Totally Random

Welcome to a post of totally random and unrelated things. Just because.


1. My legs are actually sore today after BodyPump. Where I almost passed out. After the third set of squats. Could it be because I ran on the treadmill at 6.0 for a couple of minutes? Because, remember... I run SLOW.


2. I went shopping for a dress to wear to Husband's company Christmas party this Saturday night. I didn't get the dress that I really wanted because I couldn't justify the money when I still have so much weight left to lose. So I got another one. It's totally not as cute, but also totally not as expensive.


3. Husband bought me a pair of size 14 jeans. I tried them on, and could actually button them! They're still a little snug to wear in public, but I've been thinking of wearing them around the house to stretch them out a little bit. The only thing is, who wants to sit around the house in a pair of jeans that are too tight when you could be sitting around in pajama pants?


4. I've looked at the new PointsPlus program, and I'm a little concerned. I'm really comfortable with the Momentum plan, and I can pretty much calculate points values in my head (since I've done WW four times now...). Since PointsPlus doesn't calculate based on calories, I'm out of luck. I'm wondering if now might be a good time to switch up the weight loss strategy... I'll wait until the longer explanation on Saturday before I start contemplating for reals.


What are your thoughts on the new Weight Watchers plan?

Monday Motivation

Watch out iTunes

I reached my next goal!!


That's right people... 199.4 on the scale on Saturday morning. Officially. I'll tell you all about my Thanksgiving morning run later this week, which I'm pretty sure was my saving grace.


But however it happened, it means that I get to buy myself a new playlist for running. I have my eye on Ke$ha, Katy Perry, and Lady Gaga.


What music is on your playlist? Any suggestions?

I Give Up

I was looking for some keys the other day, so Husband grabbed all of the extra keys that we had in our house and left them in one place.


This is what I found.

That's right. Three ten percent keychains. I have lost 10% of my body weight three times. And the first time I did Weight Watchers, I actually lost 20%, but didn't get a keychain for the second 10%. 


I sat there and stared at the keychains in my hand. I mean, for reals that I have done this so many times and yet still find myself back again. To lose the weight again.


And then Husband said it. "You just give up". And he's right. I totally do. I give up. Because I'm afraid to lose more weight, just to gain it back again.


I'm afraid to be back at wedding day weight. I'm afraid of that girl, who is more comfortable in her own skin.


As much as I want to be thinner, and more importantly, be healthier, I have grown so accustomed to where I am now.


This is where I reach in between each pregnancy. This is how far I get before I have an excuse to not be here anymore.


This is where I'm comfortable. Where I know how much I can get away with without seeing huge gains on the scale each week. And I know that means that I don't see huge losses, but for some strange reason I'm quietly okay with that.


I set my next goal so that I get a new running playlist when I reach below 200 pounds. At my last weigh in I was 200.0. The perfect failure. I can easily blame it on the fact that I had to go to the bathroom, or that I had a sweater on, or that I wore my wedding ring to the meeting, when I usually don't.


How dare I blame it on the cheeseburger and fries that I had last weekend. Or the margarita (or 2) that I had on Saturday night. Nor should I mention that I only worked out one time last week (even if I did burn 900 calories in that one workout).


I stepped on the scale this morning, knowing that I would see higher than that 200. And what stared back at me was 199.6. Um, that just started with a ONE, people!!


And yet I have already made the excuse in my head that this is Thanksgiving week, so I shouldn't expect to see that number at my official weigh in on Saturday. Which means that I don't get my new playlist.


Which basically means that I give up. Maybe not on purpose. But I do.

Monday Motivation

I should've listened

For years, husband has been telling me to buy straight leg jeans.


For years, I have snuffed him, because, um my legs are not straight.


So I have been buying bootcut, and flair leg, and yes, (gasp) mom jeans. All in an attempt to make myself look slimmer.


Until a recent shopping trip, when Husband convinced me to buy a pair of straight leg jeans. They were at an outlet store, and we were kind of in the mood to spend money, so I went ahead and bought them.


He can totally say "I told you so" whenever he wants. Because they actually look good. Not just ok, but actually good. I totally should have listened.

(photo credit elizajphotography)

And i'm not trying to brag or anything, but seriously, how cute is my family?

The Holidays

I posted a while back that they were finally here. That it has begun. The holiday season.


When more food than you know what to do with gets pushed in front of your face at every possible opportunity.


And to be honest, I can deal with that. I can either say no to the foods that I don't enjoy, or I can take responsibility for the foods that I decide to enjoy. Either way, the food I can control.


But, oh, the drama. The family-members-with-feelings-that-get-hurt drama. I could totally do without that.
I can not control that. And it happens every.single.year.


And I'm over it. It would be so nice to not have to deal with the drama at every holiday.
Because really, life is hard enough already. And aren't we missing the point of the holidays by making sure that everything is FAIR?


I thought the point of Thanksgiving was to GIVE THANKS for all of the blessings that we have in our lives.


And the point of Christmas is to celebrate the ultimate gift that was given to us when Jesus was born.


The point is not to make sure that the holiday happens on our own terms.


So this year, I am trying really hard to make the right decisions for my family, and include any one that wants to be included.


Can't we all just get along?

It was one of those days

You know, the days when you wish that you could just turn over and turn off the alarm, pull the covers back up to your chin, and lay in bed all day?


Well my alarm is 2 years old, and does not get turned off. Ever.


So instead, I got everybody ready and dropped off the 3 year old at preschool. Late, of course.


Dropped the boys off at the childcare at the gym, struggled through a one mile run on the treadmill (pathetic, really). And then pretended to do a BodyPump class.


We then somehow wasted 40 minutes, picked up at preschool and made a Target run. With a restless 2 year old, a hungry preschooler, and a grumpy mom. Sounds like fun, no?


We got home, fed the kids, threw some Taco Junk in the crock pot, and then I parked my rear end on the couch for the rest of the day. As in, didn't take the kids to swim class, rest of the day.


Somehow, amongst the pity party and grumpiness, I managed to do pretty well for myself today... health wise.


Now maybe I should adjust my attitude a smidge.

Friend Makin' Mondays

Had a rough weekend, followed by a little bit of the yuckies today. Good thing you don't have to actually hear my voice, since I don't have one.


So I'm linking up with Kenz.

What's in your DVR?

1. The Biggest Loser.  Obvs. I'm a little bit behind, so no spoilers here. I always get mad at them when they get upset with a 2 or 3 pound loss. I would love a 2 or 3 pound loss every week! But I guess I'm not working out 8 hours a day like they do.

2. Glee. Trying to decide how much longer I'm going to watch because I'm totally a prude and it seems really inappropriate a lot of the time. But I was in show choir in high school, so I kind of feel an obligation to support. Yes, I'm a Gleek.

3. Amazing Race. Love. Husband and I watch it together and decide who will do all of the road blocks. And how much we would train for stuff before we went on the show. Like running. So much running.

4. One Tree Hill. Ok. Don't laugh. I know. It's my total guilty pleasure. And the whole appropriate thing? Doesn't seem to bother me so much back in Tree Hill.

5. America's Next Top Model. It's like a train wreck. I just can't stop watching.

6. Private Practice. I'm a nurse. I like medical shows. What can I say? And Taye Diggs? Kind of hot. (Sorry husband)

7. Grey's Anatomy. Not actually in the DVR, but I watch it OnDemand when I remember. As mentioned above... I'm  a nurse. They are doctors. Obligatory.

Otherwise in the DVR, you will find Sesame Street, Jack's Big Music Show, and WordWorld. They save my life when I am cooking dinner. Or when my children don't nap and I need a minute to hear myself think.

What am I missing?

There's an app for that

Husband was kind enough to buy me an iPod touch for my birthday this year. I wasn't yet on my fitness journey, because tank baby was still inside, but I knew that it would be helpful once I began.


The commercial for apple "There's an app for that" is totally true. So many apps to help with fitness and weight loss it's crazy.


The ones that I use are pretty straight forward.


I have the Weight Watchers app, which allows me to track my points electronically (if I'm actually tracking that day), figure out points values of food, and figure out activity values.


Calorie Hunter Lite offers nutritional values at tons of popular restaurants, and although I don't always find them to be extremely accurate based on the actual website of the restaurant, they are pretty close, and easy to find on short notice.


The 24hr Fitness app has become one of my favorite. I can easily look up class schedules at the gym based on class or location. Awesome.


But my go-to favorite app ever is the Nike +. I don't know if any of you use this, but I love, love, love my Nike +. There is a little sensor that fits in my shoe and tracks my distance while I'm running. Then, based on how long it takes me, my iPod tells me my average pace, how far I went, and how long it took. It tracks my mileage and shows me what each run looks like. Here is an example:

Awesome, right? It shows my beginning run, then walking up the hill, then running, then each big dip is a stoplight. It then allows me to make a little note at the bottom about running conditions and where I went so that I can use it in the future if I want to repeat a run or see my improvements.

It tracks all of my runs, which looks like this...

And then I can see my longest, run, fastest run, and so on in graph form. Love.

And because I am such a big number girl, this is totally inspiring to me, to see how much I have accomplished and to see how much I've improved.

What tools do you use that you love?

Girls on the Run

I grew up pretty much sedentary.


It wasn't until high school that I started to take tumbling and dance classes. And even then, I was already overweight, so I was hindered in a lot of ways.


I came across this program the other day that I think I love.
I wish that it was around when I was younger.
It is an amazing way to instill self confidence in young girls.
To get them active and teach them discipline.
To make them proud of what they can do with a little bit of hard work.
To encourage a healthy lifestyle from a young age.


I want to be more in shape so that I can start a location in Orange County.
I want my daughter and her friends to grow up with this opportunity.
I want to be able to stand up as a role model.


It's called Girls on the Run.
And I kind of think it rocks.

Pardon the Interruption

I interrupt our regularly scheduled programming to bring you this...


Happy Birthday Husband!!


Thank you for being the encouraging, supportive, dependable person that you are. Thank you for loving me just the way that I am, regardless of what size I am, or what I look like. Thank you for being such a wonderful father to our children. You are more than I have ever dreamed of. God sure did know what He was doing when He brought you in to my life. I am so very grateful that I can call you mine.


You make me want to be a better person every day!


I hope that you have the happiest of birthdays on this last year of your 20's!!!


I love you!!!

I'm Tired

We have all read the studies that link sleep to weight loss. Sleep makes this hormone decrease and this hormone increase, thus whacking with your hunger cravings and metabolism.

Well, I have been getting nightly visits from this guy.

Yes, he is cute.
Yes, he is yummy.
Yes, he is just a baby and has needs.

But I am tired. And when I am tired, I am also grumpy. And ravenously hungry. And when I am hungry, I am even more grumpy.
You see where this is leading...
Tired mommy = hungry mommy = grumpy mommy

You totally don't want to be at my house right now.

I hope you're getting more sleep than me!!

Size Does Matter

You always hear that size doesn't matter, but it totally does.


Take my three year old for example. She is almost four, but already wearing a size five in clothes. She is super tall, and I feel like because she is so big, the expectations are so high. People expect her to be as smart as a five year old, as articulate as a school age child, as mature as a kindergartener. And she isn't.


Another thing that she isn't ready for? The girls department. I mean really people, they are still little girls.


This...


and this...


totally not appropriate.


I don't really have a lot of fashion opinions. But one that I do have, is just because they make it in  your size doesn't mean that you should wear it. Exhibit A, above.


However, I also feel that the opposite is true. Just because they don't make it in my size doesn't mean that I shouldn't be able to wear it.


A couple of years ago, husband and I went skiing, and I had a really hard time finding a ski jacket that fit me. Even worse were the ski boots that I tried to fit over my calves. I can't possibly have the largest calves ever to have tried to fit in to a pair of ski boots. If I do, I want my name in the world record book.
But seriously, fat people ski too, darn it. 


And I feel like a lot of the plus size clothes are so matronly and old looking, that it's really hard to find stuff that is trendy, but still flattering. Old Navy is one of the only places that I can find stuff that fits, and even then, I have about twenty of the same top that I just rotate out with different jeans.


I know that it's my fault that I'm large. And I know that the fashion industry doesn't owe my anything, let alone cute clothes. But still...


Anyway, I'm not quite sure that this made any sense, but my point is...


you always hear that size doesn't matter, but it totally does.

Monday Motivation