My favorite time of the day...kids are in bed sleeping like little angels, and I can finally just relax and enjoy the peace and quiet. Sometimes I don't know what I stay so busy doing, but I feel like I am constantly busy doing something. I'm not complaining, it's nice having things to do, it helps me stay active and not sit around all day wasting time on Pinterest or Facebook or snacking. It also helps me to enjoy the down times and not feel bored out of my mind, but just enjoy getting to relax and rest. But anyways, I've been helping with Awanas at our church. I help with the Sparkies class (kindergarten - 2nd grade). I get to listen to them recite the Bible verses they've learned and help them if they're having trouble with one. I really enjoy it. They are all such sweet kids. They can get pretty loud and have soooo much energy (how can I get some of that??) but I just love getting to hang out with them every week, and I love that they love coming every week and they each try sooo hard at memorizing their verses. So cool! I finished my 10th day of the Shred! I'm still on level 1, but I think I'm going to move on to level 2 tomorrow. I'm a little nervous because I've heard level 2 is the hardest of all 3, but I know I can do it. I definitely feel my body toning up, everything feels firmer to me. I don't really see the difference in the mirror, but I'm not going to do comparisons until I've finished the 30 days. I also did my 2nd day of Couch to 5k running this morning. Much better than the first! I didn't have to walk any of my running times!! Woo hoo! 1 more day of that this week and then next week I think it bumps up my running time and downs my walking time. Tonight I tried a recipe I found on Pinterest (shocking). It was these Tuna burgers. I'm not like a huge fan of tuna, but they sounded good and it sounded like something everyone in the fam might like, and it was healthy, so I gave it a try. They were pretty good. They smelled soo good as I was putting the ingredients together and they were fairly easy to make. You can find the recipe here . I also made a citrus coleslaw recipe that I found in a random cookbook I have. It had the coleslaw cabbages and carrots and then you add lemon or orange yogurt and some mandarin oranges. It was different but pretty good. I have several recipes I want to try, I'll try to take pictures of the ones that are good enough to share. Well, so much for my sleeping angels, Abby woke up and made her way in here and is now watching Barbie videos on my phone. Time to get her back in bed. Night!

Well, I started my Couch to 5k running today....I honestly thought it would be alot easier. You start with a 5 minute warm up of walking and then you alternate running for 60 seconds and walking for 90 for 20 minutes. It totally kicked my butt. The last running interval I had to walk. I'm not gonna give up thought! I know I can do this. I also did my 30 day shred today after I ran (you may think I'm crazy again, but the running is only 3 days a week). So I figured the shred would be fairly easy today. I'm still on level 1, but it totally kicked my butt today too! What's the deal?!?! I pushed through it but I did have to rest a couple times. Oh well, I'm not giving up on that either (by the way I've completed my first full week, I didn't even skip it on Sunday!) I've found that I'm keeping myself busy with exercising, kid duties, errands, things being done around the house, etc, that I don't have much time to blow my calorie count, I just don't have the time! Which is perfectly fine with me! I did get on the scale today and I only lost 2 lbs. which would usually be discouraging to me, but I'm telling myself that I'm building muscle. That's another thing, I didn't set a weight goal for myself. I know that I want to lose at least 20 lbs. but mainly I just want to drop sizes, and if I can do that by gaining muscle and losing fat, then I'm all for it! But most importantly, I want to be healthy and have energy! I did have pizza last night with my family, and I honestly probably overdid it, but I really didn't feel guilty about it, which is very unusual when I eat something like that. I think I didn't feel guilty about eating it because I knew I had done pretty good the rest of the day and I've been workin' my booty off with exercise. i know I can't justify like that all the time thought, and I don't plan on it! I know it's early, but I bought an Easter dress a couple weeks ago because I loved it and I got a killer deal on it! But, I got it a size smaller than I thought I needed. Well, I decided to try it on the other night and it fit like a glove! I was surprised, and a little dissapointed because now I don't really have to work at getting into it. But now, I want it to be too big so I can take it in and have it fit like a glove! I feel like I'm pretty vague as far as my weight, size and goal, but that's mainly because I'm not quite confident enough to post all that stuff for the world to see. I did take before pics (as I probably already mentioned)and I really want to post them, but I need to have some good progress to compare them to, so when I get there, I will share. So, those are my goals for now. What are your goals?

Just finished my workout, day 6! I was honestly kinda worried about getting my workout in on the weekend since everyone is usually home. But I took care of that! David left to go hang out with a friend and I sent the kids to their rooms to clean them (ha!)

I found a recipe on Pinterest for these Banana Oatmeal Cups that looked like something my whole family would like. David is always wanting something easy he can grab for breakfast that will keep him full until lunch, I want something healthy for Ben that won't mess with his allergies, something dairy free for Abby, and something healthy and low calorie for me. These cups worked for everyone! The recipe calls for mini chocolate chips but I substituted raisins instead. You could easily use apples, blueberries, orange zest, cranberries, strawberries...anything! They were super easy to make and really good! Not too sweet, not bland, very moist on the inside, and only 115 calories each!


Well, sounds like I need to go "encourage" the kiddos to finish cleaning so we can enjoy this beautiful Cali weather. Hope everyone has a good weekend!

Whew! I'm glad this week is almost over! I usually don't stay this busy, but I have been on the go. I've been helping with the yearbook class at Ben's school and have been busy with that, church, dr's appointments and other errands that needed to be done. I HAVE been doing my 30 Day Shred though! Day 1 I had trouble keeping up, just did not have the endurrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrance, but I wasn't very sore at all the next day. Day 2 I had a little more endurance and was able to keep up better but my arms got sore (which I don't mind! Means I'm working em'). After day 3 my calves were super sore! Today I completed day 4 and I'm kinda surprised at how quickly my body has adjusted already. I have more endurance, I can finish each set withought having to stop and take a rest. I'm not saying it's gotten easier (you should see the sweat that pours off of me) but it has gotten easier to keep up.

Food wise, I've been pretty consistent in tracking my calories, today not so much because I was super busy and am just now sitting down, but I know I still did well. It's easy to make smart choices when you have smart options in your fridge. I stocked up on a variety of fruits (apples, oranges, peaches, bananas) and lots of veggies. I was telling my mom on the phone today that we have started keeping ONLY water in the house to drink (excluding cows milk and almond milk). If you know how we have been, then you know what a milestone that is. I think ever since David and I have been married (7 years) we have kept soda, sweet tea, sweetened green tea, juice, etc. in the fridge at all times. I've always been a big water drinker, but the kids and David not so much. My dad installed this RO water unit (reverse osmosis) in our sink awhile back and it just makes the water taste sooo fresh and you know it's good for you. I suggest these units to everyone! They cost about $150 at Lowes(or at least for the one we got) for the starter kit and you only have to change the filters every several months (mine seem like they last forever!) and then you have to change the membrane once a year. We don't waste money on bottled water anymore, we just fill up from our sink and again, we KNOW we are getting good water. Anyways, I'm very pleased that the only drink option we have in our home is water and so it makes everyone have to drink water (or I guess just be thirsty!)

Well, time to get the kids bathed and in bed. Talk to y'all soon!

Feelin' Good

So, I've completed day 2 of the shred! I thought i would be way more sore, but I'm not too bad! But man, that is a WORKOUT! Jillian has no mercy, but I'm sure that's how the results are found. I haven't started the running yet, I thought I would give myself this week to get used to the shred workout. I'm loving that I'm not sitting around craving bad for me food. I think I'm just in the 'zone' where I'm determined to lose this weight and nothing else matters. I do believe that you have to be 100% determined to lose weight/get in shape before you start, otherwise, you're probably just going to give up. In the past I have started diets or exercise half heartedly and gave up fairly quickly. I finally got totally disgusted with my eating habits and the fit of my clothes and just how I felt internally to actually take charge and do something about it. And once again, I'm excited about it!

On another note, both of my babies are sick. Ben is feeling better so he went on to school today, but Abby is sniffling and coughing. We've got a busy week ahead, so I hope this sickiness doesn't get any worse! Speaking of being busy, I have to keep telling myself that no matter how "busy" I am, I can always carve out 30 minutes to exercise, even if I have to get up before everyone else to get it done. I'm making it a priority. I'll try to start posting more pictures (of what I'm not sure, probably just randomness). Hope y'all have a good day! I'll leave you with a picture from Christmas in Texas that I finally downloaded. We went to the Ice show at the Gaylord, sooo much fun!

Long Time No See!

Sorry for the disappearance! Life is busy with 2 kids, especially since Ben has started school. But anyways, I have decided to kinda revamp this blog. As most of you know, ever since I had Ben I have struggled with losing the 'baby weight'. Kinda ridiculous now that he is 6, almost 7 years old! I'm tired of the up and down weight loss, the here and there exercise and the crazy eating habits! So after getting fed up with the scale and my clothes and being encouraged by friends posts on facebook about their weight loss and reading strangers blogs about weight loss, i have come up with a plan!

My goal is to update this blog every day (or as often as possible) with the things I eat, the exercises I accomplish and the goals I reach. I figure if I write this for the world to see, I can't just give up, that would be embarassing! I want to be healthy for my kids and a good example for them to live their lives, and maybe even an encouragement to someone out there! So here is my plan...

My plan is to eat 1200 - 1500 calories a day and track it! I found an app on my phone called My Fitness Pal. You can track your calories, exercise and even water intake. I plan on eating mostly whole foods (the good stuff), and drinking lots of water. I'm not willing to give up caffeine right now (hey, I've got 2 kids to keep up with!) but I want to drink it in moderation, only 1 cup of coffee in the mornings. As far as exercise, this may seem a little extreme to some of you, but this is what I really want to do! I've been wanting to do this for awhile now, and finally decided to just do it! No, I'm not planning on running a 5K, but i want to see if I can do it. I've just recently actually enjoyed running, but my endurance is aweful! I want to work on that and thought this would be a good way. I'm going to follow the Couch-to-5K Running Plan It seems very doable to me. Also, I'm going to do Jillian Michaels '30 Day Shred'.

I'm really excited about all of this! I know I can do it! I'm going to take before and after pictures so that I can see the change, but I may not post them on here for awhile, just don't think I can put that much of myself out yet! Ha! I'm off to start my journey, talk to you soon!