Away from home, but I can still do this!

Well we are in Indiana at my parent's house. The girls and I got in last night, thankfully my mom flew to San Diego to help me get the girls here. I don't think I could have done it without her.

Well one thing I want to make sure I do while I am away from home is keep up with all the progress I have made. I don't want to put on weight just because I'm out of my norm. So I am keeping myself in check. This morning I got up and went for a run. It was not a good run. I got tired extremely fast. I didn't realize how much the change in location, temperature, everything wod effect me. Breathing felt harder, I was chilly, and it doesn't help that I ran first thing in the morning and that just is not when I normally run and just not my best time of day. I can workout first thing, but I'm just too stiff to try to run right after getting up. And yes I stretch.

When it comes to eating I am going to try really really hard to stay on track. At the same time though, I am not going to skip out on things because of food. So I will practice self control. Thankfully my parents eat lots of fruits and veggies and healthy foods, so I am good at their house. It may be challenging at times, but knowing that I so close to my revised wedding goal of 60lbs lost, I am very motivated!

And ready to do some shopping! My mom has mentioned a few times that my clothes don't fit. May be time to get more fitting jeans...

Marking Progress and Nerves

When you are losing weight or even just toning your body or trying to change anything about yourself, it can be hard to see the progress in yourself. You see yourself everyday and the chanegs are small, so at times you just don't see it. When you look at pictures side by side it is a good way to see the changes in yourself, but for me one of the best ways has been to put on old clothes. Some clothes that I have fit better now, and look great, others though are way too big. Sometimes it is fun to put on clothes and see they are too big. Other times it is a pain though. Right now it is kind of a pain. In San Diego I can just wear jeans a tank top most days and be okay. But we are going to Indiana in just a couple days and I think I am going to need a little something more. Shopping may be in order. Darn.

Anyways, back to my original thoughts. One way that I have found is a good way to see the changes in your whole body is to try on a dress. I have chosen to use my wedding dress to see progress. I only put it on every so often, just when I want to see some change and remind myself that this is working. So this morning I put on my wedding dress and I was shocked to se that to pull it tight I had about 2-3 inches of fabric in my hand. That is some change. I wish I had taken measurements at the beginning of this process, but I didn't, so dresses are the best way for me to see the progress outside of numbers on a scale.

I am hoping that other people can see the progress that maybe I don't see immediately. Steven says he can but let's be honest, he's my husband, he has to say that, and I love him for it. This is making me a little nervous for my trip to Indiana. I can't help but wonder, maybe it is just the pictures, like I am getting a good angle or something. I have now lost 58lbs, but I am still a big girl. It's not like I have lost 58lbs and am now a size 0. I'll never be a 0, and that's okay. I think I am just nervous because I have never talked about trying to lose weight either. So all my nerves are a little bundle right now in my tummy. To top it off, I am not a great flyer and this is Brynn's first plane trip and Mady's first in over a year, so I have some anxiety. Thankfully my mom is coming in to help me fly back with the girls. I have told everyone that I'd be fine doing it myself and I would be, but I am very relieved that my mom will be there to help. Steven has to hang around here for an exam, but will be there just in time for Brynn's 1st Birthday!!

Trying on my wedding dress.  I tried to get a good picture, but the angle was all weird.  And sorry for the pink bra, I am in need of a new strapless.  

Where did the time go!!

I am super excited to be going to Indiana soon, can you tell I bring it up a lot.  Anyways, I have had a big list of things to get done all ready for a while and I have stayed on top of things for the most part, but what in the world happened to this week??  Where did it go??  It's Friday and I feel like I have gotten zero done this week.  Do you ever have those weeks?  I did get some things done, but all the sudden I feel a little overwhelmed.  So the plan for today is to get lots done.  I am trying my best to not do much cleaning and such this weekend, for 2 reasons.  1. for some reason even though there are 2 parents home on the weekend, my house gets 10 times messier it seems.  2.  And since Steven isn't going with us right away I want to get to have some fun before we leave.

So this morning I have to set out to prioritize my list.  The garage probably doesn't need to be cleaned before we leave and the girls' closets probably don't need a complete overhaul.  Why do I do this though.  Anytime I am about to go on a trip I come up with this list of things that magically need to get done now, because i have a deadline.  Why not just do it another time when I don't have that pressure.  It's because I like the pressure.  Even in school I always wrote my best papers at the last minute.  So I'll spend today and Monday getting tons done, hopefully, and then be shocked it all got done.  It's what I do.

On a good note, for the past 2 weeks once a week I have been going on and running/walking a mile.  I still can't run a whole mile, but that's okay because I decided I would go out just once a week and do just a mile.  Well I do a short warm up walk and cool down walk, but the goal is to do a mile as fast as i can with as much running as I can.  Last week when I did this it took me 12:40 to get it done.  Honestly I was surprised with myself.  My goal was for it to be under 15 minutes, so I was happy with a 12:40.  This week it was 10:40.  2 minutes faster!  That may not be fast to many people , but it is faster than I did the mile run in school.  At any age.  Yay!  I am now convinced though that my gps is off and that it wasn't possibly a whole mile.  I should think positive though, I'm sure it was a mile. I think...I may have to do it again this weekend just to check.

Brotherly and Sisterly Love

It has been about 8 years since I lived in the same city as any of my family for longer than a semester.  The first 3 1/2 years I was in college just 3 hours away from most of family, so not bad.  Little did I know that in January 2008 when I moved to Texas for what was supposed to be just a 10 week internship, I would never move back closer to family.  For now at least.  I love being a Navy wife, but one tough part is being far from family and for us, knowing the possibility of moving closer in the foreseen future is slim, is hard.  Let's be honest though, distance from family and certain situations is nice sometimes though.  And I fully believe that having some distance from your family when you are first married is a blessing in disguise.  You are truly given the opportunity to rely on your spouse and have time for each other.  Just my feelings on it.

Anyways, back to what I was originally going to write.  Living so far from family for so long has made me feel something that when I was younger I am pretty sure I said I would never feel.  I miss my brothers.  I have 2 brothers, Andy is the older one, he is married to Hillary and our little niece Lily who is just a few weeks younger than our Madelynn.  And Nick is younger and getting ready to marry Kristen.  We had the typical sibling relationship when growing up.  We fought and bickered, but still played and did stuff together.  I never thought I would miss them when we all lived together. But now that I see them on rare occasion, I do miss them.  I miss being at family dinners and making fun of each other, messing around, telling stories.  I look forward to seeing them while we are there for the wedding.  I am excited to hang out and have the 3 girls all play together.

Like I mentioned, I also have a sister-in-law Hillary and about to sister-in-law Kristen.  They are both wonderful!  Andy and Hillary have been married about 9 years now, and she has been such a  great addition to our family.  She somehow puts up with Andy, and is still happy and loving all the time.  Kristen and Nick started dating in high school and then through college.  Kristen is wonderful and fun, and I can't imagine anyone else being added to our family.  I still remember Nick using pizza rolls (I think), the spell out Girlfriend when he was asking her out.  It was as cute as it sounds.  I am blessed to consider them my sisters now.

When I married Steven I also gained a brother-in-law Geoff, who was a wonderful and caring man who I miss so much.  Geoff was KIA in Afghanistan in January 2010.  He was funny and protective of me.  When Steven was deployed I ended up with some high school kids who would call me obsessively and either say random stuff or leave random messages.  It was ridiculous.  I told Geoff about it one day, he asked for the number.  I never heard from the kids again.  Just thinking about that conversation makes me laugh.  He liked for people to think he was all tough, but when you got down to it, he was a softy.

I miss my family, but we are lucky to have made Navy family.  It's the people that we spend holidays and special events with, because money and days off don't grow from trees. Unfortunately for us, even they move away, it's the curse of military life.  We miss those who have moved away, but make new friends and adopted family.  And we hope that the others move back (Corbin, Butts, and Adduce families, feel free to move back anytime).

Geoff and I, the last time we got to see each other.

Nick and Kristen with Mady before they left from their visit last summer

Nick, Andy and Hillary Christmas 2008. 

Simple Tips on Weight Loss and Life

So I have read and gotten tons and tons of tips throughout this year on how to boost your metabolism, how to lose more weight, what exercises to do, and on and on. I tried many and want to share the ones that work and I like. So here goes...

1. Use smaller plates. It sounds silly, but it works. You can put a smaller amount of food on a smaller plate and it convinces your brain it's a full plate of food. It helps you feel like you've ate more food than you have.

2. When you have a sandwich, try just one piece of bread. Preferably wheat bread too, it's better for you. And With just one piece of bread or bun you can taste the meat or whatever you have on the sandwich better.

3. Drink water all the time. Before you eat anything, drink a glass of water. Before you work out, before you go to sleep, first thing in the morning drink water. Just lots of water. It helps your stomach be a little more full and hydration is key in life. It also helps reduce water weight!

4. Now this one may not work for everyone, but I find it helpful for myself. Ignore the rule not to eat after 7 or 8 or whatever time. Well kind of ignore it. I try to have something very small every night at like 9ish. When I say small, I mean like 2 crackers, a couple chocolate covered almonds (the ones from Trader Joe's are delicious), usually less than 100 calories. Why, because then before bed it can help get my metabolism going again. Once again, this works for me, but may not work for everyone.

5. Have a little of something if you really want it. It's okay to have a small brownie or a cookie. It's not going to kill you and you will feel better. If you are at a birthday party, have a little cake. It's not the end of the world. And if you do have a little too much, try not to give yourself too hard a time.

It is great to find all kinds of weight loss and exercise tips. Some are helpful, some are not. Try them out for yourself and see what works. Keep the ones you like and work for you and Dump the ones that don't.

Randomness about our Routine and Indiana

I have mentioned before that I love organization, another thing I love is a loose schedule. I think of my day as having more of a routine. Our daily routine is something like this.
7:15 - 7:45 Girls wake up
8:00 Breakfast
10:00 Morning snack
12:00 Lunch
1:00 - 3:00 Nap (2 hours on a good day)
3:00 Afternoon Snack
5:30 - 6:00 Dinner
6:30 Walk
7:20 Bath
7:45 - 8:00 Bedtime

This is a typical routine in our house. I like our routine. The girls like knowing what is coming next. Everyone is happy with the routine. Although let's be honest, there are many days where things don't go exactly like this. Times get thrown off, nap gets pushed back, and that's okay. Things happen. Part of being a Stay at home mom is learning to roll with a lot of craziness in your day. Some days are not going to be perfect. There are going to be days you are ready to throw in the towel, but inevitably about that time during the day your kids do something absolutely adorable and you are reminded why you stay home.

Anyways, why talk about our routine, well our routine is going to thrown off soon. We leave for Indiana in 8 days and all the sudden I am starting to get nervous about my whole routine being off. Nervous isn't the right word. But I don't know what is. I am hopeful that the girls will adapt to the time change quickly. A 3 hour difference isn't the worst it could be, so that's good. Unfortunately last time we were there Mady had trouble adapting. Luckily though this time I know a bit better how to help them.

This will be Brynn's first airplane flight. Her first trip to Indiana, her first time meeting most of my family, her first time spending a night outside of our house. I have faith that she will be great. Well I hope so at least.

I am anxious to visit Fort Wayne. It's been about 14 months since I have been back. That's the longest I have gone without visiting. The last time we were there Mady was not yet 1 and I was pregnant. This time Mady is 2 and a spit fire and Brynn will have her first birthday. It's crazy how life changes so quickly.

I am going to try my best to see many people while we are there. I don't stay in close touch with many people from Fort Wayne, but I'd love to catch up. So if you are in Fort Wayne and want to hang out do coffee, take the kids out somewhere, let me know! I am up for anything! Well provided naps and bedtime do happen eventually...

Overcoming the hardest part

I was recently asked to answer some questions for another blog that a friend of mine is starting. None of the questions seemed that difficult, but one did end up taking a little more thought. "What have been your hardest struggles throughout this journey?"

In the beginning I thought it would be very difficult to change what I ate and start working out. I thought I would struggle with wanting the wrong foods all the time. In the beginning it was tough to eat less and figure out foods that would truly fill me up, but now that I've been doing it for a while I find that my body no longer craves, McDonald's or bad for you foods (okay occasionally I crave pizza). Thankfully I have also been able to adjust my foods and if I am craving something too badly and can't find a healthy alternative to it I can have a little and I will satisfy the craving and be good for a while.

I also have found that my body craves exercise. I want to feel good. I want to energy for the day. So I want to get up and workout. We recently got a kickboxing DVD and I am loving it. It is hard, but I want to do it. I want to be able to get up and feel good and sweat. I thought finding the time to workout would be a problem too, but I have found that since I am dedicated to this, I make the time. I get up early. Steven will workout with me sometimes, so I don't feel like we are missing time together. I have found ways to make the time. If you really want to do it, you will make the time.

So what has been the hardest part? I sat and thought and thought. I finally figured it out. The hardest part of it all was overcoming myself. It was telling myself that I could do it, on days that I thought I couldn't. That is still a struggle. There are days when I think there is no way I am possibly going to lose another pound. That this is it. I can't do anymore. But I can. And some days it just takes finding that little voice in myself reminding you that you can work harder, that you can be better. It is hard. But you have to push past your own self doubt and do it.

I have always thought of myself as the fat girl. I was always confident in that I was good in school and at work, but I always struggled with that feeling of being that fat girl. It is difficult to push past those thoughts and tell yourself that you are not defined by that. That you can be someone else. You have to put those feelings aside that you have some kind of label and become the person that you want to be. The funny thing is, most people do not see you as the label you have given yourself. It is internal. Something you have to overcome. And it is hard, but you can do it. I have. I am a mom, a wife, a daughter, a sister, a friend and a woman who wants to be the best she can. But no matter what weight I am I refuse to be that fat girl to myself anymore.

Quirky Things about Me

I couldn't think of anything good to post today about this morning, so I thought I'd tell you some quirky things bout myself.  I'm weird, I admit, so hopefully I'll be able to come up with some good things you don't know.

1.  I hate when my toenails aren't painted.  I just think they look better with color on them.  But I pay little attention to my fingernails, which is apparent as they are in terrible condition right now.
2.  My packing process for big trips includes several stages.  Get out all clothes you might take, think about it, reconsider and eliminate unneeded clothes, repeat, finally get everything packed, then unpack and repack.  Why do I do this, I don't know, but somehow it helps me to take less things and I usually end up with just what I wear.
3.  I love doing laundry.  I get this from my mom.  I don't find it to be a bad chore.  I do not enjoy putting the clothes away though.
4.  I hate cleaning the bathtubs.  I just don't like it.  I try to get Steven to do it everytime.
5.  I have a baby tooth still.  The adult tooth never grew in, so I will keep it as long as I can.
6.  I don't like bananas, yogurt, or most beans.  And I hate when people ask me why I don't like them.  I don't.  I think they are gross.  Please don't ask again.
7. I am obsessive about how my dishwasher is loaded.  Weird I know.  I hate it when Steven loads the dishwasher.  He does it wrong.  It bothers me.  A Lot.  Sorry Honey!
8.  Aside from my running shoes, I cannot remember the last time I wore any shoes other than flip flops since March.  The joys of living in San Diego.
9.  I love cheesy movies.  I mean really cheesy movies.  The cheesier the better.  As a matter of fact right now I am watching First Daughter.  Katie Holmes is in it.  Yep it is super cheesy.
10.  I want to go back to school.  I long to go back to school.  I am actually jealous of people who are in school.  I know, I am a dork.  (I even like math.)  I am in the process of trying to figure out what I want to go back to school for, but it is taking time.  If I am going to take the time away from my family I want it to be for something I really enjoy.

Well there are 10 weird and quirky things about me.  Wanna share something weird about yourself?

I Will NOT Vomit in Someone's Yard!

I believe exactly what I said to Steven last night in the middle of our run was "I have not vomitted in someone's yard yet, and I refuse to start now!"  Last night was a run night, so Steven and I had what we thought would be a good dinner before we went for our run.  It was not.  We have had issues lately with our runs, which has made it tough to get my distance farther, and what we eat before hand has turned out to be one of the issues.  One night last week before we ran we had pizza, yes we both instantly realized it was not the best choice.  Then last night with dinner we had some roasted potatoes with peppers, and I have concluded that must have been what cause both of our upset stomachs.

I'm sure feeling like you are going to lose your dinner would make many people stop running, but I had a goal last night.  I wanted to run a mile total.  I still can't do it without stopping, but I wanted our little spurts to add up to a mile.  I've actually had a big problem with this.  I have had a hard time accepting that I may not reach my goal this time.  This is my first goal throughout this whole process I will probably not reach.  So I want to make sure I can at least run a mile total, even if I have to walk in between. I am trying not to be hard on myself, but it is tough.  The weight has also slowed on coming off, so I think that has made it tougher.  I am not stuck, but it is now harder to take off the weight it seems.  Anyways, I am trying not be hard on myself.  I still have 15 days to take off 2lbs for my August weight goal.  Very doable.

So back to my running goal for last night.  We did end up running a mile total, but it took longer and a lot more intervals than we predicted.  It felt a lot harder too.  When we got home both of us were done.  We were tired and felt sick.  So we are learning our lesson the hard way and trying to find different foods that are better to eat before running.  We are also looking forward to the fall when it cools down and we can run before dinner.  San Diego weather is great, but I have learned from my past 3 summers here that it doesn't really get hot consistently until August and September, and I am very protective when it comes to my kids being out in the heat and sun.  So we will hope that it cools down and we can run earlier in the day.  And the girls can accept eating dinner just a little later.

I Hate Exercise!

I do not understand people who just love to exercise. For a long time I never really got why you would want to exercise. I mean it's hard, it makes you sweaty and tired and sore. Why would you do it? There are tons of health benefits to exercise I understand that, but still up until a couple months ago, I didn't get it. Recently though I have started to understand more of why people do it. It's the after effect. There are some people who actually enjoy the the exercise. They enjoy the process of doing jumping jacks, the actual running and such. That is not me though. The entire time that I am doing a workout DVD or running I think about how I want it done. I think of how much time is left. I think of how much further I need to go. I get tired, I get gross sweaty and I get sore. I am not a pretty sight post workout. But afterwards, I feel great. Yes I am tired, gross and sore, but I have also accomplished something. I have made my body work hard and I feel great about it. It's the endorphins released after exercise. That's why a lot of people do it. It's that awesome feeling that you get during the day when you think I did it. I didn't just sleep in for an extra 30 minutes or watch TV, I got my butt up and did something to better myself.

Don't get me wrong though, every morning when my alarm goes off at 5:10am I think of excuses. I am tired. I am sore from yesterday. I just need a little extra sleep. And some days I give into those excuses. Those are usually the days I struggle with having energy. I tend to be shorter with the girls, and I eat crappy. Some of those days God give me a little boost though. Brynn will wake up at 5:15 to eat or Mady has to potty. I think it's God's way of saying "I am going to make you wake up and do something so you might as well get up and workout." It's God little encouragement. His way of reminding me that this is the best thing for me, and he is going to make sure I do. Guilt even gets me out of bed. Just this morning I heard my alarm, pushed snooze and then laid there trying to fall back asleep but feeling guilty because I knew I needed to get up. I skipped yesterday and was feeling guilty because I knew my body needed it. So I got myself up and stomped (quietly as to not wake the girls) downstairs put the DVD in and did it. The DVD I do is just 20 minutes. By the time I am feeling like I should just give up and stop the DVD, it's almost done and I know I can finish out the last 5 minutes, so I do. I feel better. I feel sore, but I feel better.

I don't exercise everyday. Actually I have already broken my goal for this week to do it Monday through Friday, but hopefully I can keep it up the rest of the week. It's okay that I haven't done everyday. The point is to try. To put in the effort. Even if it means you just take a walk around the block for the first time in months. You have to start somewhere. Exercise will make you feel better, but it takes work. And even you if you hate every single of second of it while you are doing it, keep going. Don't stop. Afterwards you'll be happy you kept it up. And trust me that first time you put on your sports bra and workout pants and look in the mirror and think wow, I kinda look like I actually workout. It's worth all the hours you have spent to get there.

And if you need an extra boost to get your butt up today and at least take a walk, you should know that both Steven and I are seeing the positive effects of exercise. I tried on several shirts this morning that are now too big and some that used to fit too tight and I haven't worn in way too long, now look awesome (I'm wearing one right now). And Steven tried on his dress uniform last night, both of us thinking he would need a new top because it'd be too small. Turns out his belly has gone down quite a bit since he last wore this uniform and he won't be needing a new top at all.

Even Mady wants to run. Okay so she's 2, so that's not a surprise, but at the end of our walks and runs recently she wants to get out of the stroller and run down our street, around the cu-de-sac and home. It's too cute to see her running as fast as she can. And an added benefit, it wears her out pretty good before bath and bed ;)

Leftover Rotisserie Chicken and Veggie Alfredo Pasta

Do you ever have those times when you don't want to cook?  You look at all your food and think I just don't want to.  That was me on Sunday.  So I decided we would get a rotisserie chicken from the store.  Every time I get one I wonder why I don't get one more often.  It is an easy was to get a healthy meal without doing much work, and they really aren't expensive at all.  On a really good weekend you can get them for $5 at one of the grocery stores around us.  So anyways on Sunday we had some chicken with roasted cauliflower (totally my favorite way to have cauliflower), salad and macaroni and cheese.  It was delicious.

So yesterday morning I knew I wanted to use some of the leftovers from the chicken for dinner.  To me that is another advantage of the chicken, leftovers that you can do a ton with.  So I looked online and searched for recipes that 1. Sounded good, and 2. I had all the ingredients for.  I found lots of the same things.  Make a salad, fajitas, sandwich or toss it in pasta.  None of them exactly sounded great, so I decided to make something up.  Now when I make something up it is either delicious or a disaster.  I like to think it is delicious more than not, but you'd have to ask Steven.

I decided to go the easy route and do pasta.  When I make pasta now though I always try to include lots of vegetables.  Veggies are a great way to make pasta lighter and healthier.  And I can usually get my kids to eat the veggies with little issues.  I have also been craving fettuccine Alfredo recently. I haven't had it in a while because it is tough to make lower calorie.  But I recently found a Ragu sauce that has just 50 calories in a 1/4 cup.  That isn't a ton of sauce but I knew if I spiced up the veggies and chicken and made it delicious without sauce that a little would make it even better.

Things you should know about this recipe.  I used thin spaghetti and angel hair pasta because I had a little of both left, but you can use spaghetti, thin spaghetti, angel hair, fettuccine, linguine, whatever you have.  Also when it comes to spices I nearly always use Tony Chachare's Original Creole Seasonings.  My mom used it a ton growing up with is probably why I still use it a ton, but also it is awesome.  Also you can really use any vegetables you want this is just what I used.

Chicken and Veggie Alfredo Pasta

1/2 box of Thin Spaghetti (I use whole wheat or whole grain pasta)
1 head of broccoli
1 tbsp Olive Oil
1 green pepper
1 zucchini
1 yellow squash
1/2 onion
1/2 cup frozen peas
1-1/2 cups of cooked chicken (I used the leftover rotisserie chicken you can use any cooked chicken in pieces)
1 jar Alfredo sauce (look for a lower calorie option if you want to be a little healthier)
Spices (I used salt, pepper, Tony's, Basil, and oregano)

Chop all vegetables and chicken, so you can easily sauté them, except the broccoli (chop the broccoli but you will not sauté it).  Pour Olive oil in the bottom or a large skillet or wok and heat over medium to medium high heat.  Add vegetables, chicken, and spices.  I am generous with spicing, but try not to overdo it too much.  The sauté will probably take 10-15 minutes to cook, depending on size of your veggies and the amount.  Follow the directions on the box for pasta.  Once the water is boiling add broccoli and pasta and boil for directed amount of time.  Check the broccoli before you drain it.  And once drained to do not rinse.  Heat the Alfredo sauce.  Mix the pasta and vegetable chicken sauté.  Add sauce after plated to control how much sauce you add.

It really is a simple easy recipe, but turned out rather delicious.  And since it had lots of veggies you really don't need to serve anything else with it, but you can always add a salad.

It turned out great!  And there are plenty of leftovers for lunch!

How I eat now

The haul from our latest Trader Joe's trip

When we decided we were going to get healthy and change our eating habits it was a family decision.  It was a necessary change.  But we still wanted to be able to eat food we enjoy.  We wanted to have pizza and still eat ice cream.  The nice thing about counting your own calories and not following a food program is if you want pizza, you can have pizza, if you want ice cream, you can have ice cream.  So we started slowly, we decided we were going to start eating more fruits and vegetables.  And if we were going to be eating lots of it we wanted it to be good.  So we changed our grocery store.  We shopped at Trader Joe's on occasion prior to all of this, but now it is our main grocery store.  We make our weekly trips and get lots of our fresh fruits and vegetables there.  They have affordable fresh fruits and veggies and we have found tons of other foods that we like there.  And the bonus is most of their food does not use artificial flavors or coloring and I feel that is better is for the girls.  Don't get me wrong though, I still go to our regular grocery stores and use my coupons to get good deals on other foods we eat that are too expensive at Trader Joe's (meats), taste better elsewhere, or you just can't find at Trader Joe's.

So enough about the grocery store, what we eat now.  Like I said we make an effort to eat more fruits and vegetables.  It seemed like a natural thing to do, since I was counting calories.  I know that I can have a whole apple for around 60 calories, where as a handful of chips may be 150 calories.  It seems obvious, but until you actual start looking at the calories in food and really paying attention to how much you eat, it may not click.  So I include fruit in breakfast and lunch now and the girls love it.  They are turning into fruit addicts.  I also make sure we have plenty of vegetables available for dinners and other meals.  I even am willing to hide vegetables to get the girls to eat them.  I prefer they just eat them, but if I have to grate some zucchini into pasta sauce, so be it.  It is amazing how filled up you can get from vegetables and good for you food.  We have even decreased out meat intake.  We still eat meat, but instead of a whole huge chicken breast, I will cut it in half.

One big thing that we have noticed is the amount of food we are able to eat now has gone down.  This became apparent on our anniversary.  We decided to order out Outback (it was where we had our first off-base date), so Steven picked it up after the girls were in bed.  When we got it out I think we were both a bit overwhelmed.  It was a lot of food.  A whole lot.  Neither of us were able to finish our dinners.  A problem we did not have just a few months ago.  Counting calories has made me take a hard look at the amount of food I eat.  I am a quantity eater, so making sure I have the appropriate serving size is key for me.  Yes when I first started eating less I was hungry at times.  But I was never starving.  And when I get hungry now, I make sure to drink a glass of water before I eat.  I can then make sure I am actually hungry and not just needing water.  I have actually found that if I do not drink enough water in a day I will eat more.  Which is not exactly what I want to do.

Changing what and how we eat has helped me understand a lot more about what I eat and how I eat.  I think everyone can benefit from taking a hard look at the foods they are eating and if they actually enjoy them.  We rarely get fast food, aside from Subway, anymore and neither of us really misses it.  Oh and I still eat all the things I enjoyed before, pizza, ice cream, cookies, and such, but I make sure to only have a little, or buy a lower calorie option.  2 pieces of pizza really is good, I don't need 4, and just 1 cookie is okay.

Like i have said before, this is what has worked for me.  And I would love to tell you that exactly what I do would work for you.  But the truth is I believe that each person has to find what works for them.  Find fruits and vegetables you enjoy and then branch out.  Try new things.  Enjoy food that comes straight from the ground.  Do make sure you are getting at least 1200 calories a day though.  Less than that and your body will actually start holding onto your food more.  Starving yourself is not the way to go.

Hopefully the next post will include a little more fun stuff.  

Adventures in Parenting: Our First ER trip!

So today I asked Steven what he thought I should blog about tonight.  I listed a few things and he gave me 2 that he thought would make the best topics for tonight.   The first the funny things Mady has been saying and doing recently and what kinds of things we have been eating to help lose weight.  Tonight just before putting the girls down he said I had to write about Mady.

You have seen in the title that this is about our first trip to the ER, but I am going to make you read about the funny things Mady has said recently.  Why, because she is awesome and funny and I love her.  SHe is also challenging and stubborn and a drama queen.  Anyways, a couple weeks ago we were getting ready to pray before dinner and Mady said, I pray.  So we let her.  We told her to repeat after us and had her say a little prayer.  She loved it so much she has prayed every night since.  We are very proud.  She does get stuck sometimes though.  Tonight she thanked God for our food 5 times before I gave her a little prompt to move on.  It is cute.  Her prayers before bed are even cuter though.  A coupel nights ago she thanked God for Daddy and Brynn and Mommy and Mickey and Minnie and Donald and Daisy.  She also recently thanked God for food and pizza food and Jake and Izzy and Hook and Tick Tock.  Apparently she is extremely thankul for the Disney Jr shows and characters.  I can appreciate that.

So on to our Sunday night adventure.  We have been very fortunate to not have to take either of the girls to the ER or even the doctor outside of their regular check ups.  Tonight we broke that streak.  After dinner I was starting to get things cleaned up and Mady said strawberry.  She had an eraser that had a strawberry on it, so I said yes Mady.  She then said strawberry in nose.  So Steven and I quickly went over and checked out the situation.  I could not help but laugh as I looked up her nose and saw she had in fact shoved a strawberry eraser up her nose.  So I checked to see if my finger could reach it.  No luck.  Steven got the tweezers and a headlight (which I am going to admit when he got a headlight for home I thought to myself that is ridiculous when would we ever use a head light?  Turns out we have used that thing in several different situations and it has come in quite handy.  Sometimes I am wrong.)  Anyways, we laid Mady down and I held her still while he attempted to get the eraser out.  No luck.  We had her blow through her nostril to force it down, no help.  It was mommy's turn to try the tweezers.  No luck.  It was clear it was time to head to the ER.

When we walked up and told the check in nurse that Mady had an eraser stuck in her nose I am pretty sure she wanted to laugh.  I think it helped make her feel a little more comfortable that Steven and I thought it was kinda funny too.  So we saw a couple nurses in triage who attempted to get the eraser out.  Everyone could see it, but you could not get it easily.  So we were sent to a room to see a Nurse Practioner.  Mady was fine, you would not know there was a thing wrong with her.  I started to get a little nervous though.  The NP came in took a look and I think thought the same thing the rest of us did at this point, it was going to be pretty easy to get, but once you get in there to try, it wasn't so easy.  Mady was a trooper and didn't start to cry until they had to get really deep in her nose.  I felt horrible as I held her legs down.  I am a tough parent.  Mady falls all the time, if she isn't bleeding or hasn't hit her head hard, she is fine in our book.  I can hold the girls when they get shots and not flinch.  But holding her down and not being able to do anything to help her was horrendous.  Thankfully they finally got it.  And it was not a little tiny thing we thought it was.  It was gross, big,  and going into her sinus.  We were thankful we had taken her in and gotten it out.  Everyone at Balboa was nice and friendly and very helpful.  That is not something that I hear a lot about Balboa, so I feel like we had a great experience.

Mady was a great and while she cried, once it was done and out she was fine, like nothing had happened.  On the way home I couldn't help but think how proud of Mady I was for being such a big girl through it all and how Steven and I had managed to keep ourselves calm, not bicker, and get things done when needed.  We even can appreciate the humor in the situation.  When we went back one nurse commented "Oh the infamous eraser".  It was funny.  And let's be honest, a small part of us is looking forward to one day telling her first boyfriend about how she stuck an eraser up her nose ;)

Getting it all together

I am a pretty organized person.  Well at least I used to be.  And I try to be now.  Somehow having children has made all sense of organization in my house go out the window.  At least that's how I feel.  Sometimes that feeling of unorganization is overwhelming for me.  I then decide to embark in a huge reorganization project of our house.  I am currently in the middle of doing that.  And I have a deadline.  I am down to less than 3 weeks till I want to have everything all organized.  If I didn't have my kids to contend with this would be plenty of time.  But when you are organizing one part of a room and the other room is being turned into kid playland it is tough to get things done.

I know what someone is going to tell me.  Don't worry about it.  Enjoy your children while they are little.  I have told people the same thing.  And trust me I do believe there is validity in saying that.  And I do think that you should enjoy your babies while they are little.  The days of them needing you all the time and wanting to just cuddle and be held are short.  (Just saying that makes me want another baby, I am a little jealous of all my friends that have new little babies.  No 3rd baby for us though, well yet...)  But I also know for myself that having a clean and organized house will help me feel more at ease and able to enjoy my kids more.  So this time I am going to get this house all organized and cleaned up so it can stay that way or easily be put back that way.  I am attempting to do this a little at a time.  One room, one closet, one cabinet at a time.  I actually spent about 30 minutes moving stuff around in my dining room yesterday all to discover that it worked best the way it was.  Go figure.  Thankfully I don't spend all day doing this.  My girls just would not handle it well if all I did was try to clean all day.  They do well for about half hour without attention, then it beceomes a lot of whining and "Mommy Mommy Mommy".  The good thing is half hour is about enough time for me to get a good chunk done.  In all reality my house really isn't that unorganized, but in my mind it is.  Yes Steven thinks I'm crazy.

So one more thing to add to my list of goals before I leave for Indiana.  Which is in 19 days.
1. Lose 2.5lbs more (I adjusted my weight loss goal after having lost 50lbs to be another 5 before I leave.  Goals help me stay motivated)
2. Get everyone packed and ready for trip
3. Organize the house.
4. Run a mile without stopping and complete another 50 walk/run miles (about 11 down)
5. 18 total DVD workouts (5 done)
6. Keep sanity in my house

I'm pretty sure #6 will be the hardest.  It all doesn't seem to overwhelming right now.  Ask me again in 2 weeks though.  For now I should probably get everyone going for the day so I get started on my to do list.

Jeans...The Enemy

Okay, jeans aren't the enemy, but jean sizes are.  I am a jeans girl.  I wear jeans nearly everyday.  Okay just typing that makes me think maybe I should expand my wardrobe, but that is beside the point.  Last weekend I went out by myself to just pick up a couple things at Target, but since I was alone (which rarely happens) I decided to take a couple minutes to see if I could find a new pair of jeans.  I was in desparate need.  You know when your jeans stretch out and they are absolutely huge on your butt and legs, mine were like that straight out of the dryer.  So it was time.  I was kind of excited to try on pants.  Something I am not usually excited to do.  So I picked out the jeans for curvy girls (I have a butt and hips for sure), as well as two other pairs.  All in the same size.  1 pair was plus size, the other 2 were regular women's size.  I stopped being able to buy jeans in the "regular" women's section years ago.  Like think high school.  I hated that fact, so I was excited to try on regular jeans.  First I tried on the plus size jeans, please tell me everyone else does that, you try on the pair you know will fit so you don't feel bad if the others don't.  Anyways the those fit fine, but were still lose in the butt.  So I tried on the curvy jeans, my legs looked like sausages.  It was bad.  So I went from being so excited to try these on to automatic, you are still fat feelings.  I did have hope though, while they made my legs look horrible, they did button and zip, so I decided to stop feeling bad about myself and try on the next pair of jeans.  Thankfully they were a different cut and the legs had more room and they fit!  I was beyond thrilled with myself.  I was wearing a regular size jeans and I could breathe!  And they made my butt look good!  As silly as it sounds, I'm rather proud of my butt.  It's big yes, but it's smaller and in better shape now than it was 6 months ago.  Optimism is key in weight loss.

I was happy to be in a smaller size jeans and I sit here in them now I am proud.  (Although if you saw me today you may say they still look tight which is the truth, but all my other jeans are too big, so it's a weird situation)  Anyways I am proud now, but I can't help but think how the one pair of jeans made me feel horrible about myself.  One pair of pants had made me go from being so excited to try on jeans, to it being the worst thing I had ever done.  This is why in the past I would buy jeans and try them on at home.  Somehow it isn't as hard to have them not fit at home.  It is a self esteem issue.  I don't consider myself to have low self esteem.  I was blessed to grow up with a family that told me I was beautiful no matter what and I have a husband who has loved me even at my heaviest.  But no matter how you grew up and who you surround yourself with now, those feels of insecurity still creep up at unexpected times.  

So what to do to make these feelings go away.  Well if you ever figure out how to permamently make that happen, please tell me.  But for now I think I will focus on the good.  Everytime I get on the scale, even if the number has gone up a pound or two, I think of where I was.  I remind myself of how much better I feel now and how much more I can do.  And I remind myself that I will do this I will lose the weight.   And as for those pesky jeans that don't fit, well for now I will remember the kind that does fit, and perhaps one day try on those others again.  But I'll remember to take a friend.  It's always good to have someone else there to tell you your butt looks good ;)

My new jeans. Not the greatest picutre.  Darn Dressing room lighting.

4 years later...

4 years ago I woke up early and got ready for what was at that time, the biggest day of my life.  I was getting married!  I was beyond excited to be marrying Steven Stuart Whitsitt Jr.  He was and still is the love of my life.  We hadn't known each other long (just 6 months to the day), and we didn't have a big wedding (less than 20 guests), but the day was perfect for us.  We got married outside at Lake Robinson near Greenville, SC.  A lot could have gone wrong that day.  Steven and I lived in Texas at that time, so we didn't fly in until the Wednesday before the wedding, we got married on a Friday.  We went straight from the airport to get our marriage license.  Thankfully it is just a 24 hour turn around there.  From there we went to Steven's parent's house, where I would meet his parents for the first time.  Thank goodness they liked me.  The next day Steven would meet part of my family for the first time,  we had to get flowers, and several other little things all done in a very short period of time.

It all turned out perfect though.  The weather was beautiful.  The day was wonderful.  (Aside from my family getting in the cars to go to the wedding and realizing we had no idea where we were going.  Funny now, not at the time.)  I have been asked many times if we regret having a small wedding or if we would ever have a big wedding.  I can tell you without a doubt that neither of us regrets having a small wedding so quickly (we were engaged for just 3 weeks).  It was perfect for us.  Will we ever have a big wedding, I don't know.  Maybe.  Maybe at 25 years we will renew our vows.  Maybe not though.  Either way I don't think either of us cares.  We had the perfect day for us.  And that is what really matters.

Steven is an amazing husband and father.  He has been my rock through tough circumstances.  We have been through a lot in 4 years of marriage.  Too much it seems at times.  But we have managed to overcome all of the hard times and still smile at the end of the day.  There is not another person that I would want to spend the rest of my life with.

As a side note, I recently tried on my wedding dress just for kicks, it is huge!  I'd definitely need some major alterations to wear it again :)

The Why of it all...

This is a post that I have been working on in my head since I started this blog.  Well actually since I started losing weight.  Why. Why do this now?  Why is it working now?  I have tried before but this time I am committed for real.  Why?  I have searched within myself and decided there are two main factors.
1. My Family.  I am a mom.  And when you become a mom you are willing to do anything for your child.  From the moment I found out I was pregnant with Mady I was filled with emotions.  I loved this teeny tiny little thing inside me and I was going to do anything to protect it.  When you hold your child for the first time, no matter what number child it is your heart is filled with overwhelming love. These 2 little girls that God has entrusted to Steven and I to take care of and love are amazing.  Let me tell you about them, this has nothing to do with how to lose weight, but it has everything to do with why I am losing weight.  Madelynn is a fabulous, outgoing, energetic, and smarter than she lets on.  At 2 she has a better memory than I do. She makes friends with everyone.  She has literally taken the had of a stranger in Old Navy and walked her around showing her the different things in the store and then cried when the girl had to go. (Just so you don't think we are bad parents, Steven was following right beside them.)  She is also a handful.  Her doctor told me at one appointment that she was going to be stubborn because she's smart.  She's smart enough to know if we are trying to trick her.  But she is wonderful.  She brightens up everyone's day and has an imagination like her Daddy.  Brynn is our smiley, happy, laid back, quick learner.  She seems to take a lot in and then put it into practice.  She spent part of one day watching Mady play with one of her knew big kid toys, and when Mady walked away Brynn crawled right over and started playing with it, the right way.  She has figured out the locks we have on our cabinets (thankfully she is only interested if we are standing right there).  Her recent feats have included walking and calling us mama and dada.  She is content to just hang out on the couch with Daddy or be right in it playing, wrestling and dancing with her sister.  The two girls are completely different, and so similiar all at the same time.  They make me want to be the best mom I can be.  For them I want to be in the best shape that I can so I can give them the kind of mom they deserve.  They deserve a mom that can run and play and get down and dirty with them.  They deserve a mom who will show them how to stay healthy and make wise choices in life.  These are things my husband deserves too.  Steven deserves a wife that is going to be able to help with things and not just sit around because I am tired.  He deserves a wife that will push him to be the best he can be as a father, husband and sailor.  If that means that I get my butt in gear to help his run time get faster, then that's what I'll do.  Lord knows I'll never run a mile and half in Navy standard times though.

Above is the Sassy miss Madelynn and below is Brynn playing pretend phone, with a calculator.

 2.  Myself.  I am selfish, a large part of the reason I want to lose weight is for myself.  I want to feel better, I want to look better, I want to be better.  I am not afraid to say that part of the reason I am doing this is for myself.  I want to be around someday to see my girls go to prom and get married and have babies of their own.  I want to be able to do some of the things on my bucket list without limiting myself because I can't physically do it.  I want to wear a smaller jeans size.  I want to feel good in a bathing suit (for the first time this year I don't feel horrible in one).  I fully believe that if you aren't a little selfish, your weight loss goals will never happen.  I know it sounds bad, but go with me on this one.  Think about it, you have to find the motivation in your life to start losing weight, and lots of times those reasons are somewhat selfish.  But I think it is a good selfishness.  This doesn't mean that you should spend excess amounts of money on yourself or spend tons of time working out and not playing with your kids or spending time with your loved ones.  But it does mean that you take some time out for yourself and not feel guilty.  (Any new mom friends of mine please do this! I have gone too long without going out by myself and you do not want to get to the point I was at, ever!)

So this is why.  I am finally comitted to losing weight and getting healthy because I love my family and I love myself.  You have to find your own reasons.  No matter how big or small they are, find the reasons in your life to get healthy and finally stick with it.  

I Make This Look Hard!

Exercise.  A word that I hated for a long time.  It just doesn't sound fun.  It sounds kinda horrible.  But if you want to lose weight and get your butt in shape, it is something necessary.  When I began to lose weight 6 months ago I didn't want to exercise, I wanted to lose weight just by changing my eating.  And for a while that worked.  Steven and I had been taking the girls on nightly walks for a while, so we did continue those and increased them slowly.  I didn't consider that exercise.  To me that was just what we did.  It was something I did for the betterment of my girls.  In June while I was losing weight I began to realize that the weight was not coming off as quickly, and I needed to do something else.  We were walking 1-2 miles a day already, so more walking was just not going to do.

At the end of June I dusted off my Jillian Micheals 30 Day Shred DVD (I bought it back before I was married, our 4th anniversary is this week) and I popped it in player one morning when I couldn't fall back asleep after feeding Brynn.  I was exhausted. I hated it.  The entire time I kept thinking why am I doing this?  How much longer?  But then it was done.  I was tired.  I had to stop several times to catch my breath, but I did it.  And knowing I did it felt good.  It felt really good.  I kinda wanted to do it again.  I was shocked by myself.  A couple days later the same thing I couldn't sleep.  I worked out.  I felt good.  Somehow I even felt like I was getting a little time to myself.  It was the wee hours of the morning, okay it's 5:30, Steven has already left for work,  but the girls are not awake.  It is 2 hours a day when I have time to myself.  So I take 20minutes of it to work out.  And I feel great afterwards.  The 30 Day Shred is intended to be an everyday workout.  I do not do it everyday.  I tried to do it too many times for myself in a week and i ended up with a hurt shoulder.  I learned my lesson.  I now do no more than 2 days in a row without a break day.  This works for me right now, but everyone is different.  If you can do it every day for 30 days, great!  I can't.  And that's okay.

On top of the DVD we had continued to walk daily.  And in July we made a goal to walk 50 miles.  It  sounded like a lot, but as we started to do it, it was easy.  We walked all but 2 days in July.  And we ended up walking about 56 miles.  We were very proud.  Then one day I said something I never in my life thought I would say.  I asked Steven if he would want to start jogging.  Who am I?  Anytime I was in school and I had to run for gym class i hated it.  I never wanted to do it.  I would do anything I had to, just to get out of running.  And now on my own initiative I was asking Steven to start jogging with me.

I rediscovered something I already knew about myself and running.  I am slow.  Not like just a little slow, like horribly slow.  And I cannot go very far.  I cannot run a mile.  I can't even run half a mile yet without stopping.  The first day we added jogging was bad.  It was very bad.  The second time it was a little better, but still not good. We have now jogged several times. I still can't go far.  I am still slow.  But for the first time when we jogged last night I did not feel like I was going to die.  I felt like I could do it.  I was not embarassed that people were seeing me struggle, rather I was thinking about how at least I was doing something to improve myself.  I do not look natural when I run.  I do not look like those people you see that you think oh yeah they are runners.  I make running look hard.  But at least I am doing it.  

I have a goal to be able to run a mile without stopping by the time I get to Indiana.  That is a lofty goal for me right now.  I only have a little over 3 weeks before we get to Indiana and right now the furthest I can go is probably 1/4 mile.  It sounds hard.  But losing 50lbs sounded hard too, and I did that.  So with a little prayer and a lot of training, hopefully I can do it.  So if you see me on the side of the road looking like I am going to die, feel free to give me a little encouragment.  And mention how good my butt looks ;)

My Big Diet Secret!

I should preface this post with a few things.  I am not a nutrionist or anything like that.  I am not qualified to tell anyone how to eat, these are just my experiences.  Also I believe that every person and every body is unique, so the idea that one specific way to lose weight would work for everyone is completely wrong. You have to find what works for you.

I have had several people ask me how I am losing weight, so I am going to break it up into a couple posts.   One about eating and one about exercise.  So here goes the eating one.
I knew going into this that there were certain things I had to accomodate when it came to any type of "diet".
1. We don't have extra money to pay for a program.  So anything where I had to pay, was out.
2. I have to be able to eat, because I love to eat.  And I hate having someone tell me what to eat.  A meal plan would never work for me.
3. I need to be able to accomodate my family's likes and dislikes, and I am not about to make 2 different dinners a night just because I am trying to lose weight.
4. This is the biggest one and the reason I believe this time I am actually succeeding.  I wanted this to be a permanent lifestyle change.  I have tried to lose weight before, like most people, and I have failed for one reason or another.  This time I was determined would be different.  So I have never considered myself on a diet, rather just changing my whole eating lifestyle.
So I searched the Internet for how to lose weight, different diets that may work, and I came to one conclusion, one thing that every diet has in common, or at least most.  The big secret to weight loss...eat less, excercise more.  That's it. Plain and simple.  You've heard it before, and it is the truth.  There really is no magic drug that will work.  If you want to try those pills that magically help you lose weight, go ahead, you will probably be on the toilet for a few hours and gain the weight back within a week.
I decided I would have a go at it on my own for the most part.  I knew I had to make big changes, and much of that would be changes in what I ate to start with.  Or rather how much I ate.   So the first thing I did was find a calorie counter app that I liked. (I had just gotten my first iPhone too, so that helped, if you don't have a smartphone there are plenty of websites that do the same thing.) So I chose the MyFitness Pal app (it's free, and they have a website myfitnesspal.com)I tried a few before I found that I like this one best.  In my experience it has the best database for foods you want to input.  When you get started you can input your current weight, your activity level, your goal weight, and then you can choose what you are trying to do.  If you want to gain, maintain, or lose weight.  And it will allow you to choose between 1/2 and 2 lbs per week that you want to loose.  I decided I would start with the 1lb a week weight loss.  The app then tells you how many calories you can eat per day and lose weight.  Of course it is in theory, there are other things that can effect your weight loss, so a visit to your doctor is helpful to make sure everything is good.
When I saw at my current weight how many calories I could a day and still lose weight I was shocked.  And this was without any exercise.  So I decided to start. I discovered after a few days that I still had 500 calories left at the end of the day sometimes, so I changed to the 2lbs a week weight loss and was still doing well with my calorie in take.  You can also input your exercise in on the app and that will give you more calories a day that you can eat.
It is not a lot of work to put int the food, but you do have to put in everything you eat.  I started looking at theserving size of the foods that I ate and was surprised to see how little of some foods I could have, but also some foods I could actually have quite a bit of.  I soon discovered that actually counting out chips and measuring out cereal and at least trying to guess how much of a food you are eating can really help control what you eat.  I no longer eat chips or crackers from a bag or box, i count them out into a bowl and I can have what is in the bowl.  This was big for me because I realized that I am a quantity eater.  Well I used to be.  I wanted to be able to eat a lot of food.  That made me realize that I could eat a lot more carrots for less calories than chips.  So that's what I started doing.  More fruits and vegetables became the natural thing for me to do because I could eat thos without putting tons of extra calories in my counter.  I found low calorie salad dressings, low calorie lasagna, all kinds of food that I really enjoy that didn't have to be high in calorie and still taste great.
So now that I have rambled on quite a bit, I will stop for today.  My next post will include more of what food we actually eat now and more specifially the things i have changed.

Support from those who love you

I had an entirely different blog written up for today, but I didn't really like it. Somehow it didn't feel right. So I decided on a different topic. Support. One big thing that I learned in the beginning of this whole process is that you need the support from people around you. In the past when I had tried to lose weight (since being married) I never really told Steven. I just would kind of mention it, but then say it's no big deal, and we'd go have McDonald's. That is certainly not a good way to lose weight. So in January I told Steven I wanted to lose some weight. Well that month I was not exactly trying to lose weight. I just wasn't at a good place mentally and did not put any effort in.
But the next month, things started to change. I finally was starting to come out of my post baby blues (more on at another point), and I wanted to actually get my butt going. So I enlisted Steven. He is the one person who could either be my greatest support or my biggest hold back in this entire process. So one night we had a serious conversation about some changes that had to be made. We were going to start buying healthier groceries and begin taking walks together. Walking was something we had done a lot of already, but it was time to do it for exercise.
Having Steven's support meant I had someone on my side. It meant that he would no longer ask me if I wanted something from McDonald's at 9pm just because he was snacky. It meant that he would say okay time for a walk. And in the past 6 months he has become my biggest help in losing the 50lbs so far.
While I knew that having Steven there for me was important, I needed a female to help. So when I found out a friend of mine was also trying to lose weight we decided that we would support each other. Unfortunately living across the country from each other meant it would mostly be through text messages. And even though we do not text everyday, the knowledge that there is a friend out there to say "you can do it," is extremely encouraging.
Throughout this whole process I have had support come from people in different ways. Even people who have no idea they are helping. My neighbor's who were the first to notice my weight loss, the dental hygenist who mentioned that I look smaller every time I came in (which was often in June), my mom who would say that my face was looking skinnier through video chat, the friends who would comment that I looked great. Support from people around you can be the biggest help or hurt in weight loss. This doesn't mean you have to tell every person you know (unless that is helpful to you), but the person that you spend the most time with (aside from young children) needs to be supportive. This may mean changes in their life too. I decided I was not going to be cooking different meals for myelf just because I was trying to lose weight, so Steven would need to be willing to change his eating habits. And he did, without complaint. We even changed where we grocery shop for the most part.
It has been so great throughout this process to have my husband's support and love. I truly believe that everyone needs that kind of support. The one thing he probably doesn't even know that he has never done is say to me "Are you sure you should eat that," or "don't you think you should workout." That to me is annoying. If you need a babysitter in losing weight, you aren't ready to do this. You need to be able to police yourself. So make sure the person around you is not going to do. Make sure they are going to support you without criticizing you.
I apologize if this rambling or makes no sense, I am new at this blog thing and finally got a good night of sleep last night, which you would think would help me, yet somehow makes me feel more foggy. Go figure.

Why You Should Read My Blog

If you are visitng my blog, you may know me, who knows, maybe you don't and you just think I am cool and want to know more about my life.  More likely you are my mom or mother-in-law, perhaps another family member and you were bored at home.  But who knows.
This is not my first blogging attempt.  Usually I do well for a couple weeks and then life gets in the way and I just stop.  Hopefully this time will be different.  This year I have certainly done some things different than I have in the past.  Different in a good way, so far.  So perhaps this will be different too.
So why should you read my blog, well I think I can be funny, so maybe you are looking for a laugh and will find one (although I may be the only that thinks I am funny, in which case, sorry if you don't laugh). Maybe you just want to know about my life, I will provide a little glance at my everyday life as a stay at home mom and Navy wife.  Or you could be looking for inspiration on weight loss. I have recently lost 50lbs in 6 months, which I will probably write about quite a bit, seeing as I have a quite a bit of weight more to go.  More on that when I get my serves up to talk about how much I want to lose exactly.  And if you want some good recipes I promise to share some that we find tasty.  Most likely that I first found on Pinterest, because let's be honest, I am no chef, but I can follow directions like it's my job.  And perhaps I'll share some of my parenting tips, which is very limited considering my oldest is 2. So you may just want to ignore those tips and wait for me to tell you I was completely wrong about everything that I said.  We'll see.
One thing I do know about my children is if I don't get them fed in time, they will be cranky all day, so time to get my butt on making breakfast.