Day 6: Lent Begins

Happy Ash Wednesday!  Ever since I could remember I have given up something for Lent, whether it be swearing, chewing gum, drinking pop, ect.  Well I was thinking about things to give up this year and this year it was going to be different because it was going to be something that was going to help with me achieving my ultimate goal:  Be a Skinny Mom :)

So I pondered the idea today and I thought about things that I could give up, I came up with the usual things; swearing, drinking pop, chocolate, sex and so on and so forth.  I thought about each of them and realized that I would be kidding myself if I tried giving up on the last one for sure ;)  Come on have you seen my husband, I mean that would be just pure crazy!  Plus that is physical activity and I need physical activity!!  Although with 3 babies already I probably should consider it a little further ;)  Ok, enough joking, in all seriousness I needed to figure something out, so I thought about things that I do way too much and that I know would be difficult to give up but that it would benefit myself and my family and the result was...FAST FOOD!  It is often times way too easy to just go through the drive-thru when Tim and I don't feel like cooking or I don't feel like packing a lunch for work.  Well what kind of example am I setting for my children???  Not a good one.  Plus what am I doing to my body!

They say it takes 21 days to form a habit, correct?  Well, Lent is 40 days long so that is perfect, by Easter I will have not eaten fast food for 40 days, that will be awesome.  Plus it will save on the ol' pocket book too!

I have been told by countless people that my blog has inspired them and that they cannot believe how honest I am being.  That there is no way that they could be that honest.  I thought to myself and tried to figure out why I am being so honest because yes there are people out there that probably could care less and are gossiping about my weight but I realized that I don't care anymore.  What I care about is getting healthy, having a support system around me and making myself feel accountable for my actions and plans.  I realize that there is no one there watching my every move every second of the day to make sure I don't fail but I do know that there are a lot of people out there that are wanting to know if I can succeed.  Well keep watching, you will see this mom do it!

When I left for the Army I cannot even count how many people thought I would fail, that there was no way a 5' female like me was going to hack it.  I remember my mom and dad coming to my graduation from boot camp and my dad was video taping me and he asked me "what is something you would like to say to every one back home?"  I looked right in that camera and said "I Did It" and I turned away.  I know there are people who think I will fail at this but like I told them before, I will tell them again, I will do it!

I hope that my blog has inspired others to change their habits and health along with me :)

Thank you again for all the positive comments!

Day 4:Survived the Weekend!

Well the weekend is over and I survived all the temptations :)  Saturday was weigh-in day and I was right where I thought I was...216 pounds.  I was guessing when I started this blog but I was correct (at least it wasn't more than what I had thought!)  We bought some girl scout cookies from one of my friend's little girls and I have to say that I have done pretty well, I haven't eaten a lot of them at all.

Sunday was my cousin's open house for Mary Kay products which she had lemonade and cookies at, I politely declined them and just stuck with water :)  She also lives in up-town so parking can be a bear, I ended up having to walk a pretty good distance to get to her place, all while carrying Adalyn in her car seat.  So that was 9 pounds of car seat plus 11 pounds of cuteness :)  So, I got in a little bit of exercise just by walking to her place.  I also received a book from a friend at church called "Working Out Sucks" so I am really looking forward to reading that.  Tim and I are going to start P90X tonight so wish me luck!  We are starting with just the stretching video but let me tell ya when I have tried to do it before with him I was a hurting unit by the time I was half way through the stretching :)

Speaking of working out...I have had a lot of offers from people to become a work out buddy with me at the gym and as much as I would love to do that, with 3 kiddos in daycare, funds are not available to get a membership at a gym :(  I am little sad about that because I know that would really help me with working out because we do not have equipment at home but I am not going to let that stop me!  I have work out videos that I can use.  So, sorry to all of you that wanted me to join the gym with you but Thank You for asking!

Hoping the weather is nice out today since I am home with the kiddos so we can get out and take a walk!  We have my parent's dog for the week so I know he would love to have a walk too!  Have a great day everyone!

Day 1: Little Steps

First off, I just wanted to send out huge THANKS for all the support that has been shown to me so far.  It is amazing and I know that by having support and encouragement all around me it will help me get to where I want to be; to get me back to ME!

Well today was day 1...I know we are only half way through the day but I would have to say that I am feeling pretty darn good.  I am staying very positive and I know that I CAN and WILL do this.

I think one of the things that always caused me to fail when I have tried to lose the weight before is that I would get discouraged because I didn't think I was seeing results fast enough so it just wasn't worth it.  Well now I know that it isn't going to happen overnight (heck if it really was that easy I would have been skinny long time ago!) but I am going to continue pushing...I deserve it.

I also would always try to make drastic changes all at once and then when something would happen I would feel like a failure and give up on everything.  I am not going to let that happen this time.  I know that there needs to be a lot of little steps to get to where I want and need to be.

So my little steps that I took today were...I gave up "whole" pop as my wonderful mom calls it!  I know that giving up pop all together cold turkey would be too hard and I would fail, so I am done with "whole" pop and back to diet.  My hope is to get rid of it all together but I need my caffeine right now :)  I don't drink coffee and I have a 2 1/2 month old remember!

I also took the kids on a walk this afternoon.  It was a gorgeous day out and we needed to go pick Benjamin up from the bus anyways at Pathways so I busted out the stroller, bundled Adalyn up and Hannah and I were on our way to go get Benjamin.  It was such a nice little walk...now I know that it wasn't a far distance by any means but I got out and I walked.  It made the kids so excited to get outside and walk and Adalyn was perfect and slept the whole way in the stroller!  She is such a good baby!
Doesn't she look so cute all snuggled into the stroller!

I am also cutting out one non-water drink today and drinking water in its place.  I will continue to cut out more every day until I am up to drinking only water!  Tim and I are going to start P90X on Monday but we know that it is going to take a lot of stretching before I am ready to do it and he is ok with that, he said we will do the stretching video for a couple weeks before we get into anything else :)  He is really excited to help me out on this journey and he is such an amazing supportive husband and best friend.  I am truly blessed.  Speaking of being blessed, I was reminded yesterday by a friend that I need to remember I am not doing this alone, I need to rely on my faith and my relationship with God, he will always be there to pick me up when I fall, carry me when I am struggling and push me to keep going.  He is an AMAZING GOD!

Thank you again for following me on this journey...tomorrow is weigh in day.  I decided that Saturdays will be the easiest day to weigh in, I am only going to weigh in weekly.

Well Miss Adalyn is wanting some mommy cuddles :)  Good Bye!

Time to get Real

Alright, most of you knew me when I was Tessie, which meant that I was the 5 foot nothing, skinny, track and cross country runner.  Well, boy have things changed :)  I am no longer that skinny girl anymore but I am hoping that changes.  I am hoping that by putting my business and my weight out there it will help me stay accountable, and help me get back to ME!

So, here is my story...

I joined the Army while I was in high school and left off to boot camp 10 days after my senior graduation.  I loved it, it was hard but it was great.  When I came home in November 2003, I was 120 pounds and was a pant size 3 ;-)  I felt good!  Now granted I was still the same weight that I was when I left I went from a size 7/8 to a 3!  Dang!

Then I went off to college!  I was no longer watching what I was eating like I was when I was at boot camp, nope I starting drinking the pop again and wasn't nearly working out as much as I would like to (or at all for that matter).  The weight started creeping up, by the time I left Concordia University (2 years later) I was 160 pounds and a size 11/12.  Ouch!

I met my now husband in 2004, good thing at that time I hadn't put on that much weight, he may not of dated me then!  (Just kidding! I hope!)  We got married in July of 2006...I look at my wedding pictures and I just want to cry (at times I actually do) I was at 172 pounds and a size 14/16.  WTF!

Then came the babies :-)  I love my babies!  I had Hannah in 2007 and my delivery weight was 208 at that time.  I quickly got down to 184 but then we were surprised with finding out that we were having Benjamin (8 weeks after having Hannah!) so that meant that my body was not fully back to itself after having 1 baby and now I was carrying another one.  Well, my body decided that it didn't like me and when I went to deliver Benjamin I was up to 250 pounds...wowza!  I got down to 198 pounds about a year after having Ben but that is the lowest I was ever able to get.  Now granted, I didn't push myself to lose the weight, I didn't eat right and I sure didn't exercise.  Nope, I just felt sorry for myself and kept making every excuse in the book.  I let my weight creep back to 230 again...seriously I must have been blind or dumb.  Tim and I tried to have baby number 3 but started having fertility issues, I knew in the back of my mind it was my weight but I couldn't come to terms with it until I kept seeing those Negative pregnancy tests.  I started watching my calories a lot more at that time (now the biggest problem I have is I LOVE pop and I don't eat enough, so my body harbors it) and I was able to get down to 205 before I got pregnant with Adalyn.  I delivered Adalyn at 240 pounds...I was depressed.  I had a c-section with her which meant no physical activity at all for 6-8 weeks.  Well we are now at 11 weeks since she was born and I have yet to do physical activity...what is wrong with me?!

I am currently at...(I can't believe I am admitting to this) 216 pounds and a size 16/18.  Holy Crap!  Not good, not good at all.

Tim and I have decided that our family is complete and perfect so now I have absolutely no excuse to not get in shape.  No time is better than the present.  I have very energetic 4 1/2 and 3 1/2 year olds and a newborn who will be moving before we know it.  I want to be able to run after them, I want to be around to see them grow up, have kids and enjoy my life.  It isn't fair to them or my husband that I left myself get to the point that I am.  I have gained 96 pounds in 8 1/2 years.  That is 12 pounds a year...well I will be damned if I will let it take 8 1/2 years to get rid of it.  I am hoping that by Adalyn's first birthday I will be back to or very close to 120 pounds.  That is 10 pounds a month...I can do this!!!

So...what am I going to do about it?  I am going to start...Mission: Become a Skinny Mom!  I work for the Marine Corps and today I asked 2 Marines that I work with to help me figure out an exercise plan and they were more than happy to do that for me.

I ask that you please keep all negative comments to youself...it is the last thing that I need to hear.  I would love to hear encouragement, advice, recipies and exercises :-)  Thank you in advance.

Goals

Two blog posts in one day!  Wow...I am on a roll :)

I thought that it would probably be a good idea to put what my goals are so I can look back to them when I feel discouraged.

LONG TERM GOAL:
***Get to 120 pounds by December 3, 2012***

SHORT TERM GOALS:
1. Get below 200 pounds!  I have already decided that I want to cut my hair really bad but I will not allow to cut my hair until I get under 200 pounds...so hopefully soon there will be a post about my new hair cut!  To be completed by April 2012

2. Get to a size 12/14 by Benjamin's 4th Birthday (May 26, 2012)

3. Complete the Couch to 5K program by May 2012

4. Get to 175 pounds by Hannah's 5th Birthday (July 7, 2012)

5. Get to 155 pounds by the time Hannah starts Kindergarten (September 2012)

I know there will be more goals as I progress but this is a good start for now.  If you have any ideas on short term goals I am all ears!