Melanie's Week Three Point Challenge

Since we went out to dinner together, I took a picture of Melanie's dinner and am posting it for her. =) It was a FUN night!!!

Melanie's Dinner 10-16-10

Week Three Point Challenge

Breakfast 10-16-10

Lunch 10-16-10





Dinner 10-16-10

Breakfast 10-17-10

Breakfast 10-18-10

Lunch 10-19-10



Overindulgence

That is what I did this past weekend. But really - when are dh and I going to be able to go on a camping trip with no kids again? When will we be able to go away for the whole weekend without kids again? I totally get not making a camping trip a "special event" since we do that every month. I get that! I even get going out to dinner with the hubs not a "special event" anymore since we get to do that on a regular basis now it seems. But I think I deserved to sit there, eat junk and do NOTHING. Usually I'm up running around, playing with the kids, getting what they want, getting what dh wants, making food, running in and out of the motorhome. I'ts tiring!! I got to sit there and relax. It was AWESOME! Of course, now I'm having a hard time getting back in the groove I started last week. ugh. I did great last week. I need to continue it.

Went to spin class again last night. Sweated my butt off. =) Well not really but soon I will. ;) It was awesome. Loved it!

I have way too many "events" coming up. This weekend we have a birthday party. Next weekend we have a birthday party. The following weekend is Halloween. The following weekend - birthday party. The next weekend  - the twins birthday party. The weekend after that - Connor's birthday party. Then it's Thanksgiving. :sigh: Doesn't look like i will partake in cake for awhile. I think I'll wait until Conoor's bday party. That way I can have what I want and it'll be worth it. =) So needless to say. I'll be a little busy the next few weeks!!!

Lunch 10-08-10

GAG Week One Weigh In

Are you ready for it? I am! I weighed in today at 173.8! That is a 3 lb loss from last week! Yee haw! For some reason I wasn't expecting to see that much of a loss this week. Have I been in my calorie range? Yes. Have I exercised? More than I have been! Do I deserve it? HELL YES!

Last night we went out to dinner for a fundraiser for Connor's school. I picked out what I was going to eat BEFORE we went. I stuck to it when we got there. I knew I would have chips and salsa, I mean that's the best part! So I made sure I ate lower calorie breakfast and lunch and tried not to snack too much yesterday. And it worked! I still have calories left to have some chips. And my twins decided they like the rice and ate all my rice. So I never even ate that part of my meal. =) Yeah!

We are going camping this weekend. It's just me and my hubby, no kids. I'm going to be enjoying myself. ;) Hopefully not too much though! I'll try to reign it in but no guarantees since I have no idea when the next time we'll get a WEEKEND to ourselves! LOL!

Lunch 10-07-10

Spinning

So I went to my first spinning class in . . . well a VERY long time. So let's just call it my first spinning class. =) It was freakin' AWESOME!! I felt good. I loved sweating. I loved breathing. I loved feeling hot! And i loved that feeling of accomplishment I got on my way home knowing I did it. It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. I can probably push myself harder next time. I just want to take it easy in the beginning so I don't over exert myself. Don't want to do that! So now my friend and I have a date every Tuesday at 7pm to take the spinning class! Woo hoo!!! =) By the way, my butt HURTS. Those seats are ridiculously uncomfortable!

Lunch 10-05-10

Vision Board

Here is my Vision Board for the Week One Point challenge for the GAG challenge. =)

It says: "My Solution to a Healthy Lifestyle". It actually came out better than I though it would!

Lunch 10-04-10

Monday, Monday

Well it's the first week of GAG and how am I doing?? Not too bad! I didn't do so hot on Saturday. We had not one but TWO birthday parties to go to. I overindulged. But I drank a lot of water and only 2 diet Pepsi's that day. Sunday i did awesome and stayed within my calorie range. It was higher than I like but I still was withing my point range. YEAH!!

I attempted to wake up this morning and do the TurboJam DVD. Yeah um, that didn't work. It's just not feasible. I'll just have to squeeze exercise in in the evening. Ugh. I'm going to try and do the DVD tonight but my room needs to be picked up so I have room to do it. So I may just pick up tonight and forget the exercising. Tomorrow night my friend and i are going to start taking a spinning class on Tuesday nights. It's been YEARS since I've been. Hope I can hang! And at least I'll start using my gym membership again. LOL! Now to find my card so I can get in!

Lunch 10-01-10

GAG 2010 Beginning Weigh In

Well here is my beginning weigh in for the GAG 2010 challenge:

Weight: 176.8

I guess this means I'm going to start weighing in on Fridays. Maybe that will help me to keep going. I definitely need something to shake things up because what I have been doing is not working! And how sad. I am HIGHER than my beginning weight last year for the GAG 2009 challenge. :( Actually I'm exactly 3 lbs higher. I lost 20.4 lbs last year during the 16 week challenge (yes it was four week longer than this one) and I even wasn't doing that great the last four weeks so I can hopefully do the same if not BETTER this time. Good luck all you GAG participants!!!

GAG Challenge 2010

Well, it's that time of year again. Ok so we started September 1st last year and this year we didn't start until October 1st. It's probably better that way! LOL! GAG is back! And better than ever. Why? Because I think I talked like six people into joining LOL! So there are way too many people that know what I am doing so I have to live up to it right? No slacking. No daydreaming. No quitting! Shoot. I won last year. I would like to make it two for two. =D Who is ready??

Goals for the 2010 GAG challenge:

1. Lose 30 lbs.
2. Journal journal journal!!
3. Drink 64 ozs of water daily
4. Eat more fruits and vegetables.
5. Exercise 150 mins a week (this equates to 30 mins 5 days a week).

I think these are basic doable activities. Why can't I do these? This is what I have been struggling with. I need to get into a routine. I need to get back to basics. I can do this.

Why and How To Create A Vision Board

Why and How To Create A Vision Board

It is so not pretty

Today's weigh in was so NOT pretty. :( That ticker at the top. Yep, it's been updated. Yup, I'm almost in the 180s. Yup, I'm disgusted with myself. Yes, I want to make a change. Something has to change. But I'm just not sure I can do it.

Dilemma One:

I need to start eating right. But eating bad is so good! But it doesn't make me feel good. :( It makes me feel fat and ugly and is just not good for me. But why does the bad food have to taste so good! And you know what, it's not just that it tastes good. Right now, it's all about convenience! I hate to say it but I'm getting tired of coming home at 5:30 when dh has been home for an hour and nothing has been done. And the first thing out of his mouth is what's for dinner. Ugh. I think I need to get him to start meal planning and cooking. He said he would cook if I had a meal plan but I don't know what he'll cook. If I plan something that he doesn't know he won't cook it. Ugh.

Dilemma Two:

Exercise. Enough said. I have no idea when to fit it in. I get up at 4:30am and I don't get to rest until 9pm. There is not time between those hours that I can fit it in. So I either don't get to sit down and rest or what??? I would like to watch tv at some point in time. I would like to start running again too but at 9pm at night? Or 4am. I think I'll have to wake up at 4am. But I don't think it would be wise to go running outside at that hour. So that means I have to do videos. Ugh. I'm just not a video exercise person. I guess I'm going to have to start to be.

Dilemma Three:

Out of control. I just feel like my life is out of control right now. With Connor starting Kindergarten and not doing very well at drop off, I'm at a loss and I can't control it. I can control my eating which is causing me to over eat. Don't ask me how that works. You'd think I'd want to control it and be limiting on my intake but I'm the opposite. Ugh. I need my world to stop spinning out of control and I don't see that happening anytime soon. Can I have the world stop so I can step off and take a break??

So those are just a few of the things I'm dealing with right now. I've got to stop it and fast. I'm disgusted with myself. I look like a big fat blob. My clothes don't fit. I'm wearing the same outfits every week because they are the only clothes that fit me. I had to buy XXL t-shirts yesterday at Target (granted they are tight fitting shirts that I wanted to be lose so maybe at the beginning of this year I would have bought a L instead but still!). Ugh. Baby steps. One day a time. I will get back to that healthy Heather that I once knew and loved.

Book Review - Friendship for Grown Ups

Friendship for Grown Ups by Lisa Whelchel was actually pretty interesting. Especially if you grew up watching Facts of Life and know who Lisa Whelchel was. This book actually made me rethink how I approach my friendships. It made me re-evaluate how I am as a friend and how I can be a better friend. This book did include a lot of her past friendships and how they worked and/or didn't work. I would have liked to see this book a little more informational than biographical. But overall, it really made me think about my friendships and how I could be a better friend.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from Nelson Publishers. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Geez

I am such a slacker. SLACKER. Big fat (and I do mean FAT) slacker. Ugh. Life was hectic this past summer. With three kids, all three of them doing swimming one right after the other, then Connor also in t-ball, throw some camping in there and mix it all up and we have one busy busy summer. Not that it has slowed down now that it is the fall. Connor started Kindergarten and that has been stressful to say the least. He was fine the first couple days, then not so much. Now he is ok. I'm hoping next week will be even better. Keep your fingers crossed.

But all of that to say, I need to get back on the bandwagon. I have gained weight. Lots of weight. 20 lbs since Jan. 1st to be exact. Ugh. My clothes don't fit. I don't like how I look. This is NOT good. I was supposed to be close to my goal of 130. I should be within reach (if not there already). Instead, I have to get off my lazy ass and get my butt moving. I need to start eating healthier. I need to start cooking and not taking the easy way out and going to fast food and picking it up. I can do this. I will do this. Just bear with me. LOL!

Week Nine LHA Exercise Round Up

June 30 - 15 min walk at work; 30 mins swim lessons with Taylor

July 1

July 2

July 3

July 4

July 5

July 6

Week Eight LHA Exercise Round Up

June 23 - 30 mins swim lessons with Taylor;

June 24 - 30 mins swims lessons with Taylor

June 25- 30 mins swim lessons with Taylor

June 26 - 90 mins gymnastics

June 27 - Nothing

June 28 - 30 mins swim lessons with Taylor

June 29 - Nothing

Total: 210 Mins

7-11 Challenge (Week 1)

Wednesday

1.YES!!!
2. YES! (I am a healthy person and make good choices!)
3. Yes - I made guacamole with avocado and added lettuce to my burrito. ;)
4. Nope =(

Thursday

1. Nope
2. Yes. (I am a beautiful woman).
3. Nope
4. Nope

Friday

1. Nope
2. Yes (I am a good role model for my children. I'm teaching them healthy habits.)
3. Nope
4. Nope

Saturday
 
1. Nope
2. Nope
3. Nope
4. Nope
 
Sunday
 
1. Nope
2. Nope
3. Nope
4. Nope
 
 
Monday
 
1. Nope
2. Nope
3. Nope
4. Nope
 
Tuesday
 
1. Nope
2. Nope
3. Nope
4.Nope

LHA Week 7 WI

So today's WI goes like this:

171.2

Sigh, it was less than last week but since I didn't report last week I am showing a gain of 1.8 lbs. On the exercise front it goes as follows: 90 mins gymnastics practice; 60 mins swim lessons; 30 mins wii; 30 min walk at work. Total of 210 mins. Thank you kids and the activities I signed you up for! =) Since they are parent and me I have to particpate too. ;) The following weeks are going to be much better. I just looked back at my starting weight and it's exactly what I weighed in this week! I think this is a sign. A sign I can start over and go go go!! And I will.

Christine has started a side challenge for the next 4 weeks called the 7-11 challenge. We are to think of four goals for the next four weeks. Here are my four goals:

1. Journal my food NO MATTER WHAT every day!
2. Write out a positive affirmation every morning
3. Start incorporting veggies & fruits into dinner (SO hard for me to remember)
4. Drink only 1 soda a day

I think those are perfectly doable goals for the next 4 weeks. Wish me luck!!!

LHA Challenge Update

I know tomorrow is Week Seven WI. What happened to my Week 6 WI you ask? I chose to forgo it. I did horrible. I hate that I'm back in the 170s. I did no form of exercise (which I need to update my exercise totals) and I just all around basically SUCKED. I am so sorry fellow team members that I only got around your blogs the first week. Now we are onto new teams and I hope to be a better bloggy friend because frankly. I've been a horrible bloggy friend. No excuses. I'm also changing my WI date back to Monday (so I already have my WI for this week). That Wednesday WI was just killing me. If I have a Monday WI I just start over better on Mondays and I need to be good on the weekend so I can have a good WI come Monday. =) So watch out. I may have sucked the first 7 weeks but I'm going to try and kick it into gear the next 9 weeks (right? I think it's a 16 week challenge LOL!). So LET'S GET IT ON!!

Time to Start AGAIN

I am really really really tired of being fat. And you would think, that if I'm tired of being fat, that I would do something about it. Well hopefully the time has come. My clothes are getting tight again. :( I can barely fit into my shorts or jeans and I REFUSE to buy anything more. I need to do something to help me. I'm hoping over the course of the next few days to iron out what I need to do in order to get this weight OFF.  It's not going to help that I am going to be EXTREMELY busy over the summer with swim lessons, tball, and gymnastics for the kids (WHAT WAS I THINKING?!?!) but that should also help to minimize the extra eating I've been doing at night too. It is also FORCING me to plan. We have to plan what we are going to eat or we will not get to eat. So, I have figured out that if I lose 2 lbs a week I can actually make my goal by the twins 3rd birthday. Is that going to be hard? Yes. Can it be done? ABSOLUTELY! So here are my goals:

August 2nd - 160
September 6th - 150
October 11th - 140
November 15th - 130

How can I accomplish these goals? These are the main things I need to do EVERYDAY. Now I know Christine at ExquisiteChristine does a point type thing everyday. I think I'm going to try it. I need to try something right?? For what it's worth I'll probably be hitting up a lot of blogs to see what is working for some people and trying those out myself. ;) So what do I have to do?

1. JOURNAL
2. Stay around 1400 calories
3. Drink 64 ozs of water
4. Exercise for 20 mins

So that is what I have to do. Here is going to be how I'm grading myself.

Journal: 3 pts

Calories
1000-1200: 3 pts
1201-1400: 2 pts
1401-1600: 1 pt

Water:
64 ozs+: 1 pts
80 ozs+: 2 pts
100 ozs+: 3 pts

Exercise:
20 mins: 1 pt
40 mins: 2 pts
60+ mins: 3 pts

The most points I can get a day is 12. I will shoot to get around 50 pts a week. I'll keep you updated HERE. I am also planning on starting P90X again on Monday. I'm not going to be getting a lot of sleep since I have to do it in the morning but if I want to get this done, it's a sacrafice I have to make. I ordered the P90X drink supplement so I'm planning on having that for breakfast in the mornings. =) Hopefully that will stop my current practice of getting a donut at the snack bar each morning. Ugh. I really need to stop that.

Well, I think I've done all that I can for today. I'm going to keep this better updated. That's the ONLY way for me to get this weight off. No excuses. No butts. No nothing. As Nike says, Just Do It!

Week Seven LHA Exercise Round Up

June 16 -

June 17

June 18 - 15 mins walk at work

June 19 - 90 mind gymnastics

June 20 - 30 mins Wii

June 21 - 15 mins walk at work; 30 mins swim class with Taylor

June 22 - 30 mins swim class with Taylor

Total Mins 210

Week Six LHA Exercise Round Up

June 9 -

June 10

June 11

June 12

June 13

June 14

June 15

A big FAT ZERO!!!

Week Five LHA Exercise Round Up

June 2 - 45 mins P90X; 5 min stairs

June 3 - 60 mins P90X; 5min stairs

June 4 - Nothing

June 5 - 30 min walk with kids

June 6 - 30 min walk with kids

June 7 - Nothing

June 8 - Nothing

175 Minutes

Can you tell . . .

that I fell off the P90X wagon?? I could not wake up on Friday. Well I could but the kids were up at night and I was just tired so I said screw it. So that led to no workout on Saturday or Sunday either. Then I figured I can't do anything Thurs - Sun this week so I'll start fresh again on Monday with p90X. Why not. I really do like the DVDs. It was fun and gave me a great workout!!! I can't wait to start again. It just KILLS me I have to wake up at 4am to do it. If it was 5am, it would be a better pill to swallow. But in 2004 I was dedicated and went to the gym every morning for MONTHS at 4:30am (waking up at 4am so I could get there when they opened). I can do it again. Granted, I didn't have kids waking me up then but I'll just learn to deal! (And go to bed by 9pm every night!).

Day Three of P90X

I woke up again this morning. Go me! I didn't go to bed until 11 pm last night because dh and I were watching The Hurt Locker but I still managed to get up at 4am and I didn't feel tired. (probably helped neither one of the girls woke me up last night!). Today was Shoulders & Arms. I only have 3 lb dumbbells at home but that was all I needed to start out with. For triceps and butterfly exercises that was PLENTY. I do need heavier weights for the biceps but I'm undecided what to do. Do I just buy some dumbbells here and there when I need them or do I just suck it up and buy the resistance bands instead? Any ideas, suggestions??

The diet is going eh. I did horrible yesterday since I was at training and home all day. =( Oh well. I'm trying to make today better! Although again, I started with a dang donut. Ugh. I have GOT to kill this sweet tooth. Still feeling sore today. It feels good though! I know I'm working out my muscles and it feels GREAT. I'm going to have to modify the workout days here. There is no way I can do Yoga on a workday. It's a 90 min DVD and I don't have that much time in the morning unless I want to wake up at 3:30 instead. I'll save that for Saturday. So instead of doing Yoga tomorrow I guess I will do Kenpo X. I'm going to try to make this fit into MY schedule. If I don't, it won't work and I'll quit and I am NOT QUITTING! K. =) I also know when I go to my parents next weekend I will have to skip Thursday - Sunday. No big deal. I'm going to try and go for some walks/runs while there and then I'll pick back up when I get home. I am NOT QUITTING. I am going to make this work with MY schedule so that I can and will succeed!!!

LHA Weigh In

Weighed in today and I have a maintain. Considering this past weekend was Memorial Day with lots and lots of food I'll take it!!!

Day 2 of P90X was great too! I am sore and it feels WONDERFUL! Do I like getting up at 4am. No. Do I LOVE that I get it all over with first thing in the morning. YES!!! I will continue to do it until I die from exhaustion. LOL! I was in bed at 7:30 last night. Slept until 4 am and I was STILL tired today. Ugh. I know i'll get use to it but geez. It may take me a little while.

Week Four LHA Exercise Round Up

May 26 - Nothing

May 27 - Nothing

May 28 - 30 min walking

May 29 - 30 min walking

May 30 - 30 min walking

May 31 - 30 min walking

June 1 - 60 min P90x; 5 min stairs

Day One of P90X

I so did NOT want to wake up this morning but I forced myself to. After thinking about it last week, I knew I was starting P90x today. But the question was when do I do it? Morning, Evening? If I wait until the evening, I won't be starting it until like 9pm because the darn kids don't want to go to bed, argue, etc etc. So if I don't want to be interuppted I have to do it in the morning. No matter when I do it, dh will be watching me since i have to do it in the living room right now so take that out of the equation. So morning it was. Set my alarm for 3:50am so I could stay in bed for like 5 minutes but then I got my butt out of bed and turned the DVD on and sweated my butt off!! Felt so good!! I can see myself being pushed and really liking this! Yeah!!!

I am being so bad. =(

And it's showing. Ugh. This is going to be a short blog. I need to gather my thoughts and put it all down, I just don't have time right now. But I need to make time. Anyway, weigh in this morning:

169.4

Ugh. That is UP 1.6. Ugh. Ugh Ugh! And this weekend is Memorial Day. We are going camping. I'm usually ok when we go camping. I'm usually so busy running after the kids that I don't gain weight. But I know I'm bringing snacks, my friends are bringing snacks and there will be a LOT of munching going on. I am going to work out though while I am there. There is no reason why I can't go for a good walk around the campground. No excuses! And starting June 1st, I am reading to bring it. I will be starting my p90x videos finally. I'm debating on doing the nurition part too. I haven't had a chance to read the books but plan to this weekend. Wish me luck!

Week Three LHA Exercise Round Up

May 19 - 5 mins stairs; 46 mins run (4/1 run/walk intervals)

May 20 - 5 mins stairs;

May 21 - Nothing

May 22 - 30 min walk with the kids; 20 mins P90X

May 23 - 10 min walk with the family

May 24 - 5 min stairs;

May 25 - Nothing

Total minutes: 121 mins.

Weighing In - Wednesday

It's so weird for me to be weighing in on Wednesdays. For so long, I have weighed in on Monday's. That's how it's been. Probably for  5 years now! Wow! Such a departure. LOL! So I almost forget to WI. LOL! But I did remember and I wasn't too dissapointed. Drum roll:

167.8

That would be a loss of 1.4. And again. I wasn't stellar this week. You'd think that would draw me into wanting to be stellar and eating healthier. But um, no. I had a donut for breakfast again. UGH! I really need to get AWAY from that. I think I will start walking to the 1st floor from now. That way I CAN NOT go by the snack bar. I cannot buy a donut. Work? I hope so.

I did 177 minutes of exercise last week. Should have and could have been much better but I'm working on it! I actually got out and ran yesterday! Go me! I did 4/1 run/walk intervals for 30 mins. Ended up doing about 3 miles in 45 mins. Not too bad since that included 10 mins of my cool down and warm up walking. =) I'll take it. And I'm getting out there and running again tonight. ;) Now to just start eating healthier. :sigh:

It's MONDAY!

So why not be a good girl and get back in the groove of things? Sounds good to me! I'm ready to kick butt. I'm ready to lose this weight. And I'm tired of being tired. Well, I may be tired at first but it'll help me in the long run. And my dh was so awesome and text me today that I AM working out tonight. ;) Woo hoo!! That means I won't have to feel guilty for leaving even if the kids are still up. =) Well, I'll still feel guilty but hey. I'm going to go exercise!

Found out yesterday that my SIL is doing P90X. Has been for about 9 weeks now. Hmm. I'll have to catch up with her now. LOL! But I want to run too so I'll just have to switch off and on. She says she hasn't lost any weight but has lost inches so not bad I guess.

I'm also going to be doing the stairs at work every morning. Here's a picture:

Pretty bad picture but I think you get the idea. There are 105 stairs to walk up. Eek. But I feel it in my legs. =) I'm also taking a picture of everything I eat and posting at Tweet What You Eat. It's pretty cool so far and I'm hoping that if I have to post it for the world to see, it'll make me think twice about eating it. Probably not but it can't hurt right?? =D

I'm ready to start rocking and rolling. My pants are getting too tight and I sure do not want to go shopping. It's coming up on Summer time and I want to look decent. I don't want to look like a cow. I want to be able to play with my kids outside and not say mommy's tired let me rest. I want my son to start running with me. And I want the twins to also when they get older. I just need to keep these things in mind when I want to go off track. I am going to hold myself accountable. I am going to make it!!

Week Two LHA Exercise Round Up

May 12 - Nothing

May 13 - 30 mins walking with kids

May 14 - Nothing

May 15 - 60 mins walking around Knott's (We were there for 4 hours so I'm sure this is an understatement)

May 16 - 20 mins playing with the kids at the park (We played for 2 hours but I didn't run after them the whole time LOL!)

May 17 - 5 min Stair

May 18 - 5 mins Stair; 10 min walk with family; 47 min run (4/1 run/walk intervals)

And Deb asked what my plan of attack was going to be since I didn't do so hot last week. Well, I'm just trying to get a little bit in each day but will start doing more as time allows.

177 Minutes

Wednesday WI

Well today was my first WI for the LHA challenge. I guess I didn't do so bad. =) I WI'd at 169.2 lbs. That is a 2 lb loss. Yeah! And I didn't even do that much. Think of what I could do if i really really tried!!! So I have LOTS I can work on over the next 15 weeks. But the first week wasn't too bad. I didn't do that great with the exercise this week. I did not exercise last night. I just felt lazy. UGH! Oh well. I just need to figure out how to fit it all in.

Week One LHA Exercise Round Up

May 5th - 40 mins Biggest Loser Wii workout; 10 min walk with the family

May 6th - 10 min walk at work

May 7th - 60 mins dancing

May 8th - Nothing

May 9th - 20 mins walking with the family

May 10th - 25 mins walk with Connor; 45 mins Biggest Loser Wii workout

May 11th - Nothing

Total Minutes: 210 mins

It's Monday

And we are halfway through the LHA Week one challenge. =) How am I doing? Ok. I've gotten exercise in every day except for Saturday. And that's ok. Is it as much as i was hoping? No. But it's a start. I also went out and partied quite a bit this weekend so I'm sure I'll be paying for it. Although I was a little sick afterwards and couldn't eat so maybe that was a good thing? LOL! ;) Anyway, I'm finally ready. I'm really finally ready to do this.

LHA - Beginning Weigh In

Oh My God! It is not pretty. How did I let myself get to this point again? Ugh. Here is the sad sad truth:

Beginning Weight: 171.2

Ugh. How. Well ok, I know how. Now how am I going to fix this? Journal, water, stay within my calories, and EXERCISE. So this challenge is exactly what I needed to get back on track. Watch out! I'm gonna win this thing!!! =)

My Long Hot Active Summer Challenge

Woo Hoo! It starts tomorrow!! Am I ready for it? Not really LOL! I have been slacking off so bad! Bad Heather. But I need something to jumpstart me back into a healthy lifestyle again and why can't it be exercise right?? So here is a recap of my goals for the challenge.

1. Work out 6 out of 7 days a week. (So a total of 96 days. This does not have to be each week but I can't miss more than 16 days).


2. Have a total of 6,000 minutes of exercise. (That is roughly 54 mins of exercise PER day).
 
Stay tuned as I keep track of everything. And I switched my WI days to Wednesday to coincide with the LHA challenge. I figured I needed something different to get me back into the groove so why not. =) So follow me for the next 16 weeks and let's see my progress and how I do. =)
 
Tomorrow - Picture of WI and full body shot!!
 
By the way, it's not too late. Go over there and sign up NOW!!! Join me!!!!

An Exercise Challange - My Long Hot Active Summer Challenge

Well since I did so good in the GAG challenge I thought why not join this challenge. I need something to keep me motivated and get me MOVING! So I am joining in and going to participate in "MY long Hot Active Summer Challenge". WOO HOO!! Since it is an exercise challenge I should make exercise goals for the challenge. So my goals for the challenge are two things:

1. Work out 6 out of 7 days a week. (So a total of 96 days. This does not have to be each week but I can't miss more than 16 days).

2. Have a total of 6,000 minutes of exercise. (That is roughly 54 mins of exercise PER day).

Are these lofty goals? Yes.

Can I complete them? YES!

This challenge starts May 5th. The day before my birthday and the Wednesday after my trip from Vegas so I will have NO EXCUSES! NO EXCUSES!!! One of the things i want to get in the habit of is exercising when we go camping. This will MAKE me! We are going camping in May, June, July and August before this challenge is over with so I WILL make it a point to exercise. Come on baby! I won GAG and I don't plan on losing this one either. LOL! ;)

Book Review - Looking For Closure

Looking for Closure by Maria Stewart was definitely an interesting read. Maria is the niece of Theresa Ferrara and also the last person that saw Theresa alive. This book is Maria's recount of her recollection of the events that led up to the disappearance of her aunt as well as the aftermath and her resolve to find out what really happened.

If you know a little bit about this story or were aware of this story when it happened and saw the newspaper articles, you will definitely like this book. I had no idea what this story was about but it intrigued me and I wanted to know what happened to Theresa Ferrara too. It kept me turning pages to see what would happen and what the outcome was.

Did it answer all the questions? No. But unfortunately, this is a true to life event that happened. Not just a story being told by some writer. Ms. Stewart couldn't weave a great ending as she was bound by the truth and only can report the actual facts and circumstances surrounding what she discovered. But overall, this was a great book that shed light on the suspicious circumstances that surrounded Ms. Ferrara's disappearance.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the author Maria Stewart. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Starting over ... again

Today is a new start. Why not. It's Monday. It's a new week and the first Monday of the month. I am going to Vegas for my birthday on the 30th. I would LOVE to be 150 by then but considering I weighed in this morning at 162.0 (which by the way is a 1.2 lb drop from last week) I don't think I can hold my breath. It's taken everything in me right now not to munch. I'm probably thirsty. I've gotten in the bad habit of having a soda when I get into work first thing. So that pushes back my water intake. Bad me.

Ok . . .I just opened up my water bottle and took a drink. =) Starting in the right direction now. I have lunch planned - a lean cuisine and some chips and salsa (trying the new quesadilla they have out). I have dinner planned, chicken fajitas. But I have to go to the grocery store tonight. Since we were gone all weekend visiting family I am at my bare bones in the cupboards. So I need to make a grocery list and plan my meals the rest of this week and shop tonight. Ugh. But that's after doing Connor's homework, making a quick craft for Grandma's birthday (it's next Monday) so I can get it mailed out and doing baths tonight. Oh yeah, and I have Connor's follow up dentist appt this afternoon at 4pm. Maybe that will actually help as I will be home earlier than normal. That is if the dentist is running behind schedule.

I just can't seem to get a consistent schedule going. Ugh. I just have to muddle through and figure it out I guess. Can someone please add another hour in the day???

Book Review - Is There a Monster Over There?

Is there a monster over there? by Sally O. Lee is a delight to read. My children LOVE this book and keep asking me to read it again and again. At first, I was apprehensive hoping this wouldn't scare my 2 year olds! But it does the exact opposite. It teaches them that monsters are not scary! They make look different but they are nothng to be afraid of. I think this would be a great book for any child that is afraid of the monsters under their bed or in their closet to realize, there really isn't anything to be afraid of.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the author Sally O. Lee. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Book Review - Travel Writing

Travel Writing by Peter Ferry was definitely an interesting book. It was a little slow in the beginning but picked up quite nicely. It kept me in suspense wanting to know who did what, how the characters were intertwined and what the whole story behind Lisa Kim was all about. I think this is a great book for aspiring writers to read. It gives a different perspective of how to write and almost gives tips based on the author’s class that he talks about in the book. But it was also an entertaining read. The only part of the book that I somewhat questioned was the last chapter. At first I really didn’t see the need for it until I got to the last sentence of the book . . . I won’t ruin if for you!

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the author Peter Ferry.  I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

It's Official

I have gained 10 lbs exactly since the beginning of the year. I could be (should be) 10 lbs lighter! NOT heavier. Now I have to relose those 10 lbs and then keep going. UGH! And why do we do this to ourselves? I'm ready to kick it into gear. I was disgusted with how my clothes fit this past weekend. Yuck! I need to get on the weighloss bandwagon. I need to get on the exercise bandwagon. :sigh: This shouldn't be this hard. It's not this hard. I just have to work through this. I know you all are probably tired of hearing me go through this but unfortunately, this is my life right now. I'm hoping that if I write about it and talk about it, I'll work through this difficult time.

I was talking to dh yesterday and I said you need to help me get back on track. And he was like you need to tell me what to do because if I say something to you, you get mad and do the opposite. He is entirely right. =) What can I say. I guess I get defensive since it's not fair I have to work this hard and basically when i start doing better, he just falls in line and loses weight because he's a man. So unfair! It doesn't help that I sit at a desk all day and he is on his feet so I can't compare myself to him but its hard!

So anyway, I have my meals planned out this week. I am going to the grocery store tonight and I will succeed at this!!!!

I don't want to WI!

I do not want to WI tomorrow. As much as I wanted to get back into the swing of things, it just didn't happen. But I am so disgusted with myself. I need to do something. I did figure out one of my problems. Breakfast. I am constantly buying a donut for breakfast from the snack bar and I finally figured out why. I want something that I can just start eating when I get to work. If I have oatmeal, I have to "fix" it. If I make egg beaters, I have to make it in the microwave. If I have toast with peanut butter, I have to get out the toaster and toast it. I need ready made will stay good in my bag from 5:30am when I put my stuff in my car until 8am when I make it to work. Or I need to eat when the kids eat (but I don't think that's feasible). Any good ideas???

So I guess that's my first step. Baby steps right?

Is it time for a new start???

Yes it is. But is tomorrow that day? I am tired of feeling like a fat blob again. I am tired of being tired. I want to start exercising again. I need to start eating better so I'm not so sluggish and tired. I want to. But there is always an excuse. The excuses need to stop. I know i have said this over and over and over again. But I really need to mean it now. I need to start fresh now. I have a feeling when I weigh in I am going to be in the 160s. :sigh: I could have been so close to the 139s it's not funny. It's really NOT funny. I almost want to cry. But I think I needed this. I needed to have fat feeling in my clothes to get back into the groove of losing weight again. I want people to start noticing again how great I look. It's gotten so nice to go to the store and try clothes on and not be upset because they didn't fit. I'm in a small top and size 8 or 10 pants. I LOVE it and I don't want to get any higher. I need to stay where I'm at. And there are key things I need to start doing in order to get back into my groove. Here they are:

1. Journal (i'm finding it tedious at this moment but it's the only thing that keeps me on track.)
2. Stay within 1200-1400 calories a day
3. Drink 64 ozs of water a day.
4. Eat healthy snacks (fruits are coming into season so this should start getting easy.)
5. PLAN my dinner meals. Actually I should plan all but I've gotten away from planning dinner. I need to get back to that.

So baby steps. I just need to take one step at a time. Change my mindset and I WILL overcome this downturn.

Book Review - Love Your Heart

Love Your Heart by Tim McGraw & Tom Douglas is a wonderful children's book. In this Children's book, Katie is trying to figure out what talent to perform in her school's talent show. But in the end, it doesn't matter what talent she picked because she chooses to help her friend instead of perform. This book teaches children about helping others and putting others first. It is beautifully illustrated and wonderfully written. This book will teach children how to be unselfish. I love the message of this book and my two year olds and four year old love for me to read this book to them. I don't think the two years olds will get the concept for awhile but my four year old gets it and what Katie did. Very good book to teach good values to kids and wonderful pictures to look at as well!

Disclosure of Material Connection: Some of the links in the post above are “affiliate links.” This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will add value to my readers. Also, I received this book free from Thomas Nelson Publishers as part of their Book Review Blogger program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Book Review - What Happy Working Mothers Know

In the book What Happy Working Mothers Know, they talk with a lot of working mothers regarding what they do to make their life happy. What it boils down to, is finding a balance between work and home and in the end (according to the book) not feeling guilty for your choices. While I agree you shouldn't feel guilty for your choice to work (because I for one am NOT meant to be a stay at home mom!), I think I would be more happy if there were more hours in a day! I just can't find time to do everything that needs to get done. In the book, they do talk about prioritizing your time. Spend those 30 mins with the kids instead of vacuuming -vacuuming can be done later. While I do agree with prioritizing, there does come a point, when you can't push it off anymore.

The one thing I didn't like about this book was its entire chapter (it seemed) on divorce and how to get through it etc. I'm not quite sure how that is supposed to help working mothers be happy. One of the authors went through a divorce so I can only surmise that is the reason for such in depth inclusion regarding divorce and how to handle/get through it was included with the book.

Overall, I thought this was a good book. I will go back and do/re-do some of the exercises they talked about in the book to kind of let you figure out what will make you happy and how to  get to that point. They were definitely thought provoking and a great way to try to get you to your happy point. However, in the end, only you can make yourself happy. No book can do it for you!

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the authors Cathy L. Greenberg Ph.D (Author), Barrett S. Avigdor J. D. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

The Month of February

5.2 lbs. That is what I GAINED last month. :sigh: It's my own fault. What do I expect? You eat crap, you become crap, and then you weigh like crap. Right? I have to thank Kyle for the inspiring words he wrote on my last blog on Friday. It really did give me words to thing about. You are truly right. It is me and me alone that can conquer and address my issues with weight loss. I hope I'm ready. I really do but I think I'm not. And I'm afraid I'm just going to keep gaining weight until I hit that point. But I need to stop this. One step at a time right.

I had goals for last week they were:

Weekly Goals for 2/22/10:


1. Journal Did for 2 1/2 days

2. Drink 64 ozs of water a day Did for 2 1/2 days

3. Exercise 1 time Nope

4. Meal Plan Yes. But I haven't this week.
 
So I didn't do real good. I think I need to look back and see why I stopped on Wednesday. Why did I stop and not journal anymore or finish drinking my water. What was my trigger? I don't know if I remember what if anything occured that day. My mind is going for me to remember stuff. LOL!
 
I really can't believe it's March 1st already. Two months of the year have come and gone. What do I have to show for it? Absolutely NOTHING. I am at my all time high this year (ok it's only been two months but still) AND I'm knocking on the door of the 160s again. UGH! I so do not want to see the 160s. Don't want to. Not going to. I want my clothes to fit looser. I want them falling off me. I want to look strong and toned! Of course that means I need to start exercising. My unnamed reward (well now it's named since i'm writing it here) is if I can CONSISTENTLY exercise for 6 months I can purchase a working out wardrobe. Whenever I go to Kohls I see the exercise clothes and I just want to purchase them thinking it'll make me work out if I have the "proper" clothes. YEAH RIGHT! I know me. It'll just turn out to be a waste of money. Now if I can get my butt back into exercising and doing it regularly, I can justify the expense!
 
So anyway, this is a lot of rambling etc. That's what happens when I start to reflect and what better way to reflect and figure out where/what I doing/going then the first of the month! So I'm hoping for March to be a MUCH better month than February!

Need to do something

This whole weight loss thing just isn't working right now. And I'm not sure why. Is it the weather? It seems I do some much better in the summer/fall time losing weight. Is it the kids? It's hard to lose weight when I'm not sleeping at night because they keep waking up. Is it the hubby? Its hard to focus when you are just irritated with the lack of help and the hypocriticalness of some people. Or is it me? It's probably just me. I need a new mind set. Can someone give me theirs? I'd really appreciate it. Until I find that right mind set - I have a feeling I'm going to be spinning my wheels.

Let's take this past week. Starting out great. Was journaling, drinking my water. But then dh went to bed early. And what did i do? Proceeded to stuff my face. For some reason, I feel the need to binge when he is not around. Why? I think i feel like he is watching me and accounting for what is going in my mouth when he really isn't. But when he isn't around, I feel like I can have a free for all. What should i have done the TWO nights he went to bed early? I should have started the Wii and popped in those games i wanted so bad for Christmas that i got and have not even OPENED. Not even OPENED. ugh. I will learn. It takes time. It takes time to change my mental attitude. It takes time to change my habits that got ingrained in me. But I'm working at it. Slowly . . . .

Book Review - The Mystery of the Third Lucretia

The Mystery of the Third Lucretia was a FABULOUS book. The book is about two friends who go on an adventure. When they travel to London with Kari's mom, they didn't look for an adventure but it found them! They get wrapped up in mystery and mayhem and are drawn in by the quest to find out what is going on! This is the perfect book for any teenager who loves a good mystery to read. Or even an adult that is a teenager at heart. This book had mystery, intrigue and lots of great writing all rolled into one. This was definnitely a page turner for me. I kept want to read more and find out what happened. The author Susan Runholt is fabulous and I can't wait to read more of her work!!

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the author Susan Runholt. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Weigh In Monday

Well Since I've been really bad this month I can't really say that I'm surprised. I can only say that I'm surprised it wasn't worse!! Stepped on the scale today and it said

156.6

That is up 0.6 lbs. Not bad. But it's gotta end. I'm no longer in the low 150's knocking on the 140s door. But that is where I want to be. No I want to be in the 140s. A place I haven't been since high school. And I will get there. It may not be before my birthday like I had hoped but that's ok. I calculated it out and if I lose 1 lb a week I will lose these last 26 lbs by 8/22. That's right before Connor starts Kindergarten! I can be the M.I.L.F. I can be the Hot Mama!! =) Hee hee! So I'm working on my goals for this week that I posted last week. I will acheive them! Plus I am adding one more. No more BLTs. No more Bites, Licks, and Tastes. I'm getting into the really bad habit of finishing off the kids plates. I HATE to waste food but I need to be healthy more than I need to be free of wasting food. We went to McD's for dinner on Friday and I had a Big Mac (yes cane me now!). Then I finished off Connor's 2 Chicken Nuggets he didn't finish. Did I need them? NO! Absolutely not. :sigh: So no more! No more BLTs!!!

Time to Get SERIOUS

Really Heather. There is no reason for you to be slacking off like this. Your clothes are starting to get tight again (thank god I moved down to an 8 -10 or I'd really be in trouble!). Your stomach isn't right because you aren't eating healthy. Your skin is dry and you are breaking out because you haven't been drinking your water or eating healthy. Your kids are starting to pick up on your bad habits!! Is this how you want to be? Is this how you want to live? No it's not.

So it's time to get serious. I NEED to get serious. Had I been serious. I could have gotten to my goal by my birthday. Now. not possible. I can get darn close though!!! I WILL get darn close. So my friend Mandie has weekly goals so I'm going to start doing that. Here they are:

Weekly Goals for 2/22/10:

1. Journal
2. Drink 64 ozs of water a day
3. Exercise 1 time
4. Meal Plan

Ok, I think that's enough for my first week. LOL! Don't want to overdue it and then not want to continue. That is what I seem to do a lot. I try to do too much too quick. Well, let's see how next week goes!

Starting Over

Again. :sigh: I can't complain with my weight this week. I had no gain and no loss. Considering we went camping this weekend and indulged in red vines and ice cream cake, I think I did pretty good! But I do need to get back to losing. I'm just so stressed and have so much to do, it's the last thing I want to do. KWIM? Oh well. I'll get over this hump shortly! I hope.

Book Review - Messy Tessy

Messy Tessy by Leah Orr is a cute book for girls to read. Tessy plays while the babysitter sleeps! Of course, it could also give your darling child some not so good ideas of what to do. Ha-ha. My only complaint about this book is the wording. It doesn't really flow. The author attempts to rhyme but sometimes the pentameter is off and so the rhyming is off and doesn't flow. Otherwise a very cute book. LOVE the illustrations. The pictures are a delight to see. And the proceeds from the sale of her books goes to the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. I would be interested to read the other two books this author has written if not just for the pictures. I really did like the illustrations!

Book Review - Cracking the $$ Code

Cracking the $$ Code by Patricia M. Annino seems like it would only be for working women. I don't think. The subtitle of this book is "What successful men know and you don't (yet)". I think this book can be used by any woman whether working or not. In it, she explains certain things that men just seem inherently driven to do while we as women are not. They would seem to be things that would come naturally but being a woman and being driven by the wanting everyone to love me feelings, they don't. It's something that I need to work on. This book gives women the tools to do just that. Whether you are a working woman or a non-working woman, i think you will come away from this book learning something about yourself and learning some tactics you can do to make your life easier. This will definitely be a book that I will read over and over to refresh my memory of what I need to do in order to make my life more productive.

Book Review - Kill Me Twice

Kill Me Twice by Jerry Bayne was definitely a page turner. From the beginning, his storyline swept me in and made me want to keep reading. When someone kills the Senator and is doing it out of revenge, you want to find out why. Jerry Bayne tells you just enough to keep you interested but wanting to know more. This thriller was a great book all the way through. I definitely want to check out more books by this author!

First 5K of the Year

So I ran my first (and last???) 5K of the year. Ok, it may not be my last but it's just so annoying that I feel like I can't go and can't train because I need to take care of the kids. But that's a whole 'nother post in and of itself.

So the night before SUCKED. Taylor woke up and ended up sleeping with us in bed and Emily woke up like 3 times. Ugh. So I hardly got ANY sleep at all. Alarm went off and I so did not want to go. After about 30 mins I forced myself to get up, got dressed (didn't bother with a shower since I took one the night before) and headed out the door in like 10 mins. Got to Huntington Beach and parked almost in the same spot I parked at last time. I was about 3 blocks from the start line. =) Gotta love that. But it was 52 degrees and I was freezing. I learned my lesson the year before and since it was only 5:30 when I got there (the start time of the race was 6:50am) I sat in my car for almost an hour. It was kinda nice until I started dozing towards the end. Woops!

I went to the start line, then found the restrooms and bascially only had to wait about 40 mins until I started running the race. Considering I haven't ran since my last 5K in August of last year (YIKES that was what almost 6 months ago!) I think I did pretty good! I finshed at 38:59! Under 40 mins. Yeah!!!! My personal best record is 38:20 at my last race. Just think if I had actually trained. I would LOVE to do 10 min miles but not sure if I will accomplish that anytime soon. Once the kids get older I'm sure I can train better. Having a 4 year old and 2 2 year olds is HARD! So anyway, I'm actually very happy with my time. Until the next one!

Overall: 1541 out of 2494

Women: 911 out of 1636

F 30-34: 166 out of 266

Age/Grade: 38.15% Place: 1648

Finish: 38:59 Pace: 12:33

Tag Time: 38:59

Gun Time: 50:20

Breakfast

I just had to share my breakfast. Doesn't it look yummy???

Book Review - Stop It

Stop It by Sally Lee is a book about being bullied. Anabel is a little girl that is bullied by her brother George. In the end, she tells George to STOP IT! and he stops being a bully. While this book has a good message (don't be a bully, don't let a bully bother you) it's kinda abrupt. Basically, all Anabel does is tell her brother to stop it and he stops being a bully. Will this happen in real life? I doubt it. Is it a good first step in teaching your child how to deal with bullies? Definitely. A bully won't stop unless you stand up to them and this sort of teaches how to do it. Will it have a happy ending like Anabel? Who knows. I would hope every situation would end like this but I doubt it.

Review of CSN Stores - Cusinart Smart Stick Hand Blender

Ok, I was finally able to use my new Immersible blender thanks to CSN Stores very generous offer of allowing me to review it. CSN stores sell everything from furniture to home decor to cookware sets to shoes and everything in between. Let me tell you. Not only did I find a great new recipe to use my immersible blender in, this thing is awesome and I can't wait to use it more in the summer time to make smoothies and stuff for everyone in the house.

So I used this recipe:

Slow Cooker Green Pepper Chicken

3 chicken breast halves
2 large green bell peppers, seeded and chopped
1 (7-ounce) can whole or diced green chiles (mine were mild)
1/2 teaspoon basil
1 tablespoon dried minced onion, or 1 large yellow onion, diced finely
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 cup water
1/2 cup sour cream (to add before serving)
corn tortillas, optional (I used flour tortillas)


Directions:

I used a 4 quart slow cooker. Put the chicken into the bottom of the cooker, and add the bell peppers and the whole can of chiles. Add basil, onion, salt, and pepper. Stir a bit to combine. Pour in the 1/4 cup of water. Cover and cook on low for about 6 hours, or on high for 3-4.

Before serving, use tongs to remove the chicken, and set aside. Using an immersible blender, blend the peppers and sauce left at the bottom of the slow cooker. If you don't have an immersible blender, carefully(!) pour the slow cooker contents into a traditional stand blender and pulse until fully combined. Pour back into the cooker.

Stir in sour cream until melted. If you don't have sour cream in the house, plain yogurt or cream cheese would work just fine---this is only to thicken the sauce a bit and to mellow out the peppers and chile flavor.

Slice chicken, and return to the cooker. Set to high for 20-30 minutes, or until your dinner is fully hot. Serve the meat in corn tortillas, or over rice. Or both!

________________________________________

I obviously used the immersible blender instead of taking the VERY HOT liquid out and blending in a traditional blender. Here was my crockpot before:

And here is my crockpot after:

We were a little worried at first. But this recipe was DELICIOUS! We put the chicken mixture in flour tortillas and basically made burritos. It was YUMMY!! So easy to do and using my new immersible blender made it so easy. I think it took me 5 mins to blend it and that's because I was trying to figure out how to use it. LOL! If you are looking for an immersible blender, this one by Cuisinart is definitely one to try!!! Check it out at the CSN cookware store!!

I'm Happy to Report

That we will NOT be re-tiling the kitchen floor. YEAH!!! We know the week long project would probably turn out to be a month long project and I just can't deal with no stove, dishwasher, washer/dryer and the refrigerator in the garage with three little kids for that long. Um no. So we are just replacing the tiles that are broken/coming up/ making noises and we should be done by Friday. And in the meantime, although I have to walk around the missing tiles for a little while, I can still cook! Yeah!!

SWEET!

And that's not being said on a good note. Background - We redid our kitchen almost 7 years ago (wow does time fly! It seems like it was just yesterday but we redid it in 2003. Yikes!). Well the great contractor we hired to do the flooring did such  a great job (being said sarcastically) that we have one tile that has completely come up from the floor and most of our grout is missing in front of the sink and refrigerator. We were living with the grout issue but the tile coming up - well it was time to fix it. So we "hired" our neighbor who has construction background to help reinforce our kitchen floor (we have a raised foundation) and then redo a couple of tiles and regrout. Well, he reinforced the floor and today he was removing the tiles. Guess what he found? The wonder board that was placed under the tile wasn't done correctly. It should have been screwed in however, they nailed it in instead and so some of it is coming up from the plywood underneath. So to make a long story short, we are now going to re-tile the entire kitchen. Fun. This means, I will be without a stove and dishwasher for like a week (well knowing this guy it may turn into a month which would SUCK!). So there goes the meal planning for this week. Thankfully most of them can be moved to next week (hopefully we'll be back to normal then) and we have leftovers in the refrigerator we can heat up. I just made a HUGE pot of chili last night so I know dh will eat that as a leftover. I guess my plan of making up a list for the local fast food places should happen sooner rather than later now since I know us and we'll be eating out. Not good on the saving money front that's for sure. Ugh.

Week Three - Perfect 10 Check In

2. Journal EVERYDAY - Did NOT journal AT ALL this week

3. Plan my meals at least weekly - Planned my meals for the Week of 1/18/10!

4. Work out 4 x's a week - Um No.

5. Use the Wii at least once a week. Nope not this week. =(

6. Run 6 5ks. Want to get back to running at night since I figured out I cannot do the morning thing anymore.

7. Complete my Turbo Jam Challenge (ends 3/7/10) Then complete P90x. Didn;t do it at all. Thinking of scrapping it but maybe I'll just pick up where I left off.
10. Organize my house, one room each month.
January - Laundry Room - Did my bathroom instead. And boy am I glad I did! Now to keep it clean and tidy!!!!

11. Take the kids to a new park each month - Took them to Fullerton Sports Complex.

12. Stay within my budget!! No more impulse buying. Ask myself 3 times if I NEED it before buying - Didn't do good last week. Bought some books at a going out of business sale that I so did NOT need. Bought 4 $2 books for the kids (NOT upset about that at all!) But I bought a book for dh that I ended up giving away because frankly it was a book that was not needed and would end up as clutter. Then I bought an organizing book for myself which I actually put down once but picked it back up. Mistake. If I had put it down, It meant I didn't need it. Oh well. I WILL read it and utilize it that's for sure!

Well, I'm still not doing great. =( I blame it on this time of year and the weather. It's rainy, its cold and I HATE to be cold. Not to mention you are bundled up so who wants to eat healthy light things when the dense fat things make you feel warmer?? At least they do for me. Oh well. I need to get  a grip on this. I know. I was doing good at exercising and I determined I cannot get up at 4am anymore to exercise. It was just taking a toll on me and I was so tired. I will have to make time at night NO MATTER WHAT. And my eating. Ugh. I have to get that under control too. I will - eventually.

Ok an interesting tidbit about me - I don't have any pets (thank god!). So I can't say I have a strange pet or any pet for that matter. So I guess I will have to come up with something else. Think Heather think. Hmmm. Well, we did have a dog about 5 years ago. A german shepard. And unfortunately he was very sick and we ended up having to put him to sleep. One of the worse days of my life and why I don't want another pet. I will for sure NOT get a pure bred again. Too much of a headache! My parents have dogs and cats and my ILs have a dog so if they kids want thier pet fix, we'll go visit them and then leave them there with all their mess. LOL!

Check out other participants in the Week 3 Perfect 10 Challenge here.

I feel like a heifer

Why do I do this to myself? I am not eating out of hunger. I am stuffed. That is why I feel like a heifer. And yet I continue to eat. Why? Because I feel the need to chew/munch? That is why gum was invented. I have gum. I have 5 packs of 5 sticks I believe. I should utilize them. Why don't I? I don't know. I need to change. I will change. I hate feeling like a heifer.

On a more positive note - I went to Kohl's on Sunday night (braved it in the rain!) and tried on ONLY size 8 pants. Guess what??? They FIT! I am officially a size 8! My goal for the longest time was to be in single digit sizing. I'm there now. Everyone is telling me how great they look and how they are trying to follow in my footsteps. Makes me feel like I'm done. Am I done? HELL NO. I am still NOT at the normal BMI. I still have A LOT of jiggly fat around my mid-section (thank you three kids!) and would like to be toned. I've been in this mindset before and I pushed through. I'm here now right? Where I've never been before. I just need to continue to push through. I will get past this. I have to get past this.

Week Two - Perfect 10 Check In

Well shoot. Ok, Yes Week One wasn't too bad. But Week 2 really didn't do so hot. Ugh. What is it with me and the beginning of a new year? It is so NOT a new beginning for me. I don't think I've ever done good at the beginning of the new year. Anyway, here's the update (I'll condense my 2010 goals that fit into the Pefect 10 window):


2. Journal EVERYDAY - Did NOT journal this week

3. Plan my meals at least weekly - Planned my meals for the Week of 1/11/10!

4. Work out 4 x's a week - YES!

5. Use the Wii at least once a week. Nope not this week. =(

6. Run 6 5ks. Stopped running because working out in the morning AND running at night was just tiring me out! I have to do one or the other and since i started the TJ challenge, I'm going to finish that one out right now.

7. Complete my Turbo Jam Challenge (ends 3/7/10) Then complete P90x. Did my TJ challenge every day except two

10. Organize my house, one room each month.
January - Laundry Room - Have not started on this yet.

11. Take the kids to a new park each month - Took them to Fullerton Sports Complex.

12. Stay within my budget!! No more impulse buying. Ask myself 3 times if I NEED it before buying - Working on it. So far so good for me but NOT for dh! He bought a couple extra things at Costco when he went for me.

Not doing so hot. =( I have no idea why am I not in the mood to eat write and I'm starting to not like exercising. Well, not not like it just would like to sleep in instead!! LOL! I think since I did so well at the end of 2009 WITHOUT exercising I'm thinking I can lose the rest of this weight without exercising. :sigh: I have to get my mind back in control.

ETA:
Oops! Forgot about the intersting fact thing! I think I forgot last week too so I owe two interesting facts.

1.) I am married to my high school sweetheart. We started dating right after he graduated from our high school (we met each other his junior, my sophomore year and then the next year never talked until the very end of his senior year) and we have been together ever since!

2.) I have no idea who my father is. Never met the man. He left my mom when he found out she was pregnant with me. But considering he was still married with a son, um, woops! So out there in this world I have at least one half brother out there!!

I hope those two tidbits make up for my forgetting! I'll remember next week!!!! =)

Book Review - Lonestar Secrets

Lonestar Secrets is absolutely a fabulous read! I could barely put it down. The author Colleen Coble, weaves a beautiful story of intrigue, romance, and mystery all in one. The perfect combination for anyone looking to lose themselves in a book. The main character - Shannon - is a woman that most women can relate to. She must make some hard decisions in this book that will change her life and her daughter's life too. From the first chapter, the author sucks you in with a stunning revelation (you see it coming and yet you can't believe it would happen!). With all the great writing and storytelling, I can not wait to read another book by this author again!!!

Disclosure of Material Connection: Some of the links in the post above are “affiliate links.” This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will add value to my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising

I Lied

Ok I lied. I splurged on lunch. I went to Burger King and I have to say. . . It was so worth it!! I haven't had that good of a Burger King run in a LONG time!!! So it was worth it and now I'm ready to get back on track. I have a bunch of healthy leftovers for lunch the rest of this week do I'm good to go!!