2.6

YES, you read that right, 2.6 lbs is what I lost this week, and I'm stoked! Hard work pays off!

I did well over the Holiday weekend, and even passed up cake at Alison's (I was secretly dying to dive into it)  ha ha ha! It looked yummy! We had cake at the inlaws that I took over and I used the 3 bite rule, and I left the cake at their house! (I made it, and didn't want it in the house all weekend)!
It's getting easier and easier to stay on track on the weekends, I don't want to "cheat" because I think of all the hard work I put into the gym!

This weekend I worked on ABS, and boy I can tell mine are under this tummy somewhere, I was soooooo sore from just one workout! Like sore if I coughed, laughed, or just getting in/out of bed! I decided to give it a few days to rest the ABS because I'm sure I tore lots of muscle fibers, they never get a workout!
I went back to working on Abs yesterday at the gym, and feel fine now, so I really want to make Abs a part of my routine.
My gym time is limited, I have extremely bad mommy guilt as well as wife guilt, I HATE to leave my family, I know that working out will hopefully prolong my life, and show the kids how to be a great example!

I weighed on Tuesday (I always weigh at the dr.'s office inside my work) and it showed a 2 ounce loss, I was bummed but I know that I'm not going to be dropping the numbers like crazy each week, so I figured by this Friday it would be down a whole pound, I weighed again on Wed. and it said another -2.4 loss! So that's a total of -2.6 for this week! I'M STOKED!!! That's a great loss, so my total weight loss from my heaviest until now is 29 lbs, my bestie said I can't count being pregnant as my highest weight, but I only gained 9 pounds the whole pregnancy! I am now 6 pounds from being the smallest I've been since Oct 2011, so I will hit that goal again very soon, hopefully by Oct. 1!

So I have been jogging around 8-9 weeks now on the treadmill at the gym, I thought for sure after 3-4 weeks I could up my mileage, around week 2, I was able to jog a mile, and had got up to jogging 18 mins. straight, then it seemed like my body shut down, I know it's a mental, but I surely couldn't run more then my one mile, so I was mad on Tuesday night, so I thought to myself, I'm going to push it tonight and get in 1.5 miles, and I did!

I'm going to have to buy myself a few magazines, I've been a member at this gym for over a year and they have the same ones, and I'm sick of them! I think if I can read something good, it will distract me from getting bored!

See for yourself....

I know it says 1.46 but I assure I started it again and ran the .04 to make it 1.5! The treadmill messed up when I started it, and I just put in the 22 mins. knowing I'd stop around 16 mins, so I didn't care it made me set the time, typically I just turn it on manual and go with it, but I couldn't this time!

And that's the hot mess I looked like when I jumped off the treadmill, I'm not going to lie, it felt good, I had that "runner's high" I really did, that's the 2nd time I've felt that!

It has taken me 8 weeks to be able to go from 1 mile to 1.5 miles, I know it's crazy, but that's just how it is for me! And it's working with my exercise, so the numbers are going down!

The MFP congratulated me when I typed in my -2.6 weight loss this week then it said it would re-program my fitness plan, it dropped me from 1300 calories to 1220! Sheesh, I wasn't expecting that!

In the picture above I'm wearing the hubs size L tee shirt, I hate size larges, they are too tight and clingy, so I always buy a XL for shirts, and now they look sloppy, ha! I'm pretty sure he isn't going to like me wearing his shirts all the time! Sorry babe, I apologize in advance!

My clothes are starting to look sloppy, but I'm not really able to buy a size down either, so I guess I have to wear them sloppy for awhile, my pants today were big all over, which is great, but I hate to look sloppy for sure!

Excited to see where I'm at on the scale at the end of the month!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BABE!!!!!

Happy Birthday to the best husband and daddy ever! :-)

The hubs is 37 today, and we pretty much love him to pieces!

We celebrated one day last week, because he was snooping, and I didn't think I could keep the secret much longer!

A lil back story, he has always wanted to go to a UT game at Neyland Stadium, and I've been trying to coordinate that to happen for what seems like the entire time we've been married, he works shift work so to be able to find a game on his day off and to be able to stay the night and actually enjoy the evening has been hard.

It just so happens that we will be coming thru Knoxville during one of the games, so it worked out perfectly.

I've learned one thing for sure, life is too short, not to enjoy it when you can. 

He is so excited and so is EE, they are going together, while me and Bre stay at the hotel and have some fun and one on one time! Such a great experience for the both of them, EE is old enough to remember it, and the hubs will take pictures so I can scrapbook about it! I'm thrilled for them and slightly jealous! I love all sports, but I know they will have a great time, and Bre and need some one on one time!

Since EE gets to go to this and got to go to a Cubs game with daddy, I booked Elmo Live, for me and Bre! So we will have a fun night together too! :-)

Back to the Birthday we celebrated with Pizza Buffet and that cake, I had mentioned last week, it was so good, and look how cute it was!!!

Leora did a great job on the cake, and it was soooo good. I was able to freeze 4 big pieces for later!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY B MAN!!! WE LOVE YOU BUNCHES!!!

50 Mile Challenge?????

So it's the end of August and I had posted on 8/1/13 that I wanted to set a goal of 50 miles this month, whether it was jogging, biking, or the elliptical, as long as I hit my goal.

I had seen several other blogs posting about the 50 miles challenge and my initial reaction to all of it, was wow I'm really proud of that person, what an accomplishment, and then I had the thought that maybe someday I could do that. Maybe after I lose 10 more lbs, or maybe after jogging another 6 weeks, I will be "up to it" 50 Miles is alot of miles..................................

Another reason I didn't think that I could actually complete 50 miles is that school started back this month, and fall baseball started back, and I'm coaching again this year. So those are two big commitments, which take time and planning on my end, which leaves less time for the gym!

So, the end result.......................................................57.97 miles!!!!!!!

Those are actual miles from the machines at the gym! Crane and I walk atleast once a week on our lunch for 20-25 mins, and we walk twice a day for 11 mins. on our 15 min. breaks. I'd say most days I get a mile in at work, but it's broke up during the day, so I didn't count it for the challenge, but if I added it up, I'd say my best guess would be 3.5 miles per week at work which would make a monthly total of 71.97 miles!

I move way more then I thought I did, yet the pounds don't come off easy! I'm a very strict calorie counter Mon-Fri, I let up some on the weekends, but Mon-Fri, I keep the calorie count to 1300, if I exercise then I typically eat those calories back too, but I like going to bed with the MFP app in the "green" not red!
Tonight's results are this on MFP..................Goal 1300, Food 2152, Exercise 428, Net 1724, Remaining Cals -424.

So I'm in the red which means I ate 424 calories more then I should have! I had a lunch date with my oldest and the Brock Family! Thanks Steph for buying our lunch, so nice of you guys! We enjoyed the company too! :-)

I lost one pound last week and one pound the week before, yes I'd like for that to average 2-3 pounds a week. I'm not going to complain, last week we celebrated the hubs birthday with a Pizza Buffet and a wonderful cake! :) And then we had a dinner to honor my Aunt Eleanor, so I had two days of not counting cals, so I will take the one pound weight loss!

My husband weighs about 25 pounds less then me, which just plain SUCKS, so my new goal is to lose 25 more pounds by Nov. it's very doable that's about 8 pounds a month, 2 pounds a week. Should be no problem! :)

I am now about 10 pounds away from the weight I was when he and I met! So I'm feeling pretty good right now, but even when I lose the 25 pounds, I will still be in the "over weight" category! When I hit that "goal" I'm going on a shopping spree. I'm already noticing the 13 lbs I've lost has made a huge difference in my clothes and most everything I wear to work is super big on me! It's a good thing, but looks tacky :(

My mom did buy me a super cute dress the other day, it's red/white stripe and form fitting, I'm hoping to pair it with my jean jacket and wear it to work on Tuesday, I will post pics! It's too cute!

Here is a tip I read, I thought once I was consistently running one mile 4-5 days a week that I would "drop the weight" I knew it wouldn't go down drastically, but I thought it would add one pound weight loss every week. So after reading, I found this: if you run everyday for 31 days, you basically burn 100 cals per mile ran, so that's 3100 calories, and it takes 3500 cals to lose one pound. That's alot, now I know that I need to pair the exercise with cutting calories to make a deficit large enough to actually lose weight! Still doesn't make it easy, but no one promised easy! :-)

Here is a picture comparison, purple tank top was about 6 weeks ago at the gym, the navy shirt is tonight at the gym!

It's not a great comparison since one is alot further back! I will try to find a better to post!

I'm going to stay on track an keep on going to the gym until I can get those last stinky 25 pounds off! I do know I'm losing alot of inches, because I tried on a pair of jeans 6 weeks ago and called them my "goal jeans' they were 2 inches from buttoning and now the button so that's a good sign!

I will be thrilled to buy some size 12 jeans for this winter! :-)

Aunt Ella-Our Fav!

Cancer has struck our family again! I'm so very sad to say we lost one of the greatest family members we had! You know you always have that "one" in the family, who is just a Saint, everyone looks up to them, and loves to be around them! That was Aunt Ella for us!

Here she is with my dad at our last family reunion!

 

You can just see the sweetness on her! So lovable!

 

She is Aunt Eleanor to everyone, except my boys, from day one they called her Aunt Ella, and I love that!

 

She was my mom's favorite person, my dad's favorite, and mine too! My boys loved her and would ask to go see her!

 

We prayed for her to be healed, but God had other plans for her!

 

We love her and are sad, but we know she is rejoicing and reaping the benefits of a life well lived!

 

What an example she was to all of us!

 

This is the 3rd family member we have lost to cancer in 6 months.

 

Praying for all of us to get thru this difficult time.

 

 

Eating Out & Weight Loss

I want to start by saying, I'm still on the 50 miles challenge and I got in 10 miles tonight, 8.80 miles on the bike and 1.20 on the treadmill!
I call that a win-win for tonight!

I lost 1.2 lbs this week, while I'm happy with any loss on the scale, it could have been better, but sometimes life just happens, like crazy schedules and 2nd and 3rd jobs getting more busy.

I ate Pizza Buffet twice this past week, and Cracker Barrel and I managed to lose. I don't want people to think you can eat out and show weight loss all the time, but I'm managing to do so. When I say pizza buffet, one plate of the lowest cal pizza which is Taco Pizza for me, I eat 3 slices, I scrape off all the meat and cheese and replace the lettuce, tom. onion, I add in some red pepper, and about a teaspoon of marinara, hey it's still pizza buffet :) my salad has one scoop of dressing, everything else is calorie free veggies, no dessert pizzas, puddings, or potato salad. That meal weighs in at around 660 calories, while it isn't ideal, it's a nice "break" from work and counting cals for a moment. It's do-able especially if I go to the gym and have reasonable other meals that day. It's all about the planning!

My Cracker Barrel meal use to be the veggie plate of 6 veggies, (I could justify 6 because it was too hard to only pick 4, plus one or both toddlers were eating off my plate) I realize now that was just an excuse. 3 years ago, my order would have been: dumplings, mashed potatoes, hashbrown casserole, maybe even two servings of HB casserole, corn, green beans, biscuits and corn muffins, I like both so it was always a toss up, but typically I liked the corn bread better, that is until I read the cals in those bad boys, like almost double what a biscuit has in it! So now I don't eat them. My meal the other night went like this: veggie plate of 4: green beans, carrots, brown beans, and dumplings (I shared dumplings with Bre) I did eat a biscuit and a corn muffin. I called that my splurge meal of the weekend!

I am loving Logan's Roadhouse right now, I get the broccoli and a veggie skewer and a mushroom skewer, I eat one roll, and wipe off all excess butter that is on it, next time I'm going to ask for some with no butter. That meal is about 600 cals also, not horrible for a night out! here is what my plate looks like:

I'm learning on this journey of mine, things I would have never done without, insert cheese on everything, is that if you can't taste it when it's on a sandwich or on a taco salad or a coney dog, then why spend the cals on it? I've been coming up with ways to cut 100-300 cals a day and it's working.

I know I can do better, but am happy with the way things are going, I'd love to get where I'm consistently losing two pounds a week, but I know that means a much more strict diet, so we shall see.

I'm feeling great, and excited to see where I'm at by Halloween, I'm gonna guess I will have lost another 14 lbs by then!

August Goals

So far so good!

I'm right on track with tracking my miles for the 50 mile challenge!

I just didn't feel it on my jog last night, it could have been I had just played softball, I didn't push myself too hard, I just gave blood Friday, so I just listened to my body! I jogged .75 miles and I finshed up by walking 1.20, and then I did 3.38 on the bike!

Tracking my food has also gone well this week too! I bought some Nutella and have been spreading that on my 35 bread, I use one tablespoon total for breakfast, it is quite high in cals, but sure taste great and does keep me full until lunch time! ** I'm wondering if I'm somewhat allergic** I've been very itchy yesterday and today both, so I'm keeping an eye on that!

Tonight was Nini's Bday! HAPPY BIRTHDAY NINI, so we celebrated with her tonight, and had her over for dinner, and I did eat one cupcake, not horrible.

WEIGH IN RESULTS......................................... -2.0 lbs, yay, yay, yay! I was doing the happy dance at work on Monday, love to see the scales go down, so rewarding!

I was hoping for 4 more lbs off by Sat. for the hubs work Family Fun Swim Night, so we shall see, it's do-able, with lots of hard work!

I took the kiddos to the Church garden tonight to pull weeds and help out, however, I wasn't much help at all, I didn't know the weeds were going to be nearly as tall as myself. I'm also very sore, I think I've pulled muscles in both shoulders playing ball last night and just playing around with both boys, or could have been when they both tackled me to the ground,..............who knows!
It was fun for the boys to see a large garden and get to help pick, made my heart happy, I grew up on a farm and learned so much from it!

Right before we left, Bre man got sick, and threw-up everywhere :-( Bless his heart! We came home and he has been fine, he did that yesterday too, I told him to lay down and rest and he has been such an angel all evening! I just hate when they don't feel good, he doesn't act sick, so not sure what is going on!

Lot's of fun stuff this week with the Hubs work family fun night, and we have a big weekend planned!

Goals for August-50 mile Challenge

I'm actually doing a post on the first day of the month! --YAY for progress!

So here are my goals for August:

*I'm taking the 50 mile challenge-more on this in a minute.
*lose an additional 10 lbs
*continue working out 20 days a month
*have less cheat days on the diet
*work more on arms and upper body strength
*continue to drink more water and less diet coke

These goals are definitely do-able, but the boys are getting ready to start fall baseball, and school starts next week, so will be a bit more challenging getting to the gym. Going to have to revamp my workout schedule.

So I saw one blogger post about a 50 mile challenge, while her challenge is over, I thought it would be great to do one on my own for the month of August. The 50 miles can be a combo of stationary bike, treadmill, elliptical machine at the gym.

I'm starting off great, I got in 6.50 miles on the bike tonight and 1.20 on the treadmill! This is usually what I do at the gym every night, so doing a lil over 7 miles a day, should be very easy to get this in. Would mean I'd have to work out about 7 days this month, and I typically get in 20 per month, because I'm trying to train to jog an entire 5K, I still have plenty of time to train for the Black Cat.

A huge thanks to the hubs for getting the Ipod loaded with some of my favorite songs, that definitely helps to keep me going!

I'm still wondering when the weight is going to start coming off at a regular rate, I've lost 2 pounds, and the scale is still moving down, so that's good!

I love a good challenge, wish me luck!