Just thinking....

After reading THIS post I did a lot of thinking.... Trainer Momma described my home growing up to a T - except that my Mom did NOT have stashes of candy anywhere - there was simply no candy in our home growing up. If we went to a cousin or friends house we would head straight for the candy bowl for a "fix". We didn't trick or treat either - so we got candy very rarely.... So here is what I have been thinking about - why do I not love candy so much that I can't be trusted around it? The Trainer Momma does - my brothers do.....
Here is what I came up with - as soon as I could cook my Mom would let me make cookies and such about anytime I wanted. So when I was stressed or just wanted something sweet I would bake! My outlet became cooking instead of treats. Although baked goods are still the hardest things for me to say no to, at least they satisfy more than a butterfinger I guess.
I loved baking oatmeal cookies, carrot cookies and whole wheat banana bread - some of the same things I still bake when I am stressed or craving sweets. What I am trying to figure out is if that is better or worse.... I have been known to eat an entire pan of Nutella Cheesecake brownies when I was depressed - I am sure a Snickers would have been better than that..... I usually am pretty good at self control, but for sure baked goods are the hardest things for me to deal with!

YAY!

The past 2 weeks I have eaten REALLY really well and have exersized at least 5 days each week!!! The week before that I only exersized 4 days - but because it had been so beautiful I was walking 6 miles in the morning and about 3 in the afternoon! I am actually feeling pretty great about how well I am doing lately and my motivation is high right now!
I have been trying out all kinds of yummy new recipes from Trainer Momma, Sara, Alisa and some awesome Vegan indian recipes that I have found! LOVE it! I am so ready to just go off Gluten but have to wait until after my celiac test... so just a few more weeks and I will find out about that! I do have to say though, that as a meat loving girl we have not had much of it the past few weeks - lots of beans, lentils, tofu etc and I have even MORE energy!
I am hoping to keep my motivation high!!! My goal is to work out 5-6 times a week through the end of December and then reevaluate how much more I should be doing at New Years! I am allowing myself "days off" for Thanksgiving and Christmas. Thanksgiving is never a tough one for me and since we are doing it alone (i think) this year it should be easy to just make healthy foods! I don't like pie so that has never been a real challenge... Christmas however is another story. I am working soooo hard right now so that I will be in the right frame of mind when it gets here. If I feel good and am exersizing I know I won't let eating get out of control! Bring it on!

Yep - I have been a slacker - BIG time.... I have decided NO MORE EXCUSES!!! Yep, the kids are sick, I can still find 1/2- 1 hour to exercise at some point in the day. Dirty house/crazy day... I can find a way at some point to do it, I CAN! The problem is I simply got out of the habit over the summer with so much going on, but I am getting back in. I have been working out daily for the last 2 weeks, and it HAS made a big difference, I feel better about myself and I am simply a nicer Mom!
I have to say "Biggest Loser" is always such a huge motivation for me. Ok so a size 8 is not exactly biggest loser worthy, but it is also not where I want to be. I can do better.
Emma was talking with me tonight and saying that she can't wait till she gets bigger and we can share clothes. My first thought was that I better not get fat;) She is super skinny and tall so if I want to fit into the same dresses as her, I will have to keep working hard!
That is it, really! I am still alive and working on it and I have to say that after baby #4 it has been soooooo much harder. Baby #1 was soooo easy, same with #2. Baby #3 was a bit tougher and I still had 10 lbs to go when I got prego with #4 and this has felt nearly impossible... BUT - I KNOW I CAN do it, I can... I think I just need Jillian to move into my exercise room - if she was yelling at me I am sure I could be done really quick!

Mercy

There really is a reason for the post title... I spent the majority of my summer at the mercy of others. What I mean by that is, I had many camps and outings that I went on for church related things and though I could pack a few healthy snacks, I truly was at the mercy of what they were serving. Obviously I was able to control my portion sizes, but I had no control over what was being served. When you canoe and backpack in you can't exactly whip up a protein smoothie if there is too much fat content in the dinner (besides that, I was starving from swimming hiking etc so I wouldn't have probably cared anyway. I am not complaining - the camps etc were AWESOME and I had a great time... I knew my weight loss would still be there when summer was over;)
Anyhow, I came out pretty good - I lost a few pounds, though I did not lose as much as I had I had hoped at the beginning of summer. I had certainly hoped to be at my goal by now... oh well! I am pretty happy that I am firmly in my healthy range, and am going to start kicking the weight loss back into full gear! I am really looking forward to school starting again and having schedules and being home a bit more!

Truth vs Fiction

I LOOOOOVE THIS ARTICLE!!! Check it out and tell me what you think? Does it change your vision of yourself?

Soooo close!

Re-modified.... again. If you remember back to HERE I changed my weight loss goal to what I figured was more realistic for a mom of 4... but as I looked at my goal today and realised I am only 5 pounds away, I knew I still had more to lose. So... my ticker at the top now reflects my goal - 135, which is also the lowest I should go - and still be in my healthy weight range! I am excited about this goal - as it gives me something to work for stll, and when I get there I can work on maintaining and toning up good! I am very lucky in that I don't usually have a tough time maintaining weight - just losing! But... I am getting sooooo close! YAY!
So... I had lost about 15 lbs(might have been 20... I stopped looking at the scalet hose last few weeks of pregnancy...) by the time I went to see the Dr at my 6 weeks postpartum checkup. That is when I started my ticker from - so technically I have lost 80 lbs in one year (as of yesterday - Happy Birthday BABY!) and have 15 more to go... WOW!!! That is almost 100 (95)! I hadn't even realised that until I sat down to type this! I had NO idea I had gotten that fat! But, when you gain 60-70 pounds per pregnancy... and then just once don't lose enough in between... that is a lot of weight! (I got preggo with #4 with 20 lbs to go from #3 who was only 9 months at the time!)
I am pretty excited and proud of myself... my next goal - to magically become one of those women who only gains 20 pounds during pregnancy!

G.C.

Well, I am off to Girls Camp this week (a church youth camp). I am a little nervous after recieving the menu - I brought my own healthy treats along because some of it is going to not sit well on my poor tummy! My main worry is staying hydrated! I always got dehydrated at Girls Camp as a youth and got a migraine on the Thursday night... so I am going to try really hard NOT to do that!
Hopefully I will get some good hikes in though! I am really excited about that!
I am so close to my "goal weight"... and I think I might back on the extra 10 pounds to lose. I would be as thin as I got after having Emma (my first) - the same I was in high school! Sweet! Is that realistic for a Mom of 4? Or is that silly and I should just be happy where I will be?