8 Weeks!

So, my hope for this weeks weigh in was to be down to 249.4 which would make it 25 pounds down in the last 8 weeks. I didn't make it quite there but I was SO close! My weight was 249.6! Only .2 pounds away from a total of 25 pounds. Lately I have been seeing amazing results from the changes I have made in my life. I don't want to call it a diet because it's not a diet. It's not something I am going to be doing for a little while to get where I want and then stop doing it. That would result in me gaining it back just like any other time I have dieted. No, this is a LIFE CHANGE. One I am feeling great about. I have noticed my clothes fitting a lot better or even getting baggy and needing a belt. Well, last night I was brushing my teeth and looked in the mirror...guess what I noticed! My double chin is almost gone!! LOL I was so excited that I ran into my room and pointed it out to Ken. Today I took a picture of myself and compared it to a picture I took of Jacob and I in July. I can see a pretty big difference! I love noticing these differences. It makes me that much more motivated to keep losing the weight and finding more differences.

Last night I was doing my exercising and Jacob came in about half way through and was doing it with me. He is so cute when he is trying to do the exercises. He also helps me in a big way. He distracts me from how hard they are because I am laughing at him and before I know it, I am done!

I can't believe that I am already just about a third of the way to my goal! WOW! I just realized that! In 8 weeks, I have managed to get 1/3 of the weight off that I want off. I only need 51 more pounds until I am at my goal! How exciting is that?! VERY!!

I am tired already but still need to do my exercise. Jacob is watching Thomas the Train right now so as soon as he is done, I am going to do my exercise, cool down, shower, then go to bed! It will still be around an hour and a half before I get to bed through :./ I guess I will live though.

The Good Byes of week 7

Another 1.6 pounds gone! That makes it almost 22 pounds in 7 weeks! I can't believe I have lost that much that fast. When I did weight watchers before I got preggo with Jacob, it took me about 7 months to lose 35 pounds. I am way ahead of that schedule thanks to the exercising I have been doing! Today is day 19 of 30ds. I have missed 1 day though so it's going to be my 31ds! :o) This week I am going to start yoga as well with Christina (Kyle's friend Nathan's mom) That is going to be on Thursdays and Fridays. One of my other friends Naomi might start as well.

Speaking of Naomi, the boys and I met her and her kids at the park the other day and then we went to her house to let them all play the next day. The boys were having so much fun they didn't want to leave. Jacob actually told me that he wanted to live with Miss Naomi instead of leaving with me! LOL

I found a yummy looking recipe for stuffed colored baby bell peppers. Looks so good I am going to make them in a little bit. Though, I don't know what to make with them. I guess I can do them as part of dinner and have our meat and those...and something else. Maybe salad or something. :-/ I hate having to figure out whats for dinner all the time! LOL

I started Jacob on preschool stuff this last week. He started learning how to write the letter A. He is actually doing pretty good at it too! This week we will be starting the letter B :o) I am so happy that I have two boys the learn so quickly. I always thought Kyle was so good with his learning and such but Jacob is even more so! I think it helps a lot that he has Kyle to look up to and learn from. I am so proud of my boys. Kyle has been happy about starting his new school. His favorite thing about it is the swings still. LOL Every day when we walk home from the bus stop, I ask him how he day at school was. He always tells me first about his lunch and what he had. 

Jacob had an appt today to get his iron checked. Our appt was at 11. At 11:15, I asked how much longer before the nurse called us back. The lady said they only had one nurse today and she was with someone. "Isn't an appt at 11 with the nurse actually an appt at 11 with the nurse?" I asked. Well...yeah...let me call her again, I have already called her twice....and the side of the convo I heard went ..."Have you even called back your 10:30 appt yet? Well, he is here and so is your 11:00 appt and they are complaining about having to keep waiting so long...." Then a few mins later a lady came out and was walking around behind the counter with the check in ladies...then like 5 mins later she called back her 10:30 appt. Mind you, it's already about 11:20...so the poor guy's been there for just about an hour waiting and no, he hadn't complained only I had lol. Then the other check in lady calls me up there and tells me the nurse is running late "Yes, I know that since it's 20 mins after my appt time already. How much longer is she supposed to be late?" her reply "Umm..well like 25 mins" me: "This is crazy. You guys expect me to wait an hour here with a 3 year old? It's bad enough for me to have to wait here but making a 3 year old wait is even worse. Just have someone else poke his finger and write down the darn numbers...I could even do that!" them: "It has to be the nurse only." me: "Is there a number I could call to complain about the service you guys are giving then?" they gave me the number and I called...left a message because who would expect the lady to actually be in her office answering the phone on a work day?! That was at 11:30a...and I still haven't heard from her here at 2:30p. Good thing was that the guy before me didn't take long so we didn't have to end up waiting the whole 25 mins. Only about 5-10. Then when we got in there, Jacobs hands were cold so when she poked him, it wouldn't bleed enough to get a good drop to test so she tried giving him a heat pack thing for his other hand and then poked that one...same thing not enough blood. So, she had to go ask someone else what to do...When they got there I suggested they use the little straw thing that sucks the blood up then they can drop the drip where they need it "I don't know how to use those...how do you get the blood out?" LOL ARE YOU KIDDING ME?! The other nurse said yep go get one of those and I will show you. The second lady is one that I like from there and usually helps us. She poked Jacobs finger for the 3rd time and got all the blood she needed and we were off...close to 30 minutes later making us get out of there a lil after noon. An hour for an appt that should have taken 5 minutes! At least we got it done and don't have to do it for another year. :o)

On a sadder note, my Aunt Linda's husband passed away this past week. I myself didn't know him all that much but I do know that he will be missed by so many people. I know it wasn't something out of the blue and everyone knew it was coming but even with that knowledge, it is hard to lose someone you love. He was the guy to be the most father like to my cousins and they came to love him as a father and their children as their grandpa. It is comforting to know that he is no longer in pain though which he has been in for the past couple years. Rest in Peace Jimmy!

6 weeks and Goals

So, yesterday was the 6 week mark. It also marked 20.4 pounds lost! I am so excited! I also started lvl 2 of the 30 day shred. It has some harder moves it in, I'm not gonna lie. BUT, I am really liking it. I am almost half way through the 30 days. I am so surprised that I have stuck to it so well and haven't skipped even one day. I have been tempted because I do it at night and have been tired and just wanted to go to bed. Instead, I have taken a little nap then gotten up and done it or just did it before I went to sleep.

I have been thinking about my goals lately and decided I want to be at my goal weight by March. Here is the schedule I want to go by...

Starting Weight 274

Goal 1:   -5 pounds (269) reached 8/7/11 263.4 lbs
Goal 2: -15 pounds (259) reached 8/21/2011 259.0 pounds
Goal 3: -30 pounds (244) by Nov 6th
Goal 4: -50 pounds (224) by January 15th
Goal 5: -75 pounds (199...1derland!) by March 4th

Total goal weight to lose 75 pounds! After I reach my current goal weight, I will see if I want to go down even more or if I am happy with where I am. Last time I dieted, it took me 6-7 months to lose 35 pounds. Losing that, I didn't notice a huge difference in inches though. Already with the exercising I have been doing for a month and a half I have lost 20 pounds and quite a few inches. Inches have come off my waist, hips, legs, arms, and neck! I expect quite a few more to come off during the next two lvl's of the 30 day shred as well. :o)

My mom's van stopped working so she was going to have to come get her truck from me. I really wanted her to come because we have been missing her like crazy but at the same time, I didn't want her to come yet because I wanted there to be an even bigger difference in my weight loss so she can notice even better. Well, they found out what was wrong (an unplugged wire of all things!) so she doesn't have to come after all. I get another month and a half before she comes so plenty of time to lose more weight! I want to be at least 6-10 pounds lighter by the time she gets here. I do believe I can do it!

I have been thinking of starting Yoga to see how that is. One place has a $10 for 10 classes. If I were to go Thursdays and Fridays, that would be a month of yoga in addition to my regular exercising that I have been doing. Christina (Kyles friends mom) said she started doing it as well and is really liking it. I can afford the $10 to check it out :o) There is a gym super close to my house. Walking distance actually. That charges 35 a month. I was thinking of checking if it includes classes such as yoga and stuff like that and possibly doing it. They do have child care at this place as well as children's classes. 35 a month for them as well. Their classes are Mondays-Thursdays. If you just pay for childcare, it's like 2.50 an hour. If I were to do that while I exercised, it would end up costing more and he wouldn't have the benefit of doing the fun stuff from the classes. I could take him to his class and exercise myself for the 45 mins-1 hour. We will have to wait and see how things go after I do the yoga.

Some people say they have "cheat days" I guess today would be considered one of those for me today. I had a little bit of ice cream in a waffle bowl. :-/ I think I shouldn't have had it because now I'm not feeling the greatest!

I had been having headaches for a while and came to the conclusion that it was from my allergies because Taz had been staying with us for a little bit. This last week, I have been having them more often again. I hadn't been taking my allergy meds. So I started taking them up again and yesterday and until this point, I hadn't had a headache..but I feel one coming on. Maybe if I take a nap it will go away. Then I can get up and do my exercises. Sounds like a plan to me! Now to see if it's going to work :o)

School and week 5

I will start out with the most important thing. Kyle started second grade today! He really liked his new school as well as his new teacher. Things are A LOT different than at his old school. He is taking the changes better than I am though! LOL typical kid I guess. He's excited because he likes his teacher and she is nice, they get PE twice a week (one of those days happened to be today!) as well as music twice a week (he didn't have music at his old school), AND they have swings! The first thing he told me was about how high he went on the swings and that he jumped off and landed on his feet. I am so glad he had such a good time. He also met a new friend though he doesn't know his name yet. :o) I can't believe he is in second grade already! Where did my baby go?!?! We were going through his lunch menu and I was telling him the options (they have 2 hot options and then a bageler combo which consists of  the bagel with cream cheese in it, yogurt, and string cheese) and I was surprised that he said he would try a couple things that he didn't really care for at his old school because they might be cooked different at this school. I told him it's better to try it here just to make sure and if he doesn't like it, he can just pick something else the next time and he agreed. He had the bagel combo today and said it was super good. Every Wednesday is pizza day. They rotate between peperoni and cheese every other week. Today happened to be peperoni so he didn't get it. He went to sleep late last night (around midnight) so I figured he would give me the usual trouble waking up today. He came into my room today already dressed 10 minutes before the alarm went off! I am so proud of him. I also had dug out a watch my mom got him last year and gave it to him. I told him about telling time with the hands on it and he is doing a GREAT job! I kept asking him yesterday and today what time it was and then tonight he kept telling me what time it was down to the minute! :-)

Well, I was going to blog about my week 5...but I am so tired I am about to fall asleep while typing this so I will make it short! I lost just over a pound last week. I have been doing the 30 day shred every day this month so I am on day 7 :o) I am really enjoying it. I think I am going to try to start adding more cardio through out the day though. I think I would lose more weight that way.

Well, I am off to try to get some sleep. I didn't get much of a nap today and my eyes are drooping. :o) I will try to blog more soon. I kind of slacked this week in waiting almost until the next week to update :(

1 Month

Wow, It's been one month already since I began my weight loss journey. I lost a total of 17 pounds in that month! I am so excited. I know this month probably won't be as much because my first week was a good week with getting everything started and such a change in my eating/drinking habits. But, I have been working out pretty good and watching what I have been eating really good. I have been waiting for months for Olive Garden to have their all you can eat pasta...and they are having that right now! BLAH lol I think maybe if I have lost 5 pounds in the next two weeks, I and they are still having it, I will go on Friday the 16th.

I have actually done my 30DS without taking a break between days and after today, I can feel it in my tummy..you know that area where abs are supposed to be? Yeah, that area! I have come to the conclusion that I DO have abs..just that they are buried deep and I need to keep it up to get down to them! :o) Today's was a lot better. I was actually able to do the things a lot easier and I wasn't sweating quite as much as usual. This month I am planning on doing the 30DS every day so I can actually finish the whole thing in the 30 days that you are supposed to in order to get the results. Once I finish that, I think I will go to Bob Harper's bootcamp DVD for the month of October. I can...and WILL do this! I have heard of a workout called ChaLEAN Extreme. I think maybe I will ask someone that I know that is getting this to see how her results are and possibly get it. It's kind of spendy though so we will have to see. It really helps that I have a great group of women doing this journey with me. Well, I am getting hungry so I am going to go find something to eat :o)

Good Bye Week 4! and Camps!

This past week was BUSY! Kyle had both Discovery Club Monday and Wednesday from 9:30-3:30 and then Monday-Friday was his Twilight Camp which was from 5-9. I was one of the Den Leaders for Twilight Camp and got to take the boys around to their different stations. Myself and one other adult with the help of a youth helper were in charge of 8 2nd graders. A handful but a lot of fun overall. Kyle got to make some awesome things. He made a little box that has dividers in it with a chalkboard lid to put things in for a collection. He has done so much already this summer that he is almost done with his requirements to receive his wolf patch. I think he needs like 7 things or something like that to be done. He has also done 50 of the electives which earn him a gold arrow and 4 silver arrows. Along with that, he has earned quite a few belt loops. I am so proud of him. I can't believe he is already going to be in second grade! Where did my little baby boy go?! He is growing up so fast, getting so tall, and improving in so many ways. He is already at least as tall as my armpits! But, one thing that has stayed the same no matter how much older and bigger he gets, he is still my cuddle bug. He is always wanting to cuddle and telling us that he loves us. That is definitely one thing that I do NOT want to change.

Jacob went to camp this year as well. Last year I had to take him along with us to each station and then Ken had to come pick him up when he got off work. This year, he actually stayed in the Tag-a-longs area which is what they call the younger sibling area. He had so much fun! Ken actually came to get him on Monday but Jacob wouldn't go home with him! He called it "playschool" because that is what Caillou goes to and that's Jacobs favorite show. It helps that he likes the lady who was in charge of the Tags. Her name is Naomi and he calls her Miss Naomi. :o) I am very greatful to her and all the other helpers who helped watch Jacob all week. I know if they hadn't been such a great group of women, Jacob wouldn't have had fun and would have wanted to stay with me and have Ken pick him up every day. He is already talking about going again next year. Every day I went to get him, his face and hands were sooo dirty so I know he had fun! He had so many stories to tell me about his day. He had so much fun and was worn out that by the time we were on the freeway, he had already fallen asleep every single night!

I love my boys so much and couldn't be more proud of them and all of the things that they accomplish. No matter how big or how small. They do have their moments where they drive me CRAZY. Then, in the next moment, they do something to make me bust up laughing and make me so happy that I was lucky enough to have my boys.

On another note, today was my 4th weigh in! I lost another 1.6 pounds :o) My total is 17 pounds now! With having such a busy week, I wasn't able to exercise like I would have liked but did walk around A LOT during Twilight camp. I also didn't keep track of all my food and exercising on MFP which I think could have contributed to a low loss.That as well as not drinking all my water that I had been. BUT, it's a loss and I will take it! I did start back up on the 30 day shred this weekend though :o) I must admit it was quite a bit easier for me this last time. This week my goal is to make sure I keep track of everything a lot better. I know I can do this and I CAN lose all the weight that I want to lose! I don't care how long it takes me, I am losing it! I just hope it doesn't take THAT long! LOL

I am hoping my mom is going to be able to come visit and watch my boys so I am able to do the 5k walk that I want to do on September 11th. I want to compare it to my time of the one that I did last year for Kyles school. If I am not able to do that, I think I will call and find out when Kyles old school is going to have theirs and then just go there and do that again this year. Either way, I am going to be doing another 5k within the next couple months.:o)

Here's to exercising more, getting ready for a 5k, and losing weight!

Week 3 gone!

So, today was weigh in day! I am OFFICIALLY in the 250's! It might just be in the 250's (I am at 259.0 today!) Down 2.2 pounds again this week making it 15 pounds total in 3 weeks! I am so excited. Who would have thought something like this (more exercise/less food) would be making me happy and actually excited for more?! I have always been over weight and hated exercising. Maybe I was just doing the wrong kind of exercises. Or, maybe I just wasn't in the place (mentally) where I needed to be when doing it. If I keep losing like I am (around 2 pounds a week) I can SO make my goal of 30 pounds by my birthday (or maybe even Thanksgiving!) I am already half way there! With reaching the 259 mark, I made it to my second mini goal! My next mini goal is another 15 pounds which is also by my birthday goal. I can't wait to be able to mark that as reached!

We have been riding our bikes a lot more lately and and actually going up a bit of a hill on our way. The first time, I snailed it the whole way up. I did make it all the way up though so that's what matters! Second time, I made it half way up going good and just had to snail it the other half up. I did start the 30 day shred last week as well but only doing it every other day. I didn't want to get too sore starting off by doing it every day. The first day, I was dying around the middle of it. By the second time though I was doing pretty good the whole way through! Even did a lot better in the push ups and jumping jacks. :o)

On another note:
This week is going to be full of walking. Kyle has his Twilight camp all week from 5pm-9pm and I am one of the den leaders that take the boys to all their different stations and do everything with them. I am excited. We have to think of something to do for the egg launch. Have to try to protect it from not breaking when it it launched across the field! Last year both of ours broke. We will see about this year! He had tons of fun last year at camp. I am sure this year is going to be just as fun. What's not to love about cooking, building, crafts, and learning cool things?! Jacob is excited because he is going to go in the "tag-along" area which we have been calling "playschool" like Caillou goes to. He is going to get to have Miss Naomi (another scouts mom) as his "teacher". We are hoping that he will stay there this year. Last year he wouldn't. But then again he was only 2 last year and he didn't really know Naomi then like he does now. I think I am actually looking forward to it as much as the boys are. I get to learn lots of fun things to do also! :o) This coming week is also Kyle's last week of Discovery Camp. So, his Monday and Wednesday's will be full! He does Discovery Camp from 9:30a-3:30p and then Twilight from 5-9p! He is going to have to miss the Discovery camp family night which is the last one of the summer which has him a bit down because it is Thursday during Twilight camp hours. He will be fine though once he is at Twilight camp having fun. Plus, there will be more family nights during the school year for them.

So, here is to a great week at both camps, and a great week on the scale! I am already excited and wanting next Sunday to come so I can see what the scale says! I am going to try to do the 30 day shred every day this week!