How are things going? So glad you asked.  You can read some more of this journey here and here.

First baby gained 40.

Second baby gained 50.

Third baby gained 60 {ouch}.

Fourth baby gained 50. {I’m thinkin’ those cheeks counted for at least half of that weight gain!}

I have lost the weight within a year with each baby.  My little guy will be nine months old next week. Last Friday, I officially weighed in 51 lbs less then the day I delivered him. Whew. Now back to regular scheduled programing….you see when I got pregnant I was the highest weight I had ever been {non pregnant}. I was just beginning a mission to get fit.

My life was a bit out of control, as was my health. At 5′ 10′ tall I had put on 37 pounds over the course of 4 years. {ouch again}. I could give you all kinds of reasons and excuses, but I will spare you. I hurt my knee last weekend on a hike and was so profoundly reminded that as I just turned 40, I am getting “older”. I refuse to accept this. Not the getting older part because obviously that is inevitable. However, the part that says I need to slow down or whatever. I am determined to be in the best shape possible. I want to be active, feel good, and avoid as many aches and pains as possible.

I am on a really good path. A path that takes me to living fit…not just a less overweight, but still outta shape status.

I must update on my Exerspy purchase. Hands down the best $219 I have ever spent. We are on a one income pastor salary for a  family of six. That’s a chunk of change for us these days for sure, but I used my birthday cash and I am glad I did. Money well spent.

The reason I love it, is this. For so many years, I was guessing at what I burned what I ate etc. Weight control is a numbers game, pretty pure and simple. Calories in vs calories out. It’s pretty hard to manage what you don’t know. I just find for me, I am learning what I burn when I am up doing errands, cleaning my house, working out, etc. I see how it works in relation to my calorie intake. After 6 weeks of using this I just look at all this different. Your weight, food, even exercise doesn’t have control over you. You have the ability to make choices. In fact, wether you want to or not every step and every bite of food is a choice….it all is going to show up. With this technology it shows up BEFORE it gets the best of you.

I anticipate wearing this for a couple of months after I have reached my goal weight and then will probably wear it from time to time to stay on track. I couldn’t be happier with it. I am thankful that I found it.

So my first goal of 50 lbs, was reached on August 5th.

My second goal of 37 lbs is well underway and Lord willing I will reach that before the year is over…..

Why do I share this you ask? …because I had forgotten what it feels like to feel good, to feel fit, to have energy, be strong. To be able to play with my kids, tie my shoes, and live life knowing that I am being a good steward of the body that God has given me. With America having 68% obesity rate it’s more “NORMAL” to be overweight than to be healthy. I don’t wanna forget what healthy feels like ever again…it’s just too important.

YAY ME ~

I wrote recently about my postpartum fitness goals and about the place I was in when I became pregnant. I gained 50 lbs with this pregnancy. It sounds less painful to say that, if I tell you that I am 5’10″ tall and let you know that I had a 10lb. 6 oz baby. My little guy is now 6 months and 1 week old and I am happy to report that I have lost 43 pounds. I have 7 left until I hit my first goal. I then have 37 left that I want to lose after that. I mentioned previously that I was at the highest weight of my life when I got pregnant this time. Awesome huh? To avoid a stack of therapy bills, I chose to take this in two steps. The first weight loss phase is to return back to my pre pregnancy weight and the second phase is to get to my goal weight. I can add the two numbers together, but I chose not too. Denial is more fun.

HELPS ~

I joined a gym. It’s amazing. For the last several years, I have been trying to work out at home. It’s so hard because there is always something fighting for my attention. There is something about going out of the house to the gym that gets the job done. Tonight, I did my first group class since the baby was born. I did cardio kickboxing. Um, wow. What happens when you put me in a room with a ton of people, have Black Eyed Peas blasting, while a teacher is yelling at me to work it and punching and kicking is encouraged….well the outcome is I think, just maybe, I may have over done it. Find a gym. Get a free trial. Grab your friends. Hang out there. It’s a good thing.

My Fitness Pal ~ this is a great online gig that also has an iphone app. Its free. It’s sensible. Check it out.

Made to Crave~ I was recommended this book three times in one day. O.k. I get the hint, I am reading it.

Go Public ~ swallow your pride and do it. Post your fitness goals on the fridge, on Facebook, or your blog. Just do it. It helps your accountability and you will find that you are NOT alone.

PASS IT ON ~

We are trying to instill a very healthy attitude about food and fitness with our kids. Here are several things we try to talk about regularly in daily conversation with our crew.

1. God made our bodies. It is imperative to take care of them to the best of our ability. Eat right and exercise. It’s not all about how we look, but rather feeling our best so that we can do all that God has created us to do.

2. We do not use the words CLEAN YOUR PLATE around here. We use the words STOP WHEN YOU ARE FULL. I don’t care if there is food left on the plate. If you are full, S T O P. I want my kids to grow up listening for the cue to stop eating and then actually do it.

3. Along the lines of not cleaning your plate, we have taught our kids how to find the right serving sizes of foods. When I am serving meals, that is what we try and dish out. We typically do not allow “SECONDS”. We serve the proper amount the first time around. If the kids are still hungry, they are welcome to eat more fruit or vegetables.

4. Speaking of fruits and vegetables, they are aloud at any time throughout the day. The kids are welcome to help themselves whenever they want. This rule does not apply to any other types of foods.

5. Sweets? We typically do not have chips, sweets, etc around the house. The reason is because the kids get so much of it inevitably at other places. If we do have sweets around, or I am serving dessert at a meal, I give the dessert at the same time as the food to my kids. I have always done this, since they were little. They can eat it whenever they want during the meal. Now before you go calling CPS on me, I want you to think about this for a minute. Unless you give a child a pan of brownies, I really don’t see how a small dessert will actually in fact “RUIN” their dinner. I hardly think a small cookie or small scoop of ice cream is going to prevent a child from eating their meal. In addition, my kids almost always save their dessert for last because “it’s the best”. They did that on their own. Bottom line is that is about portion control. I don’t want them shoveling through their food to get to the end “prize” or worse yet…if I tell them to stop when they are full, then why at that point would I set more food in front them in the form of dessert?

6. We do not reward with food. Period. This is non negotiable for me. We do not go eat ice cream because we obeyed our mommy and daddy, or made our bed, or got an A, or on and on and on…..While we may end up going to get ice cream, or out to lunch, we focus on hanging out together, etc. It may just be in the words you chose on this one, but this is huge to me.

Life presents enough opportunities to become dependent on food, use food to cope, become addicted to food, and just in general eat too much. I am trying to the best of my ability to continue to enforce not only healthy eating habits, but healthy attitudes about food, as long as I am the one feeding these munchkins.

JOIN ME

I mentioned in my last post on this topic, that I wanted to try and set up some type of support system. I had multiple emails that day of people who were interested. SO, I am going to try something. I am going to create a private Facebook group. Please send me a private Facebook message if you wish to join and I will add you to the group. We can post achievements big and small and generally just encourage each other. If you have a fitness goal of any type, please consider this. Men and women, big goals and small goals are all welcome! If your goal is to maintain, lose 5 pounds, or 500 I would love to see you! You can chose to disclose whatever info in the group you want to regarding specifics of your journey to find and maintain a healthy lifestyle.

Our health takes time. It takes even more time if we have gotten off track and need to find our way back. Make the commitment. Do what it takes. It is so worth it.

I am recovering nicely from the break up with my scale. It was traumatic…but I’m workin’ thru it. If you missed it you can read about it here. There is a huge mindset shift and a new found freedom. I have daily lived by this number for as long as I can remember, so it’s a bit weird to not have it start and end my day.

I am floundering a bit and I need a little box to jump back into. Today I am starting 15 for 15…That’s 15 days of 1500 calories a day.  I will post back at the end with my totals. Short term goals help me out tremendously.

I am on week 7 of my 12 week Chalean Program. I adore her. She is just full of good…and I feel good. Taking care of yourself takes time. Why is that always the first thing I seem to cross off my to do list?

I will leave you with a 3 things I love in my quest for the minority lifestyle.

First, my Target purchased weights. They range from 2.5-12.5 pounds. $69.99. LOVE ‘Em.

Second, my Walmart purchased 15 and 20 pound weights. About $10 each. I need ‘em cuz sometimes I turn into Super girl.

Third, my work out buddies. They love Turbo Jam. We blast the music at an unrespectable level and kick and punch ’til we look like this…

Wish me luck..I’ll report back in 15 days…summer’s comin’ fast….

ok…so I have good news and bad news…Good news goes first. THE SCALE IS MOVING.
Bad news is in the wrong direction. Up 2 pounds. How special. I love it when hard work produces the desired results. It makes my heart sing.

So the way I figure is this…if after 20 years I can give up diet coke for 27 days now…I can do this….SERIOUSLY! I am hoping that it is partially due to a rebound effect from Atkins…

Here’s my number one problem right now:

COUNTING, MEASURING, TRACKING….heaven help me, I hate it.

I once had a job that I had to track my work duties in 15 minutes increments ON PAPER. Talked on the phone, worked on this, worked on that. It nearly drove me to an institution of some kind. I remained committed and did it to the best of my ability, but all kidding aside it killed my soul to live that way. This is eerily similar, but there is no way around it that I see. SO, I am trying a slightly new tactic this week. I have planned out my meals and snacks for the next week. I just came back from the store and have  purchased everything and it is ready for the week. Everything is pre measured and packaged mostly…not the healthiest, but it’ll have to do for now. At least, this way, I won’t have to write something down and do math every time I eat something.

I am going 1310 calories a day this week. I feel like I am trying to turn the titanic around to go in the right direction. Wait…did I just compare myself to the Titanic? I think I did…oh whatever….

I will also be lifting weights 3 times this week 40 minutes each session, 20 minute ab work out 5 x’s, and 60 min kickboxing 2x’s.

If the scale doesn’t move in the desired direction by next Sat morning…well let’s just say I’ll be applying for the Biggest Looser. You can watch me next season…I hope I get the pink team.

Wish me luck! How was your quest for healthy living this week?