No One Said It Would Be Easy ...

So I just got done running 3 miles - and I am happy and I am sweaty! See ...

I just can't forget where I started from. When I am running, sometimes I think to myself, am I going to be able to keep on doing this? Is this eventually going to get old? Because I have to be honest, most days I am dragging myself to the treadmill - getting up at 5:00 AM, working until 4:00 PM, getting home around 5:00 - getting dinner cooked and on the table - then baths, showers, ironing, play time ... all of this and then exercise at 8:00 - somedays I don't stop until my head hits the pillow - so it would be very easy for me to put exercising on the back burner and get some much needed extra sleep - but I know the exercise is worth it in the end! I really wanted to watch The Office tonight with the husband, the last one with Michael Scott =) ... but it was on at 8:00 pm and that is my exercise time ... and I refuse to let anything get in the way of my exercising, especially a tv show. So while I know its not going to be easy, I have to keep working hard to get this weight off. I have to do this for me! It is worth it! .... ok, I'm done preaching at myself now :0)

So yeah I forgot to take pictures of my dinner again - seriously, its like I am so hungry around dinner time the last thing I think about is snapping a picture ... but I did have fast food :( ... so I can show you a picture of it, just not the actual one I ate ... don't worry I counted it into my calories for the day, I know I could of chose healthier but as long as my calories are on track I am ok with it every once in a while.

So here goes ... Breakfast

Oatmeal w/Grapefruit

So I sometimes get a little boring with my food selections, I get kind of in a routine and eat the same things over and over - especially if I really like them. So sorry if this gets kind of repetitive ... =)

Mid Morning Snack:



PEEEEEEEPS! <3 these!

Lunch:

Tuna with crackers - didnt' have the yogurt but couldn't pass up the York (my fav!!)

For dinner I had 2 Fresco Crunchy Tacos and a Fresco Bean Burrito ... so good and so worth the 650 calories =)

Tomorrow is Friday - Woot Woot! ... Remember, No one said it would be easy!

The Joys of Motherhood...

So yesterday was an interesting day - My 1 year old woke up from his afternoon nap with 103.5 temperature and was very fussy - he was fine when my mom laid him down for a nap. So I left work early and took him to the doctor - they said everything looked fine and that he probably had a bug - he was soooooooooo crabby - just wanted me to hold him and cried all night - woke up at 3:00 AM crying ... so I am home today with him - he is sleeping again at the moment, i figure the more sleep the better. I hate when little ones are sick like this and can't tell you whats wrong, all i can do is hold him and comfort him at this point and give him tylenol for the fever.

So I didn't get all the pictures of my food that I wanted to yesterday or this morning but I did get a few ... so here is what I did get.

Breakfast yesterday:

Oatmeal with grapefruit - I know it sounds gross, i thought so too but this is soooooo good and very filling! Try it!

Mid-Morning Snack:

These truly are the devil! LOL ... My mom buys this for her grown children every year - I took two from the package and told my husband to take the rest to work - they have to be out of the house or else I will eat them!

Lunch:

Left over Easter Ham sandwich, cheez its and strawberry yogurt...yum!

For dinner I had a piece of grilled bbq chicken and 2 corn on the cobs and yes I had the last Reese's egg, split it with my cranky 1 yr old, he didn't eat as much of it as i would have liked, lol.

This morning I had a fried egg, last of the ham, cheese on whole wheat toast sandwich. For lunch I just ate a bowl of raisin bran, haven't had it in a while and it is so good! ....

Hopefully everything will be back to normal tomorrow and I can get back on schedule.  You never know what the day will bring when you have kids =) 

Good Easter but Disappointed ...

I really try not to make my blog a place where I come to whine and complain - my whole goal of this blog is to hopefully someday be able to inspire or encourage someone else to be a better, healthier person and to learn from my successes but to also learn from my failures. Let's face it, we all make mistakes.

So my Easter weekend started out great ... Saturday we had some errands to run and just enjoyed some time at home. I did great eating and even ran 3 miles Saturday night. It felt great! ... Then Easter happened .. My 4 year old woke up at 6:30 AM like it was Christmas morning or something. We left their baskets on the dining room table and he ran in the dining room screaming - MOM! DAD! the Easter Bunny came, the Easter Bunny came! ... I couldn't believe he woke up SO EARLY! lol ... but he was very happy ...

His little brother was pretty excited too - this time last year he was only about 8 weeks old ...

Playin' with the Easter Bunny's Loot

And by the end of the night - he crashed hard!

So where did I go wrong?? I didn't control myself! All the boys wanted a big breakfast - including biscuits and gravy, eggs, and sausage. I had half a biscuit with a spoonful of gravy and 2 scrambled eggs. Then we went to the husbands side of the family and they had a huge spread! Ham, Turkey, Mashed Potatoes, Green Bean bundles, potatoe salad, stuffing, hot wing dip and more desserts than I could care to admit. I had a piece of ham, a little bit of turkey, 2 green bean bundles and a spoonful of mashed potatoes - all shared with my 1 year old and honestly I think he ate more than I did, lol - I resisted all the desserts and it was HARD!! ... Then we went to my mom's - she had a lot of the same stuff, Ham, potato salad, chips and dip ... I started the "munching" as soon as I walked in the door - as if I had no idea what I was doing - started with chips and dip and 2 deviled eggs, then I had a few more chips a little while later - then my mom got out the desserts, I had a small slice of yellow cake with strawberries and whip cream and a sliver of apple pie - ok, you think I would stop there right?? Then we started playing games and everyone was munching on something, so I got MORE chips and dip, 2 pieces of ham and ate one minature reeses egg ... It was seriously like I had thrown everything out the window from the past 8 weeks ...

When will this become easier? When will I be able to walk into a room with junk food and say ya know what, i don't need this stuff, I can have this stuff any time if I just have to have it, I don't have to eat it just because it is there ... I feel like I didn't just let myself down yesterday - I had a lot of people telling me this weekend that I looked great and asking me if I was losing weight and asking how i was doing it ... and then I go and pig out ... I got on the scale this morning and wanted to cry .... I really wanted that 3 lbs off this week to get to 20 lbs lost - and now I will be lucky to be back where I was last week and not end up with a gain! ... But this is where things are going to be different this time - usually this is where i would say why am I even trying and I would give up - but not this time... This is where I look back and see what I did and actually learn from my mistakes ... I am going to get up, dust myself off and get right back at it.

We did get our smart phones this weekend and I love it! So today I made the decision that until I can get the munching under control and until I can make a meal for my kids without taking bites of this and that I am going to take a picture of everything I eat - even if it is just one bite, if I want to eat it, I have to take a pic of it - that will really make me think twice before taking a bite. Because recording it later online just isn't working ... I can do this!! I've been doing it - 17 lbs is a lot of weight, I have to keep telling myself that!

So sorry for the rant and the non-uplifting post but everyone has a bad day now and then and I hope someday I can look back and read this and learn from it.

I hope your Easter was fabulous! Weigh in tomorrow - wish me luck, I'm going to need it!!

You're Starting to Look Skinny ...

This is what my mom said to me this morning - was nice for someone to finally see some change =) ... I know I feel the change, especially in my clothes. Its "only" 17 lbs but man does it feel good! I REALLY want to lose 3 lbs this week so I can officially say I've lost 20 lbs - but either way I will be happy with any loss.... 3 lbs is a lot for one week. There is just something more substantial about saying I've lost 20 lbs ... ha ha ha - so lame of me, but you know what I mean?

I love going "shopping" in my own closet. I am fitting into stuff I haven't worn since before I was pregnant with my first son (yes I hung on to my clothes from then, he will be 5 in August) - I am actually kind of upset, the Husband made me throw a way a whole tote of "skinnier" clothes last summer and now I wish I had them to see if I fit into any of them! Or I could use them as - goal clothes. 

The other thing I am noticing is I am actually like the way I look in pictures now. So maybe I will be in some more of them! Ha! ... I was looking for a good "before pic" and I honestly don't have any full length pics of myself - most pics are with my kids on my lap and all you can see is my face ... I hide as much as possible! I really really wish I would have started with some before pics, but I did not - it would have been nice to see what just a 20 lb difference looked like.

We bought new cell phones today - I am so excited - I have to pick them up after work. They are smartphones so that means I will be posting more pics on the blog! The phone I have now takes horrible pics unless you are outside with BRIGHT light... plus we don't have a data package now so I can't upload the pics when I take them - but now we will have all that, I am so happy to be able to post more pics here, I always have my phone with me so I will have many more photo opportunities. I love looking at blogs with pictures - it just helps you connect more - so after tonight be prepared for pics!! =)

I hope you have a great weekend! We are supposed to get rain for the next 5 days, it rained like crazy today ... April Showers =)

Just call me Betty Crocker!

Today was just an average day - not much going on - work and home. I had a great dinner - made a boca burger topped it with one piece of bacon, grilled onions and 2% cheese slice and then wrapped it in some romaine ... YUMMMMMMMO! I also cut up two tiny russet potatoes sprayed them with cooking spray with some cajun seasoning - cooked in oven for 25 minutes ... so good!!!!! A burger and fries for about 350 calories - can't beat that!

So then I baked some Pineapple Cupcakes!! I am really loving Gina's recipes lately.  She is a Weight Watcher and lists all the points on her recipes and she also lists calories and various other nutrition information which is freakin' awesome! I love it that I can find easy recipes that don't have a billion ingredients and that I can actually cook :)

So here is what I did:

Yellow Cake Mix and 1 can crushed pineapple



Put them both in a mixing bowl:



Put them in a paper lined cupcake pan:

This is how they looked when they came out:

And this is how I had mine:

A yummy 100 calorie dessert!

Hope you had a great day!! Now I am off to run!

Gobble It Up Turkey Meatloaf!!

Oh yeah! My turkey meatloaf was a success - it was way better than I ever thought it could be! I've tried to cook with ground turkey before and never had any success ... but today was a different day! lol - I am being so dramatic but I am seriously happy that it turned out so well - for one I didn't waste a whole pound of ground turkey and two I now have a good healthy recipe that the whole family loved.

Here is The Husband's plate, I scarfed mine down too fast and forgot to take a pic ... I put ketchup on mine, he doesn't do red sauce ...



I really can't tell you how good this was - I am now going to make turkey burgers with pretty much the same ingredients - per the husband's request :)

I got my inspiration from Gina's Petite Turkey Meatloaves but I tweaked it a little and here is what I did...

1/2 small onion, minced

1/3 cup green bell pepper

1 tsp olive oil

1 lb 99% lean ground turkey

1/2 cup oatmeal

1/4 cup ketchup + 2 tbsp

1/4 cup parmesean cheese

2 tsp worcesterchire sauce

1 large egg

salt, pepper, garlic powder <~~ i put that s&*@ on everything!! lol

Basically just mix all the ingredients, form into small loaves - I got 5 out of this and put in the oven @ 350 for 40 minutes - if you like top with ketchup at about 5 mins remaining - they were perfect!! ... I put the recipe into caloriecount.com and it came to 300 calories per loaf.

I can't wait to make this again!  ... Now I am off to bed - we had an exciting night of tornadoes and thunderstorms, it is still raining as I type - perfect time to catch some zzzzz's!!

Hot Dog, Hot Dog, Hot Diggity Dog!!

Ha! This post has nothing to do about hot dogs but it is weigh in day and that is what I was singing after I weighed in today :) ... so last week my weigh in was 180 - I had gained  1.5 lbs from the previous weigh in of 178.5 and today I weighed in at 176.5 :) ... so happy about that. Only 3 more pounds and I can say I've lost 20 lbs total  ... yay! Can't wait!  ... I have found a few things that really do matter when wanting to lose weight - First is I HAVE to exercise, it really does make a difference and drinking water also is a HUGE factor - at least these are true for me.  Also the obvious of watching your calorie intake. If I slack on the exercise and don't drink my water I will see a gain for sure. A little effort goes a long way!

I am making turkey mini meatloafs for dinner tonight - I am very apprehensive about this because I just haven't had good luck with cooking ground turkey - I just don't like the flavor. We do use it at my house for taco meat and you honestly can't even tell the difference - but I have attempted to make turkey burgers and I just can't get past the taste of it, also tried turkey breakfast sausage and hated it. But I love turkey smoked sausage, had it for dinner last night actually. So anyways, I am hoping they turn out good - every little bit helps and I am trying to make healthier choices.  I will let you know how they turn out and take a pic if I remember :)

Well I hope your weather is better than mine, it is raining cats and dogs, very dreary day .... but thats ok, I am stuck inside anyways :) 

Somebody has a case of The Mondays ...

Man, it is so hard to come back to work after a nice relaxing, fun weekend! - Leave it to me to be Debbie Downer but I just want to be home right now! My husband works 4 - 10 hour shifts so he is off on Mondays and stays home with the boys. It stinks getting up in the morning and leaving for work while they are all passed out, snoring and drooling on their pillows! :) ... but oh well, at least I have a job and can help take care of my family ... sooo anyways lets get to the weekend.

We had a nice weekend of bday party, yard work, shopping and eating of course! ... We started Friday off by doing nothing but staying in and watching a movie and I cut a ridiculous amount of coupons - My husband is the coupon king but has recently been slacking on his duties so I have somewhat taken over - its  A LOT of work - we get 5 papers each week and I cut all the coupons out and put them into binders that are labeled and divided ... its a lot of work but well worth it - we have been doing so well at the grocery store - nothing like the extreme couponers because our stores here don't have the awesome coupon policies that their's do. But we have cut our grocery bill probably at least in half by using coupons and we have a small stock pile of soaps, tooth pastes, deodorant and a few other things I won't bore you with.

Anyways, that could be a whole other blog! I watched The Town with Ben Affleck - I really liked it .. I like how they tied a love story into a semi - action/shoot em up film - enough non-love storyness to keep The Husband interested ;)

Saturday it was friggin cold here! I think the high was around 50 but it felt colder than that. We did some coupon shopping at Target and then had lunch at O'Charleys - I didn't have breakfast so I was starving - while it would have been easy for me to get a fat cheeseburger and fries I ended up getting this:

I liked that it listed the calories so I knew what I was eating - if you can't read it, it says 550 calories or less - not sure what the or less means but I counted it as 550. It was pretty good, the chicken was awesome, loved every bite - the fire roasted tomatoes were not so great, didn't finish those and the broccoli tasted like it had been boiled in fish water - even the husband tried it and agreed - it was gross! So I mostly only ate the chicken and honestly by the last few bites I was really full ... So I was happy with my choice and glad I didn't let my hunger take over my healthy options because it was very close to doing so!

After we ate lunch we had a bday party to go to - I was glad we ate before we went because they were serving hot dogs and chips (it was a 3 yr old bday party) and cake of course - I didn't eat anything (yay me!).  After this it was off to the grocery store - stocked up on some goodies for the week and I got some Mi0 water enhancer.

I'm sure you've seen some of the commercials for this if you watch tv. I have a horrible time drinking my water because I flat out don't like plain water - its just too boring, lol. So I had been wanting to try this and after reading Terri's review on it last week, I thought I would give it a try. My opinion - it's not bad, it kind of tastes like watered down koolaide to me. I got the fruit punch kind - they have several other flavors but I only got one to test it. I will probably buy more - I am on my 3rd water bottle this morning so I think its helping a little bit - but it could be all in my head too... ha ha!

Yesterday was spent outside all day - it was around 70 degrees and sunny and just absolutely beautiful ... I cut the grass and the husband did some landscaping - it was just nice to be outside all day - we bbq'd porksteaks and ate dinner outside on the deck - doesn't get much better than that if you ask me!

Tomorrow is weigh in day - I am hoping to at least lose the 2 lbs I gained last week, so wish me luck! Have a great Monday!!!



Gotta Keep Your Head In The Game!

So I have been doing so good with trying to change my lifestyle and become healthy once and for all .... I know it is not going to be easy ... but it seems like people all around me are taking the easy way out and getting good results - but non-lasting results but it still is kind of frustrating when I am working my ass off and I have people around me taking pills and dropping crazy weight.

Life doesn't come with one of these

And neither does being healthy and changing your life.

There is a guy at my work that is doing the HCG diet - where you take drops of the HCG hormone and then follow a strict diet and he has lost 30 lbs in about 3 months.  Then there is a lady I work with who is taking some diet supplement pills and lost 11 lbs in her first week .. Its like oh really thats nice, I have been eating right and exercising for 8 weeks now and I've lost 15 ... Now I know that most likely they will gain all their weight back because as soon as they eat normally their weight is going to come right back on and the slower you lose the better and more likely you are to keep it off. But damn it would be nice to lose a little quicker!

This just proves to me that I need to keep my head in the game! I need to keep focused - my hard work will pay off - if I just stick with it! How many times have I given up then thought weeks or months later - if I just would have stuck with it where would I be now? Its ok to have a few bad days or even a bad week - if you just keep going and refuse to give up - your hard work will pay off! The easy way is NOT always the best way!

Ok I am done preaching at myself for the day =) Hope you have a great weekend planned!

Feeling Better ...

Well I made it in to work today - allergy meds are finally kicking in. I still look like I've been either awake for days or passin' the pipe but I feel 100 times better!! 8)

I don't know if this is how it goes for everyone else but when I am sick or don't feel like doing much and it seems like my hunger kicks into over drive - I turn into this guy

Feed me Seymore, Feed me!  .... lol ... something about being lazy equals eating crap and lots of it. I have eaten just that the past few days.. today was much better, I kept track of my calories and I ran and it felt soooo good! I really truly enjoy running - I think I can say that now, not ready to say I love it just yet, but I do like it a lot. I wonder if just running is going to be enough though ... I have tried doing other exercises in addition to running and I just can't find anything that I enjoy as much or that I really want to do - I hate doing the exercises where you do 10 squats, then 10 lunges, then 10 jumpedy jumps... lol I just get bored with it and don't enjoy it and I like the amount of calories I burn while running also - So my question to you is - Is running enough? Can I lose the amount of weight I want to lose just by running??? ... Please say yes!! ha ha 8)

Hayfever = The Devil!

Ok, so I am all for spring - yay for warm weather - not so yay for the allergies I am suffering with right now!! I woke up Monday morning with one eye swollen shut and by the end of the day had a collection of used kleenex that no normal person should have in one day's time. Today was a little better but not much - here is a pic of my scary eyes.

Here are the Kleenex I have aquired while typing this post... ugh!

But then I look down and see this and I suddenly feel better 8)

So basically I haven't been feeling well and my food and exercise are showing it! I am up 2 lbs on the scale, but I am not going to fret - I will be back to journaling and running tomorrow. Just didn't want ya'll to think I disappeared 8) ... Hope no one else is dealing with allergies!!

R&R Makes for a GREAT weekend!!

So sad this weekend is coming to an end. It was such nice weekend - we didn't have any major plans so we just did whatever. 

Friday night the husband's cousin came over and stayed with the boys and he and I went to dinner and the boat. The husband picked a chinese buffet because he wanted crab legs. I have to say I think I did pretty well for going to a buffet - just more signs of me changin'!!  I got green beans, some california roll and I did have a few steamed dumplings and some chicken teryaki - and just a little of each, my plate wasn't over flowing like it usually does - I did go back for a little more but it was just for more green beans, they were really good!! ... So I was happy with my choices - thats a good feeling. Then we went to the boat and lost =( boo hoo! I am such a fair weather fan when it comes to gambling - when we win I am soooo happy and all about it, but man when we lose it really puts me in a horrible mood... lol

Saturday we did some normal weekend errands - grocery store, target, etc... We have really gotten into couponing and I saved a whopping $45 on my grocery bill with just coupons!! Such a good feeling especially after losing 3 times that at the boat! ha ha ha - i'm not bitter at all ;)

Today we went to church, had some bbq and spent some time outside in this BEAUTIFUL weather!!

Today was also the first time I ran since Thursday and I could feel it! I was strugglin, but it felt so good to move and to sweat. I really do like running - sometimes I just have to remind myself of that - HA HA...

Here's to another great week!!

Is it Christmas, because it sure feels like it! ...

So last night I made up my mind that I was going to reach a goal I have been wanting to reach and I DID IT!!! and it felt GREAT!!

Check it out:

I FINALLY RAN 3 MILES!!!  I did it only stopping once to walk (fast) for 1 lap. I have been wanting to do this since I started running, it was my first goal and for 3 weeks I would get to 2 - 2-1/2 miles and just felt like I couldn't go any more. Last night I got on the treadmill and I said this is it, I am going to do this, I can do this - so I stuck to it and got it done, my time isn't great but its pretty good for my first 5K =) lol I just said 5K =) ... ha ha! I'm such a nerd but I'm so excited.

So if all of that wasn't enough excitement, I got the battery for my scale yesterday and I stepped on this morning and this is what I saw:

I would of been happy with 180 - when I saw this I almost fell over - I got off and on the scale a couple times to make sure it was real, lol ... then I ran to get the camera because I just couldn't believe it. I am in the friggin 170's .... SHUT UP!! ... lol  My dedication is working and I feel great.

So happy to be sharing all this great news today - its going to be a great day =)

Have a great day!

Should Be Weigh In Day!

I'm so bumbed out! My stupid scale decided it needed new batteries today. I weighed yesterday and I was holding steady at 181.5 so I was hoping to see a lower number today for weigh in. I was so excited to get up this morning and weigh in and I jump on the scale and it just says Lo - i got off and on the thing like 20 times, lol ... why did it have to do it today?? I really wanted to weigh in, lol. So it takes one of those little circle batteries, I wrote it down so I can go on my lunch break - so weigh in day will be postponed one day :)

Last night I had a small NSV (non scale victory) - Didn't feel like making a huge dinner so I told the husband I was going to make some easy fish and baked potato - well he wasn't interested in that and said he wanted to order pizza - I told him to go ahead if thats what he wanted but I wasn't going to eat it. He ended up getting a stuffed crust pizza - and I made my fish and baked potato and didn't touch the pizza... yay me!! =) Before I would have ate 2 - 3 pieces of that and then felt like total crap afterwards. I am so proud of my will power and my desire to just get better. I am not where I want to be just yet but I am starting to show food who is boss :)

I found a new guilty pleasure - I take about a cup of cut up strawberries and then I take a tablespoon of Nutella and melt it down and then drizzle it over the strawberries - OMG! I looooooove it! Taste like a chocolate covered strawberry... YUM!   for about 150 calories, can't beat that for a sweet treat :)

I think I am proving to my husband that I am serious about this "change" also - not eating the pizza last night and then showing him how the shorts that were too small last year now fit with room to spare - he just keeps telling me "keep up the good work" ... but he keeps referring to my new of eating as a "diet" - I keep telling him, this is not a diet, this is the way I am going to eat forever, this is not eating the junk I was eating before, this is CHANGING - not staying the same, not eating whatever is set in front of me even it is total crap, this is caring what I put into my body. This is the NEW me :)

So weigh in - to be continued :) .... wish me luck!  

Spring has Sprung!

I am sitting here now with all my windows open and my attic fan running and it is lovely!!! I think it is about 85 degrees outside today. I have shorts, t-shirt and flip flops on! What could be better :)

Had a good weekend - Went shopping friday night - and I got my ears pierced!!! ha ha ha ha ... I had them pierced once before but they closed pretty fast and haven't had them pierced in about 9 years - I've always wanted to re-pierce them but just never got around to it. Since I am trying to take care of myself and making more of an effort to make myself feel good - I have always wanted to be able to wear cute ear rings and think they add a little something to an outfit - so I finally just did it :)

We had a bday party to go to, swim lessons, hair cuts and we did make it to the farmer's market. It's not the prettiest market but I love it - We got broccoli, cauliflower, onions, potatoes, strawberries, pineapple, mushrooms, romaine lettuce and grapefruit for $20!! Its a steal! :)
Here are a few pictures - it was really hard to take them because it was packed!!

 Yummy! I got 5 grapefruits for a $1and they are so good!

 So many people!!

 I have to look away when I pass this bakery - those cookies are soft pieces of heaven and they are the size of your head and they have gooey butter cake that would make you cry tears of joy.

 Meat market ... they've got it all!

 Everyone was getting bloody mary's from here, it was crackin' me up to see them all walkin' around at 9:00 am with their bloody mary and celery ... i like a nice drink but at 9:00 am?!? not so much =)

 Here is my goofy boy with his shades on =)

I got on the scale this morning and saw the lowest number yet 181.5 - hopefully I can keep that until Tuesday when I officially weight in =) ... I have been doing pretty good on the eating this weekend - even with parties and being out shopping - I am finding myself more drawn to the fresh - good for you - foods and less to the junk - I love this feeling =)