Week Three: Day One

Woo-hoo!!!  One more week down....and I've said goodbye to another 3.5 pounds!  Yep, total of 11 pounds now.  AND I'M NOT STOPPIN'!

DIET:  Today, I began eating my 500-calorie meal (for those who are new? I'm doing Slim Fast this week) for lunch instead of dinner.  I realize it is only day one, but I am thinking this is waaaaay better already!  I'm not hungry tonight, I haven't been hungry all day, and I actually got the laundry put away while the rest of the family ate dinner.  I had a shake for breakfast and dinner, an orange for morning snack, a Slim Fast snack bar for afternoon snack, and I'm very happily chomping on 30 pistachios for my evening snack.  Lunch was pretty darn sweet.  One full can of Progresso Light Meatball Soup (160 calories), 2/3 cup of mashed potatoes (160 calories), one colby jack cheese stick (80 calories), and one slice of bread (80 calories).  It was super filling, AND I had energy throughout the day.  Nice.

EXERCISE:  Yeah.  Remember how I was going to head out for a nice walk when Shaun got home and sat down to dinner with the kids?  Hmmmm.  Didn't happen tonight, but maybe tomorrow!  I completely rearranged and "gutted" the play room today - ended up with a full box of goodies for the Goodwill - and this took ALLLL day.  I'm not sure how many readers have four children, but you can at least imagine trying to clean a playroom while all the kids are home.  One step forward, six steps back.  That was my entire day.  So...didn't feel like heading out for a walk this evening, but I did put the laundry away at a fast pace.  Ha, ha, ha. 

BEVERAGES:  Water.  The End.

TIPS/ISSUES:  As I mentioned above, today was the easiest day I've had on Slim Fast!  I do enjoy the shakes and bars and snacks, but I was having a little bit of a hard time making it to dinner.  Then, dinner was SO good, and there would always be leftovers staring me in the face.  Tonight, there was leftovers, but I didn't care about them because I didn't have the taste lingering in my mouth.  My lunch was delicious and I timed it to be eaten when the kids were all eating lunch, too, so we sat down together.  They "don't like" soup (quotation marks because that is according to them), so they weren't interested in what I was eating, and I shared the rest of the mashed potatoes.  I like not being hungry and I like thinking I probably burned the lunch calories during my frustrating cleaning frenzy.  All in all, the day went well!

Good night!

Week Two: Day Seven

Hello!!!  I am so happy to be back and writing again!  Well, let's be honest - I wrote a TON over the weekend at the retreat, but I mean back to focusing on my diet again.  Don't be thinking I slacked off, though!  I stuck with it and was completely thinking about the accountability of this blog the whole time.  Quickly, first, to address the retreat...

There aren't words to describe my weekend.  NONE!  I took pictures of the sunrise and the beauty and wonder of that magic that occurs every day...well, still not sufficient, but it comes close to portraying how my heart has felt for two days now.  Awesome.  Inspiring.  Uplifiting.  REVEALING.  CLEANSING.  Quiet.  Eye-opening.  Surprising.  Lovely,  Just all around EXACTLY what I needed!  I am new, I am God's creation, I am focused, and I am ready to LIVE MY LIFE.

Back to the diet...

DIET:  Well, since I haven't written since Thursday evening, I will detail Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.  Friday I knew I would be leaving the house kind of at an awkward time, so I switched things up and ate a 500-calorie lunch.  I had Zoe home because she had a random fever that morning, but while she took a nap I ate some sausages and sugar snap peas.  Strange, yes, but delicious and filling!  And only 500 calories.  Otherwise that day, I had two shakes (one at breakfast, other at dinner), and the required 100-calorie three snacks.  I'm pretty sure that I had an orange and two Slim Fast bars.  Saturday I was at the retreat, but I managed to stay OUT of the dining room at breakfast and lunch!  I had taken some of the Slim Fast meal bars and there was fruit available, so I stuck to "plan" for breakfast, snack, lunch, and snack.  I made a nice salad for dinner off the buffet and had a piece of chicken.  Since I had no way of knowing the calorie count, I did a little extra "exercise".  To be detailed below.  Moving on, this morning I realized I hadn't brought enough meal bars!  So, I had an assortment of "snacks".  100-calorie granola bar, handful of cashews, an apple, and a banana.  This was throughout the morning, from waking up at 6 for the sunrise, then sitting through our final meeting at the retreat, and during the ride home.  When I got home, I had a shake because I was feeling really, really hungry and sleepy and thought the energy would do me some good.  I then had a snack at the appropriate time and made a General Tso's Chicken meal for Shaun and I this evening that was the required 500-calories.

EXERCISE:  Well, I definitely exercised spiritually over the weekend!  I am pretty exhausted tonight and just reflecting on the past couple of days tires me out a little bit more.  Friday, Zoe and I did some shopping during the day to make sure there was sufficient food here at home and that I had all the things I would need for retreat!  Saturday evning, as I mentioned above, I wasn't sure about the calorie count, so I really felt I needed to do something extra.  There was a bonfire Saturday night and everyone was planning to drive there, but a few other girls and I decided to walk.  It was so beautiful.  There were more stars than I have EVER seen in the sky!!  Just amazing.  We walked the whole way which turned out to be 1.8 miles.  Yay!  It was quite a bit colder when it was done, so we caught a ride back rather than freeze.  Today, when I got home, I was so excited to implement some of the ideas I had from the retreat, so we did some rearranging and then I took Conner and Zoe to run a couple of errands.  No real exercise, but I sure do feel worn out!

BEVERAGES:  Would you believe I had only water the whole weekend?!  No coffee.  No soda pop (2 weeks now!).  Fantastic.

ISSUES/TIPS:  Over the weekend it was so nice to spend time just being in the peace and quiet, and I have never felt so close to God.  I loved not thinking about food and planning meals and just obsessing over what was going to be next for my meals!  I don't recall being hungry...I just recall being so filled with the Holy Spirit and reflecting on my life and planning for the rest of it.  I plan to teach my children this by observing a family "quiet time" each day.  One part of the rearranging today involved moving a bookshelf into the dining room.  Our dining room is combined with the kitchen and I just want the whole room to have more purpose than simply eating.  It's a large room and we have a very nice dining table, so I think it would work well for arts and crafts time and reading.  These are activities I know my kids love and I want to do more of! 

I will weigh tomorrow morning and let you know the results!!  Next week I will continue Slim Fast, but I am going to switch my meal to lunchtime and plan to go for a 30 minute walk at 5:30 each night while Shaun and the kids eat dinner.  Wish me luck!!

Good night!!

Week Two: Day Four

MEAL PLAN:  Coffee and shake for breakfast, orange for snack, shake for lunch, handful of cashews for snack, Lean Cuisine and 2/3 cup of mashed potatoes for dinner!  I'm snacking on a Slim Fast bar as I type this.  Today was super easy.  I'm not hungry, really haven't been all day.  That's a happy place to be, for sure.

EXERCISE:  I had to deliver Nashville Parent today, so I would say I got some exercise!  When I pulled up to load the van, there was two cars in front of me.  Rather than sit back in my warm (dry) van, I got out and helped the others load up their cars.  Loaded up mine and set out to do my route.  Today I made it a point to park far (when reasonable) and haul those magazines at a quick pace!  I have 44 stops.  This evening we rearranged our bedroom a little bit and the kids had way too much energy, so I'm feeling pretty good about my "calorie burning" today!

BEVERAGES:  Water, water, water.  I actually only drank one bottle of water today during my route because I completely lost the other bottle I brought!  Somewhere in that black hole of a mini-van.  Ha, ha.  I am finishing up bottle number 4 today, so I got the 8 glasses in!

ISSUES/TIPS:  It's getting easier!  Today was great and I'm feeling confident.  I am going on a retreat with the women's ministry at my church tomorrow night through Sunday morning, so I'm a little apprehensive about that.  I'm going to go buy some of the Slim Fast meal bars so I don't have to worry about keeping the shakes cold and just pray that I am not too tempted with S'mores and other snacks!  :)  I will not blog again until Sunday evening, so I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend and keep me in your prayers that I will be strong and concentrate on other things while on retreat!!

Good night!

Week Two: Day Three

Another day down!  Woohoo!!

MEAL PLAN:  Same ol', same ol'.  Shake and coffee for breakfast, Slim Fast snack bar for snack, shake for lunch, handful of cashews for snack, and another rockin' dinner!  I made baked potatoes, baked chicken, and cream-style corn.  I am now ending my day with another Slim Fast snack bar.  As I type this out I realize I haven't used fruit for my snack since Monday, so I'm gonna get back to that.  I just feel like fruit makes me hungrier and I have actually felt hungry these past couple of days.  Although...how satisfying is a handful of cashews?  Not.  Ha, ha.

EXERCISE:  I had Bible study today and then my mom took the kids out for lunch while I cleaned house.  When the kids got home they did some coloring, then took a pretty nice long nap!  I wish I could say I "kept moving" while they napped, but not so much.  I cleaned up after the coloring and the mess of shoes and coats that happens every time we return from somewhere.  Then...I watched tv.  That's right.  Caught up on my recorded SVU marathon and last night's "What Would You Do?".  It may not have been the best choice I've made, but I felt like relaxin'!  After dinner this evening I did play a super fun round of "Hide and Seek" with the kids.  It's always fun because they think it's hilarious to be scared!  You have to run fast to find a new hiding spot, so I got my heart rate up a few times.  Then we had a snack on the kitchen floor and I taught the kids how to stretch.  I wish I had video of this...it was very funny.  The way their brains translate my instructions of where to place their feet and legs and how to stretch.  Very cute.  We had a good evening.

BEVERAGES:  Water, water, water...check!  A very sweet friend of mine gave me a very thoughtful gift of a reusable water bottle!  It's really cute and says "Tell me who I'm getting where, again?"  Awesome.  Practical, useful, and very motivating gift.  xoxo to you, doll!

ISSUES/TIPS:  Happy Audrey, yet again!  Was hungry a bit today, but even that is subsiding.  Dinner just rocks my world each evening!  Before my mom left town today we were chatting about how my eating habits have changed.  Last night, with the chicken/spinach rollup dinner, there was one leftover piece of chicken.  I was telling her I would have cleaned the kids' plates and eaten that last bit, as well.  Without even flinching!  Simply a mechanical "clean-up", I guess.  Anyway, I have obviously NOT been doing that and I feel so much better and am so much happier at the end of the day to know I ate healthy and am doing a great thing for myself.  I was thinking today about switching it up for next week.  I'm going to try eating my 500 calorie meal at lunch instead of dinner.  There are several reasons for this:  the kids are not eating these great meals I'm creating at dinner and it's really starting to anger me to throw so much food away, I would like to have kid/Shaun friendly dinners ready when Shaun gets home from work at 5:15 and then I will leave the house for a 30-40 minute walk around the neighborhood, and it will give me another perspective to comment on!  I can see if the weight loss changes at all (although it may not be entirely fair when I add in extra exercise), I can see if it is easier or harder, etc.  There was a nice sale on soup last week and I bought several of those microwaveable bowls of chunky soup and healthy request.  I checked the labels today and they each only have between 220 - 260 calories total!  I think I will be able to fix that up for lunches next week and maybe add in some other veggies, salad, or whatever to add up to the 500 alotted calories.  We'll see what happens!

Good night!

Week Two: Day Two

MEAL PLAN:  Slim Fast.  Coffee and shake for breakfast, Slim Fast bar for snack, shake for lunch, handful of cashews for snack, and let me just tell you about dinner!  Pounded chicken flat, topped it with spinach, cheese, and ham, then rolled it up and baked it.  Oh. My. Goodness.  It was awesome.  I cooked up some mixed vegetables and sat down to my feast!  The kids were only minorly excited about chicken with spinach, but I could barely hear their whining over the sounds of "mmmmmm" in my head.  Ha, ha.  I was pretty hungry today, but I am feeling good that I made it through another day!

EXERCISE:  I took the kids to Bounce U today.  For non-Nashvillians, it's a kid play area with huge inflatables.  They have open bounce for aged 6 and under for two hours and it is the ticket to wearing children out!!! 

Sadly, it wore me out pretty darn good, too.  :)  I was standing by watching them bounce for a minute and then remembered, "Always be moving!"  So, I got in the "dodgeball inflatable" with them and bounced and ran and got hit with all sorts of dodgeballs for about 10 minutes.  That was all I could take.  I was sweating, breathing hard, a little light-headed.  Whew!!!  We headed over to the HUGE slide and carrying 27 pounds of wiggly 16 month old turned out to be quite the workout, as well.  Good times, though.  Thankfully my mom is still in town, so I got to nap right alongside with the boys this afternoon.  This evening I got a nice massage from my own personal masseuse...

BEVERAGES:  Drank all my water.  Yeehaw.  :)

ISSUES/TIPS:  Well, none now.  Earlier, after "lunch" (shake), I was super hungry and crabby because I was so exhausted from all the playing throughout the morning.  Sounds so pitiful!!  Anyway, after a nap and an awesome dinner, I'm feeling good!  I just ate my late snack of a Slim Fast bar and my final bottle of water, so my tummy is full, the kids are asleep, I have a GREAT tv lineup recorded and Shaun is gone to his hockey game.  Momma is in her happy place.  :)

Good night!

Week Two: Day One

Week one is over and I lost....7 and 1/2 pounds!!!  I am feeling very excited and all sorts of motivated today. 

MEAL PLAN:  I started the Slim Fast plan today.  Had a shake and a cup of coffee for breakfast, an orange for snack, another shake at lunch, a Slim Fast bar for snack and "a sensible dinner".  :)  I made pork tenderloin and salad.  The kids played hard outside today, so they chowed at dinner!  The pork was y-u-m-m-y.  Also, I bought Strawberry Fields salad (spinach leaves with dried strawberries, almonds, and strawberry vinaigrette).  Oh, so very, very delicious.  This evening I had a handful of cashews for my final snack of the day.  I feel good!  Not hungry, totally satisfied with the choices I made.  Day one rocks!

EXERCISE:  I wrote to a good friend who is a fitness guru.  She's a trainer and all about being fit.  She told me the most important thing to remember is to just KEEP MOVING.  Constantly DOING and not sitting.  Outside with the kids?  Lunges, walking around, interacting with them.  Making dinner?  Calf raises, squats.  Just moving all day long.  I decided to view my day slightly different...rather than trying to think about when will I fit in 30 minutes to work out, I'm going to try to just fit in 30 minutes of sitting.  So, if I am doing things non-stop, moving around the house, just keeping my body in motion, then I just want to focus on stopping that for just 30 minutes (and no more!).  It worked today.  I was preparing food for the kids, cleaning up behind them, went outside and walked around the yard picking up sticks, my mom came over for a bit (yay!) and I went to the grocery store, put the groceries away, cleaned some more (is it surprising to anyone that this is always something to do in our house?)...I truly only sat down for about 40 minutes when my mom took the kids to the park and I watched Undercover Boss.  Made dinner, got the kids to bed...it was a pretty full day!  So, I like this outlook.  :)  I'll work on adding in some calf raises tomorrow.

BEVERAGES:  5 bottles of water today = 10 glasses!  This is most likely another reason I am feeling satisfied and not hungry.  Yay!  So, here's a fun story.  Remember my comment about needing a Brita?  Well, today when I went to the grocery store, I went down the water aisle to buy another 24-pack.  I looked up to the shelf where the Brita pitchers were and there was a sale on the 5-cup Brita for just $9.99!!  Then I noticed someone had stuck a coupon next to the box for another $4.00 off!!  I bought that Brita and now will always have fresh water in my fridge.  Thank you to God for going grocery shopping with me.  :)

ISSUES/TIPS:  No issues today.  Truly, I think I'm going to like this plan.  I was kind of freaking out about dinner because the "rule" is a 500-calorie meal.  I was dividing ounces and calories and adding and subtracting and getting a little overwhelmed.  I just took a deep breath, used my smarts and went for simple.  Pork and salad.  Delicious, family friendly, and 500 calories at the most.  Bottle of water with each meal and snack (except final snack), and I am feeling pretty successful for today.

Good night!

Day 7

MEAL PLAN:  Today was the final day for The Cabbage Soup diet, all you can eat of brown rice and vegetables.  Ugh.  Not my favorite.  I managed to eat all I could, which truthfully wasn't much.  This actually makes me pretty happy because it's obvious my internal stomach is shrinking.  I no longer feel "hungry" all the live long day!  Yay!  I also was allowed "unsweetened fruit juice" today.  I bought some Carrot, Apple, Grape juice and it was soooo good. 

EXERCISE:  Well, we did take the kids to the zoo this morning.  If you haven't been to Grassmere and played in the kids' play area, you are missing out!  It has a really cool castle with a maze of ups and downs, a huge net to climb on, a very, very tall slide that is all enclosed.  Hard to explain, but the kids and Shaun and I had a great time!  Then, we walked up to see the elephants, giraffes, meerkats, and, of course, the monkeys.  We were there for almost 2 hours and I didn't sit down at all, so does that count?  lol  This afternoon/early evening the kids were playing outside and I rounded them up for a little neighborhood walk, as well. 

BEVERAGES:  I said it already, but I'll say it again...hooray for carrot, grape, apple juice!  I didn't finish my water today, but I have a bottle right here next to me I plan to chug before bed.  I had a friend give me a tip to invest in a Brita pitcher and a reusable water bottle/thermos.  It is on my shopping list for tomorrow!  I have always known a Brita would be my smartest purchase, but never seemed to have the necessary $20 or so whenever I was around somewhere to purchase one.  A 24 pack of water at Kroger is $2.99, and that's super easy to come up with.  Sometimes.  :)  I also recognize the need for the environment for me to stop buying all these plastic bottles!!  I got some French Vanilla flavored coffee, so I'm not as sad about not using creamer anymore. 

ISSUES/TIPS:  I am very sleepy right now, but that may have something to do with all the fresh air today.  Plus, I'm kind of nervous/anxious about starting something different tomorrow.  My aunt and mother both think I should just continue with the cabbage soup plan, but I really hadn't planned to do it again, so I have none of what I would need for tomorrow.  I am also kind of looking forward (like, a lot!) to the chocolate Slim Fast shake.  Ha, ha.  Anyway, about today, I always thought I really liked brown rice, but I guess that is only when I can put butter in it!  I made one meal with some snap peas and then I used the last bowl of my soup and added a bag of rice to it.  Choked it down.  The nice thing I have found here on my 7th day is that food just doesn't mean as much to me as it once did.  I'm eating because I know it's necessary (to live), but I'm not planning my whole day around WHAT I'm going to ingest and WHEN and what time do I need to start cooking so I can have dinner ready at this time.  I know realize how obsessed I have become with food.  I need to find that happy medium of thinking about food in a healthy way.  Not thinking about it constantly and always planning the next two or three meals, but just thinking about it in terms of making sure I have the right "parts" for my family to eat at appropriate times.  I'm not sure I'm wording it right.  I was watching a show on A & E called "Heavy" and there was one "contestant" who was reading every nutrition label at the grocery store and getting really upset about which product he should choose.  Calling his nutritionist constantly.  I can relate to that man!  I allow myself to get SO worked up about what is going to be best for me to eat today and how much water was in that glass and what time did I have breakfast?  Is it okay to go ahead and eat lunch?  I obsess easily, but the other thing I do quite easily is just give up.  This is where this blog has been good for me this week.  Giving up this time wouldn't just mean avoiding my husband's looks as I load up a plate.  Nope, now I have all of you to answer to and I'm so thankful!!  I already feel healthier, and it can only get better, right??

Here's a question - would you like me to post my weight each week or wait until the end of the month?  I will definitely be weighing myself tomorrow morning and taking a picture, but I am torn between posting it or keeping you in suspense?  Your call!

Good night!

Day 6

Oh my, how we grilled today.  It was fabulous.  Just fabulous!  After brunch of a couple NY Strip Steaks (on sale, yay!) and some broccoli and cauliflower, I had to call my sister just to ooh and aah over how yummy everything was!  I stir fried some more steak a few hours later and put it in the soup and was in heaven.  :)  We ended our evening with some much larger strip steaks, broccolli, cauliflower, and carrots...I am quite contentedly sitting on the couch right now having a hard time figuring how I'm going to make it to bed tonight.  I'm stuffed!!

I had an idea for a new way of doing my posts.  I think I'm going to speak to the same few categories each evening.  Let me know what you think...

MEAL PLAN:  Well, you already know today was all beef and vegetables, and the soup, as much as you want.  This section will be where I will post that day's foods.  I did that up above, so I won't bore you with it all over again.  Ha!

EXERCISE:  Yeah, here's hoping I will have more to write here in the coming weeks.  Today I did 25 sit-ups!  Seriously I did.  Shaun didn't think I could do it...I could have kept going, but, you know, I had other things to do.  Or something.  I also rearranged and fully cleaned the play room.  Oh, don't discount the fact I did grocery shopping at TWO different stores today in order to make the most of my new attempt at couponing!  None of this really counts for anything, but this is where I will detail every little jumping jack I do each day. 

BEVERAGES:  I am trying to stay away from all carbonated beverages.  I love, love, love diet coke (or really diet anything), so this has not been easy.  I have gone cold turkey, however, since Monday!  I have been making it a point to drink the "required" 8 glasses of water each day.  The best way I have found to do this is buy water in 16.9 ounce bottles and make sure every morning I put at least four in the fridge.  I do prefer bottled water.  I know there are all sorts of studies that it's not better for you and it may even be "worse" than tap water, BUT I hate the taste of tap water.  I can taste the chlorine and the sliminess and, even if those things aren't really there, it just tastes like the hose outside.  Loved drinking from it when I was a kid, but I'm not a kid anymore!  SO, ever since working at LA Weight Loss (when I was 22), I have been really obsessed with knowing exactly how much water I drink every day.  I don't like to drink a glass of water because I don't know the exact number of ounces it contained.  Especially if there is ice in it!  Weird, I know.  I have also increased my coffee intake this week.  It really does help when I start feeling a little hungry, but nauseous at the thought of eating that soup!  Or another vegetable!  Haha.

ISSUES/TIPS:  This will be specific to the day I'm talking about.  So, for beef and vegetable day...I had to drink some hot water with a little lemon and Splenda this evening because my stomach was feeling so full.  When I added the steak to the soup (and the ground beef last night) it changed the flavor SO much and made it tasty to eat again.  I am super tired again today, but as I detailed above I also had a pretty busy day.  I feel better since the hot water.  I'm up at 10:30, so there's one sign that I'm not as tired.  lol

What do you think about that sort of layout from here on out?  Maybe that will give me some extra structure to follow and some outline to stick with?  I feel like I ramble sometimes...looking back, it appears the outline doesn't stop that!  Ha, ha.

Good night!

Day Five

Man am I ever ready to weigh myself!  I will admit I did sneak a weigh-in the other day, but I'm not going to mention the number.  Monday is the day! 

My husband and I are super excited about tomorrow.  We are calling it "Grill Day".  Today was up to 20 ounces of beef and 6 tomatoes.  I don't really like tomatoes, so I only ate a half, but I definitely ate all the beef!  I find it very interesting how tired I am today.  I had so much energy the past few days when I was eating nothing but fruits and vegetables, then today I add in red meat and I am just exhausted!  No thoughts of turning vegetarian, though...I loved every bit of eating that beef.  Ha, ha.

So, back to the explanation of Grill Day!  The description for the day is "Eat to your heart's content of beef and vegetables this day. You can even have 2 or 3 steaks if you like, with leafy green vegetables. Eat your soup at least once."  Are you so jealous?!  I'm heading out to the grocery in the morning for steaks, asparagus, green peppers, and spinach.  We are gonna fire up the grill and go to town.  Yeehaw! 

I am really looking forward to Monday.  Something other than this diet is going to be n-i-c-e.  I have enough shakes here to begin the Slim Fast 3-2-1 plan on Monday.  I will do that for at least one week, getting our dinner ideas from the website. 

I did want to say I completed this whole week of making Shaun breakfast and lunch every day!  He is also waiting until Monday to "weigh in", but has said he feels so much more energetic and ready to go during the day since he's added in breakfast and his lunches aren't of the fast food variety.  I have made a little game of it for myself by trying to outdo myself each day with the sandwiches I pack.  :)  I'm having a little fun and he is, obviously, loving the extra attention and FOOD.  Good times for us all.

As I mentioned above, I'm super tired, so I'm going to head to bed and rest up for GRILL DAY!

Good night!

Day Four

Today was B-A-N-A-N-A-S!  (Think "No Doubt" song) 

I have to say it was a fantastic day!  I am feeling healthier than I have in a long time, the kids went to daycare and their teachers complimented my obvious loss (love them!), and my husband has been staring at me and complimenting me all night.  Woohoo.  Talk about some major motivation.  I was kind of hungry on this day...up to 8 bananas and 8 glasses of skim milk, plus soup, of course.  I kept myself pretty busy around the house and actually didn't find it too hard to stay on course.  As I mentioned above, I have extra energy and a little pep in my step these days!  I was talking to my uncle tonight and just telling him about the changes that have come since we have been eating all fresh fruits and veggies this week.  Normally, for ease and financial reasons, I would buy all canned.  This week, however, I haven't opened a single can - for myself OR the kids - and the energy level is higher, the grocery bill is higher (ha!), and the poor kiddos have been killing the bathroom.  Sorry if that is TMI. 

So, I'm really excited for tomorrow.  Up to 20 ounces of BEEF (mmmmm) and 6 tomatoes.  The soup is making me cringe at this point, but I am planning to add browned beef to it for breakfast to get my day started right!  I have another busy day planned, but this one is all errands OUT of the house, so it will be much easier to avoid the fridge.

Another exciting note - the kids and I took a walk today!  It was only around the block, but I think I added a bit of an edge to it by letting each child bring their own tricycle and scooter!  I was pushing Zoe in a stroller, Jack was riding a scooter, and Conner and Henry had the trikes.  Oh goodness.  It was quite a trip.  I have to say they did a great job of staying in line (mostly) and as close to the curb as possible.  A couple of times they were a little too close to the curb.  Ha, ha.  We survived and met some nice neighbors in the process!  So, as I said before...baby steps, but I am happy to know the neighborhood walk is possible even with 4 young'ns.  Look at these cuties.  :)  A handful, for sure, and they keep me on my toes, but I wouldn't trade 'em for anything!

Good night to you all and here's to a wonderful (beefy) Friday!! 

Day Three

Okay.  Officially hungry and tired, tired, tired of veggies!!  The fruit was good, but the kids went to town on it, as well, so i ran out rather quickly.  I'm snacking on a cut-up apple as I type this (and, admittedly, watching American Idol), and totally looking forward to some bananas tomorrow.

I was faced with a bit of temptation today!  Wednesday is Bible study day and each week a different group is asked to bring food for everyone.  I was all prepared to walk quickly past the table and sit in my room with home-prepared strawberries and blueberries and cucumbers, but there was no food set up on the table!  As I breathed a sigh of relief, I entered my classroom to discover some group had apparently forgotten and my sweet friends were NOT going to stand for it.  So, rather than have to walk past a table just once...I had to sit in a room faced with large bagels and cream cheeses!!  LOL  It worked out fine, and I really didn't feel too tempted.  I even fixed up a bagel for the kiddos to share on the way home.

We played outside for a bit and I made a smorgasbord of strawberries, carrots, hot dogs, and chicken (ranch dip, of course) for the kids to snack on between fights over our various tricycles and bikes.  We never seem to have the right assortment to avoid fighting.  I thought each child had really picked out a favorite outside toy, but then they go switching it up on me just so I get confused and they have a reason to yell at each other.  Good times, right?

I know this is a short posting, but Wednesdays are mom and dad tv nights!  I drank all of my water and 100% stuck to the daily plan.  I even made spaghetti with sausage for the family tonight and resisted the incredibly strong urge to hide in the closet and eat every last bite.  I did have to leave the house while they ate dinner, but I cooked it and cleaned up afterwards so I wasn't able to totally "hide".  The kids go to school tomorrow, so I have a full day planned to keep me out of the kitchen and very busy.  You know what they say about idle hands! 

Good night!! 

Response to comment...

I have no idea how to work this blog thing beyond posting words and sometimes pictures.  Ha, ha!

This is in response to "anonymous" question about how to pledge.  I have it very informally written down here at home!  I am not sure if there is a way to do it sort of "officially", but I have written up a list of people's names and their pledges.  I would be happy to add to that list!!

Thank you so much for reading.  It truly has helped me through these past couple days just knowing there is at least a couple people out there keeping track!

Day Two

Today was vegetables only.  Hooo-boy, that wasn't easy.  Truly my saving grace was a baked potato with butter for dinner!!  Yay for a treat!

I tried to make today a little interesting for the kids by cutting up three peppers and having some "taste-tests".  I had red, yellow, and orange.  We started by just eating them plain, then I let them dip in ranch and honey mustard.  They were so cute!  Zoe just licked ranch off one pepper the whole time, but the boys really got into the tasting.  I asked them to describe the flavors and tell me whether they liked each one.  The twins were kind of over it rather quickly (but still enjoying the ranch dressing!), but Conner really stuck with me!  When I covered his eyes and asked him to guess which color he was eating (he got it right every time!!), the twins got back into it and they wanted to guess as well.  It was a really fun snack time and even made the whole process of eating vegetables more interesting for me.  Win-win.  :)

Let's discuss the baked potato.  It was phenomenal.  I fixed Shaun's up super-good to get all the fixin' out of my system, then stared at his potato while I ate mine.  It worked.  I also cooked up broccoli and cauliflower (frozen) with garlic powder, onion flakes, and a little soy sauce.  Deeeeelish.  The best part about this particular "diet plan" is each day being different and so controlled.  Even though I almost DIED making macaroni and cheese for the kids' lunch, it is far easier (for me) to deprive myself of "everything but" rather than try to practice portion control.  I tried the whole "use a smaller plate" trick, and I just ended up overloading that small plate!  Knowing I get some fruit in the morning is helping me tonight.

So, I drank all my water today and ate all veggies and stuck with the one regular-sized baked potato and butter.  YAY for another successful day!  We played outside for a while today, but I still didn't really do anything I would count as "exercise".  Baby steps.  I'm getting there.

One more thing about today, I was able to work on my Bible study during the time I would have been in the kitchen figuring out something else to stuff in my mouth (lol).  I read some great Scripture and wanted to share this...

1 Cor 10:13
No temptation has seized you except what is common to man.  And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear.  But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.

Thank you, God.  This helped me through the afternoon.  I know what true hunger is and I realize I am not always eating because of true hunger.  When I feel temptation without true hunger, this is when I can look to God to show me "a way out".

Amen.  G'night!

Day One

Whew.  I am starving. 

So, day one is coming to a close and I am feeling good!!  I am not only embarking on my own 40 week diet, but a few other changes have been made around here, as well.  I have committed to making my husband's lunch every morning and fixing him a high-protein breakfast.  This morning, I did both of those things AND made my first batch of cabbage soup.  The kids were loving all the fruit we had this morning, so that was super easy.  However, we headed out to the park around 9 and I gave them some goldfish for the ride...they smelled SO good.  I was hungry.  I took some oranges and apples for me and lunchables for the kids.  We played at the park for a good long while, ate some lunch, then headed home for bath and nap!  Well, I at least got a couple of them in the bath...and got ONE to nap.  All the fruit was tasty, but just doesn't do much to quench the appetite.  The soup was SOOO yummy after a morning of strawberries, blueberries, canteloupe, oranges, and apples! 

I was really sleepy after lunch, so I let the boys watch a movie while I tried to snooze in the chair.  Unfortunately, the kids were having none of mom sleeping, so they kept waking me up for one thing or another.  I gave in and had a cup of coffee (Splenda only!) in the afternoon because I was having such a hard time keeping my eyes open!  We spent most of the day outside, so I think all the fresh air and the running around and the lack of sleep at night (sigh) just rocked me.

Exercise is going to be tough for me.  I did run around the park pushing the stroller, but I can't be sure it was 30 minutes.  I think I will need to focus on the diet and just incorporate exercise in a few weeks. 

I knew fruit day would be easy since my kids are all big fans of "nature's candy".  Fixing dinner was sort of difficult...I made a super easy meal from a box (love!), with the thought that it would be less hard if there was less work involved.  However, it smelled SO good throughout the house.  Oh.  My.  My mouth was watering.  I ate my bowl of soup and an orange while watching everyone else devour this cheesy rice and chicken meal.  Whoooo.  Toughest part of my day.

Tomorrow is veggie day!  I have all the different colors of peppers for the kids to talk about and taste at lunch time.  We will likely be doing some walking around the neighborhood tomorrow because Shaun has to take the car to work.  I want to research vegetables tonight so I can have some fun "kid-friendly" facts to share with the boys.  I am planning to build a garden for the kids with a good friend, so maybe we will clear out a space for that tomorrow.  Anything to keep us outside and me away from the kitchen!!  The plan is hot dogs for lunch and that will be a tough one for me to not nibble on.

Tough only until I remember that I will have to admit it later!  :)

G'night!

*I did take a picture this morning of my official start weight and I will post it tomorrow.

HOW

I am getting really excited about tomorrow!!  I wanted to share with you my current plans of HOW I'm going to go about all of this.  For those who may not know, I am a stay at home mom to four children aged four and under.  For the next few weeks they will attend a Parent's Day Out program two days a week (Thursdays and Fridays), but their last day will be March 10, 2011, and we will begin full-time "mommy daycare".  I will use this blog to let you know my trials with maintaining a diet and exercise routine which will need to include the kiddos each day. 

EXERCISE:  Unfortunately, I have given up my YMCA membership for financial reasons.  It was really nice to use their facilities and be able to drop the kids off at their daycare, however, I truly got no results when I was going regularly so I couldn't justify continuing the extra cost.  I recognize the need for daily exercise, so I will be doing a MINIMUM of 30 minutes each day.  This will vary in type, possibly, but some examples will be walking around the neighborhood with the kids, running races in our backyard (this is a huge favorite).  If inclement weather should cause us to have an indoors day, we will be watching workout videos.  Worst case scenario (or maybe best case!), I will do 30 minutes of cardio and strength training during naptime.  My husband has several items throughout the house I can use, and there is always push-ups, sit-ups, and jumping jacks!  As I said, 30 minutes will be the minimum and I will not be counting playtime at the park or anything that is not specifically timed.

DIET:  I am going to meet some resistance here, but please bear with me.  I am going to start week one by doing the cabbage soup diet.  If you haven't heard of it, you can check it out yourself at http://www.cabbage-soup-diet.com/.  I will detail each day's eating allowances and requirements.  I know this needs to be a lifestyle change and I cannot do this particular eating plan for life.  However, I need a jump start.  I need something that will kick my rear in gear and this has worked for me in the past.  Many times.  After one week of this, I plan to do Slim Fast 3-2-1 Plan for the next three weeks.  I am not planning further out than that.  I am bracing myself for criticism against my choices, but please know that I have tried a lot.  If I could afford it, I would just sign up for Nutri-System or Jenny Craig and allow my choices to be made for me.  This just isn't possible FOR ME.  I will be very open and honest here, starting tomorrow with a picture of the numbers on my scale (eeeek!!), but I would like to ask that you hold back on any comments judging me for food choices I may make in the coming 40 weeks.

I am so thankful you are reading this far and I look forward to sharing the good, bad, and ugly with you!  Now I am off to my "final supper" of bean and cheese burritos!!

Here We Go!

Well, I am getting serious about this weight loss "thing".  Thanks to recent donations from dear friends, I have acquired quite a full goal box of awesome clothes that I desperately want to wear!  Unfortunately, this is not motivation enough.  Hard to believe, right?  After much thought I have decided to invite you all to watch my loss and actually be personally involved.  I think it is hard for my husband to hold me accountable because he, obviously, doesn't really want to ever tell me I need to lose weight.  My kids are too young and it is super easy for me to avoid my family's phone calls.  This leads me to the reason behind this blog...

I am asking for pledges.  My goal is to lose 80 pounds over the next 40 weeks.  80 pounds would put me back to the lowest weight I have been in my adult life, 40 weeks will put me at the week of my 6th wedding anniversary.  This year I have begun saving to surprise Shaun with a trip to Vegas for our anniversary!  I would be asking you to pledge a certain dollar or cents amount per pound I lose.  I will report daily here on my efforts at dieting and exercise while staying home with four small children.  I will weigh myself once every four weeks, and this is when payment would be "billed".  I feel this extra accountability and goal of actual money will really be the drive I need to get this weight OFF!

I am open to suggestions of how payments could be made?  Obviously, mail works for me.  I thought of a PayPal option, but I haven't fully researched it to figure out what that would require.  Any other thoughts?

I really appreciate everyone's support, even if it isn't financial.  My husband has "pledged" $1 a pound, so I feel on the road to success already!  The diet will start Monday, February 14, 2011.  I will post my weight that morning and get the show on the road...I also plan to do pictures throughout.  Not looking forward to that part, but serious is serious and I want to prove I am "all in" this time.

**The 80 pounds is the only weight loss that will count.  For example, if I lose 10 pounds one month, then (somehow) put on 4 pounds the next month, that 4 pounds will NOT be paid for again when it is lost.  Also, if I should decide for any reason to quit this before the 40 weeks is up, I will refund ALL money immediately.  I promise to go through the entire 40 weeks, but I am not totally positive I will lose all 80 pounds.  However, if I lose MORE than 80 pounds, you will not be asked to pay for any amount OVER the original goal of 80.

Thanks for reading!  If I was unclear on any of this, or you have any questions, please comment!