Excerise for week 2 of H&H

Tuesday
20 minutes of the Shred...Day 1, Level 1
30 minutes of walking.



....I'll just be updating this post daily with my exercise totals!

Day 1 of the Shred

Holy cow! That was awful. I'm a sweaty mess. Not to mention my legs burn and I really am wondering if my heart is rolling around on the living room floor because I swear it beat right out of my chest!

There were a few times on day 1 that I just had to stop. Getting up and down off the floor was not the easiest for my big 'ol belly but I did it. But geesh when I got down on the floor, I wanted to just stay there. Except when the bicycle ab thingies. Oh that was terrible.

It was as bad as I thought it would be...lol. They say 20 minutes but I swear it had to have been longer.

OK--Got Day 1 down....let us hope for Day 2 tomorrow!!

Hot & Healthy Through the Holidays!

Welcome to Week 2 of Hot and Healthy Through the Holidays! I'm hoping you all did better than me but I'm not giving up! If you had a rough week like me, hang in there. Stop by Keely's blog and Mama M's blog for tips.

How'd your first week go?

Not so good. I wish I could say it went better. Between all the sick kids and having a sinus infection, I just didn't feel like it. That's as honest as I can get

Did you get your cardio in?

Nope

Did you try any of Mama M's snacking tips?

Yup

Did you at least try Keely's Pilates Hundred?

Nope

Are you taking this as seriously as we are?

I so wanted to take it seriously. I'm hoping this week is much better. Not just hoping, I'm counting on it being better!

What are your thoughts?

I know I could have done 100 % better than I did. But I so enjoyed going to everyone's blogs and reading and commenting. It is easier with people doing the same thing. And I struggled this week with letting this blog hop down and figured honesty was all I could give!

And as soon as Ellen is over, I'm all set to start day 1 of the Shred :-D Here goes nothing or rather everything when I stick with it! Wish me luck

Hot & Healthy Through the Holidays!

Ever since Keely and Mama M came up with this great blog hop, I've been ready to go. And now that it is here, my mind has drawn a blank and I can't figure out what to write...lol

Why do I want to do this? To be healthy is my number 1 reason. I have diabetes, high blood pressure and unfortunately cholesterol issues that hit BEFORE I gained all this weight so my doc suspects that the cholesterol is hereditary. Geesh of all the things to inherit!

Number 2. To look great for my husband. And yes my husband really could care less what I look like. Seriously. My nickname is "Sexy Mama" and wouldn't it be nice to feel like I deserved that title?

My plan is to do the 30 day Shred and fit in a walk once I put the kids on the bus. My walk will happen BEFORE the Shred because if all these stories I hear are true, there will be no walking after I do the shred. I need to cut out sugar and other carbs. I want this journey to be for the WHOLE family. If I can get myself to eat right, then hopefully I can get everyone else in my home to follow! OK so if I can stick to it they will have no choice since I buy the groceries and make their meals. The joys of being a mom ;-)

Good luck everyone!! And thanks for the great opportunity Mama M and Keely! Hop over to Keely's blog and check out MrMcklinky. Join or just hop around the different blogs and encourage others! I think we could all use it!

Fall is here!!

Fall is here! Fall is my favorite season. I love living where we have 4 seasons--they are all beautiful and things are constantly changing. Just like my life :-)

Things have been so crazy. We are in the process of closing on our house...woohoo!! I cannot tell you how excited we are to be moving! We just bought new furniture and we ripped the carpet out and stripped, sanded and stained the beautiful hardwood floors underneath. Hard work but so worth it.

Because we bought a house, it was time for me to stop being a stay at home mom and move out into the work world. I enjoy my job :-) And the good news is that I've lost 8 pounds just getting out and moving more at work. I'm constantly standing and there is no time for sitting and just munching on food all day.

Sadly, my grandma passed away this month. It was sad but she was so ready to just go home. She loved the Lord and she would just say that she was ready to go home. It is hard to be so very sad, when she was not at all afraid to go. She was sick for so long. She was a wonderful lady and could be downright intimidating with all the knowledge of the Bible she had. She was my Sunday school teacher and set me on the right path in life. I don't think I will ever be half the lady she was and that's alright. Because if I have just half of what she had, I'll be doing pretty good :-)

Tomorrow I have to take my son to get blood work done. His fasting blood sugar has been high in the morning so we are off to to make sure that he doesn't have diabetes like his mama. I pray he doesn't. But because of this, it really is setting me on the right path of cooking better for my whole family...not just me.

Happy Fall everyone :-)

Wow--it has been way to crazy!

I'm not sure how the weight loss is going. I haven't stressed myself out about it because I know I have so much going on so that hasn't been a main focus.

We are in the process of buying a house. Which is such an adventure. One I would rather not go through. Frankly, I'm so surprised I haven't had to sign away my first born child. There are days that I just think it isn't worth it, even though I know it is.

My nephew had surgery because of the pressure, fluid and blood in his brain. They said he had so much fluid in there but amazingly he is home and his surgery was on Friday! He is such a trooper! He is already holding his head up a little bit more than he was before. I'm just amazed at how much these little babies can endure!

I had to go to a court hearing to testify and had myself so worked up about it. Got there and sat for two hours and then they decided to go ahead and switch the dang date and make it a half day hearing! Oh that sure didn't make me feel better. I feel bad enough doing what I have to do let alone for them to switch everything. But I always remember this is for my nephew and no one else. Just that sweet, precious baby!

And my mom had a bunion removed and I've been trying to be there like crazy. I've been taking care of my family and her. My dad is not home until Friday so I worry about her being by herself and only being able to hop on one foot right now.

Well I'm off. I have to get my beef veggie soup on the stove to start cooking! It's my fav. and I can NEVER get it to taste like my mom's and my grandma's

4 miles down this week!

This morning I had to take my daughter to her cheerleading clinic. While she was there for her 3 hours, my son and I went shopping and then to the trail to walk. We only had time for a 1 1/2 miles once we were done shopping. We had so much fun. Of course it ended in me getting covered in mud but he thought it was fun and amusing so hey...lol

We did go for our hike this past weekend and we all had SO much fun and then walked 1 1/2 on the trail along the river. We probably hiked a mile up in hilly areas and then the 1 1/2 on a flat trail.

I don't feel like I've been eating that great though. So while it is my chance to lose weight because we've been more active because of no rain (woohoo we had a few days off after having rain for 3 wks!), I think I ruined it by food choices. But at least I was more active while I ate crappy....I guess.

Somedays I feel like I can only do one or the other....exercise or eat healthy. Why is so dang hard for me to do both????

Have a great week!

Slim Down Saturday

My scale showed an increase but I'm not super worried. This happens to me for about a week during the month and then it will drop to what my correct weight is. But I don't care what the reason, I hate seeing it go up!

I have a lot of personal issues popping up this month that are causing tons of stress. And honestly if I was at my ideal weight, I would have gained a pound or two. I can't write about what is happening until it is actually over but I'm so stressed and worried, it isn't even funny.

Today, when my husband gets home from work, we are going hiking with the kids. We are taking them to the local waterfall. They've never been there and I'm sure they will think it is fun. We've had so much rain that we haven't been able to get out. We were walking 2-3 miles every day and I had lost weight doing that and then we've had 3 weeks of rain! Plus this is our way of keeping them active without having a clue what our motives are...lol

My goals are to just add in more exercise and keep a tally of what I'm eating and exercising! I'd like to see the scale go down but I'm well aware that I'm still doing my body good by exercising even if my scale doesn't move this week



Good luck everyone!

Prayers for Stellan!

MckMama and her family could use your prayers for Stellan. He took a turn for the worse and could use all the prayers and support, we can offer up.

Visit her blog to read about Stellan

My first born---Wednesday's Walk

If you would like to join other bloggers on this Wednesday walk, visit Lynnette's site for all the details.


Since my son is going to be 9 on Monday I thought it would be fitting to have him be my Wednesday's Walk.

Christian Joel was born July 27, 2000 but wasn't supposed to be born for another 2 1/2 months. He was born a full 10 weeks early!

My husband was in the Navy at the time and we were stationed in Gulfport, Mississippi. One day I just woke up not feeling my best at all.. My back hurt, I felt like puking all day and I was just real worn out and pale. My husband came home on lunch because he knew I was feeling terrible. Went back to work and came home around 3. I sent him out to get a heating pad because my back was killing me. I still didn't think it was labor. I mean who would when you have 10 more weeks to go! He decided to drive to the super Walmart 20 minutes away versus the little Walmart 5 mins up the road. He was thinking of me and thought maybe he'd get me a blizzard from the DQ. Needless to say by the time he got back in an hour, I was in so much pain. He picked me up and off we went to the Keesler AFB.

We got to the hospital, which by the way, he made me WALK to the 3rd floor while I was 10 cms dialated....yes you read that right....he made me WALK! I was in the delivery room and still had my street clothes on. I had a huge NICU staff waiting in the room, a huge nursing staff, and so many doctors. I had people putting needles in me, yanking my clothes off, telling me to push and the whole time, I still didn't have a clue what I was doing...lol.

When he was born, he weighed 3 pounds 9 ounces which is actually big for as early as he was. And he cried. We were so scared. Neither one of us were really that old, it was our first time from home and we lived 20 hours from friends and family. He spent 25 days in the NICU. We had moments where they thought he may have a brain bleed (common in preemies). They thought his digestive track wasn't working properly. But it was. A 25 day stay is excellent considering they told us it would be 10 weeks before he could come home. We brought home this little guy, who wasn't even 5 pounds yet.

Since he was born early, he was a little bit developmentally delayed. Which we caught him up with therapy. And he is behind speech wise. That is something we are still working on. But we were so blessed with a perfect baby.

Here he is with his daddy in the NICU--the first time we could hold him:



Just looking cute



First Birthday


Spaghetti Face:

And this year:

Another pound down this week!

I weighed in this morning and was down another pound. Woohoo...go me! I don't have much to say other than that. I'm just surprised cause I thought for sure I'd gain a pound. But I'm most definitely happy with a pound loss.

Let's hope this a streak of pounds leaving!

Have a good week everyone!

Wednesday's Walk

If you would like to join other bloggers on this Wednesday walk, visit Lynnette's site for all the details.

Well this is my first Wednesday's Walk, but I've been reading everyone else's for quite some time!

My memory doesn't have to do with my own children but with my nephew. I was there the day the little man was born. Oh it was such an exciting day! I was SO excited to be an aunt and just couldn't wait for that moment when I could spoil that munchkin and send him right home to his mama! Evil I know, but those were my plans :-D
Here he is the day he was born:




My little man is going to be 9 months old in August. And he has undergone so much in his little life. You see, my little nephew is a victim of Shaken Baby Syndrome. Not from his mama but we believe her boyfriend(she was at work at the time). And while I don't have pics of him in the hospital, it is a memory that will never leave me. But that isn't the memory I want to leave with all of you.
I want to leave you with this one to show you how good God is:

This is the little man today. This is the boy that I thought was going to die that day we drove to Children's hospital when he was life flighted. This is the little boy that SHOULD have died. This is Blake. And up until about a month ago after his accident, he was supposed to have been blind. They never thought he would see again. And he can. Yes, he still has issues. He has to build those neck muscles up to hold his head up again. His little leg is healed from being broken. And the arm that had the blood clots in still doesn't move as easily as the others. But he has such great progress every day. He is a fighter and over came so pretty good odds that were stacked against him!
God is most certainly good. He does amazing things. And that is a memory that will never leave us. That God gave Blakey's doctors the gift to save him. And that God does listen to prayers!

I know this isn't a particularly happy walk. But it is one we walked and one that is a true blessing to us. It reminded us of how good God is.

Summer time fun

I think I may start using my blog for just every day things too not just losing weight or that particular struggle.

I love summer. I don't love the heat but I love summer. I get to spend time with the kids all day, everyday. Granted there are those days that I need a break and my parents take them for a night. But I love that our most stressful choice of the day is whether we should leave the house or maybe go to the park or go to grandma's and go swimming. We don't have the mad dash in the morning to eat breakfast, pick out clothes and then the mad dash in the evening to get homework done, eat supper, play and if it is scouts night to rush out and do that in the evening. I like just not having plans!

But this week is vacation bible school week. So every night is filled with plans. By the end of the week, I'm so tired of running them to and from the church. But I love how they learn at bible school. They get to see their friends from school and they learn SO much. I think sometimes it is also that it is a different teacher from Sunday school. I think they need that break to listen to someone new teach.

Ok--I gotta go and do my wife and mommy stuff--get lunch ready and do the never ending laundry...lol
Have a good day

Whew--finally getting on track again

I've been in a funk lately. We have a bunch of personal things going on in our family concerning my nephew and it has me stressed and depressed that I may have to hurt someone's chances of getting their child back. I'm having issues with my mom and that is VERY stressful and hurtful. All of those are normally things that would send me on an eating binge but I'm trying hard to change my attitude and the way I handle stress.

I'm going to take my munchkins out for a long walk in the woods in a bit and see if that helps get me out of this funk.

Good news is that my weight is back down where it should be and I'm in a hurry to drop a few more pounds. OK not in a big hurry that I will do crazy things but just in a hurry to see results. Especially that I lost those few pounds from the holidays and parties we had going on!

EDITED to add:
I took the kids out walking and we walked 1.5 miles before someone stopped and told us the bears were out and about now because the blackberry patches are ready. and of course, that made my 6 year old ready to turn around....LOL
And I played catch with the football with my 8 year old. I gotta tell you that reaching and jumping actually has muscles a bit sore in my arms that I never use! And it had my kids moving as well as me!

Have a FANTASTIC day :-)

Lazy days

OK I have to admit that I have failed the past few weeks. I think I gained two pounds. I haven't watched what I've been eating and I had a few drinks over the holidays.

Yesterday I was going to walk my 4 miles and each time I started I had to turn around. The first time my inlaws called and said they were back so I had to pick the kids up. The second time we were on our way and we got to chatting with our neighbor guy. I didn't mind because we probably made his day listening to him chat about his poor kitty that had died. He's a widow and his cat was 16 years old. I had such good intentions but I truly felt that putting him before me was the right thing to do.

But this week it looks like no rain so I'll be able to get my walking in. Last week and the week before it rained EVERY day until Friday!

Sigh...I so wanted good news to report but I'm all about keeping this blog real so I will report the bad too. I don't think it is possible to go on this journey without having bad. I wish there was more good though.

No Change

Well there has been no change. But I have to admit, with all the rain I wasn't getting out to walk the 2 miles that I was previously. But it is finally nice and sunny outside and we've been super busy in the evenings.

I'm holding the 5 pounds from the previous week. I just haven't lost anymore and I know exactly why.

But onto better news! I get to babysit my nephew tonight! I'm so excited by his progress. He is tracking items with his eyes now. Before you could get right up to his face and he wouldn't acknowledge that you were there. His ophthalmologist thought he would probably never get his vision back but he is tracking objects. I'm not sure how well he can see but the important thing is his vision is coming back! His broken leg is healed. He still has issues with his neck but that is coming along. He still has a long way to go but this is such an improvement on the baby who left the hospital. He was like a 7 month old, newborn. God is so amazing. We are so blessed that Blake is here and recovering because it was seriously touch and go. We've all had so many praying for Blake and it is working!

Anyways, hopefully I have more to report on my weight loss next post!

Blood test results

So I'm a diabetic which means every 3 months I have to get my blood taken and I have a doctor's appt to go over it. And every month I dread what he is going to tell me. But I LOVE LOVE my doctor. He never makes me feel bad about my levels. And congratulates me and tells me how good I'm doing when I lower them.

My A1C is perfect...go me! My triglyceride levels are sky high. They tell me that goes along with my diabetes BUT those levels were good. All I know, is that I want off these meds so I'm stepping it up now. I WILL lose this weight so I can get off these meds. I do want to be healthy but I don't want to take anything that I don't have to put in my body. Of course, I wouldn't be here if I would have watched what I put in my mouth in the first place. But fortunatly, I have a chance to fix previous mistakes.

With all the rain we are supposed to get this week, I don't know how much walking I'm going to get in. So I'll be getting the wii fit out and letting the board give me some attitude for not using it in a while...lol. I always love when she gives me her sarcastic attitude.

So my next appt. is in Sept. and I'm hoping for a significant improvement next time.

I hate the weekends

Ok really the weekends are my favorite time of the week. My husband only works a half day on Saturday and has off on Sunday. But food is terrible! And I didn't get any exercise in :-( We went to the movies on Sunday and I had popcorn with butter :-( Then my mom invited us for supper and we had sheperds pie--can you say carb overload!

So today I have to work extra hard. Good news is that I lost 5 pounds but dang I probably gained it all back...LOL. Seriously, I'm going to celebrate my 5 pounds because it is just so hard for me to lose any amount of weight.

I'll be keeping track of my exercise this week on here. Just so I can be accountable.

Another walk

This evening we went on another walk. My husband keeps us going at a nice speedy pace. He doesn't put up with slowness...lol. We take the kids with us too. This time we walked 2 miles and it was a dirt road that was pretty hilly so I was huffing and puffing towards the end.

My goal is to eventually jog or run. But I need lots and lots of fast paced walking before I can get there.

I'm actually proud of myself for keeping track of what I'm eating and walking every night. We have been under so much stress lately and it is so easy to just eat cookies, brownies and that type of stuff. But it is giving my husband something else to focus on rather than worrying about his sister and her baby. I can finally come out and say that my little nephew is a victim of shaken baby syndrome. My sister in laws boyfriend (or rather ex) almost killed my nephew. We are just heart broken for the little guy and my sister in law. We have been praying for this whole situation. I believe that my nephew is destined for great things. That God has fantastic plans for him in his life. The doctors say that he should have died that night he was hurt. But we thank God every day that he is still with us. He shows signs daily of improving.
But because of this whole situation, I've been eating terrible. But this week has been a bit better and I'm praying it just gets better.

But anyways, I did get my walk in tonight. So that is 3.5 miles this week. And my kids are enjoying it too! We never used to be able to count me walking as exercise because the kids walked so much slower and maybe without their dad keeping them moving, they would be slow. But my 8 year old is on a growth spurt and he is growing out and not up right now so we thought encouraging this as a family activity was good because then he doesn't know we are doing it for him too! I am not a parent that will EVER tell my child they need to lose weight and making them have a complex. But I will encourage healthy living and activities.

Out to eat

Grr....this morning my phone rings and it is my mom. She wants to know if I want to go out to breakfast. Since when do I EVER say no. So I get myself up and out the door to go eat breakfast. Ugh...I love eating breakfast out and haven't managed to eat breakfast out properly without getting my sausage gravy. Oh is it heavenly. SO that means I have to work out extra hard today to just work off what I ate for breakfast. Never ending I tell ya.

But I have lost 3 pounds. Which could be stress related but I hope it isn't because then I have hope of keeping it off. With stress, I tend to put it all back on. And I have this fear that the stress will not go away for some time to come. So I've been trying hard to find ways of dealing with that stress without turning to food. Seriously before I gained weight, I never gave food a thought. Then when I got pregnant, moved 20 hours from home, had to deal with my husband on deployments (one of which was Iraq), I gained LOTS of weight and we ate out all the time. Because it was easier to eat out then it was to make food for one person and 2 kids. Oh what I did to their poor bodies during that time. I can forgive what I did to mine because it is MY body but to think what I could have done to their poor little hearts or weight.

Anyways, 3 pounds isn't much but it sure is better than gaining 3 pounds. Woohoo for me! Let's hope I see another 3 pounds and then another and another and so on.

Ok--I'm off to do mommy duties...you know cleaning, laundry and then some exercise before the day is out.

Have a HEALTHY day everyone :-)

Two in One day

Two posts in one day....wonder what has gotten into me.

Well I held my own on the food. I REALLY have to get to the store and get stocked up on my veggies and fruits because I just don't have a lot to eat that is good for me. We seem to fall into convenience foods during ball season. And that means they are heavily processed...not good for me, my husband or the kids.

My husband had us out walking this evening. We walked 1.5 miles before it got dark and we had to go back. I so want to work up to running but I have a long ways to go. But we had the kids out with us. My husband keeps us moving too...none of this lazy walking. And he chose a road that had hills so were working a bit harder. I have to tell you that I'm happy that my husband stepped up and said he would do it with me. Now I don't feel alone. Well I still have a long way to go to my goal and he will be at his way before I'm at mine but having someone not give up on you is all the incentive to keep on moving.

I made a small start! Hopefully it doesn't rain tomorrow but if it does, I'll use the wii fit. Then I get mad at a machine...lol

Gosh, it's been forever!

It has been so long. But you know I'm sorta right where I started when I started this blog so I figured I wouldn't delete the very first post.

So, my husband says to me yesterday that maybe we should both diet/exercise togetgher. He says he has about 20 pounds he wants to lose. Which means it a month he will be there and I'll still be struggling with 5 pounds...lol. Just the difference between women and men. But I'm thinking since he wants to do this with me that I should jump in too. I don't have the will power he does but knowing he is going to be watching me, may really help...I hope!

I have been keeping my BP and sugar in check. But it is time for my 3 month test and I'm hoping I can stick with my normal. We've had so much stress and drama in our lives the past month. My little nephew was in the PICU for almost 2 weeks and that resulted in a lot of family drama that my husband and I trying to stay out of. But that causes us both so much stress! And stress makes all my levels go up but I've been holding my own but I'm thinking these 3 month tests are really going to be a bit higher than normal :-(

Anyways, I hope to keep this updated with actual progress! Progress and results are what I want and I need those to continue. Without them, I assume it is not working and quit!

Wish me luck....again!

Is Staying Fat Easier?

I was watching tv this morning...Fat Fiances or something like that about couple who get a trainer and lose weight before their wedding. And the lady just kept saying that staying fat is just so much easier and how she wanted to give up. She didn't give up during the show. Whether she kept going after she got all the stuff for her wedding, I don't know. I would love to say they did continue on the path they were one. So in my happy little, world they continued.

That really clicked for me. I always give up because it is just easier to stay fat and continue my day as I am and complain about how heavy I am. Really what is an hour out of my day of sweating, busting my behind, and possibly crying because I don't want to do it? Really that hour is nothing in the grand scheme of things. But what I do during that hour will benefit my life significantly. For me, for my children and my husband. They get a more active, happy and healthy person in their daily life.

Being tired, lazy, and heavy is not how I ever imagined I would be. Before this I never took the easy way out, so why do it now?

So I'm committing to not taking the easy way out and busting my butt to get myself out of this rut! And hopefully I can keep my progress posted and share the ups and downs. I'd like to think I'll have more ups than downs but I have a feeling at the beginning it will be more downs.