Weigh-In Wednesday: 2/25/15

Apparently 3 weeks is about all luck can handle. My bubble was burst this morning.

Last Week: 160.2 lbs

This Week: 161 lbs

Change: +.8 lbs

It's not a terrible gain, but I'll be honest, it was pretty disappointing. But I should have expected this.  Last night I stepped on the scale because I was feeling good. I normally don't weigh myself at night. I like to do it in the mornings. But last night I was feeling skinny and gave it a shot. I saw 161. I just had a feeling that this morning I would see 160, maybe even 159.something. Then BAM! 161 again this morning.

Why did I expect anything different though? After all I snacked pretty hard Saturday night and then had Taco Bell for lunch on Sunday, followed by a beer while walking around the Boat, Sport and Travel show, then some buttery popcorn. And lets not forget the mini Reese eggs that I grabbed when we dropped Tucker off and then picked him up. Those damn things practically unwrapped themselves and jumped in my mouth.

Then on the way home as I was feeling guilty about my eating, it clicked. I had my crap food moment.

 

I've known this and that's what really jump started my weight loss at the end of October. But I've been hovering around 160 and 161 for over a month. I would really love to be at 150 before we go on our cruise in June.

 

Treats every now and then aren't bad. I love having a cheat meal. I just need to be better about not having more than one a week or weekend. I do sooooo well during the week, but I'll be damned if Friday night and Saturday roll around and I was all the greasy things! One thing that has helped is the monthly challenge that I've been doing. February's food to eliminate was fried foods and I'll be honest... Fried foods were harder than sweets because I love French fries. Fries and chips are my weaknesses. But, the light bulb that came on Sunday evening during my self-loathing got me thinking about the next few months and what I can realistically do. Mainly because the cruise is coming up and we are in a wedding like 2 weeks after we get home. Here is the modified version of the monthly challenge and my plans for the next 4 months.



March - I've determined what I will do about dairy. I'm cutting all dairy out except for post workout snacks, which will be limited to Greek yogurt or chocolate milk.
April - I've made April my Sugar month since June is the month of the cruise and will start after Easter, which is April 5th. I don't want to set myself up for failure and start before. I will be following Level 1 of the 21 Day Sugar Detox. I'm pretty excited for this one and am actually looking forward to April. It's going to be tough because my beloved wine will be going bye-bye, but I can do it.  I may go ahead and do it April 6th through April 30th.
May - Gluten. I've had very little thoughts on this one actually. Maybe with all the energy I will supposedly have from ridding my body of sugar, I will have tons of time to research this one in April.
June - I made this the juice and soda month because it's more realistic. I don't really  have a problem with pop. I have maybe 3 a week. I very, very rarely drink juice. Like maybe once a month, if that. Challenge will be easier to keep up with on the cruise.

That's the plan for now. Who is interested in joining the Sugar Detox in April?

Goal Check-Up: Organization

I'm hoping the goals I have set for this year will be different than other goals I've set in the past. Typically I will think about what things I want to accomplish, write a definitive list, post them, and then not revisit them until it's time to come up with the next year's goals. Not this time, baby! I'm hoping to give myself a check up every once in a while to make sure I'm on task.

Today's check up is on the organization goal I set for myself. In the first 2 months of this year, I think I've done pretty well.  I've made a bill book to help me keep track of what bills we pay, when they are due, and what dates they are paid. There is a monthly bills section as well as a variable bill section. I'm hoping at the end of the year, I can at least set some sort of budget for us. We tend to fly by the seat of our pants and it's worked so far since we try to live well below our means and build in some cushion by paying extra on our house, my car and the mower. I don't have a picture of the actual book, and trust me it's not anything fancy so you aren't missing out. But here is a small glimpse into what's inside. They are the templates that are on my computer. The book has actually been used :)

 

I got the idea from HERE and just made a very slimmed down and less pretty version.

The second thing that I've accomplished is a cleaning check list.  Getting the routine cleaning done is something that our house needs help with. I'm a list person. I like to have something to look at to tell me what I need to do or buy, and to show me what progress has been made. There is too much going on in that head of mine to just keep track of it mentally. I threw out the idea of designated chores (he do dishes and clean the bathroom, I get all the laundry and the kitchen kind of set up) to Danny and he didn't like it. Every once in a while he will get the urge to clean and I'll come home to a spotless house. It would be wrong to take the joy away from him, and from me. So, I came up with a list of things that need done on a weekly basis and also on a monthly basis, aside from the daily laundry and dishes.

These are things that we felt were important for our house and what I would like to see get done. I used my Heritage Makers points to create 12x12 sheet that would fit in a frame to set in our kitchen. I left a blank space at the bottom of the monthly list to fill in with the extra job I wanted to get done that month. If I'm feeling ambitious, I'll write in 2. Now, I just found a place for this thing last night so I can't really say whether or not it's actually working, but I have some pretty good expectations for it. I'm not sure how much Danny will actually use it, but it'll help keep me on task.

That's where I'm at on my getting organized goal. I think I'm off to a good start so far.

How are your 2015 goals shaping up? Have you made any progress?

Weekend Recap

Is anyone else shocked that we just had our last full weekend for February? I certainly am. But, that can only mean a few great things are just around the corner: SPRING, baseball, being outside, and what I'm sure will be my new favorite thing to do.. Camping!

This weekend was pretty uneventful and really just kind of boring. Which is fine. We need those weekends every once in a while.  After work on Friday I got a quick workout in before Danny and Tucker got home. After that we went to eat at Captain D's. Danny suggested it and I really didn't feel like cooking even though I fully planned on it. After Tucker went to bed, Danny had some homework to do for a class that he is taking for work this week and I enjoyed a glass of wine and I think I went to bed pretty early.

On Saturday we woke up to snow on the ground and snow still coming down. The snow fell pretty much all morning. Tuck and I stayed home while Danny was out plowing and helping a friend work on his truck. We ventured out in the snow for a few. It is amazing how much work it is to bundle a child up for just a few minutes in the snow. Tuck doesn't have any real snow clothes, so I had to make what he had work. He didn't really love the snow last time we went out, but he LOVED it this time!

 

This is one of those pictures that is worth a thousand words. I bet I've looked at it 100 times since Saturday.

After playing for a bit, Tucker fought a nap and won, which made for an early bedtime. But also made for 2 wake ups. Danny had more homework to do and I just caught up on some shows while he did that.

Sunday was a pretty fun day. We dropped Tucker off at my mom's and met some friends at the Boat, Sport and Travel show. Yesterday is when we intended to buy a camper, but seeing as we've already done that, we went just to look and figure out what sort of things we need when we actually get it. Which the salesman told us yesterday that ours is schedule to come off the line this week! After walking around for 5ish hours, we picked Tucker up and headed home. We were so worn out. My lack of sleep and no Diet Dew (I gave up pop for Lent) to perk me up hit me hard.

Once we were home we ate, and played with, dinner. 

Tucker fought a good fight at bedtime, but mama won this time.  It wasn't long after he was in bed that I was too. I had laundry to fold, toys to pick up, dishes to do, and I should have done a workout, but like I said, I was beat. A workout would have been half assed and didn't seem worth it.

I hope you all had a great weekend and have an easy week!

Friday Favorites

I enjoyed doing Friday Favorites so much last week that I'm doing it again! It's particularly helpful after a long week to be able to look back on those things that you did enjoy.

Tucker's Favorite - This little boy LOVES outside. He is really hating the weather right now since it's about 0 degrees outside. It's been so cold that schools were canceled yesterday and are on a delay today. Little buddy just wants to play outside!

Favorite Moment - Finding Tucker's teething necklace last night. Since that beautiful string of beads arrived in October, he has worn it practically 24/7.

The only time we take it off is if we forget to move it to his ankle (we just wrap it around a couple times then twist it together. Wednesday night was one of those times. I took it off before I put him in his crib. Thursday morning he grabbed it as I was trying to put it on his neck and rather than him yanking it and breaking it, leaving us completely screwed, I let go and let him play with it. Lesser of 2 evils. Within 5 minutes it was nowhere to be seen. I tore the couches apart, looked under them, behind them. No where. After work yesterday, I remembered he was playing in Danny's dirty clothes. And there it was. Thank goodness I found it.

Favorite Recipe - I didn't cook much this week, but on Tuesday I made Mix and Match Mama's Chicken Pot Pie and it was gone in a hurry. Tucker loved it the most. Chicken, veggies and biscuits? Sign him up! It was a definite favorite and will be made again. I can't wait to make the Tex-Mex version!

Favorite Pin - This picture I found on Pinterest could not be more true for me at the moment.

My pregnancy brain has turned into Mom Brain. Fair warning for all of you mama-to-be's: pregnancy brain is just a warm up. Let's look at last Friday night for example. After Tucker went to bed, I was making my dinner, a turkey and bacon sandwich. I just use microwave bacon because frying bacon scares me. I was going to cook each slice for 8 seconds, meaning 24 seconds total. The wave is going, I'm assembling the rest of the sandwich and I'm like, why isn't my bacon done yet? I looked at the time on the wave: 7:15. When I decided on 8 seconds per slice, my brain registered 8 MINUTES! I'm not done. I was putting everything away and couldn't find the rest of the bacon, but also didn't remember putting it in the fridge. Well that's because I didn't put it in the fridge. It was in the bread basket. Yeah. Danny considered coming home from work. I did something else this week, which I can't remember what, that made him tell me to let him know when I'm back from my trip to outer space. I've lost it people.

Happy Friday everyone!

Weigh-In Wednesday: 2/18/15

This weeks weigh-in can be described in one word: Lucky

Last Week: 160.8 lbs
This Week: 160.2 lbs
Change: -.6 lbs

I seriously don't know how else to explain how a loss of a half of a pound other than by sheer luck. I ate like a king all weekend. I say king and not queen because if we're being honest, I ate nearly as much as Danny. I think we both ate at least 12 mini Reese eggs between 12:00pm on Saturday and 10:00 pm on Sunday. 

As usual, after a few days of eating very poorly, it felt good to clean things up a bit once Monday rolled around. I say a bit because we are almost completely out of food and we had chicken noodles and cake for dinner Monday night. I shared with Tucker though and for a 1 year old, he can put some food away. So that was helpful!

Something that has been on my mind lately has been the next step in my monthly challenge: dairy.

I'm having a hard time deciding how I want to go about this one. Do I cut everything out, even the hidden dairy, like I did when we were experimenting with Tucker's diet while I was breastfeeding? Do I just cut out the extra dairy like the cheese on my eggs, creamer in my coffee, and my beloved hot pepper cheese cubes? Do I allow myself the glass of chocolate milk or the greek yogurt as a post workout snack? There are options when it comes to this one and the only reason I'm giving myself the option is the current situation with my leg and the fact that its still hurting. I have a feeling that the pain is the result of poor-ish bone density. I'm taking a calcium supplement every night, but I still need all the help I can get. So, I don't know what I'm going to do. I'm leaning towards cutting out the extras, with a list of said extras, and allowing a handful of snacks. So we'll see. I'll keep you all posted.

Workouts are going well. I got 4 out of 5 workouts in last week so that was good. I'm finding myself less motivated to do these Pinterest workouts compared to how I was with T25. Hopefully I can get that motivation back. Being sick didn't help so now that I'm not hacking up a lung hopefully that will help things.

My goal for the rest of the week and weekend is to keep my eating in check. Another free for all weekend with food probably won't turn out like the last couple have.

Show & Tell Tuesday: How We Met/Got Engaged

Today I am joining the fun of Show & Tell Tuesday with Andrea @ Momfessionals to walk down memory lane of how Danny and I met and our engagement story. This is coming at a perfect time. I've had an incredibly frustrating morning at the doctor about my leg. Long story short, the doctor doesn't know why my leg hurts. Cool. Moving on...

This story begins in 2004 at the start of high school. Danny went to the Catholic school in town, so we never really knew each other until our freshman year of high school. Funny enough, his step sisters dad was my neighbor, his dad was my school bus driver for a couple of years in middle school, and his sister drove me and 3 friends to a Hanson concert. I knew my in-laws before I knew my husband!  So back to how I met the hubs. We dated briefly, I'm talking like a month, our freshman year. We just didn't hit it off or something. Danny has this confidence about him that just radiates for miles and is so sure of himself. I do not and still don't know what the heck I'm doing on a daily basis. A least a dozen times each school year between Christmas break of freshman year to probably 4 days before Fall Break of our senior year, I said something along the lines of "Danny Summers is such a flirt." He did get voted Biggest Flirt of our class "I could not imagine dating him." Except he asked me to hang out one night and I said yes. I am so very glad I did.

Summer 2007 - I'm sure I'm thinking this guy is such a tool

We dated off and on from Fall break to right before Valentine's Day. Literally, on for 2 weeks, off for 2, on for a month, off again. I swore in February of 2008 that was it. I was done. I was going to college and I was going to meet someone not from Alexandria like my dad always begged me to do. Aaaand then Danny struck again. After a week of him, you guessed it, flirting, he texted me one day in the middle of the school day asking if I regretted us breaking up. After a week of hiding our reunion (a few friends were a little upset about it, one all but stopped talking to me for a few years over the whole thing), we were back together and we were back together for good.

In the first 2.5 years of dating, we endured a best friend dying(a month and one day after we got back together), going to school in different states for a year, him being a part-time firefighter with a pretty unpredictable work schedule, my parent's getting divorced, my dad dying and turning our world upside down, and we moved in together at my dad's house. That. Was. A. Lot.

In November 2010, we made forever official. As I was sitting through my last initiation for my sorority, Pi Beta Phi, I was imagining what an engagement ring would look like on my finger(important detail) as I thinking about the next chapter of my life as a grown up (mind you, I was 21) in the real world with my dad's business and leaving the "college girl" behind. After initiation, I went to eat with my sisters, then met up with my mom to attend a baby shower and go meet my cousin's baby. When my mom dropped me off back at home, Danny was home from whatever he was doing that day and after my mom left he walked out of our room and a conversation along these lines took place...

Danny: So you're going to be mad at me.
Me: Why? What did you do?
Danny: I bought a new gun today.
Me: Okay?
Danny: And it cost about as much as I would have spent on an engagement ring.
Me: Alright. I can't remember what exactly I said, but I'm sure I was visibly annoyed.
Danny: Do you wanna see it?
Me: Suuuuuure.

Danny sat on the coffee table in front of me trying to fake interest in this gun that he's about to show me. Danny opened the case and there was no gun. There was the most beautiful, shiny ring I had ever seen in my life. My look of disgust quickly turned and the tears started flowing as Danny got down on one knee there in the living room of my childhood home with just us and our dog watching haha. It all happened so quickly. I immediately called my mom and told her to hurry back to the house. She was only 2 miles away. Like I said, the whole proposal happened fast! We spent the rest of the night visiting friends and family sharing our good news.

Danny was originally going to propose sometime before August 1, 2010. That was the date of his family reunion and he wanted to introduce me as his fiancé. I only knew he was going to do this because he told me. If he stuck to his original plan, he would have been proposing like a month after my dad died and that didn't seem right. Knowing this, I asked him if that had been his plan since he changed the plan. He said no. He told me he just woke up that day and that was the day he was going to ask me to marry him. He had talked to my brother about a month before and talked to my dad's best friends.  He said he even had the ring for a few weeks. We had seriously gone to look at rings about 2 weeks before he proposed and he already had mine! Sneaky sneaky!

Valentine's Weekend Recap

I was right about our Valentine's Day this weekend becoming one of my favorites!

Friday I left work a little early to get Tucker so we could do some running around. We were headed to Muncie to try and sell some clothes at Plato's Closet, look for sheets at Kohls and do some Target shopping. Plato's bought $8.40 worth of clothes and Kohl's sheets section left much to be desired. Believe it or not, aqua colored sheets are very difficult to find. And of course I forgot to look at Target while we were there. Once we got home Tucker went to bed and I finished Danny's Valentine's Day gift.. an at home date night jar. I put 24 dates in there, so we have enough for 2 at home dates a month.

I found some really awesome burlap paper at Hobby Lobby (all materials were bought there). It was the perfect way to spruce up the dates!

 

Once Danny got home we exchanged gifts. I gave him his and he told me that while we were out Saturday he was going to buy me a new shirt because he didn't have enough guts to pick one out for me himself. We dropped Tucker off at my mom's for the day and night and headed to Downtown Indy. Our first stop was one of our infamous misadventures. Not as dramatic as this one, but still kind of a bust. We wanted to explore the city market. Well, it's more of a before lunch thing so about half of the vendors were closed. We left after we used the restroom, so we were there for about 4 minutes and had paid $6 to park. We headed to lunch at Weber Grill and Oh. My. God! I'm still thinking about the meal. Even the broccoli was good! Danny got prime rib and I ordered a BBQ combo with ribs and meatloaf. We decided that the meatloaf was the best thing we've ever tasted and the mashed potatoes were by far the best we've ever had. And it doesn't hurt that they bring you pretzel rolls to begin your feast. After lunch we shopped at Circle Centre. I swapped my shirt for some Bath & Body Works stuff and that was pretty much all we bought. On our way home we stopped at a Wal-Mart because I discovered they had some of my favorite wine that is made 3.5 hours away. So it made me super happy to find it 40 minutes away.

After we got home we ordered a pizza, which took an hour and 10 minutes instead of the 35 we were told. They told us they ran out of boxes and that's why it took so long. What kind of pizza place runs out of boxes? I know, the kind that is known for getting high while on the job. That's what we get for trying to be cheap about dinner. Danny wasn't feeling well so we went to bed early. But not before eating almost all of the mini Reese eggs that my mom gave us. I seriously think there were 6 left in the bag when we went to bed. We have no self control. 

Sunday was a lazy morning. Well, lazy after I started lunch, did a load of laundry and cleaned the living room and playroom and after Danny went to the MedCheck and came home with 3 different meds. Around 11 I decided to enjoy the remaining Tucker free hours and watched a few episodes of Law & Order: SVU and draw some plans for our mudroom. My mom and Tuck showed up around 2 and we ate lunch and laughed at Tucker's rottenness. We spent the rest of the day dealing with a tired cranky 1 year old, then went to visit Danny's dad and stepmom who just got back from 6 weeks in Florida. It was nice to see them.

Now it's time for another work week. Exciting news though. We are meeting with the contractor who is doing our mudroom addition today at lunch and I can't wait! My house and sanity need this extra space!

Friday Favorites

Today is my first time joining in on the Friday Favorites fun and I'm pretty excited about it even though I only have a few to share this week.

 

Favorite Valentine's Day - I was a little ahead of the ball game and shared my favorite Valentine's Day with Danny yesterday. For the first time in a while, we are actually celebrating Valentine's Day on Valentine's Day this year. No real plans set in stone other than dropping Tucker off to spend the day and night with his Gigi. We're going to spend the day in Indy. I have a feeling this Valentine's Day might end up at the top of the list.

 

 

Favorite Workout Tank - I have found my new favorite workout tank. It might actually be my new favorite tank. Period. I'm strongly considering buying a few different ones to wear this summer even when I'm not working out. I might make it my camping uniform haha.

 

Favorite Foods - I have a few things I've been loving in the food area of my life this week. First, is a yummy chicken salad from Skinny Mom. (The pin doesn't take you directly too the exact link, but it does contain the ingredients, which are below.)

 

 

I was kind of skeptical of the almond butter, but had a small jar in the cabinet that I wasn't using because I don't really like almond butter (real peanut butter for life!) on its own so I thought why not. Tried it. Loved it! Its the perfect make ahead lunch. And now I have a camping lunch to go with my camping uniform. Seriously though, I've been trying to think of healthy make ahead breakfast and lunch ideas to take on our weekend camping trips so I don't derail my healthy eating completely. Dinner will be a free for all I'm sure, but I'm finding balance and I'd like to keep it that way.

 

My other favorite food recently is this Cookie Dough Greek Yogurt. I used vanilla greek yogurt. I'm not a fan of greek yogurt, or yogurt in general really, so I figured vanilla would help. You just add 1 T. of peanut butter (I'll be honest, I added like 1 1/2 to 2 because peanut butter), 1 T. sweetener (I used just a pinch) 1 T mini chocolate chips, and 1/4 t. vanilla (I put just a small dab since it was already vanilla flavored yogurt). This was seriously delicious. I'll probably be having some tonight!

 

Favorite Advice - I saw this quote pinned the other day  and it just really made sense. Especially right now.

 

The last 5 years have been filled with so, so many bad days. I spent the first 2 being down and upset about being the girl whose whole life got put in a tailspin because her dad died. Something clicked one day and I just decided I wasn't going to life like that anymore. I was going to make the best out of my situation and I eventually learned to enjoy most of my days instead of going to bed mad. This one helps too!

 

Okay so maybe I had more than just a few favorites! I hope you all have a good Friday and an even better weekend loving on your families!

 

Throwback Thursday: Valentine's Edition

With Valentine's Day being just 2 short days away, I've been reminiscing about the 6 Valentine's Days that Danny and I have spent together. I can't believe we are on our 7th Valentine's Day together, and 4th as husband and wife. It's so crazy! There are about 3 opinions on Valentine's Day: you love it and go all out, you hate it and avoid it like the plague, or it's just another day.

A couple of years we've done the traditional romantic dinners and gifts. We even splurged on a hotel one year. It had been a rather busy few months for the two of us so we made hotel and dinner reservations in Indy to celebrate the occasion. But my favorite Valentine's Days have been the low-key ones. Our first Valentine's Day as a married couple has been my most favorite.

Danny was finishing up his last semester of medic school that year and Valentine's Day happened to fall mid-week.  We had a lunch date at the diner in town. When Danny picked me up at work to take me to lunch, he brought part of my gift with him. This part of the gift was to be displayed in my office so I could look at it every day.

Hands down, one of the funniest pictures from our wedding day. My groom waiting for me at the altar. He looks like he is about to puke.

Dinner that night was a recreation of our first Valentine's Day together with Applebee's takeout. After dinner Danny gave me the rest of my gift, which was 2 bottles of Arbor Mist. I've since grown up and stopped drinking juice. My gift to Danny that year was a subscription to Diesel Power and a trip down to the Boat, Sport and Travel Show, which has become an annual tradition.

My take on Valentine's Day falls between loving it and it being just another day. While I think it's important to show your spouse or significant other love throughout the year, Valentine's Day gives a good reason to do that. Life is too short to not celebrate anything and everything. Even if it means the greeting card industry makes an obscene amount of money as a result.

Where do your feelings for Valentine's Day fall on the charts?

Weigh-In Wednesday: 2/11/15

The sickness is still going on in the Summers household. Tucker is in the clear for the most part. Still coughing a bit, but Danny and me? Well, we pretty much took turns coughing all night. I think his immune system has thrown in the towel and is just going to go ahead and let what I had come on in. I've just got an annoying cough. The kind that no matter what you do or take just won't go away and every time you take a deep breath you have to cough. I even took Nyquil last night and still couldn't get to sleep. It looks like I'll be off to CVS again for another solution!

I had another good weigh-in this morning. I wasn't too sure what I would see when I stepped on the scale this morning. I was certain my Oreo binge, along with the fact that I had 2 pieces of pie and chili on Saturday and pasta for dinner on Sunday would show up on the scale in at least a small gain. That was not the case!

Last Week: 160.8 lbs

This Week: 160.8 lbs

Change: 0.0 lbs

Seeing the same number on the scale this morning after being sick and unable to workout through a few cheats and treats is quite a relief! It really makes me feel like I've got it figured out this time.

I was just telling Danny that on Sunday after our walk at the park. When Pinterest first came out (bless that day!), my food and motivation boards were the ones with the most pins. I was pinning workout after workout. I would take a leisurely walk with Diesel, usually about a mile or mile and a half, then come home and do a workout. Just one. I'd barely break a sweat and my heart rate barely changed. Then I would eat a pizza for dinner. I seriously ate a lot of frozen pizza and pizza rolls the first couple of years Danny and I lived together. I was going through the motions. Now I have a much better understanding about how this losing weight and being healthy stuff works. You can't just go through the motions. You have to focus on it. And you have to open your mind up to learn what it takes and find what works for you.

This week marks the official start of my new workout routine that I showed you last week. I'm feeling really good about it. I've had to modify a couple parts. Like instead of doing one of the cardio workouts 5 times through, I just do it 3 and still get in 15 minutes of cardio. It's looking like each night is going to take roughly 45 minutes. That is a little longer than I'd like, but I'm making it work.

I hope you all have a wonderful Wednesday!

A (Sick) Weekend Recap

The weekend unfortunately started early for me on Friday. After about 4 hours of sleep due to coughing and feeling uncomfortable all night, I decided to stay home from work for the second time last week. Danny took Tucker and they left the house until about 1pm so I could rest. I was able to get comfy in bed and slept for another few hours. After they had visited anyone that could be visited, they came home where we all lounged.  There were no Birthday Cake Oreo binges though. Just some Taco Bell for lunch. Not sure which is worse. So, needless to say, this weekend was pretty quiet.

Saturday was a bunch of lounging during the day. I still wasn't feeling too great, but was feeling a little better. We went to church and a chili dinner that was at the church. Afterwards we headed to my brother's to have some birthday pie. His birthday was last Thursday so we continued the celebration. We went out to eat on his actual birthday where Tucker proceeded to pull a little girl's hair in the booth behind us. I could have died. Once we got home and Tucker got in bed, I popped some Nyquil and went to bed.

Sunday was a wonderful day. I think I told Danny at least twice that I loved Sundays like the one we had yesterday. We were all up early and off to the grocery by 9am. Once we got home we relaxed, ate lunch, cleaned our room, and played a little bit.

Danny went for a bike ride while Tucker napped and I watched Friends (I'm currently on Season 10 and nervous about what I'm supposed to watch next!). Once Tucker woke up and Danny got home, we all went to the park to enjoy the nice day. All meaning Diesel got to go too! Danny and Diesel walked .6 miles and Tucker and I got another mile in. After being cooped up in the house and sitting on my ass for most of the weekend, it felt so good to get out and get moving!

Once we got home, I made some muffins, moved some laundry, and made dinner. After dinner Tucker took a bath and went to bed without even a little bit of a fight. After I made his bottle, he grabbed it and started walking towards the chair in his room. Perfect. Sunday!

Now we are at a busy week. Danny works Monday, Wednesday and Friday this week. In our Pre-Tucker life, this used to be my favorite work rotation of his. Not so much anymore!

Weigh-In Wednesday: 2/4/15

The sickness cycle has hit the Summers household, mainly Tucker and me. Danny's immune system is pretty solid since he comes in contact with only God knows what multiple times a week being a paramedic. Tuck had croup last week, then got a runny nose Saturday, then Monday night my throat felt like I was trying to swallow a steak knife, and now we are both full of snot. I got summoned for jury duty and my day was yesterday. Thankfully, my services were not needed and I was able to stay in bed/recliner all day. Well, more like un-thankfully since I ate a whole box of pasta salad over the course of the day and no less than 12 Birthday Cake Oreos. I'm not kidding. Every time I walked by the cabinet, I grabbed 1, sometimes 2. There are 2 left and the sooner those are out of my house the better!

Now that I've confessed my Oreo binge, let's move on to Weigh-In Wednesday!

Last Week: 161.0 lbs
This Week: 160.8 lbs
Change: -.2 lbs

I try to find the positive in most things. Like, yeah I lost practically no weight, but at least I'm maintaining. In the last 7 days, I worked out 2 of them. And Sunday was half-assed because it was supposed to be a total body day, and I had an arm workout wrote down. I didn't realize until halfway through. Then Monday I couldn't even muster up the energy to put my tennis shoes on. So, I've been maintaining. Which means my eating has been pretty great!

The beginning of a new month, brings the next step to my challenge that I started in January.

I didn't cheat once in January! I'm pretty proud of myself! I really think this method of healthier eating is the way to go for me. Only eliminating one thing at a time. Fried food might be difficult, but with some serious planning I can make it work. February brings lots of travel during the day for work, which means lunch on the road. Well, you can't eat a salad on the road. I can make this work though!

 

Last week I said I would share my Pinterest workout plans with you. Here is what I'm doing and what days I plan on doing them. So far, I haven't been very successful due to the sickness that's floating around my house.

 

 

On Tuesday and Thursday - I do a cardio workout and then a leg workout. I was able to do this last Tuesday and my legs were screaming for mercy.

 

On Wednesday and Saturday - I do a shorter cardio workout, abs and arms (arm workout is not pictured. It was too long for a notecard). I wasn't able to do this either day, but Thursday I did the short & sweet, sleek & slender abs, and the leg workout from above. I knew I needed to do legs because they were still really sore from Tuesday.

 

 

On Sunday - I do a cardio workout and a total body workout. There is a Sunday workout on the back of the Saturday card. I'm hoping when it warms up and I can get out and run for the 20 minutes of cardio. Right now, its not possible, but I'm counting this as a cardio workout. I did it without the actual cardio portion and it got my heart pumping.

 

 

That's the plan for the next month or so. I probably won't officially start the month until next week since last week and this week are messed up. They've been good test runs though. I've discovered how long each day should take (35-45 minutes), if the workouts are effective or not(sore muscles pretty much mean effective), and what the calorie burn looks like (leg day = 260ish calories).

 

If you want to see the workouts on Pinterest, visit my Motivation board HERE. The labels on the cards are what the pins are titled, or what is in the description.

Weekend Recap

We had a pretty standard weekend. A few plans, some lounging, and some fun.

I spent entirely too much time in the car on Friday. 3 hours in the morning, then 3 hours in the afternoon with my brother. It wore me out. I was so exhausted Friday when I got home from work. But, we were headed to the park in town to hear a friend announce that his candidacy for mayor. It was pretty exciting. He would be a perfect mayor for our town and him running brings a lot of hope. After all the excitement, we got dinner from Subway then headed home. Tucker went to bed around 9, then Danny and I went shortly after.

On the road selfie (not while driving of course!)

Saturday Tucker and I were up and out the door pretty early to get to the grocery before the crazies shopped for the big "snow storm." It was still pretty crowded, but manageable. After running a few more errands, we went home, ate lunch, and I caught up on my shows while Tucker napped for 2 hours. Parenthood ended so perfectly! I loved the looks into each person's future! I also got to watch Grey's Anatomy. I really hope Derek and Meredith get their shit together, but it wouldn't be Grey's if things weren't rocky between the two of them now would it? After some dinner and a bath, my mom arrived. She stayed all night so she could be in town for her parents' anniversary party the next day in case we really did get a bunch of snow.

Sunday morning I made oatmeal pancakes for my mom, Tucker and me. After that we all just played, hung out and I got some dishes done, laundry going and dinner started. Tucker and I went to the anniversary party for a bit where Tucker and his cousin loved on each other. They were so shy at first but once they warmed up to each other they were so adorable.

After the party, Tucker and I went home to hang out with Danny then we had a pretty laid back Sunday night. No Superbowl for us since we cancelled cable last April. We never really watched it anyways so I didn't feel like I was missing out.

It was a pretty typical weekend, which made it enjoyable!