photo dump

Ry Ry and her daddy coordinated last week (not on purpose of course), and the light was pretty outside, so I wanted to take some pictures.  Of course I never get the ones I really want, but these are still cute.

look mom!

no seriously, did you see that?

She can't pay attention to me at all anymore.  Too many things to look at.  Too many things to do!

Somebody is becoming SUCH A HAM lately.  She makes the goofiest faces and acts like a crazy kid all the time.  Not like we encourage it or anything :o).  And if you are in a store with sunglasses on your head, you will instantly be this kid's new best friend.  She starts smiling and chatting with anyone wearing 'gasses'.

Last week we made a trip to the Deanna Rose Farmstead.  We had never been and I think when she is a bit older she will absolutely LOVE it.  It was fun now but I'm sure it will be even better next year.  Of course the highlights of the trip for her were sitting on a bench and seeing school buses out front.  Go figure!

what's this?  she wanted to walk in the grass?  insane.

bus.

I've got a whole bunch of photos from Chris's graduation weekend to dump as well, but I'll spare you from that until later in the week :o).  Happy Tuesday!

hanging on by a thread

Well, this past week wasn't my best.  As of Friday I had only lost four ounces.  And Chris's graduation party was Saturday (I enjoyed some DELICIOUS food), and now we are at my parent's house until tomorrow.  Which generally means little to no weight loss, because I can't say no to the delicious food my mom cooks.  Not that the food she cooks is super unhealthy or anything, I just eat more of it than I should.  Nonetheless I'm assuming that if I weighed in this morning it would have been a gain.  So I'm a little bit thankful that I am without my scale until Wednesday morning.

I'm getting so burnt out on what I'm eating, and my workouts.  I'm trying not to.  I'm trying to change things up.  But I'm a creature of habit.  This is getting really tough.  I know I can't give up.  I want so badly to reach my goal, and honestly want to go past it.  11 pounds left to my first goal, 21 pounds left my dream goal.

But that is another problem I'm having.  When am I going to feel like it is good enough?  You all have been amazing with your sweet comments.  It helps me be able to hold my head a little higher.  And I am starting to see the positive changes in my body.  But then I have a slightly rough week, or a catch a glimpse of myself in the mirror at a bad angle, and all that self-confidence goes right out the window.  I know I need to work on loving my body, but for some reason I feel like I'll never be truly happy with it.  I feel like this will ALWAYS be a struggle. 

On a positive note, I have done some shopping in the last few days.  And gotten some pretty cute clothes.  Hello size 8 shorts!  Oh how I've missed the single digits on my tags.  Some stuff I still need to wear a 10, and honestly some stuff I tried on a 10 was still too tight.  I know it shouldn't be about the number on the tag, but knowing that there are some 8's out there that work for me?  That feels good.

Does anyone else feel like I ramble a ton on Mondays?  I do.  This whole weight loss/body image stuff just makes my brain churn and I can't produce straight thoughts.  Sorry about that.  Ok...

I have to buckle down and have a good week.  I'm determined.  We are going on vacation in nine days and I want to feel good about where I'm at when we go.  Crossing my fingers and lacing up my shoes in hopes of a two pound loss next week!

cookies and cream no-bakes

So I planned on posting this last night, but it has been an exhausting (but fun!) weekend and I um, passed out sitting up in a chair at like 9 last night.  So you get it this morning.  I have lots to share about the weekend and the past week, but I'll get to that some other time.

I came across these little cookies on pinterest, so of course I had to give them a try.  Seeing as you know, they are great for losing weight.  NOT.  Oh well, I'm doing my best people, but I've had a serious sweet tooth lately!  And the urge to bake.

You can find the recipe for the cookies here.  I ended up tossing in some more oreos and oats, because the mixture looked too sticky.  After letting them try and set up in the fridge for a couple hours, the cookies were still incredibly sticky.  But I let them sit on the counter for another two hours and they turned into these amazing little blobs of goodness.  I'm not joking at all.  They weren't as crumbly as most of my no-bakes usually are, and I really liked the taste.  And they were so easy to make.  I think they will be making an appearance if I need to bring cookies anywhere.

As a side note, my cookies ended up looking nothing like the ones pictured with the recipe.  Oh well!

Enjoy!

embrace the camera

Like I mentioned, Chris is graduating from med school this weekend.  On Monday we attended a dinner that was hosted by the alumni association, so we had to get all fancied up.  Of course I didn't realize how dressy it was supposed to be until the day before, and of course I had NOTHING to wear (that seemed appropriate for the occasion anyway).  I actually grabbed this dress out of the garage sale box.



The last time I wore this dress was for my sorority formal my junior year of college.  I'm not in love with it, but it did fit, which was pretty exciting.  Ry didn't join us for dinner, but I had my dad snap a picture before we left.

Chris and I had our own little photo session in the car.  I love these pictures.  It reminds me of the two of us, just us, being goofy and immature.  I love it.

a day in the life - allison

Good morning blog world.  Another Wednesday that I am a tad bit behind, but I think you've come to expect it, right?  Anyway, I've got another slew of mommies lined up to share a peek at their day.  I hope you enjoy meeting Allison today!

***

Hello I’m Allison and I’m giving you a little insight into a typical Monday of mine.  I live in Texas with my husband and my 13 month old boy Jaxson.  I am a full time mom that just happens to work a 40 hour week outside of the home.  You can find us at http://mythoughtsalli.blogspot.com/

5:45 am: Somewhere in the not so far distance I can hear my alarm ringing.  Ugh it’s Monday!  Jaxson has had trouble sleeping the past 2 weeks and last night was no different.  I close my eyes for what I thought was just 2 more minutes...

6:14 am:  I hear my alarm again and I also feel a little foot pressing against my back.  This is just another small reminder that Jaxson slept in our bed again last night.  I stumble down the stairs to my first cup of absolutely glorious coffee.  I’m always so thankful for my programmable coffee pot.  Some people take their pot for granted; however, I love the fact that I don’t have to wait 7 minutes for my morning jolt.
  

6:30 am:  I’m out of the shower and try to wake up Jaxson and my husband, Landon.  I change Jaxson’s diaper and send the boys downstairs for some breakfast while I put on my makeup and blow dry my hair.

7:00 am:  I get Jaxson dressed for daycare while Landon gets himself ready to go to work.  We play around for 5 minutes or so before going downstairs to head off to work/daycare.  

7:35 am:  Landon leaves to bring Jaxson to daycare and to go to work.  I scramble around the house trying to pick up toys, books, dirty clothes, etc.  I feel like my house will never look the same but I wouldn’t have it any other way.
  

7:40 am: I’m off to work.  I am an Admissions Advisor/Scholarship Coordinator at our local college.  This time of year is extremely busy with registration for the upcoming summer and fall semesters.

12:30 pm: I run home for lunch and throw a load of laundry in the washing machine.  I glance around at my oh-so-quiet house and toy with the idea of a quick power nap……the idea quickly vanishes knowing that there is nothing quick about a chance to take a nap.

5:00 pm:  I try to tie up loose ends to get out of my office.  Landon picks up Jaxson from daycare everyday so I don’t have to rush to get him by 5:30.  I get a phone call from Landon saying Jaxson is going to have a nice black eye tomorrow.  Apparently my Bulldozer only knows one speed, FAST!  He goes so fast that he tripped over his feet and went face first into a toy.  This will be one of many black eyes I’m sure.

5:30 pm-6:00 pm:  Landon cooks dinner for us while I go on an evening run.  I started doing Weight Watchers back in February to help me loose the last little bit of baby weight I had hanging around and I’ve been doing really well with the program.  One thing it’s helped me accomplish is getting my exercising in during the week.  Everyone knows that handling a small child, along with the daily activities called “life” makes it tough to fit in exercise.  I at least try to run 2 miles 4 days a week.  Thanks to my husband, I’ve been able to do this.  After my run I get Jaxson his dinner.  He has decided that he doesn’t LOVE vegetables anymore.  I’ve been warned this day would come and I’m afraid we’ve reached it.  I am researching creative ways to hide his veggies with his food.  Something clever I have found is making chicken nuggets for him.  I blend grilled chicken, whatever the veggie-of-the –day is and some breadcrumbs in the food processer and bake.  So far so good!

By 8:00 pm: I’ve done 2 loads of laundry and cleaned the kitchen.  Jaxson has torn every book off of his bookshelf, taken almost every toy out of the toy box downstairs, and tormented our poor little Chihuahua, Salem.  I take him upstairs to get a bath while Landon picks up the living room.  My child loves his bath time but he very much dislikes having to put on pajamas.  As my sister-in-law once referenced my niece about the same subject, “It’s like having to wrestle an alligator”!  Jaxson is no exception.  I struggle to get the pajamas on and let him play in his room for a couple of minutes while I get myself ready for bed.

8:45 pm:  Jaxson, Landon, and I are snuggled up in bed watching Dancing with the Stars.  Jaxson likes to clap when everyone in the audience claps.  It’s pretty hilarious.  I’ve tried working with Jaxson to get him to fall asleep in his room but I’m struggling and so is he.  He has major separation anxiety at night, on top of the fact that he is cutting teeth right and left.  

9:30 pm: Landon is asleep, snoring along with Jaxson.  I try to move Jaxson into his crib without waking him up.   Turns out its impossible.  Looks like another night with 2 feet sticking me in the back. 

Questions:
What is the most surprising thing about being a mom?
As cliché as it sounds, I think the most surprising thing is how much love and emotional attachment I feel for this tiny person.

What are some tips or advice you would give to new or soon-to-be mamas?
Know that there is no right way or wrong way of parenting.  I worry every day that I’m not doing something good enough to help Jaxson grow in the way I want him to.  Also, throw all expectations out the window. 

What are your top three baby products?

1. Gerber Yogurt Bites.  They are his candy.
2. Nuk Pacifiers.  Jaxson didn’t take one at first but now we don’t leave home without it. 
3. Baby Bottom Butter.  Our local pharmacy makes it in house and it works wonders on diaper rash and lower region irritations on Jaxson.

***

 

Thank you so much for sharing your day with us Allison! 

randomness

For some reason I felt the need to post tonight.  But I have no real cohesive thoughts.  And Ryann didn't nap today.  AT ALL.  So I have no edited pictures.  So the only picture you get to look at is this really awesome one... prepare yourself, it isn't pretty.

Ok, maybe it isn't that bad.  But this my friends, is the result of a fight with this sidewalk.  The sidewalk won, clearly.  I wiped out while I was running on Monday.  Like, tripped on an uneven part of the sidewalk flat on my stomach wipe out.  My knee obviously took the brunt of it, but there is a teeny tiny bit of road burn on my hip, a small bruise on my elbow, and a chunk of skin missing on my thumb.  That thumb, however, saved my phone.  I don't have an arm sleeve for my iPhone... I tried to go to the apple store to get one the other day, and the guy told me all snotty like that they don't carry stuff for the 3GS in the store anymore.  Sorry dude, not everyone can drop a couple hundred bucks every freaking time Apple throws out some new product.  Nonetheless, I need a new screen protector, but my trusty little phone didn't even skip a beat.

And for the record, after I went back to home to wash the blood of my hand and make sure there wasn't blood anywhere else, I got my little (errr big) butt outside and restarted my workout.  Bridge to 10K week two day one complete!

Any suggestions for a band to wear while running for the 3GS?

Back to Ryann not napping today.  Seriously, what the heck was that all about?  She has slept until 7am the past two days (cue choir singing), but yesterday she only took one nap and today NONE.  Well 15 minutes in the car on the way to a friend's house for dinner, but that was it.  I'm pretty sure it has to do with the bajillion teeth she has coming in.  I think the count of teeth trying to make an appearance right now is five or six.  And that includes two or three molars.  Poor little girl.  She is actually doing better than I expected with it.  Minus the no naps thing.

Switching gears here... um, my husband graduates from medical school this coming Saturday.  Are you kidding me?  I thought we'd never make it here.  I know we still have residency to get through, but I can't believe medical school is almost behind us.  Well really he has been done with classes for a few weeks, but this will seal the deal.  And then people can refer to him as doctor.  It is so weird.  He is only 25, that seems ridiculous that people will be calling him doctor.  But hubby I am so so SO proud of you.

We are having a little graduation barbeque.  Mostly just Chris's family, nothing big.  I would love to throw him an all out crazy party, because he has accomplished so much, but a little family BBQ will have to do.  I don't think he minds :o).  If I manage to set up anything mildly cool I'll be sure to share some pictures.

Jumping off the path a little more... I am having some serious baby fever lately.  I have no idea why (well probably because my baby isn't so much of a baby anymore, or something like that).  We have decided that it would probably be best to wait at least another year before trying to give Ry a little brother or sister.  By that point Chris would only have one more year of residency left, and let's face it... Even though I needed to lose some weight before getting pregnant again, I'm not ready to watch the scale rocket back up 20 pounds right now.  I'm going to keep working towards my goal, and hopefully get to enjoy a new body for a year before subjecting it to another little parasite again (I know, parasite, bad way to refer to an awesome life growing in your belly, but pregnancy and I didn't mix incredibly well!).

But I'm pretty sure the fact that we have decided to wait, is making me want a baby all that much more.  So I'll just oogle all of the cute little baby stuff and maternity photos and whatever else I can find on pinterest, and hope one of my friends decides to jump on the baby train soon :o).  Oh wait, who am I kidding, that would make me want a little one even more!

Ok, enough rambling for one night :o)

the plan

Lately I've had a few comments asking what I've been doing to lose the weight (20.6 pounds as of this morning!).  So I figured I'd give you a little run down.  There definitely isn't some genius plan or anything, I've just been going with the burn more calories than you eat and try and stay away from super salty, sugary or carby (that isn't a word, I know) foods.  So original right?

Diet
Probably the most significant tool throughout this whole process has been my calorie tracking iPhone app, Calorie Counter PRO by MyNetDiary.  I was able to input my current weight when I started, my goal weight, and when I hoped to achieve that goal by.  The app won't allow you to input a goal date that would have you losing more than two pounds a week, just for the record.  But you shouldn't really be aiming for more than that anyway.  You input some other items and the app spits out how many calories you should be eating a day.  Right now I'm at 1284.  It definitely disappears quickly if I don't think about what I'm putting in my mouth.

You can input your exercise, and the app gives an analysis showing how many calories you have left for the day based on your workout.  So on days I run, I generally earn an extra 400 calories or so.  I still try not to go over my 1284, but I do give myself a little wiggle room on the days I workout hard.  The app does adjust your calories as you start to lose weight, I used to be allotted somewhere between 1350 and 1400 calories.

I still need to work on my actual meals and snacks.  I've figured out how to stay under my calories, but what I'm actually eating still leaves a lot to be desired.  Pretty much every morning I eat a slice of toast with peanut butter, drink 4 ounces of orange juice, and take my vitamins.  Sometimes I'll have a Special K bar for a snack.  Lunch is generally some variety of a chicken wrap, sandwich or salad.  We've gotten pretty good at making healthy dinners, but basically just have meat and veggies.  Not a whole lot of fun there.  Almost every single night I have 1/2 a cup of chocolate frozen yogurt with 3/4 of a cup of raspberries.  I look forward to that all day :o).  Throughout the day I either drink water, or Minute Maid Diet Lemonade.  It should be more water, but I love that lemonade!  Nonetheless I try really hard not to drink my calories.

Generally when we are cooking dinner I try and find recipes that offer nutrition information, so I can get an idea of what I'm eating.  However there is an option on the Calorie Counter app to create a recipe; you input all of the different food items in the dish, click a button, and it totals it all together.  Then you can get a better idea of how much you should actually eat.

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Some staples in my pantry lately have been Mission Life Balance Whole Wheat Tortillas, Oscar Meyer Rotisserie Chicken Breast Deli Meat, Laughing Cow Light Garlic and Herb Cheese Wedges, Special K Cracker Chips, Kemps Chocolate Frozen Yogurt, plus fruit, veggies and proteins.  Taste of Home's Healthy Cooking magazine has been pretty good to us.

A good little snack or lunch idea?  Take a tortilla, spread on the Laughing Cow cheese wedge, top it with 4 slices of chicken breast deli meat and roll it up.  You can either slice it to get a pinwheel style appetizer/snack, or if you're lazy like me you can just eat it.  Another tip... Chris has made a chicken rub that we really like (I'll have to try and get the recipe from him).  We usually go ahead and grill up all three chicken breasts that come in a pack, even though we will only use two.  Then I cut up half of the third breast the next two days for lunch, and put it either on a salad, or in a wrap with 2 tablespoons of shredded cheese and some lettuce.

So there you have it.  What I have more or less been eating the last 11 weeks.  We do still go out to eat occasionally, but I try and limit it to places where I can find nutritional information online, and plan what I will get before we go.  Applebees has a pretty decent menu for under 550 calories, and if we want something quick we usually grab Subway.  I can't believe it has been almost three months since I've had a hamburger and fries.  My biggest downfall throughout this whole thing has been sweets.  I CRAVE them all the time still.  I really thought I would be stuck missing chips and fries and things of that nature, but I seriously want to eat chocolate all the time.  And I love baking.  But I am trying to control those habits.

Exercise
As most of you know, I completed the C25K app on my iPhone.  For the first 10 weeks of this journey I alternated between the workouts on the app, and just making sure I walked at least two miles throughout the day.  We have gone on TONS of walks lately as a family, weather permitting of course.  (Stupid weather, stop being so dreary!)  Now I am doing Bridge to 10K three times a week, and attempting Jillian's Six Week Six Pack the other days, along with lots of family walks still.  Honestly?  I'm not really enjoying the video.  I'm not sure why, it isn't too difficult (although all the time spent in the freaking plank position SUCKS), not too easy, but I just hate doing it.  So I might need to come up with another option.

Random tidbit, my favorite running music includes songs by the Pussycat Dolls, Dog Days Are Over by Florence and the Machine (hello it says 'run fast' in the song), and Imma Be by the Black Eyed Peas.  Just thought I'd throw that out there.

I think strength training is really going to be key for me throughout the rest of this journey (although cardio is still important) because even though I've lost a good amount of weight, I still feel flabby.  I'm not seeing the body that I want, or that I know I can have.  I know I don't have the energy or motivation for a rock solid body, but I know I can be more toned.  If I keep hating the video, I'm not really sure what I'm going to do that can supplement.  I definitely need a plan to follow.

Follow Through
The main reason why all of this is working right now, is because I have adapted the go big or go home mentality.  Since posting that first post, and knowing how many of you out there are reading this, I have a bit more motivation to continue on this journey.  That, combined with the fact that I actually have time and support for this right now.  I am so lucky that Chris has had so much time off over the last couple months.  He doesn't start residency until June 23rd, so now is the absolute perfect time for me get in the habit of taking care of myself.  I think really, the biggest challenge will be when he isn't around anymore.  I so hope I can keep it up.

I've said it before and I'll say it again.  This has been HARD.  There are some days that I just want to sit and mindlessly snack, or just freaking eat as much pasta as I want to.  Or have three margaritas because I feel like it.  And I know I'm going to slip sometimes.  And that indulging every now and again is ok.  But I haven't yet figured out how to have the balance between the two, so until I reach my goal weight I am being very VERY cautious about doing things that will hurt my progress (I didn't keep that in mind when I made TWO batches of no-bake cookies this week.  But don't worry, I have only had one a day!)  I think the saddest part about this whole thing right now, is that I will avoid social situations where I know food will be present, because I don't trust myself to make good decisions in those settings.  Again that relates to me needing to find balance.  I'm working on it.  Because attaining my goal of a healthy body, shouldn't cause me to miss out on other things I love.

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If you have any fitness/exercise tips or healthy snacks and meals you would like to share, please do so in the comment section.  I'm sure other people would appreciate the help, I know I would!  And if anyone out there is blogging about a health journey, let me know.  I'd love to read about it!  Linking up with Heir to Blair :o)