One step forward, two steps back

Ugh! I felt SO CLOSE to making more improvements this week. BUT... my plate is now overloaded with work and stress.

I took on waaay more work than I should have. I've taken on editing four weddings for a photographer friend, a child's album design, a 100 page wedding album, plus getting ready for Ryenne's party. PLUS, Kai boy is sick again with fever.

Day before yesterday I did a baking project with Ryenne and we made zucchini bread. It is SO GOOD. The kids are eating it up which makes me happy because it's packed with zucchini, but I'm also eating it and it's lots of carbs and very heavy. And I've been glued to my computer for hours after the kids go to bed and haven't had the time to do my exercise and I know my body is missing it. I think I just have to power through this work and then I can get back on track. I feel like I"ve gained 20 pounds in the last two days... ugh.

What's Up with Katie

Well I've had a strange week. I started feeling yucky early in the week. Dizzy, faint, nervous, shaking, hard to sleep, etc. It got really bad on Wednesday night and so I made a doctor's appointment for Friday. My doctor did blood work and we are investigating possible thyroid or diabetes issues. Another idea is that the Spiru-tein shakes could have something in it that's aggravating my anxiety. I go back on Tuesday morning for the results so we will see.

The good news is that I had lost ten pounds since my last doctor's visit a few months ago so she was happy. On the other hand that could be a sign of thyroid problems too. My heart rate has been high and my blood pressure a bit elevated for me. I'm anxious to hear the results.

The doctor did tell me that I have to exercise every day from now on like it's medicine. You can be my inspiration on exercise.

Last Night

Last night Peter said, "What should we have for dinner?" and I said, "A BIG CHEESEBURGER!!!"

So Peter went and got me a sourdough jack, fries, buttermilk sauce, and an eggroll (don't know why, but I love Jack's eggroll's!) It was all so delicious!

I did redeem myself a little bit by doing 10 chair sprints, 10 push ups, and 65 crunches before bed.

Friday Weigh In

YESSS!!!! I was so happy when I stepped on the scale this morning. Peter was there to see and he was happy for me. 217.4. I think this definitely puts me in a position to be at 216 next week. Feeling good about it.

Thursday

Katie I'm so excited for your parents! That is soooo wonderful!

Okay so you know what's been saving my booty when the kids and Peter are getting fast food? The frozen foods from Randall's. They have this line called Eating Right in the frozen section and the food is REALLY GOOD. And it's less expensive than Nutrisystem and it has veggies in it. Today I had shrimp alfredo with broccoli. Yesterday I had Turkey with cornbread stuffing and carrots. They're not something I have everyday, but I have several on hand in the freezer and they are really tasty and weren't too expensive. Stock a few of 'em and it will help you!

I ate really terrible Tuesday night when we went to Alamo Drafthouse... fried pickles with ranch dressing, french fries, and half a steak sandwich. It was all pretty tasty! I've been doing good the past couple of days. I had made a pan of black bean brownies - an experiment - and they were really good. They have lots of fiber so I've found myself needing just a little piece to get the sweet tooth in order but then am satisfied.

Tomorrow is weigh in. I've been exercising this week... hopefully it will have made a difference!!!

Tuesday

Tuesday started off great with a smoothie and then a granola bar. And then it all went dowhill. McDonald's for lunch and Whataburger for dinner. I was so sick of fast food that I barely touched the Whataburger. Last night I had terrible insomnia even after I took some sleeping medicine and I just felt like a basket of nerves. Yes, my life has been stressful lately but I am 90% sure it was due to my horrible food choices late in the day. When is it going to sink in enough that I have to eat right to feel right?

On a big positive note, my parents have started a diet! They are both very obese and have a bunch of health problems from it. Mom has lost 11 lbs. at last count and Dad 14 lbs. Dad just started Nutrisystem last week which I think it could be a really good fit for him. He's absolutely clueless about cooking or dieting so Nutrisystem takes the guessing game out of the picture. It's a fairly expensive program but he likes the taste of the food so far. Mom's thinking about going on it as well. They are both on Medicare now and their prescriptions cost them an absolute fortune so if a diet can help them take less medicine then it's worth it financially.

Weekend and Monday

OMG! You are to 218! That's so great. You're going to catch up with me soon.

Well it was a rough weekend with Hogan so sick. Luckily Jackson had a slumber party with Nana and Grandpa on Saturday when they went to see Shrek (his first movie). I was finally able to go buy a big thing of Spiru-tein on Saturday and have been having one a day so far. It's really good but not filling enough for me to be a meal replacement. I think I need to treat it more like a snack until I'm better used to eating less.

My eating the past couple of days hasn't been too bad considering EXCEPT for Taco Cabana twice. And when I go to Taco Cabana I buy a dozen tortillas. Nothing but white flour and lard but so, so yummy.

So far today I've had a Spiru-tein shake and some sushi. Tonight we are having a casserole I call "mexican mush". My sister-in-law gave me the recipe from Weight Watchers but I bought the full fat cheese so that will definitely add some calories.

Goal this week is to eat five times a day.

Weekend - Mariah

It's been a good weekend as far as watching what I'm eating and working out. I've done yoga and zumba and am feeling good. I am SO HOPING that I can move forward to 217 this week. PLEASE, PLEASE!

Sometimes this process feels SO SLOOOOOW.

Lost the milk weight!

I nursed Cruz before I got out of bed this morning and went and checked - 218.8 - I knew it! I knew I had gotten to the 218's! YAHOO!

This helps re-motivate me. I would just LOVE to hit 217 by next Friday. We'll see!

Friday Weigh In

I want to do another check tomorrow. I'm 219 exactly. BUT, Cruz had a weird night and didn't nurse before I woke up so my boobs are so crazy full of milk that I know it's making a difference and I KNOW that I hit the 218 mark because I kinda cheated and checked yesterday. So I'll hop on again tomorrow after I've nursed Cruz first thing in the morning. I just don't want to go check after I've eaten.

So my natural waist has shrunk a little bit - It's 38.5 this morning. BUT, the big area of flab in the front isn't going anywhere. It hasn't shrunk at all. Oh well.

Alright I'm gonna check the weight again in the morning.

Katie, I hope Hogan is feeling better! Poor thing!

Friday weigh In - Katie

210.6

Up 0.4 lbs. I've eaten so much fast food in the past couple of days that I'm shocked it's not more. I really am envious that you are feeling so good because I just feel like a sloth. I've got to get back on track.

Off to Hogan's doctor now.

The last few days

The kids have been sick and sleep was pretty slim pickins. No exercise. I have had some chocolate and my mom treated me to chocolate cake yesterday.

BUT... I am feeling really good and strong. Most of my food choices have all been really good and whenever I can I'll sprint up the stairs or drop and do a few pushups or swing the kids up in the air. Although it's not organized exercise, it's helping me to feel good.

The kids seem to be feeling better today. Perhaps we'll go outside and play.

Lately

Well I've just been trying to make it until Wednesday when we get paid so I can go and buy food. Right now I'm just eating what I can find around the house and the occasional cheap fast food. I'm looking forward to buying some Spiru-tein and meal planning in general.

I think my weight has been the same which is a good thing considering my period arrived yesterday. Last month I gained weight with my period so hopefully not this month.

No exercise lately.

Sorry!

I haven't been posting a whole lot! I've been eating pretty well - a few little things here and there that I shouldn't - buut mostly good. I've been lacking on the exercise though. Lately I have been SO TIRED I just go to bed. The kids haven't been sleeping very well.

Weigh In

Katie: 210.2

I think I actually lost 0.6 lbs. some how this week. Not sure how and maybe it's just because I'm hungry.

Looking forward to seeing you in a few minutes.

Rough Week

I was scared to step on the scale this morning. Luckily it hadn't gone up but unfortunately it hadn't gone down either - exactly the same as last week. But at this moment, I really couldn't care less!!

Eating-wise I think I've done okay - I did have pancakes with my mom and I did have cake on Mother's Day. Emotionally I've been on a whole new level this week and I guess it's a combination of hormones and I was out of spiru-tein for a few days - and it has so many vitamins and minerals that I think it threw me off when I didn't have it.

I haven't exercised much this week either. After the kids have been going to bed I've been sitting at my desk editing sessions or working on a wedding album that I've been procrastinating on. It's 100 pages and about 250 images and I'm on page 50. So halfway there...

Peter's tips have been really, really shitty this week and I'll be needing diapers and have no money to buy them or groceries. Luckily the freezer has things in it! I'll be getting creative I think for a few days. I even have cloth diapers if tips don't improve over the next couple of days!

Katie I am so sorry about Graham's job. It is so hard to be promised something and then have that person not follow through - especially when he's so deserving of the raise and bonus and spends so much time at work. I hope that something changes and either the President gives him what he deserves, or another really wonderful opportunity will present itself.

Selfishly, I am really, really happy that you guys live so close and that we've connected the way that we have. Please don't move away! I just wish that Ry and Jackson would go to the same elementary school... wouldn't that be the frosting on the cake?

Hopefully we will have a better week...

Crappy Stuff

I have no clue how my week is going to be weight loss wise. I certainly haven't felt healthy this week and I also haven't really cared.

We just found out that Graham did not get the raise that his boss had promised him. There's a lot of history to the story but basically Graham gets the highest reviews this VP gives and yet got less of a raise than average across the company. He didn't get into the bonus program like he was supposed to as well. I'm so upset! It's absolutely insulting.

I am loyal to a fault and when somebody I love is screwed over it upsets me to no end. Graham works sixty hour weeks and has meetings at nights during the week. He was responsible for half of this VP's total profit this last year and probably save the VP his job! He's been at the same company since graduating from college (1997) and it's like the VP knows Graham will never leave so he can dick him around. To make matters worse this VP is a personal friend of the family. My Dad gave him his first job out of college and I've known him since I was in middle school. He's just a cheap bastard who doesn't give a damn about the other person. It's all about HIS bottom line!

I am just so upset and not sure what our future holds. I don't want Graham to work there anymore but Graham loves his job (for the most part). Over the next couple of days we'll see how things pan out. He may go straight to the President of the company or just start looking for another job.

This move to Buda has been such a bad thing for us financially with the house and all. When I try to think of the good things about our move, you guys are the first thing that comes to mind.

Anyway, I'm sure I've gained a billion pounds this week.

Ugh!

Super busy. No money. Grocery store out of Spiru-tein. Not eating that well.

Bitchy Monday - Mariah

I am SO HORMONAL right now. All day... my face is covered in pimples. :( I am out of spiru-tein :(

Breakfast was cereal with bananas

Snack - half of Kai's english muffin with spagetti sauce

Lunch - Lean Cuisine sandwich with spinach

Dinner - scrambled eggs with veggies and toast

Cruz has grown out of all of his 3 month clothes and some of his 6 month. I went upstairs to the bin that has all Kai's too small clothes and pulled out the 6 month and 9 month jammies to try on Cruz. I started crying in the closet. Peter came and found me in the closet completely emotional and red faced. I don't know what's wrong with me... I just feel so... like NOT ME. Darn hormones!

My Mothers Day

Started with two cinnamon rolls. Lunch was BBQ chicken, beans and super yummy cupcakes. For dinner I had a shake and then some goldfish for a snack later that night. It could have been worse.

Now here's my problem for today. I have a meeting at a McDonalds!!! How on earth am I going to resist that?

Mama's Day

It was a rough one for me!!! The kids were being extra pills all day. I think I got some new grey hairs!

Breakfast was McDonald's - a surprise from Peter. For lunch I had a protein shake, and for dinner, I was so fried that I just sat down and enjoyed every bite - steak, baked potato, and mushrooms.

For dessert, we had picked up some slices of cake... I had chocolate, carrot, and tiramisu. It was so tasty and the perfect ending to my hectic day!!

Saturday - Mariah

Breakfast - protein shake

Snack - cheesy bread

Lunch - chicken poblano

Dinner - Pesto pasta (from our garden basil)

Late night snack - peanut butter sandwich and ovaltine milk

The last few days have been such a struggle! I haven't been sleeping well and I think my period is coming because I feel like a slug and want to eat carbs all day. We've been eating dinner pretty early - around 6pm so by 10-11 I am so hungry again! And I do my workout at about 8 - 8:30 so I feel all famished. I hope it's not hurting my diet too badly.

Today I did yoga for weight loss again and I really like it. It seems to really make me sweat and makes my muscles feel it, but it's so low impact. We should totally try it together!

Tomorrow I'm going to give myself a break - I am out of Spirutein so we'll see what I decide to have for breakfast. Probably cereal. Or maybe I'll see what my mom is up to.

Happy Mother's Day Katie! You are one beautiful mama! Love ya!

Saturday and Kick Start

Today I had breakfast tacos for breakfast and beef stroganoff for dinner. Neither are the best things in the world but I feel good about my moderation. BUT I also licked the bowl clean of cupcakes I'm making for Mother's Day. I can't help myself! I'm going to be easy of myself tomorrow since there are very few days that are just for us mamas.

And that brings me to Monday. I feel like I need a kick start again to the weight loss. I've lost and gained the same darn pound like three times already. I think getting some excercise really makes me focus on having a healthy body but I haven't had any real exercise since we did Zumba. I'm still having issues with Hogan being a velcro baby so exercising has been a bit complicated. That doesn't matter though. I need to find a solution because I am a better mama the healthier I am! So starting Monday I'm going to give myself a big pep talk and refocus on getting skinny. Any ideas on how I can mark this occasion?

I hope you have a wonderful Mother's Day tomorrow. You are an amazing mama! Love you.

Friday - Mariah

Breakfast - protein shake! Banana Blueberry! Mmmmm

Snack - banana

Lunch - chef salad and half a bagel

Dinner - Chicken/Spinach/Avocado sandwich

Dessert - 4 Oreos

Exercise - today I just sprinted the stairs and wrestled with the kids. I was sore from yesterday!

Fri Weigh In

I guess it could be worse. I gained .2 pounds. I blame the late night snacks. That and the fact that I found a bag of oreos and have been sneaking them here and there.

Waist size did shrink a tad. Last week was 39.5 and this week is 39.25

Hopefully I can do better this week and hit the 218 mark!

Up Again

Well I gained a pound this week. Back up to 210.8. I guess it's a small victory considering that I had gained three pounds as off Monday. It's amazing what one bad weekend can do for you. I'm also learning that resisting sweets isn't the way to weight loss. Just because I refuse dessert doesn't mean I get to eat deviled eggs till my heart's content. Looking forward to getting back below the 210 mark.

Weight: 210.8

Total Lost: 6.2 lbs.

Thursday - Mariah

Morning was muffins with my princess! I had two. They were fabulous!

Lunch was with a cranky Cruz. I tried Chipotle for the first time. Ate half a chicken burrito. It was alright. I am just not a huge fan of Mexican food. But at least I tried it!

Dinner was a protein shake

I did Jillian Michael's level 1

Then had a bagel with cream cheese and molasses

Weigh in tomorrow. I feel I was kinda a slacker this week. We'll see.

Wednesday - Mariah

Breakie: Protein Shake

Lunch: bowl of cereal

Snack: Strawberries & Crackers

Dinner: Scrambled Eggs with veggies and potatoes

Snack: Peanut Butter Sandwich

Exercise: Yoga for weight loss

Good day today!!! But after yesterday I am hoping I didn't gain anything for Friday's weigh in. We'll see. Plus... I'm totally eating muffins at Ry's school tomorrow!

Tuesday - Mariah - CHEAT DAY!

Today was my cheat day. Mmmmmm.....

We went to Cracker Barrel for breakfast. PANCAKES!!!! I stuffed my face. I haven't had a pancake in a while. I'm talking all the butter, syrup, bacon... mmmmm.

That held me over for a while. So I did have a spiru-tein for lunch.

One of my favorite foods is Fettucine Alfredo. Seriously.... I could have bathed in it through each of my pregnancies... so I made some from scratch. But mine was fettucine linguine and I put parsley and thinly sliced zucchini it it. It was so good!

And 4 Oreo's. Good thing there weren't more than that or I would have downed an entire bag!!!

My linguine was so pretty I had to take a picture of it.

Monday - Mariah

Katie, it's just a couple of days and you can make up for it later. DO NOT WORRY! And did you weigh yourself first thing in the morning or was it during the day? Cause I always weigh more throughout the course of the day then I do when I first wake up.

So Monday... everything was snack sized

Spiru-tein shake for breakie
Lunch was a tiny portion of spaghetti
Snack was crackers
Dinner was leftover rice, broc, and turkey kielbasa
Snack - whole grain bagel

Exercise: 2 mile "walk"

CRAP

I weighed myself this morning and I've gained three pounds!!! I knew that this weekend was rough with the family in town but I expected to have only gained about one pound. I held myself back a good deal with the family so I'm a bit frustrated.

I'm afraid I'm to the point where weight loss gets tougher. The first few weeks are pretty easy to lose weight and now I'm going to have to try harder. Plus I really need to find a way to workout with Hogan around.

Drinking my Spiru-tein right now though so hopefully I can make up some ground in the next three days before our weigh in.

Sunday - Mariah

Breakfast - protein shake

Lunch - pesto on whole wheat pasta

Snack - Cheese & crackers

Dinner - turkey kielbasa & brocolli stir fry over brown rice

Dessert - teeny tiny ice cream cone

Snack - whole grain bread with strawberry cream cheese

Sunday Total

Breakfast - banana, Spiru-tein

Lunch - brisket, slice of white bread, a couple bites of potato salad, NO DESSERT

Dinner - two artichokes, goldfish

Late night snack - PB&J sandwich

Sunday so far

I finally found my tape measure to measure my waist size. It's a big 40". Yikes! Just more motivation to keep losing.

This morning I woke up and was tired so wasn't going to make myself breakie. Too busy tending to the needs of the kids but then I remembered that I have to eat for my own health. So I shared a banana with Hogan and had a Spiru-tein shake. The shake was vanilla and screamed for some frozen strawberries but was still quite good. Just a bit boring. I wish I had bought a fancier flavor to try with just the milk.

Off to the Salt Lick in about an hour. Hoping for a good rest of the day.

Saturday - Mariah

Katie, you can eat the Spiru-tein shake without adding extra fruit - it's still pretty good! But they should definitely help keep your blood sugar levels under control.

And GRAHAM! Holy moly... congratulations! That's so awesome!

Woke up and had my protein shake for breakfast followed by my iced coffee. Lunch was a turkey/spinach sandwhich on an english muffin. These are new english muffins.... whole wheat/flax and it was really good! I just ate the sandwich and it was kinda small so a few hours later I had a nutella sandwich with the kids on 7 grain bread. I had a photo shoot this afternoon so Peter was in charge of dinner - Dominos! I had a slice of pizza and a chicken/spinach sandwich.

Gosh... writing this all out I had a ton of sandwiches today! :) Grocery shopping tomorrow cause I'm almost out of almond milk and carrot juice and some other necessities.

Did Jillian Michael's Shred level 2 tonight. It kicked my butt!

Friday/Saturday

My grocery shopping was really successful. I bought a nice trailmix and some of the Spirutien. Problem is that I forgot to buy the fruit for the shakes!

Before I went to HEB I had only had a slice of bacon after a night before without a real supper. As I was putting the groceries into the car, I felt like I was going to through up. Monitoring my blood sugar is something I really, really have to get a hold of and quick. Both my parents have diabetes and I have anxiety issues. Having a steady stream of blood sugar instead of spikes makes me feel so much better. This really isn't a diet for us but rather a change in lifestyle!

So Friday, I had sushi and then we had shrimp linquini for dinner. It was yummy but I may have had a bit too much garlic bread. Wasn't totally stuffed though.

Saturday - MY FAMILY IS IN TOWN. This is never a good combination for weight loss as Peter just learned :) So far I have had a couple of deviled eggs, one artichokes, and two pieces of brownies. Tomorrow is the Salt Lick. Yikes. Hoping to minimize the damage and work hard this week.

And Graham's weight loss total is up to 8 lbs. Way to go hubby!

Mariah's Friday

Well I totally overate on Friday! But mostly I did good.

I started the day with a bowl of Fiber One cereal, which is actually pretty darn good! Then for lunch I had a protein shake and then after that things kinda slid a little bit.

I made the kids macaroni and cheese. And I seriously doctor the boxed mac into something pretty tasty and it is TOTALLY one of my weaknesses! Even though I wasn't hungry, I grabbed a kids plate and had a small serving. It was SO GOOD. It totally deserved it.

So then we went to Wal-Mart and we got bagels and cream cheese and bread and stuff and the bagels (cinammon) smelled yummy. They are mini bagels so I reasoned with myself that it was fine and had one before dinner.

Dinner was really good - spinach/parmesan burgers with onion rings. The only problem? I made them too big and of course I ate it all. My tummy kinda hurt.

We got the kids down by 8pm and I had such a rough night the night before that I just didn't have it in me to stay up and exercise. I went to bed... I think I was past the exhaustion point. Sadly, even though I went to bed early I had rough night again with the boys. Between Kai and Cruz, I saw the clock at 10, 11, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6!!! Here's to hoping for a nap today!!! And exercise too!