Still Sick

Yup. Still frickin sick.

I am constantly blowing my nose. And coughing.

Yesterday I only got thru 30 minutes of Kenpo before I felt like I was gonna die from not being able to breathe before I turned it off. In that time though, the sweat flew.

K was sick yesterday so that meant UFO night got delayed until next Wed. So last night I went to Panera and picked her up some chicken noodle soup then stopped at the grocery store and got her some gatorade and jello.

I got onion soup in a bread bowl for me from Panera. Soup just sounded fantastic. And I know I probably shouldnt have had the bread bowl, but to hell with it. I am sick. And I didnt eat a whole lot yesterday so I dont feel too bad.

Last night I went to bed about 9:30. I medicated myself pretty heavily so I wasnt up coughing all night. Unfortunately though, I kept waking up when I would hear Xavier cough. SO I still didnt get a whole lot of sleep.

Tonights plan is to go to bed...Early. Like 7pm early.

Landry and I did take the road trip yesterday. It was a very good thing to do.

I had previously written this post explaining everything I am going thru right now and giving some background, but the fact of the matter is that the background doesnt matter.

Here is the fact.

We MAY be having to move AGAIN in the spring. UGH! My in-laws (wonderful though they are) want to list the house in the spring. And with our financial state right now, I doubt we could get a loan to buy it. The timing is pretty bad. And I am pretty stressed. No not pretty stressed...VERY stressed. Hence why I cant get rid of a simple DAMN cold!

I did apply at a gym yesterday to be a personal trainer intern. I will be interested to see if I get a call back. I also added that I am getting my zumba certification end of October and they said that they may need another zumba instructor. That would be good. Then I could have some income coming in to put down on a home loan application. I am trying here.

It would literally kill me to move out of Dexter. But sometimes life sucks. So I have been checking out surrounding areas for very inexpensive fix me up train wrecks of houses. The one yesterday wasnt horrible. Really. A new roof is needed. Ok. So it has some water damage from that. The unknown is the peeling of paint and plaster that is going on around the windows. It is a foreclosure so I am hoping it sits there thru the winter and we can go in with a REALLY low offer to the bank. OR have something pop up for sale here in Dexter so I dont have to move the kids away from their friends. There are a couple possibilities here but we cant do much to see if we qualify right now until Aarons "stuff" is all finalized.

Ok...moving on. Enough pitty party.

Today is a true rest day for me. P90X recovery week builds in two rest days. Today and Sunday. I was hoping to lift a bit tonight but I think that I may forgo that and just medicate and go to bed.

Landry's drop off today at pre-school was a big fat suck. He was crying even before I got him out of the car. Ugh. I told him if he didnt go play then he was going to go home and go to bed. Stinker wanted to come home and go to bed. Ugh again. The teachers want me to drop him off at the end of the line instead of the beginning. They think that will help. We will see. My thought is that if I have to bring him home for 20 min (between Xaviers drop off and his) then I might not get him back in the car. Ugh. I will talk to his speech therapist about it today. Honestly I havent paid the next payment for his pre-school yet until I see if this is going to work out or not.

So that is it for me today. And I didnt weigh myself today. I know the weight is up from the bread bowl so I dont want to get depressed over the number on the scale. Frankly I have WAY too many other things on my docket right now.

Things I am looking forward to-- Feta bread Friday! Yup. We are going to Aubreys tomorrow! Woot! I need it!

Have a great Thursday everyone!

Tip of the Day:

Wacky Wednesday

Hey all!

So yesterday I didnt get my walk in. K's parents came over for some help with some things and by the time she was done it was dark. Could I have done something else? Probably.

But I got my P90X Core workout in. Hey at least it is something!

I am back up to 175.5 though. Probably from the Subway sandwich I had last night for dinner. We all got subs and went to Xaviers school for a picnic with the teacher. I did good. A 6" turkey on wheat. No cheese. Spinach, tomatoes, onions, green peppers, jalepenos, lite mayo and mustard. I did have a Sprite which didnt help with weight gain. And I snagged a couple cheetos. Not near a whole snack size bag so that is good. And I did have the last slutty brownie yesterday. So those temptations are gone. LOL.  I should have just thrown the damn thing away but I have a big issue about wasting food. So instead of wasting, it went to my waist. Ugh.

Today is P90X Kenpo. I will do that when Landry and I get home from dropping Xavier off at school.

Then I think Landry and I might go on a little road trip. If not today, then I will go on one tomorrow after both the boys are at school. This pertains to the things going on in my life and I just feel like I need to check some things out. And tomorrow is a great day for that because it is a rest day for recovery week in P90X. So no need to rush home and work out.

Today is my UFO night (UnFinished Objects) night at K's house. I will be heading over to her place a bit earlier than the others- 6pm. To load in my stuff and help her set up. I am very excited to get these seats covered. I have 2 chairs completely done and painted, 2 chairs with one coat of paint, and one chair still with primer. I am hoping to get the second coat on the other two today and a first coat on the final chair.

Other than that, that is my schedule for today. Nothing too hectic for once. And it should be a lot of fun for tonight. Cant wait!

Have a great Wednesday everyone!

Tip of the Day: I know I posted this before, but I thought it would be good to post again with cold/flu season starting.

A bit of fun

Saw this and thought I would share it with you. I cracked up with it.

Have a great rest of the day...and dont be so serious!

A small loss

So a bit of good news.

Yesterday I did my P90X2 yoga. I am starting to love that video. I could tell I was still sore from the last time I did it.

Then last night K and I went for over a 2 mile walk. I was chatting with her about my down in the dumps reasons for life right now. I will probably be sharing with you soon what is going on...I even have my post written. It is just hard for me to push the publish button and expose our little secrets to the world.  Some of which you guys already know, some of which you dont.

This morning I had a half pound loss. I will take it for not doing major cardio. Down to 175.0. Today is P90X core and tonight is walking with K again. It feels good to walk and talk with her and just let things go. I have to trust that everything happens for a reason. This is just a really shitty spot I am in right now literally not knowing what spring is going to bring. And knowing there isnt much that I can plan for at the moment.

Anyways... I have been starting on a new project.

K's parents gave me 5 chairs for our kitchen island that need to get redone.

Here is what they looked like before.

I added two coats of primer and I got two coats of paint on one of the chairs.

Here is what it looks like now.

I still have to do the cushions for them and will do those tomorrow night at K's house at her UFO party.
One step at a time.

Then we have to go easy on them for about a month until they totally cure (according to the dude at Lowe's). I felt like telling him good luck with that with two little kids. LOL.

And I got my last painting done. It is currently hanging in our bedroom above our bed.

 

As you can see, I am trying to keep myself busy and not think about things too much. I need to trust that they are going to work themselves out.

Thats it for today folks. Have a great Tuesday!

Tip of the Day:

 

A not so fabulous weekend

This weekend was a not so fabulous weekend weight wise. Today I weighed in at 175.5. A 4 lb gain.

Oh well.

Too many carbs this weekend. Too many sweets this weekend. Live and learn and move on.

This week is my recovery week for P90X. So today I have Yoga on my schedule.

And as I looked at our weekly calendar, I realized I wont be making it to the gym Tuesday or Thurs this week. Damn. We have a school picnic Tuesday for Xavier. Thursday is a pizza night at the school for Aaron and Xavier called Watch DOGS. DOGS stands for Dads of Great Students. It is sort of an anti bully campaign and a way to get the dads involved. I love the concept and will give up a night at the gym for it.

So- Mon, Tues, and Thurs, K and I will be walking- weather permitting. If weather doesnt permit, then I will be doing zumba or going on the elliptical. Plus I will probably throw some weights in with it too. This is the type of week to fool the body and mix things up. Next week I know that change starts. Towards the end of month two was when my body REALLY started changing. So I am very excited to start Phase two next week.

Other than that, a pretty uneventful weekend.

Friday night the gals came over. We had a lot of fun. I had some wine and a vodka and sierra mist. And hummus and veggies and pita chips. Oh and a slutty brownie. Never should of had one. That was the end of my willpower with them the rest of the weekend.

Saturday I never did Kenpo. We went for a walk and I packed up the majority of the rest of the slutty brownies to hand out to the gals that were there Friday night. I dont want them in our house. I had a hard enough time not eating all the remaining ones that are here now. We ended up going for probably a mile or so walk. It was slow going with the boys though.

I made up a big pot of chili that day. Ground beef, onions, zucchini, corn, beans, jalepenos, peppers, diced tomatoes, tomato paste, water and spices. Really yummy.

I only had a bit of it. Instead I made some fried green tomatoes. I used good stuff for them. Cornmeal, flaxseed, whole wheat flour, and my garlic and pepper grinder. Really yummy for a cold day. And I fried them in just a bit of olive oil. Nothing major. And somewhere in there I think I snuck in a slutty brownie- or two. Not sure because I broke small pieces off here and there.

That afternoon I took a full out, knock out nap on the couch. I mean for like 4 hours. I was exhausted. Still fighting this lingering cold.

That night I met my friend M at Macaroni Grill for dinner. I had their Lite Choice meal. Grilled shrimp, veggies and potatoes. Delicious and light. I had two glasses of wine and way too much bread. Carbs were my undoing this weekend- remember?

Sunday was a  veg out day in our house. That afternoon I had another nap. This cold does not want to go away.

Lunch was a hard boiled egg and an english muffin with PB. And some spinach dip (another fatty fav of mine) with some whole wheat crusty bread.

Dinner was some chili that I added EXTRA spice to, and a bit more spinach dip and crusty bread. Way too many carbs for me. Shame.

Sometimes though, when you are sick you want the comfort foods. For me, carbs are comfort. And it was what I wanted. Not a biggie. I can move on.

Last night I started priming some chairs that K's parents gave me for our kitchen island. I have 5 chairs and I got 2 primed. Today I am hoping to get the other 3 done. Then I can start painting them. Woo hoo!

Wednesday night K is having a UFO night at her house. An UnFinished Object night. So I am bringing the seat pads to recover. I need to iron on the clear vinyl to the fabric that bought to make it cleanable because of the kids. I will be sure to take pictures once I am done with them.

So that is the plan (so far) for the week.

What do you have going on?

Have a great Monday everyone!

Tip of the Day:

Low spot

Yesterday was just a plain bad day.

It was one thing after another.

I dropped Landry off at school. He cried.

Came home and did my yoga. That was a good thing.

Ran upstairs to take a quick shower so I could drink my smoothie before having to get Landry and guess what?

The cat puked all over Aaron's side of our bed.

GROSS!

So I had to quickly clean that up, run and start wash, run to take a shower, glup down a smoothie and go get Landry.

As I was slamming down my smoothie, I checked my phone messages and got a depressing text. Not getting into what it said right now, but it sent me down to a low, low, low point.

Did I binge?

No.

I stuck to my plan.

I did cry.

A lot.

Because I am beyond frustrated. I just dont know what to do with this. I feel like a tornado is hitting us all over again. There may be big news this spring. And for once, I dont want news. I dont want drama. I dont want all this.

Anyways...

As I said, I stuck to my eating plan. And I went to the gym. Got in a two mile walk, then Pump and RPM. I even upped my bicep weight in Pump. Calories burned at the gym: 1138 Always great to take frustrations out at the gym.

Then I picked up some sushi for me for dinner (California roll) and had a very small glass of red wine.

Today I am back down to 171.5. Woo hoo!

I still am not sure what I am going to do with our "problem" but I am trying not to think about it right now.
Today is a better day.

I have already done P90X legs back and abs today. Whew. I was sore when I woke up this morning and I am even MORE sore now!

Tonight is zumba. Woo Hoo!

Then I am having the ladies of Dexter here tonight. Penni was going to host but her husband isnt feeling well and doesnt want us to catch whatever he may have so I said I would have it instead.

I am making some slutty brownies for the gals tonight. Yummy. Some with rolos and some with peanut butter cups. Slutty brownies are chocolate chip cookie dough on the bottom, rolo or PB cup in the middle, and brownie batter on top. Cooked to perfection. Oh yummy!

So onward. I am not going to let this problem get me down. Nothing I can do about it until the spring anyways.

Have a great Friday everyone!

Tip of the Day:

What the?

So yesterday was a great day!

I did my P90X shoulders and arms.

I ate great all day (even though I felt funky).

And last night I did a modified version of ab ripper.

I didnt turn on the dvd, just did a bunch of their ab exercises as well as other ones that are favs.

This morning my abs are feeling it.

Then why, oh why, am I up a pound to 173? WTF!!

It seriously couldnt be from the couple of bites of ice cream I had at Xaviers social yesterday. Seriously. A couple bites. I finished up what Xavier didnt eat.

I didnt even have any Red Stag OR alcohol.

I am thinking that it is slight muscle bloat.

Yesterday I added 5 lbs to all of my bicep exercises.

GRRRR...

Lean and Mean.

Surprisingly enough I am not really sore today.

But on the docket for today is P90X2 Yoga, Body Pump and RPM.

Yummy!

And I cant wait. I love pump. And RPM.

Hoping to get back on track and lose the 1.5 lbs that I gained the past couple days.

Funny how I can have pizza twice on the weekend and lose 4 pounds but I stay on track with my eating and I gain 1. Too funny.

Anyways...

Xavier had a situation (couple of them) at school yesterday.

He came out of school wearing his fuzzy soft brown jacket and it was covered with straw.

Apparently a few girls tried to wrestle Xavier to the ground outside yesterday. Another little boy joined in and Xavier had to escape because he wanted to play on something else.

I think this is all innocent. I remember being a girl trying to catch the boys. But I dont like when my child comes out of school covered in straw.

Then we get to the car and he tells me that C punched him in the penis yesterday then punched his locker. Now I am friends (acquaintances) with C's mom. C and Xavier were in pre-k last year. So I know her and C seems like such a quiet child.

As I was packing his lunch up yesterday, Xavier was telling me that C smashed some of his tomatoes and pretzels from his lunch the day before. Not nice.

I am sure it is boys being boys. Xavier fixed it by not sitting next to C yesterday at lunch. And I asked him this morning if he and C were friends. He said yes.

BUT...yesterday as Xavier was telling me this, you can bet my ass I was typing out an email to his teacher. Now I dont want to be "that mom" but I think it is important that she knows what is going on with kids in class when she is maybe not around.

Know what I found out?

That she (the teacher) was out yesterday afternoon and that a sub was in instead. When she checked the subs notes, the sub said everything was fine and that it was a great day. LOL.

Today his teacher is going to be out as well. Still in the building, but out of the class for training. She said she appreciates knowing what is going on in the classroom and is glad the kids are at an age where they still tell parents what is going on. So I have the tattler.

And Landry has school today too. We will see if he has another tantrum when I drop him today. After I pick him up, Landry has speech therapy. Should be interesting. Cant wait to see how that goes.

Have a great Thursday everyone!

Tip of the Day: (funny)

Burning out the cold

So yesterday was just a plain old lousy day.

I didnt exercise.

I felt like crap.

BUT I ate good!

At least I stayed on track there.

So one thing I need to tell you about my family is that when we feel a cold coming on, we try to burn out the cold.

With alcohol.

LOL. My mom is a big supporter that Manhattans burn out the cold.

BUT

I HATE Manhattans.

So instead I used Red Stag Bourbon.

Delicious and I could feel the burn.

Unfortunately this morning my stomach was feeling the burn.

And not in a pleasant way.

I gained a half pound- oh well. Alcohol weight.

But my tummy.

Oh how it revolted on me.

I pushed thru a lot of it and did P90X this morning.

Thank goodness that it was Arms and Shoulders and not yoga or plyo.

I skipped temporarily the Ab Ripper. My plan is to do it tonight. I need to let me stomach settle some more.

So I just came back up and had my protein shake. I think I just needed to get some food in my tummy.

Onward!

I am feeling better cold wise though.

And the kids slept great last night.

Tonight will be one more night of going to bed early then I should be just about back to normal.

Have a great Wednesday everyone!

Tip of the Day:

Tips and Tricks for keeping produce fresh longer- Taken from FitSugar. See ALL their tips here.

Some fruits and veggies produce a gas called ethylene as they ripen. This gas can prematurely ripen foods that are sensitive to it, so keep ethylene-producing foods away from ethylene-sensitive foods. Avocados, bananas, cantaloupes, kiwis, mangoes, nectarines, pears, plums, and tomatoes, for example, should be stored in a different place than your apples, broccoli, carrots, leafy greens, and watermelon. Get a longer list of fruits to store separately here.

Store unripe fruits and veggies like pears, peaches, plums, kiwis, mangoes, apricots, avocados, melons, and bananas on the counter. Once they're ripe, move them to the fridge. Banana peels will turn dark brown, but it won't affect the flesh. 

Wrap celery in aluminum foil and store it in the veggie bin in the fridge.

Other types of produce such as carrots, lettuce, and broccoli start to spoil as soon as they're picked, so place these in separate plastic baggies in the crisper in your fridge ASAP (make sure they're dry since moisture speeds up spoiling).

Cut the leafy tops of your pineapple off and store your pineapple upside down. This helps redistribute sugars that sink to the bottom during shipping and also helps it keep longer.

If you normally forget to use up fruits and veggies if you put them in the crisper, store your veggies in plain sight in Evert-Fresh or reusable produce bags that mimic your crisper's function.

Tornado Videos and therapy?

 

I am going to say that I am doing this as a way to cope with what I have been thru these past 6 months but I wanted to share some videos that I am watching literally for the first time since the tornado.

We werent there.

Thank God.

In the first video, our house is the one with the dark gray Escape in the driveway and the white truck pulled part way in. The white truck belongs to a Mechanical Company. The owner is a friend of the family and he was one of the first people on site to help turn off gas. Notice all the missing windows just blown out- frames and all. The debris everywhere. Dont know if you can see the tub sitting on our front lawn.

Aarons car is the green one in the street. It was rotated 90 degrees when the storm hit and pushed down the street.

You can hear the shrills of the smoke alarms going off- everywhere! I still have a huge problem with storms. I still freak when I hear smoke alarms going off (the dumpster across the street had discarded smoke alarms going off one day- made me want to puke). I still look to the sky when they test the weather siren the first Saturday of every month.

Notice the house directly across the street from ours is completely missing its second story. This is a good marker for seeing our house in the second video.

In the second video taken from what I am assuming is a News helicopter, you can see the roof missing off of the back of our house.

You can see the Escape in the driveway and Aarons car in the street with debris all around it. In this video you can see how lucky we really were that 1. we were not home and 2. that our house for whatever reason did not sustain more damage

I am still dealing with some of this "guilt" on a day to day basis. That we didnt actually have to go thru this. That we werent home. That my kids dont have the trauma but others do. That we didnt have the construction issues. That we are back in our house and others are just starting. That God shined down on us for WHATEVER reason for this ONE thing and made it easy(ier) for us to deal with.

Posting these is a bit of therapy for me. It has taken me 6 months to watch these. And honestly I didnt know how bad our house was (in the back) until I saw these.

Also I should note that the house that is completely gone in the video (next to the one that is missing its second story) on the corner is just starting to get built. The owners daughter sold the lot and foundation. It will be great to have a new house there and not to be reminded constantly of the damage we endured. And BTW...the house that is completely gone? The old man was HOME at the time the tornado hit. His nurse and her daughter pulled up in the white truck JUST before the storm hit. They made it to the basement seconds before the tornado struck and held onto the basement railing for dear life.

This is something that is now a part of me. Of who I am. Of my make up.

And I just want to share and pass the warning onto you.

Please. If you hear sirens dont run to the front porch to watch storms roll in (like we used to do). Take them seriously.

Take cover.

One tip a lot of us do now is to have helmets (like for football) stored in the basement just in case. Why not store them in the basement instead of the garage? You could actually use them in case of emergency that way.

Also maybe invest in a weather radio if you live in tornado or hurricane prone areas. Many of my neighbors have them now.

Sorry for the soapbox and double post today, but with fall storms coming and rolling in, I thought it would be a good reminder.

Plus it is good (for me) to see how far we have come.

Rough Spot

I am having a bit of a rough time this morning.

Not because of weight.

I am down another pound to 171.5. Can we get a woo hoo?!?

No.

Because today was Landry's first day of preschool.

And even though I told him all along I couldnt stay, the tears and the screaming started to come anyways.

And I was the last parent to leave.

And I had to leave him screaming.

I feel like such a bad mom right now.

I came home and went downstairs to try to do Plyometrics to take my mind off of it. I mean, I pick Landry up at 11 so it isnt like it is that long or anything.

And during the warm up, every time I bounced it feels like my head is going to explode. Ugh. So I shut off the dvd. I just cant push thru it today.

I was going to go to the gym tonight, but I texted Aaron and told him I am still too exhausted. I am just going to go to bed early. I just need some rest to get over this last bit of cold.

On the plus side, last night I gave Xavier and Landry some Nyquil and Xavier only got up once at 3am to say all his covers were on the floor and he needed help getting them back up. And then I actually woke up late today at 7:07 and had to run like a mad woman getting the kids ready for school. Normally I get up at 6:30 and get myself ready first then get Xavier up and Landry last. Thankfully it was Landry who woke up saying he had to go potty or we all would still probably be sleeping. LOL. Even Xavier was still sleeping!

And I even went to bed at 8:30 last night!

K had a migraine (which now I do too) last night so she wanted to rest and take some of her drugs to help it pass. I just went for a small walk (about a mile total for there and back) up the street to get a book from one of my neighbors. Dexter is doing a very interesting thing. They handed these books out for free- the book is called In Defense of Food- An Eater's Manifesto by Michale Pollan. And what the community is to do is read the book, sign your name in the front, and pass the book onto someone else to read in the community. Very cool idea huh? I just started to read it- only a couple pages in, but it is about how we should eat mostly veggies. How meat should be considered a side dish, etc. I will definitely share more with you as I read it.

Well anyways...

Walking to my neighbors and back, a couple times I thought I was going to have to heave. Seriously. I started coughing. The coughing turned to gagging and I just thank God that I hadnt eaten dinner yet. Especially with all the kids playing outside. LOL. I finally pulled myself together and somehow made it back home.

The worst part is that I have been sneezing like crazy. And everytime I sneeze (or cough) I have to shove my legs together really tight so I dont pee myself. Ah the joys of having kids huh? LOL.

Fast forward back to today.

I am hoping this migraine goes away. I will try to do plyo tonight if it does. If I cant do plyo because of the jumping, I will try to do some zumba. Otherwise it looks like it is just going to be a rest day for me. I just feel so drained. No really good way to explain it. I guess my body is telling me it needs a break. And I think it is time to give it one. I am not heartbroken about missing Plyo thats for sure, but I really wanted to complete a full 90 days. So we shall see!

Have a great Tuesday everyone!

Tip of the Day:

I would say a successful weekend was had.

I would say it was a very successful weekend.

First- I didnt get to work out last night so it truly was a rest day.

Before I get into that, let me recap my day and what I ate.

In the morning I had my orange juice with Greens from Skinny Wraps. And I had a banana.

Then I got ready for the birthday party. The boys didnt get to go with me because Xavier threw up yesterday morning so I didnt want to bring him and get the other kids sick. We ended up putting them back to bed after breakfast and they slept til 12:30.

So I went to the party at the petting zoo (farm) and had fun with my friends and their little boy. For lunch they had pizza. I had one piece (regular size) of red pepper pizza. Then I had a bunch of fruits and veggies a few chips and a small piece of chocolate cake with buttercreme frosting and chocolate ganache in the middle. Oh so yummy! And I stuck with water to drink with my food.

After I had the cake, I kind of regretted it but it was a small piece and I had been doing so good all weekend.

After the party, Aaron had me call his grandma because it is his moms birthday today and his grandma wanted to have a small party before his mom went back north to their cabin. So from the party I ran home, picked up Aaron and the boys and ran out to Aarons grandmas.

I was very proud of myself. I had just eaten at the party so I wasnt really hungry. But his grandma had bought quiznos subs, veggies, fruit and cupcakes. The only thing I had were some veggies and a couple grapes. The grapes had seeds so they were a pain to eat which actually was nice because it kept me from eating too many.

We ended up leaving to come home about 6pm (which is earlier than we normally do) because Aarons mom had to work midnights at the hospital.

We came home and got the boys to bed. They were exhausted. Both are still sick from their colds and Xavier is a HUGE baby when he is sick. The kid coughs, he crys. All. Night. Long. Ugh.

After the boys were tucked in, I ran down to my friends house (the ones who had the birthday party) so I could give A some of my left over cheese tortellini salad and fruit salsa. We traded for some of the cake from the party for the boys.

By the time I got home I was a bit hungry so I had some garlic hummus with a few pita chips and kashi crackers. Nothing major. And I had some cold coffee that wasnt finished at breakfast. Yeah I like cold coffee. LOL.

After a pretty much sleepless night between the two kids, I drug myself out of bed and peed then got on the scale. The number?

172.5.

Holy $hit! I lost 2.5 lbs yesterday! On a rest day! What is that? 3 or 4 lbs for the weekend?? Wow!

I guess that shows that I can have my cake, eat it, and lose it too. LOL.

**Just a note that last Monday I weighed 181.5. You read that correctly. Now I am down 9 lbs in one week with PROPER diet and exercise. If you want to try out ThermoFit (the supplement I am taking), you should. No jitters and all natural. 

Today my main goal is to try to get thru P90X back and chest and ab ripper today. I am so tired so we will see how I do. Thank goodness it isnt Plyometrics.

And tonight K wants to walk. She hasnt done anything all weekend and she disappeared from the party on Saturday. I told her it is going to have to be kind of early because I want some good sleep. LOL.
After P90X, I am taking Landry and we are going drug shopping. LOL. We are out of Childrens Motrin, I need a Nyquil or something for Xavier, and some sleep drugs like melatonin and cough drops. Whatever I can get my hands on for his age. Aaron and I just need some sleep. We are starting to look like the walking dead and that just isnt good.

The worst part is- Xavier doesnt have the flu. The kid has a stinkin cold. He is just SUCH a baby you would think he was a girl. He coughs, he crys. Not crys. SOBS! Which causes him to cough. And choke. And gag. Following my train of thought here?

Drama!

So yes. It will be great to hopefully find something that can knock him out all. night. Benedryl probably.


Have a great (and hopefully restful) Monday everyone!

Tip of the Day:
Buy these Organic when you can. Otherwise they are loaded with pesticides. I know I am adding this list to my phone so I have a reminder when I go shopping.

Saturday Success

Yesterday as you know we had our community picnic.

We didnt have the showing that we thought that we were going to, but that didnt much matter.

What mattered was connecting with our neighbors and having some fun.

The kids had a blast even though they had colds. 3 hours in the sun and they couldnt get enough of the park.

The boys really didnt eat. Xavier who used to be my good eater doesnt eat much anymore. I am not really worried. He isnt going to waste away but the boy who was dying for the pizza that someone brought hardly touched it when he got the chance. Weird. I think it is because of his cold.

I had more food than what I thought I was going to. So much looked good. I was VERY proud of myself though for staying away from all the desserts. This is what I had-

Cheese tortillini salad (which I made and was low fat- had two helpings of it), fruit salsa (which I made and was low fat), vegan broccoli salad with peas (it was awesome and I had seconds), one piece of a greasy fried chicken wing, a very small spoonful of Stouffers Mac N Cheese, veggies and hummus and a few pita chips, a half piece of spinach pie, and I had most of Landry's piece of pizza that he didnt eat. I DIDNT eat baked beans, boneless wings, fully loaded pizza, cupcakes, peanut butter cookies and some other yummies that I didnt pay much attention to forgo the temptation.

That afternoon, my neighbor S had the boys over to play with her son R. Xavier and R are the same age. I ended up going over to chat with S while Aaron stayed home and slept on the couch. He was wiped from pushing Landry on the swing for 45 minutes. LOL.

Then Penni's husband came over with their two kids and the kids jumped on the trampoline and played for a while. We adults broke out the mini Obereon keg. I only had a small glass of beer and I had a couple of the left over graham crackers that I had broken up to eat with the fruit salsa at the party.

Once the boys went to bed about 7:30, I went to the basement and did Kenpo (not Kempo as I keep writing it). The wheezing in my chest was bugging me so I took it a bit easier than I normally would do.

Once done, I came up and made my protein shake and I had the other half of my left over chicken sandwich from Aubreys on Friday. One thing that I really tried to do with my sandwich was chew, chew, chew. I mean really chew it until it is mush in my mouth and then swallow it. It is something that I am going to try to be conscious of and do more often. It helps the body break it down easier because it is already liquid and also helps you be more conscious if you are full or not because you eat so slowly.

I ended up going upstairs and taking a bath after that. Then went to bed to read and I fell asleep. I am starting to get a cold and the kids have their colds. They were up and down ALL night so it was really nice that Aaron let me sleep in until about 8:30.

I got up and peed and weighed myself. 175.0. Not ONLY was I successful at NOT gaining weight yesterday, I LOST 1.5 lbs!!! Woo hoo!

Then I came downstairs to all hell breaking loose. Xavier is crying because 1. he doesnt want the oatmeal that Aaron made and 2. because he is exhausted. Landry is fine. He likes oatmeal.

I told Xavier he had to eat to get better. It was that or go to bed. Which ended him up in tears and gagging. Yup. Mr. Sensitive gag reflex. We ran him to the bathroom and he started puking. Wonderful. There goes going to the petting zoo for a birthday party today. He still fought going back to bed but I told him that I would read him a story and he went. So hopefully he will feel better afterwards.

I however am still going to the birthday party. So now I need to get my butt into gear. I know there will be pizza and I will probably bring some back for the boys. And I know that there will be veggies and hummus. Guess what I will be eating?

There is no P90X today. It is a rest day. But I cant rest. So I think I am going to do the strength training zumba tonight with the rattles. I am hoping to do it after I get home from the party this afternoon. And I am not going to sabotage myself today. I will probably still have my protein shake for dinner. And I think the boys will just have leftovers if they eat anything at all. I just cant make myself cook a big dinner for just Aaron and I, especially when we have a TON of leftovers in the fridge.

Ok I need to get my butt into gear and get ready to get out of here.

Have a great Sunday everyone!

Tip of the Day:

6 month anniversary and soda

It has been six months since the tornado has turned our lives upside down. Here is a picture from the news coverage. Our house is the second in from the corner. You see the front of the house. I didnt realize how bad the side of our house was until a friend posted this picture. And what you cant see, well, it is tragic. The back of the roof was missing off of our house. A whole garage wall was missing from the house on the left of ours. Devastating. However, most of these houses have been rebuilt. Neighbors are moving back in. The house that is missing on the far right side of the picture that is just a pile of wood here, just had wood delivered to the lot to START construction. Amazing! The house to the left of that in the picture is missing its second story. Now it is completely redesigned and siding just finished up. They are about 6 weeks from completion. Many people are still in the construction process some JUST moving out.

Today we as a subdivision are not choosing to look back and be sad. Instead we are choosing to come together as a community and celebrate how far we have come. No longer are we "tent city" with blue tarps everywhere. We lived thru this and it has made us stronger. As individuals. As a community.

Last night was a good night. I gave it just about my all for zumba. I held back just a bit because of my wheezing but I got a great sweat on. I burned 775 calories. Nice!

Then K and I went to Aubreys. We of course ordered feta bread. I think I had 3 pieces. And I ordered a spiced chicken sandwich that had pico de gallo, guac, and roasted pineapple on it. Instead of fries or onion straws, I ordered a side salad. I did really good and cut my sandwich in half and only ate half of it.

Then I came home about 9pm and made some popcorn with coconut oil and sea salt. I had some wine and Aaron and I watched a movie. 4 rooms. Love that movie.

I was very happy when my weight stayed at 176.5 today.

Today we celebrate. Everyone is bringing food to the community park. The kids can run and play. I plan on eating very lightly and instead visiting with everyone. The party goes from 12-3.

Tonight I will do my P90X Kempo and I think I will have my protein shake for "dinner" after that. We will see how my weight is tomorrow. Crossing fingers that I can be strong and keep status quo. :)

So onto other news...

Have you guys heard about New York City banning large sugar drinks? Frappuccinos, big sodas, movie theater slurpees?

What do you think about this?

Here is my take.

I think it is really sad that it has come down to this. I understand that sugar is huge in these. I understand that we Americans are more obese now than ever. However, this is not the only cause of obesity. What is next? Banning McDonalds? And what is to prevent someone from just buying 2 medium drinks that probably equal MORE than the one large that they would have bought?

Have Americans lost the whole concept of moderation and self limitations? Are we such gluttons that we just cant say "no" anymore??

You know we are not the only country that has fast food places. Yet it seems that America is the place where we have the problem with moderation. People are in such a hurry that they cant fix their own food anymore. It is constantly waiting in lines for their bags of fast food. Gone are the days of teaching our kids how to cook. It is pitiful.

And I admit. I used to be one of those that couldnt say no. In college I had a mug that was called a Belly Buster. I think it was close to a gallon in size. Not kidding. You could fill it up at one particular gas station. Once you bought the mug, the refills were an obscene price. Like 40 cents. I used to go in the morning, fill my mug with Mountain Dew and drink it thru the day. Can anyone say Freshman 15? And really it was probably more weight than that.

Dont get me wrong. I drink the occasional soda. I am not saying that soda is the devil. Though in large amounts it is. But for those people who need to consume massive quantities a day- I feel bad for them. That they need the sugar crack. I mean- anything that can take rust off of a car, must be good for us right? We should consume lots of it....right?!?  (sarcasm here). Maybe we should just force America to go thru a Dr. Oz test and see what coke does to our organs. Watch it dissolve our teeth overnight. Poof. Just like that. Gone.

I changed. Now I use that huge mug for water. I quit the crack. Yup. I still have the mug. And I still use it. For good. Not evil. LOL.

Lesson learned on my end.

Now if only Americans could do the same.

Have a great Saturday everyone!

Tip of the Day:

Fabulous Friday

This phrase is so fitting for me for yesterday.

I made it to the gym in time for Body Pump even though Aaron was late getting home. Whew. I made it with 30 minutes to spare and I was glad I got there when I did because it was a very full class.

Before class, I walked on the treadmill for about 15 minutes as a quick warm up. I had started to notice a slight rattle in my chest- kind of like an asthma rattle and I know I am starting to get a cold so I didnt want to push it too hard.

Pump was awesome. I did just fine and just had to do some minor modifications to accommodate my shoulder.

Then was RPM. OMG I thought I was gonna DIE! The rattle became a wheeze and I thought I was gonna have an asthma attack. I do have sports induced asthma but I havent had an inhaler in years. Probably because I was sitting on my butt for years and not doing much sports. LOL. (I always notice my rattle too when I do mason twists in ab ripper. It becomes a slight wheeze whether or not I have a cold. )

I took a quick break to go pee and catch my breath and went back into class. I seriously debated just packing it in and calling it a night but RPM was a full class too and I couldnt put my bike back where it goes and I just didnt want to leave it sitting out.

So I created strength, and willpower and grinned and beared it. Well maybe not grinned. More like grimaced. LOL. I kept my eyes clothes, dropped my tension back a few notches from where I normally do and pushed thru. Towards the end my breathing felt better. I could take a little bit of a deeper breath.

And with breaks included, I burned 955 calories for both classes. Whew! Nice I thought for taking it easy.

And today I woke up with a weight of 176.5. Another pound down. I am getting there. Hopefully I can keep on track with a one pound loss every other day. We shall see. I would just be happy to be back in the 150's/low 160's by mid November when I have a wedding. My plan is to wear my dress from my sisters wedding and I would like for it to fit better. And Xavier was asked to be ring bearer for the wedding too.

Speaking of Xavier, he had a great doctors appt. His vision is 20/20 and the doctor didnt give me a hard time about his weight. She said his BMI is higher but she isnt worried about it right now. She knows that I eat healthy so I think it will straighten itself out. He ended up having to get one shot- the flu shot. Normally we would do a mist, but he has a slight cold and she didnt want the mist to aggravate the cold and make it worse. And he did a great job. He sat on my lap and I held his hands and put his feet between my legs. Dr. gave him his shot in the leg and he whimpered a minute and was done. No problem. I was so proud of him!

As far as exercise for the boys go, I think for Christmas Santa is bringing the family a Kinect. Right now we have a Wii and while it is fantastic, Xaviers favorite game is Lego Star Wars. With the Kinect Star Wars game, you actually stand and jump and sword fight. Much more active. So if he wants to play a video game (especially being stuck inside a lot during the winter) I want them to be active. AND there are no remotes which I LOVE! And that means Landry can play as well which I love too.

Today is Friday and we know what that means. Zumba tonight (which I might die from), and then Aubreys! Yup. I said Aubreys. We had been planning on switching homes every Friday but no one volunteered this week. K needs to call it an early night to pick up her daughter from school tomorrow, and my other friend K is just getting over Bronchitis. Penni is visiting family and friend C is out of town. Well shucks. So K and I are for sure going to grab dinner tonight at Aubreys and K might join us depending on how she is feeling. Should be a good night. I just need to stick to one glass of red wine tonight to stay on track. Maybe a salad. Not sure.

Have a great Friday everyone!

Tip of the Day:

Crane

In all the excitement of my pound lost in my previous blog entry, I completely forgot to mention that today I was able to do the Yoga "Crane" pose for about 2 seconds at a time.

I am still shaky and cant get stable and steady, but I would say just being able to get my toes off the ground now is a sure sign of progress.

Now to keep working on it to be able to hold it and not fall on my head.

Going, going, getting gone...

Lets start with the good news first...

I am down another pound today to 177.5. Woo hoo!

Yesterday I did my P90X arms, shoulders and abs as I mentioned before.

I got my errands done and my grocery shopping done.

I ALMOST didnt workout last night. Seriously.

Aarons parents came over last night and didnt leave til 8pm. And I thought about just doing my 20 minute zumba dvd. But I didnt. I put in CardioParty and pushed thru and gave it my all. By the time I started and finished zumba it was 9:15pm and I still hadnt eaten any dinner.

So I ate my few remaining BW3 wings. Now they are gone and therefore the temptation is gone. I did have a few chips and a beer too. Yeah so much for not eating after 7. LOL.

Anyways, so today I have already done my P90X2 yoga. Tonight is doing some jogging and Body Pump and RPM. Very excited for Pump. I love building my muscles!

And say some prayers for me. LOL. Xavier has his 5 year well appointment today with his new doctor. He is scared he is gonna need a shot. Ugh. I hope not. He is such a baby! BUT I think he does. I didnt want to tell him that. LOL. At the very least he is going to need the flu mist. I warned him about that and of course he doesnt want it to be sprayed up his nose. But I told him it was that or a shot. LOL. So be prepared for a drama story tomorrow if he goes crazy!!

Going back to grocery shopping though...

After reading the sugar article that I posted about yesterday, I really started to read my labels as I shopped. I want to teach my kids good habits and have them eat healthy. And something I dont understand is how good food can be so expensive! And why is the processed food so cheap? I mean, lets think about this. Minimally processed food has less machines, less chemicals, less hands involved in it right? So dont you think it would mean that it is less expensive?? I understand some of the Organic things being more expensive and I dont buy everything organic. But a jar of peanut butter for example. The kind I buy has one ingredient. The kind I buy for the kids (Jif) has multiple. Shouldnt the one with one ingredient be cheaper??

Food for thought I guess. Maybe someone can give me some insight here. Maybe Michelle Obama should focus her childhood obesity cause on bringing down the cost of whole food.

And does anyone know if it is cheaper to go to a store like Whole Foods to buy your whole and/or organic food or is it cheaper to go to a store like Meijer where they dont specialize in all whole foods? Just curious if I need to switch my grocery store. The cost of eating healthy is gonna kill me. I am definitely going to have to grow my own garden next year!

I was talking with Xavier and Landry about food this morning. Xavier remembers when I was heavier. He is now concerned about becoming fat. He had a sweatshirt on this morning and he didnt want it zipped up because kids will think he is fat. LOL. I asked him if kids have called him that and he said no. I told him to not worry about becoming fat. That mommy has figured out how to make good foods for us and that he can help me cook and learn how to make them too. I tried to explain that when mommy was fat before I didnt work out and I ate bad food like McDonalds and hot dogs. And while they are good for a treat every once in a while, when you eat lots of it, even though it tastes good, it makes your body sick. Man. I hope I did a good job explaining dieting to a 5 and 3 year old. Xavier asked how I got to be skinny. I told him I learned about eating good and I started exercising and going to the gym. His answer was "oh good". And I said if he ate good and exercised and played good too he would be just fine.  It is hard. Lots of time when we go grocery shopping they will ask for the processed foods (like corn dogs) and I have to explain that no, we arent going to get them. That they arent good for us. Maybe I should start showing Xavier labels. It is hard though because he cant read yet.

Luckily for me, switching off of juice shouldnt be hard. Xavier and Landry dont get much juice or juice boxes. And my kids like V8. So I had some coupons and bought V8 for them yesterday. Another way to sneak veggies into their diet.

How do you guys explain to your kids about healthy eating habits?

Tip of the Day:

This is an article that I found for when you feel like boozing it up. It is called 60 Healthier Drinks for Boozing
I thought it might be helpful to share as the holidays are fast approaching and temptations will be setting in as the party season gets into full swing.

The biggest tip is that it is easiest to control what you drink when YOU play bartender. Then you can control the juice, seltzer, simple syrup etc that you put into it.

I will give you a few of the tips that I found the most helpful. Check out the rest of the article for the others and let me know what you think.

3. Make simple syrup with honey which, though sugary, has some added benefits, like a healthy dose of antioxidants. It also gives you better control of the sugar content. Any recipe that calls for simple syrup will use the following recipe: ½ tablespoon honey mixed with ¾ tablespoon warm water.

5. Choose light alcohol over dark alcohol. The dark stuff contains more compounds known as congeners, which can worsen hangovers.

6. Limit yourself to one shot per drink. Multi-alcohol cocktails can pack in serious calories, so we kept ours to one shot (or 1 ½ ounces) each. The shooters and shots we included actually contain less than one shot each to further lessen the caloric load.

8. Choose nutritious ingredients. Ginger, coffee, and lemon star in several of our drinks. They’ve each got their own proven health benefits, even though they may not totally counteract the negative affects of alcohol. (Note: Too much alcohol and caffeine can both dehydrate — making hangovers even worse — so try to keep it at no more than one cup of Joe for the night.)

And now for some drink recipes!! They have 60, so here are a few of my fav's.

1. Classic Mojito
In the bottom of a glass, muddle 12 fresh mint leaves, the juice of ½ lime, and 1 tablespoon simple syrup. Add a few ice cubes and pour in 1 ½ ounces (one shot) of light rum and ¾ cup seltzer. Garnish with a lime wedge.

3. Bloody Mary
Scrap the mix and make a Bloody Mary from scratch! Start with ¾ cup of no sugar-added, low-sodium tomato juice and add the juice of ½ lemon, a dash each of hot sauce and Worcestershire sauce, fresh ground pepper to taste, and 1 shot of vodka. Garnish with a lemon wedge and celery stick. Bonus points for adding a cocktail shrimp for some extra protein!

11. Vodka Sunset
Muddle ¼ cup blackberries in the bottom of a glass. Top with ice and add 1 shot fresh-squeezed lemon juice, 1 shot fresh-squeezed lime juice, ½ shot simple syrup, 1 shot of vodka, and a splash of sparkling wine.

19. Grapefruit Margarita
Combine 1 shot of tequila, the juice of 1 lime and ½ a grapefruit, and ¾ shot of orange liqueur. Pour over ice.

20. Light White Russian
Combine 2 shots brewed coffee (or espresso!) chilled and ¾ cup skim milk. Add 1 shot of vodka and a few ice cubes and stir.

25. Pom Cosmo
In a shaker with ice, combine 1 shot pomegranate vodka, 1 shot orange liqueur, and the juice of 1 lime. Shake, strain into a martini glass, and garnish with a slice of lime.

27. Sex on the Beach
In a glass with ice, mix 1 shot peach-flavored vodka, 2 shots cranberry juice, and 1 ½ shots fresh-squeezed orange juice. Add a dash of seltzer and enjoy!

41. Pina Colada
Blend together ½ cup ice, ½ cup coconut milk, ¼ cup fresh pineapple chunks, and 1 shot white rum.

46. Margarita
Blend 1 shot simple syrup, the juice from ½ lemon and 1 lime, 1 shot of tequila, and ½ cup of ice. Garnish with a slice of lime, but skip the salt.

51. Red Sangria
Toss ½ an apple (sliced), ½ an orange (sliced), and 4 grapes into a glass. Add ½ cup fruity red wine and ¼ cup seltzer.

60. Mint Hot Chocolate
Heat 1 cup skim milk and stir in 1 packet light hot cocoa mix. Add 1 shot tequila and ⅓ shot peppermint schnapps

Going down! and Fruit Juice

Great day yesterday.

I did my P90X Plyometrics (a big ugh here) and Aaron didnt get home from work until late. They were signing up a new product to rep. All day I had been craving Buffalo Wild Wings (18 traditional mango habenero) and I had planned to get some after the gym. Well I didnt make it there because Aaron wasnt on his way home until 6:30 so I told him it was his job to pick up BW's. LOL

And K didnt want to walk. She wanted to give her legs a rest. So instead of doing my 20 minute zumba which I originally THOUGHT I was going to do, I popped in the 45 minute Cardio party instead. Oh holy heck. Great workout. And I really pushed myself. I am trying to learn these routines so I can teach them myself.

I was completely done with the video and back upstairs before Aaron even got home.

And I didnt eat ALL the wings. I did eat 12 of them. And I had a beer. And a few chips. And a half a Hershey bar. Ugh. Did I mention I was STARVING by the time he got home???

BUT!!!

I got up this morning and lost 1.5 lbs!! I am down to 178.5! Helloooo 170's! I guess it shows that you can splurge once in a while if you work out good before hand.

SOOOOO tonight is a no gym night. There just arent any classes that I am interested in taking on Wednesdays- Body Pump (I lifted already today), Body Combat (way high cardio and martial arts), and Yoga (I do tomorrow morning). So I am going to do an at home repeat of last night.

Today's P90X is arms, shoulders and abs which I just completed after dropping Xavier off to school. Feeling great because I had to up some of my bicep exercises to 15lbs! Now it is a quick breakfast then running to the Dr. to get Landry's immunization record for school, then to the grocery store. Then home for Landry's lunch, get him to bed and up to get Xavier from school. Dinner. Xavier to bed, and Landry to school for his open house. WHEW! Then home to do the Cardio Party. Oh yeah baby! I want to lose this weight!So glad that I am out of my funk. I noticed that other fellow bloggers have been feeling in a funk too so it is nice to know I am not alone!

This weekend is the 6th month anniversary of the tornado. No fooling. We as a subdivision are having a party to celebrate. Bring a dish to pass sort of thing down at the Community Park. Hopefully the weather cooperates. I cant believe it has been 6 months already and still so many people arent home or are JUST getting started on reconstruction.

I am going to try to be as on point as I can this weekend with eating. I think I should be ok. I am bringing an apple berry salsa to the party as well as a veggie tortellini salad. Both are low fat. And I know some other people are bringing low fat things too. So if I do Kempo and then Zumba in the evening, hopefully I should be good.

I am going to consider my info below as my Tip of the Day but really I suggest you read the whole article. Really. Really. Interesting! I am only summarizing the article and adding in some of my own personal thoughts.

Onto an interesting article I read yesterday called Fruit Juice: Soda's Evil Twin?

Lots of people have the misconception that if you are drinking fruit juice that it is healthy for you. Because people think this, juice is helping in the rise of obesity and diabetes, etc.

In fact, Half of the U.S. population over the age of 2 now consumes sugary drinks on a daily basis -- and this figure does not even include 100% fruit juices, flavored milk or sweetened teas, all of which are sugary too, which means the figure is actually even higher.

Scary huh?

If a fruit drink is labeled "drink", "beverage" or "cocktail" it is because it doesnt contain 100% juice. In fact, it probably has its first ingredient as high fructose corn syrup or some other type of sugar. These drinks usually only contain about 10% juice! Frightening isnt it???

And even if it IS 100% juice, just one 8oz glass of orange juice (for example)  gives your body 25 grams of fructose which is more than you should have for an ENTIRE DAY!! Oh holy cow right?!? And just think- that is for an ADULT! What about kids??

Fructose (for adults) at 15 grams a day is harmless BUT nearly 1/4 of Americans are consuming 135 grams per day!! That is OVER a QUARTER POUND!!! And we wonder why Americans are getting more obese and diabetes are on the rise???

There are other interesting facts and info in this article like how fructose is the culprit for millions of US children that are struggling from non-alcohol induced liver disease and how fruit juice increases your uric acid levels (like soda does).

Read it. Be informed.

And a final note, they recommend (for adults) not to go over 25 g of fructose a day with a max of 15 grams from fresh fruit not fruit JUICE. And it can be tough to wean off. Apparently fructose has the same addictiveness as cocaine!!

I for one am switching my kids from juice to V8. Gonna read my labels today when I go to the grocery store. I am gonna nip our sugar addiction and processed food addiction in the butt before my kids become obese. I want them healthy and to have healthy habits.

Have a great Wednesday everyone!!

Back to normal...well sort of

Well Xavier is feeling better and on the mend. After he slept til 10:30 yesterday he was up and annoying me as usual. LOL.

I got my P90X done and I went for a quick walk yesterday with K and her 2 dogs and the other dog she is watching. Yup. 3 dogs. 2 people. We were outnumbered.

Worse was when she couldnt find a third leash and thought that her golden retriever would stick by us. Nope. She proved her wrong. LOL. So I took the one extendable leash we had and ran it thru two of the collars. So both goldens were together on one leash but were still able to get distance between the two because of the lengthening of the leash.

And I had the brittany on my leash which is K's hyper active dog. He is just too cute for words. Hyper yes. But he will just howl you out a story like you would not believe.

Towards the end this is what we looked like:

The Brittany just had to be up with the Golden Retrievers. Too funny. K said he looked like the hot dog between two buns. LOL.

We didnt get much in as a walk, but I think we burned a few calories laughing at us trying to walk these three.

Last night, the kids were up and down all night. I try really hard not to give them major liquids before bed, but last night we had soup. And we didnt eat (well they didnt eat quickly) until 5:30 which means dinner doesnt get done until bedtime at 7.

So Landry was up at 10:30 needing to pee. Then he was up and down with I think nightmares. And then Xavier was up to pee. Then Landry was up again just before 6am. Ugh. Up, down, up, down. Like a frickin yo-yo. Most of the kiddie call outs were before 3am so I only got a 3 hour block of continuous sleep.

Needless to say, I will be getting Landry an early lunch and then both of us will be taking naps today!

Today is Tuesday which means Plyometrics. Ugh. I hate it, but I like it. And I like that I dont have to do ab ripper today. I will be doing that as soon as I get back from dropping Xavier off at school.

Tonight is usually my long night at the gym but I am going to start changing things up. Aaron warned me he isnt gonna get home from work until late tonight- maybe 6:30 if I am lucky. So I may not make RPM. However, now on a "normal" Tuesday, I want to skip CX and Flow and instead lift weights and do RPM. My body has been responding nicely to the Greens, Thermofit and working out. I lost 1.5 lbs yesterday and am down to 180.0.

So tonight, if I dont make it for RPM, I am going to do a walk with K and then maybe do my 20 min zumba express. Depends on how long we walk for.

Also today I am signing up for my zumba certification. I am SO excited!! The class is the end of October.

So have a fantastic Tuesday everyone!

And I would just like to say a quick prayer to all the families that lost someone on 9/11. It is the day that my generation will not soon forget. My thoughts and prayers are with you today.

Tip of the Day:

Mad Monday (not literally)

First thing first...

I want to say a HUGE congrats to my friend K who starts her new job today. She landed her DREAM job. It just goes to show that God only gives you what you can handle at any given moment. He knew that she needed the time to focus on her house rebuild after the tornado and now that she is back in, she could focus on a new job. Congrats girl!

Next thing...

Xavier is at home from school today. Saturday night he was up saying his stomach hurt. And while he didnt complain about it yesterday, he really didnt eat much. This morning he was saying his stomach hurt again and he didnt want to eat and just laid his head on the kitchen table. I finally decided that he was just too punky to send to school. If he is sick, I dont want to get the other kids sick. And if it just exhaustion, he really should catch up on sleep so he doesnt get sicker.

So I put him back to bed. And here it is 10am and he is still sleeping. Hopefully he will feel better when he gets up.

Going back to to last night...

I didnt end up doing zumba or the elliptical.

Instead I went for a walk with K. I finished her picture that she wanted and so when I delivered it, we went for a walk. Now when I walk, I power walk. 4.3 mph or so...a good quick pace and I use a higher knee walk so my heart rate gets higher. Well K isnt used to that. We havent walked lately. So we had to turn around about 3/4 way thru the walk. I am hoping to talk her into walking again tonight. I will whip her into shape. LOL.

Today I did P90X shoulders, chest and abs. Lots of push ups and pull ups. I LOVE the pull ups, hate the push ups. Some of them just kill my bad shoulder. So I just do modifications like regular push ups instead of military or I do more pull ups instead of push ups. And folks- before you think "OMG she does a ton of pull ups" I use a band. So they really arent a true pull up on a bar but I still get great results from it.

So tonight I am going to either walk or do zumba or elliptical.

I am also going to implement a no snacking after 7pm rule with the exception of gym nights where I dont get home until 8:30 or so. Then it will be a quick bit of protein laced food and then to bed. I have to stop the snacking.

I also have been taking the Greens and the Thermofit. I think the Thermofit is going to work just fine. I just need to stop over eating and sabotaging myself with snacks and alcohol and let the stuff do its thing.

The Greens are fantastic and have been giving me lots of energy. Even Xavier had some this morning. I think I am going to start giving it to the boys in their orange juice in the morning too. It is a great way to get your fruits and veggies and I recommend checking it out. It does turn your orange juice green just as a word of warning. But it is orange flavored. I even cut my juice in half and dilute it with water before adding the Greens to it.

I also have a great thing that has been distracting me away from the kitchen a bit. My painting.

I mentioned I finished K's painting. Here is how it turned out:

And here is the next project that I am working on. It is based on a Gustav Klimt painting called Water Serpents II. I started it yesterday and will continue it today.

I plan on this going above our bed in the master bedroom. The picture is a bit blurry but it is because of how I had to take the picture. This will probably take me another few days to finish depending on how much I work on it. I may limit myself to working on it at night because that is when I do my snacking. If I paint then I cant snack.

And my friend A might be interested in a painting too. She just needs to figure out what her and her partner want. Very exciting. I dont mind doing them for my friends if they buy the canvas to get my name out there. If their friends want one, then I will start charging for my works. Hopefully I can turn this into a business. I have really missed painting!

Have a great Monday everyone!

Tip of the Day:

I saw this on Shape.com and had to share.

It is called Carbs without Cause: 8 foods worse than White Bread

1. Fancy Coffee Drinks- Not only can these have as many calories as a meal, (sometimes upwards of 400) their carb count can be on par with a pre-marathon pasta binge; some have 60–80g of carbs per serving. Add in sugars, saturated fats in whipped cream, and chocolate flavorings, and you've got dessert in a very large plastic cup.

2. Bagels- Bagels are a morning ritual for some, but according to Villacorta, unless you're hitting the gym right after (and plan on staying until lunch), you may want to rethink, even if you opt for whole wheat.
"Depending on the size, I normally recommend a bagel to someone who is going on a two- to three-hour run afterwards," he says. The reason is portion size. Many deli bagels can have 250-300 calories and more than 50g of carbs each.

3.  Juice drinks and smoothies- (this one surprised me) Smoothie and juice spots are everywhere, and they can seem like a healthy drink to get on the go. But a 16oz fruit-heavy juice can have as many as 75g of carbohydrates and 64g of sugar (ditto for smoothies). If you can't start the day without juice, stick to about 4oz, which has a reasonable 15-20g of carbs.

4. Cheese Crackers (like the cheese crackers with peanut butter in the middle)- If you're going to indulge in a few processed carbs, don't do it here. While the carb count isn't necessarily through the roof (about 18g per serving), these orange snacks are particularly cringe inducing because there is literally no other redeeming nutritional factor. They're full of chemicals, additives, and artificial colors, plus they may also contain high-fructose corn syrup. And don't be fooled by organic versions. They may be filled with less artificial junk, but processed flour and high-fat cheese can still be "organic."

5. Baked Goods at Coffee Shops- Muffins used to be a baseball-sized treat. Now they're more like softballs, with some containing nearly 64g of carbs and more than 30g of sugar. If your morning muffin is made with processed flour, sugar, and butter, it's really no different than a slice of cake. Stick to a two-ounce serving and choose whole grain ingredients—think bran, not lemon poppy.

6.  Yogurt with Fruit on the Bottom- It's the ultimate chick pre-workout/afternoon/late-night snack, and yogurt on its own is a great choice. Problem is, that fruit is sugar central. All yogurt contains lactose, which is a naturally occurring carbohydrate; generally in a single serving it equals about 12-15g of carbs, which is fine, but when you add the jammy fruit you can nearly double that amount. You end up with nearly 30g of carbs, half of which is the processed, quick-burning kind. Stick to the creamy (and protein-packed) Greek variety and add some cut-up fresh fruit.

7. Movie Theater Popcorn- It may seem obvious, given the size, but for many of us it's a key part of the movie-going experience, and besides, even if you order a bag once a week, how bad can that be? According to Villacorta, very. Popcorn is already about 1,200 calories, almost all from carbohydrates (and a whopping 580mg of sodium) for a large-sized bag. That's before you add the butter. Don't waste an entire day's worth carbs and calories while you mindlessly munch your way through The Hunger Games.

8. Yogurt Covered Raisins- Essentially candy for health-food nuts, and who eats just one—or five? In fact, a scant ¼ cup contains 20g of carbs and 19g of sugar. Skip the bulk candy aisle at your health food store and pick up a small bar of dark chocolate instead.