Weigh In Wednesday: Method to the Madness

It is so fitting that this link-up falls on Thanksgiving Eve. A night where it seems easier to order take out instead of actually cooking dinner because you have to make 4 things for tomorrow. Anyone else feel that way? Because pizza or a grilled tenderloin and probably breaded hot pepper cheese cubes are on the dinner menu for tonight.

Here are the numbers:

Last week: 160.2 lbs

This week: 160.2 lbs

Change: 0 lbs

After all the beer I drank on Friday and soaking it up with some waffle fries and a bacon grilled cheese sandwich followed by a cheesy crabmeat omelet (sounds odd but it was so delicious)... I'll take it! It's a win-lose situation when something like this happens though. Yes, its nice to know that you can still take a break from healthy eating every once in a while and not do any damage. But that can also lead you down a road of bad meal after bad meal. The trick is to making it an every once in a while occurrence.


The other night while I was doing my workout, I was thinking about how I go about losing weight and it reminded me a lot of when I pitched during my softball days. The way you go about pitching(or at least 13 years ago when I first started pitching) you work on speed first, then you clean it up and work on accuracy. That is sort of how I've been approaching losing weight. Which may or may not be the right way to do it, but its what I'm able to do.


For the most part, I've been focusing on cardio and watching what I eat by tracking my calories in LoseIt. While T25 does have some strength and toning moves, it seems like its mostly cardio. Plus, I went through my running phase. And my food choices may not be the healthiest, but they keep me within my calorie limit and I haven't felt deprived of anything. This is the "speed" part. Finding my groove and getting started.


After New Years comes the "cleaning up" part. Danny and I have agreed to get a membership to the YMCA. He wants to start lifting again and I could benefit from lifting weights. I also want to focus on eating better foods. Danny mentioned how he would like to start using real butter instead of the "fake shit" I buy. I'm not sure I'm on board, but there are ways I can improve my food choices. Like I said, what I'm choosing now isn't necessarily the best, but its what is working at the moment. I just want to clean up our eating habits.


Do you have a tried and true method to losing weight that you go by?

Shopping for Insurance

These days health insurance is quite the topic and one I don't touch with a 10 foot pole.  But, home and auto insurance are just as important too and often get overlooked aside from the million and one commercials you see about how you can save tons of money through discounts.  While that may be true, you might be skimping on coverage.  The point of insurance isn't too save a ton of money paying for it. It's too make sure you're covered during an auto accident or when something happens to your home.


Now is a good time to start shopping for home and auto insurance.  By the time the beginning of the year rolls around, your bank account will start feeling the positive impact if you're lucky enough to find the right amount coverage for less. Repeat these words as you're shopping: the right amount of coverage. Here are some things to keep in mind as you're doing your shopping.


1. Consider an independent agency - An independent agency more than likely does business with a handful of insurance companies. They will basically do the shopping for you. They plug your info into a program and it shoots out prices for multiple companies and multiple coverage scenarios. The big name companies with fun and overplayed commercials are great, but don't forget the little hometown insurance agency.


2. Be honest - Do you think what your insurance agent doesn't know who hurt them? Well, you're right. But it will hurt you because the insurance company will find out. Be honest and tell all of your "secrets" during your shopping and initial meetings.  I've had customers fail to tell me about a speeding ticket or a claim on their home, I submit their policy, and then it gets cancelled due to not complying with underwriting standards after the company does their checking around. If you're honest upfront about your claims history (home and auto), you give your agent the chance to go to bat for you and get your policy approved.


3.  Update with your Upgrades - Have you recently put on a new roof? Make sure you tell your insurance agent! Larger upgrades and updates to homes more often than not will lower your insurance premium. New roof/heating and air/wiring and plumbing makes a house "safer" and a safer house means less premium. Same goes for security systems!


4.  Payment Method - If your driving record is less than stellar or your homeowners insurance just won't budge, you can still save money! Consider paying your full premium at one time, especially if you send a check in every month. Sending a check for the full policy premium will waive all of the service charges, which could easily be $5 a pop. Auto payment plans can have the same effect.


5. Saving money isn't always the best way to go - When you're shopping for insurance make sure you have enough coverage! Consider the unlikely scenarios: you're driving through town on a slick day, you rear end a Porsche, cause it to spin out of control, hitting another vehicle and then a telephone pole.  State minimum coverage probably wouldn't even cover the cost of the totaled Porsche. Sure, that person driving the Porsche can probably afford a new one, but you probably can't buy one or pay to repair the other car and the damage to the other property.


Those are my tips for shopping for insurance.  Hopefully you find them helpful!

The Weekend

This weekend FLEW by!




It started early for me since I was taking the hubs on a Mystery Date.  Before our date began, we stopped at the hospital to see his friend who was injured last week. He is doing FANTASTIC! So, so, so much better than anyone anticipated! While he still has a very long road to recovery, the swelling in his face has gone down, he can SEE (mostly just shapes, nothing too detailed though) and will have a second surgery this morning. He has found his humorous side and has jokingly thrown things at his girlfriend and even rubbed Danny's belly when the nurse told him to find his inner Buddha. Like I said, him and his family still have a long road ahead of them, but things could have turned out a whole lot worse! Thank you everyone for your thoughts and prayers!




After our visit, we headed to check in at our hotel and then beat feet to meet the bus for the Mystery Date, which was a brewery tour! Something we've never done before. We aren't huge craft beer people, but we do enjoy beer and a good time. Which is exactly what we had! $30 got us driven around to 4 different Indy breweries, a ton of samples, and a very good buzz.  Before the first stop, the bus was quiet. After the first stop, all the passengers were old friends! We visited Sun King (my fave), Flat 12, Indiana City(they have a seasonal winter brew that was so good!), and Two Deep. If you live in the Indy area, or an hour away and don't mind springing for a hotel (because you WILL be too intoxicated to drive home), it is so worth the money! I went through Brewery Tours of Indianapolis for ours. It is perfect for a birthday party (which there were 2 on our bus), an out of the box date night, or just a reason to get together with friends. We started planning our next tour before we visited the first brewery.


And this is the only picture I have. I failed to bring my car charger and the hospital ate my battery up.

Saturday morning we got woken up by the fire/emergency alarm at the hotel at 6:30. Yes, the one day I could sleep until my body woke me up, I get woke up 30 minutes past normal time. They were investigating. An hour and a half later, they came back over the intercom to let us know it was a false alarm. I'm sorry, but if its been an hour and a half and you haven't told me to evacuate yet, I'm gonna go ahead and assume all is okay. While I appreciate the caution, I appreciate sleep a little more at this point in my life. After a yummy breakfast at Another Broken Egg Café (we went to one on vacation in Alabama, and as soon as I saw one in Indy we had to go), we picked Tucker up from my moms and headed home. Danny went to work and Tucker and I played and went to Hobby Lobby. Once Tuck went to bed that night I folded some laundry and went to bed. I was TIRED and had a long Sunday ahead of me.

He's too cute for his teeth to hurt so bad!

When Danny got home from work, we loaded up and headed to drop Tuck off at my mom's so we could finish up Tuck's birthday shopping and go to Sam's Club. We got out of there for less than $300 so that was pretty impressive for us. We picked the boy up and headed home to relax for a bit before Danny's grandpa's Christmas. He gets it out of the way early and its lovely. After dinner, I was just ready to be home. Tuck was tired and grumpy, I was tired and still had to work out. All got done and I was in bed by 10:30 which is pretty good for a busy day/night!




Now, we are at the start of a 3 day work week and the official beginning of the holidays!

The Firefighter Family

Last night we got an unfortunate reminder of how strong the bond is of a firefighter family. 
Nothing happened to us directly, but to a friend. A good friend was injured in a terrible work related accident and is currently in critical care. It hits close to home. Not only because he is a great friend of Danny's. But because they worked at the fire department together. They became firefighters together. He became a father to a precious little girl less than 3 months before Tucker was born. Everything we had going on in that moment gut wrenching, jaw dropping moment last night just stopped.


But what didn't stop was the loyalty of the fire department. If you caught it a few sentences ago, I said this guy worked at the fire department.  That didn't matter though. Once you're in, you're in. Danny and another good friend of his (they work together at the fire department and he was the best man in our wedding) without hesitation headed to Indy at 8:45 last night. And were greeted by a few other firefighters. I got on Facebook after we received the news, and I found that at least 5 other firefighters had shared the GoFundMe link, posted status updates requesting prayers, and family members of firefighters had done the same.


A firefighter's family goes beyond the 4 walls of his home. It goes beyond the 4 walls of his own department. Beyond the city line, county line and state line. That's pretty impressive.


I've already felt the loyalty of the fire department, and I've only "been part of it" for 6 years. When my dad passed away, it was comforting to know the guys who walked in the front door as my life was turning upside down. Before we could even ask, they had Danny's next few shifts covered. A couple years later when my Grammy was having some falling troubles, they came out almost once a week during the summer to help her up, and never complained once. There was never a doubt in my mind when I went into labor 4 weeks early and 4 hours before Danny's next shift started that his shift that day and for the next couple of weeks would be covered. They are just there for you.


I couldn't be more thankful to be part of such a reliable "family."

Tucker + Weigh In Wednesday

Before I get to the regular Wednesday post for Weigh In Wednesday, I wanted to show off my little local celebrity. I tried too yesterday but my work computer was being difficult and since I have a few minutes to spare at home since Tuck is still snoozin' I figured I could do it while at home.

The hospital where Tucker was born, and where Danny's sister is an OB nurse, hosts a Mommy Monday event every month. November's theme went with October's Fire Prevention week, and since Tucker had his 6 month pictures done at the fire station, who better to be the face of the event than our handsome little dude??

This poster was plastered all over the hospital and was shared on Facebook for the world (or at least the local world) to see. I took a couple hours off Monday morning for him to make his celebrity appearance.  He couldn't have cared less about dressing up as a firefighter, he just wanted the graham crackers that all the older kids were using to make fire trucks. It was still fun. Next month is story time with Santa. I just might have to take him again!



Now, onto Weigh In Wednesday!

 

Last Weigh-In: 159.6 lbs

Today's Weigh-In: 160.2 lbs

Change: +.6 lbs

 

After last weeks huge, unexpected and as equally unbelievable loss, I  had a small gain, but I'll take it. I ate a whole frozen pizza Saturday for dinner so this is good. I've logged my food into LoseIt every day except for yesterday. Danny's mom invited us over to dinner with her, her husband and her dad. A night of free dinner and no dishes? Sign. Me. Up! So, I don't know what she puts in her chili, what kind of hot dogs she used (that was the other part of dinner) and she shared some special ice cream with me that she hides in the back of the freezer. So, I declared that cheat meal #1 of the week and moved on.

 

When we got home from dinner, I filled Danny in on my stressful afternoon at work, which led me to tears and a headache. I was mentally and physically tired, so at 9:15, I called it a night. Didn't do dishes (Yes, I know we ate dinner somewhere else, but this house produces an impressive amount of dirty dishes for 2.5 eaters), didn't fold a single article of clothing from the 2 full baskets of clean clothes and I certainly didn't do my T25 work out. That meant not only would I have to get up at 5 on Thursday for "Double Day," but I would have to get up Wednesday (that's today) to make up for Tuesday's missed work out. When my alarm went off at 5, I immediately his snooze because Tucker was up from about 12:15-2ish and we had trouble getting him back to sleep. I tried the first round then pulled the "you don't have to work tomorrow" card on Danny and tossed and turned while he gave him a bottle and fought him back to sleep. I had trouble going back to sleep myself, so I was up for most of it. Perfect excuse to skip Tuesday's workout again. But that's all it was. An excuse. I was already awake and would spend the next 45 minutes getting comfy and drifting in and out of sleep only to get out of bed feeling exhausted. I figured I might as well make the most of it, so I got out of bed and got it done.

 

I've finally reached a point where I'm talking myself into working out rather than talking myself out of it. Hopefully I can continue that for the next few weeks, especially with holiday celebrations coming up. We literally have 3 parties between December 7th and December 13th. Two of which we are hosting. I am well aware that I am nuts.


That's it for this week's Weigh In Wednesday! 

 

 

Weekend Recap

We had a great weekend this weekend. Nothing too extraordinary, but still pretty wonderful.

Friday night Danny made dinner.  After not grilling all summer and fall, he decided that the first very cold week of the year would be a great time to make up for that. Whatever, I didn't have to make dinner! He grilled pork steaks, made some au gratin potatoes and I cooked some broccoli in the microwave.  It was all very delicious. So nice and delicious that I even took a picture!

 

Hi, my name is Tucker and I like to take big drinks of water just to spit it out all over my shirt.

Danny worked on Saturday, so it was a Tuck and mommy day. After playing for a couple of hours, we got ready to head to my mom's to meet her for lunch and to just spend some time together. She hadn't seen Tucker in 2 weeks and was close to losing her mind. I treated myself to Starbucks on the way down to extend Tucker's naptime. We had lunch at Houlihans where Tucker ate practically everything in sight. Then, after returning something at Old Navy and buying coffee at Bed, Bath and Beyond, I made a promise to myself to not go out to any sort of shopping center on a Saturday for the rest of the Christmas shopping season. People are f'ing nuts and it stresses me out. Online and weeknight shopping for the win. We actually went to Target too, which surprisingly wasn't that bad crowd wise, especially since it was a Saturday afternoon and at one of the busiest exits near Indy. I'd go there again. After dropping my mom off at her apartment, Tucker and I headed home for the evening. We ate dinner, played and both practically went to bed.  I stayed up a little longer than Tucker to fold some laundry and plan my grocery trip for Sunday morning. Saturday nights have gotten wild. 

Sunday started out kind of rough. I woke up on the wrong side of the bed I think. Which is unfortunate because I got a solid 8 hours of sleep. Well, actually Tucker was up for 40ish minutes around 12 because of his damn teeth that refuse to come in, but other than that, it was a pretty decent stretch for me.  Danny was splitting wood and drinking beer with his BFF all day so Tuck and I were on our own again. We hit the grocery early to avoid crowds and I will be doing that as often as I can. Sunday mornings at the grocery are wonderful! And Tucker was a complete angel. No fussing, no throwing his sippy cup down, didn't demand a crunchy or animal cracker every 3 steps. On the way home, my XM radio was helping me relive my middle school and high school days. I LOOOOVE the Pop2K station. So many memories.

After a stressful lunch time, Tucker and I both needed naps. We parked it in the recliner and both went right to sleep. I got a good hour and 15 minutes, and Tucker slept for 2 and a half hours! It was a lovely little break. Once we woke up, Danny was finally home and we all ate dinner together. Yesterday was a perfect crock pot meal day. I made chicken and dumplings and they were so yummy. Once dinner was over, there was some play time and then an hour and a half battle at bedtime. That boy is so stubborn. My mom is probably laughing her ass off at that statement since I was/am very stubborn. Once he was finally asleep, I started Week 3 of T25, showered and right as I was getting ready to dry my hair and go to bed, Tucker started fussing. He went back to sleep after a few snuggles and some nursing, then it was off to bed for me!

It was a pretty standard weekend. Like I said, nothing too exciting but certainly not boring.

Five on Friday

This link up started popping back up on my bloglovin' feed while I was on vacation last month and I was very excited!

1. In order for me to stay on track with T25, I've  had to do 2 "Double Days" to get all 6 work outs in for the week. And because I usually don't start working out until 8:30 or 9, I don't want to do 2 right in a row, although I did last week but that's was because I wasn't working Friday. That's led me to getting up at 5am and getting the first one in, then doing the other at the normal time. I hate it. I've never been the type to work out in the morning. It makes me tired for the rest of the day, I like to eat breakfast as soon as I get up, or within 20ish minutes, and its just early. BUT, with the holidays coming up, there's a strong chance of my pants getting tighter instead of looser. So, 5am it is.

5 am or 9pm, my brain knows.

2. I am happy to report that I am just about done Christmas shopping! I've got a couple of things left to buy for the kiddos in Danny's family then a few little things for Danny and that's it. Danny and I aren't really doing gifts this year because we want to do a couple of things to the house and buy a camper. It feels nice to have Christmas shopping almost done. Where was this motivation last year when I was 8 months pregnant with a baby that was going to come 4 weeks early, interrupting the last bit of shopping I had to do? He's lucky he's cute!

3. Speaking of cute baby, he will be 1 freaking year old 3 weeks from yesterday. How did this happen? I am in party planning mode. Invitations have been sent out, the menu is written and his birthday shirt has arrived. The last major thing I need to do is go talk to the bakery in town about his cake/cupcakes. That'll be pretty much it until the week of when I really start prepping.

4. This picture popped up on my Pinterest home page the other day.

There have been so many times in the last 4 and a half years since my dad passed away that I've needed this reminder.  It seems like very few months, there is some sort of "battle" to be fought. Some challenge.  My brother and I are currently going through 3 right now which involve 2 men that my dad gave the world too. I know things are going to turn out the way they are supposed too and eventually be okay. We just have to get there.

 

5. Danny's mom mentioned the other day that she needs Christmas lists from the adults. Why are Christmas lists so hard for adults? When you're a kid, you want everything you lay your eyes on. Gift cards would be nice, and I know there will be a Target gift card involved in my gift somehow since that's happened the last 6 Christmases, but she likes to give gifts. Do you like gift cards or do you not have trouble making a list for people who ask? 

Breastfeeding: Pumping

It's been a while since I've talked about my breastfeeding experience and now that I am nearing the end, now feels like a good time. In my last breastfeeding related post, I talked about the costs of breastfeeding that no one really warned me about nor did I think about until I was in the middle of all of it. This post is kind of the same thing but about pumping.  These are thoughts and ideas that I've came across along the way reading through forums, searching Pinterest and doing some talking with other moms.

1. Just keep doing it - This relates to that moment when you're sitting on your couch or at your desk at work pumping for the last 20 minutes, you look down, and you see this...

Less than an ounce. Total. From both boobs combined. It feels like such a waste of time and your mind almost immediately goes to "I don't even see the point of my next pumping session." There is a point though! You're signaling those things to make more milk. Your boobs and their milk supply, at least in my case, are pretty unpredictable. Just stick to your "schedule" and they'll most likely do what they need to do. Don't skip your next pump because you think you'll get less than 2 ounces.

 

2. Always, Always, Always have spare parts - Since my pump is a Medela PISA, I am only familiar with that brand and model, so these particular terms apply to it. I can't tell you how many times I ripped one of the membranes (the little white circle things that attach to the yellow things) during cleaning. Guess what happens if you rip one? Your pump doesn't pump that side. Who knew that one little round circle could have such an impact on a machine. Whenever I got down to one spare set, I bought another pack. They are like $6 and every once in a while Target has a cartwheel for breastfeeding accessories. Stock up on this crap when that happens! This same thing goes to tubing and shields. I was at work one day and noticed black stuff (I'm thinking mold somehow) in my tubing. Luckily I had another set at home and didn't have to go all day at work without pumping.

3. Become a little OCD with your routines - Your pumping routine, your cleaning routine and your morning routine for getting out of the house. The first 4 months of Tucker's life, I exclusively pumped and bottled fed him. Since Danny works 24 hour shifts, I had to learn to pump and feed at the same time: get bottle, prop baby up on Boppy, get pump hooked up to me and start pumping, feed baby, finish pumping, put baby in swing, deal with milk and parts. I did that 8 times a day. I put parts and bottles in my bag in the same order each morning and I clean them the same way every single night. I've forgotten something at home one time. I've read horror stories about moms leaving something at home and not realizing until they are at work, with a short lunch break and nowhere close to buy extra parts or a hand pump. If you've ever had engorged boobs, I'm sure you're having sympathy pains for those women right now.

4. Your pump output is like your grades in high school - It'll fall in the blink of an eye and you'll have to pump like its your job to get it back up. Power pumping(pump for 20 minutes, 10 minute break, pump for 10 minutes, 10 minute break, pump for 10 minutes) is the equivalent of that 2 page essay you had to do for like 10 extra points. You work on it for 4 nights and you get a 2% increase in your grade, except you get 2 more ounces. Except the difference is 2 ounces makes you want to throw a party and not bang your head against a locker.

5. Don't dump without at least sniffing it - I say at least, because you might even have to taste it. Go ahead and judge, but there have been times where Tucker would drink 1 oz of a 4 oz bottle, meaning 3 oz would go back in the fridge and come home with us after work. No way in hell I'm dumping 3/4 of a bottle. I always stuck it back in the fridge when we got home and sniffed it the next morning. If I couldn't tell if it was good or not, I would stick my clean finger in the bottle to get a little drop to taste. If you don't have kids yet and have never experienced the agony of dumping breastmilk down the drain, then save the judgement for when you do have to do that. Its painful. Because like the scenario in #1, 3 ounces could easily be the result of 40 minutes hooked up to the pump.

I hope these tips/thoughts on pumping don't scare you away from the idea of pumping. That's not what they are for. Hopefully you find them helpful if anything! I know if it weren't for reading a few of them, I would have quit months ago!

Weigh-In Wednesday

Despite all of my unintentional efforts to gain 5 pounds this weekend by eating no less than 3 cookies a day, stuffing my face with free macaroni and cheese and washing it down with free margaritas (seriously, why do free margs taste better than margs you have to pay for?!), I managed to not gain 5 pounds. As a matter of fact, I even saw a loss this morning! A pretty shocking one too!

 

Last Weigh-In (mid-September): 165.2 lbs

Today's Weigh-In: 159.6 lbs

Change: -5.6 lbs

 

 

A 5.6 pound loss. I'm not really sure what happened there. Actually, its probably due to the fact that I'm not carrying around a bunch of extra milk since my breastfeeding journey is coming to an end. I'll get to that at some point in the next couple of weeks. Or, its because I finally started treating my body the way it needed to be treated. It has felt so good to get back on track.

 

A few years ago, after a weekend of not giving too much thought about what I put in my mouth, I would have just kept going in that direction. Eating poorly Friday, Saturday and Sunday would have led to eating poorly Monday through Thursday too. Then it would be the weekend again, and eating healthy on the weekend is dumb, because its the weekend. And lets not forget, working out on the weekends is classified as overachieving.

 

That thought process got me nowhere, except for 10-20 pounds heavier and feeling bad about myself. That "moment" that people who are tired of being overweight (or new moms who are still carrying around the baby belly) have when they've had enough happened a week and a half ago. That moment where enough is enough.  That moment where you get off the couch, put your tennis shoes on, and get to work. That moment when instead of ordering pizza or Chinese, you eat some chicken and veggies. That moment when you realize if you don't get it together, you're going to be huffing and puffing while you chase your child around the house.

 

Right now, I am taking it day by day. Holiday parties start next weekend for us. I can't keep my eating and exercise perfect. Depriving myself of treats doesn't work well for me long-term. It only works for about 3 days. If I keep myself in check the other days of the week, hopefully the times where I treat myself are just that, a treat and not a binge!

 

 

 

 

Frankenmuth Weekend Recap!

The 4th Annual Girls Weekend with my mother-in-law and 2 sister-in-laws is now in the books. I seriously look forward to this weekend more and more each year!

Friday morning we headed out of town around 8:30 and stopped for breakfast at Cracker Barrel.  We got to Frankenmuth/Birch Run around 1:30 and immediately started shopping. Each year, we've left earlier and earlier because we need more time at the outlet mall. We timed it just right this year! We hit Old Navy, Carter's and a couple of other stores before we all realized we were starving and were ready to get back to our hotel. If you're ever in the Frankenmuth area, or any area with a Drury Inn, I highly recommend you stay there! Free breakfast every morning, and then a "Kick-Back" every night with free dinner(soup, pasta, salad, baked potatoes, hot dogs, nachos) and drinks (like with alcohol, limit of 3) every night. All we pay for is lunch! Its beautiful! We were so tired from driving and shopping, that we were all in bed by 9:30.

Saturday I woke up more rested than I have in the last 2 years I think. It was lovely! After we all at breakfast and showered, off to Bronner's we went! It doesn't matter what time or what day we go there. It is always packed! I did find a perfect Christmas tree for the fire station though! If only I had hundreds of dollars to spend!

After Bronner's it was time for some more outlet shopping and lunch. We hit A LOT of stores. Between shopping Friday and Saturday, we had 3 stores left for Sunday. Before heading back to the hotel, we stopped to get fudge and run into the cheese shop to get the boys some of their favorites. After we got to the hotel, we settled in with some dinner and drinks, then hit the hot tub before going to bed.

We were up bright and early again on Sunday to attend church before finishing up our shopping. It was a good thing we were done shopping, because we were running out of room in the van! My nieces are excited for when they finally get to go (we're thinking at age 16 or 17), but we're not sure where they'll sit?! We did get almost all of our Christmas shopping done for everyone else's children and even some for our own!

We got home yesterday evening around 5. I was ready to see my boys. All 3 of them! Diesel was excited I was home, Danny was happy to hand the baby off, and Tucker just gave me a small smirk. He apparently had too much fun with his daddy this weekend to miss me too much! I guess I would rather that happen instead of him being inconsolable.

It was a great weekend and a much needed break from wrestling through diaper changes and chasing a baby!

Weigh-In Wednesday

It's been a while since I've participated in this link-up and there's no better time than a morning where your pants just piss you off. And it shouldn't come as such a shock, since I basically took all of October off of running and eating right. Now that November is here and the holidays are weeks away, it's time to get a handle on things before I really fall off the wagon!

Let's start with the numbers to see what damage October did.

Last Weigh-In (mid-September): 163.6

Today's Weigh-In: 165.2

Change: +1.6

Considering the fact that I ran 5 times in October and went on vacation, I'll call a 1.6 lb gain a win. Things could have been A LOT worse. Regardless of putting a positive spin on a gain, I had my "enough is enough" moment on Saturday.

After feeling icky from Friday night's Chinese dinner and just not feeling great about myself all weekend, I decided on Saturday that I would start T25 the very next day. Who starts a workout program on a Sunday? Well, apparently I do. Originally, I wasn't going to start until next Monday. I'm going on my annual shopping trip to Michigan with my mother-in-law and sister-in-laws this weekend, and after the trip felt like a good time in my head. But, my body was telling me something different. It needed to move and it needed change. So, I started Sunday night after Tucker went to bed. Working out at 8:30 or 9pm is not something I enjoy, but I also don't enjoy this muffin top I'm sporting either.

If I do both rounds of T25, which barring any broken bones, I should be able too, that'll put me finishing up just after the New Year. The timing couldn't be better.

Danny and I have done some talking over the last few weeks and we've both decided that its time.... to join a gym. You thought I was going to say have another baby didn't you?  He has been wanting to get back into lifting weights (he was a rock star lifter in high school) and he suggested to me in the most nicest way possible (because husbands suggesting anything weight loss related too their wives always goes over well. This actually did though) that I start lifting weights to get better results. I know I need too and I know I should. I've known it for a while. I'm still finding balance with this working mom crap, but the gym we want to join (the YMCA) has childcare in the evenings so I can go right after work and take Tucker with me. It'll be good for him to (hopefully) interact with other kids too since he's mostly just with Danny's mom every day.

That's the plan for now. To get a handle on things before the holidays hit by doing T25 and watching what I eat, then start going to the gym after the New Year.

How are you battling or preventing holiday weight gain this year?

Halloween & Weekend Recap

So, it's November. How in the hell did this happen? I'm going to have an 11 month old tomorrow. Crazy stuff!

The weekend started early on Friday. Work has been so unbelievably slow its almost kind of boring. I'm caught up on a few things, I'm ahead on a couple things and the phone isn't ringing since the farmers are still in the fields around here. So, I went back to work after lunch for about 20 minutes and called it a day. I went home to clean our dining/middle room of our house while Danny watched Blacklist on Netflix. I don't know what to call it. Its supposed to be a dining room but we don't have a table soooo? Anyways, I can see my desk, there aren't a 5 different bags just hanging out and the infant car seat that hasn't been used since July is finally in storage. It was a productive couple of hours!

Danny was actually productive on Friday too.

Next up was Tucker's first Halloween! The weather was TERRIBLE by the way! I think we saw, rain, sleet and snow.  I debuted our family costumes last week, which is what we sported again Friday night. We mostly just visited Danny's family and then my best friend at her parent's house. Her dad thought Danny's costume was hysterical! I'm not sure why but he just laughed his ass off. After making a few rounds, we ordered Chinese, ate a Danny's moms while visiting her then went home for the night. Our little monkey was tired and went straight to bed and we watched some more Blacklist.

Happy Halloween from my zoo to yours!

We were up early on Saturday and I felt sick when I woke up so I asked Danny to take over so I could lay down. I'm blaming the Chinese food so I don't eat it again. Another 45 minutes of sleep helped a little. I had an hour long massage scheduled for Saturday morning. It was heavenly! Danny's mom got it for me... last  year... for my baby shower. It was time to be used. After my massage, I headed home to get Danny and Tucker then we headed to my mom's new apartment. She lives about 30 minutes closer now! We helped her unpack, went to dinner at Five Guys then headed home. We watched a couple episodes of.. wait for it.. Blacklist.

Dressing up for Gigi!

Tucker, Diesel and I had a typical Sunday. Danny worked, so it was just me and the boys.  I got a few things done around the house, Tucker and I went to Target, then a birthday party and played and ate all evening long. After a fun bath time, Tucker was ready for bed a 7:00pm on the dot! Daylight Savings Time has us back to our pre-vacation sleep schedule of 7p-5a. The early mornings kind of suck, but its nice to have a few hours at night to fold laundry, put away clothes, pick up toys, change sheets, workout, shower and dry my hair, which is how I spent 7:30-10 last night.

 

This kid is such a ham!

It was a pretty standard weekend. I like those!