I found a challenge!

So yesterday I said I might need to find a challenge to join to help keep my self accountable to losing weight and exercise.  Well I was on facebook and saw one starting Jan. 1st that is being hosted by the Sisterhood of the Shrinking Jeans.  You have to sign up by tonight in order to participate though.



I think is just the thing I need in order to jump start the weight loss again.  Maybe you will join me.  I don't have a partner for the challenge, but they are going to pair me up with someone.

2012 is coming to an end

Wow,  has it really been that long since I posted something.  Life is good.  Thanksgiving was at my aunts house and there were about 25 people there.  It was quite nice to have so many of my family members there.  Christmas was great as well.  We had about 5 Christmas celebrations this year.  The first was my husbands Dad side of the family in Lake Arrowhead two weeks before Christmas.  The week before Christmas was my husbands moms side of the family. Then we had husbands parents/ sister/ brother Christmas, then "our" Christmas on Christmas eve and then the rest of my family on Christmas day. We went to my parents house on Christmas Eve and spent the night.  That has been the tradition for awhile now.  We opened "our" family presents on Christmas Eve before we went to my parents and then the whole rest of the family on Christmas day.  The kids were really spoiled this year.  Lots of fun stuff.

I have not fallen off of the wagon, I have maintained my loss.  I hover between 193 and 196.  I don't check that often. I get on the scale every once in awhile just to make sure I haven't gone back over the 200 mark, which I haven't at all.  I have slacked completely on the exercise front.  The cold came and I started working an earlier shift at work so it's now dark in the morning.  I have to leave the house by 7am to get the kids to daycare and have no time to run/walk now.  My goal for the new year is to start the exercise back up.  Use the cross bow like machine I got from a friend and buckle down and start losing again.  Maybe I need to find a challenge to help keep my accountable.  Maybe just make one up in my own head and act as if others are in on it and counting on me.  We shall see.

New years eve I have to work half a day and then we are going over to my parents to ring in the new year.  We will spend the night there again and spend most of New Years Day with them too.  We play games and snack and watch the parade in the background and have an overall relaxing fun time together. I'll be sure to post back in a few days and keep up on blogging.  I do read all the blogs I was reading before I just don't ever get around to posting here.  I will try to do better.  It's good to keep myself accountable.

Update

Time sure does fly by.  I am still hovering around the same weight.  Still below 200, but not really going much lower yet, averaging about 196-197.  I just haven't been able to stop eating all the goodies that people have been providing at work.  I also still haven't gotten myself into a work out routine other than my run/walks.  My inlaws are still at my house. Well actually they just left for Oregon for almost 2 weeks.  They will then be back down for a few days before they go back to Thailand.  I am looking forward to putting my daughter back in her room.  She has without fail come into our room every night since the inlaws have been here.

My husband is running a 10k tomorrow with two of his friends.  He isn't going to get much sleep though.  He has to work until about midnight tonight and then drive home and hopefully get in bed by about 1:30am only to have to get up at 5am to get ready to leave for the race which starts at 7:30 about an hour away.  He has to pick up his race packet in the morning too.  He is going to be one tired guy tomorrow.

Halloween is just around the corner and my son will be buzz lightyear and my daughter a Giraffe   I am going to be a Bee this year.  The place I work at is really big on dressing up for Halloween.  They are even taking us out to lunch at Sizzler and have a judging contest of our outfits.  I have never worked anywhere that has made this big a deal out of Halloween. It should be fun.  I'll have to post pictures after Halloween.

Not much else going on around here. Until next time...

I'm alive!

I haven't fallen off the face of the earth or the health wagon.  I am still sitting at between 195-199.  I haven't lost any more nor have I really tried.  Life has been busy and my in-laws are staying with us until 11/6.  They arrived on 9/7 from Thailand.  They will be spend a weekend in the desert and about 10 days in Oregon/Washington otherwise they are staying with us.  It's been difficult on the sleeping arrangements.  They took my daughters room and she is staying in my sons room.  She starts out in his room and then sometime in the night she ends up in our bed. Every night since they arrived she has come into our bed without fail.  It's getting old and we still have a long way to go.

I completed the Color Me Rad 5k at Fontana Speedway a couple of weeks ago.  It was a lot of fun.

Before, all clean!

After

So we have been busy, but I'm still here and I'm NOT gaining weight back.  

Beautiful Evening

It's a beautiful evening in southern California.  I am sitting outside listening to my kids giggle and play on the little child's porch swing.  It's just so precious to hear my daughter giggle.  I am so blessed to have two great kids.  Sometimes I don't really use my time wisely when I am off work and home with them.  I have to remember that time goes by so fast and they are only this young once.  I think I am going to put them in the jogging stroller tomorrow morning while my husband sleeps and take them to the park.  It will be good exercise for me as well fun for them.

We are going to go to the Harvest Crusade at Angels stadium on Sunday.  Mercy Me and Jeremy Camp are supposed to be preforming.  Should be a nice family outing after Church.

This week has gone well.  I am still on track.  I haven't been as strict about things this week, but doing pretty good.  I saw 197 on the scale on Thursday morning before my run and 195 after my run.  It's encouraging seeing  a lower number.  I just need to get a little more disciplined and I'll be back on the road to actually losing weight and not maintaining it.

This coming week I hope to actually start using my little in home work out equipment I bought off of a friend a few months ago.  Prove to my husband it wasn't a waste of money and space since it's in our livingroom. haha.

Time flys

Well hello there little blog.  It's been a few weeks since I last posted.  There hasn't been anything special going on lately.  I ran/walked a 5k on 8/5 pushing my two kids in a stroller.  It was at the OC Fair grounds and after the race we stayed and went to the fair.  It was a pretty good day.  I haven't lost any more weight in the last few weeks, but I haven't gained any either.  I weighed on Tuesday after my run/walk and the scale showed 197.  I keep telling myself I'm going to get back at it and I just don't fully commit to eating and exercise the way that I should in order to lose. It's been extremely hot here lately and it doesn't help my motivation to work out.  BUT, I will not stop trying.  I just need to give myself a pep talk.

Great weekend!

I have been a little MIA haven't I.  I just got home from my family reunion in New Mexico.  We left on Thursday about 2pm and drove to Benson, AZ.  We stayed the night and then drove the rest of the way into Mimbres, NM.  I got to see some family who lives in Virginia and Texas that I haven't seen for many years.  It was so beautiful there.  I will have to down load the pictures soon and add them.  For now I have added the one below of all of us after Church on Sunday.  We bring benches out from the lodge and put them on the basketball court so we can have Church under the trees.

There were about 65-70 famiily members in attendance, but there were many extended family members that weren't there that I wished would have come, but I know it's hard having young kids. Hopefully there will be a better turn out next time.

I haven't been losing any more weight, just maintaining lately.  I plan to start trying to lose some more again this week.  Vacation is over and I can refocus on weight loss and healthy living.

Hello There

Hello there little blog,  It's been awhile since I wrote.  Since the last time I completed the Hero Rush 5k Fire Fighter themed obstacle course with my husband and I had many bruises to show for it.  There were 19 obstacles with a lot of water  too.  It was a lot of fun and a really cool medal to show for it.  I ordered some pictures at the race hoping there were some good ones, but I don't have them yet.  I will have to add them later.

The 4th of July was a pretty nice day.  We had the family over to our house and BBQ'd some hot dogs and burgers.  We also had some potato salad, fruit salad, chips, and watermelon.  We had banana pudding for dessert.  The kids played in the pool and the adults played a game.  Then that night we just went out to the front yard and watched the fireworks all the neighborhood people set off.  It's legal where we live to buy and set them off.  The last two years we weren't around for all the good stuff that happens just in our neighborhood.  We had no idea.

I was 198 this morning so no real big losses in the last two weeks, but I have been able to hold steady under 200 which is really nice.  I finally broke down and bought some more jeans. I kept putting it off because I don't really want to buy to many things when I hope to keep going lower and lower.  But my jeans were super baggy and unattractive.  I actually managed to squeeze into some stretch 14's today.  If they weren't stretchy i wouldn't have fit into them, but it was nice to actually fit into them.  They fit like a glove though.  Pretty tight so it will encourage me to lose some more weight.  We are going on vacation in two weeks to my family reunion.  I am looking forward to going to it a lot smaller than I was last time.

I hope you all are doing well and that you had a nice 4th of July.

What a busy week!

This week has been crazy busy.  My mother had some back surgery on Monday. We had Vacation Bible School (VBS) at church Monday-Friday. And I had a stomach bug on Tuesday afternoon/evening.  I lost 3 pounds overnight with the stomach bug, but put it back on the rest of the week.  I am the same this week. 199.6.  I actually saw 197 after I was sick, but I knew it wouldn't last.

Yesterday we did a 5k called Little Heart Warriors.  It was for a non profit organization for kids born with congenital heart defects.  It was their first time doing a 5k and the organizer was hoping she would get at least 150 people to participate and it turns out there was about 450 people there.  It was a great success for the non profit organization.  My husband even got 3rd place overall.  How great is that?!  I ran/walked it with the stroller and my friend and finished in about 41:52.  I'm pretty pleased with that.

After the 5k we went shopping for a birthday present for an 8 year old girl, went home cleaned up and then went to the birthday party about and hour away.  Then after the party we went to my mothers house who lives close to the party and brought dinner over.  We wanted to see how my mom was doing after her surgery.  She is doing quite well by the way.

Today we went to Church and then there was a BBQ potluck afterwards to end the VBS week.  We will be taking a dip in the pool soon and then just relax for the evening.  I am looking forward to a much more relaxed week this week.

Next weekend is Hero Rush 5k Fire Fighter based themed obstacle course.  I'm scared, but excited about it.  I haven't strength trained like I should have, but it will be fun either way.  Have a great week everyone.

I have arrived!

Happy Fathers Day!  We had a great day yesterday with my hubby.  We went to the beach and rode our bikes about 12 miles total.  We spent time hanging out at the beach so the kids could play in the sand, we walked the shops and went on a harbor cruise and saw all the really cool houses and had dinner on the way home.  Today was Church and then home for a nap.  We are going to dinner with my parents tonight.  A very nice weekend indeed.

So I got up this morning and the number on the scale read 201.2.  So what do you do when the scale doesn't show you what you want to see....you do some exercise.  In my case I went out for a run/ walk.  I walked for about 5 minutes and then did (9) 1 minute run, 1 minute walk intervals with a 5 minutes cool down.  I came home and stepped on the scale about 8 times finagling it in different areas until it showed me what I wanted to see.

sorry it's sideways, 199.6

And it's been awhile since I showed an after run sweaty picture of myself, so here you go.

It will be great when I can just step on the scale the first time and see the 1 for the first number, but I said I was going to get to Onederland this week and I did.  At one point in all the on and off scale times this morning it said 199 even.  I didn't think it right to claim that one yet. haha.  Soon though.  I will be lower than that.

Gotta go...the kids are having a melt down.

It's been a good week

Hello,  I am doing pretty good at getting in my 3 run/walks during the week, but not any other form of exercise.  I must get going on that.  Despite my lack of extended exercise I did lose weight this week.

Last week weight: 203.6
This week weight: 201
Slow close to onederland.  If I'm consistent this week I should see a 1 in the first number place by next Sunday.    I am so excited about this.  It's gonna be a great week!

Final RFSC and GFCTC update

Well this last week has involved a lot more eating out than normal.  I was taken to lunch twice this last week and then on Saturday ate more than normal.  It's my own fault that I ate it but it means that I didn't finish the challenge with a big loss.  I only have a .4 pound loss for the week. So here are my overall stats for each challenge.

RFSC start weight: 213.4 (total challenge loss 9.8 pounds)
GFCTC start weight: 214 (total challenge loss 10.4 pounds)
Final weight: 203.6

I wanted to lose 20 pounds in each of these challenges, but at least I lost 10.  I am going in the right direction and so close to Onederland it hurts.

I got in 3 run/walks this week, but that is all.  I really need to start adding in the strength training.  Hero Rush is at the end of the month and will require me to have more muscles to get through the obstacles.

On to my weekend.  It was a busy Saturday.  It started with a 5k for my husband, it was a down hill course and he finished in just over 20 minutes.  WOW!  His quads were hurting after it though.  Then it was breakfast, home to make a grocery list for the week, back out for groceries.  Then we rushed home and left for a movie.  We saw the Avengers.  It was a good super hero movie.  We then had lunch and got a gift certificate for a wedding reception we went to in Long Beach.  It was quite the day.  Sunday involved Church and a graduation celebration and then relaxing afterwards.

My new job is going well.  Every day is a different issue to deal with, but I think I'm getting the hang of it. I am definitely busy everyday.  That is such a change from my old job.

I hope every one did well with the challenge and good luck with continued success in your journey's.

RFSC wk 9 and GFCTC wk 7 update

Hello All,  Sorry this is a day late.  I was out of town all weekend.

Last week: 205.6
This week: 204
Loss: 1.6

I was sick all week so I didn't get my runs in, but I walked around my parents house a lot this weekend.  A lot of  my extended family on my moms side got together and had a campout at my moms.  It was fun, but I did eat a lot more than I normally eat this weekend.  I will have to be mindful of that this week and work harder to get my exercise in.  The challenges are both in their final week and I want to end strong.  I hope everyone had a great long weekend and good luck in this final week of the challenge.

RFSC Wk 8 and GFCTC wk 6 Update

Hello everyone,  It was another successful week.  I got in 3 runs this last week.  I still haven't managed to get in the weight training or any other type of exercise, but at least I'm keeping up on the running.

Last week: 206.6
This week: 205.6
Loss this week: 1 pound

I'm not sure how this week will go.  I thought I might be getting sick yesterday and today it has increased and I am now SICK.  I hope it is short lived and over by this weekend. We are going out of town this weekend and I really want to feel good.

We had my kids birthday party this weekend.  It was a luau theme and it turned out really well.  My kids 2 & 4 had a great time and I think everyone who came had a great time too.  Maybe one day I'll actually get some pictures up.

My head hurts so that is all I can say today.  Have a great week.

RFSC Wk 7 and GFCTC wk 5 Update

Hello Everyone, I hope all you moms out there had a great Mothers day.  I know I did.  We celebrated on Saturday because my husband had to work Sunday.  We bought me a dress, sweater, shirt and shoes for the new job.  We had lunch and went to see the Hunger Games too.  Yesterday was Church and relaxing.

My new job has kept me busy this last week and not allowed me to snack regularly like I have been in the few weeks prior to the new job.  I believe that is the reason I actually LOST weight this week.  Don't get me wrong, it's not like I was over snacking, but I was having a nut bar everyday which can pack on the calories pretty quickly.

Last Weight: 208.2
Current Weight: 206.6
Loss: 1.6

So, Wahoo, I actually lost this week.  Finally, past that slump.  I hope to continue downward now.  I ate a little to freely over the weekend, but I'm back on track now.

I ran/walked another 5k over the weekend.  The time was just over 43 minutes.  My next 5k will be the Shrinking Jeans Run the Hood virtual 5k on 5/28 and then we will do the Hero Rush 5k obstacle course on 6/30.  I really need to start working on my strength training for the obstacle course.  I am really lacking in upper body strength.

RFSC wk 6 and GFCTC wk 4 update

Nothing to report on the weight loss front this week either.  I am actually up .2 pounds for the week. I am tired of this plateau for the last 3 weeks.  I am 9 pounds away from "one"derland and it sucks to be in a plateau. Needless to say, my goals for next week are the same....LOSE WEIGHT.

I got in two 30 min run/walks this week as well as a 5k on Sunday. I ran/walked the OC Wahoo 5k.  It ended up being less than 3.1 miles.  According to my husbands gps is was closer to being 2.7 miles which we completed in 38:33.  I am going to get up and do my run/walk tomorrow.

I added some dairy back into my food plan this weekend.  It was nice to be able to have more food options.

I started my new job today.  I didn't do anything really, just a lot of listening and watching.  I will sit down and really start learning stuff tomorrow.  They didn't even have my computer set up, and probably won't until Wednesday.  Weird!

I hope everyone else is doing better with their weight loss than I am.  Good luck this week.  Make it count!

RFSC Wk 5 and GFCTC Wk 3 update and other stuff

I am sad.  There has been no weight lost this week.  I don’t know what is going on with that.  I have been eating clean, but the scale isn’t supporting me.  I can blame it on only getting in two exercise sessions this week.  Things just came up this week that didn’t allow me to get it in.  There was a massage, rain, an unexpected visit from my mom, drug testing for my new job (I start it on Monday) and just all around business this week.  The only other thing I can think of is that my portion size must be too big.  I am eating a lot of nuts.  I know they have a lot of calories so that could be to blame.  A big portion of the snacks in this new eating plan involve nuts of some sort.  So, with that being said I am going to work on scaling down the portions and being more mindful of how many nuts I eat.  I am also going to get in more exercise this week.  I want to see a good loss on the scale at the end of the week. 

On to happier things.  We went to a local amusement park this weekend.  We played some mini golf.  It was the kids first time and I captured a couple of pictures of them.  It was pretty cute.  We made it through about half the holes before the kids got cranky. 

We went on a couple of rides, did the batting cages and played some arcade games.  It was nice to get out and have some fun. 

Last night I caught my kids actually sitting next to each other in my sons room watching tv. 

This last picture is just because my daughter looks so cute in it. 

Have a great week everyone. 

RFSC Wk 4 and GFCTC Week 2 update

I’m late posting this week so I’ll make this short.

Last week weight: 208.4

This week weight: 208.2

After a 5 pound loss last week I went back up during the week and then ended the week at 208.2.  It’s like my body said ha ha you thought you going to keep losing big, but nope, not a chance.  It was time for the monthly visitor last week so maybe that had something to do with it.  I’m just glad I ended the week with a loss as small as it is.

My husband was home all last week during the evening and it screwed up my exercise. I only got in two time last week although I was up and doing stuff in the house getting ready for my son’s new bunk bed.  My food intake was the same as last week. We are starting week 3 of the food plan.  I can’t say that I really feel any differently by cutting out Gluten, Dairy and Sugar, but we still have 4 weeks on this plan to find out.

Goals for the week:  Get in my exercise and drink my water. 

RFSC Week 3 Update and GFCTC Week 1 Update

Hello all,  This week was spot on with food and much better with exercise.  My husband and I started a new 6 week food plan that eliminates gluten, dairy and most sugar.  The goal is to find out how we feel after we have been doing this for 6 weeks then after 6 weeks you reintroduce foods and see if start to feel bad after eating them.  We have officially completed week one and WOW on the weigh loss for the week.

Last week weight: 214
This week weight: 208.4
Lost this week: 5.6 pounds

I took a picture because I couldn't believe it.

How could I NOT lose weight eliminating a bunch of stuff I normally eat.  It's amazing how I could resist eating things when I had it in my mind that I couldn't eat it because it wasn't part of the plan.  I struggled on Saturday night when we were at someones house and they had pizza there.  I REALLY wanted one, but I didn't eat it.  I ate the fruit and the veggies instead.  I supplemented later with a protein shake.  I just wonder if the great weigh loss will keep up this week.  I also did more exercise this week.

Monday- run/walk
Tuesday - n/a
Wednesday - run/walk
Thursday - Yoga plus weights dvd (This was my new exercise I tried for a prior weeks mini challenge)
Friday - n/a
Saturday - n/a
Sunday - run/ walk

I'm so excited about being so close to "ONE"derland.  This week I will try do exactly the same thing I did last week.

On a side note not related to this post; There is a baby who was born Saturday who will need surgery to repair a congenital birth defect.  Please pray for the baby as well as the doctors and nurses working on him and that the surgery will go well and he will have a quick recovery.  Thank you.

RFSC Update Week 2 and GFC2C Initial Post

This week was a little better than last week.  My eating started out a little ehh, but then ended really good.  I still didn't get in much exercise due to my lingering cold that doesn't fully want to go away.  I did walk at lunch a couple of days this week and I went on a bike ride on Saturday.  Still not where I want to be, but better than the week before.

Last Week Weight: 215.2
This week Weight: 214  The pictures  below will serve as my initial Get Fit Coast to Coast Challenge weight.

I ate several new foods this week which was the mini challenge for the first week.  As far as the mini challenge last week, I really didn't try any new exercises this week.  Maybe this week I'll get to it.  Goals for this week, still the same as last week.

I hope everyone had a great week and I'll try to get around to some of you this week and show my support.

RFSC update Week 1, week 2 goals

I failed this week on the weight loss front.  My starting weight for the challenge was 213.4 and as of yesterday I was 215.2.  I GAINED 1.8 pounds.  This is due to lack of exercise because I was, and still am, sick.  I also didn’t make the best food choices all the time.  I own this gain and have only myself to blame for putting the food in my mouth.  I guess this is something that I really need to work on.  I was really motivated to workout at the beginning of last week and boom I get hit with a cold and it derailed all my plans.  I managed one workout on Tuesday before the cold hit me and then the gardening on Saturday.  That is not going to help me lose weight.  I think I am getting better, but I’m not over the cold yet.  I managed to get in a 20 minute walk at lunch today.  My plan is to go home and get in some weights since that doesn’t really require me to be fully healthy.  I would like to run tomorrow, but we will see if I’m feeling up to it.

Week 2 goals are the same as last week since I didn’t accomplish them last week. 

Exercise: lets get some in this week okay?!

Drink at least 64oz of water each day

Lose 2 pounds.

Thank you to those of you who have been leaving me comments. I really appreciate them.  I have been reading some of the challengers posts, but don’t comment as much because it’s so much work to comment on my phone and that is where I read most of the time.  I have read some who have been struggling like me and others who are doing great.  I want to be part of the great group next week.  Have a good week everyone.

Exercise in an unexpected way

I'm still sick so I have been taking it easy and haven't been running this week.  However my  husband and I have been talking about putting in a garden in the backyard.  He even bought the planter box on the internet.  Well we decided we would put it up yesterday.  There were quite a few weeds to pull in the designated spot so I was doing a lot of squatting to pull out the weeds.  Well today I feel those squats in my thighs.  So despite being sick and not wanting to do an organized exercise I still got some exercise in by working on the garden.  Here are a few pictures of the garden area as well as what the other side of the backyard looks like.

As you can see we cheated a little on some plants already ready.  We bought two green bell peppers, 1 orange bell pepper, 1 red bell pepper, 1 zucchini, 1 strawberry, and 1 roma tomato.  However, we did plant seeds for some lettuce and onions. We have been slowly adding grass to the back yard.  When we bought it the back was all rocks and those two tree bushes.  We still want to add a border to the edge of the grass area and then some stone borders around the garden box.  We will probably add a few more individual pots too. But it's a start.  I'm excited to get some fresh vegetable from our own backyard.

Hero Rush

This week hasn't gone as planned.  I'm SICK with a cold.  I did my workout on Tuesday night and then on Wednesday I started to feel like I was getting sick and Thursday morning I woke up with the cold.  I feel yucky and it has screwed  up my exercise plans for the week.  I didn't work to hard at the food this week either.

But, once I am over this cold I will be working hard at my exercise.  I have something to work towards now.  You see, I signed up for Hero Rush.  It looks like it's going to be an awesome obstacle course inspired by fire fighters everyday tasks.

Go check it out, I'll wait.

Okay, now that you're back, doesn't that look like fun!  It will require me to get in better shape though.  I have a lot of work to do to prepare for OBSTACLES.  My husband is doing it with me though and I told him he has to stay with me through the whole course in case I need help. haha

All I need now is to get over this STUPID cold.  UGH, I hate being sick!