Double Downward Dog

For those of you that don't know I attend a yoga class in my little town every Wednesday night. I am in love with yoga! I always leave class stretched out and so relaxed. It's kinda like my own little me time, even though there are other people in my class.

Anyways, this week we did a double downward dog. If you aren't familiar with downward dog here it is...

What is a double downward dog you ask?

Yes! We did actually do this in class. It was kinda fun now that I look back and get over how nervous/worried I was about hurting my partner.

I can't believe the difference yoga has made in my flexibility and strength since I had starting going. It truely is amazing.

Namaste.

No Excuses

I figured I may as well post before the weigh in this week. Its BAD!

Not good at all!

As in I probably gained everything I lost in the last two weeks in one week kinda bad!

I could come up with a thousand and one excuses as to why I gained this week (I just started kettlebell class, last weekends halloween party, my friend "flo" is visiting, etc.). The truth is that I just need to stop eating. I don't mean starve myself. I LOVE food way too much to actually go through with that. What I really mean is the killer snacking that I do late at night. You know that time between dinner and bed where you sit and watch TV. Yes, I do have time between kettlebell class, running, and yoga to still sit on the couch and watch TV.

Snacking has been a problem for me for as long as I can remember. I could probably snack all day, like I did Saturday of the halloween party, and not think twice about it. I should probably invest some time and energy into planning out better snacks so when the snack monster stops in I can enjoy them.

I haven't really tracked anything I ate since the halloween party. I really need to get this tracking thing down so that I can lose the weight and maybe see some positive things come from my workouts.

* * * *DING DING DING* * * *

You mean actually follow program? Yep that whole tracking thing!

I hope to report next week a week with less tracking!

I'm Alive!!!

Told you I have a crazy busy life! I just finished what feels like one of the longest weeks ever. I had a big project that was moving into the testing phase. I have pulled out many hairs and lost many hours of sleep over this project.

In other news we took our family trip to Vana's Pumpkin Land to pick out our pumpkins. Maybe, I will find some time to post those pictures. Saturday is the Annual Cox Halloween Party. I have picked out my costume and just need to finish putting it all together. Again, I will do my best to post pictures later.

I learned this week that kettle bells are a great work out! I took just one class and lasted two circuits. I have been sore for two days now. Not sure if it was a good idea to go to yoga class the day after but my yoga instructor thought it may help to get all stretched out. I felt wonderful after yoga but today found it very difficult to climb stairs.

The little guy has started using the potty "like big boy's do". He is not fully potty trained yet but he is a work in progress. Wish is luck!

That is all for today!

Nap No More

Our lovely son maybe about to get rid of his nap time. I'm not sure at which age kids no longer need their midday nap. He has been pushing his naps back later than usual. Usually his naps run for two hours at a time but he is now trying to take that nap after 3:00 PM.

Not good for mom and dad! He takes the late nap and doesn't want to sleep until 11:00 PM and sometimes as late as 1:00 AM. UGH! I can't stay up that late, I roll outta bed at 4:30 AM! With the help of my sister and mom we have been trying to get him to take naps earlier but if he doesn't get on before 2:30 PM he doesn't get one.

Does this work? Well, he didn't nap yesterday and was in bed by 8:00 PM. This kid slept in his bed (another issue in itself) all night and didn't wake up until 8:50 AM. Today there was no nap (unless he decides to wake up in the next hour or so) but he fell asleep at 6:00 PM. I'm praying that he doesn't wake up at 8:00 PM! Please sleep little guy.

Wordless Wednesday: Loves Him Some Cake

Fun Slide September

Last weekend was our towns yearly festival, Harvest Days 2010. Thursday we had decided to take Trent to the carnival. This is the first year that he is big enough to actually be able to ride some of the kiddie rides. He was so excited all week and talked about how he couldn't wait to ride "all the cool rides!" Especially the cars on the merry-go-round, the blue car to be exact.

We had to pre-purchase a ticket for his wristband at the bank so that we didn't have to stand in the ridiculously long line. We dropped our guess as to how much was in the piggy bank and headed out the door. Thursday night when we arrived the first ride of choice was of course the cars. However, once we got to the line with the cars he insisted that we watch first. BIG mistake! He would NOT get on the cars. I told him about the little girl from his daycare was in line and she was not nearly as big as him. I was not successful at getting them on the cars.

Next ride of choice, and maybe I should mention that it was the ONLY ride of choice, was the fun slide. He absolutely loved the fun slide.

Tiger got a lot of exercise going up and down those stairs. I did go up there once! It is hard for me to carry our big boy up that narrow stairway.

Next year we hope to graduate to the cars! Overall it was a great weekend and really enjoyed it.

Wordless Wednesday: Tower Building

Vacation

I started my vacation today! I know it has been a while since my last post. I don't know if I have been avoiding having to admit my weight gain last week or what. I said it, weight gain, as in 3 not a small gain but 3 lbs. Aweful! I can honestly say that I did not track at all last week. I started out better this week but still feel as if I'm not putting forth my best effort. I don't know why I insist on snacking and munching on everything in site!

I did have a great run on Sunday. I found that I run much better in the morning that later in the evening. I assume that it's because I have more energy in the morning. Glad that the 5K is Saturday morning. I just hope that our softball team doesn't get the 9:00 AM game so I'm not running a 5K and then straight to the softball game. I will be late if it is at 9:00 AM because the 5K starts at 8:30 AM and it takes me at least 33 minutes to run it. (I say 33 because that was my time at my last 5K)

I'll try and keep with it and post my wordless Wednesday along with my Weekly Weigh In.

Wordless Wednesday - Welcome Fall

Junk Gone & Labor Done

What a weekend! I started my weekend setting up all my junk for our yard sale that we did at my friend Crissy's house. I say junk because that was all I really had and I just wanted it to be gone. While I didn't get rid of that gigantic train table; I did manage to get rid of our old dining room table and chairs. Crissy did really well getting rid of all her stuff except for the clothes and shoes.

I put the leftovers curbside and within an hour all was gone but some toys, an OLD OLD TV, and some books.

I did go and look at some garage sales myself. I am in need of some 3T and 4T winter clothes for my "little guy". I found a few things and picked up a few books. He loves for us to read to him!

Yesterday I spent ALL day doing laundry. We cooked out on the grill with my sister and had a few drinks. Today I got a run in, I'm still wondering how well I'm going to do at the 5K in a few weeks since I have started to slack off. I finally finished the dishes and got some play time in with the "little guy" and got some fall decorations up. Even though it was labor day and I wished I was sitting around doing nothing I am very happy with what I have accomplished this weekend.

Weekly Weigh In

Sorry for the quick post, it's getting late and I have a garage sale to run the next few days.

Weight Loss: 0

I stayed the same! I should be thankful for that since I have indulged a little last weekend. We checked out the new local bar and we had a birthday party. I can't pass up the cake!

Last week's challenge was to track for 3 days. I DID! So, I guess this is the part where I take on the challenge again but add a day? I'm going to give it a try. We'll see how it goes!

Wordless Wednesday: Love

Thursday Weigh In

Weight Loss: -0.4

Ok, so it isn't a pound but like I said before all those little weight losses add up to pounds.

Do you remember my challenge for the week? Do you think I did it?

Of course not! I have the hardest time tracking, I couldn't even do five days. My leader challenged our entire group to track for three days. I have no trouble tracking while I'm at work but once I leave I quit. Maybe it is because when I get home I'm hungry and open that big bag of pretzels and munch until dinner is done. Maybe I'm afraid to find out how many points I really am eating. MAYBE if I actually tracked I would lose a whole pound.

Alright, Mrs. M, I accept your challenge! I'm gonna give it my best shot!

I'll let you know how it goes.

Operation 'Let'sMakeABaby" Phase I

COMPLETE!

I had my doctor appointment this morning and took the first step to making this family addition a possibility. Now I get to start taking ginormous pills on a daily basis. Yeah Me!

Wordless Wednesday - WORK WORK You better WORK!

Family Decision

About a month or so ago Tiger and I had made a big decision to add to our family. I called the doctor for a checkup and to get things rolling in the right direction. I go in on Thursday to have an outpatient procedure done so that we can make that decision come to life.

Tiger is overly excited! I on the other hand seem to be very calm and not excited at all. I'm wondering if my excitement will come later, as in when I take that little test and see that plus sign indicating that we have indeed created life. Could it be that I have plans for the week of September 13-19th? I want to run a 5K and if there is in fact a softball tournament I want to play! I know that I can run a 5K while expecting but I can't do any high impact sports.

I remember being pregnant with our "little guy" and recall having a good pregnancy. I ate anything I wanted, took plenty of naps, and had no morning sickness. I also recall the heartburn, water retention, and being as big as a house. I'm serious about the "big as a house" part, my "little guy" weighed in at 10 lbs. 6 oz. when he was born!

My hopes for my next pregnancy (I know I'm dreamin')

• 
  
  No water retention
• 
  
  No heartburn
• 
  
  No morning sickness
• 
  
  I only have one in there
• 
  
  It is as smart as the "little guy"
• 
  
  It is as well behaved as the "little guy"
• 
  
  I don't give birth to a toddler sized baby (The Princess always teased me about having a toddler during my first pregnancy.) 
• 
  
  I secretly would love another boy. I wanted a girl my first time but ended up with a boy and couldn't be happier with him.

 All kidding aside I know that I will be perfectly happy even if my hopes are just me dreamin!

Weekly Weigh In

It was not a bad weigh in. Loss this week is 0.8. Not a lot but at least it is a loss and all those add up.

Today we talked about filling foods. I was instantly reminded of a conversation I had with an older guy at the softball field.

After watching me open my cooler full of water, strawberries, honeydew melon, apple slices and turkey.

Guy Drinking Beer: "You must have a lot of kids."
Me: "Hmmm, no." (Looking puzzled)

Guy Drinking Beer: "What you eat that?" (Gesturing to my over abundance of fruit)
Me: "Yes, Its good."

Why in the world would he think this? Do adults not eat fruit or was it that I had apple slices and other stuff nicely cut up into bite size pieces?

I'm afraid that this week we will be saying goodbye to our "At Work" Weight Watchers sessions. We only have 9 people willing to continue and we need at least 12. No one new came to the open house meetings and no one has even expressed an interest. While it is sad for those meetings to end it doesn't discourage me because I have a local meeting that I will attend.

This week I am setting a goal to track at least 5 days! I should track all 7 but I have be struggling to track at all. I hope to report to all of you next week that I did actually track for a change.

Wordless Wednesday

Sweet Season Ending

Yesterday was an absolute exhausting blast! Our coed softball team participated in our leagues season end tournament. We started out day with an 11:00 am game. The whole team came prepared with coolers full of water, gatorade, pop, luNchables, fruit, etc. We figured we would play at least two games since it was a double elimination tournament so we made sure to bring enough food for lunch.

Game 1 - 11:00 am - The game was pretty entertaining with two of our players taking nose dives in the dirt. This was not due to sliding to make it safely to base but was rather a case where their upper body was going way faster than their feet. Let's just say that a lot of us got down and dirty that first game. WIN

Game 2 - 1:00 pm - This game we figured would be a challenge considering we were playing the team that took home 3rd place from our regular season. That was not the case, they were tired and hung over from a party the night before and well they played horrible. WIN

Game 3 - 4:00 pm - Another good team! This team had some cocky players and some sore losers calling it a fluke WIN. We were hoping for the best and while this was one of our closest games we still made it out with another WIN.

Game 4 - 6:00 pm - What a great team we played! While this team did give us our first LOSS they were great sports. No cocky comments just great fun! They hit the ball in all the right spots. Found a hole no matter where it was and dropped a ball in there. We played this team again later in the night.

Game 5 - 7:44 pm - Remember game 3? They are back again! Was it a fluke win after all? NOOO. We beat them again. Cockiness was still present at this game and I was surprised to find out that at the end of this game one of their players refused to shake hands with our team. SORE LOSER! WIN

Game 6 - 9:00 pm - If you have followed along at all you may have figured out that we play the same team we played that gave us our first loss of the day. Look at game 4. Did we come out victorious this time? Yes, but we didn't win this game. We were victorious in the way we played all day long, no other team that day had to play 6 games, we were good sports, we cheered our team on, we helped each other out, and we congratulated the champions on their win. LOSS

Our team has a lot to be proud of! While our season record (3-10) doesn't show how good of a team we are I think we proved it with our SECOND PLACE spot in the tournament.

Thursday Weigh In

Weigh in went well today! I lost 2 lbs. this week.

Last week my leader asked if I could bring in a picture. This all came up because she asked what my starting weight was. I had been attending a meeting at my hometown before my office decided to do a Weight Watchers at work meeting. So, my office leader didn't know my starting weight. I have been going to WW for some time so none of my books had my starting weight. She was surprised to hear that I started my weightloss journey at 230 lbs.

I'm on the left.

My journey has been a long one but having to pull this picture out again has been a major motivator. I'm a lifetime member currently not at goal. I'm 6 lbs. away from being at goal again. I hope to lose thos 6 lbs. by the end of September.

Here I am today.

Wordless Wednesday: "Mom I want more tatoes!"

(Borrowing this Wordless Wednesday idea from "Random thoughts of a super mom")

 

Participation is Key!

After an exhausting Relay for Life I came up with a list of accomplishments from this year's relay.



1) Cookies Ate: I think that I could walk away with a prize for the most cookies ate for the night. One team member made peanut butter M&M cookies and another brought store bought peanut butter chocolate chip cookies. My biggest trigger food is peanut butter! I love peanut butter and could eat it right out of the jar.

2) 10 Miles Walked: Yes, I did walk at least 10 miles! It could be more but I happened to walk a little bit before I bought my lap beads. Lap beads where another teams fundraiser in which after every lap you were given a bead to place on your necklace to keep track of how many laps you walked. What a great idea!

3) CPS3 Participation: CPS3 is a study being done by the American Cancer Society. The basics are that you fill out a survey every few years, they measure your waste and draw your blood. If at anytime in the next few years you develop cancer they go back and pull your blood to do tests on it. I figure it is the least I could do!

4)Least amount of sleep: Out of all the team members I got the least amount of sleep. I slept a total of 2 hours that night. In Tiger's (My hubby) defense he did ask me to wake him up but I let him sleep.

5)Lost & Forgotten: For the second year in a row I have forgotten to bring a belt for my jeans and I forgot my MP3 player that I loaded with the best songs. I lost my cell phone on the track twice!

While I had made an excellent effort to participate I am left a little disappointed in some of the others on my team that didn't.

Two were in Mexico so they have a valid excuse. A few others just didn't show up, had a dinner party with friends, or just didn't feel like it. I can honestly say that I'm going to ask one person to not join us next year. We have to pay for our participation and we could have had someone else participate for them or we could have used that money toward our team total.

Anyways, to end on a positive note, hopefully all our hard work will pay off one day so that we can celebrate more birthdays.

Relay For Life & Thursday Weigh In

I found a quick minute today to post!

Today is our county's Relay For Life. I am a captain of the Friendly Soles team and we have 10 members this year. That is way better than the four that we had last year. This year has been pretty decent with a few members not really pulling their own weight at the fundraisers, but overall not bad.

I'm in charge of getting our campsite setup this afternoon since the rest of my team is busy. The relay is set to start at noon but about half my team is not able to come and the other half is working. The half that can attend should arrive by 5:00 pm. My sister, who shall be known as Monkey, is going to help me out today even though she isn't on my team. What a great sister!

Yesterday I attended my weekly Weight Watcher meeting. I weighed in 3 pounds lighter this week! That is such a great thing. To give you a little background I'll tell you my story. I have been overweight for as long as I could remember until I walked into my first weight watcher meeting back in 2004. I had followed the plan with my college roommate before that and was successful. However, after I graduated college I started to see some of that weight creep back on. So, I joined Weight Watchers. I lost about 30-35 lbs before I became pregnant in 2007. I put a lot of weight back on during my pregnancy but as soon as I was allowed I went back to Weight Watchers. I do believe that I hit my goal weight in 2009 and became a lifetime member.

Today I'm sorry to say that I am not at my goal weight. I have about 10 pounds to get rid of to get back there. Problem with this is that I struggled with that last 10 pounds before I hit goal and it looks like I'm going to do it again. I have been struggling with this last 10 pounds for close to a year. I know the program works but I think my problem is that I'm comfortable with myself so I 'kinda sorta follow the plan so it kinda sorta works.'

I may give you weekly updates of my weight loss journey. Hope you don't mind.

Welcome!

My decision to start this blog was a tough one.

I read several blogs and I can't figure out why anyone would be so intrested in reading what I have to say.

I have decided that the only real reason I want to start this blog is to share with everyone my experiences of being a mom, a weight watcher member, a wife, a daughter, a sister, a friend, and all the other things that I am.

My only concern is finding the time to write about my experiences and the fact that I believe that I have horrible grammar. Let's see how it goes.....