Halfway (plus a few days)

I started the Project 10 challenge in Jan and have truly loved every minute of it. My initial goal was not to lose a bunch of weight; I know that the number on the scale is not the end all be all. I just want(ed) to get some of my muscle back. I got with my good friend, Mallory and she helped me create my goal and has been an amazing support person to me over the last 49 days or so. I haven't shared much about it here, mainly b/c I am just busy being a mom, photographer, wife, chef, maid, chauffer...you know the mom stuff and my blog just gets pushed to the back burner. I decided that I did want to take some time today to talk about how this is changing not only my body but also my attitude. When I joined the challenge, I was constantly in a funk. I was not happy with anything. I was added to a private FB group....it's filled with positivity, motivation and FUN. I have helped other people start their road to a healthier version of themself and I have gotten my monthly kit for FREE. Best of all, I feel amazing...so much like myself. I'm not even on my antidepressants anymore. I'm a better mom, wife...all of it. The scale has not gone down that much and I'm ok with that. I have lost inches....and not 2 or 3 but 7 and I'm only halfway done with this 90 day challenge! I have been working out and I'm so glad that I trusted Mallory and jumped into this. It really feels great to take care of myself again.

Here's some photo proof of my inches lost. I still have a ways to go but I'm so thrilled with my progress (5lbs and 7 inches).

Shakin' it up

A few months ago, one of my very good friends started posting photos of her w/these shakes on FB and instagram. I dismissed it for a while and then I was intrigued. I messaged her and asked her about these shakes. I could tell she had lost some weight but I notice more that she had lost inches and her body had changed. I looked at her page and saw the price and thought. Oh, no way. I was not interested in drinking my meals anyway. A few more weeks went by (and I had visited her page a few times) and I decided to text her again about it to get more info. She sent me the link to her page again and that time, I watched the challenge video on the home page. It caught my attention...and I continued to think about these shakes. Then, I decided to try it. I needed something easy (and cooking 5 times a day or spending the only day that Josh had off prepping just wasn't working). THIS is so easy. The shakes are delish and I liked the results that I had seen (not personally but w/other challengers). I won't lie...I haven't been FULLY doing the challenge for the past 5w but I've decided that I AM going to do this. FULLY. I got my second shape kit and no more half trying. My 90 day goal is to work out more. I have been saying that I need to get up at 5 and work out. I am.

When I got into great shape after Parker was born, I just followed clean eating and I loved the results. I was lifting heavy weights and watching everything I ate. Now, I just don't have the time to cook everything. I was trying to drink protein shakes and was hungry about an hour later. With these VI shakes, I am not hungry for a few hours. You can make them taste how you want them to taste. They even have butterfinger (you just mix it using the recipe!). I don't drink a shake for breakfast and a shake for lunch; but I do drink one for breakfast and another for my afternoon snack...why? Well, that's what works for, ME. I like to snack in the afternoons a lot and I like sweets around 3. SO, I'll make a hot chocolate shake (seriously, it's coconut mik, cooca powder and shake mix...easy!), a reeces pb shake. I get my sweet tooth fix and it's healthy and nutritious! I also LOVE the banana and chocolate shake. SO good. One of the questions I have been asked is "is it expensive". NO! not at all. It's less than $3 per meal...and that's for a nutritious meal, not a junk food meal. It comes right to my door at the beginning of the month. As much as I hesitated to try this, I'm so glad I did.

Who wants to join me in a 90 Day Challenge? Let's meet our goals together!

Chocolate banana shake

oh, and PS, my jeans from college fit again!

Three(ish) weeks

So, I realized that it's been 3 weeks since I decided I wasn't screwing around anymore with my weight loss. I wish I could say that I've lost 6 pounds and am on target for my 4w goal but I can't. I can, however, say I've lost 4. I'm thrilled. I'm back in the 130s (barely) but I know that one mess up in diet and I won't be anymore. I've also been pretty diligent w/workouts (aside from last week when we were all sick). It sounds like a lot of excuses...I realize that. whatever. it's my fitness journey, if I need to rest to get well so I can take care of my family, I will. Here's the proof yesterday morning (if you follow me on instagram you've seen this already)...

Almost 2 weeks...

So, it's been almost 2 weeks since I decided I was going to get rid of the last baby pounds and so far so good. I forgot how much I actually like clean eating and exercise. They are good for the mind and definitely keep me more sane. I've lost 2.5 pounds (not much I know but it's SOMEthing and certainly better than nothing). I've worked out consistently and I honestly feel much, much better. I had my second session with Kim on Wednesday and she did not go easy on me at all. I got dizzy...she kicked my ass...literally. I begged for good mornings so I didn't have to do more squats. She won. I lost. Well, actually I win but...I enjoy the workouts. They are hard and they make me sweat and I feel awesome when I'm done with them. I don't want to undo what she does so I work out on my own...funny how that works, huh?

Tonight I'm shooting a wedding; it will be the 4th and last for me. Why?
1. I don't love them.
2. It's a LOT of time away from my kids and my husband (who is not home often).
3. It's not enough money for me to be away that long.
4. I'm a mom first and my kids are only little once.
5. I don't love them. I want to photograph toddlers, not people getting married.
6. It's stressful and makes me question my abilities.

 It's been a crazy week. Conner was sick and is better now, thankfully. Tyler has been cutting more teeth and is extra fun and fussy. The teething keeps him up more at night, which leaves me extra tired. I got my van back, finally!

other than the wedding, we have NO plans this weekend and I'm glad. Monday Ty-man has his 6mo appt. what? he's 6mo? I know. that flew by! I'll do a Tyler post tomorrow.

No more excuses

Since I posted that last fitness post I have been much better with working out. Saturday, I ran. Sunday, I hiked up a giant mountain. Yesterday, I did a workout (thanks to the MIF app!) in the garage while the kids played outside. I discovered Lindsay Brin when I was pregnant with Tyler and actually bought the prenatal DVD. It was easy, I won't lie, but I was pregnant and easy was better than nothing. Anyway, this app that I downloaded has the option to purchase videos. I purchased and downloaded the bootcamp2. I really like that everything is separated with in the app. I really LOVE that the workouts are 10 min each (abs, toning/cardio and warmup cool down). It enables me to still get in a decent workout while 'dealing' with the kids. I literally did this in the garage. 25min later I was done and I felt like I did something. Everyone won!

I have NO excuses. Today, I'm meeting one of the moms from school and will work out. Tomorrow is D day with Kim. She will (try and probably be successful) to kill me. I will not be able to move Thurs. I'm ready. It's time. I need to feel like me again and be comfortable in this mom body (that I hate).

Already falling behind

I have not worked out since Saturday...ack! Tomorrow is the first day of school for my big boys and I'm planning to run or something while they are busy with their friends. Hopefully, it's not raining. I'd like to try Tyler in the jogging stroller.

I still have 12 pounds left until I get back to my before Tyler weight. I'm having a really hard time getting rid of those pounds. Next week, I start back with Kim and she doesn't disappoint. Wednesdays will be our day. 11am. I'm already scared and sore. haha! She will make me do measurements (omg), pics (ick) and get on the scale. It's completely worth it though.

Back at it.

Today, thanks to my friend Leigh, I decided that it's time. It's time for me to exercise again. It's time for a healthy outlet and to stop stress eating! So, I put Tyler down for his afternoon nap, told the big 2 to go in the back yard and I turned Jillian on the tv. She's a biatch but I love/hate her. I couldn't remember what I had on my amazon instant video (we got rid of dvds a while ago) and I had ripped in 30 and 6 week 6 pack. Since my abs are ruined (hello, they were CUT), I decided I'd go for 6week 6 pack. Let me say that it was hard. I had to do burpies and mountain climbers and at one point, I was modifying an exercise when Conner came in and told me I was doing it wrong! I'm out.of.shape. It was fun. I loved it and I'll be working out tomorrow too. I don't know about a 6 pack in 6 weeks but I'll certainly feel better.

If you're wondering about the boys during my half hour workout...well, they were busy catching spiders and frogs. They even made a 'pool' for this frog. I made them let the poor thing go. I'm so afraid they will kill a frog. Spiders...they can kill those but not a little frog!

Fitness?

really, fitness? did I just write that? YES, I did. I forgot to mention that my ob said for me to GO WORK OUT. No heavy lifting but I can do everything I was doing before (since the blighted twin thing wasn't what's going on in my uterus). I won't lie, I'm nervous about it. I did pick up a Pregnancy Fitness DVD today from Target. The creator of this series is a mom and has 3 small kids. If she can do it, I can too! I'm excited to try it out and am planning on getting up early tomorrow to get it in before I take Conner to school. I'm hoping it will help me get into my routine again.

I notice that days when I eat crap, crap, crap, my headaches are worse. I've been pretty lazy so I haven't been meal planning but then I found The Gracious Pantry. This site has clean eating crock pot meals. What?! Sign me up! They have a subscribe button and I totally put my email address in that box and clicked subscribe!! I am pretty excited to have not only crock pot meals but other easy options. The only "problem" that the clean eating recipes have is that they have (what some would say) a lot of ingredients. My start up (again) to clean eating's grocery list will be long but in the end it's worth it and maybe just maybe my headaches will get better.

Saturday Rant

Let me start by saying that I am thrilled that I am pregnant again and are completely blessed and excited that our family is going to grow. Party of 5 here we come!

Now....I have gained almost 10 pounds already (I gained 25 and 28 respectively w/my other two kids). It's a combination of going from clean eating to carb eating, going from hardcore, kick my butt workouts to no workouts. This is k.i.l.l.i.n.g. me. My butt is growing at rates I didn't know it could grow. My sanity suffers. My mental health suffers. I need my workouts. They are my 'drug' of choice. Nothing is better than a runner's 'high', that sore 'OMG I did something yesterday' feeling is awesome. I love when I scratched my thigh that it was firm, not flabby. Being so much more sedentary is not good for my body, mind or soul. I know that there are many, many people that do not work out, even more that do not eat clean but that was/is not me. I have always used exercise as my outlet and not being able to have that outlet is so hard for me. I also do not want to have to lose 40-50 pounds after this pregnancy. How will I make/find the time for exercise after this baby is here. I know, I know, if it's important the time is there. I know that and I tell people that. I make time for my photography, my workouts, cooking clean healthy meals and snacks. I always have. I know that adding one more after having 2 (well, I've heard) is really not that big of a deal. I don't even know where I'm going with this, I just need to vent. I want to add that if my dr tells me no exercise at my next appointment, I will ask why. I will ask if I can swim (which I hate) or do water aerobics (with the old people). If she gives an explanation and tells me no exercise, I will 110% listen. I also know that this weight gain is temporary but damn it weigh is hard to lose and it gets harder every year.

My plan...Right now, I can't exercise. light walking does not equal exercise to me. I can choose to go back to my clean eating ways. That does not mean I will count calories (I didn't anyway). It does mean I will eat more complex carbs, more fruit/veggies, more lean protein. It means I will not eat as many refined (white) carbs. I will limit sugar (which makes me feel terrible after I eat it, any explanation there?). I will not drink coffee without sugar but I will use sugar free (whatever the pumpkin spice isn't sugar free). Ok, I won't cut the sugar out of my coffee or creamer. I'm going to do my best to eat better; it's what I need to do for my body, to combat unhealthy weight gain.

Accountability

Unless you know me IRL, you don't know about the lifestyle change that I made in Jan nor do you know that I lost 15lbs and became a healthier version of myself. Fast forward to people noticing...yea. someone got lazy. yea. me. Tomorrow (I really mean tomorrow, not thurs or fr but TOMORROW) I am back to clean eating. If you don't know what clean eating is, look it up! It will change your life. I can honestly say that I really love clean eating. I do. I am also human and I fail. I do. But tomorrow, I'm back on track. Why? Honestly because I feel like crap. I am bloated and sluggish. I have eaten crappy for 3 full days and I can tell. Even with exercise I can tell. My body needs good food, not the processed crap I've been feeding myself for the past 3 days. My kids need to see me eating good food. My sanity needs me eating good food.  I'm posting here to keep me accountable. I'll update tomorrow night and post my meals (maybe not photos but what I ate).

I did it!!!

Sunday was THE day. The half marathon. In one word....Painful. Seriously...it was pretty hilly. It was SO fun though. SO fun. My sister came in from Baton Rouge and brought my MOM! what a great surprise. Kim came down from TN to run it too but she's a real bad ass and smoked me and my dehydrated self (I'll get to that). First, I want to talk about mother nature. She's a real piece of work. Thursday and Friday it was amazing here...lows in the 50s...Sunday...um it was like 40 degrees when we started. Holy cold! We got over ourselves and ran. Katie stuck with me b/c Kim hauled bootie. It's ok, Kim, I sill love ya and am super proud of you! Kaite and I set a great pace keeping the miles around 11.5 min. We didn't stop at all until almost 8 miles. This is huge for me. I haven't blogged about it but my kids were sick, then I was sick and then I was just plain tired so...guess who didn't run for THREE weeks before this race...yea, me. stupid. really. Anyway, around mile 9, I started to get all crampy so I ate my jelly beans, drank my water and felt a little better. At the next hydration station (there were 7), I got 2 cups of powerade, Katie got 3 cups of water and I drank and drank. It did help. We ran/walked/ran/walked until mile 12 when I had to walk. I bummed a gatorade off of a spectator on the side of the road. He said that he brings them to races "just in case someone needs one". Thank God for that man. I really think without that gatorade I wouldn't have been able to run the last 200 yards over the finish line. I finished in 2:53:33. I wasn't thrilled with my time but  I finished! that's what matters!!! I could barely walk Sunday afternoon and I'm still sore but it was totally worth it. I had a wonderful time and I can't wait to do another one.

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Park Day

It's been blaring hot here this summer so when the days cool off just a little bit, we take advantage of them. The other day, it was 70ish and cloudy. I took the kids to the park to play. They had a great time.



I love his liggle (big) feet





Conner was all over the rock wall









Fun all around!

Conner went down this bad boy.



He was THRILLED!





 

In other news, I have been training for my first half marathon. D-Day is Oct 2. It's quickly approaching and I'm excited and terrified. It's going to be FUN though, that I'm sure of. I wish I could say that my training has helped me to lose weight but...it hasn't. I don't know why but it doesn't matter. I feel better, stronger, healthier. THAT is what matters, not how skinny I am. Fit doesn't always mean skinny and I'm perfectly fine with FIT!

I need a Do-Over

Today, I ran my first 5k and I left the camera at home and the cell phone died. Go figure. whatever. I want a do-over anyway. It's really silly for me to be so bummed but whatever. I brought Parker with me and he was in the stroller. He typically does perfect in the stroller. He just lounges and chills or sleeps...until he had to WAIT for me to start running. The race was delayed buy about 35 minutes. They told everyone that they had to be at the race by 7:30 to check in and pick up chips by 7:45. Fine. Well, the course wasn't blocked off and someone got into an accident. Poor Parker was in the stroller for almost an HOUR before we even started the race. I did take him out but there really wasn't anywhere for him to play in the middle of the road. He did OK the first 2 miles (and I was pretty darn proud of my time considering I was pushing a baby in the stroller), I was pulling in 11.5 min miles. I know that isn't FAST but hey, I was pushing a stroller. Then all hell broke lose...Parker had gotten to his breaking point and the screaming did not stop...he won. I took him out and I walked, carried him and pushed the stroller. I hate my finishing time b/c I know what it could have been. Oh well. I'm getting a do-Over. for real. a 40:18 5k is awful...especially since I should have been around 34 min. ugh. It's not his fault and of course I'm not mad at my precious baby but dude. ugh. I'm going to find another race and run it sans baby. Maybe then I won't be so bummed.

Now that I have complained about the race, I want to talk about the atmosphere. Since this was my first race, I didn't really know what to expect. You bet your butt that the actress in me came out and I played the part of someone who knew what was going on. As someone who is a runner wanna be, I LOVED talking to other people who actually enjoy running and think that it is FUN. I saw someone I student taught with and that made my day. I loved her and wish we still kept in touch with. anyway, running with other people, especially strangers, and watching them is so motivating. I typically run very, very slow w/the stroller but today I was really feeling super good and I was keeping a decent pace, despite the hills and stroller. The sound of other runners is awesome. There were even mom/daughter and mom/son groups. It was SO adorable to see those kids running with their parents. I hope that my kids will want to run with me in 5 years or so.

I had so many people tell me that I did a great job, especially pushing the stroller. I SO wish I would have met my goal but I need to let that go. blah.


HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY TO ALL YOU MAMA'S OUT THERE. YOU ARE AWESOME!

FREE!

I don't know about you, but I love free stuff. Love it. I saw on active.com that they are giving away free marathon training plans for a limited time. I know that my 2 readers, ok 3 won't want this but maybe someone they know will. Spread the word, people love free stuff!

Need some fitness inspiration...

Check out this 73 year old with an amazing body!

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w6az9Kb0B-I&hl=en_US&feature=player_embedded&version=3]

This is how we roll

When I have 2 kids climbing all over me, I have to get creative to squeeze in some form of fitness. I love to do crunches; I always have. I love sore abs. I'm a weird-o, I know. As soon as I lay on the floor, I have company. I just go with it.



and what you do for one, you must do for the other...