Fall Review

It is hard to believe that it is December and the last time I posted was September. Wow, sorry!

So much has been happening that I thought it would be best to do a post with just the facts about what has been going on....

• Hockey~ I have Hope &Dennis  playing and Rachel & Hope timekeeping so hockey takes 3 nights out of the week.
• Figure Skating~ Bethany is taking lessons and Rachel and Hope are Program Assistants one night a week.
• Awana/Trek~ Rachel and Hope are involved in this program again this year on Tuesday nights.
• School is going great! Everyone is zipping right along with their individual studies in Math, Reading, Language Arts and Spelling. We had to change up History, Bible and Science after only 3 weeks into the school year but we are not in full swing and loving it. We are studying Creation through to Christ this year...I have learned so much about early history already!
• My husband is still unemployed so things around here are pretty tight as far as finances go but God is always faithful to provide for our every need and sometimes in unusual ways.
• I have been losing weight consistently but slowly. Workouts jump between 30 Day Shred, Walking, Skating and trying some running again too. I plan to join a Lifestyle Balance group in the New Year that is run through the medical center here in town. More to come on that as I learn about it.
• Being the Mom of an almost 14 year old girl is proving to be a hand full...totally different than anything I have experienced before! She is so much like me it is almost scary!!
• The baby is almost 6 months old, we went through some sleep training about 5 weeks ago and he is now a much better sleeper.
• I am babysitting still.
• Trying to eat plant strong mostly but still eating some meat and dairy just not on a daily basis. 

Life is busy but oh so good!!!

New Look New Focus

Just a quick post to say that along with the obvious new look for winter, I am changing this blog from a weight loss journey blog to a true look at MY LIFE blog.
I will begin writing about anything and everything pertaining to my life on here!

Motivation

This weekend was a little tough to stay completely on track but I did do okay!
Eating was so, so but my attitude stayed on track...what do I mean by this? I did eat somethings that I could not eat daily and still lose weight in order to regain a healthy body but my mind/thoughts did not consume me in a negative and condemning way. So I call that a victory! More than half of my battle is in my thoughts.

I am one who does well with competition and rewards so I have come up with a little personal goal/reward thingy.
I will be 40 in March!
To be exact it is 165 days away...oh, how I can picture my self a trim, healthy forty year old mother.
So for each day between now and then to help me stay focused  I will put a dollar in a jar if I follow my rules! The rules are simple and totally attainable. Here they are.....

Rules to Earn a Dollar Each Day
1. Eat whole foods.
2. No added sugar.
3. Stay within 1800-2100 calories per day.

These are things I can control in my journey! and what I can control I need to.

{No time to proof read so I hope this makes sense.}

Week One Weigh In

I was thinking last night that Saturday is not the best day for me to do weigh ins because we celebrate Sabbath and as a part of it we do not use the computer so I would not be able to post my successes on my blog right away. As a result I am changing my weigh in day to Friday.

So for this week, the result is................187lbs!!!
Down 6lbs this week.
Losing that much and bringing myself into the 180's is great but the best part is I really enjoyed my food and did not feel deprived at all this week.

Mid-Week Check In

Today was a typical crazy day in my home!

Up at 7, coffee with hubby, put quinoa on for breakfast, get children sitting down for breakfast, feed children, feed myself, clean up kitchen, school, lunch prep, feed children/self, clean up kitchen, finish school, read/coffee, prepare supper, feed us all, clean up kitchen, computer time, family time and then down time. Throw in there nurse baby, change diapers, do housework....you get the idea!

My eating was great today, here is what I ate;
Breakfast
Quinoa, pecans & raisins
Snack
Apple & Almonds
Lunch
Whole Wheat Tortilla with Hummus and raw vegetables
Snack
Coffee & Apple Larabar
Supper
Taco Salad
(lettuce, red pepper, onions, chick peas with seasoning, sour cream and salsa)
Snack
Will be a pear while I watch Survivor tonight.

I am feeling great physically and mentally!
I resisted weighing myself until Saturday, I really do not want to focus on the scales number but rather on the fact that I am making good decisions and those choices will create the body I want.

Getting the Children Involved

Another great eating day for me!
I am trying to not focus so much on food...it can consume my thoughts sometimes.

Today I decided to START incorporating exercise into our daily homeschooling routine as often as I can. So for the first time ever we did Fit Kids with Denise Austin. It was great; I was sweating, the children were laughing and we all moved together for 20 minutes.
I am also going out for walk with the baby in his stroller as soon as I publish this blog post.

I also bought the October edition of Clean Eating magazine. I use to have a subscription to this magazine and got so many great ideas from it. I plan on enjoying it with a tea later tonight!

All in all, it was e GREAT day!

The Little Steps

I am going to do this, I have such a new outlook on this whole journey!

Last week was a very emotional and trying time for me.

Not only was in only the second week into our new homeschooling year and I was trying to still set up a good working routine but on Monday afternoon my husband got called to a family crisis. His 85 year old aunt committed suicide and so I was left with all 7 of the children for the entire week...this would not be so bad if I still was not getting up at least 2 but usually  3 times a night to nurse the littlest one. 

By Thursday I felt like I was in a fog and could not cope very well so I turned to food, consuming so many unhealthy foods that I felt just sick!

Saturday I still was not coping well but by Sunday morning I was feeling on top of it all.

Today has been awesome and I am focusing on good choices instead of perfection!

So most of my food was clean, whole foods and I got a 40 minute walk in this evening.

I see the light!!!

New Start

Today is it, a new start!!

In order to feel some form of pride and accomplishment in what I know is possible for me I had to get rid of my previous weight loss numbers and progress pictures. When I would look at them they were depressing to see how far I have to go! I can't think about how far I have slipped from where I was back in December 2010 but rather focus on the here and now.

I do have a long road ahead of me and to be honest it feels overwhelming right now but I know the longer I wait to start making changes the worse I will feel and the longer it will take to get back to a healthy and fit body.

My plan for this week is;

• Track my food on MyFitnessPal and stay within my calorie allotment of 2000 calories (I am a nursing mom so I have adjusted it to take that into account)
• Eat whole foods
• Limit wheat intake
• Weigh only on Saturday
• Exercise 3 times this week
• Make NO EXCUSES!!!

My starting weight is 193lbs this morning.

And here are the starting pictures...

One of These Days....

I will get it together and be serious about getting and staying healthy!

Still Taking Baby Steps

It has been a crazy week and a half.
I wanted to post on the weekend but life with a new born is busy never mind helping out with the rest of the family. So I will quickly post now before baby wakes up.

I did journal my food all last week and seen a drop on the scale of 2 lbs.
Yeah..185lbs!!!

On Thursday, last week, my midwife gave me the go ahead to start (SLOWLY) walking again, so that is what I did. I have walked everyday, except one, since then and I am up to about 25 minutes daily now.
It feels great even though it has been crazy hot here!
My mom bought us (the baby and I) a new jogging stroller & car seat  combo so I can safely take the baby on walks and eventually running with me. I am really enjoying it!

I am also getting back into eating clean, whole foods are often than the other junk that had seemed to become my go to foods.

Baby is crying so off I go now.......

Baby Steps

My sweet little boy is 2 weeks old now and he is a dream baby! He sleeps and eats...that is it, he only cries when I change his diaper. I am getting a lot of rest and have recovered from the c-section very quickly.
If all my babies were this easy I would have a dozen more...joking!

Since I am feeling so great I have decided that I will start to make baby steps towards healthy living.
I can not start to exercise, walking for another week and weight training for another month,  so for this week I am going to focus on just journaling my food.
No counting calories or making sure I am eating enough of any certain food but just the habit of journaling and more so making myself aware of what I am putting into my body by having to write it down.

I did do my measurements and weight yesterday so I have a starting place in that area...I love to see progress with numbers!!!

Here they are;
Weight 187lbs
Waist 40.5
Hips 43
Bust 37
Upper Arm 14
Upper Leg 23.5

My goal weight will be the lowest I got after having Amanda which was 147lbs!
I have a lot of work ahead of me but I am up for the challenge of being a healthy, trim and fit Mama of 7!!!

New Baby

My last post here I was getting back into the swing of healthy living and then this happened....

Last week we were blessed with another beautiful baby boy!

Steven Phillip was born on June 22. He weighed 7lbs 4oz. 

I look forward to getting active again and blogging about it but that is still another few weeks away!