FitBit

A couple of weeks ago I mentioned that I was going to get a FitBit because I was interested to see what yet another device had to say about my lifestyle. I went with the FitBit Flex. And much to my husband's surprise, I chose the pink one. It was that or black, but you can buy different band colors.

I am happy to report that I am really enjoying it. I'm not using it to its full ability, but I don't need it for ALL of the bells and whistles. I have LoseIt and my heart rate monitor (which is this one) for the parts that I don't use in FitBit. I really just wanted the FitBit to tell me the things that those 2 things can't: how much I move on a normal day and how I'm sleeping. I like to look at the calories I've burned too, but don't put to much faith in it. I don't know how that part is calculated, but it's still a good reference I think.

 

 

You can set a goal for the number of steps in a day. Since I have an office job, I set mine for 6,000. I have hit 6,000 steps once, and it was on the Sunday we went to the RV show. I'm trying to reach the 6,000. I mean, I pee at least 6 times while I'm at work, I print everything on the printer that's not in my office. You can even have your FitBit alert you when you are halfway to your goal or once you've achieved it.

 

So far, the sleep part has been my favorite as it has really cleared some things up for me.

Now, this part only works if you are diligent about when you "Begin" and "End" your sleep. I begin once I'm done playing on my phone for the night or crawling back in bed after getting up to pee or tend to Tucker or Diesel, and I end before I even get out of bed for the bathroom, the dog, Tucker, or for the day. I mean, tracking my sleep was one of the two reasons I shelled out the money so I need to be serious about it. On the sleep page, there are two important parts. How long your sleep lasted and what you did during your sleep. The picture on the left is a typical night for me, except I usually get up at 5:30 and not 5. I think Tucker woke up early this day and we snoozed in the chair (which I didn't track). The picture on the left, well that is an reflection of the gift from God last night. Nearly 7 hours of uninterrupted sleep. Those little numbers under the start and end time are important, especially the ones in the parentheses. The 10 mins restless is pretty self explanatory, but Danny told me that the (#x) is the number of times you turned in the night. I'm still trying to figure out the total time part though. Last nights doesn't really add up, so I'm either bad at math or there is some magical equation they do to factor in your restless time. It really could be either.

Those are my thoughts on my FitBit. I really do love it. It's helped me figure out that I need to get off my ass more throughout the day and that my sleep leaves something to be desired most nights. Most moms of 13 month olds probably think the same thing, but at least I have evidence now.

Do you have a FitBit? Let me know and we can be friends!

 

 

 



Weigh-In Wednesday: 1/28/15

When I left off on Monday, I said I would be surprised if I wasn't in a boot by the end of the week. Well, I'm surprised.  The MRI did not show any stress fractures. While that's a huge relief, it's also frustrating. After 5 days of rest, my leg was feeling worse and hurting more often. I've been in this position before. From age 13 to about 18, I saw 6 doctors, 2 chiropractors, and one Amish doctor (clearly I was desperate for answers) to find an explanation about why I was having so much back pain. I eventually found the answer at the 6th doctor who discovered my tailbone didn't develop right and everything in my lower back is just kind of crowded. Hopefully this pain doesn't take 5 years and 6 doctors to figure out.

For right now, my plan is to start exercising again and get more calcium into my body. In my non-medical through Google only research opinion, I think my bone density has been compromised, leading me to this pain. A couple of things that lead to a loss of bone density (again, through my Internet research) are being on birth control and the absence of your period. That would be me. So, I went and bought some calcium + vitamin D supplements (calcium is fine and dandy, but needs vitamin D to absorb into the body) and will work on eating/drinking more calcium rich foods. And apparently drinking beer helps? Here's a shitty picture I sent to Danny yesterday from an article by Dr. Oz (so this is obviously true) about my discovery.

Okay, so onto Weigh-In Wednesday, where once again, I am surprised. I'm also going to reveal my Before & After pictures for T25!

Last Week: 160.2 lbs

This Week: 161.0 lbs

Change: +.8 lbs

I'm okay with this gain. It's understandable and expected. The last time I worked out was last Wednesday, I ate Buffalo Wild Wings and IHOP over the weekend, I devoured some movie theater popcorn, and I pretty much went over in calories every day. And I enjoyed every bite so I'm okay with the small gain.

Now, the pictures. I don't think there is a huge change between the before and after, but there is enough of one that I'm pleased. Also, please ignore my dirty bathroom mirror in the after pictures. Ain't nobody got time to clean with a teething, into-everything 13 month old. Before is on the left, after is on the right. My nice, labeled pictures won't upload.

 

My Starting Weight: 165.2 lbs

End Weight: 160.2 lbs

 

I didn't measure inches or anything like that. I'm happy with  my results. To be able to lose ANY weight through Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years is an accomplishment.

That's all I have time for today. I was going to share what I'm doing now, but that will have to wait for next week. I started on my Pinterest workouts last night and I kicked my own ass. My legs are sore today!

Have a good Wednesday! :)

Weekend Recap

Having to be at the doctor first thing in the morning is really getting in the way of blogging. Better late than never I suppose!

Friday after work I got to spend some time in the kitchen making a nice dinner for my boys. It does me some good every once in a while to get in there, make a mess, and deliver a delicious meal. I love it. I made lasagna rolls and they were delicious!

 

Tucker approved!

Saturday was a fun day. Tucker and I had brunch with my BFF Shelby at IHOP. It was delicious. And it was good to see her since it had been about 6 weeks.

After lunch we ran some errands with my mom. Tucker got so spoiled by his Gigi. Go figure! His current obsession is brooms. Yep, the cleaning tool and I'm not exaggerated at all when I saw obsession. He has a pink and purple one because that's all our local Target had at the time. Well, my mom's Target had a red and green PUSH broom. When he saw it he dropped the book he was looking at and got the biggest smile on his face. In the cart it went. Well, actually in Tucker's hands it went. 

After we got home we ate dinner. I made a turkey burger for myself and it was delicious. 

Tucker went to bed shortly after dinner and I stayed up working on Danny's Valentine's Day gift from me. Its turning out pretty cute!

Sunday was a fun day. After church, I got a couple things around the house done before Danny and I went on a movie date. We dropped Tucker off at my mom's so we could go see American Sniper. If you haven't seen it yet, please go see it. It was incredible. It really sheds a light on what our brave men go through to protect our country. And it also shows what their whole family goes through. It was a really  powerful movie.

After the movie, we headed back home since the weather was getting bad. We had a baaaaad wing craving so we ordered Bdubs on the way home. It was so good even though it was a little cold from the drive home. 

After dinner we all played, watched tv and just lounged before Tucker put up a good bedtime fight. He's such a stubborn thing!

 

 

Now its time for a week of meetings and more resting of the leg. I had my MRI this morning and the weekend of "rest" brought more pain. I'm going to be surprised if I don't end up in a boot by the end of the week. Lovely.

Friday's Five

I'm late getting today's post up, but better late than never right! Plus, I hate missing out on the Five on Friday link up.

1. I spent the better part of my morning in the walk-in clinic at the orthopedic center. 3 hours and an x-ray later, I walked out with an appointment for an MRI on Monday and a little more confidence in my self-diagnosis... which is a stress fracture. The doctor didn't like a couple of things on my bones in my lower leg that he saw on the x-ray, so he wants to take a better look. Lovely. I can't help but be a little surprised that I have a bone issue. I mean, I do have an extra vertebrae (which is really not that uncommon), an extra bone in my foot, and my right hand had a weird thing go on with it when I was in high school. What's one more right? So, until I get the results of the MRI, which will hopefully be Wednesday, I am instructed to take it as easy as I can with a 13 month old. He said I could walk as long as it doesn't bother me, but it's like 35 degrees out and I don't own a working treadmill.

2. The good news is though that I FINISHED T25! I knew it wouldn't come without pain on Wednesday, but its done and over with. I plan on sharing my before and after pictures on Wednesday! As a preview, here are some before pictures.

3. My January challenge of no sweets is starting to become, well, a challenge.  I drive by the bakery here in town at least once a day and it makes me want a damn cake pop. I've only ever had one from there, but it was the best cake pop I've ever had. She just makes delicious cake. However, I've decided what I want my first sweet to be. These bad boys...

Peanut Butter Cheesecake Bars. (Recipe is HERE) I mean, I just gained 3 pounds looking at them, but I love cheesecake and I L-O-V-E peanut butter. I will be buying the ingredients on January 31st and making them on February 1st. And don't think I haven't planned my last treats before each new challenge begins and first treats before a challenge ends. Because I'll be picking up an order of hot pepper cheese cubes on my way home from getting the ingredients for the peanut butter cheesecake bars since February is fried foods and then March is dairy.
4. Valentine's Day is just around the corner. I've already figured out what I'm getting Danny, which will not be disclosed until the gift is given. And that could be any time between next weekend and the actual holiday. If you're new around here, I have a hard time waiting to give gifts. And so does Danny. Anyways, I'm having a hard time coming up with sometime to Danny from Tucker. My goal for the weekend is to get my gift to him done, and then work on Tucker's.

5. And we can't have a post without a picture of Tuck.  Can he stop looking like a 3 year old already? I swear, if I didn't know any better, I'd say he was headed off to preschool next year.

I hope you all have a good weekend. I've got a breakfast date with a friend, shopping with my mama and a movie with my husband on the agenda for this weekend. My house probably needs some TLC too.

Weigh-In Wednesday: 1/21/15

Happy Wednesday, everyone! It is indeed a happy Wednesday over here. I was more than pleased with what I saw on the scale this morning after last week's let down. So, let's get to it!

Last Week: 162.4 lbs

This Week: 160.2 lbs

Change: -2.2 lbs

A 2 pound weight loss! I was so happy when I saw that! That is what happens when you keep going and trust what you're doing. I'm finally back to where I was before Christmas rolled around. It took me a month to gain 3 pounds and then lose them. I'll take it.

T25 is coming to an end for me tonight. I didn't finish last night as I had originally hoped. My leg was really bothering me yesterday so I decided to take the night off.  The last workout (Speed 2.0) will, without a doubt, hurt. So, I didn't want to go into it already hurting. Hopefully taking ibuprofen throughout the day will help. I just need to get the damn thing done.  Once I am done with it, I am taking Thursday through Saturday off. I may start my in on my Pinterest workouts on Sunday. We'll have to see how things feel. If I don't feel better by Monday, I'm going to go to the doctor to get checked out.

The food area has been pretty good, except for Sunday while we were out and about. We had Arby's for lunch (beef n cheddar with fries. Fries weren't worth it, but that beef n cheddar was delish) then Mexican that night with my mom (shrimp tacos with an excessive amount of chips and queso). Those days are going to happen every once in a while. If I don't let them happen, then this whole thing won't last. I don't do well depriving myself of everything that is bad for me. I think that is why my monthly challenge of no sweets is going well. While I'm cutting one "bad" thing out, I am still able to indulge in other areas.  So next month while I won't be able to eat French fries or my beloved cheese cubes, I'll be able to have a little something sweet. I just like to eat. It might be a problem, but there are worse things.

That's pretty much all I've got for today. Hopefully next week I'll have a good report again!

Note To Self

Dear Erin,

Last night you completed the 5th workout for T25 Beta Round. That means you have ONE workout left. 25 minutes of hard work + 3ish minutes of stretching. For the love of all things Holy, make sure you do that workout. Get it done tonight or tomorrow. I'm giving you the option because when you woke up this morning, your leg hurt more than it did yesterday and the day before. So, after this very last work out, take the rest of the week off so you can get back on the horse and keep working.

Finishing this workout program is a first for you. You've done the 30 Day Shred, but skipped the last 3 days because you found out you were pregnant and got super nervous to workout that intensely. You did Couch25K, but skipped a couple runs the last week because you didn't have time. Even though you've skipped one of the ab workouts in T25 Alpha Round due to the strain it puts on your tailbone (that problem happened after Tuck was born) we are going to act like you did the whole program since you can't do anything about your tailbone. When it started acting up again, you replaced the ab workout with the upper body workout instead of just skipping it. You've clearly changed your perspective on this whole working out thing.

I know you're nervous about what comes next. But, you've mapped out a good plan that is definitely manageable. You've done the research and prepping. Now its time to just do it. You've come a long way in the last year (or in 11 months since you were cleared to workout). Do not stop here!

Keep going so you can:
- Fit into those jeans from the Buckle that always make you feel like a million bucks
- Feel good wearing a bathing suit for the first time in a long time (or ever)
- Chase your kid around this summer. He loves being outside and now that he can walk and climb, you better be ready.
- Run the 5K in town again, and maybe even sign up for a few more
- Be a good example for your children (current and future)
- Be healthy. You've watched family members suffer health wise due to not taking care of themselves. You told yourself you'd never let that be you.

Please keep going!

Weekend Recap

Another weekend of completely ignoring all household chores has came and went. It's a good thing I am able to go home at lunch and clean or we'd be living in a constant filth.

Friday I took a half day at work to take my mama to a dental procedure and keep an eye on her after. She did great and all went well with that. I made some super easy potato soup in the crock pot for us to eat for dinner since she wouldn't be able to chew. We both ate like 2 bowls. Apparently I binge eat soup on Fridays now since I did the same thing last Friday. And like I said last Friday, there are worse things.

Saturday was lovely. Tucker slept until 7am, costing me $5. I whispered in his ear Friday as I was taking him to his crib that I would pay him $5 if he slept through the night. He fussed around 3:30, but not enough to fully wake himself up. So, I'm out 5 bucks. We went to my mom's to make sure she was doing okay and hung out for a few hours. After we got home, Tucker threw a fit because he wanted to go outside. 

It was a pretty nice day, but I didn't want to go outside without Diesel since he had been by himself most of the day. I can't handle Tucker and Diesel by myself since we don't have a fenced in yard and Tucker can't walk that well yet. So, a quick trip the mailbox sufficed. I had some bananas to use, so I made banana oatmeal pancakes for dinner. They were delicious, easy and filling. And still good this morning! Much more satisfying than a traditional pancake, which leave you hungry like 30 minutes later.

After Tucker went to bed, I did a T25 workout and watched a couple episodes of Friends. Since I didn't put any money towards a full nights sleep, Tucker woke up at 4:30, landing us both in the recliner where I slept until 7:15 and Tucker slept until 8.

Onto the highlight of the weekend that I've been dying to share with someone other than Danny and my mom. It's not baby #2. We've been talking about buying a camper for about a year and a half now. All of our friends camp, we pack all of our shit up to spend the day with them, then pack all of our shit up to go home. That's annoying. There was an RV show in Indy for the past 2 weeks and we wanted to go look one more time before we made our purchase next month at the Boat, Sport and Travel show where there are good prices. Riiiiight.

We left with one less check in our checkbook. 

They didn't have the one we wanted in stock, but they said they would let us order what we wanted and if we didn't want it, then that's fine. We picked a very popular, but different floor plan that they wouldn't have a hard time getting rid of if we backed out of the deal. Due to the holiday, we won't know anything for sure until tomorrow. But, if all goes as planned, we'll be getting our little house on wheels in about 8 weeks! We are so excited!

That was it for the weekend!

Five on Friday

I'll be typing this post with my eyes either glazed completely over, or shut. Tucker is killing me this week. He's gotten up between 1-3am every. single. night. since Sunday. I practically hit the button on the Kuerig for coffee number 2 as I finished number 1. Thank you God for Friday!

1. We came up with our home project for the year.  Ever since we moved in, I've had grand plans of a master bedroom with a bathroom. While that would be nothing but lovely, its not in the cards financially yet. Danny and I also agreed that a mudroom that doubles as a laundry room would benefit us more right now. Our kitchen area is a hot freaking mess at all times. You practically have to turn sideways to walk to the toilet and shower in our bathroom because the washer and dryer are in there. A mudroom would give us a clean, less cluttered house. We are meeting with a contractor that Danny works with at the fire department next week (who was also my softball coach in high school. we are such small town people) to talk plans and numbers. We are going to build the room right over our covered back porch, so there is already a roof. It just needs 4 walls with windows, a finished floor, a couple doors and some electricity. I cannot wait! Here is kind of what I'm thinking.

 

 

2. In true Erin fashion, I have managed to injure myself now that I am literally days away from finishing T25.  I planned on doing Week 5, Day 3 of the Beta round last night, but my right leg had other plans.  I am either battling shin splits, or a small stress fracture. I took last night off and will be taking tonight off too. Hopefully I feel up to working out Saturday night. I'm kind of bummed that the 10 week program will be taking me almost 12, but finishing it is what counts! I also feel like I'm in the middle of volleyball two-a-days. Shin splints were inevitable for me.

 

3. For the first time in months, I bought coffee creamer while at the grocery store. Coffeemate had an ad for their new chocolate chip cookie creamer on Facebook that had been haunting me for weeks. I had to try it. Fortunately, and unfortunately, there was one lonely bottle left. I felt that was a sign and grabbed it. I also grabbed some Bailey's bourbon vanilla pound cake creamer too. Both have been delicious, but the Bailey's one is my fave. Probably because its cake flavored.

 

4. We all know that I love Mix and Match Mama. I have come to love her even more of the last couple of weeks as her and her family have brought their sweet Ashby home. She has been documenting their trip to get Ashby on her family blog as well as on her IG account. Its been so fun following their journey. They arrived back in Texas last night and seeing all of the photos of their friends and family welcoming them at the airport gave me chills.

 

5. I still have a little bit of Christmas money to spend. I've spent most of it on things for the house, like a tv stand, since I didn't think I really wanted anything. Well, turns out I want things. Mostly a FitBit.  I want the one that tracks it all. Your activity and your sleep. I know this week that my sleep quality is a joke, but the sleep part is what interests me the most. I am a very light sleeper. And my husband is a very heavy, active, all over the freaking bed sleeper. The dog is the same way. He runs and wimpers in his sleep. On a good day, I get at least 7 hours of sleep. But more times than not, I wake up tired. I understand I have a 13 month old, but 7 hours of sleep shouldn't leave me feeling exhausted still. I'll report back if I get one and how its working for me. In all honestly, there is no "if." I'm going to get one. I'll let you know how it goes.

 

That's it for this Friday.

Weigh-In Wednesday: 1/14/15

Its time for Weigh-In Wednesday again. I'm kind of baffled at the fact that its already Wednesday again.

Here are the numbers:

Last Week: 162.6

This Week: 162.4

Change: -.2

This morning was one of those weigh ins where once your scale finally stops waffling back and forth you just look down and say "Are you shitting me?" I did so well last week, minus the Captains on Friday, which was pretty much my only cheat. I ate well all weekend and even told Danny it was the first Monday in a while that my jeans didn't feel tight. Today's weigh in was a womp womp moment.

I began Week 5 of T25 Beta last night. I am a couple of days behind due to some 13 month old shenanigans. I swear, that kids sleeping habits are mind boggling. Our lives don't really accommodate sleep training since we fly by the seat of our pants most days, so some tough bedtimes are to be expected. Anyways, I am down to my last week. I'm losing steam. I don't know if its because I'm bored, or if I don't feel like I'm seeing change anymore.  Right before Christmas I was feeling like I wasn't slimming down any. I did some comparison pictures and did in fact notice a difference. I did more last night (Day 1 vs first day of the very last week) and I can't really tell a difference. I don't want to post any before and after pictures yet though. I'll do that next week (provided that I'm able to get all my workouts in). I will finish the program though. Which will be a huge accomplishment alone.

I've got a game plan for life after T25. During my downtime at work, I've been mapping out my exercise plan.  If I don't go into next week with a plan, I will be screwed. I dug through my exercise board on Pinterest to find different workouts by category then wrote them down.

Then I've been writing them on notecards so I can have them handy during my workouts.  If I just hopped back on Pinterest to find them, I would get distracted, so this feels like the best way to prevent that and stay focused.

Hopefully this works and gets me in gym mode. I'm going to pick a couple of workouts from each category to make up each days work out. I've got a rough idea of what I want to do each day (bottom left corner of the page with the different categories). I'll do the same set of exercises for a couple of weeks to give them time to do their thing.

That's my plan for now. Basically this weigh-in sucked, but that happens. Now I just need to work through it and keep going! Especially since this kid is going to keep me on my toes.  I can feel my hair turning grey already.

 

 

Happy Birthday, Living A Love Song

Yesterday the thought randomly occurred to me that my blog-iversary (is that the correct term?) was coming up. I pulled out my phone, visited my blog and found that it was in fact January 13th... which is today! This little ol' space of mine is 2 years old.

Then I started thinking about how much enjoyment I get out of it. I absolutely love looking back on old posts. Whether or not its to see how I've changed, keep track of Tucker's milestones, if I've accomplished something, or just to put a smile on my face. While some bloggers are able to make money (which I wouldn't deny that opportunity), mine has been more of a journal. It was started at a very hectic time: we had been married for a year and a half, bought a house 2 months before, 2 of my employees quit unexpectedly leaving me unsure of the next few months (or my entire career), and then we got pregnant. I'm so thankful I had a place to document those times since they seem like such a blur.

I am also incredibly grateful for all of the support. Aside from my family, the blog world is the greatest support system I have. Whether its on a .5lb weight loss or some small goal that I've achieved, I have a bunch of "strangers" cheering me on. That is so stinkin' awesome! Everyone needs a support system. I'm glad I have a few!

I'd finish writing out a more meaningful blog birthday post, but I got side tracked reading old posts and now its time for me to work since my coworkers are starting to arrive. All two of them.

A Near Perfect Weekend

This past weekend was one of the better weekends I've had in a while. December had some fun weekends with birthday parties, Christmas celebrations and a night out with friends. But this weekend was a different kind. The slow, relaxing, no real plans kind.

Friday was a super shitty day at work. I think I cried twice. One being the result of getting my ass chewed out over the phone by some arrogant asshole who I have never met over something I didn't do. Like he yelled the F word at me a couple of times. So that was awesome. I left work and went straight to CVS where I picked up some Admiral (The cheaper, just as good Captain). Wine wasn't gonna solve this bad day. I started feeling better after a drink and a couple bowls of broccoli and cheese soup. I had 2 large bowls. There are worse things to binge on besides skinny broccoli and cheese soup I think. Once Tucker went to bed, I decided 8pm was a good time to put the new TV stand together. It took 4 hours and 3 drinks but its together.

Saturday morning Tucker and I lounged while Danny got to sleep in a bit. Once he was awake we headed down to my mom's to meet her for lunch and do some shopping while she watched Tucker at her place. I thought I was ready to buy jeans. I'm not. We did run into a high school friend and had a nice long chat with her so that was fun. After we picked Tucker up we headed home where I got a quick workout in. Then it was time to make dinner. I made crab balls (RECIPE) and they turned out delicious! Danny is a crab cake lover so I knew they would be a hit. They were only 55 calories each too, which was the best part! Once dinner was over and Tucker went to bed, I meal and grocery planned so I could make an early trip to the grocery Sunday morning before the ice storm madness.

Sunday morning as the boys headed off to church, I headed to the grocery. It was sooooo nice being there, alone, in an almost empty store, with a Starbucks. I loved it. The rest of Sunday was filled with lounging, playing and a family nap. 

Like I said, a pretty perfect weekend was had!

Oh, and Tucker is walking! He won't really commit to it, so he's only taking about 5-10 steps at a time, but he's walking. Lord help us.

My Resolution

We are now 9 days into the year, and I've finally come up with  my resolution. While I posted my goals for 2015 last week before the year started, I've been trying to come up with a personal resolution. To me, goals is an appropriate word for the things that have an end to them. Like mine, organization, more family and friend time, losing weight. I feel like those have an "end" or a definitive way to be measured. Resolutions just seem more personal. Like something you wish to improve within yourself. It took me some time to come up with it, but that didn't stop my 2015 resolution to smack me in the face.

Slow Down.

That's the easiest way to put what I need to do. Just slow down. Slow down and enjoy the moment. Slow down and check my work. Slow down and do things right.

The last 4.5 years have been so freaking crazy since my dad passed away. And I always use that day as the start of the "crazy" because it literally changed my life. Sure, I've done all the same things: graduate college, marry Danny, have a baby, and heck I'm even in the same job. Its all the stuff in between that messes with me. The meetings, the fact that my attorney is on my favorites list in my phone, trying to sell a house and a building, running a business at 25 years old. I can see how I get stressed. I think almost anyone would.

But, its been 4.5 years. Its time to take a step back and slow down.

I've been rushing from one thing to another and having way to much going on at once. Some are out of my hands (Danny having a freak accident breaking his foot while we have a 7 month old during the busiest time of the year for me at work) while some I can somewhat control (hanging on to some rental properties too long and not realizing until it's caused me to worry and its freaking winter and the market is slower). I even rush through things at work. Some days its necessary to get things done, but some days its not. And its caused me to make some mistakes that shouldn't have been made. Everyone makes mistakes and I get that, but I hate when I make silly mistakes. Silly mistakes that could have been prevented.

In 2015, I'm going to take my time and be more careful with things.

Weigh In Wednesday: 1/7/15

The first official Weigh In Wednesday of the new year. And it's not a terrible one. I've honestly kind of been dreading this weigh in, but really who doesn't? We just got through 5-6 weeks of eating and having little control over what is provided for us to eat at holiday functions. Then for some people (read: me) a day or two of bad eating can lead to a few more slip ups. It happens. You just have to accept that you've goofed, then move on.

Let's get to the numbers.

Last weigh in(12/17/14):163.0 lbs
This Week: 162.6 lbs
Change: -.4 lbs

While its not a huge loss, its a freaking loss. I managed to lose almost a half of a pound during the holidays. Heck yeah! That's what sticking to your workouts while you marathon eat for days will do for ya!

T25 is... going. I just started the 4th week of the Beta round. I really like to start the weeks on Sunday so I can use Saturday as a make up day if necessary, which was the case for Week 3. But, with the whole Tucker falling off the counter incident and then his bedtime shenanigans on Sunday when I was going to make up for the last workout of that week, I fell behind. I finished Week 3 Monday morning and was able to start Week 4 last night. Shaun T is kicking my ass and I LOVE it. Rip't Circuit was last night and so far it is my favorite workout of both rounds. I think it might become my go-to back up plan when we join the gym and there are days I can't make it. Such a good workout.

Eating has gotten back to normal. I've been making much better choices. Though last night's dinner was a bit rough calories wise, but I had to throw something together that wasn't in the plan since Danny unexpectedly didn't need to go into work until 7p, meaning I had to provide dinner for him too. I made it work and still had 19 calories left for yesterday. My challenge of eliminating sweets has been going okay too. No slip ups so far!

Being that I am a planner, at least a flexible one, I like to have an idea of "what's next" so naturally I've been thinking about what I'm going to do once T25 is over for me. I know there is a Gamma round, but I just don't see me shelling out the money for that and I'm ready for something new. Like I've mentioned nearly every week, we are going to join the YMCA. But we are probably waiting until late February or early March to do so. That's at least a month and a half after T25. I've toyed with the idea of doing the 30 Day Shred. But I've also toyed with the idea of putting together an at home workout plan with Pinterest workouts with free weights/bodyweight to ease me into coming up with my own workouts to prepare me for going to the gym. (I like to prep myself for things almost as much as I like to plan things) So, I'm not really sure what's next this time. All I know is I need to have a plan because my body is now used to working out 5 or 6 days a week.

Hopefully the holidays weren't rough on you. And even if they were, that's certainly okay!

NYE + Weekend Recap

Holy crap am I glad to be back at work. Even though today is shaping up to be the portrait of a freaking Monday (read: a shitty one), I'm so happy to be getting back to our routine it's not even funny. Two flexible weeks has made for one almost bat shit crazy Erin. Almost went completely bat shit crazy last night when my child screamed, bloody murder, for 5 entire minutes because he wanted the Swiffer WetJet out of the closet. At 9pm. Danny was at work and I will not lie, I called him crying. After a couple rounds of Somethin' Bad and a Tylenol-milk bottle (its kind of concerning how much my kid likes cherry flavored Tylenol milk), he finally went to sleep and so did I.

Now that I've gotten that off my chest, here is what our New Year's Eve looked like. It was pretty perfect. We had arranged for Tucker to stay at Danny's mom's so we could go to the bar around the corner with some friends. At approximately 2pm on NYE, the bar posted a reminder that they'd be closing at 9. Well shit. Luckily we had a surprise birthday-NYE combo party for my cousin's boyfriend to go to too, so we just went there. There was a nacho bar. When my dad's family does food, they don't mess around, so this nacho bar was heaven. Like, I want to see another one in my near future. There was chicken, beef, guacamole, sour cream, 2 kinds of cheese sauces, sour cream, lettuce, finely diced tomatoes, jalapenos, salsa, shredded cheese. Like I said, heaven. I visited twice. After we stuffed ourselves with nachos, and struggled to have one drink since we were still recovering from our night out last Saturday, we went home. At 11. We went to bed at 11:30. We don't have cable so we couldn't watch the ball drop even if we wanted too.

I got up pretty early on New Years Day to work out and get some things done before I picked Tucker up. We had grand plans of taking the tree down before my mom, brother and some friends arrived for Danny's New Years lunch. We normally go to Danny's dad's, but he and his wife left us all to fend for ourselves and left for FL for 2 months 3 days after Christmas. We made due and ended up having a ton of food when our friends backed out. I will be just fine waiting until 2016 to eat another bite of corned beef.

The rest of the weekend was spent running errands, getting Tucker's passport for the Alaska cruise, getting our house somewhat organized, and watching Friends.

Oh, and in case you thought you had a real shot at Mother of the Year for 2015, you might as well quit trying. I've already got it in the bag! Saturday I was cooking dinner while Danny was sleeping off whatever sickness he had. Tucker was in his seat on the island, like he usually is while I make dinner so I can keep him contained, even though he shouldn't be (obviously, as you will see). I'm stirring the macaroni and I hear this noise. I turn around to see Tucker falling backwards off the other side of the island. I felt so, so, so horrible. Luckily, he didn't hit is head and after 10 minutes of screaming and crying (both of us), he was back to normal. It took me the rest of the night to recover. I just kept thinking of how bad it could have been, which is never productive. So yeah, as of 1/3/15, my entry for MOTY was already completed.

Our first 2015 weekend is in the books. And I'm glad its over!