Weigh Day

So, I weighed in this morning.  I meant to take a picture of the scale, but I completely forgot.  Next time!  I didn't quite make my goal of being out of the 220s by the end of May.  BUT I am so close!  *insert dramatic Biggest Loser scale beep*

 

 

220!!

 

 

Even thought I didn't quite hit my goal, I am still pretty stoked about losing .8 lbs.  My mission with this journey is to begin and maintain a new lifestyle.  Life happened to me this week- we traveled, we celebrated my Husband's 30th birthday, and it has been one of those weeks at work where there is retirement cake and snacks everywhere.  I'll take not gaining as an accomplishment and losing a little as a bonus!

 

 

My total loss since I started making changes in January is now 17.4lbs.

 

 

New mini goal- be out of the 220s by this time next week.

 

 

 

image pinned here

 

 

Don't forget- Monday starts the Stink Eye Early Bird Challenge! 

 I decided to call it that because I hate getting up early THAT MUCH.  I'll be getting up by 5 am.  You should join me, especially after I have made it sound so awesome! 

 

 

 

 

Turkey Tacos, Excuses, and a Challenge to Myself (and to you, if you would like!)

Turkey Tacos are one of my staple foods.  Tacos in general are, but turkey tacos make the rotation A LOT.  If my husband is traveling for work, I have been known to buy a package of ground turkey, portion it out, and have turkey tacos every. single. night.  They are really, really simple and quick.  And you can dress them up about a trillion different ways.

You need:
Lean Ground Turkey
Chili Powder
Garlic Powder
Cumin
Paprika
Oregano

I turn my pan on Medium-Medium High and dump the turkey in the pan.  I eyeball the above seasonings, using probably two parts chili powder to one part everything else.  I break it up to combine and cook until it is done.  This probably takes about 10 minutes. 

OR

You can just use your favorite taco seasoning and follow the directions on the package.  Budget Bytes has an awesome recipe for homemade taco seasoning linked here.  My addition of oregano is because of this recipe.   Now for the fun part!  I have had these SO many different ways.

In this picture, the tacos are served on a whole wheat and corn tortilla with spinach, quartered grape tomatoes, cheese, cilantro, and Wholly Guacamole brand Guacamole Salsa.

 

I also love the combo of cilantro, chopped white onion, avocado and fresh squeezed lime juice.  Or avocado, tomato, green onion, and sriacha or taco sauce.  Basically any topping that you love is acceptable.  Another yummy choice is to use leaf lettuce instead of tortillas for the shell.

I have tons of excuses all of the time for not working out.  I feel like some of them are legit, but I could still make time if I wanted.  So, no free pass.  I promised myself that I was going to ramp up my training over the summer so that I can not only meet my goals, but exceed them.  I have been a super slacker in the workout department. The evenings for me are usually pretty packed already caring for my son and preparing/cleaning up dinner and all of the other crap that has to get done around the house.  It is after 9 pm by the time I workout sometimes, and lately that hasn't been working because I am tired by then.  And getting up and working out after snuggling down with my sweet boy is sort of like lifting a lead balloon.  So I have made a really hard decision...

I am challenging myself (and you!) to get up by 5 am every week day to work out starting Monday, June  6th.

 

 

Seriously, you have no idea how hard this is for me.  I have been saying I was going to do this for a couple of weeks, and it has happened ONCE.  I HATE getting up in the morning- not in an "I hate life" kind of way, but in a "I think you should wake up when your body tells you it is time" hippie sort of way.  So, now that I have shared it here, I can't take it back.  If you would like to join me, leave me a comment or shoot me a text.  We can rock this shiz together!

 

 

 



Perfection is overrated

I am really terrible about starting something and then giving up when it doesn't go "perfectly".  For example, in the past, I might have gone right along with Weight Watcher's plan perfectly for a week or two, only to give up, or not give it my full effort, when I had a slip-up.


pinned here

With our traveling this past weekend, my husband's birthday yesterday, and our lack of time to go to the grocery store this week- I could come up with all kinds of excuses to jump completely off the wagon.  I have eaten perfectly clean the last week?  No.  Did I enjoy myself last night at the Outback and eat some bloomin' onion and cookie cake and bread?  Heck yes.  Does that mean I should just throw in the towel?  No.  It means I should just keep going.

These are the time when my inner Negative Nancy pops up and says I can't do it.  These are the times she says I am never going to be thin, or it is going to take too long, or I don't deserve it or blah, blah, blah.  These are the times when I just have to tell her to shut the shell up and keep going.

I haven't had the time to take my weekly trip to Sprout's this week, and I don't anticipate having time until this weekend.  So this is how I am handling it:

Yesterday for breakfast, I had a lone hard-boiled egg left in the fridge from last week, a yellow mango that hadn't gone too ripe yet, and my ground flax and water.  For lunch, I ran to the store and grabbed a few things.  I had a locally made avocado salad roll with sweet chili sauce.  I also had some sugar snap peas with guacamole salsa.  As stated above, we had dinner out.

Today's breakfast consisted of a banana and a package of Justin's Chocoalte Almond Butter I swiped from my Mom's house.  I also had my ground flax and water.  For lunch, I brought some spinach, a serving of black beans, a cucumber, the rest of my sugar snap peas and the guacamole salsa.  I plan on making some kind of salad out of it.  I plan on making turkey tacos tonight, and I will be sharing that recipe tomorrow.  I will probably also make a trip to the store so that I can make it through the rest of the week as cleanly as possible.

Trains are pain with a purpose...

At least that is what I thought the sign said!  We spent the weekend in Arkansas visiting family, and this was posted on a church's marquee somewhere in Louisiana.  I noticed on our way back through that it actually said, "Trials are pain with a purpose."  I thought it worth remembering.

We had a fantastic time in Arkansas, but traveling with a two-year old can be a bit of a trial. See what I did there?!  I kind of feel like I spent most of my weekend chasing him or worrying about chasing him.  He was super sweet when he was sleeping:

 My Grandparents are all gone, so I completely treasure time with Andy's grandparents.  I think it is pretty much the sweetest thing on earth to see my little manster give his great grandparents hugs and kisses.  I made a cool wall hanging over spring break using T's prints, and my hubs thought it would be cool to do a canvas with all four Andy's hand prints.  It came out super cute!  We made three so that each Andy household has one.  They all came out slightly different, and I love it. 

I didn't have a ton of food choices because we mostly ate with family, but I did the best I could.  I checked my weight this morning and I was up a little ( I am totally guilty of being the person who weighs multiple times a week.  I don't take what it says seriously except on Fridays.).  I am pretty confident that I can still reach my goal of getting out of the 220's in May.  We shall see!

Weigh Day

When my before pictures were taken a few weeks ago, I weighed in at 226.4  You know the ones- like this jewel with my giant badonkadonk:


I did not realize that I had such a badonkadonk. Holy Guacamole!!

On Monday, I was 223.8.


This morning, I weighed in at 220.8.  I LOST THREE POUNDS THIS WEEK!!!!!

 

I am so stinkin' close to my goal for May I can taste it!!  Happy girl this morning!

 

My Inspiration

 

Being this boy's Mama is hard work.  He loves to cook, feed the ducks and color.  He loves his 'babies'- which include a talking Diego doll and a very large plastic dinosaur.  He can move faster than a speeding bullet!  He goes from one thing to the next SO FAST, and sometimes he is hard to keep up with.  But he is the love of my life. (one of them, anyway.)

Look at his face in that swing!  This was the first time he really enjoyed being in a swing, and when I look at this picture my heart fills up with joy. 

This picture is actually a couple of months prior to the first picture above, but he looks so grown up here.  Ahoy, Ladies! is right!!!  Especially if he is anything like his Daddy, Opa, or Poppo. 

The other love of my life-my husband, Andy.  He loves me and supports me and is proud of me no matter what.  We have been together for almost 8 years, and he is by far my very best friend.  He is funny, smart, and has a heart bigger than Texas and Arkansas put together.  It doesn't hurt that he is pretty easy on the eyes!

 

My whole life revolves around these two.  And I wouldn't have it any other way.

 

I work full-time and go to school full-time so that our little family can have the best.

 

Why the heck wouldn't I want them to have the best ME?

I want to be the mama that can keep up on the playground, or the soccer field, or the footall field, or 6 Flags or wherever the little whipper is running around.  Someday, I want to be the grandma that can keep up!

And I want to be a hottie for my handsome husband.

 

I think my boys, who I live for, deserve the best me.  I plan on giving it to them.  

Don't be a Fraidy-Cat

So, for the last couple of days, everytime I browse Health and Fitness on Pinterest, I run across this:

 

Picture pinned here

 

 

I doubt myself A LOT.  I get really fired up and believe I can do anything, and then my inner Negative Nancy rears her pointed little head.  Everyone struggles with self-doubt, but I have let mine keep me from some pretty good stuff.  I think this quote is a great reminder that YOU CAN DO ANYTHING YOU PUT YOUR MIND TO! 

 

This also brings me back to last summer when I had to read "Who Moved My Cheese?" for work.  That book had an unexpectedly profound effect on me.  I was seriously thinking about going back to school.  I had set up meetings and filled out applications, but it wasn't a done deal.  Then, this book raised the question:

 

"What could you do if you weren't afraid?"

 

It was then I realized that I have let fear hold me back so many times.  I didn't go away to college in the first place because I was afraid I wouldn't have any friends.  My dad was having a lot of health issues at the time, and I was afraid something would happen to him.  I didn't move out on my own when I should have because I was afraid of having to move back in with my parents.  I didn't do a lot of things or go a lot of places because I was afraid of consequences or rejection.  I even put off getting my Bachelor's Degree because I was afraid of choosing the wrong major.  I have always chocked this up to responsibility, but the truth is: it was always fear.

 

You could say the same things about my issues with weight.  I am afraid of failure.  I am afraid of getting there or almost there and gaining it all back.  I am afraid of NOT enjoying the nachos.

 

Don't let fear drive your life.  Know that God gave you the tools to be AMAZING. Run with that.

 

 

 

 



So...What am I doing?

Over the last couple of months, I have been adding in more and more whole foods.  I have tried some new things, like green smoothies.  I have also been counting calories on MyFitnessPal.  MFP is a fantastic tool, but I need more direction.  "You can eat whatever you want as long as.." is a little too dangerous for me.  I can't be trusted!!  So, I decided to try the nutrition plan posted on www.livefitrevolution.org.  I happened upon this site several months ago when I was looking for free workout vidoes online.  Live Fit Revolution has an entire weight loss and fitness program posted FOR FREE.  They even offer free support!  Here is what I ate Monday:

Breakfast:

1 Hardboiled Egg with some Mrs. Dash Garlic and Herb Blend

1 Tablespoon of Ground Flax in 8 oz water

Green Smoothie made with spinach, blueberries, watermelon, and fresh mint

Morning Snack:

Roasted, Unsalted Pepitas

Lunch:

Black Bean Salad served over mixed greens with tomatoes and mushrooms with a splash of Walden Farms Ginger Sesame dressing

1 Can of Black Beans, drained and rinsed

Green Onion to taste, chopped

Cilantro to taste, chopped

Fresh Basil, chopped (optional)

Garlic Powder to Taste

1 Tablespoon of Bragg's Apple Cider Vinegar with the Mother

1/2 Tablespoon Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Mix all ingredients in a bowl.  Makes about four 1/2 Cup servings.  If I were making this for a crowd, I would halve grape tomatoes and dice up some avocado and add in.  But since I made this over the weekend for lunches this week, I didn't want to put anything in it that wouldn't hold up.

Afternoon Snack:

1 Cameo Apple

Dinner:
Shrimp sauteed in Coconut Oil and homeade taco blend
Yellow Squash and Zuccinni sauteed in water

It really helps me to get my breakfast, lunch and snacks together the night before.  I go ahead and pack my food for the day.  I also shove whatever I am having in my green smoothie in the bowl to my processor.  Tonight, I put spinach, kale, blueberries, watermelon, and a couple of fresh mint leaves.  I'll add ice in the morning when I am ready to blend.

What do you do to prepare?  Any clean recipes I should try?

The Elephant in the Room

Back in January, I stepped on the scale. I knew that I had gained some weight my first semester back at school, but the number I saw totally shocked me.

232.4!!!!!!!!!

I was horrified and ashamed. And then my scale died, and I got a new one. And discovered that my old scale (10+ years old), was 5lbs off. Which made my official starting weight

237.4!!!!!!!!!

So besides the horror and shame, I was completely disgusted with myself. My highest weight with a tiny human on board was 242, so to be almost back to that not pregnant felt pretty awful. Easily the worst I have ever felt about my own body and myself in my entire life- this was my rock bottom. Not to mention the risk of heart disease and diabetes- like everyone on my Dad’s side of the family who has my body type. I have literally had dreams about being told that I am diabetic.

I also realized that I felt like my weight problem was a big secret. I was so afraid of anyone knowing my weight. HELLO! I freaking carry it with me everywhere! Everyone can see it- I am not hiding a darn thing. They may not know my exact number, but anyone with a set of peepers can see that I am overweight. I decided then that for the purpose of being honest with myself, it was time to be honest with others. So, I emailed a couple of people I knew I could trust to not judge and told them my real weight. I also told them that I had a goal of losing 50lbs in 2013.

I have made some progress since January. I eat pretty well, I workout when I can, and I have lost 15lbs. (I guess now is where I should mention that I go work full-time, go to school full-time, and I have an awesome husband and two year old to take care of.) Now that I am out of school for the summer, I feel like it is the perfect time to ramp things up and really go hard for the summer. My 30th birthday is in September, and I would LOVE to hit my 50lb mark by then. I decided to start this blog to keep me accountable. I also hope that documenting my daily struggle with obesity might help someone else who is also hiding from their own weight.

Aside from hitting the 50lb mark this year, I have some other goals/milestones I would like to hit:

• By the end of May, I would like to be out of the 220’s. I have less than 5lbs to go, so I know it is totally doable if I eat clean and workout.
• To be under 200lbs. I haven’t weighed under 200 since before I was pregnant- 3+ years. I cannot wait for that victory.
• I got the shirt in my before picture for Christmas from my Sweet Mama. It is a Shooter Jennings shirt, and it says, “Finer than a frog hair split four ways.” I LOVE IT!! It is just so Southern and awesome, and I want to be able to rock that shirt!! Being able to wear it in public proudly is one of my goals.
• When I hit my 50lb half-way goal, I would like to: Buy an awesome vintage-y outfit from Shabby Apple. Do a boudoir photo shoot. These are both things that I have wanted/wanted to do for a long time, but I have been letting my weight hold me back.

I hope that you will join me on my journey! And now for some “Before” shots:

I did not realize that I had such a badonkadonk.  Holy Guacamole!!

Total mugshot.

Standard side view