Push-ups

So after my last post I was totally ready to get it in gear. OK...kind of. It is Hershey mint truffle and mint M&M season. And I am ADDICTED!!!!! In a really bad way. Course then I got bronchitis. That held on forever. Then my boy got the flu. With this child you don't get a lot done because he likes to have you right next to him when he is sick. I had done a load of laundry and was trying to fold it and he immediately came and asked if I could come back and sit with him. I can't turn that down as someday he won't want to do that. Then I got the flu. I still have super bad migraines everyday so I have not attempted to workout yet. But my boys have. :)

Milking it.

Awhile back I had someone tell me that I hadn't been updating this blog very well. Sigh.....I know. So here is an update. The bad news. Last time I weighed (last Monday) it was a gross 188.2. Oh pickles! Forgot this is positive. :) Before August I had been exercising daily and sometimes twice daily. Yes I still ate crap food but my view is that at least I am doing something. And for those many people that constantly tell me you have to restrict calories AND exercise...I KNOW. I just hope that eventually my calories watching will come next but that at least I am exercising. And actually when I do really really exercise I do sometimes turn down that Ben and Jerry's knowing how many hours of exercise it is to burn that off. Then come early August I went hiking and fell. I got a nice gash on my forehead as I had my son on my back so I braced my fall with my head.Along with that came a nice big goose egg, bruising, and a horrible concussion. So for a few weeks I was down and I mean down. I sat in the recliner as much as I could. My kids watched non-stop TV just about. I was horribly sick. And I was so miserable that I started medicating with food. When the dizziness and headaches started subsiding then it was better but still not 100%. After about 6 weeks I had gone a few days with no migraines so I thought I would try exercising. It was very discouraging. I had done 20 minutes and had a horrible migraine that put me in bed. I tried it a few more times and still would have to stop after 10 minutes. It was so hard for me. And of course I kept medicating with food. :(. So I had slowly, and I mean slowly, trying to add more and more exercise in. 3 weeks ago I decided that I think I could do it and tried a full blown workout. Guess what? I made it. I had a headache for a couple hours but not a migraine and not for several hours. So that whole week I did P90X workouts. Then hubby one day said, "Let's wait till after I get back from this trip before we continue with workouts." I was feeling lazy and jumped on that band wagon. :) Then we started back up. Then I had major major major busy stress and had a neck injury to where it hurt to move. So I didn't exercise. Then of course after that? I got bronchitis. Oh yippee. I am not sure I will workout tomorrow as I still have been quite sick but I would like to. We will see.

So there you go. That is why I haven't blogged. Haven't lost weight, haven't really been able to exercise until recently, and have been in the dumps about this concussion. I am about 90% better now. I still have a TON of memory problems. It is very very frustrating. The thing I was finally able to do that I hadn't since getting it though? Read. Ahhhh, I missed reading and after the concussion it was hard to read. I would get headaches and struggle with the words. So the only reading I did was to my kids. So now if I could get my memory back we would be good. As for now, I try and write down EVERYTHING as I do forget. Have a super productive week people!

Oh. he he. As for the title of milking it? I was explaining to a friend once that I could not believe I had forgot something (sometimes my lack of memory still surprises me) and said that I still have problems since the concussion. She came back with, "Oh. So your still milking that concussion?" So guess what folks. Yes, I am still "milking" that concussion. :)

HOTNESS!

Check it out! The girl in this photo is the lead singer of a band called The Mending Seed. She is totally my idol for how I want to look at the end of this process. Major hotness going on there. And I know I shouldn't say this, being married and all, but the guys are some nice eye candy too. he he They have a CD on sale that I can not wait to get in the mail. And the best part....the girl is my cousin. So YES you doubting Thomas's, I could totally look like her. Seeing as how we are related and all. Check them out on facebook too. Darn computer won't let me attatch a link so check them out by the band name on facebook and youtube.

Exercise progress

My kiddos have been sick, I am guessing they got it from the gym. But I hate to say it, I am taking them back. I will just try to be more proactive about keeping them clean. But I can not wait to get back to the gym. My weight sizes are not that big at home and I really miss the bigger workout there. But I still have kept up with my exercising, every day. I have even stayed up till 11:30 pm once to make sure I got it in. I feel so much better. On most days I have great energy, when I get enough sleep. :) And when I was camping with the family I raced my daughter back and forth to the car to load our gear and I was surprised that I wasn't winded when I did that. Normally I would be so I am super pumped about that. Yay!

Missed me?

You know you did! he he. So a run down of the happenings. On June 1st I started the HCG diet. Can I tell you that I loved and hated those first fat loading days. Then by day 3 I couldn't wait to start the actual diet because I felt so terrible from all the junk food. I did ok. I could have done better if I hadn't cheated so much. :( But I did lose a total of 17 pounds! Yay for me! Since stopping the HCG I have stayed between the same range and started to get quite frustrated with myself. So I started exercising and....gasp......counting those darn calories. But I am down 19 pounds now!!!!! Waaa hoooooo! I have not seen that number on the scale in awhile and can't wait to see lower numbers. I won't go off the starting weight of this blog as I actually think I gained a bit. Oh man...just went back and looked at my starting weight. I gained a lot. UGH! I started HCG at 199.2. Shudder! I am now at 180! So I am quite excited and totally counting it as 19 and not the other. :)

So things I have discovered in the last 2 months. You actually do feel better when you exercise. I have found myself even exercising at 10 PM if that is the only time I can squeeze it in. And 2nd? Eating right is a totally complete lifestyle change. You have to commit to it FOREVER. These will be hard, I know. But I am looking forward to the adventure at the same time. Happy exercising!

You have to be kidding me!

So I really thought I was doing better. HA!!!! A BIG FAT HA!!! I have been so busy, so tired, and having some major back pain. But I still thought all was ok. Then I went back to my first post to see my weight. GREAT!!! I am bigger! What?!? Seriously? Not by much as I can't remember the exact weight I am today but by about a pound or less. What a joke. 5 months and I have not been successful. Argh! Very frustrating. In June I plan to try something new and let's hope this works. Because this is crazy. My back pain has actually been so bad that I have not exercised. I looked up back pain and it suggested rest. That will help my weight loss. But sometimes you have to do what you can to help the cause move further right?

-3.7! Yaaaaay

It has been awhile...missed me? :)

I haven't blogged recently. I had some things happen that were upsetting so I didn't know quite what to do. Then someone said something to me, I won't repeat what, but it lit a fire in a way. The last few weeks have been up and down but I am proud of myself this past week. What makes it different? I started logging my calories. Ugh! Can I tell you how much I HATE to do that? But I decided that if I want to be more successful then I need to make some changes, especially some that are more difficult. I have actually been more aware of what I am eating and some things just don't look good to me knowing how many calories they have. I haven't really exercised per say but I do walk more. I try and walk to places more. I have actually enjoyed the time with my kids more. Especially when we can do random stops and play. I think my kids have enjoyed it too.

I also stopped nursing my son. I was so excited when I realized I could eat dairy again without it affecting my baby. Course, guess what? I actually have not ate hardly any because I get too sick from it now. I can't tell you how excited I felt when I saw a carton of Ben & Jerry's ice cream. It used to be a big love of mine. I looked at that thing and thought how sick I would be and easily put it down. Yay for me!

So I have a busy busy next couple of weeks. So here is to hoping that I don't let the stress get me down. Keep it trucking people.......I am a little tired here. :)

Argh.

No excuses. But I am sure I can come up with some anyway. :) I gained 2 pounds last week and lost 2.1 this week. So I guess it is all good. It has been a very very stressful time lately. There...that is my excuse. I did recently join http://www.sparkpeople.com/. I absolutely hate journaling but I thought maybe it might help me be more successful. It is not easy for me to sit down and add it all but anything worth doing takes effort so this is my effort.

I have not exercised for 2 weeks. I am sad as I was doing so good. And guess what? Either the stress or the exercise is the culprit....I am so tired again. All the time. I do miss the exhiliration I got from exercising so I need to get back in the game.

And our exercising humor. My daughter LOVES to exercise with me but will whine and complain most of the time. She is doing a Wii exercise with me and the screen is not recognizing what she is doing so she was super frustrated. Our 20 minute workout turned into 45 with me doing almost a double workout. It was not the funnest thing but sometimes I couldn't stop laughing at her.

-1.5

Waa hoo! I am happy about that. I have been eating a TON better and trying to get that exercise in. I hate to admit it.....but I feel a lot better too. Gasp! I know. Scary. he he. Here is another scary thing. I am almost out of the candy in my house and I am not feeling panicky at all about that. Complacent actually. I must be broken for sure. :) Now I just wish it was easy to keep up this healthier lifestyle. I have loved getting my Bountiful Basket. I have loved all the vegetables and fruits. The newest odd fruit that I have tried and actually like quite a bit now....Kumquats. Pretty sour little things but I like them.

Now here is a bit of weight loss humor for you:

My Mother had commented that my fingers must get a good workout from texting. My father said maybe I should text with the rest of my body. I laughed so hard about that.


Son prayed, "Bless me to lose weight, and gain the weight, and lose the weight, and lose the weight, and gain the weight. Amen." That must be what I have been praying for. Oops!


Father said he didn't see me in line for the Biggest Loser line up. Maybe I should.....that is not the first hint I have had. :)

Happy healthy eating everyone! Try a new food in the following weeks and let me know how it went.

-1.8!

Finally something kind of good. he he. Does that count even though I had gained so much the last two weeks? I think so. Because I have started making some small changes. I have started exercising and loving it. Gasp! Did I say that? Honestly I really have enjoyed it. I sometimes even find myself wanting to do more. I got myself a Bountiful Basket on Saturday and have been eating more vegetables then I ever have. I even find myself craving some of them as snacks. Crazy. So maybe with these changes and more I can make this a more successful endeavor. Yeah me!

I have been trying to practice my Intuitive Eating and have been making headway with that. The hardest, funnest, scariest, and most exciting part is letting yourself eat what you want and know that it is not going to disappear and not be available because you are "dieting". For example, if I am at the grocery store and want some candy, I buy it. I eat it. I have found that I can stop eating (sometimes) because I know that if I want more it is there. Sometimes I do revert back to the "Oh no I really shouldn't be eating this and I am going to gain so much weight. Oh well, you have already ate 4 so now you might as well finish it off." syndrome. I hate that. And I am very good at when my husband tells me, "Oh why are you eating those? You have been working so hard." thinking, "I will show you. I will eat more now." So dumb. But during this process I have noticed some things. I really don't like M&M's. Whoa! I know! I actually have wondered if I just got a bad bag as my son won't eat them either but I have not been tempted to try more just to see. Another thing I loved and craved during Easter time was those huge creamy Cadbury eggs. Found out I really don't like them that well either. And there is more. Crazy! I love it though. Now if I could not like chocolate chip cookies I would feel better. :)

So I will continue to enjoy my basket of fruit and vegetables. I will continue to enjoy and actually look forward to exercising. And I will try to be more positive.

Humor of the week....my daughter wanted to exercise with me and we were using the Wii Sports Active program where we have two characters patterned, kind of, after ourselves. As we were getting ready to exercise my daughter asked which character was me. My husband in the background said, "The fat one." he he.

Ha ha! Caught you!

You thought I had quit didn't you! Ha ha! No such luck. Yes I have done poorly but I am still NOT quitting! I gave into tempation and weighed on Tuesday. Ugh! Yeah I had definately been stress eating with my husbands injury and taking care of him. Gained 5.5 pounds. Yeah, I know....not good.

Well, my leg is finally feeling great so I started exercising. I only worked out the last two days but can I tell you they were seriously killer ones. Yesterdays was so bad that my arch on one foot hurts very badly and my one hand and wrist hurt. Very odd and dumb places to hurt yourself from exercising if you ask me. So I have been wondering if it was my shoes as they have no arch support. So I am very happy that I am getting new decent ones. Can't wait! Today the program suggested I rest from my workout. Yeah! I needed to. I have iced my owies off and on all day.

I still have done bad at veggies. I can do fruits but it takes more effort for veggies so that has been my goal.

I can't tell you how much I appreciate the support. My favorite cheerleader is my cousin Kristin. She always makes me feel like I can do it and that is what I need. And what I think we all need. I need to be more like her. Thank you Kristin! You are amazing!

Happy exercising and eating those veggies. I am off to cut up some and pre-package them in hopes that it works!

Stress......

I didn't weigh in today. I decided to try very very hard to stay away from the scale for a few weeks and try and eat better. Mainly those fruit and veggies. Also I had a HUGELY stressful week with my husband being life flighted to the hospital after a snow mobile accident. And I think I ate to pacify that stress.

I had my OBGYN appointment this past week. I played the sympathy card, my husband being in the hospital, so she didn't get mad about my weight. And actually my blood pressure was only in the hyper-tension range so she said I did not need to take the medicine anymore. Yeah! I do have to go back in a month to have my blood pressure checked again to see how it is doing. She also is doing a test on my thyroid to see if that is why I am so tired. I told her I was tired because I was overweight, had small kids, and stress. But she still wanted to check. She did notice that I commented about not exercising and not getting in those fruit/veg on her health questionnaire. Told her I hadn't been exercising the last week because my leg and back hurt so bad from that fall. She took x-rays to see if my leg was broken. That is a no. Yeah again! After the appointment I noticed how little I have been getting the fruit/veg in. I can go the whole day and have 1! I used to be very good at eating those. So this week, minus today, I will try and get at least 5 servings in. That is a start. One bad thing I noticed lately......when I go somewhere with the kids. I pack healthy snacks for them. I pack candy and soda for me. What is up with that?!? I also went to the chiropractor for my back/leg today. Turns out the fall threw my hip out badly. Boy that hurt getting that fixed! Here's to hoping I finally feel better with that.

So here goes to trying to eat my f/v servings this week! Anyone else having trouble with those or have any advice? Thank you so much for the cheer leading by the way. I think I need that and I think it will help me be successful at this.

Success?!?

Is it a hint? My step stool finally gave out on me. The only really bad thing is that he gave out while I was on him. I fell and landed right on the top bar. That was Thursday of last week. I am still in so much pain it is crazy. I tried to exercise the other day and couldn't because it hurt so bad. My sister made me laugh telling me that the stool was trying to give me a hint, "Hey Chubby! Remember that weight loss goal you were trying to do? Well, maybe you should get on that and get OFF me!" Then it collapsed. It is now outside because it can't handle the sight of me munching on those Cadbury eggs I fell in love with. So the kids have dropped hints, "If you drink anymore caffeine you will be grounded!" and the stool "I can't take anymore of this Chubby!" Maybe somewhere in all that I listened as I lost weight. I tried really hard to not be upset about it as it was only 0.4 but at least it is not a gain. And here is some more exercise humor. Butterball follows EVERYTHING the Mii does when he exercises. It is so cute!

Surprise!

I am totally shocked! I ate so bad. I was still sick, tired, and didn't exercise. Received a yummy delicious huge box of chocolates from my husband for Valentine's Day. And yet the scale said...........................wait for it.........................................THE SAME!!!!!!! I did not gain!!!!!! I was shocked as I ate the whole box by myself. Shhhh. It was so good. It is a good thing we don't get those all the time. :) Now if I could sleep so I could get better then maybe just maybe I could feel human.

One thing is I am very good at quitting. I quit everything! So I absolutely feel that I need and want to not quit this.

So...here is a little humor for you. I wonder if I look this funny when I do the hula hoop on the Wii. She is so funny when she exercises. I love it.

Good news and not so good news

-o.7..........that is the good news. The not so good news? I still didn't lose what I had gained last week. Argh! But even though my success, or lack of it, is not that great, I am still glad I am doing this. It makes me more......aware of what I am eating knowing that I will have to blog it later.

To review last week....I was really sick AGAIN! And was getting very little sleep. So I kind of canned the exercise last week and just tried to get better. I feel much better today but am still sick. And the bad air is killing me! My asthma has been bad. I also started nursing the baby at night again. Long story there. And for some reason I am feeling some major "Last Supper" eating today. I am not sure why....probably that I was not as happy with my weight loss. "Last Supper" eating is something I learned in a book I have been reading called Intuitive Eating. It is what you usually feel before you go on a diet...like you will suddenly have forbidden foods so you eat a TON of everything. I am really loving this book so far.

Now I have a question....for anyone that knows stuff about high blood pressure. I have been taking my pills but forget the first one most of the time. But my heart races a lot at night. Anyone know if that has anything to do with it? So I don't sleep well at all. Makes for rough days for sure.

OK. I am off to try and have a better week....wish me luck!

The truth comes out.

My daughter was wearing a sweater that my sister had crocheted for her. She said, "Wow these sleeves are really big. I think they are made for a really big persons arms." Then she glances at me and says, "Yeah, they are made for your arms Mom."

Good thing we have been doing family workouts. Love her workout clothes.

+ 1.8

Let's review the week......

Tried to stop baby from night time nursing.

Tried to stop baby from sleeping with me.

Was sick with a cold and/or migraine most of the week.

I am trying really really hard to not beat myself up about this weight gain. It was a super bad week. I am only hoping that as I only got 3 hours of sleep again last night that it is not a sign of what the coming week will hold. Wish me luck!

Lumpy, Dumpy, and Grumpy.....

Was this supposed to stay positive? Oh pickles! OK, then forget the title. he he.

Why do we seem to not take care of ourselves when we don't feel well? Or is it just me? I have felt sick and down this week. And you know what I ate? JUNK! Why is that? Doesn't it make more sense that when we are sick is when our bodies need good food? So why did I eat bad? I know that I had a hard time because NOTHING sounded good and then I would walk in the kitchen and grab some bad food. Crazy. So now that I recognize this do you think I can chose better foods so that hopefully I will feel better sooner? Let's hope so! Course I do have one thing that I think is a contributing factor for me lately. Our lovely mucky yucky air. My asthma has been acting up a ton and I am wondering if it is adding to my congestion and no voice.

If any of you read my other blog you might remember this plate of brownies......yummmmmmm. There were actually two plates. I only made a double batch because normally my family inhales these. I have never actually made them with frosting before. And as they are made with purred carrots and spinach then I don't mind that they inhale them. I made the frosting part for my husband. Darn him for having better restraint then me. I seriously ate WAY too much of these. Especially the yummy frosting. I ate so much that I served the last two to the kids for breakfast just to get them out of the house.OK........not sure how to feel about this and I think the picture does not give it justice. I had measured my waist earlier this month and had recorded it on the Wii Fit. My husband, being the competitive guy he is measured his and entered his. Mine was 44.5 and his was 42. What? I did not think that was possible at all! And I was quite upset. So....call me crazy. I tried his pants on today. He has always been telling me to wear his pants as I don't have many and I have always responded that I would be sad if they fit as he weighs a little bit more then me. Guess what? They fit......... They aren't tight......and they are super baggy in the legs so it does make me feel a little better. And confirms what I thought. SOMEONE sucked in his tummy when he measured it! Ha! He is caught! He heAnd this is me in my own pants. They are a bit tight and make me have a muffin top but I like them better on me. I feel better in them which is a plus.

Diet Books

So I recently finished reading a diet book. I think it kind of turned me off from the whole thing because it had some swearing in it. Now what self-help book comes with swearing? One thing kind of made me raise my eye brows in it. It said to just eat most things on top of a salad. For example to cut up your pizza slice and put it on top of your salad and add "as much as you want of your favorite dressing." Hunh? So if I want to have 1/2 a bottle in one sitting then it is OK? That does not make a lick of sense to me.

Oh.....I made a new discovery today. Apparently you need more then 3 hours sleep a night to function. You can do it after one night maybe but 2 in a row? Nope! I have been dragging all day, pretty much not eating too right. I am so tired that exercising is totally out of the question. I already finished a caffeine soda that did NOTHING. So tonight.......I hope I sleep!

Not to shabby

Yesterday.........oh man. On a good to bad food ratio.....the bad food one! But I exercised, did a little walking so I am not about to beat myself up about it.

Last night I probably got 3 hours sleep, if that, and was fully prepared for today to be bad. To be honest, when I had to get up for the day I was thinking of being totally lazy and plugging in movies all day and vegging out on the couch. Then I remembered that I teach pre-school tomorrow so no lounging for me as I had to get ready for that. To even think about eating right and exercising felt totally out of the question. But the night before I had packed my snack bowl. I had chosen some good snacks, at least I felt.And then planned on any other grazing being fruits or veggies. I am proud to admit that so far I have ate very, very well! Yeah for me! I have only exercised for 15 minutes so far but am hoping to squeeze more in before the night is through. I have been surprised how good I have felt today with being so tired.

When I woke up I did think of just grabbing some mini candy bars to eat. "Research" has shown thought that I will get very sick if I do that. Sugar on an empty stomach or too much in general actually makes me really sick so I am glad I listened to myself. (Patting myself on back now)

Week 1 -ish

Over a year ago I had my 3rd precious child. With all my pregnancies I had trouble with my blood pressure being too high. This time it wasn't going down. So my doctor prescribed a high blood pressure pill and to lose 10 lbs. And you know, I don't do well when being told what to do. But I took it to the extreme and gained 10 lbs. And that 6 month prescription has lasted over a year. Gasp....I was looking at the medicine just now and thought, "Oh how nice and strange that the pharmacy gave me an extra month supply. They must know how much I need to be on this and that it will carry me over to when I have my appointment with the OBGYN." Yes I actually thought that. Thought that maybe fate had stepped in and gave me an extra supply. Then I noticed that the prescription says to take two a day........ummmm.......I have not been doing that. Oh bother. To be honest...I don't think I took it serious enough and kept thinking I was too young. And I was too embarrassed to admit to the doctor that I still had not lost that weight. Happy to admit I do have an appointment in March. And I know she won't be happy with me and has no bones about telling me so ,but I thought about not making an appointment at all. So I am glad that I did. So in light of all that......I have decided that I need to get serious. For more reasons then just the above, but I think it plays a big part.

So here is day 1 -ish. I say ish because I have been "trying" to lose weight and eat healthier for awhile. Obviously it has not worked all that well. :) But maybe if I blog about it, then I will be held more accountable. At least I hope. I had my daughter take my picture in my workout clothes. I will be posting weekly or bi-weekly photos in the same clothes so that we can hopefully see the results.

My starting weight........gasp! 191.8! But on a good note...I have been bigger. Is that a good note? Yeah I guess it is.My husband was totally against this as he thought I would get some negative feedback. I think losing weight and trying to be healthier are positive things. And so I hope to keep my posts as positive as possible. I can't control the rest of the world so I will just try to be open if I get any negative comments.

So......here it goes! Wish me luck! :)