Week:... Uhh... hmmmm....?

Well, I don't know if you've noticed, but I'm falling behind a little in this blog! I totally blame BlogSpot for the most part... there was two weeks where I couldn't log into my account for some reason, and that got me out of the groove.

So... that's my excuse, and I'm sticking with it!

An update on how my weightloss is going... it isn't going very well at all! But, I do have a good excuse for that one too....

That's right... I'm expecting again! Right now I'm at 14 weeks, due December 21st... poor child. I always swore I would never have a Christmas baby.  That was back when I thought I had control over such things. :) The nice thing is, my husband will be on break from school!!

So far, I've been feeling great, pregnancy wise! No throwing up, few food aversions... and feeling relatively calm about everything! :) 

Right now, I suspect this one is a boy! Which would be awesome if it was, but we're totally set if it's a girl. :) Either way, we'll be happy!  We just want it healthy!

So, with this pregnancy, I've noticed that my nasal polyps have gotten really bad again. After lots of research help from my parents and my own, I have put myself on a no wheat, sugar, or dairy diet. Yeah, hard! Especially when I do not like meat at the moment! (Or solid foods for that matter...)

In addition to what I'm NOT eating, I take:
Multi Vitamin (duh)
Vit C & D
Cod liver oil
Castor oil
Stinging nettle tea
Tumeric power
Tea tree oil
basil leaves before each meal
digestive pill
probiotics
V8 juice

Most of these things I do/take 3-4 times a day.

Basically... no more happiness. No chocolate, ice cream, junk food of any kind... and no bread. :( so sad! (and expensive...) and it takes a lot of time!

Hopefully I'll be able to self-cure these dang polyps, since I can't have surgery while pregnant. I definitely do not want to be feeling like this when New Baby comes. :(

Anyhoo, we're all super excited for this news! The picture is how we told our families-- I got the picture printed and put them on canvases and gave them to our mothers on Mother's Day. :) It was fun!

Joe Fresh Contest!

Come show your support for Terrah! :) Her picture has been entered in a Joe Fresh contest! Please register and cast your vote! Thank you!! :)
Use the link below to vote for Terrah! Clearly, the cutest kid in the contest! Share with your friends and have them vote as well! :) :)

http://todaysparent.upickem.net//r/3E5vb3zvX9S

1. VISIT the Cover Contest homepage: http://todaysparent.upickem.net/engine/Welcome.aspx?contestid=82902

2. REGISTER at the top of the contest page (even if you were the one who submitted the photo, you still have to register). NOTE: Only one vote is allowed per email address. Friends and family must also register to vote. All registrations need to be confirmed via a confirmation email that will be sent to your inbox.

3. Hit the VOTE tab on the top of the contest page.

4. Click VIEW GALLERY on the top left-hand side. This will allow you to search for your child using the public name you submitted at time of entry (e.g. “Photogenic Boy” or “Our Little Princess” or “Molly”).

5. Once you’ve found the child you’d like to vote for, you’ll find the VOTE tab on the bottom of each photo/description. You can also SHARE this link via email, Twitter or Facebook by clicking the icons on the top right of your screen.

Feb 17th-- WEEK 5

Woohoo! I can finally get into my blogger account!  That was so weird--and why I didn't get this up on when I should have!

Alrighty, so this week I got to spend most of my time with my parents! Went shopping with my mom (who got Terrah some deeply needed new clothes!), had a girls night with my 2 sister in laws, and just had a nice, relaxing time!

Because I was there, I didn't make it to Zumba. I did do Pilates every day! My mom was helpful and had lots of healthy and gluten free food to help me stay on track while I was there---however, my will-power was no match for the ice cream DrumSticks they had in their freezer. :(  Sooo wickedly delicious!  I don't know who thought of them, but they were truly inspired!

So, I mentioned my mom got me some gluten free food...and I have to tell ya, I felt SO MUCH BETTER even after 4 days of staying away from wheat bread! My stomach didn't feel nearly as bloated and sore, and I FELT less heavy.  It was a reminder that I really do have a gluten sensitivity.  Which sucks, because I absolutely LOVE bread.  But, I gotta work with what I've been given.

If you know any GOOD gluten free recipes, I would love to try them out! Gluten free products are so expensive, and so many of the recipes I've tried have tasted worse than dirt. 

You can Email Me here, or leave a comment! THANK YOU!

This week I wanted to shed some light on a slightly embarrassing, but very important topic-- constipation!

Let me be honest here... I have always, for as long as I can remember, had constipation issues.  Which scares me, because I do not want to get colon cancer.  So, I've been doing lots of reading and experimenting with trying to become more regular.  My mom showed this THIS WEBSITE, about this woman's battle with constipation, and she gives some great info!  One thing that I found interesting-- she says that Americans spend 1 billion dollars a year on laxatives! Clearly, I am not the only person out there with this issue. 

But, why is it such a big deal?

Well, poop is waste your body is trying to get rid of. If it can't get rid of it, those toxins are continuing to poison your body! As Wild Blessings says, "Health and Death begin in the gut."

Seriously, go read the blog if you want some ideas of what you can do to help move things along! For me, I've found that eating 1 1/2 T of whole flaxseeds has helped me! I tried the ground up flaxseeds, but for some reason they were giving me really bad headaches.  I've stopped eating bananas *tear* because they clog me up. 

It's really interesting stuff, and so So SO important!

ON TO THE MEASUREMENTS...

WEEK 5

Bust: 42"
Waist: 39
Hips: 40 1/2 inch.

Another 1/2 inch off my waist! I'm pretty sure that's from doing better with my bathroom breaks! :)

March 3rd --- WEEK 4

Well Life, I gotta hand it to ya... you really know how to throw things for a loop!
And I'll be honest right up front... I didn't do well this week. :( I was having a really hard time staying motivated and focused, and not getting down on myself.  I haven't been seeing the physical results I want, and that's been tough-- But I've been forgetting that my main goal is to get healthy in MIND, ,SPIRIT and BODY.  That's all gunna take a little bit longer than 4 weeks. :) But, when you're still getting asked when you're due, it's hard to remember all that. lol! Silly people.

** I would like to remind ya'll of something... pregnant bellies don't jiggle. :) **

Tuesday I took Terrah with me to Zumba so Aaron could have the house to himself for a while and do whatever he wanted to do. Aren't I nice? :) I had already done a hard workout that day and my legs were feeling like jelly! But Terrah was always RIGHT beside me or wanting me to hold her and dance, so I wasn't able to push myself as much as I would like. However, I didn't see any of the other ladies there dancing while holding a 40lbs kid! So maybe I did do pretty good! I was sure feeling the burn the next day! Terrah even got to go on stage with Wanda! She absolutely loves going there with me. So even if it isn't a great work out, I think I'm still making a pretty good investment. :)

Tuesday night...Oh boy. I wake up at 3:30AM to Terrah crying so hard.  Aaron had gone into her room, and after a few seconds I see her bedroom light go on, and Terrah is still crying so hard.  So I get up and go in, and I see Terrah sitting up in bed crying, and on her pillow (which is on the floor) is covered in what I first thought was blood... like she had thrown up blood. Almost freaking out, I ask what it is, and Aaron reminds me that she had eaten blueberries as her snack before bed-- and apparently her body didn't like them ONE BIT! It was all over.  So I pick Terrah up and brought her over to the glider to change her clothes and calm her down while Aaron starts picking up all the bits of blueberries off the floor and then cleaning up the stains--which he was able to do! Then Terrah throws up again.  New clothes, more calming, more cleaning up. She eventually fell asleep on my lap, the poor thing!  This all happened in about an hour.
WAY TO GO DADDY for doing all the cleaning! What a man. :)

No. She didn't sleep in.

Other than having slightly less energy and not wanting to eat, she seemed fine in ever other way. Then the diarrhea started. I will spare you the details, but... imagine Tuesday night repeating itself, but this time not with blueberries. I've never had to deal with that kind of vomit inducing situation before. And on carpet! Blahhhh!! This happened Wed. night at 1:30AM.  Aaron gave Terrah a bath while I cleaned up... I guess it was my turn. :) And lucky for me, my nose was pretty bad so I couldn't smell very much (but still enough for my gag reflexes to kick in a couple times.)
That night she did sleep in for about 30 mins longer than usual, the good girl! :)

We spent the morning on the couch watching movies, because she really didn't have much energy. Then she told me she was hot, and sure enough she got a fever. But it was gone after her 3 hour nap!  But oh, the diaper changes were awful. They still aren't back to normal!

So much laundry. I hate laundry...and there was So. Much. Laundry.

Well... after a few days like that I really had no energy. I didn't have a shake all week, nor any snacks.  One day, when I actually did a calorie count thing because I was curious, I was shocked to discover I had eaten just under 1000 calories that day...kind of on the low side. Eating enough has been a problem for me for a long time.  I used to not eat much at all in a day, and when I did it was something bread-ish or just not good for me! This can actually put your body into starvation mode and make you put on weight! More on that in another post. :)

Week 4 Measurements:

Bust: 42"

Waist: 39 1/2
Hips: 40 1/2 inch.

I'm super surprised that I was able to keep the same measurements as last week! Woot! Honestly, I was thinking I would have gained inches...so I'm relieved!

However... I really need to kick it into gear! My little cousin (who is actually about 10 inches taller than me now) is getting married! And she's asked me to be one of her bridesmaids! I'm super excited and feel honoured that she would want me to be a part of her special day in such a special way! So, now I have a new goal--to show her up on her wedding day!

Just kidding. My real goal is to not be the fat one. lol! :) Love ya, cuz!!

I'm hanging out at my parents house for most of this week, so I hope I can keep up with what I need to do, even though I'm not in my own space! My parent's have been super busy since September putting on a play with the youth from our church of Joseph and the Amazing TechiColor Dream Coat, which ended this past weekend! It was phenomenal!! But I'm so glad I get my parents back now. :)

What I Need To Improve

• alrighty, I need to get serious about monitoring what is going into my mouth! I need to start thinking of food as medicine, and not just a pleasurable experience!
• make better meal plans that have less complicated and NEW recipes... I love trying out new recipes and making them my own. But this takes a lot more time, and are usually not as healthy as they should be. This is mostly a problem for dinner time, but more often than not I am trying to impress my husband when it comes to dinner. :)
• ....drink more water. As usual. 
• keep busy with good things when Terrah is in bed instead of watching movies. 

I also wanted to send out a big THANK YOU to everyone who has been following and supporting me through this challenge! Making life changes IS a challenge, and I'm so grateful for all those that have taken the time to come and read what I have to say and give me encouragement and advice! It is all greatly appreciated! Cheers to you all! :)

Free of Excuses

Once Upon A Time...
(not based on a true story)

Wife: Uhh... I'm so tired.
Hubby: Really? Did you have a bad night?
Wife: No, I got a full 10 hours. I'm just always tired.
Hubby: Maybe you need iron.
Wife: *death stare* I don't think so.
*start getting dressed for the day*
Wife: Grrr... nothing fits anymore! Having children totally wrecks your body.
Hubby: I just started going to this really fun work out class! Wanna come with me?
Wife: *getting annoyed. clearly he thinks I'm fat and is not attracted to me* It's not that I need to work out. My clothes don't fit because I'm always making meals YOU will like instead of making food I SHOULD be eating. And I have to feed Child, and they're a picky eater, so I don't want to make 2 meals at each meal time. And besides, even if I DID want to join a club, I wouldn't have any time to do with all the other stuff that's expected of me! I've got laundry, cooking, cleaning, school, church responsibilities, community service, job, family and pets to take care of! And you're never home anyway, so who would watch the kids?! We can't afford a babysitter every time I want to go to the gym! And if I work out at home, the kids just climb all over me and the dog licks my face! Then I would have to take a shower and who knows what kind of state the house would be in after I got out, then I'd have to dry my hair which takes forever, and clean up the disaster around the house due to my 20 minute disappearance!
Hubby:....so, is that a no for the class?

I know you've got them! A list as long as the Great Wall of China of reasons why it's not your fault you're where you're at. I know that because I have them too! And I like whipping them out once in a while!

You may have noticed I used the word REASON instead of excuse (I tried to help by underlining it :) )
I really do believe that there are valid reasons for why we may put on weight and not be able to take it off. Heck, there are medical conditions that prove that's true! For me, a reason I started putting on so much weight was because of my health (or lack thereof) due to my sinus infection! You just can't get up and work out when you're sick, especially when not even Benedryl or Nyquil will work to make you feel a little more human--and especially when you're sick like that day after day!

However, there are true excuses:

noun:

8.

an explanation offered as a reason for being excused; a plea offered in extenuation of a fault or for release from an obligation,promise, etc.: His excuse for being late was unacceptable.

9.

a ground or reason for excusing or being excused: Ignorance is no excuse.

10.

the act of excusing someone or something.

11.

a pretext or subterfuge: He uses his poor health as an excuse for evading all responsibility.

12.

an inferior or inadequate specimen of something specified: That coward is barely an excuse for a man. Her latest effort is a poor excuse for a novel.

Sometimes I feel like people to are too mean to me when I'm giving what I believe are reasons, and they tell me I'm just making excuses for myself. "stop whining and DO IT!"  Maybe in some things they are right and I just haven't come to that realization yet. Or maybe they're being quick to judge. There's always two sides to a pancake no matter how flat you make it (Thanks, Dr. Phil!)

Here's my current thought on excuses:

Stop thinking of them as a bad thing, or that you're a bad person because you have made excuses for yourself! That will only lead to you feeling down on yourself, or adding unnecessary guilt--and no one should expect themselves to do better when they're making themselves feel worse.   Take responsibility for your excuses. You believed them to be true at one point. Maybe you still do. And that is okay, because you're allowed to learn at your own pace. No one can force you to be ready to make a life change--except God. :) And I encourage you to do it yourself before He has to intervene!  If you are at the place where you want to be happier by being healthier, then own your excuses, and move on from there.  Cut the rope of guilt of past mistakes that's keeping you at rock bottom, and start your climb up to better things ahead!  I promise you will feel more in control of your life than you did before--because you are! I will touch more on this topic in a later post about training your mind and you train your body!

SO, I'm going to be making more of a effort to free myself of my excuses, remember my reasons for why I got to the state I'm in, and focus on where I want to be! How am I going to do this? Lemme list some ways.

1. Accept that I can't do everything perfectly
2. Consistent action; be anxiously engaged in trying to reach my goals (ie: prepping food, playing with Terrah, staying true to my meal and workout plan...)
3. Remember to be flexible! Things change, and it's nothing to afraid of. In fact-- I WANT change! Especially in my body! But if I focus too much my on my schedule, I'll loose the joy of the journey, and miss learning opportunities. 
4. Have patients with myself. I may not be seeing the results I want right away, but by being consistent  they will come! 
5. Take more responsibility for the choices I make. Ie: I chose to eat that ice cream tonight. I chose not to work out. I chose not to prioritize my time better. I chose those words I spoke to my husband. I chose to wear a skirt to church even though I chose not to shave the night before... :/ Yikes.  

I am by NO MEANS perfect at this! I am super hard on myself sometime.... and too easy on myself on other things! And I'll admit that I don't like things to be my fault... I'd much rather blame someone else! But I DO believe that by freeing myself of excuses that have held me back, I can become the person I want to be and am MEANT TO BE!

Feb 24th WEEK 3

1 Lbs Fat vs. 1 lbs Lean Muscle

Ahhhh, FINALLY feeling back to normal!  That dang period really took it out of me this month! I Even had CRAMPS!  Aside from that, it was a really great week! And a bad week. Lemme 'splain a bit.

 We got to visit with my brother and sister in law and their newly adopted daughter! They were here because they were to be sealed to their daughter in the LDS Toronto Temple.  I had never been to the sealing of a child before, but it was beautiful and very special!

We also got to see our newest nephew--twice! He is so scrumptious and cute and BIG!  It was a close call for his mother after she had given birth-- very scary, but she pulled through and is doing great!
Terrah absolutely loves their baby. It was very heart melting to see her with him, and how gentle and attentive she was! A big thanks to Kira for being a good sport about letting Terrah hold her baby and helping him with his soother, blanket, baby hat....everything! :)

However...due to all this family time, it also lead to some less than ideal meal moments. DELICIOUS moments, but not really within my healthy eating guidelines. :)  HOWEVER... I did manage to up my water consumption!  I got it up to at LEAST 4 glasses a day! Huge improvement for me. Bleh, I just wish my water was yummier tasting. Am I the only one with this problem? When I lived at home my parents started buying those jugs of water because I wasn't drinking. Some days the tap water tasted like worms. Other days like lipstick.  Gross! But really... am I the only one? :(

Also, I wasn't able to make it out to Zumba this week. :( I missed my dance party! My poor HHJJ cells... I tried to make up for not going by doing more Pilates and dancing, and have been using Terrah as my weights--to her great delight.

A word about Meal Planning--- It sucks. Actually, I kind of love it, but also hate it.  I can't believe it can take me an hour to decide what I want and need to eat, 3 times a day, plus snacks and shakes, and then write it down! And I haven't even gone shopping for the food yet or started prepping it!  One day I will be rich and hire someone to do all that for me. I'll do the cooking, but they'll do all the shopping and clean up!  Or if that's too unrealistic, I would at least like my time in the kitchener to be like on the Cooking shows. "Allow to chill 3 1/2 hours. Oh look! I just happen to have one all done right here.." and all my ingredients are measured out for me in adorable dishes, and there's never any mess! Yep, that's definitely more likely to happen.

We 3 Pictures:
No pictures this week. So sorry :) Stay tuned next week for more sexy poses!


Week 3 Measurements:
Bust: 42"
Waist: 39 1/2 Inch! One inch down from last week!
Hips: 40 1/2 inch.

I'll take all the 1/2" I can get! :)

Things I Learned This Week:

• homemade mayo is DISGUSTING!
• I love stretching! I don't know why, but I somehow feel more... "open" after I stretch! I'm not sure what the right word is. Taller?  Less constrained? Probably why I love Pilates... it's a stretch and work out at the same time! And I love the soft ache in my muscles the next day after doing it. :)
• It's really hard to do anything, including be happy, when your nose is super stuffed up. This is more of a "re-learn" for me.  I realized why I was such a miserable person when my nose was stuffed up 24/7 for years!
• I still hate playing Boggle with my husband.
• If ice cream doesn't melt after being out all night... it probably shouldn't go in your body! :/ Yikes...
• THIS IS HARD!!

Go ahead, Try it!

I'll wait.






I know you didn't try it. DO IT!






Okay, you still didn't.   Moving on!


Things I Need To Improve:

• prepping ahead of time! Instead of always having to cook or prepare my meals right before needing to eat, I need to make more time prepping in advance! Hopefully this will help me feel like I don't spend so much time cooking and cleaning in the kitchen! I hate cleaning up. 
• Eat more Veggies. 
• Drink more water!
• My Boggle game.

This week we are going to look into getting me a membership at the YMCA (with their financial assistance program) so I can take classes there. I would really like to try a cycling class! We'll see how the application stuff goes!

What are YOU going to do this week to be more healthy???

Feb. 17th- WEEK 2

What. A. Week!
Ever have those weeks where you look back and think, wow, that week kinda sucked?  Or when your annoying friend from "down south" comes to visit you on Valentine's Day? And you feel irritated, and tired, and crampy, and like you don't want to do anything but you DO want to eat everything?

Yeah, that was my week. I hate those weeks. :(


BUT-- I did good with THE CHALLENGE!  I was actually able to get to WANDA'S ZUMBA Class twice this week! Once was on Valentine's Day! My husband and daughter came with me--she LOVED it! Wanda gave her a belly dancing scarf thing you tie around your waist and showed her how to twist to make it jingle, and Terrah LOVED it! Wanda always has party lights going too, so she loved dancing in all those sparkly lights.  It was very fun!  But I gotta say, it is super hard to stay motivated when you're feeling all PMSy.

I have noticed a huge change in how I feel since altering my eating habits! I'm not getting headaches anymore, and---well, I'm not sure if my mood swings are due to withdrawal or because of my monthly womanly curse.  So maybe next week I'll be able to answer that one better. :)

I've also been able to tell what my hunger level is by how I'm feeling! Example:  a few days ago I was getting really short and annoyed with Terrah, and I thought to myself, "Why am I acting like this? She isn't doing anything wrong..." Then I looked at the clock and realized I hadn't eaten anything in like 3 hours! So I ate tuna in lettuce wraps, and I felt so much happier right away! It was a big "Ah-Ha!" moment for me.  I've known for a long time that I don't eat enough, or eat frequent enough, and then when I do eat it's usually just fast carby junk because I'm so hungry!  By having a meal plan for the week, I've been getting better at avoiding those ruts, but I still am not very good at remembering to eat my snack or have my glass of water before my meal.

The thing I'm REALLY excited about is this-- yesterday I caught myself thinking, "Nah, I don't want the piece of candy in my bag. I'm thirsty, and that apple looks good."
YEAH! I thought that! I chose an apple over a chocolate bar.  However, I did go for the ice cream when we were out at a family lunch. :) And it was delicious!!

On that note, here is this weeks picture!

Abs of STEEL!

So, you ready to see this weeks measurement results?

Bust: 42"
Waist: 40 1/2"
Hip: 41"

It really sucks starting something to lose weight only to get your dang period 2 weeks in and get all bloated and gross feeling! So let's see if I can get those number to be a little smaller next week.

Weekly Evaluation: Things I need To Do Better At:

• Drink more water!  I'm a pretty picky person when it comes to drinking water, but even if I know it's yummy tasting water, I'm still not good at drinking. And when I say "not good" I mean, some days I may only have 1 glass of water for the whole day. Yikes! Not good, and not healthy, and won't help me at all with my goals! If I were a fish... I'd be dead. MUST IMPROVE THIS! 
• Stick to my meal plans and WHEN I eat them

Those are what I'm going to really focus on this week! I'm hoping that it will help me feel better, stronger, and of course--lose those inches! :)

I apologies for the Recipes and Weekly Meal Plan's not work last week-- I hope I have figured out the problem and it's working now! So much to learning ter do with dem dere blogger knowledging do-dads!!

Have a FANTASTIC week! Good health to ya!