Setting Goals! More Motivation...

You guys are awesome!  After my post on Monday, I got some really great feedback and felt like I should share some of it.  I was frustrated Monday morning because of poor decisions I had made over the last few days and I felt pretty depressed about it.  I got this comment on my post from my friend Alicia:    

Alicia is a huge fitness gal and I really put a lot of stock in what she says.  :-)  I admire her discipline.  She gets up at insane hours to go run, then does all of her Mommy stuff, then teaches part time, then teaches afternoon Jazzercise classes... I mean, really?!  Alicia, you ROCK!  Thanks for all of the encouragement.

When Gretchen called that morning, we chatted some about my frustration.  You know what I love about G?  Her honesty with me.  She called me back later and basically told me (in a nice way) that I needed to suck it up and be consistent.  If I lose weight, then gain a few, then lose, I will never meet my goal.  I'm struggling with the same few pounds.  So, she encouraged me to make a small goal.  Lose 15 pounds and then get a reward.  NO CHEATING for 15 pounds.      

So, that's what I did!  Made a goal to stay under my calorie count and when I've lost 15 pounds, I will give myself a reward.  I'm thinking a new pair of shoes and a night of Mexican food.  Woo hoo!  

I love what Jami says here.  It's a process.  That's so true.  I think we want results instantly and that just isn't how it works. 

I really have some great encouragers! :-)

 

I received this text from a friend last night.  It made my night!  Honestly, I was scared and nervous to blog about weight stuff.  I did it as an outlet for myself.  I'm thrilled to know that a few people are being encouraged by it!

So, goal ONE -- stay on track, under my calorie count and when I've lost 15 pounds, I get new shoes and Mexican!

Goal TWO -- lose an additional 20 pounds before Fall.  Because you know what happens in the Fall?  We booked our vacation!  My parents are taking everyone to Disney World!!  We are so excited!

This is the home that my parents have rented for the week.  It is just a few miles from Disney, so we can come and go as we please.  The tickets have been ordered and we are very excited to meet Mickey, Minnie and all of their friends.  :-)  It definitely gives me a little kick in the pants to reach some weight loss goals!

Motivational Monday

This is my fifth Motivational Monday post!  I think that is pretty exciting -- I am going on my 10th week of exercising and I really feel like it has become a habit.  Last week, I shared some points from an article by SparkPeople.com called 100 Reasons You Should Exercise.  Here are 10 more reasons:

1.  It gives you energy.

2.  Because it keeps your mind sharp.

3.  Because it strengthens your legs.

4.  Because you want to look younger.  {{YES, PLEASE!!}}

5.  Because you want to stay healthy as you age.

6.  Because sweat is sexy.  {{Um, maybe on someone else this is true??!}}

7.  Because you want to see the scale drop.

8.  Because you want to breathe easier.

9.  Because it helps you sleep better at night.

10. Because it boosts your immune system.  

I feel like I have done really well exercising, but have been slacking with my eating.  And, I can really tell.  I feel worse and it shows on the scale.  I have found out that I can do well all week long, slack off on the weekend, and when Monday rolls around, I am up a pound or two on the scale.  SO FRUSTRATING!  But, cheating is still cheating.  No matter how good I want to say I've done, two days of snacking and eating bad WILL SHOW UP.  The scale doesn't lie, right?...

I love #3 -- Weight loss is a process -- SO TRUE!!  Get right back on.  Stay consistent.  Today is Monday and that's my motto for today.

I love this, too! I follow Health (@HealthyTips) on Twitter and this tweet was great:

"I'm not losing weight, I'm getting rid of it.

I have no intention of finding it again."

I hate that losing weight is such a "yo yo process".  Up a pound, down two...it's frustrating.  Why is it so hard to get on track and stay there?  Lack of discipline?  Any thoughts or help on that would be much appreciated!!! :-)

Jaime sent this to me in a text this week and I loved it!  

Hilarious!!

Okay, here's to a better week this week.  I have loved your comments and encouragement!  Keep it up!

friends and a faaar

I love it when impromptu-ness happens!  {Yes, I made that word up.}  Eric told me late Thursday night that the Murphy's were coming over Friday to grill out and do a backyard bonfire.  You know that they are good friends when you don't feel that twinge of anxiety to jump up and start cleaning.  ;-)  I'm so thankful we had some warmer weather so the kids could play outside. 

Lemme tell you something -- these two here are both quite the little drama queens!  Oh little girls...

These two?  ALL BOY.  Dirty, stinky, never-stop-moving little boys.

This little guy?  Just plain stinkin' adorable.  I love how he tries to follow the big kids around.  But he walks so slow that by the time he gets to his destination, the big kids have lapped him 5 times. ;-)

I should probably change her name from Maggie May to Mother Hen.  She L.O.V.E.D. having "baby" Aiden here!  So presh!!

Never.stop.moving.

The adults?  We know how to sit.  And chat.  Very well.

I included the following picture for Gretchen.  I had just shared the story about the time when Gretchen walked around church with her dress tucked in her tights and MATT WAS DYING!  So, obviously he had to text her and give her a hard time.  Love it! ;-)

Love my sweet friend. 

I was proud of myself for pulling out the camera!  I'm embarrassed to say it literally had dust on it.  Oops.  

After dark, I put the camera up but managed a few cute ones with the phone.  The kids loved running around with glow sticks.  I thought they were quite cute!

My peeps.  Good times.  Love them!

Thankful for this guy right here.  Love.

Our friends came over to spend the night and I took lousy pictures

While Gretchen and the kids were in town for their Spring Break, they stayed the night with us!  My kids were SO EXCITED to see Pierce and Hope.  They came over on Monday after Levi got out of school and before long, the kids were begging to play outside.  Did I mention that it was only 40 degrees outside?  I didn't?  Um, yeah, it was cold.  And windy.  So, we sucked it up and sat outside to watch our kids freeze play.    

Isn't that a lovely picture?  Oy.  I have really gotten into a bad habit of just using my iPhone to take pictures.  After this playdate, I vowed to get my camera back out and start using it again. ;-)

The kids tried to pretend like they weren't cold as they rode their bikes and scooters.  I'm not sure we even lasted an hour outside.  Ha!

Aaaand, those are the only pictures I took!  Lame.  I was just happy and content having my bestie to chat with and we mostly ignored the kids. ;-)

I decided to let Levi skip school on Tuesday.  I figured it was for a good cause, right?!  So, Tuesday morning, we decided to head to Columbus where they have an indoor play area.  (We went there for my mom's birthday!)  Again, I'm so sorry for the horrible pictures!  Geesh.

Levi had the flu when we went before, so this was all new to him!  It was a huge success.  This was the only picture I got of Levi and then he was off to explore the huge climbing thingie.

Maggie stayed pretty close to Gretchen and me.  She is still quite the little Mommy's girl.  (And I love it!)

I did think this picture was HU-LARIOUS!  (You may have seen it in IG if you follow me.) Can you spy the photo bomber??

We had a really great day together and I'm happy that we got to steal a little bit of time with G & crew while they were here.  I miss them SO MUCH and value our sweet time together.  I love making memories like this with my kids.  :-)

Easter 2013

Our Easter festivities began on Saturday morning when I took the kids to my parent's church for an Easter Egg hung.  It was FAB-U-LOUS!  My parents know how to do it up right!  My mom is on the committee for stuff like that and she knows how to please little ones. ;-)  

Levi ran off to hunt with his cousins and I stayed back to help Maggie.  She was content with just one or two eggs in her basket, but I insisted that she fill 'er up!  No egg left behind!

After the hunt, there were tables set out for some fun craft time thingies.  Seriously, when I see Maggie in pigtails, I feel like I am looking at pictures of ME as a child!  I will have to do a post on that sometime...

I did a really poor job of getting good pics of the kids Easter morning!  F.A.I.L.  I also neglected to get a family picture.  DOUBLE F.A.I.L.  Eric worked security at church and had to be at the 8:30 service and I just didn't think ahead!  Boo.  So, just pretend that Eric and I are standing next to the kids lookin' all fine.

I have to be honest.  My daughter is not quiet.  At all.  They only had childcare for kids up to the age of two (you don't want my real feelings on that!) so Mags was with us during the service.  I'm SOO thankful that this happened before the sermon started!...

Look who was HOME for Easter... YAY!!  The kids were thrilled to sit with their friends. :-)

And, I was thrilled to sit with my friend!!  Felt like old times -- minus the kids talking, and the two year old fidgeting, and the husbands rolling their eyes when we asked them to take our picture... OH WAIT, that happened then, too! Ha!  So glad to have my bestie at church with me Sunday.  Truly blessed!

We had a really great afternoon with all of our family.  I am ONE BLESSED GIRL!  Not only do I have the most wonderful family on the planet, but I have the love of my Savior who died for me.  No matter what I do, HE LOVES ME.  That, my friends, is the biggest blessing of all.

Finishing up our Spring Break!

Ok you guys, I've got to get my rear in gear and finish out Spring Break or we'll never get to Easter!  I took lots of pics on my phone, but I've narrowed them down to just a few.  You're welcome.

Wednesday morning, we headed out to Bass Pro super early!  By "super early", I mean 8:40.  Eric heard they were getting a shipment of ammo, so he wanted to be there when the doors opened.  YOU GUYS...it was like Black Friday!  People were lined up outside and the line wrapped halfway around the front of the building.  Ridic.  But, he got some ammo and was a happy camper.  Like any good parents, we had forgotten to feed the kids before we left the house, so we headed to McDonald's!

While at breakfast, we found out our neighbors/friends were heading to Incredible Dave's for lunch, which we had planned on doing that evening.  We switched our plans to go with them.  Yes, we like to invite ourselves along like that.  ;-)  

I had only been to Incredible Dave's once and it was for a concert with the Louisville Crashers.  During the day, however, I will describe it as Chuck E. Cheese on steroids.  Oy.  I downed two Ibuprofen and waited for the fun to kick in!

The kids had a blast!  I'm glad we were able to take them.

Thursday, we headed to Indy to spend the day with my mom and aunt at the Children's Museum.  I LOVE their museum -- it is incredible!  We saw Levi's favorite exhibit which is the train station.  Maggie was just happy to follow him around.  We also ran into Levi's baby daddy...Peyton Manning.  Heart.  Okay, so it was just a cut out.  Whatever.  Maggie was throwing a fit excited to ride the carousel and the line was forever long!  She fell asleep while WE WERE NEXT IN LINE.  Poor child.  I rode it anyways and looked like an old woman, sitting on the bench instead of riding a zoo animal that moves up and down.  Ha!

I'm gonna just put this out there.  I could lie and say our day was filled with fun and laughter, but it wasn't.  Don't get me wrong, I was thrilled to hang with my mom and aunt and the kids for the day, but the museum was SO crowded, it was almost unbearable.  It was Spring Break, so I knew it would be crowded, but I'd NEVER seen it like that.  The kids couldn't do much at the exhibits because it was so packed full of kids.  Mom, Gail and I couldn't talk to each other because we were constantly trying not to lose the kids.  Maggie was overwhelmed and didn't want me to put her down.  There were people everywhere. :-(  And, at the end of the day, we lost Levi.  It was only for a few minutes, but it was THE WORST MOMENT EVER.  I had gone into the bathroom.  I thought my mom had Levi with her, she thought he went in with me.  She came into the bathroom just as I was finishing and looked panicked.  She asked if Levi was in there with me and my heart sank.  I almost got sick.  We both ran out and immediately started calling out for him.  He was nowhere.  It seemed like forever, but I found him walking around the corner with a museum worker.  Oh my stars, the relief I felt was overwhelming.  We both cried and I praised him for finding someone "with a badge" to help him.  He knew what to do...find a worker or police officer and ask to use their phone to call me.  He said they were on their way to a phone.  It was probably one of the most stressful days I've ever had, but we tried to make sure the kids enjoyed it, as much as possible.  I think they did.  I am so very thankful for God's provision over us that day.      

Friday was a much more laid back day!  We went with a lot of our friends to bounce time at SIGS!  The kids had so much fun and I was able to sit back and chit chat with the moms. ;-)  I'm so thankful for my two babes and loved spending the week with them!  I complimented Levi so many times during the week for being a great helper with his little sister.  He was so good to play with her and help keep watching out for her while we were out in public.  Despite their constant wrestling at home, he is a great big brother! :-)  

Motivational Monday

If you've missed any of the other Motivational Monday posts, you can look in the sidebar for "Labels" and find them there.  :-)

Last week, this was my motto:

We didn't have our Zumba classes because it was Spring Break.  Boo.  That is a "Boo" for no Zumba, not for Spring Break!  I did manage to work out 4 times, but one time was strictly strength training.  Jami invited me to Jazzercise on Saturday morning for Body Sculpting.  It was fun, but I don't really think I burned a whole lot of calories.  Most days, I did really well at counting my calories, but there were a few days that I didn't do so hot!  

I've been seeing lots of these little types of workout.  Some are on Twitter, depending on who you follow, and this one was on Pinterest.  

Sometimes, I get tired of just doing the elliptical, so I decided to try this little routine.  I have to admit that I had no idea what a Burpee was!  Sounds like something I do after a lot of carbonation.  ;-)  Um, it's hard.  Especially when you have to do several.  Another routine I did called for side lunges.  Wha??  So, luckily, they had this chart to show some exercises.  I found it helpful!  I like mixing things up!

Another thing I am trying to do is come up with unique snack ideas.  I love these two!  The first is a slushie drink.  Oh my...good stuff!!!!

And, I haven't tried this one yet, but it looks great!

So, here is some motivation for the day!  I've started to randomly follow a lot of people on Twitter who post healthy things.  Snacks, exercise, or articles...and I love it!  I read an article from SparkPeople.com and it was titled 100 Reasons You Should Workout.  I'm going to pick a few of my favorites for the next few weeks!

1.  Because you'll feel proud of yourself.

2.  Because you want to be a good example to your kids.

3.  Because it reduces the risk of diabetes.

4.  Because it helps you lose weight.

5.  Because you have goals you want to reach.

6.  Because you want to feel good in your clothes.

7.  Because you spend most of the day on your butt.

8.  Because it's the best way to spend "me" time.

9.  Because it burns more calories than not working out.

10. Because it helps you de-stress.

Seriously, for me, #2 stood out!  I want to be a good example for my kids.  Sometimes when I leave for Zumba, they will roll their eyes and say, "NOT AGAIN!", but I take that as a compliment.  It means they are watching!

Thank you to everyone who continues to encourage me!  I am almost to eight weeks of straight diet and exercise and I can really tell that it is becoming a habit to me.  Don't get me wrong...my Mom's lemon bars and I had a special date yesterday at Easter lunch.  But, it was easier to get back up and get going again today!  ;-)  Okay, someone go exercise....