Saturday

Well our day went ok. K refused to get her haircut and threw an enormous fit in the middle of the salon. O got her ears pierced and only cried for a couple minutes. K did not want to get hers done...until we got almost home then she decided she wanted "pretties" like her sister. AYE! Needless to say we did not turn back around. She will just have to wait.

K and I went for a short walk today. I wanted to go longer but K did not feel like being outside. So we went home. I think she and O are getting sick.

I ended up getting about 1/2 inch off my length. I just needed a trim. I also got some exercise pants and some shirts. The shirts were $1 each and the pants were $5. Not too shabby.

My parents took K and all of us to McDonalds. K had a blast in the playplace. She was playing with some little boys. She is such a bossy little thing too.

Anyway I am off for the rest of the day. I have a headache

check in day

245.4 not bad for not really counting calories this week. I slacked off a bit in the exercise too.

I tried on some pants last night. Size 18 and 1 size 17 and they fit. I could get them on and buttoned. They were a little too tight yet for my taste but I could wear them. Yeah!!! The scale may not be reflecting much of a loss but I am definitly slimming down.

feeling good, feeling great

I am feeling wonderful today. I took the whole weekend off from counting calories but I watched what I ate. I weighed myself this morning and I did not gain nor lose weight since Sunday. I tried on a pair of pants that I used to wear and I could get them up to just below my belly today. My waist is down another inch since the last time I measured. I think the difficult ab section in the long version of my workout video is really helping that. Now if I could just get in more cardio to burn that fat off. I am doing cardio during my workout but my favorite cardio activity is taking the kids for a walk. I decided to do more cardio. I thought about replaying the cardio sections in my workout video but I decided that I am just going to do my own version of it to some music. That way K can dance with me too.

Hubby

I Love him so much. He is so great. He could tell that I was stressed out so just before we put K to bed he told me to just go away for awhile by myself. I left at 8 and just got back. I went and powerwalked around Walmart and did a little shopping. I was going to wait until I had lost 10 lbs to buy myself some decent workout pants and a good sports bra. But he said I was close enough so I should go ahead and get them now. So I did. I got 3 pairs of knit pants that have a drawstring waist, 1 gray and 1 blue for $3 each and 1 black with pink stripes for $10. I got a pink sports bra that is kinda like a regular bra. I also got some regular cotton underwear for working out because I don't like to wear my "good" underwear during my workout. I got myself 2 3lb hand weights. I already have 5 and 10 lb ones but I wanted some 3 lb ones for the bicep exercises because my biceps are already big. I don't want them to get much bigger, just more defined. I got some candy for hubby as well and a few grocery things that I needed. I have a bunch of recipes I want to make but I lacked some of the spices. I tried to figure out the last time I was by myself for more than a couple minutes without either kid and not having to work, do housework, or go to an appointment and it was awhile ago. So long ago that I can't even remember when it was. So anyway I am feeling much better and hubby said that he wants to figure out some sort of schedule were I can get a couple hours to myself once a week or over a couple days. I think that is wonderful of him considering that he goes to work all day (not that I don't work here) and then comes home and gives me a break. I couldn't ask for a better hubby really. He said that I have the harder job out of the 2 of us and I deserve a break. He said that he gets breaks everyday and I should at least be able to get a couple hours a week. I love that man. He totally gets it!!!

What had me so stressed out was K's little attitude today. She didn't like anyone or anything. She was hitting, kicking, throwing toys at all of us and just doing everything that she knows she is not supposed to, stuff that she NEVER does. She ended up getting put in her crib (luckily we never took it down after we moved her to the toddler bed) for a time out. I spanked her twice for throwing her toys and hitting her sister. She was deliberately hitting her sister. I don't like to spank her but you gotta do what you gotta do sometimes. I am not against spanking as a form of discipline but I try not to use it. I have and I will continue to do so. I do not feel that 1 swat on the butt is child abuse. I know that some of the "parenting gurus" will have you believe that spanking your child will damage them psychologically, but I can tell you that I was spanked, often with a belt, and I turned out fine. I will not use a belt on my child however. Counting does not working with K because she will just finish the count for me (GRRRRR!!), time outs do not work because she likes being by herself. Taking toys away does not work because she just doesn't care if I do that.

Check-in day

I am down 1 lb since Wednesday or 2 lbs for the week. I have lost an average of almost 1 1/2 lbs a week since starting my diet & exercise routine. That is a good steady weight loss. I am definitely past my first goal of breaking the 250 mark on my scale. Next mini goal is 10 lbs of total loss.

I tried on a pair of pants today that I have not been able to wear for awhile, size 18. They fit! I could get them on and button them without a struggle. They are a bit too tight to actually wear without looking like I am suffocating myself but they fit!!! I tried on a different pair of size 18 then. Different brand and they did not fit. I could not even get them over my belly. Why are jeans so different sized depending on the brand?

I had no idea

I really had no idea until I started journaling, just how many calories I was eating a day. OMG, no wonder the weight was not coming off. I was eating between 2500-3000 calories a day. WOW! I was shocked to say the least. I would make pancakes for me and K, 1/4 cup of pancake mix has 150 calories. I would make at least 1 cup of it. Give Kait a pancake and eat the other 3-4 myself. Top that off with Syrup, I use the lite kind at 100 calories in a 1/4 cup. Plus add 2 1/2 sausage patties at 250 each. I am still eating pancakes and sausage, because I like it. But I make 1 sausage patty for me and Kait to share. I eat pancakes but 1/4 cup makes 2 small pancakes. I use very little syrup. I also added in some canned pineapple on the side. Nice breakfast at about 350 calories.

I worked out this morning. I tried to fit in the long version but I only got about 3/4 of the way through it because the kids needed me. I will try to finish it during K's naptime. I have been trying to stay moving today.

I am noticing ever so slight changes in my body. My thighs are getting tighter and smaller. My abs looks a bit smaller. My arms are getting a bit more definition. I can tell where my collar bone is now. It peeks out just a bit when I move my shoulder. Hubby says he is noticing a change in my butt as well. I am able to do more of the ab exercises in my workout video.

I did my measurements today as well. Since 11/21 I have lost:
waist~1 3/4 inches. I am attributing this to the ab workout. I really have no other explanation for it because it doesn't seem like I have lost enough pounds to have that much of a difference.

hips~ 1 1/2 inches. Same as above

neck~ 3/4 of an inch

I really like seeing results. Not many people have really noticed the weight loss, just me and Hubby. But when you have a lot to lose, I think people don't really take notice until you lose 15-20 lbs. Maybe that is just me but that is what I think. Maybe also because it is winter and I tend to wear heavy clothes: sweatshirts, my bulky winter jacket, etc.

AMAZING

Even with my crappy eating this week and not working out as much as I would have liked, I STILL lost 1 lb. I weighed myself 4 times just to be sure. 251. I should break the 250 mark by next weigh-in. 4 lbs to go to my first goal.

When I see that number drop and see that my clothes are fitting even the tiniest bit better it is good motivation for me. I would like to see myself back to my prepregnancy weight of 225 in 8 weeks. So by February 29th, I want to be at my pregnancy weight. O will be 5 months. I would like to be at 220 by the time she is 6 months. In order to reach my 2nd goal of 225, I need to lose 3 lbs a week.

Because I like to use measurements and how my clothes fit as an indicator of weight loss, I would like to be in my size 18s in 8 weeks and my size 16s in 16 weeks.

exciting news!!!

I tried on a pair of pants this morning that fit but were uncomfortably tight. They FIT perfectly this morning. They are still a size 20 but they are the non stretch kind, so they did not fit as well as I would have liked and gave me a pretty bad muffin top before. The non stretch kind is my favorite type of jeans but anymore all jeans have the stretch in them. I very rarely find some that do not. Anyway I am excited. I may have only lost 4 lbs but the working out must be helping with toning up my waistline. WOOOOO HOOOOO!!!!

naps and other thoughts

The baby and I took a nap on the couch this morning. It was nice. I needed it very much. I woke up with a start this morning and was not able to fall back asleep. O slept through the night in her crib and I hadn't heard her all night. I woke up thinking something was wrong so I ran downstairs. She was fine. She just turned sideways in the crib. She was sleeping away so I got myself woke up, made her a bottle and fed her. We had 2 1/2 hours of time together this morning without anyone else awake. I love the sound of my house in the morning. The PEACE and QUIET. Very early morning is the only time this house is quiet.

When K woke up, I woke up hubby and made breakfast. We had eggs with mushrooms, onions, and green peppers in it and sausage on the side. A good hearty breakfast. K loves onions and green peppers. Odd for a 2 year old if you ask me.

So I did have some treatment effects after dinner last night. TMI WARNING~~~~~~~ I had a very soft stool. It felt wierd but honestly if that is my only treatment effect I can totally deal with it.

I stepped on the scale again and it said I was down another pound. I am pretty freaking impressed. I know it is not just the Alli. I know it also is due me watching what I put in my mouth. I watch everything that goes in me. I think about it before I eat. I used to do that but I also wrote down everything. I will probably start that again soon but for now I am doing really well without having to write everything down. I think that Alli is the boost that I needed. I am only going to update my ticker on my check in day. That way if I do gain or lose, I am not constantly updating it.

It is 11 weeks to the concert. I would love to be back in my favorite pair of prepregnancy jeans by then...Size 16. I was 220 when I wore them and they were a bit tight. I think if I can get down to 215 they would fit perfectly. I would LOVE to be able to wear them to the concert. Hell, I would love to be able to just wear more than 1/4 of the clothes in my closet. I would love to be in a size 12 by O's first birthday and that is the ultimate goal. Of course a 10 is even better but I do not want to get any smaller than a size 8. What am I crazy?!?! NOPE. I like a bit of curves. That is part of being a woman.

Once I lose the weight I want to take a picture of myself in my biggest pair of jeans as a reminder to what I have accomplished.