Monday, May 31, 2010

Mamavation Monday Week 5

I had a much better week this week. But I will be honest I haven't stepped on the scale. Maybe its so I don't have to face the numbers, but I really just don't care about the number so much. I do WANT to lose and NEED to lose about 40 lbs (officially more, but at 130 I felt healthy when I was smaller I was sick a lot) but right now I am just really trying to focus on healthy living, in hopes that it will result in the changes I desire. I will check the scale peridocially and I plan to post my weight most weeks, but this week I didn't get on the scale early this morning as I prefer to do.

So how was this week better, first off my water intake was so-so, on the good days I did great and then days like yesterday I feel back into my old habit of nursing one glass of lemonade all day (I told you I was like a camel). Most days I did well with the water so I am happy about that.

And I was MUCH more active this week. I will admit to only doing 2 formal exercise sessions, BUT I was outside working around the yard and my parents garden a LOT. do you know how hard hoeing a garden can be, lol. And then I helped my mom paint her living room, no easy task either, and I swear we were trying to do it in record time. That was a hard day. Plus I have been enjoying the nice weather and getting out with the kids as much as possible. Having 6 kids (my 3 plus 3 I am keeping for the summer) around sure keeps me from sitting too much.

So overall I am happy with my week. Could I have done better, absolutely, it was far from a perfect week. But we are making healthier choices (minus the kit-kat the kids talked me into at the store which we shared, one stick a piece).

My goals this week.

Lots of fruits and veggies this week. We have a fridge/freezer full of strawberries from a local strawberry festival. and huge bowl of watermelon to eat. As well as some fresh from the garden lettuce and radishes (gonna try that roasted radish and onion recipe someone posted on twitter). I love this time of the year, so much fresh produce. And my parents have 2 peach trees that are about to fall over with peaches, they are small but should be ripe in a week or 2. YAY peaches. Oh and the zuchini will be big enough to start picking maybe as early as tomorrow. YUM

Keep up the water. I am learning to accept its existence, and maybe one day I will drink it out of enjoyment, but I can sure tell when I need to drink it out of necessity. Last night I had another headache before bed, and as I said above no water during the day was most likely the reason. I will learn, eventually.

STAY busy, get active, MOVE. I love my walking workouts, and even occasionally a torture session w/ Jillian or Bob, but I love even more getting my exercise while actually doing something. Mowing the lawn or working in the garden. Such a sense of accomplishment when you are done and you know that sweat was earned. Love it!!

I love Monday's now more than ever, and I am really excited for tonights MamavationTV. I have been following Pete Cohen on twitter and love his advice and I am really excited to see in live and in person in our hour tonight. Thanks for taking time out for the mamavation sistas.

Congrats to Jessica @fringies for being the Sista of the Week.

I hope you are all having a great day.

Monday, May 24, 2010

Mamavation Monday Week 4

Are you sure it is Monday already? Where has the week gone? If that is any indication of how my week went, it sure didn't go the way I had hoped. I was super busy, it was the last week of school after all. Why on earth did I expect it to be an easy week. And then to top it all off my oldest daughter fell off a playground while we were on a little day trip to St. Louis and ended up taking a trip to the ER via ambulance. That was not a good day or a good way to start summer vacation.

I am super frustrated with myself this week. I woke up this morning mad at myself. I cant seem to finish anything. That is how I feel at least. I start lots of stuff, sewing projects, scrap books, books to read, weight loss journeys, etc etc but how many do I actually finish? I feel like such a quitter. Not that I want to quit, I don't, but I just don't keep up what I start. I want to keep going I just don't think I know how. Blah I feel like a mental case.

So today I haven't even weighed in, maybe I will later and post an update, I don't know. Just kind of mad at myself right now. BUT and that is a big one. I am NOT giving up. This week WILL be a better week. I know I said that last week too, but I really want it to be better.

I have really enjoyed getting to know Rachel and Kim the last few weeks while they were the Mamavation Moms. I am excited to see their journey continue. And Thank You to Subway for hosting our Mamavation Carnival this week. We love Subway around here. I love that I can feed my kids healthy quick and fresh food for a decent price. And they love that they can pick and chose the veggies and topping they like. Its a Win Win all around.

I have to say I am REALLY excited about Tuesdays Biggest Loser Finale. I LOVE that show!!! And knowing I will get to watch it with all my mamavation momma friends makes it even better. Just know that I am giving up a Miche purse party for you all. lol I really hope america gives Daris another chance. I think we all know what it is like to make a mistake. He has done such a great job up til now and I think it is good that he showed his weakness, now others can better help support him during his hard times. But I love Koli-bear too, and he definitely deserves to be in the final 3 too, so I am very torn. They all deserve to be there, they have all worked really hard. Can't wait to see who wins and how hot Ashley gets, she is a beautiful girl and I just really love her.

So my goals for this week, I am keeping it simple.

3 days of exercise, something. Anything

and 3-4 glasses of water a day.

That shouldn't be too much to ask of myself. Lets hope.

Monday, May 17, 2010

Mamavation Monday Week 3 for me!!

Ok I really don't know why I put the exclamation point in the title because it hasn't been an exclamation point kind of week, but I am a positive thinker so I am still excited about my Mamavation Monday post.

First lets back track a min. I want to post a couple of before pics. Well almost before I have lost a little but I toke these pics this week and want to post them as my reminder when I get skinny. :D




So where it went wrong this week. I was in a blah mood and just not feeling like exercise much. I did go on a hike with my sister on Saturday but otherwise I didn't do much.

What I did right or pretty good at least. I did keep up with my water (for the most part) I didn't keep track too well this weekend but I was drinking some so I think I did alright. Every week I am trying to up my goal for water instead of saying I am going to start out w/ 6-8 glasses a day I started with 2-3. I am just not a water drinker. So this week my goal is to get 4-5 glasses a day or about 50 oz a day. Eventually I would like to get to about 85 oz a day (1/2 of my starting weight which was 170 lbs). I also did pretty reasonable with watching what I ate. I do think I need to keep a journal of what I eat, but right now that seems too time consuming and I am trying to focus my extra energy on getting my water and getting exercise in.

I will also say that I did see the water helping again this week. I don't feel the urge to snack as much through the day as before. I still eat 4-5 small meals (try to keep them between 200 and 300 cal each)but I am not munching on crackers or other stuff in between as much. I just keep reminding my self this is a life change process so all these baby steps will count toward a much bigger picture.

While I am cutting back on snacks I am really pushing my kids to do the same, we are a house full of snackers. Right now it isn't an issue for my girls their weights are perfectly fine and they are very active, but I was skinny as a kid too so I figure if I help set a healthy example now hopefully they won't fall into the same traps that I have as an adult.

The results for this week are I didn't gain but I didn't lose. I guess that is ok considering I really wasn't very active. But I am not giving up. This week will be better. :)

So my goals for this week.

Get my exercise in. 3-4 day a week. PERIOD!! Nothing will stop me.

Drink 4-5 glasses or around 50 oz of water each day. Baby steps.

Encourage my sister to get started too. We are trying to get in a routine of walking a few times a week. So hopefully we can really start kicking that into gear.

Want to more about what these Mamavation Monday posts are about check out Mamavation. I am excited that Mamavation is starting an OpenSky shop. Who doesn't love to shop and right now it is planned for the proceeds to go to charity or someone in need. I can't wait to hear more about the plans.

Have a great week everyone, I can't wait to report back next week with a much better week.

Monday, May 10, 2010

Some new recipes

I love to cook new things. and since I am working on trimming my waistline I have been especially interested in healthier options. Here are a couple of hits from the past week.

Crock Pot Southwestern Chicken

1 (15-ounce) can whole kernel corn, drained

1 (11-ounce) can Mexicorn, drained

1 (15-ounce) can black beans, rinsed and drained

1 (16-ounce) jar chunky salsa (divided use)

6 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves, rinsed and dried

Flour tortillas

Shredded cheddar cheese

Combine the cans of corn, beans and half the salsa in slow-cooker. Top with the chicken. Pour remaining sauce over.

Cover and cook first hour on High, then either 3 more hours on High or 6 on Low until meat juices run clear. Serve with warm tortillas; top with cheese.

Makes 4 to 6 servings.
For those of you who don't know me, I can't just follow the recipe as it is. Sooo... I cooked up my own dried black beans to add instead of using canned and instead of canned corn and mexi-corn I used frozen w/ some added bell peppers and onions. And because it was what I had I used bean and corn salsa.

This was very good, kind of reminds me of the inside of a southwestern eggroll. The first night I served it with cornbread instead of tortillas, then I shredded up the leftover chicken to make burritos later in the week. It was a hit with mom and kids alike.

Another new favorite I have been making for me (my kids won't touch shrimp) is from the Biggest Loser cookbook. I love this for a light quick lunch.

Old Bay Shrimp Lettuce Wraps (or sometimes I just put them on top of a bowl of lettuce for a salad)
for one serving I use

1 1/2 teaspoon low-fat mayo
1 1/2 teaspoon fat-free plain yogurt (or ff sour cream, or even garlic hummus when I was out of both of those)
1/2 teaspoon or so fresh lime or lemon juice
1/8-1/4 teaspoon of Old Bay low sodium Seasoning
4 oz of peeled and devined cooked shrimp (all I could find where the ones w/ tail on, so I just have to remove the tails first)(thaw by rinsing in cool water for a couple min)
3-4 pieces of leaf lettuce (bibb lettuce is recommended I use romaine)

Prepare shrimp by rinsing in cool water until thawed (if frozen)and remove any shell or tail parts.

Combine the mayo, yogurt, juice and seasoning in a bowl. Then toss the shrimp in the sauce. Divide between the lettuce leaves to make a lettuce wrap. Or make a large salad of lettuce (no dressing) and top with shrimp let the mayo sauce be the lettuce dressing.

Very filling. I tried it once on a tortilla and it was too much food for me, much better just on lettuce.

One serving is 182 cal, 14 g protein, 3 g carb, 1 g fat.

MY Wii Loves Mii --Mamavation Monday

And I love my Wii. I have never been a video game person, but when I heard about the Wii a few years ago I though, that is one system I think I could play. I wanted one and wanted one, but the hubs didn't think it was "cool" enough for him, so we never got one. Well then I ditched the hubs (well he ditched me, but that's a whole other story). So one of the first things on my list was to get a Wii for me and for my girls. They had played it with friends and my niece so I knew that even the little ones could have fun with it. And boy have we. Quickly after getting it I knew I wanted the balance board, so I got it with the Wii Fit Plus game. I love that it tracks my progress and the activities are designed to make me more fit. The other day it gave me a tip that I could track activities I do outside of the Wii and I got really excited, but I couldn't figure out how to access this Activity Log. Well if you don't know either here are the directions Straight from the Wii Fit Plus Instruction Manual.
Tracking Training Outside of Wii Fit Plus
In Graph under Fit Credits, you can also
record and track any activity done outside
of Wii Fit Plus. Select Activity Log, and enter
the intensity and time spent exercising.
In the Waist and Steps graphs, you can
enter your waist size and the number
of steps you’ve taken in a day. Choose
Record and enter the value.
* You can enter values in the Activity Log, Waist,
and Steps graphs for babies and pets
as well.


I am so glad to find this info, and look forward to tracking all my activities not just what I do on the Wii.

So how did I do this week. Well I got in 4 days of exercise, and I met my personal goal for drinking at least 2 glasses of water a day every day except yesterday (and surprise I woke up this am with a headache so lesson learned). And I am down.... (drum roll please) 1.5 lbs this week. That puts me at 166 and 4 lbs total lost (starting weight of 170). I am very pleased with my progress. I know that small losses equal lifelong changes. Of course I would be ecstatic to see a big loss but I am happy just to be moving in the right direction. :) YAY ME!!

ETA: Holy Freaking WOW!! I am excited, I found some old body measurements that I took in January, I have lost 2 inches from my waist and 1 from each thigh. I am freaking stoked!! *happy Dance*

So my goals for this week.

1) Eat at least 2 fruit and 3 veggie servings a day. I love fruits and veggies, I just don't tend to grab them when I am looking for something to munch on. So I want to do that more.

2) Continue to get at least 4 days of work out in. I did it last week I can do it again this week I am sure. And I am going to challenge myself to get in at least one day of a harder routine.

3)Continue to drink 2-3 glasses of water a day. I am realizing how quickly my body is adapting to this change and needing that water. This is a habit I need to form. There are lots of enhanced water products out there, AquaHydrate is one of them. What it offers that others don't is a way to improve focus, sports performance and ability to recover after intense workouts. This is because AquaHydrate is specially formulated with a unique combination of ionic minerals and an alkaline pH in an ultra-pure water.

I hope you all have a great week, and do your best to get a little healthy this week, too. :)

Thursday, May 6, 2010

My Blog title

I don't even know if anyone reads this, maybe I am just rambling on to myself. If I am that is ok. I sometimes talk out loud to myself when I am doing my chores. Sometimes I ask myself questions and SOMETIMES I even answer myself. Admit it, you do to. SOMETIMES.

Ok so where was I going.. Oh yeah my Blog title. Incase anyone out there doesn't know what it is about. Well of course it has a LOT to do with the fact that I have 3 children of the female persuasion and we even adopted a female pooch. But it also has to do with my all time favorite movie, Annie. Do you know it? Do you have it practically memorized like I do? Do you sometimes break out into a chorus of "The sun'll come out TOMORROW...." like I do (ask my girls)? I love it. Well in the movie Miss Hannigan sings a song called "Little Girls." One night while watching the movie with my parents I realize that song should be my song (well not all the lyrics but some of them) and it made me laugh. A few weeks later I wanted to spruce up my blog and have some kind of twist on something from Annie and then I realized that was it.

So in case you care or what to know what this song is. Keep in mind if you don't know this movie that Ms. Hannigan is the operator of a girls orphanage during the depression. Enjoy! (oh and if you read this, won't you post a comment so I know I am not alone out here. :)

Wednesday, May 5, 2010

Not so Wordless Wednesday

I never understood those "wordless Wednesday" post they are rarely wordless. lol

So today I am frustrated at myself and my lack of motivation. It seems that the more I try to motivate myself the more of a slacker I become. I am happy to report that my slacking has NOT resulted in a gain of weight so far, but I am not losing either. And I haven't lost enough yet to be at a plateau, I just suck at being consistent. My problems I like food, I don't like water or exercise. There I said it. What does that get me? NOTHING I know. lol The warmer it gets outside the less I want to do. But before my excuse was it was too cold. So go figure right. I need to start a food journal, like a real one, I have tried writing things down in a note book but that just isn't that handy.

I keep thinking I should suck it up and try to get a gym membership, but I really can't afford one, and certainly can't afford to have one I don't use. I wish there was a simple answer, but there isn't. I have several workout videos some of which I enjoy doing, others that challenge me more than I can handle most of the time. Both are good, in there own ways, but I find myself avoiding the challenging ones and sticking with the not so challenging ones. I guess some exercise is better than none.

And then there is that mean ole Wii (and Wii Fit Plus). I will say it finally has my age in the 30's which is good considering I think the first day it said I was like 74 or something. Finally yesterday it tells me I am not getting on there often enough, but it isn't my only form of exercise, it also tells me I can log my other exercises in an Activity log, problem is I don't know how to find said activity log. So that was rather pointless. I am using it as my official scale since I don't really like my bathroom scale (maybe because it is one my ex insisted we buy and I think it is a piece of crap).

So if anyone is out there and bothers reading any of this tell me 2 things. What do you use as a food journal and how can I find the Activity Log on the Wii Fit Plus?

Thanks for letting me vent my frustrations. :)

Monday, May 3, 2010

My First Mamavation Monday

So what is that exactly? I don't know exactly yet, I will be honest. What I do know is that Mamavation seems to be a great network of women that are supporting each other in their fitness and weigh loss efforts. I need that kind of support and motivation so I have been trying to keep up with them (an effort I am failing miserably at right now) on twitter. But what I do manage catch I can tell these ladies are on a mission to support each other, and that is awesome.

So what is my status. Well, I am on a mission to lose 40 lbs. I can't believe that number actually, where did it all come from. Can I still blame it on my kids, the youngest is 3 1/2 years old? I blame them. Just kidding I did gain most of it during my pregnancies, but I have packed on some of it after as well. But now I am working on ME!

To date I have lost about 3 lbs. I have really been focusing on my eating habits and being more aware of what I am eating. Before I was a snacker, I still am honestly, but now I try to write down what I am eating or at least think about how much I have had already during the day and trying to stay close to a certain amount each day. It is tough but not as tough as I thought it would be. I still occasionally have a doughnut or a McDonald's Frappe, but when I do I know that it means I have to really stick to my plan the rest of the day. And I am losing weight, slow and steady. I am also fitting in more exercise. Not as much as I would like but more than I ever used to do, so that is something. And I like it too, and can tell when I need to do more. Like today, my legs hurt, A LOT, I need to break out a walk at home video or do some yoga stretches.

Some of the mamavation moms have been talking about Earth shoes, those sound really cool. Wish I had some. So here is my shameless plug hoping for a chance to win some. (I am not too proud to beg) They do sound pretty amazing though, and hey you can't win if you don't enter, right. :D

So my goals for this week.

1) Get in at least 4 days of exercise. More would be great and I need to push past 3 days a week, I can do that easily but trying to get in 4 or more days seems to be hard for me. That is my goal.

2) DRINK WATER. I won't say more water because I will be honest, I almost NEVER drink any water at all. My poor kidneys are gonna give up on me one day because of the torture I put them through. I should know I have a BS in Nutrition for goodness sake. I just don't like the plain ole stuff, I have to spruce it up. But my goal this week is to drink at least 2 glasses of water a day. that will be huge for me to accomplish. seriously it is that bad.

3) And this goal will seem silly to some of you, but I hope to figure out this whole twitter thing once and for all. Maybe my brain is just too slow or I am just too impatient but I don't really understand what is going on with all the @--- and #--- stuff. I am trying but I just... well I don't. haha

Hope everyone is ready for a great week. I am!