16 Weeks

I am 16 weeks into my Weight Loss-Get Healthy journey.  

Here is my 16 week picture.  By week 15 I was down 19 pounds exactly.  On week 16 I weighed in at 177.0 for a total weight loss of 18.8 pounds.  I took measurements on week 15 and I was down 4 inches in my breasts, down 9.5 in my waist, down 5.75 in my in my bum, and down 6.5 in my thighs.

I have been mildly discouraged that I've been holding steady at 19 pounds down.  I know it sounds silly, but really it's the fact that I'm so close to 20 and also that 19 is an odd number.  However, I have not been so on top of things in the eating good department.  Also, Brian's work schedule changed so our workouts have been off kilter.  I've still been going to Zumba and Spin class and either going to the gym or doing 30 Day shred 6 days a week.  Also it was Easter and we were out of town, and blah, blah, blah, lots of excuses.  The point is that I while I'm not losing more pounds, I'm maintaining and continuing with exercise.  

I am still taking the Plexus Slim drink and 2 Accelerator pills in the morning, and about a month ago I added in 2 Pro-Biotic vitamins in the evening, and just this week I started a Bio-Cleanse, I only plan on doing the Bio-Cleanse for a month or so, that's how long the bottle lasts.  

So, that is my update for now.  I'm still loving the Plexus products and the energy they are giving and the help with controlling my cravings.  I bought a Diet Coke while I was out of town over Easter and I had 2 drinks of it and threw it out, I didn't even like it, so I am grateful for that.  I don't crave many empty carby things very much anymore either.

It's almost swimsuit season, if you want to give Plexus a try, contact me or go check out my website!

http://amandasilverhorn.myplexusopportunity.com/contact

And just for fun here are my 13 week pictures

Before on the left, After on the right

Before on the left, After on the right

11 Weeks

Hey!  I haven't posted in awhile, my computer broke and it's not ideal to post a blog from my phone.  Well, I got a new computer and figured I'd update on my progress so far.  It's been 11 weeks since I started Plexus and I'm still doing great.  My weight loss has slowed down a little and I even hit a plateau for about 10 days, but here's the thing.....I didn't gain during the plateau, I'm back to losing, inches and pounds, and I am still feeling great, a lot more healthy!  I have continued working out as well, and it has become a habit and if I miss a workout day, I am sad about it, I have come to enjoy working out!  We have gotten to a point where we do about 5 GOOD workouts a week, on Sunday's we do a lite workout with the kids, we go to the High School track or to a local park that has a long walking trail with obstacles.  Since we are with the kids, it isn't always a serious hard core workout, but it is fun family time and exercise for the kids, which is important too.  And then, there is usually about one night a week when we just feel lazy and want to skip a workout, usually Friday or Saturday, Friday is the end of my workweek and it seems like Brian has had to work late those nights the past few weeks, so we've just skipped, or Saturday is the end of his workweek and I've been some kind of combination of lazy and busy running around with the kids on Saturday.  So here is a breakdown of my weight and inch loss.

On March 22nd was my 11 week weigh in
Weight 179.4 down 16.4 pounds ~ I weighed 2 pounds less than Brian!
Chest 41.5 down 3.5 inches
Waist 34.5 down 9.5 inches
Butt 42.75 down 5.25 inches
Thigh 37.25 down 4.25 inches

If you are interested in trying out the Plexus System like I am, check out my link to my Plexus website.  I am doing the Plexus Slim and Accelerator.  I also added in the Pro-Bio 5 probiotic about 2 weeks ago.

http://amandasilverhorn.myplexusopportunity.com/

Here is what we are doing as far as workouts....
Sunday-Go to track or park with kids
Monday-Chest
Sit Ups and Plank
Flat Bench Press, I can bench 65 pounds now
Incline Bench Pres
Dumb bell Flys
2 miles on Treadmill OR 20 minutes on Elliptical
Tuesday-Zumba (Brian does a weight lifting workout)
Wednesday-Zumba (Brian does his own workout again)
Thursday-Legs
Sit Ups and Plank
20 front weighted squats, I do 75 pounds
20 dead lifts, I do 85 pounds
Calf Raises, I do 30 pounds
2 miles on Treadmill or 20 minutes Elliptical
Friday-Back & Biceps
Sit Ups and Plank
Bent Over Rows, I think I do 65 pounds
Straight Bar Curls, 45 pounds
Reverse Curls, 25 pounds
Treadmill 2 miles or Elliptical 20 minutes
Saturday-Shoulder & Triceps
Sit Ups and Plank
Military Press 45 pounds
Dumbbell side laterals, 15 pounds in each hand
Shoulder shrugs, 20 pounds in each hand
Skull Crushers, 20 pounds
Treadmill 2 miles or Elliptical 20 minutes

This is the Plank Challenge we started, we got to about Day 15, we keep doing it but I cannot get passed 1.5 minutes, and right now, I don't even have a desire to plank for 5 minutes, LOL.

This is the Crunch Challenge we did, we finished it and have continued doing the 100 crunches every day.  

We went camping this past weekend and I was worried about not working out while we were gone.  We left Saturday afternoon, so I did a 30 Day Shred workout video Saturday morning.  Then Saturday, Sunday, and Monday, I took it easy, there was lots of walking and hiking around, including walking up and down the steep boat ramp several times a day, but there was also a lot of sitting and relaxing.  I was also concerned about continuing eating healthy while out camping.  We are tent campers and we like to have things that we don't have to cook or things we can cook over the fire pit, and things that aren't expensive, and things that we can keep in a cooler in the Arizona desert, that is a lot of qualifications for our camping food and makes for limited options.  This is the menu I came up with, a little bit of "healthier" options, and a little bit of indulgent "not so healthy" options.

Breakfast- Breakfast burritos, before we left, I cooked 1 pound of diced bacon, 1 dozen scrambled eggs, and 1 package of refrigerated hash brown shreds, mix all of that up in a bowl, put a few spoonfulls into tortillas, top with cheese and sliced green onions, roll up burrito style, wrap in foil, and freeze, then in the morning you make a campfire and cook the burritos.  I put the frozen burritos on the top of the cooler, so they defrost some and are not completely frozen solid.  I also brought a bottle of hot sauce.  We also had instant hot chocolate and cappucino mixes which we used a teapot over the fire to heat the water.  We could have fruit with breakfast too.

Lunch- Sandwiches, fruit, and chips.  I brought bread, ham, turkey, swiss, and colby jack, PB&J too.  I only brought one bag of ranch Doritoes, and one bag of Pretzel Crisp chips (for 2 days of lunch).

Dinner- Tamales, Hot Dogs, Cup of Noodles, and fruit.  I bought fresh tamales from our local tortilla place, wrapped them in foil and we could warm them over the fire.  We used the teapot to make hot water for the cup of noodles, and we also had hot dogs and cheddarwurst which we cooked using our roasting sticks.  **The Cup of Noodles and Hot Dogs, I realize are the most unhealthy options, but they were yummy** I am still trying to think of healthier options for our next trip.  Maybe some kind of pre-made frozen dinner burritos, or some short of hobo dinner.  Any suggestions?

Dessert and Snacks- Smores, fruit, (I brought strawberries, apples, oranges, and bannanas), and Cheez-It crackers.  The strawberries went the quickest, then the banannas, I tried to convince everyone to eat bannanas because they were getting brown quick out there, and I hate brown banannas.  I brought home a few apples and oranges.  I ate a few roasted marshmallows, how could I not?  I'm not really looking to deprive myself, just to make more healthy choices most of the time.  A little indulgence here and there is fine with me.  

Drinks- Water, Power-Ade, I keep old Power-Ade bottles, fill them with water and freeze them, I use these whenever we go camping, fishing, long road trip as ice for my cooler, and as they defrost we drink them and refill with water from gallons I bring.  We also brought a few mix in powder packets of lemonade.  No soda.  So far, cutting out soda has been pretty easy, until Monday morning, I saw my BIL open up a coke and I thought "man that sounds good right now".

On our way home yesterday afternoon we stopped at Chilli's for dinner, the kids got appetizers and dessert, I got a burger, and Brian got 2 appetizers.  My burger was GOOD, but totally full of calories, and I had a bite of each of the kids dessert.  Oh well, again, something bad for you is fine every now and then, everything in moderation, right?  I have to say that the salads on the menu did look good, but I always have a hard time ordering a $10 salad when I'm out to eat, I figure if I'm out to eat and spending money, I'd rather get something savory and different than I can get at home.  A bacon cheeseburger with crispy onion shreds is not something I'd make at home very often so I just got it, and after 2 1/2 days of camping, it hit the spot.

I have to say, doing my Plexus drink and Accelerator Pills every morning wasn't that hard or inconvenient and taking the Pro-Bio 5 at night was fine too.  It is already my habit and it's easy to do, so the hardest thing was just remembering to pack it.  

I did end up gaining about a pound and a half while camping, I'll attribute it to the not so great food choices and the fact that I have a hard time going to the bathroom while away from home.  I expect by my next weigh in day (this Saturday), I'll be at least at my last Saturday weigh in spot, (hopefully less, but for this week I'll be happy with a no loss, no gain week, especially since it's Spring Break and I know having the kids home all week will probably get me off of my regular routine).

So that's my update on my All About Me progress.  Again, here is my Plexus link, just in case anyone is interested.  :)

http://amandasilverhorn.myplexusopportunity.com/

One Month Update

I have been on my new journey with the Plexus products for over a month now, and I have to say, I am feeling Super Duper Awesome!  Here is my progress so far....

Day 1 I weighed 195.8 and my measurements top to bottom (that's breast, waist, bum, thighs) were 45, 44, 48, 41.5.

2 Weeks in I weighed 188.4 and my measurements top to bottom were 43, 38.5, 47, 41.

After 4 Weeks....
Weight 186.0 (down 11.2)
Breast 43 (-2)

Waist 36.5 (-7.5)
Bum 45.5 (-2.5)

Thigh 39.5 (-1)

 

and After 30 Days....It comes as a 30 Day Supply
Weight 184.4 (-11.4)

Breast 42.4 (-2.5) At first I wasn't too happy about losing inches in this area, but now I'm thinking it was back fat (yuck) that I lost, so I'm totally okay with that!
Waist 36.5 (-7.5)
Bum 45.5 (2.5)

Thigh 39.5 (-1)

 

And here is my picture of  my Start, 2 Weeks, and 4 Weeks!

 

I told Brian that I think I am destined to have a big butt and thighs forever, that's okay, I'm pear shaped.  I am excited about the weight loss and the inches lost in my waist.  But, really, what I am still most excited about is how I feel, I am still feeling great, more energy, no cravings for sweets, I'm not hungry, I am happier, and I am enjoying going to workout!  I have gone to the gym or Zumba 21 of the last 23 days!  I skipped on day because I had been on a long road trip with Kortnie, and I skipped another day because I went to a church thing with Stasia (that ended up lasting 6-9pm, ugh!).

Also, I have signed up 2 Ambassadors and 1 Customer so far and I've made a little money back!  Probably about 1/3 of what I've spent, so that makes me feel good too.  I figure the money I've spent is totally worth it, I did feel a little guilty at first spending that money and the time at the gym, but once I thought about it.  The Plexus products minus the money I've made have cost me, maybe $2.50 per day, and the gym member ship for Brian and I costs us each less than 50cents per day.  So $3 a day and 60-90 minutes time away from the kids, but at the gym with my Brian?  I'm totally worth that!

 

Oh, and 2 nights ago at the gym I was looking at myself in the mirror while lifting weights and I thought I looked pretty good, and last night while I was doing Zumba, I thought my arms looked kinda skinny, and my neck does too!  So even though I'm not losing tons of inches in my booty and thighs, I'm losing it elsewhere, and today I put on a pair of size 12 pants (and wore them all day!) so that means I'm down 2 pants sizes too.

My February goals are to sign up at least 2 more people whether they are customers or ambassadors  (actually that 1 customer I talked about earlier signed up today, so I'm halfway there on that goal already), and to get my weight into the 170's, I can't even remember the last time I was in the 170's! 

2 Week Pictures

Okay, here is my Before and 2 week photo on my Plexus journey.

Down 7.4 pounds and 10 inches!

A little recap....

Day 1 ~ January 5, 2014

Weight 195.8 Yikes!

 

Day  3

Butt 48"

Thigh 41.5"

Waist 44"

Breast 45"

Day 7

Weight 191.2

Butt 47"

Thigh 40.5"

Waist 40"

Breast 44"'

Day 10 

Weight 190.4 Yes!

and now

Day 15 (1-20-14)
Weight 188.4 (DOWN 7.4 Pounds!)

Breast 43" (Down 2"....eh, I don't care if my boobs get smaller)

Waist 37.5 (Down 6.5"!  This is EXCITING)

Butt 45.5" (Down 1.5".  This is good, need more!)
Thigh 41" (Up .5"....weird, I want it to go down!  Either I measured wrong before or working out is making my legs get bigger, I don't think I like that.)

So, I am down 7.4 pounds and 10 inches, I think when I posted on Facebook I said 11.5 inches, I miscalculated somewhere.

I still feel really good! Brian and I have still been going to work out every day and that is great.  He and I both feel good and it's becoming a natural habit for us to go.  It really helps that he wants to go every night, that we can do this together.  Saturday evening I had an event to go to at 6pm, he gets off work at 5pm and gets home around 5:30, so we've been going to the gym around 6, so I asked him Saturday morning, "do you want to wait and go to the gym around 7:15pm with me or should we go separate today?"  He replied, "no, I'll wait for you, unless you want to go separate."  I love that he wanted to wait for me and I love that every morning before he goes to work we make our plan for dinner and gym that night. On Sunday we knew we were going to family dinner at his moms house, so we got up and did a 30 Day Shred workout before our 9am church just in case we didn't get home in time to go to the gym.  We went to church, then dinner at his moms, we got home around 6:30pm and still headed over to the gym, so we got in 2 workouts on Sunday!  When we got home Sunday evening, I had turned on my Seahawks NFC Conference game and I admit, it was hard for me to leave the game and go workout, but Brian was wanting to go, so we went.  I checked the game score a bunch of times on my phone while we were there though!  LOL

The last week the weight has come off a bit slower, but I'm okay with that.  I think a slower weight loss might be healthier in this case because I really am trying to change my habits and do this the right way, I also am trying not to deny myself anything.  At Sunday dinner, his mom made tacos, so I opted for a big taco salad instead of fried taco shells, she also made cheesecake and 2 kinds of cupcakes, I ate one cupcake and that was it, I didn't go overboard which I usually do at her house, and I drank water instead of lemonade.  Last night we had hamburgers, homemade french fries, and fresh pineapple for dinner.  I decided that I'd skip the burger bun and eat the french fries.  I still had bacon, avocado, tomato, pickles, and mustard on my burger though, it was yummy, and I didn't miss the bun at all.

That's my update....if you are interested at all in the Plexus products, feel free to check out my webpage, comment, text, call, email, or PM me on Facebook.  (No pressure, just in case you are curious, you don't even have to tell me if you click the link and poke around, I'll never know unless you order :) but seriously if you have a question, go ahead and ask it, I'd be happy to find you the answer!)

http://amandasilverhorn.myplexusopportunity.com/

My New Journey

With the start of this New Year, I feel like a switch has finally been flipped inside of me.  I know I've tried to get healthy before, but I always get derailed.  I am finally ready to do this for me now.  I'm saying that this is my time and my life and I want to live it my way.

 

For awhile now I have been just treading water, doing all that I can to get through each day.  I'm just tired, tired, tired.

A friend of mine started taking this supplement Plexus and posting about it on Facebook, actually a few friends did.  I kept reading their posts and thinking it all sounded too good to be true, but they kept posting and I saw improvements in them.  Not just in changes in the way they look but how they act, like a real happiness.  Finally I decided that I would try this out for myself.

 

I went to the website and ordered the weight loss products and even signed up to sell it, just because there was a good end of the year special going on and it was the best deal.  I haven't sold any yet, and I'm not posting this to try and sell anything either, although I will post the link, just in case anyone who may read this is interested.  But, what I want to do is keep track of how I'm feeling and my progress with the Plexus products.

 

Every morning I take 1 Plexus Pink Drink that I mix with 8-12oz water and 2 Accelerator Pills, then I eat breakfast 30 minutes later.  Usually a Greek Yogurt or a Peanut Butter Toast.  Around noon I have lunch.  Around 4 I have a snack, and I eat a light dinner after I work out, usually around 7:30pm.  I make sure to drink at least 100 ounces of water each day.  No sodas or sweets, the Pink Drink helps you to not crave sweets, it also helps you to feel it when you are full.  The Accelerator Pills give energy.  I have not had or even wanted any soda or coffee since I started and I feel like I have way more energy. 

 

 

Day 1 ~ January 5, 2014

Weight 195.8 Yikes!

 

Day  3

Butt 48"

Thigh 41.5"

Waist 44"

Breast 45"

Worked out 45 minutes of Spin/Zumba

 

Day 4

Weight 191.8

Worked out 45 minutes of Zumba

 

Day 5

Weight 192

Worked out with Brian at gym at least 1 hour

 

Day 6

Weight 191

Worked out with Brian at gym at least 1 hour

 

Day 7

Weight 191.2

Butt 47"

Thigh 40.5"

Waist 40"

Breast 44"

Worked out with Brian at gym at least 1 hour

**Down 4.6 pounds and 7 inches*

 

Day 8
Weight 190.2

My Period starts

Worked out with Brian at gym at least 1 hour

 

Day 9

Feeling a little tired, but not like I usually am on the first day of my period.

Weight 191.2 weight gain during my period is normal for me

Worked out with Brian at gym at least 1 hour

 

Day 10 (TODAY)

Weight 190.4 Yes!

We plan on working out tonight (every night!)

 

I will do measurements again on Day 14.  I was only going to weigh myself on Sunday and Wednesday, but as you can see, I have been weighing myself every morning.  It's been fun to see my weight go down, but I do realize that this is a habit I should get out of.

 

Overall, I really feel good!  I used to be so tired and just DONE by 4 or 5 in the afternoon, but now I have the energy to keep going. I have the energy to fix dinner and clean it up and to go with Brian to the gym when he gets home from work.  I have gone and worked out 7 days in a row!  Last week was the dreaded PMS week, I am usually hungry and pissy, I had no problems with cravings and I felt like a nicer me.  I didn't catch myself getting irritated at all and I didn't snap at the kids either.  My brain feels clearer and I have been sleeping better and have been able to get out of bed easier in the morning. I have been cooking the same as usual, but actually cooking every night not just telling the kids to find something or going to get something quick at the store.  We've had hamburgers and mac&cheese, lasagana, tacos, posole, baked potatoes and meatloaf, spaghetti and salad, pork roast and (leftover) mac&cheese, and breakfast burritos and hashbrowns for dinners.  For lunch I have been having lots of salad and a few sandwiches.  I am trying to do lower carb for my lunches and for the dinners I'm trying to cut calories in a few small ways.  When we had baked potatoes I picked a smaller potato and put just a little butter and some cheese, no sour cream.  When we had tacos I steamed the corn tortillas rather than frying them and again no sour cream for me.  When we did hamburgers I skipped the bun.  I have been trying to have at least one salad a day.  The other night the kids got ice cream at the store, I made them all an ice cream cone and all I did was lick the spoon when I was done and that was good enough for me to get just a little taste.  In fact, there are 2 things of ice cream in the freezer and I'm not even tempted to go have any.  (That is a big deal for me!)

 

I've never tried any of these "fad" diets before, this is my first time, and for the first few days I thought that maybe all of these good feelings and extra energy was in my head, but now I'm certain that the Plexus Slim products are doing what they claim to do. 

If you are interested feel free to click my link and check it out.  Or you can always post a question here or email me too.  It really is good stuff.

 

http://amandasilverhorn.myplexusopportunity.com/

 

 

 

 

 



Here I Go Again

Well, like the title says, Here I Go Again.

 

It's been awhile since I exercised regularly.  I have tons of reason and excuses, but what it all boils down to is that I just haven't been taking the time for myself to take care of myself.

 

Today, Brian and I started 30 Day Shred.  He's been asking me for awhile now to find something we can do together in the mornings.  He told me he prefers a video we can do at home.  A few days before Father's Day he asked me again.  So, I got on Facebook and asked for opinions and then I got on Amazon and ordered 30 Day Shred.  It arrived yesterday afternoon and we started this morning.  We did the level 1 version.  After it was done I said "that wasn't so bad" and he said "yeah" so I said, "maybe we should do level 2 tomorrow" and he said something like "humph".  So maybe we'll do level 1 a few more times

 

I also got on the scale this morning, which I haven't done in a long time because I know that I wouldn't like what it said.  Ugh....it said 192.6.  Blah!  Last time I really worked at losing some weight I got down to 179, but I hovered around 182-185 most of the time.  So here goes, my first goal will to get back down to that 182 mark and then after that 175. 

 

Maybe tomorrow I'll take a picture of myself and some measurements. 

 

Brian, for the record, is a good weight I think.  He sits around 195-205 and he's 6'2". I think he just has been feeling old lately and a little flabby-like his muscles aren't defined as much as he likes.  So, I guess what he hopes to get is a little definition and some pep in his step.

 

As far as dieting.  I'm not really into that.  I do want to consciously think of what I'm eating and where my calories are coming from.  I want to eat less fast food and cook more at home and I want to buy more good things and less crappy things.  I also want to enjoy a milkshake with my kids or go out for an ice cream cone every now and then.  And today just happens to be 1/2 price milkshakes at Sonic all day.  So I told them I'd take them and I may or may not get myself a small, we'll see.  I don't want to feel bad about having a treat and I want to eat food that I like. 

 

So, here we go. First we're gonna conquer this 30 day shred, then we'll make a new goal.  I'll continue going to Zumba when I can and maybe I'll throw in a few walks or runs in these 30 days too.  One day at a time, right?

 

Day 1 of 30 down, 29 more to go.

 

Wish me luck.

 

 



Maintaining Not Gaining!

 

 

 

I went to a Zumbathon a few weeks ago, and the newspaper man was there taking pictures.  This is one that made the online version of the newspaper.  Probably no one but me and maybe a friend who knew I'd be at that zumbathon would recognize that this is me and Anastasia.  Can you see where I labeled myself and Stasia?  Me in a gray shirt, Stasia in black.  Anyways, you'd think that seeing a picture of yourself excercising in tight-ass (literally) black pants in the newspaper might freak a girl out.  Not so much, I am actually quite proud that I don't look too bad at least I don't think I look too bad.  I am proud of the progress I've made so far this year.  I still have pounds to loose and inches to shave off, and I'll continue to slowly work at it, but for now, I'm pleased with myself. 

 

My brother in law is visiting from California, I guess it's been around 15 months since we've seen each other in person.  He told me, kind of out of the blue, (re: we weren't talking about dieting or excercise or anything like that) that he could tell I've lost some weight and that I look good.  It is so good to hear that from someone else.  The people around us see us every day so they don't always notice the changes we make, but for someone who hasn't seen me in awhile to mention that I look like I've lost weight, is Awesome!  I told him "thanks, that is so nice to hear, I've lost around 15 pounds this year give or take, I still have a ways to go but it's getting hard, the holiday's are coming and the pumpkin flavors are out!"  LOL  My MIL was there too and she said for me to just concentrate on maintaining and not gaining.

 

I still haven't replaced the batteries in my scale.  I don't feel like I've gained any and some days I feel lighter.  All of my size 16 jeans are too big, I can fit nicely into one size 12 and one size 10 pair that I have.  I can wear a size Large sized shirt and sweatshirt comfortably instead of an XL.

 

We signed papers to refi our house the other day.  We stand to save around $350/month.  I have not used our credit cards all year, I am looking forward to using that extra $350/month to pay down some credit card balances.  2013 will be a continued year of New Year - New Me with a debt diet and continued work on changing and maintaining our healthier eating and excercising habits.  2012 has been a good start, but I am commited to continuing this process. Maybe 2013 should be more like New Year - New Us.  My husband is hunting this week, hoping to get a cow elk, he used to be a meat cutter at a local grocery store when he was in High School.  We are pretty confident that we can cut up our elk ourselves.  We're looking forward to having a freezer full of lean elk meat that should save some money on food and save some calories too.  

 

For these next 2 1/2 months of 2012 I will concentrate on  Maintaining Not Gaining, both in my weight and my families debt. 

 



5 Days in a Row!

So far this week, I have worked out everyday.  Yep, 5 days in a row!  Monday-Friday.  Oh yeah baby! 

Monday - Yardwork, raking, hoeing, mowing and stacking wood.  It was indeed a workout, my arms, shoulders, and neck were sore and my hands are still recovering.  Also a 2 mile bike ride, kind of leisurly since it was with my oldest daughter, but we did a lot of hills and it's hard work getting up those.

Tuesday - 1 mile walk with kids, 1 hour Zumba class.

Wednesday - 1 hour aerobics class, 1 mile walk with kids

Thursday - 1 mile walk with kids, 1 hour Zumba class

Friday - 1+ mile walk with kids, 30 minutes of various excercises in my room this morning.  Sit ups, Crunches, Pushups, Weight Lifting.  I didn't have the time to go out to the aerobics class, but I did make myself do a bit of excercising this morning.  Worked up a sweat.

The batteries in my scale are dead, so I haven't weighed in this week.  I don't really want to.  I'm feeling kind of PMS'y and bloated so I figure I won't be happy with the scale, I'll wait until the end of next week after all the PMS-related stuff is over for the month, that's always when I get the best results on the scale. 

I've been drinking more water and trying to watch what I'm eating, not been getting seconds on stuff.

Feeling good about myself this week.  We don't have any big plans for the weekend, soccer with the kids on Saturday, Church on Sunday.  Hoping to get in at least a short run with the kids tomorrow, or a bike ride.  On Sunday we'll probably go get a load of wood, maybe a bike ride with the kids in the morning.   Moving and Grooving - that's what I'm going for!

Trying to Re-Commit

This morning I weighed myself, 183.4 is what came up on the scale.  I guess that means I'm still down 10 pounds for 2012, but up 4 pounds from earlier this year, back when I was really working on losing weight. 

I would like to eventually get down to around 150, but at this point I'm going to really aim for 173, that will be a 20 pound weight loss for the year.  Then next year, I will work on the other 23 pounds.  Someone told me, or I read it somewhere, something like "It took longer than a few months to put on those extra pounds, so don't expect them to come off in just a few months".

I'm not excercising as much as I should be, but when I do get a workout in, I really do enjoy it. It makes me feel good, energized and fit, and good about myself.  Last night I realized that I didn't have any of the kids I babysit coming until around 10:30am, so I told my husband that I was going to ride bikes with our kids to school, then go over to the track and get a run in.  This morning I woke up and I really thought about staying home and enjoying a few hours to myself, but then I figured, all I would do probably was sit and watch TV, so I convinced myself to stick to my plan. 

I rode with Graham to school, then rode over to the track, I ran 2.08 miles in 26:20, a little less than a 13 mile/minute pace.  Not bad.  I also probably rode my bike around 1.5 miles.  I'm going to really try to go to Zumba tonight too.  I take my oldest daughter to Zumba with me, she really enjoys it, and she's fun to watch.  She gives me the motivation to keep going to class.

Last night I was standing at the counter in my bathroom, wrapped in a towel and brushing my teeth.  Brian was in there too, I felt his hand kind of go down the side of my body, I thought he was maybe feeling the towel because it looked soft?  So I asked him, "is it soft?"  He told me, "I like that curve, it looks nice."  It made me feel good about myself.  I was not a skinny girl when he met me, but I was closer to that 150 pound mark, I am sure he knows that I'll never be a skinny girl, I don't really think he's want that anyways, I've got curves and I think he likes them.  It was nice to be reminded of that last night, and it's nice to actually see some of my curves coming back instead of me just being a big blob.  Let's face it, there is a difference in being curvy and being a fat blob, right.  I had 3 pregnancies, I gained weight, I tried to get back to myself, everytime I started getting myself back into a routine I would get pregnant again and finally I gave up.  My youngest is 5 now, I really don't think anymore pregnancies are in my future.  No excuses now, I want to get back to where I should be.  I need to just keep reminding myself of that. 

Overall, so far this year, I do feel healthier, I've lost a few pounds, I'm happy about that.  What I'm most happy about though is that I've gained stamina, I've realized that I enjoy excercising, I have more energy, I'm getting a few curves back.  I still love food, I always will, I need to work on portion control and keeping up with the excercise and someday I'll get to where I want to be.

The Color Run Albuquerque 2012

 

Last weekend, I traveled to Albuquerque to do  The Color Run, it's about a 4 hour drive for me, I met my cousin Tracy there, she came from Lubbock, TX and she had about a 5 hour drive.  This is me before the run, all nice and clean.  You start out with a white shirt and as you run, there are color stations where volunteers color you with a substance, kind of like cornstarch with food coloring.

 

It's a 5K race, we got there around 7:30 Saturday morning, the race started at 8am.  I heard that there was 7,000 people there.  They let us go in waves of 500-1000 people.  We were in the 2nd or 3rd wave of people to go.  It took me 38:23 to finish.  When I was getting back to the finish, there were still people starting.  I thought to myself, there was no way I'd want to be in those last groups and see so many people finishing when I hadn't even started yet.  I didn't run the whole thing, I think around mile 2 I started doing walk/run/walk/run intervals.  Tracy ran the whole thing and she only finished about 5 minutes or less before I did.  I told her to go on ahead, I didn't want to make her wait for me.  

 

Here we both after the whole race and festival were over, we're pretty colored up!  So much fun.

 

After the runners start finishing, back at the finish line there is a color throw about every 15 minutes.  All of the runners gather in front of the stage and throw their color packets up in the air, this is Tracy at the end of the color throw, when the dust is still settling.  I like this picture.

 

 

Tracy took this photo, it's right in the  midst of the color throw.  Pretty neat.

Here I am in the color throw, Tracy took this one too, and she had a glop of color on the lens of her camera, so I'm a little blacked out, still a pretty cool shot. 

I had a great weekend, missed my kid and husband for sure, but it was nice to be away from them.  Absence makes the heart grow fonder, right?

This run was so fun and all the money raised went towards Ronald McDonald House, I think the Color Run donates to chairities in the cities they hold the runs in.  I saw lots of different people participating, families, teenageres, older folks, novice runners like me, and the more serious runners too.  People were dressed up, lots of long crazy socks, lots of tutu's also.  I'm looking forward to signing up for another one the next time they come to Phoenix.  I think they did one in January in Phoenix, so maybe January 2013 there will be another one and I think I'd either try to get some friends from here to go, or take my kids. 

Way too long

The last time I posted was April 27, it's now August 22.  Wow, the only excuse I have is that I was busy.  Spring gets busy because the kids start Little League and they are ending the school year.  There are always lots of activites going on and I get busy with my PTO stuff.  I also started babysitting around the last time I posted, so that added to the business!  Summer flew by, the kids were out for 10 weeks and we had something going on all the time.  I think from May until now there have only been about 2 weekends when we didn't have plans or something going on.  And even now we have big weekend activities for the next 4, and 4 more after that where at this point all we have schedualed so far are Soccer games.  Before I know it, we'll be rolling into the Holiday season and we all know how that is a crazy busy time.  It just seems as if life is moving way too fast these days.  I need to try to find a way to slow it down.

Most of the summer was hit and miss with the excercising.  I rode bikes with the kids, I swam, I ran about 5 times.  It was hot, stuff was going on, my kids were home, I was babysitting, we went camping, we took a trip to Elko where my parents live, we had family visiting, there were town celebrations, the list goes on and on. 

School has started back up again, we are getting back into a routine.  I am happy to say that I have gotten back to an excercising routine again too.  I hope I can keep it up.  Last week I worked out 6 out of 7 days, and this week I'm on track to do 5 out of 7.  Not too shabby.  I gained some weight back over the summer and I'm ready to take it back off again, and hopefully keep it off this time and lose a bit more.  I haven't gotten back on the scale yet, I'm kind of nervous to see how much I gained back, I think I'll get on the scale Monday morning and use that at my starting point this time around.

Here's my new excercise scheduale

Monday - 1 hour free aerobic class at my church in the morning 8-9am
Tuesday - I usually run and ride bike in the morning after I take my kids to school, then 7-8pm Stasia and I go to Zumba.
Wednesday - 8-9am aerobic class at my church (I could go to Zumba 815-915pm but it's kind of late and I don't go to this class very often if I miss a Tues or Thurs I'd go but, by that time of night the kids are in bed and I'm ready to have some time with Brian)
Thursday - try to fit a run in sometime during the day and Zumba with Stasia 7-8pm
Friday - Aerobics 8-9am
Saturday - off day or bike ride with the kids
Sunday - a run with Brian in the morning

Also, M-F I walk 1 mile roundtrip to go get Graham from school, he's in Kindergarten this year and goes 1/2 days, he rides his bike in the morning with his sister, but he gets out right before lunch and I think he's too little to ride bike home by himself, so I either ride my bike or walk down there to get him.  It just kind of depends on which kids are here those days.  I have one girl I watch who can ride bike with me to go get him, but there are 2 other kids who don't have bikes here so when they are here I usually walk, pushing one in a stroller.  Ther've been a few days when I rode the 1 mile roundtrip 3 times, in the morning to drop them off, midday to get Graham, and in the afternoon to pick up the girls too.  If I don't have extra kids I like to go with them.  They like me to ride them to school and pick them up and it's a good way to fit in a little extra excercise.

The weather is cooling down some, still hot, it can get into the 90's, but the mornings aren't bad.  I'm enjoying riding my bike around town.  Last week there was one day when I rode bike to school with the kids, did crossing guard, rode over to the High School and did my run, then rode over to Ace Hardware to get stuff to can pickles, rode over to the eye Dr to pick up my contacts, came home, had a shower and then rode down to school to pick up Graham.  I think all together that day I rode 5 miles and ran 3 miles.   This past Monday, Brian was off work, so we did a lot of bike riding, we took kids to school on our bikes, I went to aerobics, then he rode with me to get Graham, we all rode over to the grocery store and then back home, then later in the day we rode down to get the girls. 

This weekend, I am going to Albuquerque to do the Color Run with  my cousin.  I am so excited!  I am leaving Friday around 11 and coming home sometime Sunday.  Just me, leaving the kids and Brian home.  My mother in law is coming to pick up the kids Friday afternoon when they get out of school, she's keeping them Friday night and Brian will pick them up Saturday evening after work.  Then he'll have them Saturday night and Sunday.  The kids are really looking forward to a sleepover at Grandma's and a night with just daddy.  I am looking forward to some me time and to seeing my cousin!  She tells me that we haven't seen eachother in 15 years, geez that sounds like a long time, but I think she might be right. 

Hopefully I can blog more often, Monday or Tuesday I'll try to post my weight (EEK!) and pictures from the Color Run.

4-27-12

I haven't posted here in WAY too long.  I don't have a lot of time but thought I'd write a quick little update.

~I finished C25K!  I have enjoyed teaching my body to run and have progressed into running outside now, instead of the gym.  I really like running on this trail at a local park.  I have decided that 4 laps around the trail equals 5K, so I try to run at least 4 laps everytime I go.  I've gotten to where I do a 5K in 29 minutes.  The most I've done is 6 laps (so what's that?  7.5K?), that took me something like 50 minutes.

~I signed up for my first run, The Color Run in Albuquerque, NM August 25th!  It's about a 5 hour drive for me, I'm gonna meet my cousin there and do it with her.  I even think I'm gonna leave my husband and kids home and have a girls weekend!  So excited!

~I've also signed up for 2 more charity runs. 
The first one is this weeknd, a virtual 5K, I paid $15 online to enter, and then I run 5K anytime, anywhere this weekend and post my time online and then I'm entered into the drawing.  100% of the $15 goes to JDRF or Juvenille Diabetes Reasearch Foundation, which is a cause close to my heart since my daugher has Type 1 Diabetes.  For more info, or to sign up go here.
The second one a local 4 mile run, on May 12, it's $20 and starts at 7am at the Snowflake Little League Field (reg at 6am).  This benefits a local boy Zach who has cancer.  My daughter Kortnie is friends with Zach's sister and she wants to do the run with me, so it'll probably be more like a walk for us.  I believe they will also be serving breakfast for $5 at that one.  For more info on that check out the Facebook page Keep Zach in the Game.  (there will also be a bake sale at the Little League Opening day tomorrow, April 28th that benefits him and a Diamondbacks ticket raffle too)

~I'm thinking of doing a triatholon in September which benefits the local pool here, to help them get a new roof.  I think it's something like swim 30 laps, run 5 miles and bike 7 miles.  Yikes!  I hate to sign up for that one because it's so far off and I'm not really sure what we'll be doing then since it's Labor Day weekend.

~Just found out last night that there is a Zumbathon (3 hours of Zumba!) on May 5th which the Show Low PD and FD are putting on to raise money for Special Olympics.  It's a worthwhile cause and I love to do Zumba so my girls and I might do that too.
 
~I have not lost any more weight, I've been stuck around 179-180 for awhile now.  I'm not really working at losing the way I should be though, at least I haven't gained any that I've lost, right!?  I really need to do measurments again to see how I'm going on that front.

I think that's about it for now.  Spring is here, Little League has started, we're down to the last 6 weeks of school, which means between school events, ball games and practices, PTO stuff and other summer things coming up, we are super busy, my May and June are packed!  Gotta love Spring!

50 Day Challenge

Over the Weekend, my cousin Kim posted on Facebook that she was going to challenge herself to work out every day for 50 days in a row. She said even if it's only a 10 minute workout she was gonna do it. She asked if anyone was willing to join her.

I decided to join her. The White Mountain Biggest Loser Competition I was in is over and this is just the thing to keep me in the workout spirit. I admit that the last 2 weeks I've slacked off, I still have been getting in 3 or 4 workouts a week, but not the 5 or 6 I had previously been getting in. I don't have free access to the gym anymore, so for now I'm going to be working out at home using videos that stream on my Netflix, going to the High School Track to run, Riding my Bicycle, or going to the local park that has a 3/4 mile walking/jogging trail which also has excercise stations along it. I'll also continue going to Zumba classes, my friend does 4 classes a week M-Th, I'd like to get myself going to at least 2 per week. Monday's are hard for me to go, class is not until 8pm and my husband has all day Monday off so I hang out with him and we do chores around the house or whatever and by the time 8pm rolls around I am ready to relax. I'm really going to aim for T-TH.

50 Days of Working Out here I come April 9 - May 27

So far my cousin Kim, my SIL Jess, another cousin Tracy, my friend Linda and a FB friend Tara have joined in our Challenge. How about you?

4-05-12

It's been about 2 weeks since I last posted. I've kind of hit a stand still as far as weight loss goes.

Our kids had Spring Break March 26-30, we went camping on the weekend of the 25th-27th. When camping we didn't eat as healthy and LowER fat as we would have at home, so when I weighed in on the 28th I was 180.something so I was up around 1.5 pounds. Yesterday when I weighed in I was 180.6 so still up 1.5 pounds. That's okay though, I'm not too worried about it. I'm still going to keep plugging along and working on it.

I've gotten to Day 2 Week 8 of C25K, a couple days ago I ran 3.1miles in about 41 minutes. I've only been hit and miss with Zumba, but I'm working on getting back to a routine. Spring Break and having the kids home for a week kind of messed up my routine. I've also started babysitting so that kind of changes things up too. I'm going to be coaching my son's T-ball team and our first practice is tomorrow. They are 4-6 year olds and I don't expect to be getting too much excercise with them, but I'll be out moving around with them, so it's better than sitting around, right?

Easter is this weekend, Kortnie and I are planning on making a Cocoa-Almond-Coconut Cake for Easter dinner dessert, we're also having Ham and 3-Cheese Baked Mac & Cheese, so it's gonna be a fatty, carby dinner, so I'm working really hard on being good these days leading up to Sunday. I think it's okay to have a splurgy day every now and then.

I'll try to get better about blogging more consistantly, and I'll try to get back on my excercise bandwagon too. Happy Easter Ya'll!

3/21/12

It's Weigh In Wednesday, and I'm pleased with myself. I also measured myself since it's been a month since I last did it.

Here are the results...

Weight- 179.2 Down 3.2 from the last time I posted maybe 2 weeks ago, and

Down 13.8 for the year

Measurements

Neck 14" Down .25 total

Arm 13" Down .5 total

Chest 43" Up .5 (I'm ovulating and the girls are feeling full or I measured wrong sometime)

Waist 36" Down 3.5 total

Underbust 35 Down .5 total

Bum 45 Down 3 total

Thighs (both) 39.5 Down .75 total

R Thigh 25.5 Down 1.5 total

L Thigh 25.25 Down 1.5 total

Calf 16.5 same

Down 12 inches total for the year!

I realize my 2 individual thigh measurements don't add up to the measurment of both thighs, whatever, at least all the numbers are coming down. I also think it's hard to get a calf measurment to go down. I tried on a pair of those boots that go up your legs and the zipper wouldn't go up over my calf, I maybe need to try on more boots, Brian likes those long boots and he keeps pointing them out everywhere we go....maybe when Fall rolls around again I'll get me some!

I have to say I'm so happy to be in the 170's! When we got married I think I was around 145-155, marriage added weight, each kid I had added weight and then I was finally starting to make some progress, or so I thought, in January of 2009 I told myself I was going to try to lose some weight, I had a job at Walmart. I was working full time, I told myself, no more soda, no more fast food, and no more getting lunch at the Deli (fried food) at Walmart. I was doing good. I didn't have a scale at home, but I felt myself losing weight and inches and feeling better about myself. Of course I wasn't really tracking my weight, but other people were noticing my changed appearance and commenting on it too. And then November 2009,my daughter was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes. She was only 5 and was in 1/2 day Kindergarten, she was taking 5-7 shots of insulin a day and checking her Blood Sugar 7-10 times a day. I (felt) I had to quite my job and stay home and take care of her. Taking care of a kid with a chronic illness is hard, the stress of her diagnosis and the stress of learning how to take care of her, and the stress of having to hurt her killed me. Not to mention the added worries about money, I didn't work anymore and we now had new things to pay for, special food for Kortnie, medical items. I was out of sorts, depressed, angry, sad, stressed. All of that added up to me eating and crying and not sleeping and not excercising, gaining weight. (For the record I don't blame it on Korky, she can't help her disease, it's autoimmune, her white blood cells attacked her Pancreas and caused it to stop producing insulin). You would think that her being dx'd with T1D would make us as a family start eating better. Well, on the suface it did, I would make good meals for my family, but as soon as Korky would go to school in the morning or to bed at night, I'd eat all the things that I didn't want to eat in front of her. Now she can still have sweets and treats, but we do count her carbs and try to limit the amount of carbs and sweets she eats. Just like any person should do. Our bodies aren't meant to eat ice cream and candy every day.

Well, I'm happy to say that I have finally gotten my act together, I am back to a Pre-Korky'sDiabetes weight! I am making good changes. I still enjoy a treat every now and then, but not in excess, I don't eat crap that's bad for me when no one's looking. We as a family are eating more veggies and fruits, less processed sugars. We still enjoy our carbs, I mean we LOVE pasta, potatoes, and bread around here, but we are limiting it. We only eat pasta once a week instead of 3-4 times a week. I haven't had much soda since the beginning of the year. I have had a sip of Brian's soda maybe 3 times and I've had a Cherry Limeade from Sonic twice. I don't really crave soda anymore either. I love ice cream, but I have it more as a treat, I think I've had it maybe 4 times that I can think of since January. I've not had a whole candy bar in forever, but I have had a few individual pieces of candy here and there. I've been drinking tons of water too. Excercise used to be something I would say "Me, no, I don't do excercise, nah, excercise and I don't get along" but now, excercise is a part of my daily routine. I feel good when I excercise and I'm glad it's a part of my habit now. I read this quote somewhere "No one is ever sorry after a good workout" and it's true.

My ultimate goal is to get down around 150, I realize that at the rate I'm going it's going to take a while, maybe the whole year, but that's okay, I'd rather do it slow and steady, changing bad habits into good ones, and still enjoying treats every now and then. Also, excercise builds muscles and muscle weighs more than fat, but takes up less room, so if I'm losing inches and not pounds I'm okay with that. I don't expect I'll be looking fabulous in a bathing suit this summer, but who ever likes themselves in a bathing suit anyways?

3-9-12

I finished Week 5 of C25K this morning. I was really kind of nervous about that 20 minute run, but I did it! I had told myself that I'd try and run 10 minutes and then if I had to I'd stop and walk 1 minute and do the other 10, but I got to the 10 minute mark and I was okay so I pushed thru. I didn't run too fast though, I kept the treadmill around 4.7-5.0 MPH. I ended up doing 2.2 miles in 31 minutes. Pretty happy with myself. I also did 15 minutes fat burn program on the elliptical. I did not plan on doing the elliptical but when I go to the gym the treadmills were all being used, so I figured while I was waiting I'd do the ellpitical for a little while.

After I finished my run I went over to stretch and I was talking with a lady who also goes to the gym pretty much every morning. I don't really know here, I don't even know her name, but we've shared conversations. Anyways she asked me if I've been losing weight and I told her some (around 11#'s since Jan 1), and she told me that I was looking good and slimming down. I told her that I've lost inches and I feel slimmer but the weight doesn't come off as fast as I want it to, but overall I'm feeling good about my progress. She agreed with me that the actual weight is hard to lose, but as long as we feel good about ourselves and are also feeling healthier that's all that matters. We also talked about that irritating "Mama Pouch" that women have after having babies, and how it's the hardest part to get rid of. It was a good talk and it left me feeling good, it's good to hear that someone else can see the changes my body is making.

It's Friday and so that means that I won't really be doing much for excercise the next 2 days. I don't go to the gym on Sat/Sun, I might do a workout video on Netflix tomorrow morning, my Saturday isn't that jam packed this week. I have to pick up my Bountiful Basket tomorrow, and that's all I really have to do. I want to work on the girl's bedroom too though, so that will take up a large portion of the day, it really needs to be cleaned out, go through all of their clothes and get rid of the torn and stained ones, pass on or yardsale the too small ones. And go thru all of their junk, my girls collect so much stuff, they're like hoarders, I think it's genetic, their dad, their Grandma and their Great-Grandma all seem to "hang on" to too many things. (no offense if you are reading this Linda or Brian, you guys aren't bad hoarders or anything, you just like your stuff, LOL....you're not as bad as Grandma, but I can see where if Brian didn't have someone like me to make him throw stuff out, it could get crazy). I also want to finish painting the playroom today and tomorrow so we can put the floor down on Brian's day off which are Sun/Mon.

I'll be back at the gym Monday morning to start Week 6 of C25K, I looked ahead an I know day's 1 & 2 will be okay, but day 3, that has a 25 minute run in it, but hey if I can do the 20 minute run I can do the 25 minute one and I'm sure Week's 7-9 will have more and more long runs in them. I am going to finish this!

Have a great weekend Ya'll!

3-7-12

Wednesday Weigh In today, I was 182.4, so down 1.2 for the week. I'm slowly inching my way towards the 170's, I am anxious to get there!

I haven't been blogging quite as much, but I have been keeping up with my housework. Brian and I just pulled up the carpet in our "playroom", we're going to put down a wood laminate floor, this week I am painting before we put in the new floor. I really cleaned out that room and put a bunch of stuff in the yard sale pile. We have floor to ceiling shelves in there along one whole wall, about 1/2 of the shelves were full and I got them cleared up, so now only about 1/5 of the shelves are full. What I want to do is clean out the computer/arts&crafts room and move all of that stuff to the old playroom, then I'll make the computer room into a dining room. So that's what we're working on. Plus I'm going to do some Spring Cleaning over the next few weeks too.

I have been going to the gym faithfully Monday-Friday and I'm proud of myself for that, sometimes I do a workout video at home too. I have been doing this Carb Burn and Yoga video that is streaming on Netflix. My son Graham likes the Yoga video, he's pretty good at it, way more flexible than I am. It's cute to see him doing the excercises with me. This morning at the gym I did a 23 minute Fat Burning program on the Elliptical and Week 5 Day 2 on C25K. Tomorrow I am supposed to do Day 3 of Week 5 and I'm nervous about it. It has a 20 minute run. Not sure if I can make the whole 20 minutes, but I'm gonna try.

Since I weigh in on Wednesday morning, I use the rest of Wednesday to be my cheat day, but I didn't really go overboard today, I think I'm really starting to form new habits!

Breakfast: Hot Tea
Workout: Week 5 Day 2 of C25K, and 23 minutes on the Elliptical
Lunch: Turkey and Pepperoni on 9 grain toast, mustard and a Spicy Chicken Cup-O-Noodles (I guess that's pretty bad for me, but I like it), I also had some spicy cucumbers that I made
Snack: Hot Chocolate, 1oz Cocoa Rosted Almonds
Snack: 1 Ferro Rocher Hazelnut Chocolate thing
Dinner: 2 Cheeseburger Egg Rolls, 1 bowl of Broccoli, Potato, Cheese Soup
Dessert: 1,2,3 Cake with Berries and Whip Cream (not sure if I'm gonna have it or not)

Here are a few recipes

Spicy Cucumber (my mom makes these, low in calories, high in sodium probably)
take 2 or 3 cucumbers, peel and slice, put in a container, pour over the top 2 parts vinegar, 1 part soy sauce to cover cucumbers...example 1 cup vinegar 1/2 cup soy sauce....add 1 tbsp pepper flakes, or a chopped up jalapeno, cover and let sit in fridge overnight, eat and enjoy, they last quite awhile in the fridge, they're kind of like pickles I guess, to make them non-spicy just don't add the pepper flakes

Cheeseburger EggRolls (just found these on Pinterest, they are a Rachel Ray recipe)
12-14 egg roll wrappers
1#ground chuck
1 cup shredded cheddar
1 tbsp mustard
1 tbsp worsteshire
1/2 onion chopped
salt and pepper
Brown beef and onions in skillet, salt and pepper to taste, drain well, let cool a bit, stir in cheese, mustard and worsteshire. Lay egg rolls down brush water on all 4 sides. Put 1/3cup meat mixture on center of wrapper, fold 2 corners in and wrap up. Put seam side down on a baking rack (which is set on a cookie sheet), spray with cooking spray, sprinkle with sesame seeds (I didn't have sesame seeds so I didn't use any), bake at 375 for 20-25 minutes, turning egg rolls over 1/2 way thru cooking.
Pretty sure you can make these and freeze them as well, just freeze before baking :)

3-2-1 Cake (my SIL Jess posted this recipe on Facebook)
1 bx Angel Food Cake Mix
1 bx any flavor Regular Cake Mix
Mix 2 cake mixes in an airtight container.
When ready for a treat, put 3 Tbsp. Mix in a microwave safe container (I use a coffee cup), add in 2 Tbsp Water, stir until combined, Mircowave 1 minute.
Get's it's name from 3Tmix-2Twater, 1minute cook
*I used Butter Pecan cake mix, but Jess used Strawberry and my Mom used Devil's Food, they all got great reviews** I served with mine berries and whip cream, I microwaved some frozen triple berry mix. The cake comes out kind of spongy, it's really good, easy enough for the kids to make and pretty low in sugar and carbs. It's good all by itself too, without the berries and whip cream. Delish!

2-29-12

Weekly Weigh In.

According to the scale at my house I am 183.6, so down .8 for the week and 9.4 for the year.

According to the scale I weigh in at the gym I am up .8 for the week. Weird, last week, my scale at home and the gym were the same, but this week they're off, Whatever, LOL..I'm going with the scale at home, that's the one that I can stand naked on and it gives me a better weight, I like it better.

Brian's been out of town since Sunday and I'm finding it hard to follow a good eating routine while he's gone. I don't feel like cooking every night, so we've been having leftovers. However, I have been eating a lot of salads and fruit, with him gone, so I guess my diet has been okay. Sunday night I put the kids in bed and went to watch a chick flick movie. I wanted something to snack on, what I really wanted was a bowl of cereal, but we had no milk. So then I looked around and I saw cookies and ice cream, but I didn't really want those (weird!) so I ended up having a bananna with peanut butter. Have to say I'm proud of myself for not having cookies or ice cream or I'm proud of myself for not really even wanting those things. I guess my new habits that I've been trying to form are sticking!

That being said, our grocery store just put in an Ice Cream Counter, 16 different flavors of Blue Bunny Ice Cream, hand scooped. YUM! I told my kids that if they got their rooms clean yesterday I'd take them out for ice cream tonight after dinner. I will probably get a scoop. Usually if I'm gonna have something like that, I try to do it Wednesday, that way I have all week to work it off before my next weigh in.

Happy Leap Day to everyone. I guess my Leap Day celebration is to eat Ice Cream, are you doing anything fun today?

2-22-12

It's Weigh In Wednesday.

I went and weighed in this morning for that Biggest Loser Competition that I'm in.

I weighed in at 184.4, so from last Wednesday I'm down 4.4 and from Jan 2nd I'm down 8.6.

I also did my measurements this morning, I'm pretty satisfied

Today Jan 2 +/-
Neck 14.25 Neck 14.25 0
Waist 37.25 Waist 39.50 -2.25
Hips/Bum 45.5 Hips/Bum 48 -2.50
Thighs 40.25 Thighs 41.5 -1.25

Arm 13.50 **Did not do measurments for these in Jan**
Chest 42.5
Underbust 35.5
Calf 16.5

I'm plugging along and happy with my progress so far, I keep telling myself, "Slow and Steady, Keep Going" I guess this is my mantra these days.

Yesterday was a good day eating wise

2-21-12
Breakfast - 1 Grapefruit
Workout - C25K Week 3 Day 2 burned 279calories, stair step machine 10minutes burned 125calories, Weight Lifting 15minutes burned 143calories, Situps 4minutes burned 44calories, total burned 591calories
After Workout - Protein Shake 180calories
Lunch - 100calorie English Muffin toasted and topped with Albacore Tuna, fresh Salsa, and Pepperjack cheese, then broiled 310calories
Afternoon Snack - 1/2 a PBJ sandwich 180calories
Dinner - Broiled Pork Chop, 1/2 cup Ranch Style Beans, Salad 360calories
Oh and in the afternoon I may have squirted some whip cream in my mouth, so let's add 50 calories :)

So all day I ate 1149calories and burned 591calories.

I didn't log food over the weekend.

Saturday was a BUSY day, Graham was at Grandma's house, so Saturday morning we cleaned house a little and got ready for the day. We had a Girl Scout Cookie booth at the grocery store in town from 12-4, in the middle of that we went to Anastasia's basketball game 2-3pm, then after we cleaned up the cookie booth we headed over to St Johns to pick up Graham, we visited with Grandma for awhile and had dinner and then came home to hang out with Brian. I think Saturday I ate...
1 Grapefruit
1 Beefy Crunch Burrito from Taco Bell
2 Tagalong girl scout cookies
1 oz smoked almonds and 1 oz cocoa roasted almonds
1 hamburger with avocado, 2 slices bacon and sauted mushrooms, 5 cheese doritoes
1 grapefruit

Sunday we did church and then came home and made chimichangas I think that's all I ate all day, 1 Chimichanga and a salad. I probably ate some almonds too, I've been snacking on those lately. I think I had a handful of Goldfish crackers while teaching our Sunday School class also.

Monday was President's day and we headed off to Flagstaff for shopping. I had a frozen bagel egg sandwich (well I warmed it up in the microwave) for breakfast, for lunch we went out an all you can eat Chinese Buffet, then on the way home I had some cocoa roasted almonds, we got home, unloaded the car, put the cold stuff away, got the girls started on showers and then I headed off to my Zumba class, came home and had a grapefruit for a snack. Oh and at Sam's Club I had one sample of popcorn shrimp, 3 little shrimpies.

2-18-12

Dear Blog, I haven't written in awhile, not because I have nothing to say and not because I'm slacking in my diet and excercise but because I've been busy. What's new?

I weighed this morning and I was 185.6 only down a pound from the last time I blogged about my weight, but down 7.4 for the year. I wish I was losing weight faster, but as long as I keep losing I'm making progress, right? I am feeling lighter and thinner and good about myself so that's all that matters. I really need to do my measurments so I can see if I've lost some inches, I think I have, I sure hope I have. :)

I was talking with this man the other day at the Gym, he goes to my church and is a neighbor. He was asking about The Biggest Loser competition that I'm in. I told him that basically I just wanted to get to go to the gym for 2 months for free, told him that I wanted to see if I could actually stick with it before I go shell out the money for it. He asked if I was losing weight and I told him I'd lost some, but mostly I feel like I'm getting back in shape somewhat and doing something for myself and just feeling good. That I think as mom's we get into a rut of taking care of our kids all the time and putting ourselves on the back burner. I'm not blaming anything on my kids for sure, but just in general, mom's, wives, women tend to take care of everyone else and forget about themselves. So now it's my time, my time to start taking care of me. So that's what I'm striving for, just a better feeling about myself, and the ability to run around and play and have fun without getting out of breath. And, another thing, excercise actually makes me feel good, I guess it's true what they say about it releasing endorphins and easing stress.

I also have been seeing where my excercising is taking me away from some of my duties around the house. Now, I am a stay at home mom, and all the SAHM's out there say they work just as hard as working mom's. I think that is true, I honestly think that I do more and am busier than I was when I was a working mom. When I worked, I didn't have time for extra stuff like PTO, volunteering at school, church work, helping out with Girl Scouts, Coaching sports teams, etc. We also were away from the house a lot more, Brian and I at work, the kids at school and babysitters, so my house stayed cleaner. Now that I don't work I have time to do extra curricular's with my kids, cooking healthier meals, my life is busy and full, and adding in going to excercise in the morning has shifted my routine. My house has been messier, so for the last week I've been working on getting the house back in shape instead of blogging. Yes, my husband could help with this and he sort of does, but come on, he works 50-55 hours a week, he leaves home at 710am and gets home at 7pm. He does what he can, he reads stories to the kids and hangs out with them when he gets home until around 8 or 830 when they go to bed. He hangs out with me when I clean the kitchen, sometimes he helps, sometimes he just sits and visits with me, if I ask him to do something he does it. He'll help me fold laundry on his days off, he chops wood for our fireplace, he does oil changes in our car and trucks, or he'll help me with bigger jobs, so he does help, but the brunt of it housework, shopping, paying bills, balancing checkbooks, making appointments for the kids, dr's, haircuts, buying them clothes, doing homework, taking them to girl scouts, dance, baseball, soccer, basketball, church group, playdates, that's all mine. I don't mind it, he contributes by going to work and making the money, and I contribute by taking care of the house and kids. So, like everyone else I take pride in my work, and I want things to look nice when he gets home, I want him to have clean socks and underwear every day and I want to have dinner for him when he gets home at 7pm. I also want to look good doing it. I'm working on finding a balance between my duties as a homemaker and my duties to myself. I need to maybe start fly lady again, or get myself into a cleaning routine. Right now it's kind of been like this...

M-F- Monday is Brian's day off, so it's a varied day, but basically most of the same stuff
6am-8am get kids and Brian out the door and off to school and work
8am-11am MWF Zumba 8-9am and gym 9-10ishAM, T TH, Graham has school 9-11am so I drop him off and go to the gym, then pick him up. In between I try to do little things around the house, laundry, dishes, bring in wood for the fire
11am-12pm Lunch for G and I and a shower
12-2pm Housework, pay bills, balance checkbook, or look around the internets (there's my problem)
2-5pm Kids are home, we do homework, I take them to their activities, they have friends over, I encourage them to do their chores, play with them, etc
5-6pm time to start thinking about dinner
6pm-8pm dinner, baths, reading books, sometimes a little TV watching with the kids, sometimes I'm still running kids around, on Thursday's I have Volleyball, all together family time when Brian gets home at 7
8pm-1030pm MW I go to Zumba 8-9pm, hang out with Brian maybe watch a movie, or play pool, look at stuff on the computer together, play a video game, clean up the kitchen, check Kortnie's BG at 1030pm and go to bed
230am wake up and check Kortnie's BG give her sugar or insulin if she needs it
6am wake up and do it all over again

Saturday
630am, wake up check Kortnie's BG, let her sleep in, make Brian's lunch and hot chocolate, start his truck for him, bring the computer back to bed until kids wake up
8am-12 kids usually are up, breakfast, chores, quick clean up, make a plan for the day if we don't have one already
12-4pm errands, visiting friends, maybe a trip to Show Low, basketball games, yardwork, free time
4-6pm time to start thinking about dinner, free time
6-9pm dinner, baths, hang out with daddy, sometimes a date night, hang out with friends, watch movie, family time, whatever
10pm if kids aren't in bed yet they are now, check Kortnie's BG
Brian and I will sometimes stay up, sometimes go to bed
230am up to check Kortnie's BG

Sunday
630am up to check Kortnie's BG, it's Brian's day off, so back to bed
8am kids are usually up, go make breafast, Sunday is a cooking breakfast kind of day
8-10am breakfast cleaning family time
10-11am get ready for church
11am-2pm church
2pm-530pm Free time, or Family time, Brian works on the car or trucks if they need it, he chops wood, messes around with his dirtbike, Graham helps him, the girls play in their room or do video games, I watch a movie or make meal plans for the week or both
530-8pm dinner and family time, kids in bed at 8
830pm-1030pm, Sunday bath night (we have a big jacuzzi tub, Brian and I make a hot bubble bath and relax!)

See, I am busy, Saturday and Sunday aren't too bad, but I'm having a hard time fitting everything in. I guess I need less Facebook in my life. So Dear Blog, I'm still here and still working on myself, but I might not be blogging as much as I orginally planned. You'll forgive me won't you?