Thursday, May 24, 2012

Slow and steady wins the race?

I must be a turtle...ha!  I lost one pound...and it's ok!  I will do better this week.  I need to work on cutting back on the unhealthy fats and sodium, and concentrate on getting my calories from healthy foods.  I can do this!  I know that I can!  I have the best cheerleader, and HE is patient and kind, and will give me help in my time of need. 

Wednesday, May 23, 2012

Three Weeks!

Three weeks ago tonight I decided to change my life, and I am doing it!  Slowly.  Ha!  I have had a little bit of trouble yesterday and today with my eating.  I am kind of a creature of habit, so when I find a routine that's comfortable and I (kind-of) know what I am doing, I like to stick with it.  The past two days have been busy and I've not been home very much, so I have struggled with food and exercise.  Tomorrow I should be back on track!  I weigh in the morning, so we'll see how that goes!  I am going to do this, slowly, but surely!

Katie's last day of 6th grade is tomorrow.  This school year has gone by so quickly.  It doesn't seem that long ago that we dressed her in her little uniform to go to kindergarten and now there is only one more day of those plaid uniforms.  I added a few pictures of her through the years...she was and still is so beautiful and sweet!  We love you Sweet Pea, and we are so proud of the young woman you are becoming!


Katie in her cap and gown, graduating from Kindergarten!


Katie on the first day of 1st grade!



Katie on the first day of 3rd grade!

Sunday, May 20, 2012

One day at a time...

I have been taking this weight loss journey one day at at time...that's all I can handle.  When I start to think about how far I have to go, I get completely overwhelmed.  It seems so slow going, and I've been so tired.  I think I am going to make an appointment to see my doctor just to check my blood pressure and see if there is anything else I can do to feel a little better.  I have been so grumpy.  I want my coffee.  I want ice cream.  I want sweet and sour chicken and crab rangoon...ugh.  I have been recording every single bite of food or drink that goes into my mouth on Sparkpeople.com.  I have exercised 15 out of the last 17 days, for at least 30 minutes, plus did all of the cooking, cleaning, diapering, waking up at night with babies, and a 2 day garage sale...seems like I should have burned a zillion calories.  When I weighed in on Thursday, I had only lost 2 more pounds...and every day since then the scale says I have gained those two pounds back.  I am discouraged tonight.  Maybe I will feel better in the morning...I really hope so.

Monday, May 14, 2012

The weekend...

I wanted to write a quick post to update my progress.  I am still plugging along.  We went to Grove to spend the weekend with Kris's parents, so my eating was really different and a little difficult to record on Sparkpeople.  I went over a few of my goals both days, but I am ok!  I went for a short walk (but with a few Oklahoma hills) Sunday morning (1.10 mile), and it was really beautiful seeing Grand Lake so early in the morning as I walked.  I went for my regular walk (2 miles) this morning so I am getting back on track!   I feel like I have hit a couple of bumps in the road emotionally in the past few days (partly due to yucky ol' pms) but  I am working on the realization that I will have to go through this every single month until menopause, so I should kind of get used to it.  I am also realizing that there are going to be situations when things go wrong, when life is difficult...my goal is to keep things in perspective, and to keep being healthy.  There is no reason to abandon the healthy stuff when bad things happen...keeping my body on the right track will hopefully help me handle the situation better.

We had a really good weekend with Kris's family.  We helped Meme plant flowers and do a little bit of sprucing up around the pool.  Kris and the kids went swimming...the water was still so cold, but they loved it!  Asher got to spend a little one on one time with Meme, helping her in the kitchen.  She told me that he was just so sweet and helpful, made this mama proud.  Katie hung out with Megan,  and they had a great time swimming, watching the Disney channel and just hanging out together.  Claire did a little better sleeping this time, she really has a hard time sleeping when we're away from home.  She had fun being spoiled by Megan and Meme, and really seemed to enjoy exploring all of Meme's pretty home decor...ha!  We had a nice time, just being together.

Thursday, May 10, 2012

Week 2--I'm comin' for YOU!

Today is the first day of Week 2 of my journey!  I am so excited!  I can't believe I've made it this far!  Last night I went grocery shopping and SURVIVED! Ha!  I was so nervous about how seeing all of the foods I used to eat would affect me, but I made it!  I bought a lot of things for healthy meals and snacks for everyone.  I am still just so motivated and feel amazing about this!  So...my official numbers...are you ready for this?  I am not ready to share my starting weight, because well, it's just terrible...but one week ago I weighed in 11.8 pounds heavier than this morning! WOOHOO!  I am just tickled pink! I know that I won't lose as much this week as the first week, but I am going to just keep walking, eating, and praying!  Week 2...you're goin' down!

-11.8

P.S.  I have been trying to "jog" about 50 yards at a time during my walk...probably walking 100-150 yards, jogging 50, walking, jogging, etc.  I am almost DYING after those little bursts of jogging...but like Jillian says, "Unless You Puke, Faint or Die, Keep Going!"



Wednesday, May 09, 2012

What I've learned this week...

Last Wednesday night I made a decision to change my life, and I can honestly say that I am on my way!  I've been eating right and exercising for 7 days!  I know that doesn't sound like too many, but for me, this is HUGE!  I have never stuck with something for this long and felt good about it.  I've always felt deprived or more depressed and quit within a few days.  Something is different this time, something has changed, and I am so happy and thankful!  So...to my list...what I've learned this week...

1.  This chubby girl needs some good exercise capri's for my daily walk...ouchie...need to order some soon, any recommendations?
2.  There is an all-over-my-body-tingly feeling after my walk...and I like it. :)
3.  I can create/make good choices, even if there are no good choices available.
4.  I CAN live without coffee (hip-hip-hooray!)
5.  I CAN live without ice cream every day!
6.  I feel so much better being tired after a day of being healthy than being tired after a day of hurting myself with food.
7.  I have the best, most amazing cheerleaders...Kris has been such an encouragement to me, and my Lord...oh...He is just the best!  So thankful for Kris, and so very, very thankful for my Jesus!


Oh, and one more thing...I have lost 9.5 pounds!  Yay!

Tuesday, May 08, 2012

I am a daughter of the Most High God!

I am feeling some changes already since trying to get healthy!  Isn't that amazing?  It's only been 6 days, but I feel so much better already.  I am still a little tired in the afternoon and evening, but that seems to be improving too!  I feel like my skin is looking better, and I am feeling a lot less "puffy".  I am not sure if this has anything to do with anything, but I am feeling differently about my depression.  I think that I have self-medicated my depression with food for so many years that I am a little more sensitive or emotional.  I don't feel more depressed, though, I actually feel like that is better.  I think since I was pregnant with Claire my depression has worsened to the point of "not" feeling anything sometimes when I would normally have an emotional response.  I've changed a lot this week.  I know that it seems like a short time, but the days have been so long for me.  I've done a lot of thinking this week, about where I want to go on this journey, about how I am going to get there, and I think the most important thing I've been trying to concentrate on is this:


Sunday, May 06, 2012

Our Sunday...

Kris had to work today, and I have to confess, the kids and I missed church this morning for no good reason...so we went to the park in our town early this morning and had the whole place to ourselves.  My "plan" was to have "church" on a blanket in the park.  Katie brought her ipod so that we could listen to some praise music by Chris Tomlin, and I had planned on telling a Bible story---but a turtle stopped by for a visit and all concentration on my Bible story was lost and noone wanted to listen to praise music when all of the zoo animals were singing their morning songs!  So we decided to just enjoy the morning and everything God had created.  It was so pretty this morning, just beautiful sunshine and a warm breeze. 

The little turtle is much more interesting than Mama's version of "The Woman at the Well" Ha!


 My pretty girl!


My handsome boy!

I loved the way the sunlight was shining through Katie's curls!

Claire and I, she wasn't in the mood to have her picture taken today...she just wanted to get down and play!

Asher checking out the Caiman at the zoo.

The tortoise were out of their barn today, all three were walking around--the kids got a real kick out of this!

Other than my temporary pity party because I am in *serious* need of coffee and ice cream, we have had a pretty good day.  I am still working so hard at making good food choices, but it's difficult when we haven't been able to go grocery shopping yet.  I did get plenty of exercise at the park, we walked so much, up and down hills, all over the place!  Tomorrow Kris begins his days off, and I couldn't be happier, I miss him so very much on these long days.  It's amazing how much he helps with the kids when he's home...it helps so much!  I think tonight after we get the kids to bed we are going to catch up on our favorite show...Castle...can't wait to snuggle up to Kris and just rest a little bit!

struggling...

Um...I am struggling right now.  This is Kris's 3rd day of work (he works 12 hour shifts) and normally I am just pooped from having the kids by myself by his 3rd day, but I feel more tired, agitated and discouraged than usual.  I wonder if the reason that I can feel these things so much more is because I'm not stuffing them down with food?  Ice cream can heal every hurt, every disappointment, right?  Normally I would be sitting at the computer with what looked like an iced tea or cup of water, but what was secretly an ice cream and milk float (and sometimes I would have a refill).  Today I am not, today I really do have my water cup, and my Jesus...my cheerleader...I can get through this.

Saturday, May 05, 2012

My biggest cheerleader!

I have been thinking a lot about this healthy living business...and I DO mean A LOT...it's been constantly in the forefront of my mind for these past few days.  I have prayed about it, looked for recipes, talked to people about it, thought about every single thing I've put in my mouth. I have to say that honestly I have been pretty wiped out by late afternoon/early evening, both physically and mentally.  I think there are probably a lot of reasons, lack of caffeine, total change of what is going into my body, maybe the exercise and over-thinking everything.  Yesterday and today I felt just a *tiny* bit discouraged by evening time but I have not given into temptation to eat like I usually do when I feel this way.  I have to confess there were some times when I would have a bowl of ice cream with the family after dinner, and then have another couple of scoops after everyone went to bed.  I feel so good about these changes I have made, and I just need to remind myself that I have the best, most amazing cheerleader on my side...my heavenly father!  I can't imagine Jesus in a cheerleading uniform, but I can see him waving pom-poms or palm branches for me...saying, " I love you---just keep going---you can do this!" Isn't that the most incredible thing?  He loves me.  He loves me.  He loves ME! 

I wanted to share a picture of what I tried for dinner tonight.  We were planning to have chicken fajitas, and normally I marinate the chicken in the oil/water/seasoning mixture, then pour all of that into the pan to cook, and top it with cheddar, sour cream, and salsa in a fajita size or soft taco size flour tortilla.  Today I decided to step out of my comfort zone and change it up quite a bit.  Tonight I marinated the chicken in water/seasonings, and then cooked the chicken and peppers and onions in olive oil.  I used lettuce leaves as my shell, and topped them with fresh salsa, plain Greek yogurt, and less than 1/2 serving of 2% Mexican cheese blend.  It was SO good!  I am just stinkin' excited about how good these were!  (Please excuse my 1990's dishes...I've had them since I was 16, and I just can't bear to part with them!  My mom bought me 16 (yes sixteen---you read that right) place settings of this Corelle Forever Yours pattern, and it stayed in my hope chest from 1990-ish until 1998 when I got married!)



Anyway, I am still hopeful, and normally I've already kind of fallen off the wagon by this stage.  I feel like my energy will increase when my body gets used to these changes. Speaking of changes, today I got on my bike, with the babies in the trailer and rode up and down my street a couple times (just to make sure I wouldn't drop dead or crash into something-it's been so long!) I also went for a walk tonight, because I hadn't gotten in my walk this morning.  I even jogged a few yards here and there (because it was dark, and I was sure noone would see me...ha!)  I know I just need to keep going and listening to my cheerleader!



Friday, May 04, 2012

Just keep going!

Whew...today has been a busy day so far, and it's not over!  This morning I got Katie up and off to school, and Kris off to work.  I didn't have any breakfast until my friend Stephanie came over.  She fixed me the most yummy green smoothie...it was so good!  I took a quick picture of the ingredients before she put it all together.  It's rice milk, whey protein powder, blueberries, banana, and lots and lots of baby spinach.  I know the spinach sounds gross, but honestly, you can't even taste it...it was so good.  I added ice to mine, because I just like things super cold.  I had a little leftover and froze it for an afternoon snack.

After we had our smoothies we went for a quick 20 minute walk.  I have to say that it's much easier to take my walk without kids than with them...getting them all drinks, sunscreened, and bathroomed before going anywhere wears me out!  After that we all headed out for Katie's track and field day.  She got first place in her relay race!  She didn't do so hot in the sack race...I think because she's so tall the sack barely comes over her knees...ha!  After that the school hosted a picnic with hotdogs, hamburgers, chips, cookies and pop...yikes...my first out-of-home challenge.  I decided the best thing might be to just eat a grilled hamburger patty by itself, no bun, cheese, chips, or cookies, and I have to tell you, it was really yummy!  I have hope...that even in places where I do not have my own food choices, I can still do this!  I just have to keep going!  I saw a quote on pinterest from Happy Little Art that really kind of motivated me and I wanted to share it here:

Thursday, May 03, 2012

Put one foot in front of the other...

I just finished my walk for this morning...yay me!  I walked for 30 minutes at a moderate pace...it's a start!  I feel good that I got that in this morning!  My legs are twitching...ha...they are wondering what the heck is going on this early in the morning!  One of my bad habits that I want to change is my morning coffee routine.  Morning coffee on it's own doesn't sound too unhealthy, but I usually skip breakfast (and sometimes even lunch) because I drink it all morning, with french vanilla creamer.  Sometimes I'll have 2 cups, sometimes 3 or 4, I know that having breakfast and a huge glass of water would be much better. So...I am going to try and have a little breakfast now...blueberry/banana honey bunches of oats cereal with milk and my big glass of ice water and I am going to read Romans, chapter 12.  I am excited and ready for this change in my life!

My tools...shoes, water, Bible, and medication!

 
Update:  I wanted to update on how we are doing today.  We are just starting with some small changes with our food, to use up the groceries we have before buying more whole foods because we are on a really tight budget.  Today I've had my cereal with milk for breakfast, a slice of oat bran bread with 1/4 serving of Nutella for a morning snack, Turkey Bacon, Lettuce, and Tomato Sandwich on oat bran bread with miracle whip (bad-I know) for lunch.  I made a huge salad for dinner tonight...it looks so very good! 

Just one more quick update:  The salad was so good, and I am encouraged that I CAN do this!  Katie and I played catch in the back yard for quite a while, and I did a little bit of yard work, so I've stayed pretty active all day.   I actually felt pretty good all day until this evening, and I think I have just ran out of gas for the day...pretty sure it's time for bed.  I really want to keep journaling this, today seemed like a pretty long day, just thinking about healthy choices all day, and doing all of the things I usually do.  I felt more positive though, than I have in a long time...I have to keep telling myself that I am WORTH this, and God wants me to keep going!  He is my biggest cheerleader!

Wednesday, May 02, 2012

Tonight is the night!

Kris and I sat down together this afternoon and made a list of things we need to do to get healthy and lose weight.  Kris has about 70 pounds to lose and I have 100+ pounds to lose.  We decided that tonight is going to be our last night as big people.  When we go to bed tonight (before 10 pm) we will be starting our new life.  I know that sounds cheesy and dramatic, but we are determined to change our lives...starting right now.  We have to do this for our children, our grandchildren, and each other, but most of all for ourselves.  We want our lives to glow with the love of Christ, but so much of our light is hidden behind layers of fat, insecurity, and depression.  I don't want to live this way any longer.  I want to be free!  I feel like there are so many more ways that I could serve and give if I weren't paralized by this fat. I feel like there is a happy, enthusiastic, cheerful, kind, generous person inside of me who wants out of this body--this prison--that I have created.  I have to do this...here and now.

I wanted to share our list:

1.  Read the Bible EVERY DAY.
2.  Go to bed by 10pm or earlier.
3.  Both get our exercise in before the kids get up.
4.  Water-drink it.
5.  Make eating breakfast every day a priority.
6.  Take our vitamins every day.
7.  Blog about it...the good and the bad.
8.  Eat whole foods as much as possible, avoiding chemicals and artificial ingredients.
9.  Find ways to fit in small bits of exercise each day, playing with kids, gardening, yard work.


And (boldly) I would like to share our official "Before" picture as a couple that we took this evening, and a photo that Katie took of Claire and I on Sunday before church. We will be adding "During" pictures as we go along...we can do this...I know we can!



I wanted to add that today would have been my Grandma's 99th birthday if she were here today.  I miss you so much Grandma!  Maybe this little nudge to get healthy is heaven-sent from her.  Love you, Grandma, so very much.