Cheated

I feel extremely ashamed that I'm already creating a post called cheated and its only the 8th day! The first week was BRUTAL! I had a very hard time controlling myself. Day one was the only day I woke up at 4am, and I'm kicking myself for that.  I planned on doing it every day, but like they say...even the best laid plans....I didn't completely trash myself but I did enough to know that I'm not where I want to be at this point.

Day 2: I got 20 minutes of cardio in before work and had every intention of doing another 45 while the girls were in ballet.  After all I did have to go all the way back anyway, might as well get good use out of it right?? Well me and my lazy self had different plans, a co worker and I ( the one who was also there to exercise!) sat and chatted for 45 minutes instead.  Ohh well such is life. And to top it all off my diet wasn't good either. I snacked all day. boo

Day 3: Diet wise I did MUCH better.  Small meals every 3 hours and they were very healthy.  I think I did sneak in a teeny tiny little candy on this day, but much better then my normal sweet treat sneak. :) I did 20 minutes cardio again in the morning, and took a bodypump class after work. Staying busy and out of the house definitely helped with the food intake!

Day 4: 20 minutes of cardio before work, not much but it was enough to say I moved.  My diet again was not so good.  I did well in the morning and at lunch time but once 4:00 hit I couldn't help myself! My weakness in life is food, of ALLL kinds which is why this weight loss thing has been soooo stinkin hard for me.

Day 5: I had a sick baby this day.  strep throat! Poor thing.  So we treated ourselves to some pizza, of which she didn't really want Needless to say this day was a complete wash!!

Day6: Feeling a little guilty I got myself up on Saturday morning and ran for 30 minutes.  Then I threw in about 10 minutes of strength. Not much, but I kept myself moving.  I had egg whites and fruit for breakfast, black bean burger and asparagus for lunch, and then snacked quite a bit for dinner. Not what I planned on but I did get the run in which made me feel a little better.

Day 7: I took a spin class!!! about two years ago I was able to drop 20 LBS from doing spin class 3 times a week.  If I hadn't stopped I would be one hot momma right now! But life and excuses got in the way and here I am today 20 LBS back and then some! Anywho... I took the spin class and nearly died, but I felt WONDERFUL! Came home got quite a bit done. Cooked a shepards pie for a nice hearty irish dinner and had my mom over.  Mom always comes bearing LOTS and LOTS of snacks....I'm kind of seeing a pattern here with this snack thing. But I felt good that I had a good workout that morning and felt like I needed to splurge just a bit being it was St. Pattys day....I know I know I'm full of excuses!

So that brings us to today....Day 8. Weigh in day!!! ugh. I got on the scale this morning but felt like I was kind of cheating since I did it with no clothes on and before I had any food or drink it.  To be fair I just got on the scale again which was the same time as last week and I'm wearing the same clothing, and just had lunch. My weight is 180LBS. So considering all of my failed attempts at diet and exercise this week I feel like I really can't complain. I'm down 2LBS in a week. Which is an average and healthy weight to lose per week. Since my goal weight is so big I would like to up it to 5Lbs which I know is totally doable if I keep my eye on the prize and stop all this snacking!!

Todays food intake so far

Breakfast: Banana ( I know this was not at all a sufficient breakfast! I packed oatmeal and a hardboiled egg as well but got pretty busy at work so I never got around to it)

Lunch: 1 scrambled egg plus 3 scrambled egg whites with one slice of American cheese and hot sauce. Romaine lettuce with 1 TB of light Caesar dressing. 1/2 cup of strawberries.

Total Calories so far=363

Very light.  I need to get some more in me soon or else I know I'll trash myself later.  I'm planning on doing double classes later tonight at the Y, Spinning and bodypump. So I'm looking for a good preworkout snack.

Here are a few good options:
1. Oatmeal will boost your energy level and help you have a better workout. If you love working out or going for a power walk or jog first thing in the morning, it’s best to stop in your tracks and have a steamy bowl of oatmeal to give you the power you need to get up and get moving and keep going throughout the day.
2. Fruit provides natural sugar that your body can convert to sugar and then use as fuel. The easily digestible properties of fruit allow the nutrients to be absorbed rapidly by the body and help to sustain it throughout your workout. Combined fruit with yogurt for an energy boosting snack that will keep you satisfied throughout just about any physical activity.
3. Peanut Butter is rich in protein and easily digestible. Just two tablespoons can have as many as 9 grams of protein. A good choice of protein especially if you will be working out within the hour.
4. Yogurt contains both protein and calcium so is an exceptionally good food to eat before your women’s fitness workout.
5. Green Tea is full of antioxidants. In addition to drinking water, green tea is effective for helping to rid your body of toxins and will keep you hydrated during your exercise program.

Source: http://www.fitness4her.com/the-top-five-pre-workout-foods-that-you-need-to-know-about/

If you're planning a strength workout these are recommended



















 if you're planning a cardio workout these are some good recommendations.


















(Source)  http://www.muscleandfitnesshers.com/nutrition/other/preworkout-fuel  This is a very informative website if you every get the chance to look around!!


My favorite go to pre workout snack has been natural peanut butter and whole wheat toast!! Delicious and Nutritious! and I don't feel bad about eating all the carbs and calories knowing I'm getting ready to go blast them anyway!

And a protein shake is a great way to end the day after a late night workout!

chocolate is my fav flavor!

What do you like to eat pre and post workout?


And just on a side note: THANK GOD this blog pre saves every few seconds! I just deleted EVERYTHING!! 

90 day weight loss Challenge

Yesterday was such a bittersweet day for me. We had beautiful spring like weather here in little old Delaware. I'm talking 60 degrees and sunny with baby blue skies.  The kind of weather that puts you in that giddy I love life again mood! But then, I realized if spring was almost here that means that summer isn't too far behind! And this girl is not at all ready to be in a pair of shorts and a tank top, let alone a bathing suit! YIKES! I've had plans of kicking my butt into gear for quite some time now, and have it marked on my Calendar that today is the start of my 90 day challenge. But with the weather being what it was and seeing a picture of myself from my best friends baby shower last week, I really decided it was time! My day started at 4:00 am! I couldn't believe that when my alarm went off I actually hopped right out of bed, splashed cold water on my face, laced up my running shoes and hit the treadmill! The whole time I ran I pinched myself wondering if this was just a bad dream. :) but it turns out it wasn't, and it turns out I kind of enjoyed it. I only did 25 minutes this morning, which ended up being 2 miles exactly. I was pretty darn proud of myself though. And not only did I get a run in, but I cleaned up my house, finished laundry, packed lunches and showered all before my lovely ladies even got out of bed. After dropping them, I headed to work early to get 20 more minutes on an elliptical in the fitness center!! Yes, its only day one. I'm sure by the end of this week I will be one of the crabbiest people you will meet.  But right now I feel FABULOUS!!

So now for the fun information.....My current weight.. EEK! I forgot to weigh myself this morning before food and drink so keep in mind that this weight may be off a bit! hehe trying to spare every pound I can!! :)

Day 1: March 11, 2013
           Weight: 182 LBS

Calorie Goal for today is 1000. I know it seems low, but my goal is to shrink my stomach a bit so I get full quicker. Which will be EXTREMELY hard for me to do.  I almost rarely feel 100% full.  Its probably mostly in my head, I'm sure I get full, I just have a serious problem when I sit down to eat and really enjoy something.  I can't stop! I was like this my whole life but obviously as a teenager I could handle it a little better.....anywho.... My goal weight is at least 135LBS. That's almost 50LBS!!  It seems far away but I know with enough hard work and dedication I can get there.  My pre lovely lady # 1 weight was 125LBS ...ahh those were the days! I don't want to necessarily get back to that weight, but I'd like to get pretty darn close.  So we shall see how it goes. I decided for the time being I would use this blog as my journal.  I know its not read very often so it will be easier for me to open up a bit knowing that. I'm hoping that a big weight loss will give me more confidence to do the things I want in life.

Food Intake:

Breakfast: 8oz Chobani Greek vanilla yogurt with 1/2 cup fresh strawberries and a tablespoon of granola.

Morning Snack: cheese stick

Lunch: Black bean and corn salad with 6 croutons ( I just had to!!) and light buffalo ranch dressing

Total calories so far : 567 calories

I'll try to get back on tonight to record my afternoon snack and dinner. I should have it a bit more planned out, but I don't...I gave up meat for the entire 40 days of lent.  Its been pretty easy not eating the meat but I think because of it I have kind of gravitated a lot more towards junk food. I've been eating a lot of chips and chocolates! Its been quite a challenge for me to come up with filling dinners with no meat.  One of my favorites so far has been a homemade black bean burger. I was very skeptical at first but it was delicious.  Tonight I'd like to make some type of quinoa related dish.  We'll see what I can come up with....

So there you have it...day one so far of my 90 day challenge.  The challenge is pretty much just a self made one.  I'm not planning any special diet or exercise routine for the 90 days.  Just committing to dieting and exercising.  Kind of playing it by ear as to which type.

My short term goal for this week is just to keep going. I'm usually really good at getting up and into things the first day or two but then when I hit day three I the snooze button a few times, I'm gone again....So my goal is to wake up every weekday morning by 4am and Saturday and Sunday by 6am. I'd like to keep my calorie intake to 1000 with MAYBE the exception of St.Patty's day but since I can't eat meat anyways I might not go over too bad.  I'd like to lose 5LBS this week. Which will be a real challenge, but anything is possible if you put the work in!

I'm also planning on rewarding myself for LBS lost. This will help keep me going when that snickers bar is calling my name!

10 LBS= One month of tanning ( I'm not a huge fan of it because of the risk factor and seeing the 50 year old women out there who look 80 because of it, but I figured one month will help give me even more of a confidence boost and get that vitamin D back in my body to help with the end goal)

20LBS= Mani and Pedi ( something I would love to have every two week but just can't seem to justify in the budget.  If I can get down 20LBS though I feel like it will be earned! So down twenty, tan, and beautiful fingers and toes!)

30LBS= A new Hairdo! My best friend cuts my hair for me for really cheap, which is awesome, but if I lose 30LBS I'm getting a new cut and color! I never treat myself to color so it will be a very exciting reward for myself!

40LBS= A new bikini!! Its been over eight years since I've worn one of those things!! My hubby probably doesn't even remember what I looked like in one! I have been drooling over them since but just haven't gotten but butt back into shape!! 2013 will be the year!!!

And The big 50LBS= will be a new wardrobe!!! Nothing I own will fit by that point so I plan on having a nice little shopping spree with my new hot bod!


Hopefully these things will help to motivate me, and hopefully hopefully I will actually follow through with my challenge. 


I think I can, I think I can, I think I can.....

What a HOOT

My beautiful best friend is expecting baby #2 in April!! Today was her baby shower and I had the honor of creating her cupcakes! The theme of her nursery is The Happi Tree which is basically just an owl theme. Its sooo cute! She wanted them to match the colors in the theme, but other then that wasn't picky at all. So my original plan was to make owls on all of them....so I got right to work and made a flat owl shape out of fondant. It was Yellow with orange dots and a pink hear, to match the ones in the bedding....well they looked horrendous!! So I scratched them and went with plan B. 3D owls.  They were much more time consuming though, so I only made six of them.the rest just went with the garden/outdoorsy part of the theme....so here they are! I thought they ended up turning out pretty cute! :)

I can't wait to meet Baby Stella!! :)

Put your money where your bank is

For some reason in our house piggy banks just don't seem to last more them a few months. Lovely lady #1 is constantly counting her coins and keeping logs of how much money she has on each day. Which I LOVE that she does, however she has extremely clumsy hands! She drops almost everything she touches.  My mom got her a snow globe one year for Christmas. My mom is telling Cecilia to be very careful with it because it could break easily, and as the words are coming out of her mouth the thing is in the air and on the ground! Shattered everywhere!!!

The same thing happens with almost every piggy bank! I believe lovely lady #1 has been through seven in seven years! So my hubby comes home from work on Saturday morning and tells the kids to hop in the car for a Lowe's trip.  He has this grand idea that he wants to make piggy banks....

??? I had no idea how he was planning on doing this.  Paper mache was all I could think of! Then he says something about picking up glass...so at this point I'm lost. So I just let them do their thing and I didn't ask a single question. 

I get home later that day and there are two pieces of wood nailed to lovely lady #2's wall!! That's it two horribly ugly pieces of skinny wood.  My first reaction was to be extremely upset that he just drilled into our newly painted walls, but I took a deep breath, walked away, and didn't say a thing! Until Sunday morning at 7am when I hear a table saw in my back yard!!! (My neighbors are probably cursing us!!) I kindly remind him that it is much too early on a Sunday to be making all that noise. So he comes in and goes about whatever it is he is doing.....

Then 20 minutes later......


VOILA

 the most awesome "piggy" bank I think I have ever seen!! This can no be dropped and more importantly its a little tougher to break into when you are just dying to have that candy bar! College is already starting to look more promising! :)

I'd like to pretty it up a little bit, maybe with some fabric or scrapbook paper around the border to cover up the nail...but I thought this thing was pretty stinking cute!! :)

Put not your trust in money,
but put your money in trust.
Oliver Wendell Holmes