Sunny Saturday

Well, we're going to a wedding today of a friend from high school. I'm taking my two year old daughter Valen with me so I anticipate a lot of running around chasing her. That counts as exercise right? Happy Saturday everyone!

Sick day.

Yesterday I finally caught what my kids had and I was terribly sick. Today isn't much better, but my nose has finally stopped running at least. I feel pretty discouraged because I have missed so much gym time this week. My sweet husband reassured me that I can pick up right where I left off, but it's hard to miss days when I was doing so well. Hopefully all the sickness can leave our house by Monday at least so I can get back on track. Only about five more weeks until my husband gets home from his deployment and I want him to be able to see a change, that's one of my short term goals. I think five weeks is a good amount of time and I am going to work my hardest to make it count.

On an unrelated note, I know people have been getting sick of the non-stop media coverage, but I watched The Royal Wedding and I just want to say it brought a tear to my eye. It was beautiful and Kate was simply stunning. I watched some of it with my oldest daughter Valen and she said that Kate looked like a princess and she was very excited to hear that she actually is considered a princess now. It was a nice moment that we got to share and I look forward to telling her about it when she gets older. It definitely made being sick not so terrible this morning.

My Shoes

I just wanted to post a picture of my current work out shoes. I'm a big fan of Nike and I have been for a long time, and these have to be the most comfortable shoes I've ever owned. They provide a great amount of comfort and my feet have never hurt wearing them. If you are on the lookout for a new pair of kicks, I would definitely check out what Nike has to offer these days.

These are my exact Nike Lunarglide +2 shoes!

Quick lunch for Wednesday

Now this may not be the healthiest option, but at 460 calories, it's a heck of a lot better than a traditional cheeseburger. I introduce to you the BBQ Ranch Turkey Burger from Hardee's. Yes, Hardee's of all places. Hardee's also offers the traditional Turkey Burger with basic condiments and the Mushroom & Swiss Turkey Burger. I've tried all three of these burgers and I absolutely love them! I opt to substitute the fries for a fresh piece of fruit from home and I get bottled water instead of soda. It's not a lean cuisine or healthy choice meal, but for a Mom on the go, this is a great alternative to greasy burgers and fries!

Day Two - Getting back in the swing of things...

So the past two days I missed the gym due to sick kiddos and I was finally able to get back today. It wasn't as tough as I thought it would be. I think the major part about weight loss/working out/dieting is that it is all this mental game.

I could have easily convinced myself to stay in bed and get an extra half hour of sleep, but I dragged my lazy behind out of bed at 7:45 and got my gym clothes on, a bottle made, a sippy cup filled up, cereal poured and started waking the girls up.

We made it to the gym a little after 9 and I took a Zumba class. Now normally, Zumba is one of my favorite parts about the gym. It all had to do with the instructor Cathy. Sadly Cathy was not there today. Now I heard that she will be moving, but I'm not sure if she's already gone or if she is just off for spring break like the rest of the state but I definitely missed her today.

The instructor I had in today's class was just, well, boring. She had about a fourth of the energy that my original teacher has. That really affected me more than I thought it would. I think this is going to encourage me to switch up my routine a little and try new classes and new instructors.

After the gym, I took the girls with me to Sam's to pick up some much needed items. I've been putting the Sam's excursion off for a while now because it's a pain to do solo. Especially since baby Piper is too big for the carrying car seat and it is so difficult to push a stroller and a shopping cart. So I strapped Piper to my chest in her carrier and I put Valen in the cart.

Needless to say, a huge glass jar of salsa got broken, we accidentally stole a book (thanks to my two year old who has sticky fingers, and yes I plan on returning it), and we lost Piper's pacifier and of course I didn't take my purse in that had a spare. It was just as much if not more of a workout than my hour spent in the gym.

Hopefully tomorrow I can try out Body Pump. I've been scared of that class since I joined the gym, but I think after about four weeks, I'm ready to try. Wish me luck!

My three reasons for getting healthy!

My Husband Jarrod, my oldest daughter Valen and her baby sister Piper! :)

Lunch for Today

Yummy and healthy!!

Day One - The beginning, well sort of...

Well this is the beginning of my journey, on this blog that is. My actual journey actually started four weeks ago today. My amazing Husband Jarrod left for his deployment on a Monday, four weeks and one day ago. The very next day I started my journey.

Since that fateful Tuesday morning, four weeks ago. I have been to the gym a total of nineteen days. That translates to five days a week, taking Saturday and Sunday off to rest. I did miss the gym yesterday and today, but both my girls are sick so I substituted the gym with a sweaty session of The Biggest Loser on the XBox Kinect system. I feel pretty guilty that I have missed the gym these past two days, but my girls needed me so I have tried to suck it up as much as possible.

My husband and I have two gorgeous little girls. Valen will be three in July and baby Piper will be one at the end of August. Life is definitely hectic with Jarrod gone right now, but he will be home in June so it's only two month deployments about twice a year. Compared to military families, we have it pretty easy. My parents live close by and they are a ton of help to me and the girls, but I have taken both girls to the gym 'playcenter' every single trip. That in and of itself is a workout, just getting out of the house and car is brutal!

My goal is to get healthy above all. Do I want to lose a lot of weight? Yes. Do I expect to do it overnight? No. I started gaining weight when I got pregnant with Valen, maybe a little before that. During that pregnancy I would say I gained a total of about 60 pounds. I didn't lose any of that weight between having Valen and getting pregnant with Piper. So with Piper I only gained around 20 pounds but an almost 80 pound weight gain in the course of three and a half years is a big deal. Literally.

I'm not yet comfortable enough to display my current weight for the whole world to see, but just know that it's over 200, but under 300. Eventually I will get past that fear, but this is new so just stick with me.

While pregnant the first time, through the second pregnancy, I did not exercise. At all. Nor did I diet. Obviously. This journey is about to change all of that.

I have already started my exercise routine. I usually do one hour of aerobic exercise, usually a Zumba class or something like it, five days a week. If I miss a day I try to do my Jillian Michaels DVD or Biggest Loser on Kinect to make up for it. I also do yoga, water aerobics, core strengthening classes and treadmill/bike/weight machines. After four weeks, I don't even get sore anymore which is a blessing. I just hope I can keep it up and get stronger and healthier.

As far as diet goes, I'm trying to do weight watchers right now, key word is 'trying'. Some days I do great, other days I forget and slip up. I have to start watching my caloric intake though because I think that will be key to successful weight loss in the long run.

I went to the doctor today and my blood pressure is 117/77 and my cholesterol is all normal. Overall, I'm actually pretty healthy. But weight wise, I'm obese.

I hope I can learn some things about myself along this journey. I also hope to make friends and find more support from people going through the same thing. I will be doing a weekly weigh-in starting next Tuesday and hopefully I will be comfortable enough soon to share my actual current weight. My 'goal' (and I use that word tentatively) is to lose 100 pounds by my birthday next year. My birthday is July 3rd. I have over a year to do this, and I am confident that even if I cannot lose my target weight amount, I will still lose a lot and be happy with my results. Even so, I am in it to win it as they say and I will stop at nothing to achieve my goals.

I don't want to be the fat Mom at school functions and recitals. I want to be able to run and play all day, just like my daughter's do. I want to be sexy for my Husband. I want to be healthy for myself and my family. Join me on my journey won't you?