New Workout Plan

A friend of mine recently suggested to me to check out bodybuilding.com to help me find some new workout programs.  I have been wanting to get more into weight lifting, and this website is the perfect thing to help me.  They have all sorts of different programs for different skill levels, as well as an app, where you can make up your own program.  My friend sent me a work out that she suggested I try out, so I did that at the gym today.  I did 25 minutes on the elliptical and then did the weight workout. It felt so good to do a program that made me feel like I was actually doing something!

My new goal is to try and make it to the gym 3 times a week.  And then 2 days a week, I will try to do some sort or workout at home, whether it's talking a walk/run, or doing a workout video at home.  I really feel like I am doing some good for myself when I work out, and I really need to find time to do it more often.

Ellie's birthday party is in 2 weeks and I feel like I am so far behind in trying to get everything planned! I just ordered her cake today, and I also just got her invitations out in the mail. I hope that my last minute planning doesn't bite me in the butt. I'm really worried about no one coming, or everything just being one huge disaster. I know she won't care either way, but she deserves an amazing party!!

Lifestyle Change

Why does weight loss have to be so hard?

 When I was pregnant, I ate what I wanted, because being pregnant apparently means you have a free pass, right? (no, not right....I learned that the hard way!) Then, after Elliot was born, and I was breastfeeding, I was afraid to change my diet at all, because I was afraid that a calorie change would mess with my milk supply, and I struggled with that enough.

Now that I'm no longer nursing, and I'm not pregnant, I really need to get my act together and lose some weight before I get pregnant again.  I started going to the gym 2-3x a week and tried cleaning up my diet last october. I figured by now, almost a year later, I'd have lost a good amount of weight, and we'd be ready to start trying to get pregnant again.

Nope. Not the case.

I honestly figured that I would easily lose 10 pounds or so, just because I wasn't going to Burger King 3 times a week, and I wasn't having ice cream for a snack every night before bed.  But for some reason, I stayed about the same. I got blood work drawn, to see if there was an underlying issue, and there wasn't. So, I apparently am just not working hard enough.

Cody and I have decided to really overhaul our eating.  We have started buying new vegetables. We're not eating any carbs or starches with our meals. Only eating whole wheat breads, when we do eat bread (which isn't often). We are making food at home a lot more. We eat a big salad before each meal. Now, if I can get my water drinking under control, I think I might be able to really lose some of this weight.  I have about 2 months before we are really going to start thinking about getting pregnant, and I'd love to lose 20lbs by then.

Fingers crossed!

Falling off the wagon

Well, I had REALLY good intentions that lasted for about 2-3 weeks.

And now I'm back to where I was before, and any weight I lost during those 2-3 weeks is back.

I'm not even sure what happened.  One bad day turned into one lazy day and then the days just kept going by and I never got back on track.  It makes me so mad because, like I said, I had such great intentions and was so motivated. I want to be down a pants size when I go to Walt Disney World in October.  Which is something that is completely doable. Well, it is unless I keep falling off the wagon like I keep doing.

I need to get the strength to stay on track and not let one slip up completely derail me.

Tomorrow is a new day, and I really need to make sure it's a good one.

Bad Habits

Cody was off yesterday, and we decided to make a trip to Grand Rapids.  We went shopping and decided to have Sushi for lunch.  While I know that sushi isn't the healthiest thing in the world, I didn't feel like I went overboard and was proud of how I did at lunch.  We finished our shopping and went home.  Around that time, it was time for dinner so we talked about what sounded good and we both decided that a place that serves great burgers was where we wanted to go.  When we got there, instead of trying to find something healthy, I ordered my favorite burger and fries and ate the whole thing.  Normally, Tuesday or Wednesday would be my cheat meal, and eating a burger like this wouldn't necessarily phase me too much.  But I had my cheat meal on Sunday with my parents, so this was not a good choice for me. 

I realized that it's such a bad habit for me to go to a restaurant that sounds good, and order whatever I want off the menu.  I need to really put thought into the places we decide to go, and make sure that there is something on the menu that I can order that won't throw me completely off track.  We tend to eat out more when my husband is off, because we like to go on day trips where we're gone shopping or exploring all day, and I don't want to give that up.  I just need to pay more attention to where we're going and what I'm ordering. 

"Cheat Days"

Cody has been off the last two days.  

This really only means one thing.

Cheat Days.

My goal was to go 7 days without having a cheat day. I didn't want to eat great for 2-3 days, have a cheat day, and then try to get back on track. When Cody is home, my days aren't planned out as well.  Ellie and I have a routine, but on Cody's days off, it throws everything off.  And we tend to eat out a lot when he is home.  

Yesterday, Cody had to travel for work in the morning, and didn't get home until about 2pm.  So breakfast and lunch were great and we stuck to our normal routine.  When he got home, we decided to go out to eat.  We got mexican, and even though I ordered a salad, I ended up eating chips and salsa too and went over my calories.  Today, we had to bring Ellie to the doctor, and then we had our home inspection all afternoon on the new house.  So we weren't home and I didn't plan to bring any good foods to eat.  We had applebees for dinner, and I thought that by ordering a salad, I was doing a good thing.  And it would have been, but then I had breadsticks and soup.  And then Cody wanted to get ice cream.  

Side Note: I know that ice cream places think that you're doing you a favor by giving you an extra large amount of ice cream...but I ordered a small cone today and I was given basically a gallon of ice cream on a waffle cone.  Thank goodness I found some self control and ate about 1/2 cup of it and threw the rest away.  

I guess what this whole post is about is how hard it is to eat healthy when you get thrown out of your routine.  And how important planning is.  We will be doing a lot of running around the next few weeks on Cody's days off, trying to get stuff ready to move.  I need to figure out how to plan out my meals and snacks for when we're on the go, 

How do you keep yourself in check when you're out and about, or when your plans change?

Frame of Mind

So, I got thinking today about weight loss and how much it consumes my mind when I am consciously trying to eat healthy enough to lose weight.

 And then it hit me.

I honestly think part of the problem I have with being able to lose weight is that I can't imagine myself doing it.

It's like winning the lottery.  You can buy lottery tickets every day, with hopes of winning, but when it comes down to it, you know that the likelihood of you winning the lottery are very slim.  You like to imagine yourself winning millions of dollars, and what you'd do with it, and the house you'd buy, etc., but when you're honest with yourself, you know that you will probably continue along the path you are currently on, without any major thing like winning the lottery happening. And eventually you will talk yourself out of wasting money on the tickets, because you most likely won't win, anyway.

That is exactly how I feel about weight loss.  I can buy healthy foods, and I can go to the gym....I can take all the necessary steps to lose the 100+ pounds that I'd like to lose, and I can imagine what life would be like to be thin and fit and be able to wear a size 4 pants.  But when I'm honest with myself, I can't ACTUALLY see it happening.  And I get discouraged, and stop trying.  Because why bother?  Why put the effort into something that I can't actually see myself getting results from?

I think that's my biggest struggle when it comes down to it.  I don't mind eating healthy. I like healthy foods.  And I don't mind going to the gym. I like the "me" time I have when I'm there.  But because I can't actually see myself succeeding, I just want to give up and just go back to not caring.

I need to figure out how to flip my frame of mind.  I need to learn how to have enough confidence in myself to know that I CAN lose weight, and I CAN get to my goal weight.

Have any of you felt this way?  How did you overcome it?

Grocery Shopping...and good news!

Why do groceries have to be so expensive?

Back when I wasn't being very careful with what I was eating, I could buy groceries for the week for under $100.  I could buy 5 boxes of mac and cheese for lunches, a box of cereal would give me breakfast for the week, I'd get a couple of pounds of ground beef for dinners and we'd be good for the week.  I know that eating healthy is better for me, but I won't lie, I miss the simplicity of grocery shopping back then.

Grocery shopping now not only means having to spend more money, but I also have to be more careful of what I'm buying.  Being a Stay at Home Mom means I am home for every meal, unlike when I was working and I'd be at the restaurant during at least one meal.  I also have to make sure that I'm getting healthy foods for Ellie.  She will usually eat what we eat, but sometimes I have to make small adjustments to it to make it easier for her to eat, since she only has 8 teeth.  Mostly, my shopping trips revolve around trying to make sure that I am getting a large variety of healthy foods that we all like.

So, we got some good news today.....

Our offer was accepted on the house!!!

We are so excited to be moving to a new house with much more space!!  We have a lot to do in the next few weeks, including a garage sale to purge some of the extra crap we've acquired, picking out paint and new carpet, hopefully buying some new furniture.....I can't wait!!  I also am so excited to redesign Ellie's room into a big girl room, and not so much of a nursery anymore.

Pinterest has become my new best friend! :)