think about it! I probably caused myself more stress than necessary pondering my death, my life and what I would do if I had to leave my children. I did not eat well at all during this time. I mostly stayed within my calorie limits, but didn't really watch any nutritional values. I lucked out, yet again, and gained no weight. I'm ready to live! To be happy and healthy. I'm ready to lose some damn weight! My husband has promised to work out with me! I think having him as a workout buddy will keep me more motivated. I'm really excited about this. I have no problems keeping my calories in range and eating relatively healthy even when I'm not trying...Exercise is a whole different story. I hate it and wish I could look skinny and svelt without lifting a muscle (yes I know this is a fantasy for most of us). Unfortunately, I'll get no where unless I work for it, right?

Just so you know, I'm NOT on the slimfast plan (see below). I have lost weight with slimfast before, but I want to do it naturally this time and change habits...not just numbers on the scale. I only use slimfast when I'm short on time for meals. It has good nutrition and satisfies my appetite really well until my next meal/snack.

Menu for today

Breakfast
SlimFast Optima Shake

Snack
Banana

Lunch
SlimFast Optima Shake

Snack
1 Slice Bread
1 Tb. Peanut Butter

Dinner
2 Eggs
2 Slices Turkey Bacon
1/2 C. Hashbrowns
1 C. Fat Free Milk

Calories 1268; Carbs 153; Fat 49; Protein 62 (All within limit, except carbs...I'm short 11 carbs today)

Exercise - I have plans to do 1 hour on the elliptical tonight :) with an estimasted burn of 664 calories.

Why?

2010-04-13T10:46:00.000-07:00

Why is it so hard to eat right!? Why is it so hard to get motivated to exercise? If it's healthy and good for you...why is it so damn hard!? So I'm back at it after going AWOL for a few weeks. My failures got the best of me. I won't tell you what I did during the last couple weeks, just know it wasn't what I should've been doing! Luckily I'm still at my "always" weight of 168...it rarely changes. Finally some warm weather (minus the last few days of rain) has moved into our area. Honestly I don't much care to exercise on a machine. I would rather take in nature on a good hike, run, or bicycle ride. I love working in my yard and I'll be doing a lot of landscaping this year. For me, yard work is a great form of exercise. Not so much a cardio workout, but lots of strength. So here is my menu for today...

Breakfast

Oatmeal
1 pc. wheat bread w/ peanut butter

Lunch

Chicken Salad on

Whole wheat flatbread

Strawberries

Dinner

Eggs
Turkey Bacon

Fruit

Milk

Calories - 1246

Weigh Day!

2010-03-26T06:48:00.000-07:00

Yikes! I haven't done a "real" weigh-in with measurements since Feb 3rd! You can see how UN-motivated I've been for the last 4-6 weeks! So here I am as of today!

Weight 168 +doesn't matter, back at starting weight!

Chest 38
Waist 32.75 +.75
Hips 41 +1.5
Thigh 24.5 +1
Calf 15 +1
Bicep 11.5 +.5

Yes I have gained a few inches along with the pounds :( But the calf inches are muscle! That I know for sure!

The Battle of the Carbs!

2010-03-25T12:22:00.000-07:00

I finally defeated the carbohydrates! Todays menu actually kept me barely UNDER my carb goal for the day :) YAY!!! And kept me at my protein goal, which is another one that I struggle with. I always get too many carbs and not enough protein! This is like my perfect menu as far as nutrition, but not something I could eat everyday (especially since I had hardly any fruit). Here it is....

Breakfast
Oatmeal
Hard Boiled Egg
Green Tea

Lunch
Cheese Quesadilla
Salad w/ Light Ranch
Fat Free Fruit Yogurt
Water

Dinner
Pork Chop
Veggies
Couscous
Tea

Snack
Baked Cheetos
Fun Size Snickers Bar

Can you believe I even had (whispers) chocolate! I was so excited to be able to eat that little tiny candy bar and feel OK about it! It didn't kill my calories, fat or anything and satisfied my sweet tooth. Now I just have to kick some butt on the elliptical tonight.

I have a new found motivation. Please do not take this as an insult in any way! But, you know you're fat when a fatter person asks YOU if you're pregnant! Now this "bigger" person happens to be someone that I see quite often. It's not like she hasn't seen me in years and all of the sudden I'm BIGGER. No...she sees me weekly, she is my AUNT! She felt compelled to "rub my belly" and tell me so sweetly "oh you look like you have a baby in there" Are you serious!? Nope, I'm just fat! OK so now that I know people think I look pregnant (hahahahahaha) I'm getting rid of this little basketball under my shirt! GO ME!!!!

Finally, onto yesterdays post. The truth is #2. I have been on a cruise in Hawaii. The highlight of my life :)

Yay...I won another award :)

2010-03-24T10:20:00.000-07:00

Creative Blog Award

1. Thank the person who gave this to you. Thank you Jen at Suck It Up Buttercup

2. Copy the logo and place it on your blog.

3. Link to the person who nominated you. Already did- it's up there on #1

4. Tell up to six outrageous lies about yourself, and at least one outrageous truth.
1. I work for the IRS

2. I have cruised the Hawaiian Islands

3. I have lived in Las Vegas

4. I have swam with sharks in Australia

5. I have been sky diving

6. I am really a brunette

7. I am a total computer nerd

5. Nominate seven "Creative Writers" who might have fun coming up with outrageous lies.
Just another FAT girl

I wish I could have nominated more :(

6. Post links to the seven blogs you nominate. Did it on #5

7. Leave a comment on each of the blogs letting them know you nominated them. Will do!

Living Healthier

2010-03-23T14:26:00.000-07:00

For me, my little weight loss journey isn't so much about losing 20 lbs as it's about learning to live healthier. We all know we have to change for "life", not just a day, week, month, even year. I don't consider myself "fat" but I am a little chunky :) Having 2 babies wreaked havoc on my midsection. I always feel disappointed when I don't see a huge loss on my scale each week. I've come to expect no loss at all. This isn't a good mind set! I am starting over! I've not lost a significant amount of weight since January and right now I'm back at my starting weight. I think the best thing for my mind is to just start from the beginning. Starting today I WILL exercise 30 mins per day 5 days a week, I WILL stay within my calorie range, I WILL watch fats and sugars, I WILL stick to my meal plans and I WILL drink at least 8 glasses of water per day! Wish me luck that I can have enough self discipline to change the way I live, not just my weight!

Today's Menu

Breakfast (I even took a pic)

Oatmeal

Kiwi and grapes

Coffee

Lunch

Clam Chowder

Salad

Dinner

La Choy's Chicken Chow Mein Dinner

(4 stars on CalorieKing.com :))

Brown Rice

Milk

Stress Free Foods

2010-03-19T14:19:00.000-07:00

Here are a few foods that beat stress....

1. Black Tea - In a study, people who drank tea 4 times a day for 6 weeks had 20% less cortisol circulating in their bodies!

2 Oatmeal - High fiber foods like oatmeal boost serotonin, a "happy" hormone that plays a key role in relieving stress.

3. Salmon - According to research, people who consumed healthy omega 3 fats for 3 weeks had far fewer cortisol surges and bouts of nervousness during tough times. Also, a daily dose of omega-3 can send you energy levels soaring by 61%!

4. Whole grain toast and jam - Whole grains are packed with B vitamins and minerals that nourish the adrenal glands, reducing production of stress hormones. And jam stimulates serotonin production!

Credit: Womans World Magazine

Friday No-Weigh

2010-03-19T13:21:00.000-07:00

Grrr I've failed myself again this week. I'm not even weighing...again! I feel like I'm on a non stop roller coaster...the ups (exercise, veggies, energy) and the downs (junk food, TV, complete and utter laziness!) Why can't I just stay motivated to do what I'm here for...lose weight and be healthier!? My hubby has been working out a few days a week and eating twice as much junk as normal and is losing...YES LOSING weight! Now I know it's harder for women to lose weight, but come on! 'take a big breath, relax and start over' that's my plan. What else can I do? I need to start logging calories again. I really haven't since the end of February. I thought I'd eat the same with or without the calorie journal...haha yeah right! No pen and paper...nothing stopping me from eating just one more serving, piece of chocolate, french fry, taste of cake! This has to be the hardest thing I've ever done. Compared to the 2nd hardest thing...quitting smoking, losing weight is not even on the same scale! I hate it! That's half my problem. I need to love it, embrace it, and DO IT! It's like fighting a war with myself every day to get up and exercise, or skip the Snickers and have an apple. I need some serious discipline! Has anyone had experience with Curves or Weight Watchers? I've really been thinking about doing something like this instead of "on my own". My big problem with WW is that I don't have a weigh in group near me. The closest one is like 20 miles away and the time conflicts with my schedule. I looked into the online program, but I don't think that will help if I don't have to physically weigh in and account for my loss/gain. Can I do it with just the starter kit? What do you all think?? What do you do to get yourself out of the "slump"?

This is an accurate chart of my weigh loss LOL!

St. Patty's Day!

2010-03-17T14:26:00.000-07:00

Happy St. Patrick's Day everyone! My little guy's dentist appointment went great yesterday. I got to watch them give him the anesthesia and they let me stay with him until he was unconscious. A very weird experience, but I think I had better piece of mind leaving him, knowing that he was asleep and OK! No problems arose and he had no pain afterward. I couldn't have asked for a better dentist trip! I did pretty well staying with healthy foods while I was gone with the exception of 1 trip to McDonald's. There I had 1/2 a med. fry, 1 parfait and about 2 bites of my hamburger and a medium Coke. My starving little boy ate the rest. I plan on exercising tonight! Finally!!! At least 40 mins of cardio and going to try to work in 10 mins or so of strength as well. Today's menu....

Breakfast
Frappuccino
Applesauce
Oatmeal

Lunch
Grilled Chicken Salad
1 Tsp. Ranch
Water

Dinner
Milk
Steak
Veggies
Baked Potato

Snack
10 Almonds
String Cheese

M.I.A.

2010-03-15T10:20:00.000-07:00

Sorry I've been "Missing In Action" for the last few days. It's been hectic to say the least. Friday I took the day off to watch my cousins daughter. It's not easy to do anything with two 2 year olds running the house. Saturday was my oldest son's wrestling tournament. Started at 8 AM and went till about 1 PM. Then we had my youngest sons 3rd birthday party at 3 PM. I don't know how I made it through the day! The stress caught up with me in the end and I ate 2 sloppy joes, chips and dip, a little ice cream, 2 pieces of cake UGH, and some soda! Damn birthday parties! I spent most of the day Sunday cleaning, doing laundry, and getting packed for a short trip tonight. It snowed pretty heavily all day sunday. I ate healthy, but still haven't been able to work in some good exercise. My 3 year old has a dentist appt. in the morning to have some dental surgery done. I'm nervous, which tends to make me want to munch all day. He's having anesthesia (which I hate!!!) It scares the hell out of me! After tomorrow I will for sure be getting back on track! I even have plans to go next week and get a pass at the local gym :) I know I will do it if I have to pay for it! Haha Anyway, here is my menu for the day and a few pics from my 'lil guys birthday party, just for fun :)

Breakfast

Oatmeal

Applesauce

Lunch

1 pc. Garlic Cheese Bread

Salad

Dinner

Chicken Club Sammy

Veggies

Milk

Snack

Yogurt

String Cheese

Good Morning Birthday Boy

Presents

Spongebob Cake

Our Snow Storm. My tulips were just coming up too :(

Went a little overboard...

2010-03-09T06:49:00.000-08:00

I had a super sweet craving yesterday. I ate a Caramello (mmmmm). Yuck, I know! (smacks herself on hand and says "no, no!") And....I had 2 portions of spaghetti last night and like 3,4, ok 5!!! pieces of garlic bread. It tasted so good and I was staaaaarving! I don't really know what the deal was yesterday. I only know it wasn't the best healthy day. Oh well...moving on! The good news is I did do 25 mins. of cardio! According to my heart rate watch I burned 210 cals.! Todays menu (which I will be strictly adhering to) is....

Breakfast
1 pc. wheat bread w/ peanut butter
1 small apple
1 ser. Frappuccino

Lunch
Small portion of leftover spaghetti
1 kiwi
Salad

Dinner
Teriyaki Turkey Breast
Roasted Vegetables
Milk

Snack
Tomato
Yogurt

Total Calories - 1289
Fat - 27.4
Carbs - 189.6 (damn it's hard to keep those carbs under my limit!)

Magnificent Monday

2010-03-08T07:31:00.000-08:00

I'm feeling renewed and rejuvenated today! I stuck to the health food very good this weekend (minus 1 or 2 minor slip ups) I even ate at only salad at Pizza Hut! And it tasted so much better than the pizza looked :) I went grocery shopping yesterday and bought all the things I need for this weeks SparkPeople menu. My hubby bought some cookies...I only allowed this because he's quitting smoking this week and I know the sweet craving you get in the process! Oh I have to confess that I did eat 1 very small piece of cake at Pizza Hut (we went for a birthday party) and I drank 1 Smirnoff Grape...those were my minor slip ups LOL. Hope they don't ruin my weigh in this week. My hours at work changed so I'll now be getting off 1 hour earlier! YAY this gives me a whole extra hour to exercise each day! I think I'll be less stressed about getting everything else done, that I will be more willing to put in some extra time exercising. You have to understand that 5pm to 9 pm, isn't 4 hours... It is dinner, homework, chores, baths, teeth brushing, and the hour long bedtime fight! I have 2 young boys, 1 with a case of ADHD...that is NOT controlled with meds. Now I have a whole new hour from 4-5 PM just for me!!!! Yes I am spewing sunshine today :D

Menu for today is...

Breakfast

1 Banana

Cinnamon Oatmeal

Lunch

Tomato Soup

Salad

Dinner

Vegan Spaghetti

Garlic Bread

Milk

Snack

Yogurt

String Cheese

Finally!

2010-03-04T07:53:00.000-08:00

After weeks of gradually gaining back every pound I had originally lost or nothing at all...I have finally seen some change! I weighed in today at 163. That's a 5 lb. loss from last week!!! I'm so excited! It's almost like I hit my plateau right off the start. Whatever the reason, I hope I continue seeing some lower numbers each week.

In other news... I am changing weigh in day to Friday (yes I know today is Thursday but I was too excited to wait till tomorrow). I am following my SparkPeople meal planner as closely as possible (starting last night). Yesterday I did 50 minutes of The Biggest Loser Boot Camp and today I did level 1 of the 30 Day Shred. According to my heart rate watch...I burned nearly 500 cal.!

For dinner last night we had
Pork Chop
Steamed Asparagus
Couscous Meal Plan today...
Breakfast
1 pc. Wheat Bread w/ peanut butter
1 Apple
1 C. Milk

Lunch
Leftover Couscous
1 Banana
Baby Carrots

Dinner
2 Scrambled Eggs
Hash Browns
2 slices Turkey Bacon
5 oz. Orange Juice

Snacks
String Cheese
Yogurt

Random Pictures

2010-03-03T09:57:00.000-08:00

I don't really have any "dieting" issues to post today. So instead I'm going to post a few pics that I took yesterday with my new camera. Pictures always brighten my day! Enjoy...

This is Max...our male Pug

This is Ryker's "Kitty"

A flower from my Valentine's Boquet (Yes they are still alive!)

Another Flower (testing my close-up features)

My oldest son Bransyn posing for me

Our mutt Missy

Lil man in the bath

Sassy, our female pug (she's old LOL and still as spunky as a pup)

Ryker "shakin' his booty" (I have weird kids)

Yes we have a lot of animals. My kids try to bring home every stray they find. The cat came with the house (it adopted us and stays outside). Everyone in the house spent most of the evening hiding from me and my new toy. My kids finally said "NO more pictures mom!" hahaha

I was lost....now I'm found

2010-03-02T12:14:00.000-08:00

I fell off the dieters wagon :( After yet another week of no weight loss, I lost my way. I went off the deep end in a pool of fat, sweet, greasy, sugary bliss! Fortunately after 4 days of eating anything and everything in sight (or a 4 mile radius...whichever you prefer), I gained NO weight! Can you believe it? I eat nothing and exercise my booty off for weeks with nothing to show for it! Then I go nuts on a 3000 cal diet (maybe not that much, but it had to be close!) and not gain an ounce! I'm beginning to believe it's God's will that I stay at 166-168 lbs for the remainder of my mortal life. I've found my way back to my healthy foods and exercise routine. I just don't know what to do anymore. Any suggestions???

I won an award!! :)

2010-03-01T07:57:00.000-08:00

I'm so excited! I won my first blogging award! Thank you so much Googie for my Sunshine Award!!!

I now pass this award on to 12 bloggers that bring Sunshine to my day!

1. Real Fat

2. Weighting Around

3. Pounds Down

4. The Road to Weightlessness

5. Suck It Up Buttercup

6. Everything Gwenny

7. Jen's Losin' It

8. Finding Frannie

9. The Pseudo Fat Chick

10. My F Words

11. Fat Not Fluffy

12. A Weighty Situation

Now, you pass this award on to 12 bloggers who make you happy!

Burnin' through the cardio!

2010-02-23T07:42:00.000-08:00

I almost died last night! No not really, but I sure thought I was going to. After 30 minutes of non-stop cardio with my heart racing at 140 beats all I could do was lay on the floor and pray to the "fit Gods" that my lungs stop burning! I know, I know...30 minutes is nothing compared to what some of you do, especially the runners. But for my out of shape muffin top, this was huge! I pushed myself so hard last night. Even though my muscles were killing me from the night before. My arms burned, my legs ached, and I pushed on! This is a huge accomplishment for me. Usually if my arms/thighs/calves/abs burn from a previous workout, I either do a half-assed job or nothing at all. Not last night...I said "I want this!!! NO PAIN, NO GAIN!!! err....LOSS!!!" And I did it!!! Just wanted to share my small victory with everyone. I'm so pumped to do it again this evening! I'll be kicking myself later for saying that! ;-)

Trying something new...

2010-02-22T13:18:00.000-08:00

Taking some advice from a friend, I am going to eat the same thing everyday for 1 week and see if it makes a difference on my weight loss. I won't be posting menus this week as the only thing that may change will be what meat is with dinner. Here's the plan...

Breakfast
Plain Oatmeal
1/2 C. Blackberries
1 C. Milk

Snack
Plain Yogurt w/ fruit

Lunch
Wrap with meat, veggies and little cheese
(Using tomato/basil wraps with turkey or lean ham, turkey bacon, lettuce and a tiny bit of ranch dressing...delicious)
Salad

Snack
1 C. Fresh Veggies

Dinner
3 oz. Protein (Pork, Turkey or Chicken)
1 C. Brown Rice
1-2 C. Cooked Veggies
1 C. Milk

64 oz. Water!!! (Seems to be one of my bigger problems..on avg. I'm getting about 40 oz a day)

This diet will keep me right around 1200 cal., I will add one thing daily to bring me up to 1300 (my ideal take-in is 1300-1700) 33.6 g. fat (max is 40) and 148.1 g. Carbs (max is 170) I will not be salting or sugaring anything (i'm sad about this...how will I ever live without salting pretty much everything !? I can do without the sugar LOL) I don't expect to see much change for my weigh-in on wednesday (as it will have only been 3 days), but hopefully by next week my scale will have moved DOWN a little.

Exercise
Today I will be doing 40 mins of cardio and 20 mins of abs only = 60 mins.! My target is 40-60 minutes of exercise 5 times a week. Everyone keep your fingers crossed and wish me luck :) I'm going to need it!

I just want to SCREAM!!!!

2010-02-17T07:10:00.000-08:00

Another week with no loss, but again a gain! 0.2 lbs. to be exact. I'm fed up! I've been doing this for 4 straight weeks and nothing to show for it. I know that quitting smoking is part of the issue but DAMN a little bit of some change would be nice! I've nearly convinced myself to start smoking again to see if it makes a difference! NO of course I'm not going to start smoking again. Something's gotta give! I lost more weight before I was exercising just by cutting calories. And I'm not losing inches either! This is so discouraging. I'm going to go cry over a pint of rocky road now :( ....not really. I'll just cry over my fat free yogurt instead!

Weekly Goals

2010-02-16T10:05:00.000-08:00

I've decided to start posting weekly goals rather than worrying about my monthly "loss". I think these short term goals will keep me more motivated. I will normally post these on Monday, but since I just decided today (tuesday), I will post this weeks now!

- Lose 2 lbs.
- Drink 8 glasses of water each day
- 3 days cardio (45 mins)
- 2 days strength (20 mins)
- Cut down on carbs (so hard, I love my carbs!!!)

I can feel myself becoming uninterested in exercising. I know it's time to kick it up a gear and motivate myself or I will just stop doing it altogether. And I know I need to cut out some carbs. Almost every meal (especially dinner) contains some type of bread or pasta :( I will be switching to whole grain pasta and bread...my kids will just have to get used to it! This way I don't have to cut them out completely. I will also be adding more beans and legumes to my diet and cutting out meat 2 days a week!

I had a fairly healthy weekend, other than Valentine's dinner :) I had Chicken CordonBleu with steamed veggies, baked potato and a fresh strawberry shortcake for dessert. Other than that I ate fruit and veggies pretty much the whole weekend. I'm really hoping to see a change on the scale this week :)

Breakfast
Banana
Breakfast Essentials Drink

Lunch
Fat Free Strawberry Yogurt
Penne with Veggies (I know...carbs!! Already had it packed for work though)

Snack
String Cheese
60 Cal Choc. Mousse

Dinner
Beef and Bean Tacos
Green Salad w/ Spinach
1 C. Milk

What a night!

2010-02-11T07:44:00.001-08:00

This is a little off topic, but hilarious (to me anyway). I love my little boys. They drive me insane but I wouldn't trade them for the world! I have a 2 (almost 3) year old son. Since the day he was born I can count on my hands and feet how many times he has slept through the night! Yes, even though he is nearly 3 and fully potty trained (even at night), he cannot make it through the night without waking up. I normally don't worry about it. He will wake up sometime in the night and come crawl in bed with me and hubby. Not last night! I was awaken at 11:30 PM by a roaring TV in the living room. I could hear my little Ryker talking to "someone". I walked into the room and he was having a party with the dogs! He had cheese puffs out of the cupboard and was feeding them. I almost laughed until I saw the disaster he had made. All the contents of my purse were strung from one end of the house to the other...he was looking for gum. Every cupboard door and the fridge door were open in the kitchen...who knows how long. He has markers out with every lid off. He had "colored daddy a pretty picture" with green marker on my kitchen table, a roll of paper towels, daddy's pants that happened to be folded on the table, daddy's recliner and mommy's couch!!!! I didn't know whether to cry or laugh! I was too tired so I did neither...I picked him up, turned off the TV and hauled him off to bed. It would have to be dealt with in the morning. Needless to say, I did not get any workout in this morning! I was too busy cleaning up after Hurricane Ryker!

Does this look like a little boy that could destroy a house while mommy, daddy and big brother are sleeping? :)

Weigh In

2010-02-10T06:46:00.000-08:00

There isn't much change this week. In fact NO change in measurements and a slight change in weight.

Weight 165.8 -0.4

I'm not very happy about this, but at least it's a tiny step in the right direction for a change! I think I will cut my calories back a little for this next week and drink a lot more water.

Here are a few fat burning tips from HEALTH Magazine...

1. Pears - Rich in fiber. They help you feel full and keep from overeating.

2. Grapefruit - (one of my favorites!) Eating 1/2 a grapefruit before each meal may help you lose weight. A compound in grapefruit helps regulate insulin, a fat -storage compound.

3. Almonds - In a dieting study, people who ate a handful of almonds every day for 6 months lost 18% of their body fat.

4. Chocolate - Dark chocolate is rich in antioxidants and may help prevent the accumulation of fat cells in the body. (ewww I hate dark chocolate)

Breakfast
1 Grapefruit
1 Granola Bar

Lunch
Rice with Vegetables

Snack
100 Cal. Fudge Grahams

Dinner - (same as what I put yesterday, we had to change last nights menu)
Steak
Baked Potato
1 T. Sour Cream
Steamed Veggies
1 C. Milk

Total Calories - 1253
Fat - 27%

Tuesday, Feb. 9th

2010-02-09T13:54:00.000-08:00

I did 20 mins. of strength last night and 30 of cardio this morning. I'm pushing really hard to see a drop on the scale this week (praying to the skinny Gods)! I hope not tracking my calories over the weekend didn't kill it! Here's the menu for today...

Breakfast
Breakfast Essentials Drink
Granola Bar

Lunch
Subway Ham Sandwich on Wheat
Light mayo
Mustard
Veggies
1/2 small bag sunchips

Snack
100 Cal. Cookies

Dinner
Steak
Bake Potato w/ 1 T sour cream
Steamed Veggies
1C. Milk

Total Calories - 1587
Fat - 28%

Superbowl is the diet devil!

2010-02-08T08:41:00.000-08:00

I hate superbowl! Every year it's the same thing. I start a diet for a New Year's resolution and then superbowl comes through and destroys it! Food Food Food, oh and the football game :) No, it really wasn't that bad this year. I controlled myself for the most part, except the lil smokies..mmmmm! But I did everything good this year! I made chicken and rice burritos, chips and salsa, and apples, grapes and cheese. Oh and the lil smokies :) I didn't count any calories this weekend (I'm sure I should have though) I think I did ok and stayed in my limits. I don't know why I have such a hard time staying on track over the weekends! I really need to figure something out, so I don't fall off balance when friday comes...

Weigh In

2010-02-03T07:08:00.000-08:00

Today is weigh in day...yuck! Still gaining weight and losing inches. I wish I'd start seeing a drop on the scale as well as the tape measure! I did 30 mins. of cardio this morning. I could barely breathe by the time I was done, so I know it did something for me! Here goes...

Weight 166.2 +1

Neck 12
Chest 38 +2 (I've lost and gotten back 2" in 2 weeks (weird))
Waist 32 -0.5
Hips 39.5 -0.5
Thigh 23.5 -0.5
Calf 14
Bicep 11
Forearm 6.5

Very happy to see a little loss on the measurements. Much more than I expected to be honest :)

Breakfast
2 Kiwis
1 Low Fat Peach Yogurt

Lunch
Big Salad with spinach and baby corn
String Cheese

Snack
60 Cal. Chocolate Mousse

Dinner
2 C.Tomato Soup
Tuna Sandwich
1 C. Milk

This only gives me 1026 Calories, so I have to eat at least 200 more somewhere throughout the day...
Fat 27%

I also am only drinking about 4 glasses of water a day. Really need to move that up to 8!

Day 13 30-DS

2010-02-02T07:47:00.000-08:00

I've fallen off the blogger radar for a couple days...oops! I had a very un-healthy weekend, so I'm not even going to post what was eaten :) I haven't counted 1 calorie since Friday...yikes! I've tried to conciously keep it healthy. I like to think I kept it close to 1500 a day, but without counting, who knows? I'm back on track today and plan to keep it that way :) I always have a hard time with the weekends!

Breakfast
Breakfast Essentials Drink
Grapefruit

Lunch
Penne and Veggies with light Alfredo Sauce
Salad
1 T. Dressing

Snack
2 String Cheeses

Dinner
1 C. Spaghetti with Mizithra and Spinach
Salad w/ Spinach and dressing
2 Pcs. Garlic Toast
1 C. Milk

Total Cal. 1458
Fat 30%

Day 9 - 30 DS

2010-01-28T11:40:00.000-08:00

I did 2 circuits this morning = 15 minutes. I really put everything I had into it today! No breaks, no cheating, no modifying and I made it! Honestly I think I had better luck with it today because instead of listening to Jillian and the (pardon my french) "crappy" music, I plugged my iPod in! With some fast paced music I was much more motivated today :)

Breakfast
1 6 oz. low fat yogurt
1 Breakfast Essentials Drink

Snack
String Cheese

Lunch
Toasted French bread with garlic and cheese
60 cal. Chocolate Mousse
(Not the healthiest lunch, but I needed a break from fruit and veggies)

Dinner
Don't know yet. Whatever it is it has to be about 500 cal. though. That should be easy enough.

Day Off

2010-01-27T07:35:00.000-08:00

I took this morning off from the 30 Day Shred as a rest day. Today is also the dreaded "weigh in day"! So here are the stats...

Weight 165.2 +0.8 (gained a little but ok with it...will explain further down)

Neck 12
Chest 36
Waist 31.5 -1.5
Hips 40
Thigh 24
Calf 14
Bicep 11 -0.5
Forearm 6.5

As you can see, I have gained 0.8 lbs this week. I have been a little discouraged watching the scale rise rather than fall, but I finally have an answer! I read an article this morning that said when you start any new exercise routine your muscles immediately retain water! your body does this to protect against muscle damage. This water retention can last up to 2 weeks causing a gain in weight. After 2 weeks of doing the exercise routine, your body decides it is normal and stops retaining the water...therefore, you begin losing weight! This makes sense for me, especially since I have cut my calories way down and in no way should I be gaining weight! So I'm going to go with it for another week and hopefully will start to see some loss.

Breakfast
1 large grapefruit
1 6 oz. low fat yogurt

Lunch
1 C. Rotini and Broccoli w/ Cheese
1 Banana
1 Light String Cheese

Snack
1 100 Cal. Fudge Graham Cookies

Dinner
Clam Chowder
2 pcs. Garlic Toast
1 C. Milk

Total Calories - 1269
Fat - 20%

Day 8 - 30 DS

2010-01-26T07:21:00.000-08:00

I've made it over a week! Woohoo! I did the FULL 20 minutes on level 2 today :) Although I had to take a few short breaks, I still made it all the way through! I'm a little excited if you can't tell. I'm trying hard to stay motivated. It's a little hard to when I'm not seeing any results yet. I may have to step it up to more than 20 minutes a day...ugh!

Breakfast
1 6oz. Fat Free Berry Yogurt
1 Kiwi Fruit

Snack
1 Banana

Lunch
Ham 'n Cheese Sammy
Garden Salad with Spinach
1 T Light Ranch

Dinner
1 C. Spaghetti with Mizithra cheese
1 piece garlic bread
1 C. Milk

Total Calories - 1189
Fat 28%

Day 4-7 of the 30 Day Shred

2010-01-25T07:55:00.000-08:00

I had a busy weekend with no time to post, so I'll catch up now. I've moved up to level 2 of the 30 day shred. Much more intense than level 1! Today marks my 1 week smoke free! :) I'm feeling great! With all this exercise, eating right and no smoking, I have much more energy and stamina throughout the day. That's something I've been lacking for quite some time.

Today's menu...

Breakfast
1 6 oz. fat free strawberry yogurt
1 kiwi fruit

Lunch
1 small slice pizza
1 cup raw veggies (carrots and zucchini)

Dinner
(haven't planned this far ahead yet :) checking out some new recipes online)

Day 3 - 30DS

2010-01-21T07:53:00.000-08:00

I didn't make it the entire dvd this morning :( I was short on time so I did about 15 minutes. Still a great workout! Today is also day 3 of NO smoking..I am so proud of myself :) And it's only getting easier!

My secret to not smoking is "the gum". I would surely recommend at least trying it to anyone wanting to quit! I like the fruit flavored one the best. Also, since I am not into spending money, I buy the no-name brand :)

For breakfast I will be having my Breakfast drink and a fat free strawberry yogurt :)

Lunch - Ham and cheese sammy and tortilla chips.

Instead of doing calories for each meal, I will just do the total for the day from now on. You may not care what I eat everyday, but if I have to type it, it keeps me honest :)

I think I will also begin my yoga again over the weekend. Since I've had 8 months of recovery from my broken ankle, I think it's time to put it back to work. For me, yoga greatly reduces stress and improves flexibility, muscular strength and endurance, and balance. I love yoga. It's realxing while at the same time toning and tightening the body. Perfect :)

Day 2 - 30DS

2010-01-20T11:52:00.000-08:00

Today is #2 of the 30 Day Shred and not smoking! Doing great so far. I did 15 minutes of the Shred today...tomorrow I will do the whole thing! I did my weigh in today and have gained 1.4 lbs :( Here are my stats...

Weight 164.4 +1.4

Neck 12 -0
Bicep 11.5 -.5
Forearm 6.5 -2.75(this one seems way off, maybe I wrote last weeks wrong)
Chest 36 -2
Waist 33 -3.75 (this one seems big too)
Hips 40 -.5
Thigh 24 -1
Calf 14 -0

I feel like I'm getting somewhere with the calorie cut and exercising. That's keeping me motivated to work harder!

Today for breakfast I had a Breakfast drink and Maple Oatmeal. Calories - 377

Lunch - Ham and Cheese sandwich with 1 tsp. light mayo and mustard, and a 100 cal. bag of harvest cheddar Sunchips. Calories - 464

Don't know what I am having for dinner yet. We are going to dinner somewhere else for a birthday party. Will update that tomorrow!

Day 1 - 30 Day Shred

2010-01-19T07:55:00.000-08:00

Second attempt at the 30 day shred. I made it 3 days last week, then got sick and lost all motivation. So now, I am starting over! I still have a bad cold so I only did 12 out of the 20 minutes today. I figure something is better than nothing! This dvd kicks my butt! It's extremely intense for such a short amount of time. At the end of the 20 minute level I can feel "the burn".

Also Day 1 of no smoking! Will be hard not to munch all day, but I have will power! :)

For breakfast I had an Instant Breakfast nutritional drink and a fat free peach yogurt. Total calories - 320 Calories from Fat - 10

For lunch I had leftover Meat Loaf and Pasta with Broccoli and Cheese sauce. Total Calories - 517

Dinner - 1 cup Progresso Clam Chowder and Grilled Cheese Sandwich with 1 cup milk. Total calories - 529

Total calories for the day - 1366

Not too bad. My max is 1500 cals, but going for 1200!

All About Me

2009-12-10T11:42:00.000-08:00