A new love

I found these super yummy snacks at Sams Club... My kids and I are addicted! We put 5 clusters (the serving size) in a bag with dried bananas and strawberries (which I did on our new dehydrator!) Sweet!!! We usually eat that along with carrots in the car or running around!

YUM!

*LOVE*

Ok - I have a few new recipes I love so much I HAVE to share....

Minted Rice with Garbanzo Curry

Cucumber Salad

From Trainer Momma - Fiber Bars

From Just a Mom, Ha - Chicken Tomatillo Soup , (Recommended by my cute Cuz Alisa!)

And I will post a few more later... sorry - the baby is crying! Bye!

Sooooo stinking CUTE!

I want/NEED this - SERIOUSLY adorable!!!
Alisa - you have to enter this b/c if neither of us win it we need to have our hubbies buy it for us for Mommies day!

Ok - CUTEST NECKLACE EVER!!!!!

Random

I have been thinking a lot today about why I am so hard on myself. I push myself to be "perfect" in everything I do. I don't succeed, but I sure push myself.
I am so frustrated that some friends/family member are losing weight SO much more quickly than I am. I try to remind myself that I AM doing good - 60+ lbs so far in 10 months.... but one sister in law has lost 100 in 6 so it makes me feel like I must not be doing something right.
I got a calorie counter book (the Calorie King recommended by my cuz Alisa) and I LOVE it! I have been doing really good counting calories. I have been amazed to see how many calories are in things, as I have just gone by fat content my whole life! It is actually a lot of fun to do and I feel like I am making myself more accountable for what goes into my/my children's bodies now. We have always been fruit/veggie junkies - but I love thinking now - oh that medium banana is 105 calories, maybe I should add 1/4 cup almonds with it for another 150. Fun! (Yep, I am weird)
Anyhow... I am at a good weight now - not where I want to be, in fact I am 20 lbs from where I want to be. I wish I could just stop being so stressed out about it and enjoy it!!! I kind of feel like I am a ticking time bomb and that I have to lose this weight quick so I can enjoy it for a little while before I get pregnant again. I want to be REALLY healthy and thin this time so that I won't have as much to lose when the pregnancy is over - it really makes the first year more fun if you aren't constantly weepy over being fat!!!
Anyhow - why am I so hard on myself? I don't know!!! It is weird. Whenever friends/family say they are dieting or trying to lose weight I can't figure out why, I always think everyone else looks awesome - except myself. Am I alone in this or is this pretty common? I just hope I can adjust my thinking and feel good about myself so that my 3 girls will have healthy body images!

**My-Space**

I saw THIS POST on Trainer Momma and it cracked me up. I am a stay at home mom with no other job.... but I have so much stuff I want/like to do on the computer that if I sat and did it all day it would get.... BAD..... After Hannah was born (#3) I started reading emails/blogs while on the treadmill. I can usually do 3-4 miles before I am done. It is great because I get two things done at once, and with 4 little kids I am nothing if not a great multitasker!

Sooooo, here are my cutie girls reading and playing with their toys....
And this is what I do! If the baby gets fussy I put her in her Jumperoo or sometimes I stop and then finish exercising later (probably not ideal - but my kids come first).
I have never had a problem with having the computer on the book stand - it works really great actually! I also watch episodes of shows that I have missed (like LOST!!!) and sometimes even an instant Netflix movie!

It may not be the solution for everyone, but for me it is awesome! I really want to figure out a way to put the computer on the bike too.... (It has no book place.) I will let you know if I do!

(Oh, and I usually walk at about 3.5-3.8! - You may want to go slower at first, but unless you are typing - which I am NOT coordinated enough to do - you can actually go pretty fast!)

Cuties

We call her Hurricane Hannah... she gets into everything and eats ALL DAY LONG.... but luckily most of her choices are pretty good!!!

I love cutie oranges, and that even a 2 year old can peel one for herself!

Then... and now

Here is me with my friend Jen about 3 weeks after Elise was born.
UGH - I can hardly stand to look at these pics - I look and FELT so GROSS!!!

Here I am now (10 months later) - close to 70 lb's lighter!!! YAY! I feel awesome - I certainly have more to lose, but I am fitting into a lot of my clothes and I don't feel embarrassed to be in public anymore! ;)

Kinda gross....

Because of months and months of having antibiotics pumped through my system my immune system is BAD - really bad. I get anything and everything that goes around. When you have that many antibiotics in you trying to kill off the bad bugs, they inevitably kill off the good bugs as well. This can lead to intestinal candidiasis. Another link is here. About 4 years ago I got very very very sick and went to dozens of Dr's who tried many treatments and did lots of tests and we never found out anything. Then a friend mentioned that a cousin had had similar problems and found a solution. It was called Threelac (see Fivelac as Threelac is no longer available) and basically is is a bunch of really good for you probiotics in a form that is ok to take while on a completely sugar/yeast free diet. This diet is HARD. The first time I had to do it I had been VERY sick for a very long time and so it was about 6 months until I started feeling better. (BTW - the first link is much more liberal in what you can eat than what I can eat.)
A few months ago I noticed that I was starting to feel the same way again so I decided I would face it head on and try to get better before it got bad! I have been on it for just a month this time and am feeling GREAT! I am feeling ready to start slowly introducing some carbs and in a few weeks (or maybe a month or two) I will start adding back in sugars.
This is NOT a weight loss diet - in fact, the last time I actually gained weight! But it is a good reminder to me of how to eat healthily and to really detox from sugar!
So... that is what has been going on with me! How about you? ;)

Confused....

Ok - I just did a free analysis to see how many calories I should be eating if I want to lose weight... it said 1594 as long as I do moderate activity... so I am still a little confused... if I work out hard and burn say, 700 calories... do I add those calories on, to a 2294 calorie intake (I think this is what Traner Momma says) or do I count that as a deficit so that I lose the weight? 1500 calories seems like plenty!

I thought this was a very insightful post!!! All of us CAN do it! We CAN!!!!

A goal met!!!!

Ok - I have been working hard at it and then today finally weighed myself AND changed my ticker thing.... Ony 10 lbs to go!!! Wooo hoooo! I am at my pre-#4 weight and 10 lbs from my pre #3 weight!!!!

So according to the Breakdown I have 20 lbs... right? But my ticker shows 10. Why again? I changed it. My healthy weight range is 135-169. My original goal was 130. It is still in the back of my mind... but my goal for now is to be healthy and strong - and 10 lbs above my lowest healthy weight is probably still pretty great! So - my goal now is my pre - Hannah weigh, 145. And just so you don't have to start doing the math yourself, that means I am now at 155. I don't like that weight... I REALLY don't! Though right now it feels really good because of where I have been!
I am sure that after I hit 145 I will still want to keep losing - but I am trying to focus and remind myself that my goal is NOT to be the skinniest person I know... but to be strong, eating healthy, and available for my kids. When I have extra weight I just don't focus on them like I want to - I am so tired and frustrated and kinda grumpy! I am excited about how VERY VERY close I am! I am sure I will be to my goal by Elise's first B-day... THEN we will see about the original goal. It simply may be too much for me to do with 4 little kids... but at least I can feel good about the fact that I am focusing on keeping their Mommy healthy so that she will be around and available to them for a looooooong time!