Breakfast

Here is my breakfast from this morning. I enjoyed the look and taste so much that I thought I have to share this with my blog friends.

It is homemade Buttermilk Pancakes with lots of berries, pecans and real maple syrup. The syrup was given to us from a local family that makes their own...it is yummy!

Sorry the quality of the picture isn't the greatest!

Butter Milk Pancakes

Whole Wheat Flour 3/4 cup
All Purpose Flour 3/4 cup
Brown Sugar 2 tbsp. packed
Baking Powder 1 tbsp.
Baking Soda 1/2 tsp.
Salt 1/4 tsp.

Combine these ingredients in a medium bowl.

In a separate small bowl whisk together;

1 & 1/2 cups 1% Buttermilk
2 large eggs
3 tbsp. Oil

Then add the milk mixture into the dry ingredients and stir until moistened.
Cook on medium heat in a non-stick pan until golden on both sides.
Makes 12 pancakes. (For those of you interested in calories each pancake is 123 calories.)

Everyone love them!

Bob

Today I received in the mail my new DVD workout....Biggest Loser Boot Camp!
That Bob guy can kick my butt just as good as Jillian. I am feeling it in my gluts.

I got in a morning elliptical workout too!

I love working out as of late!!!! I never would have said that 3 months ago!!!

I started reading The Maker's Diet book last night by Jordan S. Rubin. This man sure had a rough go in his earlier years. Interesting theory he has too....I eat similar to what he suggests without the 'drinks' and aromatherapy stuff. I will comment more on it as I get into the book more.

Off to get the nightly routine done with children. Sweet dreams everyone!!

Week Thirteen

While after an emotional week I am happy to report a loss of 2lbs.
That brings me to 180.8lb today.

I am now over half way to my goal for November 7th (my baby's 1st birthday) of 54lbs.

I tried out the elliptical trainer yesterday and it kicked my butt.....and it felt great. I had a good sweat on and my legs were jittery by the end. I did an interval training workout that was for 26 minutes long and the machine said I burnt over 400 calories....I hope that is accurate!

Off to get ready for church....blessings to you all today!

My first 5km

Today I did my first 5km run. I felt great!!!!

I ran the first 19 minutes, walked for 6 minutes and then ran 14 more minutes. That is a total of 39 minutes. I think that is an okay time for my first attempt but I am not positive.

I am looking forward to trying out my Elliptical Trainer later today....I have to assemble it now so I am off to do that.

Exercise

Today and yesterday have been great days....
The sun is shining and I have all my family together....what else could I ask for?!?!?!?

Yesterday I got up as usual at 6am to exercise but I also got in a nice, fun bike ride around town with my girls. I never realized what different muscles it takes to ride a bike compared to walking or running. The tops of my upper legs were burning after and that was an easy ride!!!

After supper last night I headed out for a run...I actually ran the entire distance....I have been doing intervals of walking and running. It felt great to be able to run the circuit. It is only 3.2km that I go right now but I do plan on increasing that to 5km. I have mapped out my route already and hope to start it tomorrow.

Taking a Ride

I am happy to report that I jumped back on the wagon yesterday morning and the ride is smooth again!! Giddy up!!!

My husband came home late in the afternoon yesterday and we had a long talk about my 'experience' the night before. I still don't have any concrete explanation as to why this happens (read yesterday's post for details if you missed it) but I know that I didn't ruin 12 weeks of hard work with a one night binge and that is where I will leave it for now.

Back to healthy eating and daily exercise. I want to also "Thank you" all that commented, you kept me going! Many THANKS!!!

We bought an Elliptical trainer and it should be here on Saturday plus I ordered Biggest Loser Boot Camp that should be here today or tomorrow. I love to change things up so they will both be welcomed additions to my already great routines.
I also can't wait to get out for a run later today...it has been since last Thursday since I got a run in.

Hope you all are having a GREAT day!!!! I am!!!

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

Where am I going to start? I have a lot to try and put into words today and I hope that it all comes out as I want it to.

Here it goes....if you read my last post about my husband being gone for a couple of days then you will remember that I had a plan to keep myself from overeating. The plan was good in theory and it worked until last night at about 6pm. I actually wasn't hungry throughout the day and had not eaten all that I had allotted.

At 6pm or so though it started, the feelings of not caring about losing or at least the thoughts of "one of such and such won't hurt my efforts" but of course once I started that was the end of self control and moderation. I found things in the cupboard to eat (searched actually) that I have not even wanted for the last 12 weeks. It wasn't pretty what I allowed myself to resort back to. I pushed my body past the point of fullness to the point of pain in my stomach that I am still feeling the effects of today. I made willing choices to eat food and abandoned my decisions to eat healthy foods that support a good lifestyle. I entered a place of binging and gluttonous behaviour that I have not been to in over 12 weeks.

I went to bed with a sore tummy and full of condemnation...as soon as I laid my head down to sleep the flood of condemning thoughts came back just like before and I began to plan out how I would correct the damage I just did. Should I fast tomorrow, or eat only fruit for a day....basically punish myself for what I had done. I feel asleep feeling completely defeated!!!!

So when I awoke this morning I did a regroup and decided to look at where I have come from and where I am going. My goals are simple.....I want to lead a healthy life at a good weight so I can break the family history of early death by heart disease and see my babies have babies!!!!

So with the ball still in my stomach and my head pounding from last nights binge I came to these positive conclusions. My body and baby still need fuel today so I will eat according to my plan and not give in to that old cycle of deprivation. My husband will be home later today and I will share with him what I have been going through...he is defiantly my other half and when he is gone it effects me so much. I now know that I need to evaluate this trigger so that I can have a victory the next time he is away.

So that was the BAD and the ever so UGLY part of the last two days but I will leave you with these good thoughts that have helped me today.

When I was coming home from the park the other day my 2 year old wanted to be carried so I obliged. Now he weighs about 33 pounds and I have lost 26 pounds. Carrying him showed me that my body was really labouring to carry that much weight. My knees were hurting and I felt out of breath and the park is only two houses away from mine. This left me with a great feeling knowing that I have taken that much stress off of my frame.

I can feel such a difference in my energy level since beginning this journey 12 weeks ago...I don't need a nap everyday like before (but I still have one some days).

I have pushed my body to exercise harder than I have ever in my life...I can run and do sit ups and I have never been able to do these things.

For the last 12 weeks I have eaten healthy and have lost weight every week so I know the plan works!!!!

Sorry this was not my usual kind of post but it had to come out because it was my reality yesterday!!!

I flushed it!

My husband left this morning for a couple of days and along with his absence came my wanting to eat like crazy!!! This happens every time he goes away, I don't know why but it does. The Rainbow Chips Ahoy cookies and leftover sundae topping were sitting on top of the fridge and they were calling out to me.....the whisper was ever so sweet and I knew if something didn't happen they would end up in my tummy. So there fate was to meet the sewer system...that's right, I flushed them down the toilet. Problem solved because there isn't anything else in the house that isn't healthy!!

To keep myself from gorging (because that really is the behaviour that got me to where I was with my weight) on everything in the house (even though it is all healthy) I have made myself a 2 day menu that I plan on following. Hopefully this will keep me accountable to my blogging friends and therefore I will feel good about my choices. Following is my menu and I will let you know if I deviate from this plan at all.

Monday

Breakfast- 1 cup Steel Cut Oats topped with 1 tsp. brown sugar and 1 cup fresh berries.

Snack- if needed a cup of fresh pineapple.

Lunch- 3 oz. chicken breast (sliced) on 2 slices of Organic Rye Bread with lettuce and honey mustard. 1/2 cup each of baby carrots, cucumber, peppers and celery.

Snack- Green Monster Smoothie from The Clean Eating Mama blog.

*I haven't had one of these before but bought what I needed to make it yesterday and I am looking forward to trying it. I love smoothies generally!*

Supper- Homemade Lentil Soup, 8 organic Stone Wheat crackers and a Babybel Swiss Mini Cheese.

Snack- if needed a Grapple. *These too I have not tried but heard they were good and bought them yesterday to try.*

Tuesday

Breakfast- 1 cup Steel Cut Oats with a mashed banana and 1 tablespoon of organic Peanut butter. A side of 1 cup fresh pineapple.

Snack- if needed 1/2 cup berries and 113g of yogurt.

Lunch- 3oz. chicken cut up in 2 cups mixed greens, 1 tbsp. raisins, 1 tbsp. cranberries topped with 1 tbsp. Raspberry Vinaigrette.

Snack- Smoothie of 1 cup Soy milk and 1 cup blueberries.

Supper- Vegan Chili and a homemade Tea Biscuit.

Snack- during 'Biggest Loser' will be a bag of Smart Pop Popcorn.

Week Twelve

This has been another great week!! and the scale showed it.....I was down 2lbs to 182.8lbs.


I keep waiting for myself to stumble and fall so to speak because I am naturally negative towards myself but so far the losing streak continues and I am putting my hope and trust in God that as the weeks go on that He will continue to deliver me from my negative self image more and more. Just as my weight has been a life time battle so has this negative self image.


On a more positive note I am now able to wear my size 14 pants.....yeah me! I love non-scale victories just as much as the scale ones.


A closing picture for you all of my children....a true treasure in my life considering I was told that I probably would never have children because of Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome....but that is another story for another day.

From left to right- Rachel, (11 years)the typical first born holding Amanda (4 months) who is the easiest baby ever. Dennis (6 years) my first born boy and he has the sweetest heart, very shy but so loving. Bethany (4 years) what can I say about this little star...she is like a piece of sunshine in our home. Matthew (2 years) Sweet and a handful. Finally Hope (9 years) she is a child after her parents heart, she never gives us a hard time and is so willing to do anything asked of her. I have a great bunch of children.

My Day

Just for the heck of it I thought I would share with you all my crazy typical day kind of schedule. You will get a sense of how crazy my life really is! (but, oh how I love it!!!)

6 am Rise and do a work out video in the living room.

At 6:50 as I am nearing the end of my workout the coffee maker is programmed to start.
By 7 am I am in the shower. Get dressed, blow dry hair and put on deodorant...that is the extent of my beauty regiment.

7:20am Get my 2 year old up and head down, change his diaper and then prepare coffee for my husband and me.

7:30am Sit and enjoy some adult time over a coffee (or two some days) with my husband. The children will be up and join us at some point during this 1/2 hour.

8am Prepare, serve, eat breakfast then clean up the kitchen. Have the older children start their chores while I nurse the baby and change her diaper. If I have any Day Care children coming they would arrive about this time also. This really is the craziest time of my day.

By then it is somewhere between 8:30- 9am....I get laundry started and hung out, beds made, meat out for supper and try to settle the 2 year old in for a movie while I get everyone else set up for school at the kitchen table.
School time lasts for about 2 and half to three hours with the odd interruption that may set us back a bit. While seat work is happening I usually sneak in a load of laundry, dust somewhere, mix up some bread or muffins for later that day, read a story/circle time with my 2 year old and Day Care children and start lunch prep. (Nurse the baby on demand)

Lunch and clean up happens between 12 and 1pm. Also at that time I run errands and grab any groceries that we need.

At 1pm is the precious QUIET TIME that I treasure SO much!!! and it lasts until 3pm.

Then it is snack time for the children and workout time for hubby and myself (this is when I go outside for a walk/run). I will take the children outside on nice days while my hubby works out.

Supper prep starts around 4:30pm along with some general cleaning/tiding, taking laundry off the line, vacuuming and sweeping....that kind of stuff.

5:30pm We eat and clean up the kitchen again. Bathe the children (each child doesn't get a bath everyday but rather on a rotating schedule). We try and get outside after supper especially during the nice weather until about 7-7:30pm.

7-7:30pm We start the bedtime routine...brushing teeth, p.j.'s, read a book together or watch America's Funniest Home Video depending on the business of the day and my energy.

8pm All the children upstairs to their rooms. They don't go to sleep then except the 2 year old but it is time to read or colour in their beds until their specified times.

8ish Is my time to do what ever I want.....watch t.v., read, sleep....whatever but before I go to bed I get the coffee ready for morning and set out my workout clothes and put the DVD/VHS in the machine for morning. So I am ready to do it all over again the next day!!

The quote from Jon & Kate plus 8 I love...."It may be a crazy life but it is our life."

Something Sweet

Tonight after supper I wanted something sweet. The rest of the family were having caramels...one of my favorites.

You all know that I am avoiding sweets as a challenge to myself so I decided I needed to make something healthy.

Here is what I did.

Peeled and sliced an apple into a microwaveable bowl, covered the bottom of the bowl with approximately 1 tablespoon water, then I sprinkled the top with 2 tablespoons of quick oats, 1 teaspoon of brown sugar and cinnamon. Then I microwaved it for 1 minute. Mixed it together and ate away.

It was great and satisfied my desire!
It wasn't so good as Apple Crisp but it was close and way less calories.

Week Eleven Weigh In

This has been a great week for me....

Eating has been right on!
I have exercised everyday this week!
and I am feeling good!

Reading all of my favorite blogs helps me to keep focused, they remind me that this battle to become a healthy mom isn't always easy but it is achievable. Thank you to all the bloggers that express their struggles and victories so well. I often read them and think that is me but I can never find the words to express myself as well as you ladies do. THANKS again!

I was down 2lbs this week......I achieved my next reward of a 30 minute massage from a pro. With that 2 lb loss I have now lost 12% of my body weigh since Dec. 27th, 2009.

The whole truth and nothing but....

Thank you to all that played along with yesterdays post. I had a lot of fun reading every ones guesses and also trying to figure out some of your truth statements.

Here is the facts on mine!!!

* I absolutely love the show Survivor and have never missed an episode in any of the seasons.

LIE - While I do love the show, I have missed many episodes and did not even start to watch the show until about 6 years ago.

* My parents married in 1967 and are the happiest couple I have ever met.

LIE - They did marry in 1967 but their marriage ended in 1978.

* I had my appendix removed when I was a teenager.

LIE - The only thing I have had removed from my body are wisdom teeth.

* Avocado is my new favorite food.

LIE - I have tried to like them but just can't. {Good observation Alice!!}

* I enjoy hanging laundry on the line so much that it doesn't seem like work.

TRUTH - I don't know why but I do love it and will use the line any day over the dryer.

* I won Miss Manitoulin in 1990.

LIE - I don't know if there even was a Miss Manitoulin pageant in 1990.


This has been a great week....eating has been bang on healthy and I have went out for three 3.2km walk/runs so far even it the midst of sick children. I really think that running can become addictive. I am loving it so much that I am upset if I can't get out. I have been running further and further every day and my recovery (walking) time has been getting shorter.
For some reason running makes me feel powerful!?!?!?! Anyone else had this experience??

Creative Writer Award

Thanks to my blogging friend Tina, at Desperately Seeking Size-Ten for giving me this "creative writer" award.

The rules are:
1. Thank the person who gave this to you.
2. Copy the logo and place it in your blog.
3. Link to the person who nominated you.
4. Tell up to six outrageous lies about yourself and at least one outrageous truth.
5. Nominate 7 "creative writers" that might have fun coming up with outrageous lies.
6. Post links to the 7 blogs you nominate.
7. Leave a comment on each of the blogs letting them know you nominated them.

So here it goes....

* I absolutely love the show 'Survivor' and have never missed an episode in any of the seasons.

* My parents married in 1967 and they are the happiest couple I have ever met.

*I had my appendix removed when I was a teenager.

* Avocado is my new favorite food.

* I enjoy hanging laundry on the line so much it doesn't seem like work.

* I won Miss Manitoulin in 1990.

It is now up to you my friends to decide which one of these is in fact the TRUTH about MY Life...

I am going to nominate the following blogs for this "creative writing" award; Have some FUN!

The Clean Eating Mama
Mommy Blog
Random Thoughts and Musings from the Island
Back in Step
Let Them Eat Lettuce
365 days to a new me
Journey to a New Me

Week Ten

WOW, what a week!

I have spent a large part of my week outside building a snow sculpture with the children for our Winter Carnival this weekend that is now almost melted away and the colours have amalgamated. I posted a picture of the final product before it melted...can you tell what it is?






The rest of the time was caring for a sick two year old, poor little guy has croup and could not catch his breath while trying to sleep.



I am pleased to report today though that I was down 3lbs this week.



To break it down further I have lost 22.2lbs in ten weeks which is 10.6% of my starting body weight and only 1.8lbs until my next reward!

It has been 70 days since I have eaten any sweets/desserts! It was my goal to eliminate sweets and desserts until my birthday so tonight I get to have a piece of German Chocolate Cake homemade by my mom to celebrate my 37th birthday!!! Then after tonight I plan to not have any sweets/desserts again until June 16th...that will be 100 days and when that day comes my husband and I are going to go on a date to have an ice cream cone at a ice cream shop about 1/2 hour from our home.



I was able to achieve my unspoken goal this week of getting up at 6am to exercise four days out of seven. Three of the four I did 6.6km walk/run and the other morning I did the 30 Day Shred level 2.



I am feeling good (and so is my 2 year old) so I am taking some time this morning to catch up on all of my favorite blogs!

Here is a look at the Fruit and Vegetables I bought yesterday for the week. It looks like so much when it is layed out on the table like this but we are a family of seven eaters.

Since I started eating healthy at the end of December all of the family has been enjoying this variety of colours over any other snack!!! No more processed snacks on a regular basis for us. The children don't even ask for the 'junk' anymore.

March Goals

I have noticed that a lot of weight loss bloggers have set goals for each month and I decided to jump on this great idea too!

So here are mine for the month of March;

1. Do abs and arm strength training 3x weekly.

2. Walk/Run (really only a jog) 48km in the month.

3. Take my vitamin daily. {I never seem to remember this}

4. Weigh myself only 1 time per week and that will be on my accountability day to my group.

5. No sweets/desserts except for on my birthday.

6. Lose 6lbs!

All of these goals are quite achievable I think and I look forward to marking complete beside each and every one of them. I am going to set up a side bar to keep track of my progress.

Have a great day to you all!