All I need to know I learned from my six-year-old

Here are some great things that I have thought about lately after watching my SUPER sweet daughter grow from a chubby toddler to a very lean six-year-old. You could call this the six-year-old's diet plan and I think we could all learn something from it:

1. Never stop moving
2. Eat when you are hungry
3. Stop eating when you are full
4. riding your bike=fun
5. If you have the choice between walking somwhere and riding there in a car...always pick the walk
6. Parks are for running, climbing, and swinging....not for sitting on a bench
7. Dance your way through life
8. Real beauty comes from the inside
9. Nothing matters less than the size of your pants
10. EVERYONE is beautiful

Ya'll Ready For This!

Are we so excited girls?  January first is almost upon us and we get to make that ever popular obligatory weight loss goal!  I'm super stoked because I need some motivation and a new year really does it for me (for at least a week that is).  Actually I'm mostly excited because I found THIS This is by far the best price I have found on the Metabolic Reset shakes I love so much.  I give these shakes five stars.  I like the taste better than other ones I have tried and they really do fill you up AND when I was really working at weight loss they worked!  I'm having a big old tub of this protein powder shipped to my house once a month for $17.84.  The same size sells at Smiths for $34.99 and at Smiths Market Place for $39.99 (I know, rip off!), and they don't even carry them at walmart.   My exercise plans for the new year?  Jillian Michael's thirty day shred to start me off and then P90X (I'm borrowing from a friend, you know I'm too cheap to buy it).  I'm hoping by May to see some serious results!  Good luck to you and may the weight loss force be with you!

So depressed

Really people, all that good attitude and motivation from a week or so ago, gone. This last week has involved soooo much stress from extended family, messy unorganized house, too many bills not enough money, a sick husband, out of control kids, a five year old that doesn't sleep (seriously, I was up every two hours the last two nights, don't bring up this post here, http://sheaintheavysheismysister.blogspot.com/2010/08/operation-sleep-in-your-own-bed-update.html it is just too depressing). There, rant over, now I go to sit on the couch and watch my daytime Utah shows!

THE CIRCLE OF PANTS...

I hope you sang that title to the tune of Lion King.

Here is the cycle of my jeans:

Normal Size........
Barely Pregnant Size........
Bigger Pregnant Size.......
Maternity.........
Just had the baby and still pretty much look pregnant size..........
Fat post-pregnant size (this size can easily last a year)..........
Struggling to loose baby Lbs size (approx same size as barley pregnant)..........
Normal Size.......
AND..........If I am lucky, Skinny Jean size.....

And then I usually get pregnant and the cycle starts over again

I am happy to report I am officially in "Normal" size jeans....well as normal as a size can be when you have had four kids....Do I even dare to ever even try to "skinny size" again?!?!?!?!

Sigh

I went to bed last night and found a box of chocolates on my pillow. Sweet, yes. But not so helpful when you are on a diet. :(

Being Realistic

About food, that is. Today I threw away some nicely frozen portions of Lentil and Rice Casserole. Zonya (who I really like and enjoy most of her recipes) says something like "this recipe makes a ton but you'll love it so much you'll be glad to have leftovers". Not so much Zonya. As good as it is for me, me and my children are never going to love a big dish of Lentil and Rice Casserole.

Nothing to scoff at

So I weighed in today and had lost one pound. I was kind of bummed at first because I wanted more but then I remembered last week I pulled one of my "all or nothing" things. I was all set to have an awesome week leading up to Halloween but then when Monday went bad I just decided to scrap the whole week. Tons of JUNK food. Soooooo, maybe combining that bad week with this good week, one pound sounds about right. Trying to stay POSITIVE!!!!

Choices

I'm regretting the decision to use up my days calories on laffy taffy instead of dinner. Now I'm going to bed hungry and slightly sick. :(

It's true what they say.............

Sometimes all you have to do to feel better about yourself and to stop worrying about your problems is to help other people. There is ALWAYS someone with bigger problems than I have and helping them somehow helps to put my life and my problems in perspective.

I'm a believer!

So I know you've heard a million times the advice that if you don't feel like exercising just do it anyway and a little while into your workout you'll totally be feelin' it. I took that advice today. Grumpy morning mood and no time to exercise but I did it anyway. Just a quick half hour before Music class with S (yes, I go to toddler music class) and it turned my whole day around!

Never underestimate your power to change yourself. Never overestimate your power to change others.

I can think of lots of reasons to blame my kids and husband for my weight gain. For example: My husband can eat what he wants and not gain weight so it is his fault for eating treats in front of me. My kids won't eat the healthy food I make so I may well just make hot dogs and mac n' cheese. My husband won't get up in the morning to take care of the kids so I can't exercise in the morning. My husband won't get up in the morning and go to work early enough so he can come home in time for me to go exercise in the evening(can you tell my husbands sleeping habits might be a touchy subject!). My kids make me so tired that I can't get up early enough to exercise before everyone wakes up. My kids make me SO MAD, and when I am mad I eat. My husband does things that STRESS me out and when I am stressed I eat. My kids beg for treats when we go to the store. My kids beg for fast food. The list could go on and on. But the truth is that I am a grown up, I am in charge of what I put in my mouth and how much I move my body. Nobody held me down and shoveled oreos in my mouth. Nobody tied me down and made me watch TV instead of exercising. And nobody is going to do the work for me now. Nobody is around making sure I eat my veggies and do the full set of push ups. I can control one person, and that person is ME! Would I love my husband to get up and help get the kids ready for school so had time to exercise in the morning? Yes, but it is not going to happen. So, I need to find a time to exercise that is not dependant on my husband. I used to get up and exercise at 5:30 am. Honestly, I don't want to do that now, I am just too dang tired. So I need to look at other options. The bottom line is that I need to exercise, regardless of what the rest of my family is doing. The same with eating healthy. It is possible! Will my children refuse to eat some things? Yes. Can I still cook healthfully and control my portion sizes? Of course!
I cannot force my family to do all of the things that I think would make it easier to lose weight. But I CAN do all sorts of things that will make it easier to lose weight.

It is the truth, and even though it stinks, I need to change ME!

killer month!

I am going to have a killer month in November, really I am! I am going to post every day to keep myself on track. I want a biggest loser kind of number this month. So get ready to watch and be amazed! :)

New Goal

I have a new goal for myself:
I looked on my gym's website and found out that it will track how many times I visit the gym each month. So, my new goal is to visit the gym 100 times in the first six months. That means between now and Valentine's day I would need to average 4 times per week. That's do-able, right!?!? I am on track as of now but I know it will get VERY difficult during the holidays and if we ever go out of town because of course this wont track when I exercise on my own. But, I figure if I can try to get a few extra days here and there before the holidays it should be ok...Wish me luck!
PS...here is a webiste that has "healthified" recipes if anyone is interested
http://www.eatbetteramerica.com/

Two steps forward, one step back

I know I havent posted lately and that is because I really didnt know what to say. After I posted a few weeks ago about losing 6 pounds, I ended up weighing myself a week later and it showed that I hadnt lost ANYTHING after all...SOOOO Annoying! I am not sure why it showed I had lost so much on that day (was I dehydrated?) but I do know that I have weighed myself several times since then and it definitely shows I didnt loose that much.

Truthfully, for a couple of weeks I got really negative about the whole thing and it put me in an all-around bad mood. However, this week I have felt a lot better. I am really trying to focus on all the REALLY GREAT CHANGES I HAVE MADE IN MY LIFE THE LAST TWO MONTHS!!! I have decided to try to not weigh myself all that much for the next little while. Instead, I plan to focus of continuing to make positive changes and be the most healthy I can possibly be. I actually, truly think my body "wants" to be at this weight (unfortunately). I had lost about 20 lbs of baby weight over the last year and now my body want to stay here. I think the fact that I am still nursing my baby (at night) makes my body even more certain that it needs a little "padding" so it can be able to feed the baby just in case of famine! (I know some of you think that nursing should make it even easier to loose weight but unfortunately that is not how my body works..I have had four babies and my hormones affect me in a way that makes me want to hold on to the flab! UUUGGGG! :)

So, even though the scale doesnt want to budge...here are a few thing I have to be proud of:

• I have been consistently exercising 5 days a week (and I have been pushing myself hard too...some of my new favorites are the 30 Day Shred DVD and the Strength and Endurance Training classes at my gym
• I have been consistently journaling my food and I have focused on increasing my "healthy" food while lowering my overall calorie intake. I have also stopped snacking at night (for the most part anyway! :)
• I have been setting a good example for my kids
• I have increased my water intake
• I have noticed a change in my body and my clothes are fitting MUCH better (even though the scale isnt moving! )

So, for now, I am ignoring the scale! And, I am done feeling sorry for myself!

Oh, and, here are a couple of articles I found helpful during my pitty party! Maybe they can help someone else too! http://www.jillianmichaels.com/fitness-and-diet-tips/scale-not-telling-you
and http://www.jillianmichaels.com/fitness-and-diet-tips/endocrine-disruptors

Crock Pot Recipes

I'm diggin' these diet crock pot recipes:
http://crockpot365.blogspot.com/2009/01/crockpot-diet.html

About Freakin Time

I FINALLY saw the scale move when I weighed myself today. I hadnt weighed myself in a couple of weeks because I was so sick of seeing no difference even though I was really trying. However, I knew I couldnt avoid it forever so I thought I might as well weigh myself today before the weekend hits!
And......I had lost six pounds!!!!! YAY! I am not only 1/2 pound away from where I was in June when I had just finished six month of boot camp class (and before spending all summer on vacation!)
I am still trying to hit the gym every weekday morning and now I am now tracking my food on www.myfitnesspal.com I think journaling my food has added that little extra bit that finally made something happen. So, now I am off the enjoy my weekend (and not worry about what I eat again till Monday!)

Good Signs

I am thinking that the stars must be aligning for me to loose weight or something because all of a sudden I am seeing stuff all over about weight loss (or maybe I am just paying more attention to it now!)

I follow quite a few deal blogs and a few of them are having a 30 day shred-a-thon. You can read more about it Here. I did order the 30 day shred video from amazon(I used one of my $5 swagbucks amazon cards so I got it for only $3!) and I cant wait to try it. I will still be going to gym most of the time (since I am paying for it and they have daycare) but I think it will be good for the days I cant make it to the gym.

Oh, and one other thing I decided to sign up for was the "cat's 500 fitness challenge". You can see the button on the side. This is a blogger who lost 100 lbs last year. My friend did her summer challenge where everyone tried to walk 120 miles over the summer and I was impressed with her results. So, I signed up for the fall challenge. It goes till the end of the year and basically you just try to earn points by doing healthy things and if you get to 500 points by the end of the year then you are entered to win prizes. Pretty simple but just one more thing that will HOPEFULLY give me some accountability.

Ready or Not!

So I had some unfinished business that I felt I needed to get control of before I really started my weight loss journey. #1 on the list get everyone in our house sleeping in their own bed. For the most part #1 is accomplished. Honestly, I had a whole list of other things that I felt had to be done before I could really focus on me. But really, its time! I have got to lose some weight whether or not my walls are clean, or I have a month of dinners planned, or my kids have and are doing chore charts, etc. So here we go.

My plan is using this www.metabolicreset.com & this www.myfitnesspal.com I actually really like the protein shakes, they are very filling and I am hoping I will come to like the online tracking tool. Merri says it is like facebook for fatties. That sounds like something I can totally get on board with!

So after a big grocery trip today (I'm sorry but it is a lie that it is cheaper to eat healthier, it is totally cheaper to buy a package of hot dogs and buns than turkey burger and fresh produce!) I am stocked up on healthy foods and ready to go. Tonight I plan on informing my husband that I need one hour a day to MYSELF to exercise.

MY GOAL: Honestly, my goal at first it to just do it. I usually make the mistake of setting some huge weight loss goal and then get super discouraged when I don't meet it. So I'm not even going to weigh myself for the next two weeks all that matters is that I stick to my caloric intake and exercise, that it. So here I go, wish my luck!

Journaling

I am really liking the food/exercise tracker on MyFitnessPal. It has been working really well for me so far (for the three whole days I have been using it!)

I really like that it's A) easy & B) free. I also really like that it spells out exactly how much of everything I need to eat shows me EXACTLY when I have eaten too much! I think it works really well for me too since it's on-line (it's kinda like facebook for fatties...stuff like that really clicks for me since I am kinda addicted to things like facebook and blogs right now....I know that you couldn't tell that since I am currently an author on no less than THREE different blogs right now!) I guess we will see the next time weight myself if it translates into an actual difference in weight.

For anyone who likes the good ol' pen and paper journal I found this one at Quaker. It looked pretty good (I found it on Quaker's facebook page. If you go there you can sign up to win a chance to meet Bob Harper from The Biggest Looser....but DON'T do it...I have already entered and I don't want any more competition...Bob is mine!)

Oh, and one last thing...remember how in the last post I talked about how the trainer at the gym said I wasn't getting enough protein...Well, according to the MyFitnessPal she was right. On my first day, I decided to try to up my protein. I tried so hard in fact, that for lunch all I had was 1/2 a dozen hard boiled eggs (ok, in hind sight, maybe not the healthiest choice but I really wanted to increase my protein....next time I will put them on a salad or something to make it slightly more of a balanced meal). However, even after eating all those eggs for lunch, I still was short on my protein for the day. So, there you go, something else for me to work on. MORE MEAT!

One Month In.....

Well, I started this blog one month ago....and how much have I lost.....drum roll please.....NOTHING. NOPE. NADA.

I gained a pound and a half a few weeks ago and so far, I am holding tight onto it. Sad. (speaking of sad, pathetic things, did you know that when you weight yourself on the Wii Fit, if you have gained weight, and you dont want it to show that you have gained {thereby making your mii a little fatter}, you can turn the Wii off and it wont register the gain.? I did.)

Anyway, back to the flab at hand. So, I am not going to give up (yet anyway). I feel like I have gotten my exercise in a good place. I have a friend who meet almost every weekday mornings at the gym and we do the 9:15 am class (and even on Monday morning when Yoga is the 9:15 class, I still stay and run a couple of miles on the treadmill after Yoga). So I am feeling good about my exercise. It's my food that I have to be better at. I was talking to the teacher at the gym today and she it said it sounds like I need to eat way more lean protein (AKA...less junk). From what she said, it sounds like I am not eating too much...just not the right stuff (once again, AKA...less junk). So my friend says she tracks her food on http://www.myfitnesspal.com/ and it will track how much protein, etc you get. So I am going to sign up today and see if it makes a difference. Hopefully I can get the numbers going in right direction (and I wont have to stop turning the wii off after weighing myself!)

Operation sleep in your own bed update!

Wow! I can tell by the number of comments from my last post that there is a whole line of people waiting on the edge of their seat to hear how my week went.

S -(18 months), is rockin' the sleeping in his own bed thing! I have really stuck to my guns that poor kid has had to cry himself to sleep everynight and at every nap. He does still cry but I do see a light at the end of the tunnel. Truthfully it has been so much better then I had ever expected.

C -(five), on the other hand, not doing so hot. We gave it a good try for the first few night but I'm afraid with him it will not work to go cold turkey. For five and a half years I have helped that kid go to sleep and then let him come in to bed with me each night, those are some hard habits to break. Sooooo, we are going to go with a more gentle solution. I am going to sleep on an air mattress in his room ( a method found here http://www.sleepyplanet.com/). I know some of you (oh wait, I forgot nobody reads this blog!) may be thinking that this is a little pathetic and we need to just step up and be the parents and force him to sleep alone, but I after a lot of prayer and fasting (oh yeah, I seriously pray and fast about this, it is that BIG of an issue in our home!) I really feel good about this.

So now for weight loss, I have a plan stewing in my little brain but I don't have the time to spell it all out right now. So for now, off to a long to do list and maybe tomorrow I will spend a little therapy time blogging about my fat!

Meet Jamie

Meet Jamie, she is the youngest of the six sisters. She is the one who suggested starting this blog and now has completely abandoned her wonderful sister Merrilyn in the weight loss blogging world. Jamie's weight problems are a manifestation of the current chaos in her life and she really needs to get things under control. Actually Jamie is going to stop referring to herself in the third person now because it is getting weird!

So yes, I must admit that this was my idea and I have posted nothing! But of course I have an excuse (um yes, I know that is why I am 40 lbs overweight, I always have an excuse)! I am at a point in my life where I am totally overwhelmed, we had our third child almost eighteen months ago and I feel like I have been in a child induced coma since then, I just can't seem to get it together! It didn't help that shortly after I had my baby my family went through a HUGE crisis, and food is so my drug of choice to deal with stress and depression!

So here I am fat and with an out of control life. What am I going to do now? Well, there are a few things that I feel I have to address before I can focus on weight loss, the first one is SLEEP. I happen to have two darling boys who are five and 18 months they love me so much that they want to be with me twenty four hours a day, including waking up every few hours to make sure that we are still together. Seriously, I think people think that I am exaggerating when I say I get up 3-4 times (honestly, sometimes more) every night. But when you have two kids that each get up two times a night it really is that much! Then add in that they wake up their sister who is usually a great sleeper but is beginning to feel that there is a great injustice when she has to sleep in her room while everyone else sleeps in mom and dad's room (oh yeah, you read that right, they don't just get up in the night they sleep WITH me)! It is a BIG problem and I am tackling it this week. SO I won't bore you with the details I will just tell you that there is going to be a lot of crying going on in our house this week. But I am at my breaking point this has GOT TO GET BETTER!

So this week all that is on the agenda is SLEEP, and I'm afraid that is all I can handle! Wish me luck, I am going to need it!

So sad

Did I really just eat FOUR fudge covered Oreos in the last ten minutes??....Yes, yes, I did. UUUUGGG, not good.

No Comment

Ok...so I know I said I was going to update a week ago and I didnt, but I have a good reason for that...........I didnt want to. Ok, so I know that is not a good reason but it's the only one I have. Because when I weighed myself last week I had GAINED 1.5 pounds. Ya, I was slightly annoyed. I had even exercised REALLY well that week. I exercised everyday. In fact, there were several days when I was doing the wii fit after midnight because after everyone went to bed was the only time I could do it, and I still gained. Now, I could pretend that that I just added 1.5 pounds of muscle but we all know that is total crap. I know good and well that the reason I gained was because of all the junk I put into my mouth. I am not sure why I have so much trouble with not stuffing junk food into my body every chance I get....what is wrong with me!?!?!?! :)

So, anyway, that is why I didnt blog last week. I did consider doing a really heartfelt emotional post or even a funny one but truthfully I was just too annoyed to be heartfelt or funny.

OK, rant over. I am starting fresh today. Even though I havent done good yet, I am not giving up. I did do a few good things this past week. I joined 24 hour fitness because I have found that it's just too hard to try to exercise with the little ones so if I have the chance to go get rid of them for an hour it makes it worth it. I also have kinda been trying to record what I eat...I still need to get better however. (oh and here's your laugh for the day....when I met with the 25 year old personal trainer who showed me some exercises and showed me around the gym, he told me I reminded him of his MOTHER. YA. I wanted to punch him. He did save himself a punch in the mouth by telling me that I was stronger than most of the 22 year old he sees however......I told him that is what carrying around a 25 pound diaper bag all day will do).

Well, I am off the gym. We'll see if I have "no comment" next week...hopefully no.

It Starts Today

While talking with my sister, Jamie, about the fact that I had a bad summer when it comes to my health, she had the great idea to start a blog where we list how we are doing with our healthy eating and exercise. Soooo, I decided that there is no better time than the present! So, I put the blog together last night and decided to start trying TODAY to be more healthy! I have invited all my sisters to blog authors because, even though they are all BEAUTIFUL, I figure everyone can use support in being the healthiest they can be!

So starting today these are my goals for the next month:
Exercise 4 times a week
Record Everything I eat
Eat a fruit or veggie with every meal
Stop Eating after 8pm

My long term goal is to loose 15-20 lbs by December. If I make it, I plan to splurge on a nice pair of jeans (no more cheap ones for me!)

Nothing too drastic. I am not trying to loose too much, too fast. I just really want to get healthy and I ESPECIALLY want to set a better example for my children. So far, so good. I already did 1.25 hours on the wii fit and I haven't eaten any junk today. YAY! The only downside was that when I weighed myself on the wii fit I had gained 4.4 lbs in the last two months (that is what happens when you spend six weeks out of the last 9 weeks on vacations...oh well!) So, wish me luck and I will let you know in a week how I did!