must get moving!

Last week I set a goal for myself to exercise at LEAST 4 times. Did I do it? Nope. I did not. I think I exercised twice. So, this week I really need to get going. I really like the Turbo Sculpt dvd that I'm doing, but I have got to find something that I like for cardio. I'm not a fan of any of the cardio videos that I have and walking would require that I get up and go before the hubs leaves for work and I haven't done that yet.

The eating is still going well. I'm starting to find a balance in my calories. To begin with I think I wasn't getting enough protein in because I was constantly hungry so I had make some adjustments. Right now I'm finding that 4 small meals and a little treat after dinner is working really well.

The good news - I lost another 3 pounds this week. The bad news - I ate horribly all weekend so I really am going to have to get moving this week if I don't want to see it show back up on the scale when I weigh on Friday. My plan is to not be so strict with my calories on the weekends, but I let it get a little out of hand this weekend. Not good.

More good news - I was able to get back into my black pants. Yes, they are the big ones, but it has been quite some time since I have been able to wear them at all. I also tried on my other black pants, the smaller ones, and I can button and zip them. They are still too tight to wear, but this is major progress. It has been very motivating to be able to get back into some of my clothes.

I mentioned a week or 2 ago that Blair wasn't going to do the McFatty Monday posts anymore, but I'm so thankful that Ashley is going to pick up where she left off with 'Move it Monday'. Ashley is the one that really inspired me in the first place to just get with it. She has just made her first weight loss goal of losing 33 lbs, and she looks great! I'm so excited for her.

Thanks for all of the healthy snack ideas last week. I had just gotten some laughing cow cheese to eat on crackers, but Ashley suggested laughing cow cheese on a tortilla with chicken or turkey....um yes please.

just a tad excited!

Ok, like really excited. The needle on the scale is moving down. I mentioned last week that I was back to counting calories. It's still going well and is much easier than the body for life. I don't feel like I'm missing out on certain foods. I am learning that it is like anything else you want to be successful at. You MUST plan ahead. The times I have tried counting calories in the past I didn't really have a plan I just counted them and was out of calories by lunch and gave up. This time around I know that to stay on track I plan dinner ahead of time and know how many calories I'll be consuming. Then I use the rest for breakfast/lunch/snacks.

I have officially lost 10 lbs. Now, I just need to do that several more times.

The exercise is still the toughest part for me, but I'm still making progress. My goal this week is to workout at least 4 times. I'm also really enjoying this website for recipes. I'm about to try to pick out of few for this week and then head to the grocery store.

What is your fav go to healthy snack? and what is your fav healthy weeknight meal?

Total to Date - 10 lbs lost

Week 5 - 2 lbs
Week 4 - 0 (I'm assuming, I didin't weigh)
Week 3 - 1 lb
Week 2 - 2 lbs
Week 1 - 5 lbs

Completely Random

Instead of a bunch of different short posts you get one long random one.

- I haven't been in the mood to post lately, and I'm completely okay with that. Friday Favs are officially dead. You are welcome. I have about 10-15 house/decor related projects that I could post about (some are pretty great), but I'm just not in the mood. I already said that.  I have no desire to write about them right now. Decor/DIY type stuff is still my fav thing to do, but for now I'm just not feeling it when it comes time to sit down and write about.  I'm sure it will show up at some point, but for now, I'm not going to feel pressured to do Decor/DIY type posts.d

- I think that part of the reason I'm not into writing about Decor/DIY stuff at the moment is because I'm working really hard at being more intentional with my children. I want to enjoy them growing up and really be present with them each day. I don't want to be halfway playing with them and really thinking about some DIY project that I could be working on.

- Henry was sick all of last week. Having a miserable baby makes it really hard to eat well and exercise.  I realized during that week that the whole Body for Life eating plan would not be a lifestyle change for me. Normally at this point I would just choose to bale and start eating everything in sight. Nope. Not this time. I will push through. (ok, the real truth is I did eat whatever while Henry was sick, but I'm back on track now and have been all week.) I'm back to counting calories. I haven't been successful with it before, but this time around I have a smart phone so it's been much easier to keep track of. So far, so good. I was scared to weigh myself and give an update on monday so I chose not to.

- Henry's vocabulary is starting to grow. This week he has added cookie (he started yelling it as soon as we walked into publix - he wanted his free cookie), popcorn, and Mimi.

- Cade starts Kindergarten, and we are going to home school. I said that I would NEVER home school my children. Some of my closest friend home school their children, but I was still very closed to the idea. I purchased a K-4 curriculum last fall so that I would have something productive to do with Cade each day. You know, just for something to do, not because I wanted to home school. My heart started to change. I still wasn't sure that we would home school, but I was more open to the idea. By the time it was time to register Cade to see if he would be accepted into the magnet school I was pretty sure that I was going to home school. I still registered for the magnet school and of course he was accepted. I was still leaning towards home schooling. I didn't know "why?" I felt it was the right thing, but I still felt like it was the right direction. Cade is extremely social and smart and I knew that he would with out a doubt enjoy regular school, but I just couldn't get settled on it. So I gave up his spot in the magnet school and decided to home school. FOR SURE.  It still bugged me that when someone would ask my Why?, I didn't feel like I had a good reason. I just knew that I would trust God and do it anyway. I am so glad that I trusted God on this one. One night this week Cade brought me a book by E. H. Kenyon and asked me to read it to him. The title of the book is Identification (A Romance in Redemption). This is a deep book that I have never attempted to read, but have heard about. I read the first 7 chapters to him that night. He didn't want me to quit reading. A day or two later he brought me a stack of books to read to him, a few new books that he had just gotten, The Pokey Little Puppy, and Identification. He reminded me that we were on Chapter 8. We read Chapter 8. I looked at the stack of books and the Lord said to me (in that still small voice) This is why you are going to home school him. I realized that the reason I was going to home school Cade was so that I could determine what is taught to him. God is so good. It's always nice when you know you are doing the right thing that he shows you why. I was happy to know that I didn't miss it. I can now say that I am excited about this new school year. I'm excited to see what God has in store for us.

Have a great weekend!

flatter

My scale is stupid!  Okay really, I just need a digital scale. Mine is old. I can't tell if I have lost one lb. or zero lbs. this week, but that is okay. The good news is that Cade told me that I was getting flatter! It took me a minute to process what he said, but he's five so I'm taking it as a compliment and that I'm starting to look thinner.

This week has been tough, but I must keep going.

linking up to McFatty Monday.

two and two

Two weeks down and another two pounds lost. I'm pretty happy about this, especially considering I caved and had a blizzard on Thursday night. I wish I could tell you that this is super easy, but you would know better. I can say that it is getting easier.

Last week I promised some details on what I'm doing, so here you go.

eating

I am using the Body for Life Plan. I am a firm believer in finding something that you can do to change your eating habits for the rest of your life. I also think it's important to fuel your body with good food, not just a bunch of diet processed stuff. I wish I could tell you that it's easy for me to just make good food choices, but I really struggle with portion control. The basic concept for meals with Body for Life is eating 6 small meals throughout the day that include a portion of a lean protein and a heathy carb at each meal 6 days a week. One day each week you get a free day to eat whatever you want, whenever you want. This has made it easy for me to keep my portions in check and know that I haven't given anything up, but am practicing moderation. One day a week really is plenty.

Here's a sample of what my meals look like.

breakfast - 2 hard boiled eggs sliced on top of a piece of whole wheat toast
snack - protein shake (this helps me get my chocolate fix)
lunch - turkey wrap with honey mustard, spinach, and sliced tomato
snack - low fat string cheese and an apple
dinner - spaghetti and meatballs (made with lean ground beef), salad with lite dressing
snack - low fat cottage cheese and another piece of fruit

The best thing I ever did was was take my mom's Eating for Life cookbook. It has helped me think beyond just having a piece of chicken and a sweet potato for dinner.

exercise

The Body for Life exercise plan consists of 40 minutes of weight training on non consecutive days 3 days a week and 20 minutes of cardio the other 3 days, with one rest day. I'm not doing the actual exercises they have lined out, but am using Turbo Jam. I do the Turbo Sculpt on the weight training days and the 20 Minute Cardio on the cardio days. So far haven't been consist with working out each day, but I'm making progress. I'm learning that it really is a process and progress is a good thing. I just have to keep going.

Week 1 -  -5lbs
Week 2 -  -2lbs
Total to Date -  -7lbs

Linked to:
McFatty Monday

Body for Life isn't sponsoring this post in anyway. I just like the plan and find it easy to stick with. All opinions are my own.

I CAN do this!

Caution: long wordy post with no pics about weight loss and how I have struggled with it for too long.

It's time for me to get serious about losing weight and getting in shape.

Here's the thing. I've been overweight for way too long. I was slim and active until I got married at 18. Once I was married I started cooking, eating what I cooked, moving less and increasing my portions. Not Smart. Slowly, but surely, the weight piled on. It didn't help that I worked at a bank and we ate all the time. Customers brought in doughnuts, whenever someone had a birthday we had cake, if it was Friday we had a treat. I simply couldn't say no to the junk.  I would diet and lose a little here and there, exercise here and there, but never made the lifestyle change. All of this has added up to an extra 60 lbs on my body.

Long story short, I can't blame any of this weight on having babies. I gained less then 30 lbs with each pregnancy and the pregnancy weight came off quickly. It's all the other weight that I have to get rid of.

I have tried counting calories and counting points and I HATE both of them. I have also tried just eating better,  and making healthy choices, but really have a hard time with portion control. That is okay, I have found something that is working for me. It's called Body for Life. I was in a thrift store years ago and found a copy of the book for $1. I bought it, read it, started eating well, exercising, and dropping the weight. One day, I just quit. I don't really remember why or how, but I did. I still had not committed to the lifestyle change.

One day last month I decided it was time to start Body for Life again and really make the change. I am finally ready to eat well, work hard, get the weight off, and enjoy a healthy lifestyle. I'm done with not wanting to go somewhere because I don't want anyone to see how bad I have let myself go. I don't want to be the fat friend. Or the wife and mom that looks frumpy and sad.

I'm ready to do this for me.

So far I have lost 5 lbs. I am 25 lbs from my first goal. I have adjusted well to my new way of eating, the exercising has been a slower process, but I'm moving in the right direction.

This post is getting long, so next week I'll give you some details on why I like Body for Life and some of the details about the eating plan.

I'm linking this post to McFatty Monday.

Body for Life isn't sponsoring this post in anyway. I just like the plan and find it easy to stick with. All opinions are my own.