Go Big or Go Home!!

I absolutely love reality TV.  I don't like drama in my life, but I love watching the drama that comes with reality TV shows.  One of the shows that I watch is the Real World/Road Rules Challenges on MTV.  Let me say this before I continue, I am not a fan of MTV and don't sit there glued to all their other shows.  The RW/RR Challenge is that only show I do watch.  The object of the show is to make sure you are one of the challengers at the final challenge.  The way to do this is to be the best during the daily challenges and keeping out of the elimination round.  To keep the teams pumped you will hear several of the players cheering each other on.  During some of these challenges there are those competitors that literally GO BIG OR GO HOME!!!  They put all their effort and strength into the challenge to make sure they stay on top.  

This is how I kind of felt today.  Yesterday I was searching through various apps and found a Couch to 5K app and it was FREE!!!!  So I thought I would start the program today.  I got a call from Brendan this morning asking me to bring him something up to work and I just knew that my morning workout was going to be shot.  I ran by his office and then ran a couple of other errands while I was out.  As I headed home, I realized it was only 9:30 and I also realized that I still had time to get my morning walk in before Mason needed her nap.  Off to the park I headed with my phone and headphones in hand.  We got to the park, got the kiddos buckled, and started on my first day of C to 5K training.  I am so thankful that the park there in Yukon has really good walking trails and since it was later in the morning it wasn't as crowded as it normally is at 8:00 AM.  

So this morning I decided to GO BIG!!!  I started the program and I plan to keep up with it.  According to the program, it is a 3 day program for 8 weeks.  Since I started today, I will do it Thursday and Friday of this week.  Next week, I'll do Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.  I am hoping that this will help me gain some stamina when I run and also to help me out when I play soccer.  

Day 1=SUCCESS!!

Keeping on the journey to the new me!!!

You Can't Have Just One

Do you remember the Lays commercials that would say, "You can't eat just one."?  I remember as a kid making up my own commercial where I was able to eat only one.  Well last night at work I kind of had to remind myself of this little commercial.  I gave into my want for fries last night.  This is both good and bad.  The bad is that I couldn't eat just one.  The good is that I didn't go crazy and the fries themselves didn't taste all that great.  Has my body become a little conditioned to dislike the taste of grease?  I hope so!!  I have always been told that if you crave something it is better to give into that craving or else you might end up binging on what you've been craving.  So I gave in and had some fries.  I am actually glad that they didn't taste as good as I was hoping.  It's nice to know that I will for sure be able to survive without fries in my life.  

I really thought that I would miss fried food.  There are times when I would like to indulge myself in fried cheese or boneless buffalo wings, but it's not to the point where I crave it.  YAY!!!!  

Goals for the upcoming week:

1. Stay strong and resist the fried food

2. Try to get 1 gallon of water down before having a soda

3. Walk every day

Month 1 gone!!

So the last time I wrote was August 1st.  I decided last month to give up fried foods.  I am happy to report that for the most part I was able to stay fried food free.  There were two instances when I slipped up and one of them was unconsciously done.  I find this to be a big victory in my book.  I plan on continuing the trend.  It wasn't as hard as I thought it was.  In face it has proven to be a lot cheaper by cutting out fries from fast food meals.  It has also forced me to make better decisions while eating out.

For the next month my goal is to continue with not eating fried foods.  I am also planning on limiting the time I eat out to once maybe twice a week, that goes for lunch as well.  I'm trying my best to count calories and watch my sugar and carb in take.  Also, since school has started, I have made it my mission to get dressed for walking.  After I drop Ashlynn off at school, the girls and I head to the park for a good walk.  I was able to walk three times this week.  I also found a neat little app that tracks my distance, time, and calories burnt for me.

Here are three things I find have helped me in this journey:

1. Lose It! app-It has helped me to track my calories, tell me how many calories I can have, and also show me where I am on my weight loss.

2. Sparkrecipes.com-This has helped me to find low carb recipes using chicken or ground turkey.  Since Brendan is diabetic, I try to cook as low carb as possible.

3. Log Your Run Free app-This app is free and it tracks my distance, time, and calories burnt.  You can customize it with routes.  It also keeps a log of your stats for the day, week, and month.  I really like this one!!!

So that's how the last month has gone.  Oh, did I forget to mention that I lost 11 lbs. last month!!!  WOO HOO!!!  Very excited about this.  I am officially under my pre-pregnancy weight.  I hope the next month is just as successful.

Another Beginning

I started this blog last year (I believe) and titled it "The New Me". I am not a faithful or diligent writer by any means. However, I'm going to give this blogging another whirl.

3 weeks ago I decided to join in a friendly Biggest Loser competition (I hate to use that word, but could not come up with anything better). I'm not quite sure why I couldn't just take off right from the beginning. I'm not quite sure I didn't throw myself full force into it. Instead I only put half my heart in it. Because I didn't start out fully committed, my results have been mediocre.

Today is August 1st. I made up my mind yesterday that today was the day!! I am going to be more focused and more dedicated to the journey I started out on over a year ago. I have always struggled with my weight. Why is that? Because I love food!! There is no other excuse except that I have an affection for food. Not just any food, but the food that is not good for me. Whew, I finally admit it!! A big step in the right direction!!

I may not write every day, but I will try to write as often as I can.

Thanks for sticking in there with me!!!

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32 Weeks!!! 8 weeks and Counting!!!

I can't believe it has been 10 weeks since my last post. Boy do I feel negligent.

As you can see, I'm not the most diligent person in the world. I'm doing better though.

I've been a SAHM for almost 2 years now. The one thing I've had to learn to do is to manage my time better. It's taken me almost 2 years to get into a decent routine. When I first started staying home, I lost all concept of time. I'd get preoccupied with goofing off on the computer that I would look down and notice that half of the day was gone. Then I would realize that I hadn't accomplished anything!! If anything, it taught me how to be a better time manager and a better housekeeper.

Am I saying that I don't have lazy days? No way. There are still days when I just feel blah and can't stay motivated. However, having two kiddos at home makes it rather hard to have lazy days. Now with #3 soon to arrive, I've been doing my best to keep a tighter schedule so I don't get behind on things. One thing that has helped me keep on track is to start the day off with a chore. It is usually laundry. We have a ton of it!! If I stay on top of it then it is less overwhelming. I have also tried to keep up with the dishes. I have found, for myself, that if the dishwasher is empty whenever dinner is over, then all I have to do is load it up with that evenings dishes.

I know that a lot of this seems like common sense, but it has actually been hard for me to do. I'm not the neatest person in the world and I used that excuse to my advantage. Well I realize that I'm not setting a good example for my kids by being consumed with the computer or television. I'm so thankful for an understanding husband. He very rarely will say anything about the house. All I can say is that I'm getting better. I'm also learning to let go of things and throw them out!!! I'm very sentimental, but I know that I don't need the tag from the shirt I got back in my senior year of high school. :)

Again, another aspect of the new me!!!