8/21 Catching Up

This morning after Joe left for work, the kids and I had lunch, then began catching up on our chore list. For lunch they had apples and peanut butter toast, and I had some baby carrots.

We then moved all the furniture in the living room, vacuumed everything, scrubbed any spots on the carpeting that seemed to need it, and washed the living room walls. Which by the way, made me realize how direly we need to paint. These white walls have some areas where the paint is gouged out, and not to mention it just looks boring. If I had the paint, I would have started painting today. I am so excited to get paint on these walls. I didn’t want to paint before moving in like many people do, because I need time to live in a space and figure out what would feel good. What I’m leaning towards is dark dark purple, or dark teal. Then I’m undecided as to whether I’ll paint the wood/ trim white or leave it how it is. Decisions, decisions!

So anyways, yea the kids enjoyed scrubbing the carpeting believe it or not. They enjoyed helping with everything that I’d allow them to help with.  They just might be a bit crazy. Lol.. but I am glad they find joy in doing household chores. Hopefully that’s a trait that I can prolong. We then scrubbed down the couches and recliner, dusted everything, washed the window shades, etc, etc. Basically cleaned the living room top to bottom. I must admit, to this day I do actually still love doing chores myself. I obviously have my days [maybe even weeks……………..] where I just don’t care, but I like making our home look and feel good.

After all that cleaning, we had ‘quiet time’. No electronics, no television, just reading a book, napping or playing quietly. It was nice….. very nice.

Then the kids and I played ‘ kitchen school’ [ lol ] and they made dinner with me. They shucked the corn on the cob, and they each peeled a potato, I cooked the chicken breasts, peeled the majority of the potatoes, and got the water boiling for the corn and mashed potatoes.

They each ate a lot. I had a corn on the cob and a scoop of mashed potatoes. I’m just not feeling hungry today, so I’m not going to force myself to eat.

*That is one thing that people have told me in the past that I must say I disagree with. I’ve been told that even if you’re not hungry, you NEED to eat something. I firmly believe my body will inform me when I’m hungry, and I’ll eat then and only then. Getting into the habit of eating when you’re not hungry, is not a good thing at all as far as I’m concerned. So, that brings today’s food count to:

1 cup of coffee

2 tall glasses of ice water

2 pieces of coconut oil/ peanut butter toast

1/2c of baby carrots

1 corn on the cob

1 scoop mashed potatoes.

I intend to keep it there, seeing as it’s already after 8:00… and I’m not hungry at all.  Now my next goal is to play a couple games with Silvana since I did so with Deslin last night, then get downstairs to the elliptical. I NEED to get my hour in, and do some crunches at least. I’m sure I will be hungry after my work out, but that’s too bad! Sometimes if I’m hungry afterwards though, I’ll have a glass of skim milk, or a piece of peanut butter toast, or even some air popped popcorn. Of course, fruit and veggies are always okay, too. I LOVED finding out that a cup of broccoli has like 40-80ish calories.

 

Sometimes I like to keep track of my calorie count, so that I make sure I don’t overdo it. That’s typically on days when I feel hungrier than normal. But days like today, I don’t find it necessary since I know I’m way below. I try not to go over 1500-1800… but definitely NOT over 2,000. Only on my cheat day which falls on whichever day of the week I decide at the moment. Sometimes it’s a Saturday, sometimes it’s a Wednesday. It really  just depends on what I’m doing that day, where I’m going, who I’m with, and how I’m feeling overall.

All of that being said, I must say I am pretty happy with what I'm seeing in the mirror these days, and how great I feel! Nothing in life can compare. I neeeed to post my picture that inspired me to start all this.. my horribly depressing picture of myself... along with a picture of me now, at 30 pounds down. I'll be doing that within the next couple of days.
 

Alright, well I’m off to play a couple games with the kids, then hit the elliptical. I have some tea brewing, so I’m going to have that over ice to get my energy up. I’m feeling pretty energetic right about now, but that can disappear in a matter of minutes sometimes, lol !  Thanks for reading!! Please feel free to leave comments or questions!

 

 Deslin & Silvana at the beach yesterday

Helping with dinner today

Deslin's writing practice

 Silvana writing

 Fresh mint from our yard!

[There is TONS more that needs to be picked!]

Failure!?

SO I completely failed at my hopes to work out for like 3 hours yesterday.

But in my defense, I wouldn't have traded my day/ evening for the entire universe, or for losing 50 pounds all at once!

Yesterday after my meeting, I came home and got the kids ready and we went straight to the beach. We had SUCH a fun time. I don't know what it is, but every time Deslin is submerged in water he is the most pleasant, happiest, most peaceful kid on this planet. He has been that way since birth, and it still holds true today.

We played at the beach until 5pm. I had plenty of time to relax and take in some rays, and plenty of time to play frisbee in the water with the kids, and to swim out in the 'deep' water with Deslin. Deep to him is up to just below his chest. We had a great time! He was so talkative, just telling me all his ideas about things, his theories about life, lol.. it was fun! We had some apple slices as a snack while we were out there.

When we got home and changed, they were ready for dinner. So we had hot dogs [on whole grain buns, if that makes it any healthier! ]  and baby carrots because it was quick and we needed to get to the school to sign Deslin up for flag football.

When we got back, the kids wanted to do 'bootcamp.' Boot camp is something I came up with, that they think of as a game, to get them some extra exercise. What we do is we go out in the front yard, and I give them challenges to accomplish. For example, they line up on the edge of the driveway, facing the grassy yard... I tell them to race back and forth across the yard twice, then hop back & forth across the yard twice. As long as they go their fastest [and I can tell...] and complete it, they win. It doesn't matter who is first. Otherwise, Deslin would win every single time because he's about twice the size of Silvana.

So, we did that outside for about an hour. They had their own individual challenges, and challenges that they did together. Jumping jacks, racing, hopping, skipping, etc, etc. They love it!

After that we went in the house and had school time. Almost immediately, Silvana expressed she was tired and I could tell she was just wiped out. So I gave her some ice water and got her ready for bed and she went right to sleep. It must have been about 7:00 at that point.

Then Deslin and I continued playing school for 2 hours. He read his word flash cards, he read 10 mini books, did money math for about half an hour, did some telling time for about half an hour, a little addition and subtraction, and about half an hour of writing sentences. I find this time very important, because they need to keep what they learn in school fresh in their minds through out the summer, and also it doesn't hurt a bit to learn some things ahead of time that he hasn't learned in school yet. I am going to continue doing this all throughout their schooling years as much as I can.

All during this time of doing his schoolwork, Deslin was really excited about it and having fun. He gets very excited about learning things he didn't previously know. I am so proud of him!!

Afterwards , it was about 9:00. Typically I'd be trying to get him to bed, but we played a game of Jenga, and we played Connect 4 up to whoever won 11 games first. I won...... haha.. but he was a great sport about it and helped pick everything up afterwards.

Needless to say, by the time I got him to bed it was around 10:00. I was pretty pooped out, which typically happens to me after a long day of being outside, and keeping super busy with other stuff. So I took the night to relax. Joe was home at 11pm and we chatted for a while then went to sleep.

Today, the kids and I are going to get some chores done around the house, [ we  are all a few days behind on our chore charts since we have been busy with other things], and then I am going to take them for a walk to the park if we have time, then work out. If it's pretty late by the time we're done, I'll just get them to bed and then work out. I have tomorrow off also, so we can spend a majority of the day tomorrow at the park. :) Actually, I'll probably just get some chores done and then work out before anything else, just to make it priority #1 today. Seeing as we don't have much else to do other than chores, I have no reason not to make sure I get in my workouts!!!!!!!!!


So far today I have had:

2 pieces of whole grain toast with coconut oil and peanut butter
1 cup of coffee


It's almost noon, I'm planning on having some veggies for lunch, and I still have to figure out what to give them for lunch. Probably toast, sausage, and fruit. Silvana had oatmeal this morning and Deslin had scrambled eggs.

8/20~ Days Off

Yesterday was the last of 6 days in a row at work for me. Now I have 3 days off finally! :)  Last night I fully intended and yearned to work out but the kids were up until midnight, and I was trying to get them to sleep so it just didn't happen.

Today I have a meeting at work. I was planning on just not going to it last night, but this morning I decided to just go. Afterwards I am loading up the kids, a chair, towels, and a cooler of water & snacks and we are heading to the beach for the day!! It's high time we get some super hot, perfect beach weather again! :) Need to take full advantage of it while we can!

Later today Deslin has his Flag Football sign up, so we'll go to that quick and when we get home it'll be dinner time.

So far today::

2 apples
2 pieces of toast with coconut oil and peanut butter.

That's probably all I'll eat until dinner, other than some carrots if I get hungry.

I'm not sure what I'm making for dinner yet, probably chicken & mashed potatoes & steamed veggies.

Tonight after dinner I'm getting the kids right to bed, I'm sure they'll be pooped out after being up so late last night and spending the day at the beach today....

Then it's ON!
I'm going to do at LEAST an hour on the elliptical, pushing for 2 hours. lol.. we'll see...

Then my arm workouts, crunches, and WII Fit. I am just aching for a good workout. My body like literally craves it!!!!

I'll update tomorrow with how it all went and what I did. :)

8/16

Well, after posting last night about not working out, I was getting ready for bed and then suddenly got a burst of energy. I decided to utilize it, and  headed downstairs to the elliptical. I got my hour in while watching SNL on Hulu, and it felt great!!!!!!!!!!

This morning I woke up and had:

2 pieces of whole grain toast with coconut oil and peanut butter

Later I had a piece of fish and half a cup of asparagus for lunch.

A cup of veggies for a snack around 2pm with 2 oz of ranch.

2 glasses of green tea and 3 tall glasses of water.

and that is all so far today. I'm kinda hungry, but mostly tired.

My mom is coming over this evening and I don't think I'll be working out.... well maybe just some free weight stuff.  I'm so tired, and I work early tomorrow morning so I'll probably head to bed a bit earlier than usual and get caught up on sleep.


I know I will more than likely not be working out tomorrow on the elliptical either ... I'll probably do some WII fit ...but for sure on Sunday I'll be on the elliptical again.

As long as I don't skip 3 days in a row on the elliptical, I don't feel too horribly.... and as long as I don't skip working out altogether.


That's all for now! Going to go figure out dinner, then fold laundry and spend the evening with my mom & the kids.

8/ 15...... Work Mode!

The kids have been sharing a room for awhile now. We finally got the finishing touches in their room done, hung up their glow in the dark planets, and stars, etc... and Deslin just decided yesterday, at 7 pm, that he wanted to be back in his room. His sister talks a lot and keeps him up...... so, we had just enough time to get the beds moved, and some of their stuff, and then get them to bed. But a majority of their stuff was left in the living room over night. So, yesterday I skipped my workout.

To be fair, yesterday I was honestly super sore from working out the days before, and I ate super clean and light , and I was being productive and getting stuff done I needed to, so I was fine with skipping my workout.

I had full intentions of working out today.

Today when I got back from working 8-4, Thankfully Joe and the kids had finished putting a majority of their stuff in their rooms. I organized everything, organized our stuff, hung stuff up, etc, etc. Then we had just enough time to have dinner and walk down to the park for the music at the park night. We actually got down there late, it was almost 8:00 and it had been going on since 7.

The kids were happy to see some of their friends and had a blast running around.

When we got home, it was 9:30. We washed them up and got them to bed by 10:00 shockingly.

I am so pooped out. After they went to bed I washed up the raspberries we picked the other day, and while doing so it really hit me how tired I am.

I am a firm believer that sleep is JUST as important as exercising. If I am feeling exhausted and tired, I do not force myself to work out because I know I'll only be more tired and hungry the following day. It never fails that when I'm tired my body seems to automatically walk towards the kitchen. LOL.. I guess subconsciously I'm trying to fuel my body to stay awake.While I was cleaning the raspberries earlier, I had a few tortilla chips, then I was like " What am I doing?!?! It's 10:00 at night!!" haha... So I make sure I catch myself, and get to sleep. Towards the beginning of my working out days, I napped quite a bit. I knew I needed it.


Tomorrow I work 8-4 again, then I have a ton of laundry to fold, and my mom is coming over tomorrow night and we are going to bake for my employee picnic I'm going to on Saturday. After we bake, I neeeed to get to sleep because I need to be up at 5:15 Saturday morning for work. So, Im not very confident in the idea of working out tomorrow either. But I do need to try to force myself to make the time! I'm sure she'll be supportive of that and hang with the kids for an hour or something so I can do that.

Then Saturday, is the picnic right after I get off of work, and up early again Sunday. So, I'm going to hit the hay tonight...... try to sneak in a workout tomorrow when my mom is here, and most likely skip Saturday and work out again on Sunday night.


That's the plan! I just really hope I am not pooped out tomorrow[ I'll need to drink lots of Green Tea! :)     ]  , so I can get in a workout... first step to that plan working out, is hitting the hay ASAP tonight... It's 11 now, so I better get on it!!

Good Night!! :)

New Ideas for New Beginnings

So, today after making my blog public, I have been doing a lot of thinking about what I want this blog to consist of. I mostly used it before to blog about little things, reminders for myself, workouts I've been doing, measurements, etc.

I want to keep doing those same things, blogging about what I eat, how much I work out, etc. But I will most likely blog about my day a little more in there too. My plan is that once I am to my goal weight, and where I want to be physically, I will probably change the blog name to something else rather than " Losing Weight; Gaining Life" . I love this name for now, because it's kind of a reminder for me, in essence, of what I am going to gain by losing this weight. I am going to gain YEARS of my life, with my children and future grand children. I am going to gain more and more confidence, which will open so many doors. I am a fairly confident person, but then again I know I do not fully take advantages of all of the opportunities life offers, because I don't feel quite adequate right now. I need to change that.

Also, I need to be a good example for the kids. I want to jog with them when they're older, I want us to focus on health as a family. We have raised them to love healthy foods, and to love being active. They understand the importance of it all, and often when offered a treat they decline. They are ahead of the game in that aspect. I want to encourage them further, and push them to being their optimal selves. I fully believe that the best way to do that is to lead by example in all that I do.