Just a quick thought.

I'm constantly reminded that people come in and out of our lives for many reasons, good/bad/indifferent, but that we're meant to learn lessons from each experience. Right now I'm thankful for so many of the new people who have entered my little world of existence...

The encouraging words that I get from them, helping each other learn and grow, its all a blessing right now.

We all have rough times, but surrounding ourselves with honest people who call a spade a spade and who don't hesitate to speak their minds is one of the healthiest things I think we can all do for ourselves.

I guess my point is that right now, I am thankful. Plain and simple.

I've become slightly obsessed with this song

This guy is an amazing artist, what he is able to do blows my mind. I love music, and I can't begin to comprehend the talent it takes to create a song from top to bottom. I thought I'd share this with all of you because its seems to be my morning, afternoon, evening song of choice if I just need to find a smile.

Dub Fx "Love Someone"

Hope you all have a good Monday!

Because you asked Part 2

So I posted a couple of days ago a rough outline of what I've done exercise wise to get where I am today, I thought that I would start putting my "diet" on paper so to speak.

I say "diet" because its become more of a lifestyle change for me. Originally I decided to give up soda last spring (I think January, but honestly I can't really remember) and I was only planning on trying to do it for 3 months... Don't ask why that was the magic number but it was. At 3 months I thought "what the heck, I've done it this long lets see how much longer I can go without soda". Between then and now I've broken my no-soda decision a couple of times... maybe a total of 6, mainly for Rootbeer because a good Rootbeer is just so worth it! And I've stolen the occasional sip from Matthew's Dr. Pepper, and it always reminds me why I gave up soda. Blech! Then again I was never really a fan of Dr. Pepper so thats not the best comparison.

Recently I gave up coffee... I'd been talking about it with a couple of other health conscience people that I know, and honestly I didn't think I'd be able to do it especially considering the fact that I have a child who insists on waking up before even the sun is up! But when I got sick the beginning of Feb it seemed like the perfect time to challenge myself. I'd already gone 5 days without coffee, and I figured that if I was going to go through detox then it already happened when I was sick so I should be good to go! April 4th will be two months coffee-free.

Now in the long run, giving up soda and coffee are just two tiny parts of the lifestyle change that I've made (though for me, the mental difficulties of giving them both up was one of the most challenging things I've done) A big part of my change has been actually paying attention to portion sizes. I bought a digital food scale, so that things that say (30 g) I actually know what size that is! It made me realize just how much I have been overeating for years (just as I know most people in the US do). I've tried to be aware of snacking too - thankfully I've always like snacking on things like carrots and cut apples - so I'm just making a conscience effort to reach for those first before chips, sweets, and other "badness" as we would say in my MT class.

To drop the weight I used the help of an app on my iPhone called "MyNetDiary" I think you can also create a profile online with them, but having it mobile with me was the easiest thing. You can input what your eating, it asks for the portion size that you ate, and it calculates the calories (along with all the other health info of that particular item) I input all my stats, height weight, and then told it how much I'd like to loose total and what my timeline was. It calculated everything for me and then told me what my recommended calorie intake should be, without any exercise calculated in. Also you can track your exercise on that app, and it will adjust your Analysis for the day and let you know if you should eat more.

I believe when I started using the app, it recommended 1800 calories for me, to reach my goal of weight loss. Each person is different, but if you start counting calories (like me) and make each one count then its not as horrible as it sounds. I would be full with 1800 calories for the day, as long as they were healthy filling calories... If I cheated and ate something like a donut, or a handful of candy then I was starving.

I started off horribly in the breakfast department, I've never been big on eating right after I wake up, so before I headed to the gym I was lucky if I consumed 1/2 a cup of coffee and a banana. Now, partly because Steven wakes me up so early and I have time to digest a bit and partly because if I don't I feel sick to my stomach, I have a bowl of granola (2/3 of a cup) with 1/2 cup 1% milk and also a banana (more for the potassium)

Today is Sunday, and as I'm sitting here typing this (because Steven is totally occupied with playing with his trucks) I'm having a bowl of 2/3 cup granola, 1/3 cup fresh blueberries, and one 6 oz container of vanilla yogurt all mixed together.

But back to when I started on my journey.

My diet became pretty mundane, I know my classmates could probably all tell you what I ate for lunch everyday. It started out as just Tuna salad (that I made on my own with 1 tsp of mayo, to keep the calorie value low but the protein value high) 7 triscuits, a cut apple and some baby carrots. Within the last 2 months or so I started revamping my diet because I'd gotten down to where I wanted/needed to be and I don't want to get sickly skinny.

Dinner was either a very strict serving of whatever I made for Matthew and Steven (because I felt bad for them and know that they got tired of eating chicken breasts and brown rice and salad) OR it was broiled chicken breasts, in a garlic herb marinade, a serving size of brown rice (2/3 cup) and a large fresh salad with 1-2 tsp of blue cheese dressing, just enough for flavor but not enough to drown the salad.

To be honest I wasn't great with keeping up on my diet on the weekends, I'd splurge and we'd make a big weekend breakfast complete with waffles, and either bacon or sausages (or sometimes both!) And on occasion we just decide that neither of us really feel like cooking and we give in to the take-out monster and especially then I don't count the calories because it makes me feel awful.

Right now in my diet I've re-input my info in the "MyNetDiary" app, and asked for it to calculate maintenance calories (to maintain my current weight, though I'm trying to build muscle so I'm adding a bit more protein in than it recommends and if I see weight gain it should be in muscle) I should eat, everyday without adding in exercise, 2500+ calories. The first few days of this calculation was difficult to wrap my mind around, especially since I was used to consuming 1800 or so a day...

I'm still in the process of slowly re-vamping my menu... And some days its more of a challenge to get the calories than others. A typical day is this:

Breakfast

2/3 cup granola

1/2 cup 1% milk

1 banana

2 shot bloks on the way to the gym

Snack on the way home from the gym

1 shot blok

VitaCoco (Coconut water, which is a great natural hydrator - and healthier than most sports drinks)

1/2 to a whole apple (depending on how big they are)

1/2 a Clif Protein Builder bar, or MoJo bar

Post gym meal

Spiru-tein shake, one scoop

8 oz of 1% milk

Late Lunch

4oz Tuna

1 tsp mayo

2 Tbsp Sweet pickle relish

7 Triscuit crackers

2/3 cup granola

4-6 oz Vanilla yogurt (Light & Fit)

1/3 cup blueberries &/or Strawberries

1 apple

3 oz carrots

Afternoon Snack

1/3 cup walnuts

1/4 cup craisins

Dinner

2/3 cup brown rice

1-2 cups salad

1-2 tsp blue cheese dressing, or balsamic dressing

3-4 oz chicken breast, broiled

I've been having to add in evening snacks to get close to my calorie goal, trying to do it as healthy as possible. Having another small salad, choosing hummus and peas, and apple with only the recommended serving size of peanut butter (which is so tiny compared to how much I used to eat with an apple), and things of the like. My biggest splurge is that I bought these little tiny mango & cream bars at Trader Joe's, they are a small serving roughly 80 calories I believe and just enough of a treat that I can enjoy it without feeling guilty.

Mix in with this I have the minimum recommended servings of water, plus usually 3 more... And occasionally at night I'll have a cup of fresh brewed white or green tea.

Like I said, that is a rough outline of what a normal day has looked like for me. Right now I'm in the process of completely re-vamping my daily intake of calories, and for the next 4 weeks I'm drastically changing my diet and trying to cut out all the "bad carbs" and leaving mainly just the healthy ones found in fruit and veggies. So while I type this I'm thinking of the bread that I walked past this morning, and my Sunday cookie ritual that I chose to forgo.

If anyone would like to post menu ideas, or other websites that they use I welcome it. Hope you all had a wonderful Sunday!

Low Carb Challenge

So I'm finally putting it out in the world that I've taken on a 4 week challenge from my friend/Personal Trainer Ernesto...

I've been hesitant to even talk about it, mainly because then I start thinking of carbs... Bread, and pasta... Cookies - tomorrow at the Farmer's Market I'm going to have to walk past my FAVORITE booth without buying anything :(

He told me to start this Tuesday the 22nd, and I did start that afternoon after we talked about it for a bit, but I count Wednesday the 23rd as my "Official" start date. So far its been torture. I made a pulled BBQ Beef Tuesday for dinner, of which I normally eat that on a nice crunchy roll - no roll for me... And we had leftovers for a couple of days, so while Matthew and Steven were enjoying their BBQ Beef sandwiches, I got BBQ Beef, with salad... :/

So I'm slowly trying to find new options for things, so that I don't get bored with my options... I plan on picking up a Spaghetti squash tomorrow at the market (if they have any good ones).

I know a No-Carb diet is next to impossible, and there are such things as "healthier carbs" like from fruits and veggies, so I'm shooting for that.

I did a slightly closer up picture of my abs, upper body when I took my "after" shots for my Background post. So here it is.

I also taped myself to get an accurate measurement of where I am, because as I've learned muscle weighs more than fat. So instead of freaking out if I gain a pound or two during this adventure, I can see if I've lost inches (or quarter-inches)

Wednesday March 23rd Measurements:

Thigh (the largest, upper portion) 22 1/2"

Hips 36"

Waist 27"

Under-bust (what bust I have) 30 1/2"

Arm (largest portion of bicep) 10 1/4"

Neck 13"

So April 13th will be my 4 week mark... If I can remember I'll re-tape myself sometime around the half-way mark.

Along with all of this I started keeping a food diary, and if nothing else its showing me how mundane my diet has become so if any one has any pointers on how to "jazz" it up I'd love them! I'm starting to look around on my own and think I'm finding new fun things to try but the challenge will be getting the boys to eat them too, so that I don't have to make 2 dinners every night!

Super frustrated

with my own body.

Here I am posting about this success that I've had with working out, and all of a sudden my left foot is pissed at me. I thought it was from where I stepped on one of Steven's toys the other night.

Thursday when I was running it started to bug me along the ball of my left foot for like the last 5 minutes or so of my run... Friday, I tried to run and it was sore enough that I decided to use the Elliptical (which I haven't used in over a month). Today I was pumped when I got to the gym. I was motivated and I was going to do my run/squat intervals!!! Then I got to the gym and because of the gloominess outside it was packed and at first there weren't any treadmills or ellipticals open so I got on the bike for a bit (1.5 miles until a treadmill opened up)

I jumped on that treadmill (one of the two that I favor) and started my 7 mph, 1/2 a mile run... Not even 0.2 miles into it and my foot hurt so bad that I seriously wanted to punch something. Slowed it down to a crazy easy walk, and still it hurt so much that I gave up.

I Gave Up!

Ugh, beyond frustrated right now. I stopped being that person, the one who gives up when things get a bit tough - but at the same time I know that if I did damage to my foot I don't want to make it any worse so that my recovery time is any longer than it has to be.

I got back on the bike and did another 3.5 miles, but I hate the bike... I loath the bike... So I just said F* it and got off. I did my stretches, talked with Victor, did my core work, talked with Bill, did my squats, talked with Lisa, did my leg weights and finished it up with a chat with Corie... To say I kind of lost my motivation today is kind of an understatement. I made myself finish out my workout because I was there but I was beyond not feeling it by the time I got done.

I know we all have our off days... Today was seriously an off day for me... I'm hoping that if I rest my foot for today, and Sunday that things will be better by Monday. There isn't any visible bruising, no swelling from what I can tell, I can walk on it for the most part (only occasionally do I feel a twinge). I'll use my arnica, do hot and cold hydrotherapy treatments, and try and keep it elevated when I can...

Fingers crossed that a trip to the Dr is not in my immediate future. Here goes nothing!

Early mornings

Are the only type of mornings I seem to have anymore. Steven is bound and determined that he will beat the sun up...

Yesterday he slept till 7:15, and thats the first time in at least 6 months that has happened. But he made up for it this morning and was in telling me "Mommy get out, get out of bed" at 5:30.

My brain is still kind of fuzzy, so I'm sorry if this rambles a bit. Its been a month and a half since I had coffee most mornings I do just fine without it, but today I'm wishing just a bit that I had I nice steaming mug of caffeine in front of me.

I've determined that one of the benefits of being woken up this early in the morning is that I get an incredible amount of stuff done before I ever leave the house. Laundry, dishes, picking up... and then I head out to the gym and whatever quick errands need to be done. But still I wish sometimes that I could stare at the back of my eyelids past 8 o'clock on a weekend morning.

I just need to remember to count my blessings; I have a happy and healthy little man who is so excited about life that he cant wait to start his day. Now if Mommy could find that much excitement every morning we would be golden.

Picky not quite 3 year old

So Steven seems to be going through a phase, and its one that is bound to drive me nuts. He used to be so good with eating anything we put in front of him, and recently that has hit the skids big time. He'll tell us he's hungry, we ask him what he wants, and he'll just go stand in front of the open fridge and peruse.

He wont pick anything out, or its random things like mayo... So then we start going down a list of foods... Apple, banana, peanut butter and jelly, mac'n'cheese, soup, crackers and cheese, etc. and we'll get "no, not that" for everything. So then I give up and make something, of which he might take 2 bites and then decides that he's done eating or that he doesn't like it.

My only saving grace is that when he does decide to eat it is usually fairly healthy... But like today, he's had 2 and 1/2 containers of yogurt (4 oz each) 2 pieces of string cheese, and half an apple with me. I scrambled him eggs (after he asked for them) and made a piece of toast with jelly and he took 2 bites of the eggs and told me he was full...

The amount of food that we've thrown away this past week bugs me to no end. But at the same time I don't want to make eating a chore, or a bad experience so I'm trying very hard to not fight him on this...

If any parents (moms and dads) have advice on this I'd welcome it... Thanks guys!

Because you asked Part 1.

I've already had a few friends on here, and on fb ask me to share my "plan"... My workout routine and diet that I chose to use to obtain the results I've seen so far. Let me first just say that everyone is different, I sort of took bits and pieces of this and that and threw it all together and somehow it worked for me.

When I first started working out summer '09 it was so different than where I am now. I did the elliptical everyday that I actually made it to the gym, roughly 30 minutes, and I busted butt to eek out 3 miles in that time. I sort of did core work, and lots of leg weights (for some reason legs always have come easy to me, maybe because the machines that you use are kind of idiot proof) I didn't really change my diet, other than mixing in more salads with dinner... I've always been a major fruit and veggie person so that wasn't hard, but giving up my fats and my sweets was just not in the plan for a long time.

Then I took a break and everything went out the window; when I went back to the gym with my neighbor Traci it took me a bit but I got back into the groove. Pretty soon I was doing 4 miles in 30 minutes - then I added in the hill setting and had to work at it again. I got pretty good at going 5 days a week, alternating my core days, with my leg weight days... Usually core was 2x's a week, while legs wound up being 3x's a week.

I wish I could tell you exact time tables, but I didn't keep a good record at all - I might have time here in a day or two to go back through my "dailymile" postings and see when things started bumping up again... I don't even remember when I started doing those postings in relation to my workouts.

I got to the point where I was easily running 6+ miles in 30 minutes everyday, 5 days a week, I think the farthest I did was just over 7 miles in 30 minutes - this was of course after an awesome Deep Tissue massage by Miss Opal Moore in class. I was still alternating core, and legs - sometimes switching up the order and changing which days for them so that some weeks I did 3 days of core and others 3 days of legs.

Then one day all the ellipticals were full - and it looked like everyone was in for the long haul. So I decided "what the heck" I'll run on the treadmill... :/ I barely eeked out 3 miles in 30 minutes, and I thought I was going to fall over and pass out! I figured it was the Universes way of telling me that I wasn't in nearly as good of shape as I liked to think. That week I ran on the treadmill 3 days in a row, and by the 3rd day I could barely walk. I realized at that point that I really needed to change up my plan. So I decided running on the treadmill Monday, Wednesday, and Friday would be good and I'd do the elliptical on Tuesday, and Thursday.

Recently I started working with a guy at the gym, he's a personal trainer and we've been swapping personal training tips for massages - pretty much a win win in my book. I needed help with my upper body, its always been my weak point. On top of that I'm now running 6 days a week at the gym Monday-Saturday you can find me there. The run down of my current workout routine is this:

Monday:

• 30 minute run on the treadmill, flat, no hills. Starting at a 7 mph pace, bumping up to 7.2 at a mile and 7.5 mph at 2 miles and finishing it out from there.
• Stretches
• Core work, which is crunches with a 4 kg medicine ball, hip raises, side V crunches, Roman-sit chair, and leg drops.
• Weighted squats with the 4 kg medicine ball
• Some arms, concentrating on Biceps, Triceps, Traps, and Lats usually

Tuesday:

• 30 minute run on the treadmill, hill setting. Usually at a 6.5 mph pace (I'm hoping to bump it up to 7 here soon)
• Stretches
• Leg weights, which includes calf press, quad raise, hip adductors and abductors, hamstring curl, glute lift, and squat press.
• Weighted squats
• And core work if I have time/energy.

Wednesday:

• 30 minute run on the treadmill, flat, no hills. Starting at a 7 mph pace, bumping up to 7.2 at a mile and 7.5 mph at 2 miles and finishing it out from there.
• Stretches
• Core work, which is crunches with a 4 kg medicine ball, hip raises, side V crunches, Roman-sit chair, and leg drops.
• Weighted squats with the 4 kg medicine ball
• Some arms, concentrating on Biceps, Triceps, Traps, and Lats usually

Thursday:

• 30 minute run on the treadmill, hill setting. Usually at a 6.5 mph pace (I'm hoping to bump it up to 7 here soon)
• Stretches
• Leg weights, which includes calf press, quad raise, hip adductors and abductors, hamstring curl, glute lift, and squat press.
• Weighted squats
• And core work if I have time/energy.

Friday:

• 30 minute run on the treadmill, flat, no hills. Starting at a 7 mph pace, bumping up to 7.2 at a mile and 7.5 mph at 2 miles and finishing it out from there.
• Stretches
• Core work, which is crunches with a 4 kg medicine ball, hip raises, side V crunches, Roman-sit chair, and leg drops.
• Weighted squats with the 4 kg medicine ball
• Some arms, concentrating on Biceps, Triceps, Traps, and Lats usually

Saturday:

• A run/squat interval which takes a bit over 20 minutes. Its new, and kicked my butt last Saturday. Basically it breaks down like this. Run 1/2 mile at a 7 mph pace, jump off the treadmill and do 40 squats. Repeat for a total of 5 times for each. Equals 2.5 mile run, and 200 squats.
• Stretch, a lot.
• Core work.
• Legs
• Some arms.

So thats a basic week for me at this point. Occasionally I'll do Two-a-day's with Ernesto. Usually that winds up being on Tues and/or Thurs nights... And tends to focus on upper body, all arms and back. He even has me doing pull-ups to prep for this ridiculous race I've decided to sign up for.

I'll make another post, probably tomorrow that breaks down my current eating habits. Which have been drastically revamped a couple of times at this point throughout this whole process. Night all.

Almost bedtime

I have this awful habit of staying up late. Even after Steven's in bed around 8, and Matthew even hit the sack early tonight around 10... Here it is 11 o'clock and I'm still kicking.

So many things are running through my head right now, I have another massage scheduled at C'Siren Spa tomorrow - I'm pretty sure that I have at least a part time job with them but now its the waiting game for my CA license. I'm hoping to hear back from the medical rehab clinic in Irvine, I loved what they were offering and as a part-time position 2 days a week it would be nice.

Following closely on the heels of those thoughts is the impending question on whether or not Matthew is getting sent to a deployable unit in June... We haven't gotten any information since Feb, no one seems to be communicating, and I keep trying to remember to breathe deep. I've decided I'm not going to freak out about it until we get more information, but at the same time I have to confess that its hard not to think about the "what ifs". We both knew he wasn't done with deployments, but thought that a B-billet meant a bit of security on the non-deployable front. I guess the USMC might be proving us wrong on that sometime here soon. Ack - making myself frustrated again.

Random conversation change: Any other mommies ever feel crazed? I love Steven so much, but at times this almost Three-year old behavior is going to drive me batty! He's got so much energy, so much spunk... He problem solves amazingly well (much to my chagrin sometimes).

Like last week... We only have 2 chintzy locks in the house, the push-button ones with the little slot that is on the opposite side - and Steven has long understood the concept of keys. Well Mr. Too Smart for his own good, figured out how to use the tip of one of his airplane wings as a "key" and can now unlock both the bedroom door and the bathroom door whenever he likes... So now I can't even take a shower without a little head peaking around the corner of the curtain asking me, "Mommy whats that?"

Speaking of, I'm hearing rustling in his bedroom - so I'm going to say goodnight here and make sure that everything is alright in dreamland for my little man. Night.

Background

I should probably put some of my background out there - and along with it the reasons why I've decided to take up blogging again. I'm currently 25 years old, have an almost 3 year old, and have been married for almost 5 years.

Currently I'm in the best shape that I have EVER been in my life, thats not me bragging but just stating a fact. I started this journey of trying to find myself, and find happiness within myself in '09. It was an off and on again process for a long time. I signed up at the local gym and was pretty good for a couple of months, and then I lost my drive... A couple of months went by and my neighbor and I decided to be each other's gym buddies right before the New Year. At the same time I'd decided to go back to school to become a Massage Therapist.

When I started this journey in July of '09 I was the heaviest I'd ever been, other than being pregnant. 188 pounds, a size 14, on my not quite 5'10" frame. Yes I wasn't morbidly obese but on someone who as a teen had battled with eating disorders it was awful... I couldn't look at myself naked in the mirror. My sex drive had nose-dived because I didn't want my husband to see me naked... Basically I hated myself, everything in my wardrobe and everything I'd allowed myself to become.

These are a couple of before pictures, they were taken in January 2009, but I was the same size in July when I decided to make a change in my life.

Today I weigh 136 pounds. Admittedly its less than what I was originally shooting for in my weight loss and I'm currently re-working my diet so that I can be sure that I'm gett

ing enough calories everyday to maintain my weight, and that enough of that is comprised of protein so that I can continue to build muscle.

I took these today after I came home from the gym. 3/23/2011

None of this happened quickly - I had someone tell me at the gym the other day that I was lucky to not know what it was like to be overweight - and I thanked them for the compliment but then went on to explain that just over a year ago I had been 50+ p

ounds heavier than I am now.

This isn't meant to be a place for me to come brag, but a place for me to be able to share my story and my thoughts... I know I post on FB my daily workouts, and new pictures of me but I also realize that there are a lot of people who don't want to read about what I've accomplished and I understand that so thats why I'm coming here - to hopefully have a safe place to talk about the things that I'd like to share.

I'm rambling at this point, so I think I'll end this post here and come back when my mind is a little bit more focused.