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.