Craftyness

Shirt Before...

So I've been off work since Christmas Eve.  I have "free time" for the first time in ages.  With no holiday travel on our agenda, I've used this "wide open" time to get ahead on some crafts.  I have 4 friends having babies by July, all of them looking very bumpalicious :-) I have some really cute ideas for things I'll be making for them----but----had to make these for my Mimi.....

Voila! Tights!

Here's mim drinking her espresso after a pretty intense modeling session.....

I can't show the rest of the stuff yet because it'll spoil the surprise for two of my besties who read this blog---nice try ladies! You'll have to wait and be surprised!!!

Exercise Fail!

Blah! I'm so pissed at myself.  Over the holiday break, not only did I eat chocolate and large dinners like it was my job, but I kept trying to "fit in" my runs in between parties, and celebrating and church and visiting.....EXERCISE FAIL!  I only ran twice in the last week or more.  Pathetic.  I was running 3-4 miles 4-5 times weekly.  And tonight you ask? I went to the gym and really only ran about 1.5 miles before I got tired and gave up and went home.  Was it because it was 11pm and normallyI'm in bed at them time? Was it that I hadn't exercised in days? Was it because I was hot because I wore a long-sleeved shirt? Who the F knows.  I am hovering around 182 lbs, feeling flabby and blah and just really torqued at myself.

I came home from the gym and ate a pickle and resolved myself to not let this happen.  I LOVE my new smaller self, and sitting around lounging eating mint flavored hershey kisses and fancy Christmas treats while I lounge in sweat pants won't keep me at this size.

I think that over the last 6 months I've had goals and deadlines--like having to finish the 5K program and a run a 5K, doing the fastest 5K program and having to run a time trial at the end and show improvement.  What will be my next goal?  I think running a 10K, but who knows.  I also am really ready to do this raw thing.  My body is so messed up from being off at Christmas, including my sleep, food, exercise....I really want my old self back again.

No photos today.  Just my rant about falling off the wagon. Blah. Blah. Blah.

Merry Christmas!

Today I feel happy, rested, and blessed.  Last night we had 6 people over for Christmas Eve Dinner and made 6 lbs of Crab Legs (mmmm)! We sat up drinking wine and relaxing and finally at 3am the house was clean and my family was "nestled all snug in their beds" while I finished wrapping stocking stuffers and then crawled into bed with my toasty husband.  We slept in until 9am and woke up to the most delightful day.  It was sunny and warm today.  We let Mimi unwrap gifts in her new chair that our friend Kim got her . She did okay with the unwrapping, but she got a little bored so we got to open the rest.  We feel so unbelievably blessed that there are so many great friends and family that sent Mimi such nice gifts.  We bought her a wagon awhile ago which was her Christmas gift and my husband is making her some blocks out of some nice poppler wood we bought.   My husband and I exchanged stockings, not gifts, and I must say I was most impressed with his originality and thoughtfulness this year!  He did Mimi's stocking too, and came up with some great finds for hers as well.  I think his favorite was either the pickled okra in his stocking or the cufflinks, hard to say, he liked them both.

We went to mass which of course was kind of a nightmare with the Memester, but we survived.  I put Mimi in this adorable bishop smocked dress from ebay that my friend's little girl actually wore last year.  We went to a friend's for lunch and enjoyed some of the best holiday food I've ever had.  We came home and all napped for 3 hrs! lol

Now, with Mimi all "nestled snug in her bed" again, I sit her next to my gorgeous husband, on our cozy couch, with our dimly lit tree and rain hitting the window feeling so content.  I am thankful for my lovely friends and family, my health, and all great things we fail to stop an appreciate most days.  Thank you to everyone who reads and comments and enriches my life.

The Warm and Fuzzies---awwww

Two of our dearest friends got married last weekend.  The week has been so crazy I am just now putting these up.  What a beautiful wedding.  I feel so blessed that Martin and Tricia are in our lives, and even more blessed that we got to be a part of their day.  I was a bridesmaid and my husband officiated the ceremony.  I didn't get any of my own photos at the actual wedding, but I'll post some when the bride gets hers up.

I got to be all helpful and doting to the bride all day (and weekend) and my husband kept the groom smiling and on task.  We danced the night away and enjoyed our baby free weekend.

Here are some photos I took at the rehearsal and some from the wedding.

Birthday Weekend Events

I'm 29! Woot Woot!  I gave my husband a few requests for my birthday, which I thought were all pretty reasonable....
Sleep in (YES! I got to sleep in until 10!)
Run (didn't do it until Sunday, but I did it! Did my last time trial!)
Get our tree and decorate it (Check and Check)
Have a nice family dinner (Check)

Saturday was very nice.  I slept in (as noted above), had a nice egg breakfast, and spent time with Mimi and Daddy.  My friend Grace took me to Panera for lunch where we both indulged in delicious chocolate pastries, soups and sandwiches.  We hit up Joann Fabics after and Fat Quarters were on sale for 99 cents! Woot Woot!
Franco and I went to a Christmas tree farm and picked out our tree.  It was really sweet watching Mimi run around the tree farm like a chicken with her head cut off.  It was sunny and 70! A perfect FL winter day!
I even let Mimi eat a candycane in the car.  She LOVED it, I'll deal with a little sticky mess in the name of letting my kid experience all that is Christmas!  I decorated the tree while Mimi napped and my husband cooked.  He made me delicious soup and tabbouleh and bought some eggnog icecream.  I seriously almost felt sick from all the eating out. My coworkers took me out to lunch on Friday, I grabbed veggie tacos with a friend for dinner that night, out to lunch saturday.......geesh. Too much food!











Above--Mimi leading Daddy out of the tree lot
Right--me stringing up lights
Below-Voila! Scraggly Xmas Tree!

Sunday was pretty nice too.  I had my annual Christmas cookie party, which I think I've done for 3 (maybe 4?) years now.  I get all the ladies together and ask them to bring a recipe and we trash my kitchen for a few hours and everyone takes home a few dozen cookies.  I was able to get my time trial 5K run in right before the party, which didn't make me feel as bad sampling the cookies!

So how am I feeling about the big 29? Well, I feel pretty good. I always told myself that if I was going to lose weight, I should do it before I'm out of my 20's so I can enjoy and be happy with my body for the rest of my youth!  Well I've almost made it!  I am 12 lbs from my weightloss goal and feeling great.  I officially can wear a size 12 from any store and medium size tops.  This has not happened since I was probably 13 years old. I know, kind of sad right?  It's kind of cool to have a December birthday, you can make birthday resolutions and new year's resolutions that go together!  I want to really get fit over this next year, if all goes as planned we'll be ttc this time next year!  That is going to be something to look forward to!

Your baby is what you eat....

Whenever I watch this ladie's videos I always think the same thing.  Does she not see what a hypocrite she is?


She totes herself as an advocate for breastfeeding, cloth diapers, baby sign language, all in the name of giving her children the best.  Some of her statements and videos criticizing formula-feeding non-breastfeeding mothers have not been well-received by her followers either (see and example of one of her pro-breastfeeding videos here).  Here you can see a response another mommy made to her video.





How can you in one breath advocate "breast if best" and the enormous heatlh benefits of breastfeeding, and in the next breath shove down a bowl or spaghettios (where 1 cup serving has 26% of your daily suggested sodium intake) and some Jack in a Box burgers (21 grams of fat and even more sodiums (837 mg!))?  
Where does she think the junk she puts in he body goes?
-------------

Obesity is generally associated with high intake of junk foods rich in energy, fat, sugar and salt combined with a dysfunctional control of appetite and lack of exercise. There is some evidence to suggest that appetite and body mass can be influenced by maternal food intake during the fetal and suckling life of an individual. However, the influence of a maternal junk food diet during pregnancy and lactation on the feeding behaviour and weight gain of the offspring remains largely uncharacterised. In this study, six groups of rats were fed either rodent chow alone or with a junk food diet during gestation, lactation and/or post-weaning. The daily food intakes and body mass were measured in forty-two pregnant and lactating mothers as well as in 216 offspring from weaning up to 10 weeks of age. Results showed that 10 week-old rats born to mothers fed the junk food diet during gestation and lactation developed an exacerbated preference for fatty, sugary and salty foods at the expense of protein-rich foods when compared with offspring fed a balanced chow diet prior to weaning or during lactation alone. Male and female offspring exposed to the junk food diet throughout the study also exhibited increased body weight and BMI compared with all other offspring. This study shows that a maternal junk food diet during pregnancy and lactation may be an important contributing factor in the development of obesity.

*Bayol SA et al. A maternal 'junk food' diet in pregnancy and lactation promotes an exacerbated taste for 'junk food' and a greater propensity for obesity in rat offspring. British Journal of Nutrition, published online 15 Aug 2007.


--------------------


Okay Okay, I'm not trying to say I don't indulge in treats or the occasional junk food item. But I'm not a habitual junk (or restaurant food) eater either. I also don't think i'm some sort of goddess for never having given my child formula, I'm proud that I persevered through 13 months of breastfeeding, but proud of myself and smug about it are different attitudes though.


I anticipate nasty unapproving comments from some of this chic's legion of followers.  Go for it.

Diapers and Decaf

This week has been nuts.  My boss was on a rampage, I caught a cold, we had two holiday parties, one new babysitter, and partridge in a pear tree.

Not to mention the frigid Florida temperatures!! I know you northern and Canadian readers don't have a lot of sympathy for me on this one, but it's truly cold here!  Like frost on the ground, need to warm up your car cold.   After living in FL for seven years (formerly from NY), my blood has thinned and I am such a baby now. Although, I did run 3.5 miles in shorts yesterday, lol.  My legs were bright red and freezing when I got back.

So having a lot of trouble sleeping this week.  I don't know if it's stress from work or from the Muscinex D I've been taking, which I guess makes some people jittery.  Either way it sucks, I wake up at 5am with nightmares and restlessness and can't get back to sleep.  Today I stop trying to get back to sleep and just got up and did some laundry and made some eggs.  I didn't feel like making espresso at home and figured I'd have a tea when I go to work--except this is the only tea I had left in my stash---Decaf! WTF! My husband told me I should go off coffee for awhile, he said when you do that and go back on it later it jives you up a lot more.  Is that a good thing? lol


I'm pretty impressed with how my body has handled this cold compared to the last one.  Last cold I got turned into bronchitis in 4 days, this time around I was more proactive with a netty pot, extra vitamin C supplements, exercise, and better use of my asthma inhalers.  Mimi got the cold too and just has a runny nose, she seems fine too.

So I wanted to tell you guys how I buy diapers because it's a steal.  I buy Huggies Little Movers and use the Amazon "Subscribe and Save" program, which let's you combine it with a mom's club discount.

I don't know how well you guys can understand this--so basically you decide how many diapers you use in a month, then you set up auto shipments of that purchase on a monthly basis.  You get a 15% discount for using subscribe and save, and a 15% discount for being an Amazon Mom's Member (which is also free). so I get 100 diapers (the large case) for $22.63--NO TAX and FREE SHIPPING.  You can't deny this is a great deal.  I upped mine to two cases a month, one case didn't quite get us throught the month.  I'll cut back if I get overstocked.  You can increase or reduce your quantity at anytime and move the ship date earlier if you're running low or something.  If you have a kid in diapers, try it out, works for other brands too of course, and wipes.  I buy my wipes at our local grocery store though, they have an unscented one I really like that's cheap.

I think that's it.  I have one run left to on my Fastest 5K program, which I'm going to do Saturday (My Birthday! Yeah 29!) and then i'll see how many minutes I cut off my official 5K time!  We're also getting our tree Saturday and Sunday I'm have 10 of my lady friends over for our annual Christmas cookie party.  I'll have photos to share of course :-) Keep warm everybody!

Weekend Recap

 This weekend was a mixed bag.  I don't know if it's hormones, or stress or what, but man Saturday I woke up on the wrong side of the bed--scratch that, I woke up on the wrong side of the earth! I was grumpy as hell from the minute I woke up.  I was pissed at my husband for not picking up diapers on his way home from the volleyball game Friday night, I was mad that he wouldn't let me sleep in, I was mad at our entire household, even the dog.  I had a laundry list of stuff I wanted to get done on Saturday, because the weekends are the only time I can do ANYTHING it seems.  But alas, my husband had made plans for us all to do to the Natural History Museum, as it was faculty and staff appreciation day so it was free (including the butterfly garden seen above).  All in all I'm happy we went as a family, especially since family activities aren't always the top of my husband's list.  Mimi loved the butterflies, and all the other great things to see in the butterfly garden (turtles, coy fish, etc).  We got some nice up close photos. These reduced quality ones don't do it justice, but there you go.
After the museum we went to a greek place for "Linner", which is when you eat a hug meal, a little after lunch but before dinner, which then becomes dinner.  Mimi ate gobs of hummous and falafel with tahini.  I feel really blessed that my kid will eat almost anything, it makes for easy outings.  She's more like my husband with food I think.  Which is good.  Saturday night my husband went out AGAIN to see volleyball (I think he likes the girls in those shorts?), and I stayed home and crafty.  I made the most adorable appliquéd snowflake shirt for Mimi.  I was rather proud of it.  I washed and dried it already and it managed to still look pretty awesome.  I have a feeling I'll make some more.  I've really been getting into sewing and crafts.
Should I feature some tutorials of what I've done for you guys? Or are you not interested? I've been told my blog and vlogs are getting boring because all I talk about is running and weightloss.  I even had a few unsubscribers, which is fine.  I guess I talk about running and weightloss a lot because it's one thing in my life right now I can apply myself to and succeed.  I juggle all these other big things in life, including finishing my dissertation, and running is a challenge I am succeeding at.  So I'm sorry if it is boring to you guys.

I know a lot of my subscribers are moms, some of which I know are trying to get in shape/lose weight too.  I want to give back all the support that I get from all of you!

In other news....Sunday I took Mimi to her little boyfriend's 2nd Birthday party.  She had a blast.  The timing could not have been more perfect.  I took Mimi right after she woke up from her nap, so she was bright-eyed and bushy-tailed.  I didn't look so bright-eyed myself, having run around like a chicken with my head cut off all morning trying to get done all the stuff I couldn't get done Saturday.  I dressed her in this adorable baby gap tutu I got for $7 on clearance at the outlet and a cute onesie from gymborie that was part of another jumper outfit.  She managed to stay clean even with cake and icing flying everywhere by 10 other toddlers. She LOVED the bounce house they had set up, but I had to let her in with the other (bigger) kids weren't going crazy in there.  When we left she through quite the fit which was rather embarrissing, but it was getting late in the day and I needed to get some real food in her before her sugar crash post-cake.
See the plastic playhouse in the photo below? I need to find one of these on craigslist, she friggin' loved this thing.  She got really mad when other kids tried to ring the doorbell.  We had to have a little lesson on taking turns.

Okay guys, let the crazy Christmas party weeks begin!  This week we have to Christmas parties and then my birthday (the big 29!), followed by a cookie party at my house this weekend.  Twill be a busy week!

Love to all my blogger buds!

Outfit of the Day

This is a first for me.  I don't ever do "Outfit of the Day" posts because I have no style.  Seriously, between having worked at an environmental dept where I was in the field all the time, to staying home with a baby that spit up until she was 10 mths old, to now working in a office wearing business clothes that are two sizes too big for me.  Can you see why I have no style!?

Grace and I were shopping in target last night.  She was trying on cute maternity dresses (see her dress here) and shirts and I was checking myself out in the 3 way mirror while she tried on stuff.  Sounds conceited right? Let me just check myself out.....No, I was really just mentally criticizing my clothes and my body.  I need new clothes, not because I have no clothes but because I have no clothes that fit me properly.

So, once weekly (or more if I have time) I will attempt to do Outfit of the day. I'm hoping this inspires me to be/look more put together.  Today I'm doing it with my IPhone in my office bathroom, classy right? Well, hey, if you want photos and blogs you have to take em' where you get em'.


So today I'm wearing tweed pants (see pattern below) from American Eagle, a white tank from Jcrew, a black "dream" turtleneck sweater from Jcrew, and Earth Spirit embroidered brown leather shoes.  Notice how classy I am with my "no sock" sock things sticking out. Very Classy.  Oh and my belt is from Kohl's.

Birthday Month!

My husband's family does this thing called "Birthday Week" when you celebrate the entire week of your birthday.  A few years ago I joked that I wanted "Birthday Month!"  I announced to my husband last night that "It's my birthday month starting tomorrow!!!"  He said "no it's Jesus'," then he said "Actually Jesus wasn't born until April."  I replied "Well it's my birthday month!!!!!"

I LOVE december.  Friggin love it.  Love the holidays, love the cold (in FL that's 55 degrees), love the celebrating (even though my boss is a scrooge and we're doing NOTHING), love the decorations, lights, etc etc!!!!

So 10 more days until my big 29 bday!
So excited as well to run another 5K tomorrow!

Mimi's ready for Dec in her Green and Red!!!

Random Post

Let me show you how she eats yogurt

Mommy and Mimi on the big kid swings

I love my kid so much. She is like my best little buddy.  I with I could just stay home and have babies and just love on them all day.  Starting with my brown-eyed curly-haired little Mimilicious.  She is growing up so fast.  Tonight I took a bath her and played and laughed and just "created a moment" as laura said in her last blog post.  

That's all I wanted to say today.

Hello boobs, where did you go?

Okay, so my friend dragged me to Victoria's Secret yesterday to buy what she calls "booby holders", which as a side note It think is a little tacky.  So she has been nagging me for weeks to get new bras.  With all the weight I've lost and stopping nursing, the ladies (my boobs) look deflated and GONE! Serioulsy, I have no boobs left.  When I became pregnant I was a 38 D, then while nursing a 38DD.  So I go to VS and get fitted for a bra and guess what?
                                                                         38 C

Two cup sizes? I've lost two cupsizes? Man, that sucks, new bras are expensive! So I bit the bullet and took advantage of VS's buy one get one half off and WHAM 125 bucks later I have 4 really nice bras that actually fit and make me feel amazing.  You don't realize how wrong your size was until you start wearing bras that fit you properly.

I got the "naked" bra, which fells amazing.  I also bought a new biofit bra, very nice.  My husband seemed pretty psyched too :-)

until later.....

Same Santa, Same kid!?

HOLY CANOLI.   That's what I think when I look at these pictures side by side. Same Santa, and what!? is that the same kid?! Holy Canoli.  Inspired by Jess' post on looking back a year in photos, I wanted to share with you all this year's and last year's Santa photo.  I know, I know, we did it a bit early, but my mom only comes at Thanksgiving and she likes to take Mimi, so I indulge her.

Now that I am depressed at how fast my kid has grown and how I want to quit my job and stay home and pop out more babies, I'm going to shower off my run I just took with Lady GaGa around my dimly lit neighborhood (somewhat scary) and pay bills, which will remind me why I'm not trying to get pregnant right now......MONEY.

Oh my Mimilicious, how you have grown! Stop growing up so fast little one!

Annual Review for Friends

I've realized that all my blogs and vlogs are about weightloss and running.  Damn how boring? I don't even do family or kid ones anymore.  Or even ranting ones!  I need to be less focused with my content and appeal to my readers and followers that don't give a crap about running and weightloss! right?


Well today I had this thought.  Today I was thinking about how I've been at my horrible job 6 months now.  6 Months TO THE DAY.  And normally you get evaluated by your supervisor ever 6 months.  This got me thinking about evaluating things.  I think I evaluate all things in life.


Today I was thinking on how every year you should evaluate your friends.  I know, you're thinking I'm a total bitch right now, but hear me out.....Have you ever heard the saying that a person can only maintain so many personal relationships, and if you add a new one, another drops off to compensate.  It's a real thing people--it's called Dunbar's Number, "the number of individuals with whom a stable inter-personal relationship can be maintained." No precise value has been proposed for Dunbar's number. It lies between 100 and 230, but a commonly used value is 150.  Dunbar's number has been most popularized by Malcolm Gladwell's The Tipping Point, where it plays a central role in Gladwell's arguments about the dynamics of social groups.  This is actually one of my husband's favorite books.


Over the last year, the dyanmics of my friendships have changed a lot.  Having a baby tends to change your circle of friends.  You make new friendships with people that have children, probably due to the fact that you both have kids, which are the central focus of your life.  Other parents understand this focus, while your non-childbearing friends don't always empathize with the fact that yes, you do in fact enjoy spending your weekends at the local park and letting your kid finger paint in their highchair while you snap 50 photos.  I'm not saying my friends don't like me anymore, or that they hate my kid, I just have shifted focus in my life, and my lifestyle doesn't jive with their's as much anymore.  Before Child (BC), we were invited to random get togethers, outings, etc, now we get invited to the big events, but smaller more random events dont' necessarily include us, which I understand they got sick of us saying we cant' go cause of Mimi, babysitters, etc.  



Other things have changed in my life.  I've changed jobs--this has separated for me by direct evidence that some people that I thought were friends, saw themselves as merely my "work colleagues."  Oh well. that happens. 


Another thing has changed in my life.  Now that I have NO FRIGGIN TIME to do anything fun, when I do have time or energy (physical or emotional) I want to concentrate that time and energy on people that enrich my life and who are caring and good friends.  In my absences from my usual social circles, home with the baby for 10 months nursing 24/7, and switching jobs, etc., I've found that I was maintaining some friendships for the wrong reasons.  And also maintaining friendships that impacted me negatively.  In those months home with baby, I have found some really great friends too :-) 


I did a little friend clean up on my facebook account a few weeks ago.  I realized that some people you friend simply want to cyber stalk you.  They got the facebook friend guillotine. Now i'm trying to concentrate the friend free time I have, whether it's for a coffee, a long evening chat, etc, to people that have really been true friends.  I hope that I'm as good to my friends as they have been to me.  I feel so blessed to have good people around me to support me through all my ups and downs this past year.  I'm going to try to give all that goodness back :-)

Weight Update

Yo Ladies!

I have been so hyper in the mornings lately.  I just feel energized all day--and I haven't even been drinking that much coffee, just my normal 1 double shot espresso at home in the a.m.  Maybe it's the christmas music keeping me peppy? Maybe it's my metabolism cranked up? Maybe it's the 60% raw diet?

So speaking of the raw diet--man raw fruits and veg dont' fill you up.  Your stomach wrenches all day begging for bread or cheese...or a large pizza!! You fight through it, eat another apple and some water and wait for your one cooked meal of the day! lol  I know Jess knows what i'm talking about here.

We went to a Thanksgiving potluck last Saturday at my friends and I ate so much food!  It was so nice to go mingle with friends sans baby.  I love my kid, but sometimes it's nice to mingle and chat with adults without chasing her and having climb all over me.  So the party was nice.....but the next day I had gained a pound! Geesh.  So I worked really hard Monday and Tuesday to eat 60% raw and workout.

Saturday I ran sprints, Sunday I did a mile trial (and cut over 1 minute off my  mile!!!) and yesterday I did a "recovery non-running workout"  which was the elliptical.  Man, the elliptical KILLED me.  I had to keep telling myself to just suffer through the 30 minute workout.  I used to think the elliptical was an "easy" workout and running was hard. No a 3-4 mile jog is easy and enjoyable and the elliptical blew.  I don't know how Courtney does 1 hour a day on that thing--god bless you preggo lady!

So this morning I was 182.0 lbs!!!! lowest yet!!!!  Go Me!!!  Can you sense my enthusiasm!?  Today I am doing an interval training session and Thursday is a long 5 mile run before the turkey feast!

I hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving.  I'm going to do a little photo session with my mom and Mimi thursday in her fall dress--hope to post some nice ones!

Why do men drop weight without having to work at it!?

Why is my husband losing weight!? Every morning we both get up and pee and weigh ourselves (sorry if TMI lol) and then we announce our weights to each other.  We've both been losing weight steadily for the last two months or so.  Here's the difference though---I ACTUALLY WORK MY ASS OFF! This is so frustrating!  I run 4 days a week, watch what I eat, eat mostly raw foods, he eats junk, late night snacks, and goes out to each lunch most of the week...oh and HE DOESN"T EVEN WORKOUT!  So I had this little mini goal way back when I started getting serious about weightloss to get below his weight (which has happend twice for like a day).  Yes I know, most women weigh less than their husbands...anyway....every time I get close to his weight, he drops 5 lbs.  I've been hovering around my new plateau of 183 and (although this am I was 182.6) and he was....wait for it......179 lbs! He's killing me!  By the way we're both 5'10"

BLAH!
anyway, here's me today wearing a cardigan from Jess :-)  On  Fridays we dress down (more so when bossman is gone) and we all are wearing jeans today.  God, see how I still have  gut!? GRRRRRR
I don't know if it's because I'm hormonal, but I am feeling really down about the way I look these last few days.  Please don't take that statement as me fishing for positive comments--yes I know I'm skinnier, but I'm not happy about my shape right now.  Oh let's now forget the great acne I'm getting now that I'm off BC.  Thanks mother nature.

So how is my raw diet transition going? Going well, been about 50% raw so far.  Yesterday I was all raw except for some dairy products and a tortilla.  I'll take that.  Today so far I'm 100% raw (but only since I've had breakfast and morning snack).  We'll see what lunch and dinner bring.  I finished week one of Fastest 5K, today I start Week 2 with a "hard run."  I think I'll try to get er done before dinner.  So far the program has challenged me, I ran 3.8 miles instead of 3.1 on my "normal" run day.  This week I am going to stretch a lot more though so my muscles aren't as sore.  Have a great weekend, I have some cute Mimi photos to upload but the camera's at home.

Body Image

I was talking with one of favorite people last night (who happens to be preggers again :-) !!) and we were chatting about body image.  In fact i've had chats about "body image" with a few of my friends this week.  It seems to be on women's minds a lot.  Getting "skinny" or "fit" seems to be on a lot of woman's "to do lists."  I know it's near the top of mine.  Infact, my husband and my friend's husband were even chatting about the kind of body's they want their woman to have lol!

I've been having a problem lately dealing with my change in size.  I went shopping last week to buy some new dresspants, the size 16 (and some 14) size pants were like potato sacks on me.  So I go to the Gap Outlet, to get some cheap dress pants for work, and what size did I buy? I frickin 14.  I grabbed some pants, tried them on, and they were loose, but not falling off, so I bought them.  I get home, put them on one day and my husband says "Dude I thought you bought new pants, those are huge on you!"  For some reason I was afraid to get the smaller size.  I actually could have fit into a 12.  I didn't even try that size.  I am just so used to being huge, that I was like "no way am I really a 12"  So now I have pants that are slightly less potato sack.  I think also, because I've been wearing over-sized pants for awhile now, I'm used to having some room you know? Like after having a baby you still LOVE your frickin maternity pants cause they are oh-so-comfy.  You're afraid to have an actual button on your waist.   Well I'm done with the big clothes.  I cleaned out my closet.  I tossed some, donated some, and made a pile to get altered (when I have some extra cash).  From now on I am going to get my real size.

So my husband has also lost quite a bit of weight.  He's now weighing in at 181!!!! What the frack!? Every time I get close to his weight he loses 5 lbs.  He's looking so slim these days.  I was telling Courtney that even his watch is too big for him.  His pants are falling off of him too.  We have decided we're hitting the after Christmas sales and getting some clothes that fit us.

I want to congratulate Jess on her recent weight loss.  She is looking AMAZING.

I want to congratulate Courtney on her pregnancy and weightloss! AND yes , depending on your bodytype and nutrition, you CAN end up losing weight while pregnant.  I lost 6 lbs my first trimester and Mimi was over 8lbs folks.  You can also work out safely throughout your pregnancy, as long as you were working out at that level at least 6 months prior to becoming pregnant and have your docs blessing.  So keep up the good work Court!  I'm overjoyed for you.

I want to also congratulate my friend Grace on being 4 months preggo and only gaining a few pounds!  She is walking and keeping active too.  But why is she not bloggin!?

Saturday Bliss

Farmer's Market trip today :-)

Boy did we get stuff done today! We got up and at em' at 7:30 am, hit the farmers market, post office, and did errands.  We moved around our bedroom furniture (and deep cleaned the whole room).  We raked and leaf-blowed the front lawn, did other yardwork, I went running, and my friend made me a nice and healthy dinner.  I'm going to do a vlog reviewing the new running program I started today, and do some laundry and cuddle up with a chic flic.  Nice Saturday.

My yummy almost raw lunch

Mimicans eating pizza and pineapple for lunch

Some Health Changes

Hey Ladies,

Just wanted to do a general health update for those you who are interested.  I've been really motivated lately to not only lose weight, but to clean up my diet and lifestyle in general.  If you look at my health track record and family history, you can see why this might concern me.  Let's take a look:

Father's Family                                                                                  Mother's Family
Grandmother--Heart disease, type 2 diabetes                                    Grandmother--pancreatic cancer
Grandfather--Heart disease                                                               Grandfather--Heart disease                                                
Uncle-type 2 diabetes                                                                       Aunt--Ovarian Cancer
                                                                                                        Mother--High blood pressure, high
                                                                                                                      cholesterol


My husband jokes that I use our insurance enough for the both of us.  I've had 2 knee surgeries, Shingles, been diagnosed with IBS.....He's right, I have issues that bring me to my GP's office at least once per month.  In fact, I met my deductible MONTHS ago.

A lot of my friends don't understand why I'm so driven to loose weight and be healthy.  They tease me for knowing how many calories are in everything.  I told my one friend I wanted to lose 15-20 more lbs and she said "From where!?"    I know what a healthy weight is for me and I think my approach is a healthy, rational approach to losing weight and being healthy.

The most logical approach to losing weight is to expend more calories then you take it.  If you do this, you WILL lose weight.  So if you eat only icecream, but you keep your total calories of icecream under 1200 a day, you will lose weight.  Is that healthy--I would have to say probably not....

Think of food as fuel for your body.  When you're trying to lose weight, fuel with body with calories that are choc full of fiber, vitamins, water, nutrients, etc., not diet products that are made of chemicals, filler, and artificial sweeteners.  Way back in the day when I tried weight-watchers, I was really turned off by all the diet products they push.  Yes, they teach you to stay below a calorie intake (ie your points), but they advocate not only their diet products, but a heep of others.  So I guess my point is that I not only want to reduce my calorie intake to lose weight, but I want to fuel my body with foods that are less (or not even) processed, and not full of artificial sweeteners and fillers.  I'm been dabbling with the idea of going 60% Raw.  What he the heck as am talking about? The raw food diet is a diet based on unprocessed and uncooked plant foods, such as fresh fruit and vegetables, sprouts, seeds, nuts, grains, beans, nuts, dried fruit, and seaweed.  I say 60% raw because it's unrealistic (to me) to think that I could eat 100% raw and get the nutrients I need, and enjoy meals with my family (who would not be eating raw).  I want to attempt to have a raw breakfast, snacks, and lunch whenever possible.  I don't think a 100% raw diet would be healthy for me either because it is not recommended for people who are anemic, pregnant, or nursing.  I'm not pregnant or nursing now obviously, but I want to be in the next year, so why adopt a lifestyle change that doesn't fit with those parts of my life?  I also tend to be anemic due to my reduced meat consumption (I only eat 1-2 servings of meat weekly).  

The other big step I'm taking to be a healthier me is going off of hormone-based birth control.  I have not been off my hornmone-based birthcontrol for 3 weeks and I already feel healthier.  The birth control made me feel "not like myself" in so many ways.  I know I know, I should try different pills, blah blah blah. I have.  I'm done with them.  I have starting tracking my ovulation based on my basal body temperature and my bodies natural cues (along with the use of condoms), I feel like this is the best approach for me.

So I think I've hit my new plateau weight, lol.  I had been hovering at 185/186 for weeks, now I'm hovering at 183.  Here's something I haven't addressed in awhile--My Self-Imposed Christmas Challenge--how am I doing?

Well...

Question for you all...Do I need to re-evaluate my goal again?  I originally had my goal set to 160, after talking with my doctor, he feels like 170 is a more realistic goal for me.  I do want to eventually get to 160-165, but would 170 be a more realistic goal for me for this challenge?

   So this is what my new goals would look like.  I feel like "re-evaluating" my goals is a nice way so saying "let's make it easier for me" but I truly think sometimes we can set unrealistic goals in the first place, or we encounter issues along the way which hinder our expected results.

I think I also need to take into account the muscle mass I may be building running 12 miles a week.  We all know "muscle weighs more than fat..."

Well this was a long drawn-out post all about my diet and weightloss.  Sorry If I bored you all.

Tomorrow I am starting a new running program to improve my 5K time. It's a 6 week program designed to help you sheer minutes off your 5K time.  I don't know if my goal right now is to get faster, or run farther.  But this new program will keep me running strong (haha PUN) through Christmas, maybe even helping me reach my "re-evaluated" goal!

I wish you all the best on your goals!

I want to send out a special virtually hug to someone--you know who you are..:-)

Ups and Downs

So if you've been following me on my 10 day Crazy Weightloss Challenge sponsored by Kyleandcourt, then today was day 10.  I had a great 10 days.  I worked out 4 times a week (ran 3.5 miles atleast 3-4 days a week), made healthy choices, learned the regret that comes with weekend weightgain, made new friends via the challenge, and DROPPED below my plateau weight!!!

These past 10 days proved challenge in my non-Crazy Weightloss Challenge life with work and home. We travelled twice, all got sick, and I endured some pressure cooker type things at work that gave me heartburn (and/or and ulcer).

Today I was 183.  That is 2-3 lbs below my plateaued weight of 185/186.  Only 2-3 lbs you say?!  Well--in 10 days that's pretty good.  Just think of how awesome I would have done if I didn't' pig out last weekend!  I'm happy with the weightloss. I'll take that.

Another great thing was switching up my running to 4 times per week.  I had been on a 3 times per week routine for 3 months.  Amping it up to 4 has become the norm now.   Also--very exciting....the maker of 5k101 has selected me to be one of the 10 people to try out his new "Your Fastest 5K" Program that he will be putting out soon.  He wanted 6-10 people who had successfully completed his program to try this program out and track their results and give feedback.  Well Todd--I am PSYCHED.  You should look for some videos and blogs from me these next 6 or 7 weeks talking about my progress.  I also just signed up for my 2nd 5K, a reindeer run on December 2nd ( I know random Thur night right?).  My friend Patty who inspired me to do 5K101 is running with me, it's her first 5K, even though she was weeks ahead of me in the program.

Other news? Well Mimicans is over 15 months now. Time for her update, I think I'll do that separately maybe tomorrow.  I have off tomorrow so I am going to be on a rampage spending quality time with Mimi, cleaning and doing laundry, and running of course cause I'm ADDICTED.

For your viewing pleasure....some photos from last weekend's trip to see Mimi's godparents.

Nice Static Hair Eh?

Goes down slides all by herself now

Parenting of the year award goes too...no she didn't really drink it, we let her play with the bottle...

Tricia playing with Mimi in playground tunnel

How can you not love kids in overalls!?