Wednesday, June 26, 2013

Update on my Weekly Goals.


goals
Goals span from 2012-2013
I can only imagine you wondering, "How is she doing on her weekly goals?" Or if you're weren't wondering maybe you are now. So let's break them down. How am I doing?

1. No more FAST FOOD.
2. Do not eat PAST 8 pm. 
3. Work out 3 x per week.
4. Eat Fish/Seafood 2 x per week

#1- No more FAST FOOD: I haven't had any fast food since 7/13/12 when I had my final McGriddle sandwich. No Burger King, No Wendy's (except a shared frosty 1 time) and No Mcdonalds (other than a dipped cone 1 x), No Taco bell, nothing! Cousins, Subway (My favorite sub-10 points!) and Jimmy Johns (NEVER add mayo- always add Avocado spread- only 1 point!) doesn't count though....

#2- Do not east PAST 8 pm: Initially I tried past 7 pm. However, as I don't get home until 6 pm and then I have to make dinner, get kids into a bath, jammies and bed, 8 pm is much more feasible. So I would say I'm successful about 95% of the time on this one.

#3- Work out 3x per week.: Oooooh, now this is a sore spot. I've not been great here. I've just recently started scheduling my workouts on my smart phone. There's an alarm that goes off on Tues and Thu for a 5:15 am work out session. I will also add in a Saturday or Sunday activity with my family. Update you in 1 month!

#4- Eat Fish/Seafood 2x per week: Sadly another partial fail. While I did GREAT the first month or so, I quickly realized that I do not LOVE seafood. Shrimp, unless fresh (which is very hard to find in Milwaukee) has an odor which I cannot stomach. A lot of my hesitance could be that I've never loved fish, so I don't know how to prepare it. I even bought Parmesan Crusted Tilapia from Sam's (Parmesan Crusted Fish, you say?) which is good, but still not my favorite. Open to any suggestions. I have modified #4 for future.

#4 Modified: Eat Fish/Veggie 2x per week: This is my new attempt. I may even try tofu. Again, recipes welcome. I even bought a new book from my WW Meeting- Veg Power Cookbook- you can add meat too!
Eating Veggie style
My new cookbook!

So, that's an update on my goals. I am officially 178 lbs even. Down 72.6 lbs. Feeling fantastic- people at work are really noticing, which offers assurance. Someone even said "Hey there, Skinny" yesterday. SMILE!

Tuesday, June 25, 2013

Lullaby Singalong

I've been singing Bob Marley's "3 little birds" to both my kids since they were born. Last night, I was rocking Joel to sleep in the chair and Myles was sitting on the stool in front of me. As I sand, he joined in and sang with me (even with pauses and breaks in the song)! It MELTED my heart. He's such an amazing kid! Love him!

Wednesday, June 19, 2013

"Mommy- Your arm is Fat"

The title of the post is what my son said to me the other day....Are you kidding me? You did NOT just say that to me? I wanted to scream- "It's a heck of a lot skinnier than it was a year ago!" I refrained. As I looked into the face of my 3.5 year old son, I tried to remember he wasn't being mean. It was in fact "fat" compared to other arms he sees. His arm, his brother's arm, and Miss Mary Jo who watches him, her arm (she's very thin and just lovely!) I explained, "You should never call someone fat in any way. That's just not polite and not nice."

But why did he have to say that to me? Just when I think I'm looking good and getting a little more confidence in myself, BAM- knock me down a few pegs. Needless to say, I spent 20 minutes with free weights yesterday morning after a 40 minute workout on the elliptical. This workout was also spawned thanks to my son, who decided to come in and wake me up at 4:44 am. Now I wouldn't normally allow him to get into our bed, but it was after 4 am, which means if I try the 30 minute fight getting him back into his room, it really wouldn't pay off. Besides, I was sleepy.

Warrior Dash- Wisconsin
Let's step back a moment, I have signed up for Warrior Dash (http://www.warriordash.com/Wisconsin) here in WI. It's on August 3rd and I am frightened. It's for charity, which is awesome, so I figured it would also force me to get into shape before the Big Wedding. Anyhoo, I was out at a party Saturday night at the bar we are signed up through. I met a few people there who were discussing their training regiment for the event. WOW!! I had no idea it was going to be that much work. People are running 5 miles a day to prepare. This is a 5K with obstacles. I figured worst case scenario I could walk the 3.3 miles. It turns out the obstacles are a little more difficult. UGH!

So, when my son came in at 4:44 am, I promptly brought him into the bed in between me and hubby. I said "Leave room for mommy, ok." He was out immediately. Within 5 minutes, he had literally shoved me out of the bed. I looked at my phone, it was 4:53 am. I was exhausted, but grabbed workout clothes and headed downstairs. Normally I would have done the elliptical for 30 minutes and called it a day. I felt extra motivated by the "fat arms" comment. Which is why I picked up my free weights for the first time in 7 years! They were dusty, but they worked. Oh man, they worked. It hurts to type. With that, enjoy your hump day!

Tuesday, June 18, 2013

A Tuesday Funny!

These you tube videos have me CRACKING up! Please check it out.... Anyone who has kids can relate :-)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KtiJAexxSPo

Enjoy!

Michelle

Wednesday, June 12, 2013

Las Vegas & his 1st birthday party!

Before and After weight loss picture
    Aug 2011- 250 lbs.          May 2013- 180 lbs. 
First of all, let me post this picture for you to see....This is 10.5 months of hard work and dedication to a plan! I began my weight loss journey just 6 weeks after giving birth to my beautiful baby boy, Joel.

For the 2nd time since I started Weight Watchers, I experienced a gain in weight. It was 1.4 lbs. Ugh. But overall it could have been much worse. Why is that? you ask. Well, I spent the better part of a week in Las Vegas, NV for the bachelorette party of my beautiful cousin.

This trip away was several "firsts" for me. It was the first time I was away from both my babies, EVER. I've not been gone from them for more than one night and have only done that twice with my hubby.  I had all kinds of mommy guilt. Guilt about leaving, guilt about missing work, but mostly guilt because I was SO excited to get away. Is that bad?

Well even if it was kind of bad, I had an incredible time! I sat by the pool for 2 days, I went shopping, and I danced the night away with a bunch of single ladies! It was wonderful. I consumed alcohol without fear of a hangover, because even if I got one, I could sleep it off. I ate delicious brunch food (Mon Ami Gabi- just beautiful) and scarfed up authentic Mexican cuisine (Diablos at Monte Carlo) . I felt somewhat guilty, but I enjoyed each meal.

When I came back to reality on Sunday night, my husband got Papa Murphy's because it was so easy. AND it was easy for me to continue my poor eating streak. The hardest thing was trying to get back to reality on Monday. Not tracking, not measuring and not analyzing my food had been easy, but I also realized after 2 days of using Pepcid AC, that it wasn't good for my body. When weigh in came on Friday, I'd gained 1.4 lbs. Again, it could have been MUCH worse.

Dessert Table
On Saturday my baby boy turned 1. Oh boy, did we celebrate. I took the day off on Friday to prep the food. The dessert table was my favorite part. I made homemade marshmallows on a stick (2 recipes- BEST Marshmallows ever and Put those BEST marshmallows on a stick and dunk them in chocolate! combined) They turned out AMAZING! There was a cake for baby boy to destroy and cupcakes too.

Hubby cooked 72 pieces of BBQ chicken and that was accompanied by Dable Bean dish, Macaroni Salad, Spinach salad and too many appetizers to name. Overall a success! I was fine for most of the evening until after everyone went home. We had friends over to play a card game and late night eating ensued. That was a bit of a step back! SO....

Needless to say, I am back on plan now. I weigh in on Friday or Saturday, work permitting. I'll let you know where I am at. Whatever the result may be, I know I am NEVER going back to the woman in the picture above. It's not me. I don't even recognize myself when I look at it. The picture below is me, every fiber of my being loves these boys (and yes my hubby is my "boy" too). This journey is for them, but more importantly for me. I stumble and yes, sometimes I fall, but I pick myself back up and start again. (I'm sure someone famous has said this, but I don't know who to credit- sorry.)

Until next time!
Dable Family Photo- 1st birthday