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Monday, January 25, 2010

An Omen!

Happy Monday everyone. I just finished my first workout of the week. I am aiming to work out for at the very least 15 minutes a day for cardio and 10-15 for yoga. I know it's not a lot, but lately I've been getting dizzy spells when I work out so I think I might have been pushing myself a little too hard the last few times. I'm going to scale it back a bit and just hope to see results as time goes on. I have already lost 11 pounds, so I'm not far from my goal of 15. Of course, I made that goal before I had any idea I was 10 lbs over what I thought I was. Ugh.

So I just did a 15 minute "new mom routine" and they actually incorporated some new exercises. The one that really worked me was called a V-up. If you want to feel your abs burn, I suggest doing this exercise. (it can be seen here.) I was actually really glad they *did* put in some new workouts because I was starting to get bored of my old ones. After my 15 minute work out I went ahead and did 15 minutes of yoga. I will admit that my yoga is improving, but I still have the hardest time keeping a flat back. I tend to always arch my back upwards, or I lose all balance. I nearly sprained my ankle today doing an exercise called the in in out out out. It's really a simple workout, but I got to into it with the foot work and my ankle slipped. Im just glad I didnt hurt myself. Not that it would be surprising if I did.

As for eating..Welllll, I'm still doing pretty well with that. I'm GENERALLY staying on target with my calories, but sometimes things come up beyond my control and we end up making poor choices. This weekend we had to run some errands, and by the time we got home it was after 7 pm. Emma takes a bath at 730 and goes to bed at 8 so we didnt have time to cook. Instead, we went to KFC. I know, it sounds awful. We ended up getting a mixed bucket so I could have my chicken grilled, while the rest of the family ate fried. I also had a scoop of mashed potatos, and a scoop of macaroni. Whoops. But, luckily we've only had take out 3 times this month which is about 22 times less than normal, hah. Even when we did have take out I had a grilled chicken sandwhich, a ham and cheese, or grilled chicken from KFC. I've never splurged and gotten something that I realllllly wanted.

Right now I'm craving a fish sandwhich from McDonalds which means my iron levels are low. That's the ONLY time I crave McDonalds fish. I've been iron deficient for as long as I can remember, but It got worse during my pregnancy. I was told that my levels should return to normal after I delivered my daughter, but they never really did. I still have "spells" where I crave peanut butter, fish, and other things of that nature.

Well, now I am off to find something for lunch for myself and the monkey. She is cutting 4 teeth, has a diaper rash, and we think she may be having nightmares now because she wakes up covered in sweat and screaming in the middle of the night, even when its freezing cold. It amuses me when people say parenting gets easier as time goes on, because I don't believe it ever really does. To me, you just become so used to it, and so consumed with love for your child, that you are blind to the imperfections and difficulties of parenthood.


Peace, Love, and Omens
Sarah V.

P.s. the reason this blog is called "An Omen" is because I was sitting online in my workout clothes, trying to find time to work out at some point during the day, when I could have used my 'internet time' as 'workout time.' Just as I was telling Quinn about this, my internet crashed out which pretty much FORCED me to get up and go work out. When I was finished, my internet had returned. See, even the higher ups want me to work out and get healthy.

 Starting weight: 208

Weight Today: 198 lbs


10 lbs lost. (yay?)

Friday, January 22, 2010

Measurements..

Well, I took my measurements today and they haven't changed at all! That is a little discouraging, BUT i'm down to 198 lbs now. So yay. One week its inches, the next week its weight. Lets hope this keeps up.

Today my abs are killing me. I am going to try to get in some good cardio today after Emma wakes up! Woohoo.

Thursday, January 21, 2010

What next?

Today sucked. That's it plain and simple. I woke up expecting a great day, but instead it poured down rain. My husband decided to get up early so that he could run to work, get his check, run to the bank, get a few things at the store, and come home. He walked out the door and 5 minutes later he comes running in screaming at me to lock the damn doors.

I always lock the door. Locking the door is a force of habit, and I can remember doing it specifically. I asked him what the hell was going on and he informed me someone broke into my 01 Lincoln and ripped out the arm rest where the 5 disc changer stereo is. So, he had to call his father, who then had us call the police. We tried to put the baby down for a nap, but she wouldn't sleep. I listened to the police officer as he told us the rain had washed away all evidence of a crime, and he couldn't process a wet car. I then went inside after he left to hear my child screaming for over an hour.

After getting the baby up, dressed, fed, and ready to go we had to leave for a Dr's appointment. Daddy had to switch the carseats around, and I got to ride in the backseat of his 01 Kia Rio! The front doors been broken for a long time, so it was just a blast...

On the way to the doctors office we decided to stop and grab a bite to eat. Yes, yes we did. That makes twice during the 3 weeks so far that I've gone out to eat. Luckily, I only had a ham sandwich and its about 380 calories. It was a long day, we didnt have time to eat, and honestly that was the first I'd eaten since I woke up!

After we got done eating in the parking lot of the Doc's office, we took Emma in at 1:45. Her appointment was at 2 and there was absolutely no one else in there. We still managed to wait until 2:30 to get called in. Emma proceeded to have 2 shots. She fell asleep on the way home, slept until 5:40, got up, ate dinner, then went to bed at 8:15. I'm hoping she stays asleep.

Anyhow-moral of the story is that today sucked. I didn't have time to do anything, and even now its 230 am and I have to be up very very very soon. I can't sleep because my car was broken into, I'm dead tired, and I'm starving. I feel bad I didnt get a workout in but thats just life sometimes. Luckily, I threw some crockpot chili together at 9 am so that it was ready in time for dinner. Thank god for crock-pots.

Sorry if this blog is a hot mess, I'm dead tired. As for my measurements today, well.......I forgot. I will take them tomorrow and post.

Peace, Love, and Sleep?
Sarah V.

Wednesday, January 20, 2010

Finally!

Hello blogsters and blogettes. How is everyone on this fine Wednesday? I'm fabulous, and I'll tell you why. For the past 3 days I haven't gotten a chance to do my work out. Today I had planned on getting a good 30-45 minutes in, but as my daughter woke up from her nap I discovered that we were out of milk! If you have an infant you know how critical it is to have milk in the house, especially before or after naptime! So, even though it was a rainy shitty day, I bundled her up and we ran to the store. I managed to keep the groceries for the rest of the month at only $50. I'm pretty stoked about that.

After I returned home, I realized that there was in fact NO WHERE to put all the groceries I'd just bought. The men of the house tend to just shove whatever they can into whichever cabinet they can. I wound up cleaning and rearranging all 6 cupboards. Oops. When I glanced at the clock it was flippin SIX THIRTY. Woah! I started to make dinner so that it would be ready when Andrew and his dad got home, and of course in the midst of my cooking his dad came home. There went my chances at a workout.

For dinner, I made hearty chicken and noodle casserole. It was DELICIOUS. I wish the recipe had made more, but it fed all 4 of us. I'll post the recipe down below.

Anyways, onto the WORKING out portion of my work out blog. Heh. After watching a few episodes of DH and another few episodes of NCIS I decided that I was going to get off my ass and go do some quiet yoga. I was feeling crappy about not having worked out for the past few days, so I put on my workout attire and retreated into the living room.

When I turned on my wii I was reminded it was my 9th workout. This means I was retested in all of my areas, and I was able to change my current and ideal weights. Well, since I started the game without a scale I guessed 199. (which is what I am NOW, because I was 10 pounds more than that when I guessed. Whoops.) As I was saying-I guessed 199, so when I went to change my weight, I just left it the same. That made me feel bad, but I KNOW I've lost 9 pounds. I just wish the game knew. Dang. Anyways, I did a 20 minute work out and burned 200 calories. I would have done more but for the first time ever, his dad actually walked out into the living room while I was in the middle of my grapevine workout. I felt embarrassed, paused the game, and sat down until he went back to bed with his bottled water. I managed to do a fairly good workout barefoot, and trying to be ultra quiet so as not to wake the baby. After I finished my workout, was graded on my first 9 workouts (B+) and did my stretches, I was asked if I wanted to do my physical challenge. In reality, I should have said no so that I could have done it with shoes on, and given it my all...but I said yes.

I wound up doing my physical challenge, and scoring an 83%. My worst score was on lower body because my knees hurt so badly when I work out thanks to an old high school gym injury. WOW, I sound old saying that. Ugh. I did great on all of my other aspects. I think my lowest score was around 60% and my highest was in the 90%. Overall, I was pretty happy with my results. I actually did a BETTER physical challenge now, than I had with my first challenge. That means Im making progress. Even better, I was half assing it just now, and still did better than before. I'm pretty happy about that.

Strangely, when it rescanned my body for my body image I came out looking a LOT thinner than I did last time. I mean, more so than I actually am. I think that the black shirt and low lighting didnt help much, but its just a silhouette and I'll take what I can get. I have decided that I'm going to try to work out as much as I can, when I can. I'm going to try my best not to feel so guilty If I don't get a work out in, because I'm going to try and make this long term. Sure the 6 week challenge is fun, and it's all about starting to live a healthier lifestyle, but in the long run I want to maintain this. So what If I eat out once in a while after the challenge is over, as long as I come home and work my ass off to kill whatever it was I just ate. Will I be bloated for three days? Sure I will, but sometimes it's just worth it.

So far this six week challenge, and the 2 people who are my constant go to gals (Quinn and Nathalie) are making this a lot easier on me. If I had to go this alone I probably would have given up, but you two girls really help me out0, alongside our fellow weight loss blogger Brooke. (www.brookenotonadiet.blogspot.com) I know a lot of other people read my blog because I get commented on it a lot via facebook. So thanks to all you guys who are reading it too. I'm trying my best to become happy with who I am, and live a better lifestyle. The 6 week challenge has shown me that I can sleep better at night without my daily dose of dr. peppers. (yes, plural.) It has shown me that learning to cook new meals can be fun, exciting, and a lot better tasting than eating frozen dinners every night. It has also shown me, that I'm not alone in my struggles.

Peace, Love, and Sore Knees
Sarah V.

RECIPE FOR CHICKEN & NOODLE CASSEROLE:
1 can (10 3/4 ounces) Campbell's® Condensed Cream of Mushroom Soup  (Regular or 98% Fat Free)
1/2 cup milk
1 cup frozen mixed vegetables
2 cups cubed cooked chicken
2 cups medium egg noodles, cooked and drained
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/2 cup shredded Cheddar cheese
  • Heat the oven to 400°F.  Stir the soup, milk, vegetables, chicken, noodles, Parmesan cheese and black pepper in a 1 1/2-quart casserole.
  • Bake for 25 minutes or until the chicken mixture is hot and bubbling. Stir the chicken mixture. Top with the cheese.  Let stand until the cheese is melted.
  • Serving Suggestion: Serve with a steamed vegetable blend: broccoli, cauliflower and carrots, and a Caesar salad. For dessert serve fresh strawberries topped with whipped topping.
  • For Golden Onion Chicken & Noodle Casserole, substitute 1/2 cup crushed French fried onions for the Cheddar cheese.
  • For Hearty Chicken Casserole with a Twist, substitute 2 cups cooked corkscrew-shaped pasta for the egg noodles.

**DAYS WITHOUT DR. PEPPER**
[[22]]

Please feel free to share/post any recipes or email them to me at Cyanidesarah@live.com

LOVE. <3

Tuesday, January 19, 2010

Oh my, a blog.

Hello out there fellow blogsters. How is everyone doing on this fine Tuesday? I apologize for not having blogged in a few days, but the weekends are my "family time."

Lets start by saying that I don't work out on the weekends. I wish I could, but It's simply an impossibility. One of the downsides of living with my father in law. He is home every weekend, and my husband is as well. This of course means that any privacy goes out the window! I refuse to get dressed up in my sweats and a tank top and try to do yoga in front of 2 men, while also trying to wrangle a 15 month old baby into staying out of the cameras line of view. I just can't. So--Instead, I run errands with the hubby and generally get in at least 30 minutes of fast paced walking. It's better than nothing, right?

I know what you're thinking. "Sarah, yesterday was Monday and still you had no blog." Why yes, observant reader, you are correct. I had no blog yesterday. Why was that? Well, my husbands work hours changed yesterday and he was home all day until 7. Just as he was leaving (and giving me some alone time to work out) his dad got home. I spent the day cooking, cleaning, and shopping for my husbands 24th birthday which is today. So, once again I just wound up walking for 45 minutes at a quick pace. No, seriously I could have been jogging. I absolutely hate being out alone. I'm the queen of paranoia, and I couldn't stand it. I have never shopped so fast in my life. I was in and out of 2 stores with 2 separate items and back home within an hour. I actually broke a sweat. I know it's not as good as my cardio, but it was a workout...and I did it in dressy flats. Ouch.

Today is going to be a challenge. You see, since it's Andrews birthday I'm letting him do whatever he wants today. That includes him leaving for 90 minutes to play disc golf with his friends, and playing baseball on the Wii. Of course its only 2 pm so the day is still young, but in 3 short hours I have to start dinner (pork chops and mashed potatos, yum.) and then we will be having a birthday cake and opening gifts. Yes, I'm making my 24 year old husband blow out candles after dinner in the dark. I don't see why not. It sounds like fun to me. As much as I need to work out today, it looks like it might not happen because I'm going to be busy for the next few hours getting things ready and cleaning the house. I still have about 6 loads of laundry to do and another 2 loads of dishes as well. Emma is down for her nap so I couldn't have used this time to work out anyways. I am starting to think that my workout schedule revolves around everyone elses work and nap schedules. It's getting a little frustrating, and I'm starting to lose my mind. Tonight I'm going to fit in 15 minutes of yoga after Emma goes to bed...unless I can squeeze a little birthday cardio out of my husband that is. (If you don't know what I'm saying, I won't elaborate.)

I choose the yoga because it's quiet. When I'm doing my cardio it sounds like a herd of elephants are running through my living room. Yoga is quiet, and relaxing. Well, except the ONE POSE i can't do. Last time I did my work out I was so pissed because they had me do THAT pose every other time. Obviously, if I can't do it, I cant do it ya know? I didn't stand there limply though. I just did yoga poses that I DID know how to do instead. Sure, the camera yelled at me for doing it wrong, but I just simply don't have the grace or agility to do things the way they'd like. Not to mention, after hours of research on the internet I have never come across a person doing this yoga pose the way that Your Shape makes you. I can do it the "normal" way, but not in this crazy way that Jenny McCarthy does it. Damn you Jenny McCarthy and your tiny, limber body. *pouts angrily.* She's makin me look bad!

Anyways, I am still staying on track with portion control, and even after three days of not working out I had still LOST .4 lbs. So, it's good to know that eating healthier is paying off, even if its just in small increments. On top of what I'm already doing, my HUSBAND has suggested that we join weight watchers. I'm excited about it, but I'm waiting to see if he really follows through. I've been trying for some time now to get him to start on my diet and exercise program with me, or even just take walks with me. He of course refuses. I love my husband but his health scares me, and quite frankly it makes dieting harder for me when he has a ton of junk in the house. He is 5'9 and 245 lbs right now, where as I'm 5'11 and 199. I'm hoping that this is something we can actually do together, and that we can learn how to live a healthier life style.

Well, the baby is crying and it doesnt look like my husband is going to stop playing wii baseball long enough to go get her out of bed. I suppose I'll let it slide today, but it's time for her to have some lunch anyways.

This has been another edition of Sarah's Super Awesome Blog. I hope you enjoyed it. Hell, I almost managed to stay on topic the entire time!

Peace, Love, and Lean Cuisine
Sarah V.

Saturday, January 16, 2010

Happy Saturday!

Well, another weekend is upon us which means--I can't work out. Yep, you guessed correctly! There are now 3 people in this house besides me using my "work out area," for things other than working out! I hope I don't pack it on this weekend, because I'm doing so well. I have been eating decent portions today, but the food isn't great. We had a taco meatloaf for dinner. It's SUPER easy to make, and tastes pretty good--but it's got about 450 calories per serving. *gulp* That means I have very little left in the way of late night snack calories. Boo. On the plus side, I did get some cheerios snack mix today at only 130 calories per serving (2/3c.) and I got some healthy digestion peanut mix (granola, cranberries, raisins, almonds, and pistachios.)

This week is going to be an interesting one food wise. I am trying not to obsess over it, but Tuesday is my husbands 24th birthday! I ordered him a cake today, and I'm excited but also dreading it.. I already feel bloated without todays work out so I may try to sneak in some yoga after everyone goes to bed. The last 2 nights Emma has woke up in the middle of the night and stayed up most of the night, so I'm hoping I get a little sleep tonight.

Today, I did about an hour and a half worth of walking which I'm counting as my exercise. Sure, it's not a work out but since I hate being alone while I shop--I speed walked the entire time!! I hate being out in public alone, but I went to get Andrews birthday gifts so he stayed home with the baby. Woohoo! It was kind of nice being out without having to worry about getting the baby home in time for dinner etc.

In other news, ...there is no other news. Hope you enjoyed my mindless rambles.

Peace, Love, and Birthdays
Sarah V.

P.s. I cheated and stepped on my scale, and I'm still under 200...WOOT

Friday, January 15, 2010

Chicken.

Last night was another horrible night. For no reason whatsoever, my daughter decided at 1 am to get up. We stayed up together on the couch until 4 am when her grandpa got up, and things got too noisy. I ended up putting her back to bed, and sleeping for a whopping 4 hours. I'm *still* tired.

I had planned on napping today while she napped, but I rested instead. I did my yoga early this morning and followed it with a hot shower. By the time we were ready for our naps, the phone rang. Andrew was going to be home for lunch because he worked a long day. So...we stayed up waiting for dad. He brought home some take out which really disappointed me, but I was glad when I learned it was just a grilled chicken club sandwhich with NO extras from Chick-Fil-A. I told him not to wreck my diet, but he said once or twice a month is okay. I felt pretty guilty anyways.

After daddy left, Emma went down for a nap and mommy caught up on some tv shows courtesy of her favorite website www.ninjavideo.net. I wound up laying in bed and just resting. I have had a head ache and not felt well most of the day so I'm glad I did my workout early. I was feeling silly so I weighed myself before and after I worked out for those 15 minutes. I was surprised because it was almost a full pound difference, just from 15 minutes of working out! I wanted to do some cardio today but I havent had 30 minutes to myself with a baby that wasnt asleep 5 feet away. I have a few too many obstacles to overcome but I'm trying my best. I'm still eating well, checking portion sizes, making smarter decisions, and doing my yoga. Even when there are poses I cant do, I do the ones that I *can* do. Sure Jenny keeps telling me I'm doing them wrong, but its better than just standing there!

We are having a beef roast with veggies for dinner tonight, and we have just returned from walking around walmart for 30 minutes. I doubt that counts as a workout, but it ought to. It's been a busy/boring/tiring/long day. Im sorry if this blog makes no sense, I'm so out of it right now. *yawwwwwwwwwwwwwn*

Peace, Love, and Naps.
Sarah V.

Thursday, January 14, 2010

Results.





I'm wearing the same shirt I was last week, but I have since switched laptops so I cant post last weeks photos for comparison. You'll have to take a gander and tell me if you see progress. Current weight: 198.4 lbs.

AHEM, Well, what are you waiting for where are YOUR result pics?

Excitement.

I can already tell that today is going to be a multiple blog kind of day. I woke up this morning dreading stepping on the scale. I kept telling myself that I hadn't made any progress. After only doing yoga last night, and not working out at all Monday I was disappointed with myself. Well, ladies it turns out that my good eating habits are paying off!! I said in my last blog either I would be disappointed and push myself harder, or I'd be excited and see a reason to keep going. Well, I'm excited. I wanted to post new pictures, but I will have to add them to this post later. Andrew and I stayed up until 2 this morning and only got to sleep until 8. He has to go to work this afternoon so he's in the shower, while I'm getting Emma breakfast. (Oatmeal!) I don't have time to take a shower, get dressed, or do my hair and trust me no one wants to see "morning Sarah."

So, what are the results you ask? Well, my waist this morning was 34 1/2 inches. WHAT?! Yeah, I said it. I've lost an inch and a half off my waist. Of course, my waist was never my problem, it's the thinnest part of my middle and I was fine with it at 36. I will take what I can get and smile. I haven't measured the rest of me yet, and I don't know if I will. I'm pretty happy about what I've just found out, and If I haven't progressed elsewhere I might get a little discouraged. I feel that the yoga is really helping stretch me out more than I ever could have imagined, and it's so relaxing too!

As for my weight, well....that's another story! I had said before that I wanted to be back under 200. I started this thing at 207 (and some ounces) and wanted to lose 15 pounds. To be honest I wanted to be 185 which I think is reasonable but from my starting point that's actually 22 lbs. 15 pounds from what I started at would put me right at 192. I think I can handle that. If I can hit 192 by the 6th week, then I will gladly keep going. Well my friends, today when I stepped on the scale it said *drumroll please* 198.4. AHHHHHHHHHH! I'm under 200 pounds!! Not only that but I've lost almost ten pounds already!! That is insane. Who knew all these years that diet and exercise could be so easy and yield results?! Well, everyone knew but I just didn't want to believe it could be so easy. All the money I've spent on diet pills and all of the wasted *months* waiting for them to work, when all it took was 15 minutes of yoga or 30 minutes of cardio a few times a week!! I'm insanely happy. Before I got pregnant I was 195, and before I moved here I was 185 which is my goal. I feel tighter in the stomach, but it's still ya know.......hanging there. Curse you mom flab! None the less, I could have cried when I saw the numbers on the scale. It will only take me 6 more pounds to hit my 15 pound loss with our Wii Workout Together Plan!!!!!

Wow okay, sorry. I went a little off topic there and threw a lot of numbers at you. The point is that by rationing, not drinking my beloved dr. pepper, avoiding take out, and doing a tiny bit of exercise I have lost almost ten pounds in two weeks. Now I wish I hadn't gone to Applebee's yesterday just so I could have seen what I weighed before I had that steak, potatos, and veggies. Lucky for me, my one trip out (to celebrate my progress and as a date night with my husband) was spent making healthy choices! I won't lie, I wanted to order my usual Dr. Pepper with no ice and Three cheese pasta but I didn't. I made a smarter choice, and I was rewarded for it. I didn't over eat, I had a shooter for dessert, I left satisfied but not overstuffed. All in all I'm amazed at how much will power I've gained. That's something I've never had. And for anyone who doesn't know, a shooter is where they put your dessert in a shotglass.

I will post pics and maybe...maybe...take more measurements later. It's only 9 am so I've got a long day of working out and eating well ahead of me. Not to mention a lot more to babble about later I'm sure.

Peace, Love, and Shooters
Sarah V.

Wednesday, January 13, 2010

Busy Bee.

Well, after my stressful night last night, I had a stressful morning. I woke up late, I felt awful, and I didnt eat until 11 am. After that I didn't eat at all until 330. Oops, my bad.

Andrew went out with friends for 3 hours, and I wasnt in a great mood. When he got home he had brought me flowers. I was so happy, it has been a while since I'd gotten any. We also agreed to go out to eat for dinner at Applebees. I figured everyone else has had their turn, and its not take out so why not. I wound up getting the 7 oz sirloin with a cup of mashed potatos and a cup of steamed veggies. I ate half the steak, and almost everything else. I had sweet tea to drink and today is TWO WEEKS without Dr. Pepper--I am so proud. Also in case you didnt know, Applebees now offers weight watchers points on their menu and full course meals under 550 calories! *fun fact.*

Tomorrow is weigh in day. I didn't get to work out today but I did 15 minutes of yoga instead. I waited until 10 pm but It got done anyways. We were gone from around 3-7pm, so I didnt have time to do anything today. Tomorrow Andrew works all afternoon so I am going to do 45-60 minutes of exercise. I know it sounds crazy but if i do it in 15 minutes increments it wont be so bad, or even 30 minutes of cardio and 15 of yoga. Thats my goal. Hopefully I can achieve it. 45 minutes isnt too much to ask. We'll see how I feel after my depressing weigh in, haha. Hopefully I'll be motivated either way to keep at it, or work harder! I need to work harder anyways...I'm slacking this week. Okay, I'm done rambling. That's it, I mean it, I'm FINISHED!!

Okay, I'm not finished. I'm not looking forward to weighing myself tomorrow. I wound up buying a new battery for my scale and now it works fine. Hooray. Their lifetime lithium battery lasted less than a week. Silly scales. I guess don't feel like I am any thinner, but I feel like i'm a little more flexible...and maybe i've lost another half inch or so? I can fit into jeans I couldn't wear last month, so I know that theres something different. I guess we'll see tomorrow. I just know that I started this at around 207. Right now I fluctuate between 199-202. So I just figure 201. I'm really wanting to get back under 200 again. So, I wish all you ladies luck on tomorrows weigh in. I know I'll be needing it as well.

Sorry for the jumbled blog, but its late and I'm tired. Emma keeps waking up screaming and I had no sleep last night as my previous blog mentioned. I'm ready for bed now! Its 1 am so its late even for us. Crap. This means I wont feel well rested for tomorrow. Week 2 is off to a rocky start, so tomorrow It's up to me to turn it around. Wish me luck, I know I'll need it. Expect an early morning weigh in blog.

And thanks to my girls for the encouraging words regarding both working out and my personal situations, It means a lot. *hugs*

Peace, Love, and Impossible yoga poses.
Sarah V.

Stress

I'll admit it. Yesterday was a terrible day. I barely ate, and I wasn't able to work out. Andrew was gone for work in Kentucky from 430 am-630 pm so it was just Emma and I. Usually, that isn't an issue. I mean, after all I do that every day while he is at work for 8 hours. Yesterday, was just different. Emma was being a terror. She is such a good baby, that even her being a terror is probably an exaggeration. I just felt sick and tired yesterday, I wanted to work out but she wouldnt stay in her room without freaking out, and she cant be out here while I work out or she runs in front of me and I nearly trample her.

Last night was even worse. I was up all night crying about the stresses of life. I know it's silly and girly, but it happens to the best of us. Sometimes we all let it get to us. So, I was up all night fighting and crying. I wound up staying up until 3 a.m. which was a bad bad idea. Especially when I had to get up at 830. Luckily, Andrew let me sleep in again til about 10. I still feel like crap, my stomach is upset, my eyes hurt, I have a migraine from so much crying, and my stomach is growling. It's now 11 and I haven't eaten yet for the day. I plan on having a bottle of water and 2 nutrigrain bars for breakfast today. Well, does it count as brunch now?

I'm feeling really guilty today for not being able to get my work out in yesterday. I hear about all you moms working, going to school, and the gym and I feel like I'm insane because I can't manage to get in a workout in front of my t.v. at home. Then again, at the gym you don't have to worry about tiny people coming and running under your feet...........or do you?! I'm trying not to feel bad about it, but I am just having a really down day. I have zero motivation. I don't want to get up, get dressed, eat, workout, or do anything really. I'm going to force myself to get dressed and go to the store after this blog entry. Hopefully getting some fresh air and seeing adults will boost my mood. Plus, we need food. I would guess thats another good reason to go to the store. AND I need yet another scale/scale battery before my weigh in at the end of week 2. UGH. (All these broken scales are making me feel fat.)

I hope everyone else is having a better day than I am. I am going to try to keep my chin up, get in a workout (even if its just yoga) and find a decent meal for dinner. I'm going to clean the bedroom and hope it helps me feel a little less jumbled. I find cleaning always helps me feel a little better. Even though I hate to do it....

Peace, Love, and Pink Robes
Sarah V.

P.s. Thanks for being there for me last night Quinn. It means a lot. :)

Monday, January 11, 2010

One More Time...

Okay so I know this is my third blog today, but I just felt like writing. I may have to do like Nathalie does and just edit my post so that it says what ive done through the day. I cant keep writing all these blogs!

Well, I'm sitting here in a robe because I like to blog fresh after my workout. I usually do it before my shower, but I felt like I needed one today first. I did 15 minutes of cardio (174 cal) and 15 minutes of yoga (estimates in previous blogs) so I feel pretty accomplished. I'm going to try to get in some more today, but I don't know if that will happen. I haven't eaten anything since my last post, besides a nutrigrain bar. What! They are Strawberry Deliciousness!!! I'm also pretty proud that I'm starting on my third 20 oz of water today, meaning I've had 40 oz so far. I'm trying to aim for 4 bottles a day. That shouldn't be too hard, a bottle every 4-6 hours or so. I tend to drink more at night, and I'm less hungry when I'm full of H20.

Today my friends, marks day.. TWELVE without a dr pepper OR fast food. I'm so excited and proud. I keep having cravings for both, and there are days I ask Andrew to go get us something, but he refuses. He's doing good about keeping me grounded. Last night when I was snacking he asked me why I'd been snacking so much. I think it was because I skipped breakfast. *tsk tsk.*  After he said that though, I quit snacking and drank water instead. Woo.

I'm pretty disappointed that I don't have a scale right now, but It's probably best for me. I'm going to try to replace the battery or entire scale by Friday. Then I will weigh myself. Erm, maybe its Thursday. Crap, I forget. At the end of week 2, lol. I feel like I'm looking *tighter* but not *thinner.* I'll take what I can get.

This week is the EVERY day week. I'm not sure I'll be able to handle it, but I'll give it my all. That's all anyone can ask for right? I am going to try for 30-45 minutes a day of exercise. It might be 15 cardio, 15 strength, and 15 yoga. It might be 30 cardio and 15 dancing or running with Emma, but whatever it is, I'm trying NOT to sit still! I've been up running around all day. I took out the trash, cleaned the bathroom, got the mail, danced before my workout while the game was loading, and kind of ran around the house a bit. I want to get a pedometer but that will have to wait until our money situation changes.


Enjoy my random babbling blog!?

Peace, Love, and Pink Robes
Sarah V.

P.s. my score was in the 80th percentile today. That is my highest yet for a long workout. I feel so excited. I even did the dancer pose with no issue. Now If I could only get that half moon pose down......

My ideal weight is?

I was just looking at a BMI calculator online. I know I'm slightly over weight, but I don't think by putting my weight into a calculator can give me an accurate number as to my "ideal weight." I don't want to be someone elses version of "ideal." I think 185 is a perfectly acceptable weight for me. The online calculator however, says I should weight about 155.

Lets think about this for a second. I have my daddies frame. I have broad shoulders, a large chest, a long torso, and I'm nearly 6 foot tall. How, for even one moment, would I look *HEALTHY* at 150 lbs? Even more so, it says for a "larger" frame up to 170 is acceptable. I think 170 would be great. I would look thin at 170 but still healthy. Do I want to aim for that right now? No. I would love to be 189 if I could. I just want to be back under 190. I was 195 the day I got pregnant with my daughter, and I didn't look fat by any means! (Ill post pictures at some point later.) What I'm getting at, is that we are all trusting the internet, and online "tools" to our health a little too much these days. I don't want an ideal weight. I want a HAPPY weight.

So the question remains...are you going for your ideal weight, or your HAPPY weight? (185 is my happy weight.) Or even better, are the numbers on the scale a factor for you, or do you just want to tone. I would happily remain 201 lbs if It means I didn't have hips, thighs, or this belly.

Leave a comment and let me know what you think.

Peace, Love, and Happy Weights!
Sarah V.

The wagon...

Well, yesterday I fell off the wagon a little bit, which I blogged about. Today I'm trying harder to eat better. I'm not sure how great of a job I'm doing, but the only thing I've had to drink so far today is water, so thats a plus. I started my day off with 2 nutrigrain bars. They are 130 calories each and it was already 930 so I knew lunch was coming up fast. I ended up having a lean cuisine for lunch as usual. It was pasta and fish at 260 cal I believe. So, I'm off to a decent start today at least.

Yesterday I went absolutely insane. I started crying because I hadn't been out of the house in a week, and cabin fever finally got to me. We got grandpa to watch the baby while we went to Walmart for an hour and a half. Yes, that's all it takes to make me happy...a trip to Walmart. You hush. So, anyways we got Emma a humidifier (cool water) and a few other things we needed for the house. I also got a few snacks including: rice cakes, nutrigrain bars, danon vanilla yogurt (instead of activia) and 100 calorie caramel yogurts. They are to DIE for. I highly recommend looking into them if you have a sweet tooth like I do. The rice cakes also help curb my craving for salt. I'm not sure why, but they do. They are even honey nut flavored, yum.

One of the main reasons I went insane yesterday, was because my laptop just died on me. Luckily Rent a center is having a deal where you can get any item free until feb 6th. Andrew went there first thing this morning and got me the biggest laptop i've ever seen. It's an Acer Aspire, and the screen is the same size as our lcd tv. Luckily, I get to test run it for the next 4 weeks free. So, yay.

Alright, that was a little off topic. Back to the subject of weight loss and such. Eating healthy food is a little limiting in my book. I keep trying to find new things I might enjoy, but I'm having troubles. If anyone has any suggestions I'd be happy to hear them. I'm trying to find a smoothie thats sweet without too much extra ingredients. I'm having a rough time with that because im picky with my fruits. I like all major fruits, but im unsure about the unknown. As for my poor broken scale, I am going to attempt to replace the battery (which is some lithium watch style battery) before I return it. I am going to get my NEXT scale at Walmart. The only thing Kmart is good for, are Joe Boxer booty shorts. Haha, that's not something you need to hear. Regardless, recipes-send them to me at CyanideSarah@live.com. Even if you have suggestions, ideas, work outs I might enjoy, anything you can think of to help me lose weight, feel free to email me about it.

This was the most rambling blog I've written yet. I'm trying to blog, talk to SkinnyQuinny (www.skinnyquinny.blogspot.com) install limewire, firefox, and about a million other programs onto the new computer, all while drinking water, and watching my husband play Wii. My brain is not able to process quite that much.

Peace, Love, and fresh starts
Sarah V.

Sunday, January 10, 2010

God Broke My Scale...

Well, today my second scale in a week and a half broke. Im trying not to take this personally, as I know Im not over their 330 lb weight limit, but its annoying. The reason for the title of my blog is that I had become obsessive. Well, okay...Very obsessive. I mean, every time I went into the bathroom, I would go step on the scale and cringe over the difference in that days numbers. I guess it's a good thing it broke, but I still need yet another new one. I have spent $30 and gotten BOTH scales at kmart. I believe next time I'll go to walmart to get my new one.
Anyways, I was really stressed today so i had a caffeine free rootbeer and two cookies. I feel kind of bad about it, but I think its like my version of a cigarette. It was about 400 calories worth of junk, but I'm glad its out of my system. As if everything else wasn't stressing me out enough, today I got a MASSIVE virus/worm. I spent the last 2 days trying to fix it, and finally rebooted my system after saving important data to my external hard drive. Then today, my screen just goes out totally. It had been broken for some time, but its finally gone for good. Tomorrow I'm going to rent a center for their free for a month promotion, and renting while we look for the cable to fix my laptop screen. Right now Im typing this on an acer netbook. I swear these things are made for children, or little people. Either way, my massive lady hands just cant deal with this. I will post more tomorrow!!

Peace Love and De-stressing
Sarah V.

Friday, January 8, 2010

For A Laugh. (post 2)

Feel free to laugh but here are some photos of me doing yoga...
Well, trying to anyways.


This last picture is for you Quinn. I didn't want you to feel left out having a bare belly pic. Now everyone can see what It is I try to hide. This is what happens when you lose over 60 pounds in under 9 months. You get a deflated belly. Isn't it sexy? Oh yeah, and those are my "love marks" as I like to call them. I plan on telling Emma when she grows up that she tried viciously to escape from my womb and clawed me from the inside. I'm such a fun mom!

<3

(= Peace, Love, and A Gross Belly =(
Sarah V.

Thanks!

Well, I just read miss Quinns blog over at (www.skinnyquinny.blogspot.com) and she officially guilted me into getting off my rear and working out today, so kudos to you Quinn!

I had been kind of messing around today. I got up at 8, woke the husband up, made him hot chocolate because he had to walk to the parking lot down the hill to get his car from last night (see previous entry) and I also fed Emma 3 pancakes. Yum. I am being bad today, and I need to go make lunch soon because I skipped breakfast. Well, I shared some pancake with Emma but I know that isn't healthy. I got so caught up in doing the dishes, cleaning the kitchen, feeding Emma and getting her a cup ready, then cleaning a little more, and getting her ready for a nap that I just sort of forgot. Yes, it sounds stupid to say "I forgot to eat," but sometimes as a mother I get so busy that I just forget to take care of number one, also known as myself.

So off I go to make some lunch. I am out of lean cuisine so no more easy meals for me at lunch time. Looks like I'm going to have to whip out a frying pan, and actually cook something. Last night I had grilled ham and cheese for dinner, which was pretty good! Unfortunately for me, we're out of cheese now. Boo. I am going to try to find a meal Emma and I can both eat for lunch so I don't have to create so much waste in preparing 2 meals. We go through so much garbage it's not even funny. We are trying to get Emma to eat more adult foods, and not so many toddler meals. Hopefully that will cut back on waste too.

I still haven't found much for recipe suggestions next week. This week supper got all screwed up. I had 7 days of food planned, but only got to make 3 days worth. One day my F-I-L called and said he wanted hamburger helper and had gone to the store and bought some for dinner, so that was out the window. Then last night the hubby and FIL both worked late so by 7 pm I didn't have any urge to cook, AND had to get Emma ready for bed. I try to stick to a routine with her for bedtime every night and I didn't want to interfere with that so I just made hot ham and cheese sandwhiches for everyone! Hooray.

If anyone has any tasty recipe ideas that are simple to make, fast, fun, or whatever send them my way. (CyanideSarah@hotmail.com)

I suppose I should get off here and go make lunch. I'm starving.

Todays Stats: Estimated 300 calories burned (or 220 + 10 minutes yoga.)
15 minute fit mom routine-165 calories
5 minutes fast pace warm up workout-55 calories
10 minutes yoga-estimated at around 80 calories
[[Your Shape doesn't count calories for yoga, but if you go online and look at a calorie calculator and enter the proper information you can come up with a rough estimate.]]

How are YOU doing today? I'm pretty proud of myself for getting in 30 minutes of random working out. Also, just for fun I set my camera up to take some pictures while I worked out. They are silly, but isn't working out supposed to be something fun?

I will take new weight and measurements and post them on.....*drum roll please*
Jan. 14th. (aka: the end of week 2)

Thank you to everyone who reads my blogs. If you don't already please check out the following blogs:

www.skinnyquinny.blogspot.com -- Quinn
www.littlepiggetsskinny.wordpress.com--Nathalie
www.brookenotonadiet.blogspot.com--Brooke


Peace, Love, and Loose Change
Sarah V.

TGIF

Yesterday, I decided to take my measurements. Don't ask my why I chose this specific time of the month to weigh or measure myself, because I know that it won't be totally accurate. Regardless, I had lost an inch off my waist. I haven't even done my work out every day and I've already lost an inch. I'm hoping I can continue to lose weight with diet and exercise. I know I won't reach my goal in 5 more weeks, because another 10 pounds is a long way to go. I lost 5 or 6 pounds my initial week, but I'm sure it was just bloat and water weight courtesy of my good friends junk food and soda.

Today, I had to wake up at  8 a.m. My poor sick husband slept on the couch last night. The roads were so bad yesterday that my father in law had to park at the church parking lot about a block away and walk home. Then, my husband had to park in the Home Depot parking lot and walk up the hill to our house. In case you were unaware, we live on a hill. You can get to our house from one of two ways, but both are on hills. Yesterday, we watched as a car attempted to come up our hill the usual way, slide down, and crash into the guard rail. Thus, the road there was blocked. Andrew attempted to come up the back way, only to see the same problem. Another accident. I was glad they just both parked and walked, instead of risking it. So, anyways he slept on the couch and his phone was dead, so I had to act as his human alarm clock. He just left for work, and had to walk in the snow back down to his tiny Kia Rio. If you don't know what Kia Rio is, look into it sometime. It's not an ideal car to be driving on the icy roads.

Enough about my random personal life. I woke up today with the motivation to work out, but not the ability to. Now that I have the ability to I have no motivation. If I put Emmas gate on her room, she just freaks out until I come get her. I'm going to try to put her in her high chair in a little while with something to do so I can get in at least 15 minutes now and 15 minutes later. Usually I do 30 at a time, but I am going to start breaking it up into portions. Maybe then I can even get in 45 minutes a day. They say if you want to lose a good chunk of weight 60-90 minutes a day could be necessary, while if you are just maintaining or shaping then only 30-60 are needed. As long as I can work out 3 days a week, Im happy. I want to work out EVERY day this week, so I'm going to try to meet that goal. Let's hope I don't fail. Next week we are going to try to make it to Cookeville, to my favorite Mexican restaurant, so I need to work out as much as I possibly can! Oh, El Tapatio why must you be so delicious?!

I will blog again later, because well...I want to. I hope you are all enjoying my blog. Sorry this one wasn't so much about weight loss, but I'm going to just throw this out there for you all to enjoy.

1 Can Undrained Very Cherry Fruit Mix & 1 Cup Vanilla Yogurt=amazing smoothie.
Give it a try, let me know what you think. It's the best I've had so far. Tomorrow is grocery day, so I have to find some new healthy recipes today!

Oh, and i quit counting calories on here, BUT I'm still counting them in my head. As time goes on I find that I just sort of automatically know when I hit my limit for the day now. It's not so bad. How are things going for YOU?!

Peace, Love, and Cold Feet
Sarah V.

Thursday, January 7, 2010

Photo Update.

I'm not sure if you can see much of a difference, but I feel like you can just a tiny bit. So, I'll let you be the judge. Am I looking better? OR is it all in my head?

And before you ask. Yes, the bathroom is a mess. There are clothes on the counter, the floor, and yes even a laptop on the counter top on my husbands side. We needed a laundry basket yesterday and in a rush he just dumped the clothes all over the place. As for the garbage bags, well I'm not going to lie. It's garbage. I was trying to clean up the bathroom a bit, and I haven't had a chance to get rid of the bags yet. So, enjoy my filthy bathroom.




One week later. Can you see a difference?



One Week Later..

Well, it's been a week of working out and I'm ashamed to say I didn't do near as well as I had hoped I would. The entire first 3 days of the new year my husband and father in law were home, which meant no working out for me. Then, just as I wanted to work out, I got sick. Now that I am all better, and ready to go...my husband is sick! He called out of work yesterday, so he was here all day. Since he didnt feel good and wanted to rest, I gave him the living room to use and let him play his games on my wii.

To recap week one:
Sick daughter-check.
Sick husband-check.
Sick self-check.
The inability to actually do much working out because I've been trying to take care of the above three, on top of managing house work, dishes, laundry, nap times, dr. visits etc?--double check.

I shouldn't really be ashamed that I haven't gotten a lot accomplished because I know life gets in the way sometimes and it's something we have to deal with. Being a full time stay at home mommy has its perks, but it also means that I'm expected to clean the house, do the dishes, take out the garbage, wash the clothes, clean the babies room, living room, kitchen, mop, sweep, scrub, etc. Don't get me wrong, I don't do all of that, all the time. But, I do try to keep the house clean, dishes clean, and laundry clean on most days.

I am PROUD to say however, that my eating habits have done a full 180. I haven't been eating any junk food, I've stuck to portion sizes, eaten breakfast every day, gotten a full 8 hours sleep, and as snacks I've been eating carrot sticks, and celery with peanut butter (of the non expired variety.) Yesterday began my usual "i'm craving chocolate, sweets, caffeine, soda, and every other horrible food imaginable" time of the month. It's going to be interesting to see how I get through without my usual 12 pack of dr pepper for the week. I don't really miss it as much as I thought I would. I've been sticking to milk, and Juicy Juice mostly. Oh, and water of course. So, hopefully the next 5 weeks I can stick to my new eating plan, and see if it helps any.

I initially lost around 6 pounds just in the first 2 days of doing this 'diet.' Since then, I've been stuck. The scale hasn't moved a pound. I'm a little saddened by that, but my stomach is looking a smidgen tighter, so hopefully I can see my progress in inches instead of pounds at least! Last night the scale told me I was 199 for a brief period of time, and I smiled at the fact my weight read one something, instead of two something. Then of course, after I ate and everything I was right back into the 2's, but seeing that made me happy nonetheless.

Week 2, I'm stepping it up a notch. I'm going to try to get in a work out EVERY day this week. Which means, today, tomorrow, then all of next week as well. I can't work out on the weekends, but I usually am off running errands at the store anyways. If we go to walmart and try to get in and out quickly, I literally break a sweat trying to run (walk quickly) from one end of the store to another repeatedly. Wish me luck!! I will post my new weight on February 1st. (Hopefully it's different than the old one.)

For anyone who doesn't feel like working out, I highly suggest doing some simple starter yoga. You can burn just as many calories as a light workout, and it feels great afterwards. Even if I don't work out some days I do yoga just to feel better. I'm going to try to get some in today and see if it helps ease my back pain.

How is everyone else doing out there in fitness land? Has any one seen any results yet? Are you still trying your best to keep up? Five weeks left! We can do it! Don't get discouraged, just keep on keepin on.

Peace, Love, and Rambling blogs!
Sarah V.

Tuesday, January 5, 2010

Am I Dying?

The answer is no, but I feel like it. I decided that I was going to get off my butt and work out today. I hadn't really been able to all weekend with the family being home. So, as my husband fed Emma her lunch I decided that would be a great time to work out. I put my Mayday Parade cd in the stereo, cranked the 3 foot speakers, muted Jenny so I could just barely hear her, and busted my booty! I have to admit, working out with a good beat makes things so much easier and more fun. I did it to the rythem, and I noticed I worked harder. I'm pretty happy about that.

Today has been a decent day. I slept in late, which was amazing. I got up, spent a little time with the munchkin, put her to bed, caught up on some television courtesy of Ninjavideo.net, filled out some recipe cards, weighed myself again, (I know, bad Sarah) frowned at the 1 lb gain over the past four days, did some laundry, dishes, etc. Got the monkey up from her nap, gave her some medicine, danced with her for 5-10 minutes while daddy tried to figure out how to FIX the wii he'd spent the last 2 days working on, and then finally I did a 20 minute BUTT KICKING work out, and 10 minutes of yoga. According to the Wii I burned around 280 calories. I usually hit 300, but today I felt a little sick after my work out so I decided to call it a day.

I made the mistake today of telling the wii I felt great. Normally, I tell it "Hey pal, you're lucky I'm here." Today however, I decided to tell it I felt good. Instead of giving me a pat on the back, or saying "Hey thats great news," the Wii made my workout twice as hard as it normally is. I'm not complaining, but I'm afraid to try it on its hardest setting. I didn't get much of a work out in yesterday, so I'm glad I did today. Tomorrow I will start back on my usual schedule. It will be easier with the boys at work anyways.

I hope everyone else is doing fabulously with their new years projects. (I'm refusing the word resolutions!) My eating habits have been great, and I will admit that I miss Dr. Pepper AND chocolate, niether of which I've had any of, but that I've also been sleeping a lot better at night. Natural energy is the way to go, but sometimes everyone needs a little help.

Today my diet has consisted of:
1 cup french toast casserole and a little syrup
1 cup cheerio snack mix
3/4 banana
3 glasses of water (WOOHOO!)
2 servings of sweet tea (d'oh)

So honestly, all in all I'm doing pretty well. I am right around 600 calories and I haven't even had lunch yet. So, as long as I dont have more than another 1100 calories today I'll be great. Unfortunately for me, Drew wants pigs in a blanket for lunch. He doesn't even put cheese on them. They are just hot dogs rolled in bread. I don't think that is a very good lunch, so I will be enjoying a lean cuisine with only 220 calories in it (or 260 depending on my meal.)

My mind is running a million miles an hour so I apologize for this random blog. I am still reeling from my workout, and I do not smell like peaches let me tell ya. In fact, I'm off to shower, get dressed, make the family lunch, do MORE laundry, put away dishes, and clean the bathroom. Who says I dont get a work out again.......hmmm

Peace, Love, and H20
Sarah V.

Monday, January 4, 2010

Rough.

Well, today was once again another tough day. I have been sick all week, and today we had to get Emma into the doctor. It was not only freezing out, but it was also snowing. Her little baby cheeks were red and scabby all over. I felt so bad for her. I took her to the doctor for a few separate rashes she had on her body. I just wanted to be sure it was nothing serious. She wound up having a fever of 100 which has everyone totally baffled. She was diagnosed with Eczema. She has a pretty severe outbreak going on right now behind her legs and on her face. They have started her on not one, not two, but yes- three separate medications to clear it up. After that we will have to monitor her, and be sure that she stays well moisturized so she doesn't end up with scarring or discoloration.

So after waking up at 8, getting the baby ready, getting myself ready, having my hubby feed her and get ready, going to the doctors, waiting at the doctors, take her in to SEE the doctor, leaving and going to walgreens to fill her prescription, getting gas, going home and getting her down for a nap, running to kmart to look for a humidifier to help her skin, wandering around kmart and having no one know where anything was, buying andrew a new classic controller for the wii, getting home, cooking hamburger, chopping onions, and doing all thats needed to make crock pot chili, mopping the kitchen, doing the babies laundry, getting her back up again, making her a cup, cleaning up her toys off the entire living room floor, and then spending the rest of the day playing with her and chatting online very briefly.......I just haven't had time to work out. (Plus, I sorta feel like the running for 30 minutes to chase her around, and running all over heck today was a work out in itself.) THEN, I had to set the table and get everyone dinner by the time I was done having 45 minutes to myself! After that it was bedtime for baby, and I finally had a minute to myself.

I went ahead and put on my workout clothes so I could go to the living room to do some yoga, only to discover that after an hour, the baby had woken up. She was DRENCHED in sweat from head to toe. I ended up having to get her up and rock her until she went back to sleep. By the time I got back out there, Andrew was back on the wii and i was so exhausted I decided that I have been supermom today, and I deserve a little break. I still have my work out clothes on and I'm going to go do my yoga just as soon as I'm done with this blog!!

As for food. I didn't do horribly today, though I didnt eat what I wanted to. I had a cup of raisin bran and milk for breakfast, chili for lunch, a french vanilla cuppaccino (that andrew got me while we were running errands, which was sweet....but not great for me.) I also had a cup of chili for lunch, and 2 for dinner. I feel so bad today because I think I did poorly with my meals but re-reading them doesn't make them seem that bad. I did however have 3 cups of sweat tea today at 90 cal each. WHOOPS! But--still no soda. So hooray for that goal. Oh and now I'm snacking on cheerio snack mix. (its good for you!)

Anyways, I'm off to do my yoga. I will post new recipes later this week.

Peace, Love, and Cheerio Snack Mix
<3
Sarah V.

Sunday, January 3, 2010

Still goin...

Today, is another rough day. I don't know what it is, but I have felt sick the past few days. It turns out the other day when I made my peanut butter, banana, yogurt smoothie...the peanut butter had gone bad and no one realized it until after I'd already eaten it. It was out of date by around 6 months, and I'm not sure if I'm physically sick, or making myself sick thinking about it. Either way, I'm sickened.

I spent my day today doing great with my calories. I had raisin bran for breakfast, and a lean cuisine for lunch. I tried a new recipe for dinner which had a LOT of calories. That's sort of why I hadn't snacked or anything all day. It's called French Toast Casserole and it's YUM. I must warn you though, this recipe makes quite a bit. By "quite a bit" I mean, it fed 3 adults, a baby, and I still had to put the rest in the fridge for morning. It was a little time consuming, but you can make it ahead of time, freeze it, and cook it for morning. I thought that was pretty neat! Tomorrow we're going to have Crock-Pot Chili. I can't wait. That was going to be todays meal, but I forgot to thaw out the hamburger meat. Oopsie. I'll remember to set that out tonight, so that it will be ready by morning.

In other news, I weighed myself this morning. I was down to 201. I'm pretty excited about that, because it means I'm losing the water/bloat/soda weight I'd had so much of. Now I can find my weight, and work my way down from there. I want to lose about 15 more pounds, to reach around 185.  If I'm still unsatisfied, I'll go from there. Honestly, I think 185 is a good weight for my height/frame. I'm not looking for an IDEAL weight, I'm looking for my HAPPY weight.

I haven't done any exercise yet today. I will have to wait once again until Emma goes to bed, so that I may do my yoga in peace. I think I'll just make that a nightly event, and do my aerobics all week long. I hate that I can't do much, if anything, during the weekends because the family is home. It makes me feel lazy, stiff, and unproductive. So hopefully I can get back into the swing of things tomorrow. Well.....if I'm lucky. After all, I have to take the baby in to the doctor again for a rash she has. Such is the life of a busy mommy.

Peace, Love, and Trying New Foods.
Sarah V.

Ingredients

1 lb. Loaf Italian Bread
8 oz. Low fat cream cheese
1/2 cup Sugar, divided
1/2 tsp. Vanilla essence or Vanilla extract (flavoring)
1/2 cup Chopped pecans, optional
4 Eggs
2 cups Milk
1 tsp. Cinnamon
2 tbs. Butter, melted


Preparation

Cut bread into cubes, place half in greased 9x13" pan. Microwave the cream cheese to melt, stirring midway. Once melted, add half the sugar. Pour this mix over the bread cubes (will not completely cover). Sprinkle nuts over cream cheese layer. Top with remaining bread cubes. In a bowl, beat the remaining sugar, eggs, milk, cinnamon and melted butter together. Pour over bread cubes. Freeze at this point or let sit overnight in fridge. Bake at 350 degrees for 35 minutes. Serve with warm syrup or fruit toppings.

 

Nutrient Information

Calories: 404 per serving (makes 6 servings)
Total Fat: 17 g
Saturated Fat: 8 g
Polyunsaturated Fat: 2.3 g
Carbohydrates: 49 g
Protein: 15 g
Vitamin A: 525 IU
Vitamin C: 4 mg
Calcium: 153 mg
Sodium: 393 mg
Iron: 2.5 mg
Fiber: 3 g



ENJOY!!!!!!!

You can also make it, freeze it, and cook it in the morning if you'd rather have it for breakfast. :)

Saturday, January 2, 2010

Ughhh...

Today was a really rough day. I'm not exactly sure why, but I have been starving all day. I have eaten my allotted amount of calories and have maybe 200 left for the day if I'm lucky. I haven't had much to drink at all because we ran out of  bottled water, our tap sucks, and I wasn't leaving the house with a baby when it was only 20 degrees out. So, I suffered through most of the day.

I got up this morning and had my peanut butter banana smoothie. I was hoping it wouldn't be as bitter as last night once I added more peanut butter to it, but it was. I'm not sure if its the type of yogurt (Activia vanilla) i'm using or what? Anyways, that held me over fine until noon or so. Then I had a lean cuisine meal that was only 260 calories, so I had a glass of sweet tea with it. I started my crock pot at 10 am and it was done by 4 so we had an early supper. It was AMAZING. I will post the recipe below. There are only 300 calories per serving, but we also had potatos (110 cal a cup) and I had half a glass of caffeine free root beer. (60 cal) On top of all that, I just had a yogurt and an apple for a snack. I may have something to eat soon, because my stomach is growling and It's been 4 1/2 hours since my last meal.

On top of all that I have just NOT felt good today. I have had horrible tummy aches, and felt really nauseated and tired. I can't remember the last time I felt so crappy, but I think it's my body adjusting to being caffeine free. At least, I hope that's what it is because I can't afford to get sick. We already have to take the baby back to the doctor on Monday, but that's another story.

I guess today was overall a pretty lazy day. I got up earlier than usual (830) and spent most of the day hanging out at home. I wanted to work out, but everyone else was in the living room watching movies so I didn't. I am going to do yoga tonight after Andrew goes to work. I can feel the muscles in my stomach working with yoga especially. I was surprised at how much it's helping. I think I may do 2 sessions tonight for a total of 1/2 an hour!! I actually enjoy doing it a lot, except the one super crazy move I haven't yet mastered on Your Shape. Drew goes in to work at midnight, and is gone til morning so maybe I'll be able to get in a good session without having to worry. I just hope I don't wake the baby.......

I also have to finish doing dishes tonight which is the chore I loathe most. I would rather change 100 dirty diapers a day, than load 5 loads of dishes. Ughhh. I really kind of just want to crawl into my bed, curl up into a ball, and go to sleep....can I just do that instead of what I've got planned? No, I suppose not.

Peace, Love, and Cranberry Pork Roast!!!
Sarah V.

Ingredients For Cranberry Pork Loin Roast

1-3 pounds Boneless rolled pork loin roast
1/2 tsp. Salt
1/4 tsp. Pepper
1 16 oz. Can whole-berry cranberry sauce
1/4 c. Honey
1 tsp. Grated orange peel
1/8 tsp. Ground cloves
1/8 tsp. Ground nutmeg

Preparation

Cut roast in half and place in a slow cooker; sprinkle with salt and pepper. Combine the remaining ingredients; pour over roast. Cover and cook on low for 4-5 hours or until a meat thermometer reads 160 degrees. Let stand 10 minutes before slicing.

Recipe Details

Total Preparation Time: Less than 15 minutes
Ingredients: Pork
Actual Cooking Time: More than 2 hours
Number of Servings: 6
Origin: American
Special Features: Quick to Prepare (under 30 minutes)
Crock Pot
Holiday: Christmas
Meal Type: Entree


Nutrient Information

Calories: 310
Total Fat: 6 g
Saturated Fat: 2 g
Carbohydrates: 40 g
Protein: 24 g
Calcium: 21 mg
Fiber: 1 g

Friday, January 1, 2010

Third Time's A Charm?

Okay, this is my third and LAST blog for today. I guess I just have a lot to say. I did end up doing a 15 minute yoga session. I wanted to do more, but I wasn't able to. I guess I will work out an extra day to make up for it. I did walk for 90 minutes today on top of my 15 minutes of yoga, so that's better than nothing. I'm amazed at how much I can feel my core stretching already just with yoga a few times a week! There are a few outrageous moves that I have not yet quite mastered (as I proved when I fell over today) but I do 99% of them!

Watching myself work out on the t.v. has been amazing. Sometimes, I look at myself and I think UGH, I definitely need to be doing this work out! Most of the time, however, I'm just thinking to myself how glad I am to have that option. I am learning how to correct my posture and form, and I'm realizing why the past few attempts at exercise didn't work. I wasn't doing them right!! I'm thinking that I may go for a run tomorrow around the block a few times, or go downstairs and do 15 minutes on the weight bench. I don't have the option of working out in front of the t.v. during the day when everyone is home, which is why the weekend is my "free time." We do have a weight bench downstairs, and a few free weights which I cant wait to have incoporated into my work out!!

So, overall my first day didn't go exactly as planned. I only got to work out for half of my usual time, and I didn't get to do my fun, vigorous, aerobics...but hey, at least I did SOMETHING. Also, I've only eaten 1300 calories today (its 8pm) and that leaves me with......*drumroll please*........500 calories for a midnight snack. Woohoo! I'm going to try not to eat that much though. I may just have another hundred calorie snack and some water.

I hope everyone else had a wonderful first day, and I look forward to hearing about the next 6 weeks.

Peace, Love, and 100 calorie caramel yogurt!!
Sarah V.

My First Obstacle..

Well, today is day one of the six week challenge and I've already encountered an obstacle. I had planned on doing my usual 30 minutes of aerobics today, but forgot that my husband and father in law would both be home. My father in law has spent the day in the living room watching movies. Aka: Using the t.v. and only work out space I have in the house. Instead of wallowing in self pity, we decided to get our grocery shopping done. I figured walking around the grocery store for 90 minutes was better than nothing. I am going to try my hardest to work out after every one goes to bed. If I can't get that accomplished, I will at least do yoga so I can feel like I accomplished something today. I also think I'm going to add a day in for this week of vigorous exercise just to make up for today, even if I do get my yoga in.

In happier news, we only spent $120 on groceries for the week. We got an entire cartload of food! I feel super excited about that. I can't wait to make my crock-pot meals. Oh, AND I found 100 calorie caramel parfaits. I am in heaven!

It's already 5 p.m. and I've only had 775 calories today. I can't believe how well I'm doing! I have had 2 meals and 2 snacks so far today. I am making hamburger helper for dinner as well. I am supposed to be eating about 1800 calories a day in order to lose weight based on several 'online calculators.' I still have 1,000 to go for today. WOOHOO!! Shopping and eating healthy is a lot harder than I thought, but it's not as BLAND as I thought it might be.

I'm a little discouraged about not being able to work out, but I'm going to make a serious effort to get something in, even if its only ten minutes!! Wish me luck, because tomorrow I'm going to have to work my booty off if I can't today. I will not let this stop me.

And It Begins....

Happy 2010 everyone. Today, I woke up feeling like total crap. I didn't go out last night, In fact...I didn't even stay up until midnight. I was in bed at 11:30 p.m. Man, I feel old. While everyone else was getting drunk, making toasts, watching the ball drop, and having their own little parties-I was asleep. Luckily, I slept until 9:45 this morning so I am MORE than rested. Last night was the first night in a very very long time that I had any good sleep. So, Hooray!

As all 2 of you blog readers know, today is THE DAY! That's right, today is the day that we all start our diet and exercise plans. Ugh. I am already regretting this decision, because I soooooooo want a Dr. Pepper right now! I didn't have one yesterday, and I was extremely irritable and tired without it. I decided not to have one at all last night so that I wouldn't feel the same way today. I guess It's a little better, but I still have the caffeine headache. I guess that's what I get for being severely addicted to soda. *Sigh*

Nonetheless, I began my morning doing something I very rarely do...I ate breakfast!! Not only did I eat breakfast, I ate the suggested serving size of breakfast. I kind of felt like it wasn't enough, but once I was done eating it I felt fine! I had a bowl (1 cup) of Corn Pops and 1 cup of 2% milk to go with it. It was a good enough breakfast to begin with. I read recently that if you eat 300-400 calories a meal, and eat 4 meals a day then your metabolism will work much faster, because there won't be any lulls in digestion. I hope that theory is correct. I am going to attempt to find out exactly what my caloric intake should be in order to lose weight and attempt to stick to that. I also plan on having 2 HEALTHY snacks a day. I'll let you know how that goes, because I'm the worlds pickiest eater.

While I'm ready for today, in a lot of ways I'm not. It came up so fast that I keep thinking how can I go 6 weeks without eating my usual CRAP!? How can I go 6 weeks without the delicious taste of a Pal's Chipped Ham and Cheese sandwich and their seasoned frenchie fries? How will I go 6 weeks without enjoying the sweet burn that only Dr. Pepper can give your throat!? And then......I weighed myself, took my measurements, and stared at my flabby left over mom stomach in the mirror. Guess what, I decided right then that it wouldn't be so hard! Of course I will MISS those foods that are terrible for me, but I will not miss the effects of what they do to my body.

Here are the effects of my weigh in today:
Weight: 203 lbs. (which is 60 pounds less than my heaviest weight last year)
Measurements: Honestly, I have no idea how to measure myself so hopefully this is right.

Chest: 42 inches
Waist: 36 inches
Hips: 42 inches

I guess if anything I'd say I'm definitely an "hourglass" shape. My goal is to lose at least 6 inches off my body this year, and hopefully 15 pounds.

Wish me luck.

Peace, Love, and Portion Control
Sarah V.