An Eventful Week

Happy Wednesday! Today I am happy to report that over the past week I have done exceptionally better with my eating. I have had few hiccups but nothing completely de-railing. I haven't weighed in because I am afraid if I do it may make me loose all motivation. Of course it may significantly increase my motivation but as of right now I think I am better off staying away from the scale at least until Friday.




I brought 12 ounces of deli meat with me to work today. I plan on making a sandwich three days this week. Friday, we are having a cookout at work so I know I will not be great then. I will try my best to not be terrible but I probably won't log my lunch in My Fitness Pal. We have a busy weekend planned. I have this Saturday off and we have a Dave Matthew's Band concert. My mom is taking the boys to the lake for the weekend so Cory and I will have Friday, Saturday, and part of Sunday kid free. I am very, very excited about all the plans we have and some of that does include the Vortex in Atlanta. Holy Moly that place is the bomb. If you've never been, you need to go....like now. Between the cookout, The Vortex, and the concert....I don't plan on staying on track or feeling guilty for eating bad. I will be disappointed next Monday if I don't get right back on it. 




Here's to a short week, a long weekend, and DMB playing only the songs I love most.

Eliminating the Guilt Game

So once again, I have failed to follow through with updating. The main reason is that I really don't want to admit another failure. My 4 week cleaning challenge never got off the ground. I have plenty of reasons excuses. But, at the end of the day they are just that, excuses.

While I've been away from blog land my boys turned 1! It was truly an awesome celebration. They enjoyed their family party and we spent a couple of days after recovering. Here are a couple of cute pictures of their big day and their one year old pictures.

We also enjoyed Mother's Day celebrating with family. Cory got me a ring with his birthstone in the center and the boys birthstone on either side of his. I love it and it will always remind me of the first year with my little boys. The hard work, the unfathomable love, the ups and downs and every moment in between.


I haven't spoken recently about weight loss. The biggest reason for that is that I haven't been doing anything to work towards loosing weight. Starting this past Monday (always has to be a Monday am I right?) I started "dieting." I am going about it this time in a different way than I ever have. It gets so old hearing people talk about a "lifestyle change" but in all honesty isn't that what has to happen to stay healthy once you get there? I have struggled with my weight my whole life. So why do I continue to think that it won't take a lifestyle change to keep in under control for the rest of my life?


Anyway, back to my plan. It's pretty simple. I am just simply trying to make better choices for every meal, snack, drink. For example, I LOVE Coke. It is really like opening happiness. I like Coke Zero ok but there is nothing like the real thing (like the slogan usage?) I did have one Coke this week because I felt like a needed it. But the other 8 times I wanted a Coke, I got Coke Zero or water instead. Just better choices. I am not going to feel deprived. When I feel deprived I quit. So when I get to the point where I think I will die without a Chick-Fil-A biscuit I am going to get one but the other 6 days of the week I am going to make a better breakfast choice. I feel like this will be better for my long term. I hate feeling guilty for what I eat so by making better choices I am eliminating the exhausting mental guilt game.

Does anyone else love Coke the way I do?

4 Week Challenge

As a person, I struggle with keeping up on everyday stuff...cleaning, laundry, bills, etc. Pre-babies there wasn't as much to get behind on but I managed to do it. Since having the babies I'm finding it close to impossible. It is so hard to get anything done while the babies are awake and when they are asleep I generally either too lazy to do anything or I try take that time for Cory and me. I would like to think that if I was a SAHM I would get things done but I know that is not the case and on top of that I enjoy working.




Bottom line though, I have to get better about keeping my home/ life in order. For the rest of this week I plan to take a little time each night to get the house prepped to even attempt to clean. Who needs several days to prep their house to clean? This girl.

I found this while pinteresting and thought I would give it a shot. I may switch around the days a little bit to accommodate our schedule. I plan to report back here at the end of next week about how week 1 went. I am giving myself this challenge for the next 4 weeks. Hopefully, I'll be able to find my groove and make this more of a habit.

At the end of the day, my babies have clean bottles and pajamas. I know that I will not regret getting on the floor and playing with the boys, but I very well may regret worrying too much about being the perfect mom and forgoing time with them in order to have a spotless house. I'm not challenging myself to be perfect. It will take time to build new habits. I just want to create a more organized life for my family and my sanity.


Am I the only one who struggles with this?

How oregano rocked my world...

What happens when you start complaining about how little time you have and how you just need a break? Life is like HA! Watch this. 

Almost two weeks ago now Matthew got sick. He woke up in the middle of the night with a fever and was pretty pitiful. This was the first time either of my boys have really been sick. I knew I was lucky for this to be my first time with a sick baby but now I REALLY get it. I took him to the doctor and he had double ear infections. It was awful. My happy boy was so pitiful.  We started him on amoxicillin and I expected him to recover quickly. He definitely didn't. 

The amoxicillin made his stomach hurt so bad he would just scream in pain. He wouldn't eat or drink anything which is not in his character. The boy loves to eat. I called the doctor several times over the next 5 days but they didn't want to see him again. They said it was a normal reaction to the antibiotic but my instincts said there was more to it. 

Day 5 of antibiotics and we were going crazy. We were sleep deprived and desperate for him to feel better. A few months ago my mom really got into essential oils and their health benefits. We were ready to try anything to get our baby better so we started putting oregano on the bottom of his feet. Oregano is a "hot" oil so we diluted it with coconut oil. 

The next day he was showing definite signs of improvement. He started feeling warm again a couple of times so a couple of days after starting the oil we started applying it more frequently. We also applied basil and lavender to the backs of his ears to help ease the pain.  

I am truly amazed by this oil. While I was skeptical of stopping the antibiotics, I'm so glad we did. Now he has his appetite back. He's smiling, playing, and thank God...eating. Wednesday we took him back to the doctor to have his ears rechecked. She said they were completely clear. 

From now on this will be me.....

I'm a believer. 

Sping is here!

So it has been over a month since my last post. Lots of things have been going on but mostly just life. I'm still struggling with self sabotage and finding motivation to get on track with a healthier lifestyle.


The past week has been very busy at work. So many things to get done, so little time to do it. I love what I do and I thrive during the busy times but man does it take a toll on me at home. Sometimes I feel as though I have no time to relax. I wake up, I work, I come home, I love on and play with the boys, I take a few minutes to myself, then I go to bed. I am not complaining, I love this crazy life. Every now and then though, especially when work is crazy, I just feel like I have no time to breathe.
A few exciting things are going on....

1. Spring is here!!! Finally! I am NOT a fan of cold weather. Even though winter is trying to stick around a little too long this year, it's nice to see the first signs of spring.

2.As you can see, I have a much nicer, fancier blog design thanks to Hubby Jack. He has designed many of the blogs that I follow and I couldn't be happier with what he created!

2. I am looking forward to the next couple of weeks. Next weekend Cory and I have a date day/night in Atlanta. I am so excited to get away with him. I'm sure by the end of it we will be ready to get home to our boys but man do we need some time to ourselves. That whole next week I will be off of work for Spring Break. It will also be my 26th birthday.

3. Malcolm is WALKING!

 

Let the fun begin!

 

 

Self Sabotage

This is your disclaimer: This post has a lot of long rambling and deep thoughts. 

 

Loosing weight has been a struggle of mine for YEARS. Pretty much as long as I can remember. I spend way too much time every day contemplating my weight, food choices, lack of exercise, etc. I can't even imagine the productivity that would come out of me if my mind was free. Since having the babies, I have thought a lot about the reason why I am still overweight and haven't done anything about it. Logically, if you are out of milk, you go to the store to buy milk. Yeah, it is inconvenient, you have to change out of sweat pants, it will cost money and gas. However it is something that you do because you have a problem and that is the solution. What I've been contemplating lately is WHY is weight loss so different for me? I know exactly how to lose weight, I have to eat better and exercise. Of course there are many reasons excuses why loosing weight is inconvenient. However, there is still a plan to remedy my current problem. So what is that makes it so easy for me to get stuck in the inconveniences of it and not progress toward my goal? I know the answer:

 

SELF SABOTAGE

 

I have spent a considerable amount of time researching self sabotage. There are many reasons why one would prevent themselves from achieving their own goals. These are the ones that I felt like applied to ME:

 

1. Familiarity of failure. I do not like change. I get very anxious when my grandmother moves the trash can in her kitchen. Why? Because I like consistency and change makes me anxious. I can logically reason that it is just a freaking trash can but that logic doesn't play out when something is changed from my norm. I know how to operate being overweight. I am so worried about failing at losing weight AGAIN that I prefer to stay in the familiarity of being fat.

 

2. Need for control. This goes along with the last one to some extent. The way I look is a direct reflection of how I treat my body. It is MY body and MY choices and I like the control of that. The problem is that right now its "I know I shouldn't have that Reese's but it is MY body and I can control what I do with it." I know how I SHOULD view this. What I should be telling myself is "It is MY body and only I have the power to NOT eat that Reese's" and that should be motivating enough to put down the damn Reese's. I am allowed to be a control freak with my own body. I just have to realize that I am only hurting myself by being controlling of my bad choices instead of being controlling of my own power to make the right choices.

 

3. Need for excitement. I don't consider myself full of drama. Sure, I am a little dramatic I am a woman but it is not something that I thrive off of. I enjoy my job because of how LITTLE drama we have. We work so well together because we work together instead of against each other. Cory and I may have our Sunday together planned. It will be a relaxing day (as relaxing as having 9 month old twin boys can be) and we will eat all of our meals at home. However, if it weren't for his hard as a rock determination, more Sundays than not I would try to go out to eat where I would most certainly overeat all in the name of excitement. 

 

I think it is obvious that I know my weaknesses. Obviously they are easier to identify than they are to overcome or I would be a size 10 by now. Loosing weight is so much more of a mental game for me than it is a physical game. When I weigh myself and I haven't lost any weight in my head I say "well this is obviously not working, I should just eat what I want." On days that I weigh myself and I have lost weight, in my head I say "Hell ya! Two pounds down. I'm getting Chick-fil-a for breakfast today!" Of course, Chick-fil-a for breakfast quickly turns into "Well I am already not going to have a successful day, I will just use this as a cheat day and get right back on it." Either way, when I weigh myself, my immediate thoughts after weighing are self sabotaging.

 

 

As with all problems, there is a solution. The solution may be to suck it up and do what I need to do or it may be to find a compromise between my desires and what it will take to reach my goals.

I have to find a way to keep moving forward and not allow myself to keep ruining all of my progress.

 

 

 In what ways do you sabotage yourself and your goals?

ATLaska

Let me just start by saying this week has been WEIRD!

 

Last weekend was nice. We went on two walks around our neighborhood. It felt good to move although it was also a pretty big wake up call of how out of shape I am. I couldn't believe how SORE I was from WALKING. I have all of these grand dreams of running a 5K and half marathons and then I walk around our slightly hilly (is that a word?) neighborhood and I am DYING!

 

 

This was from walk number 1. I was feeling good about the number of calories I burned. The hubby and I took the babies and although Cory had to slow WAY down so that I could keep up, I pushed myself to go faster than I would have.

 

 

This was walk number 2. I walked the same distance in almost the same amount of time. However, obviously from my total calories burned, I didn't push myself as hard. I think this is partly because I was already sore from the previous walk and partly because I went by myself and wasn't trying to keep up with Mr. Freakishly Long Legs.

 

 

Sunday night we made the Sriracha Shrimp Fried Rice I blogged about it last post. First of all, who knew oil had so many calories?? We used white rice, soy sauce, and a fried rice seasoning packet. The shrimp were Kroger, already cooked, tail on, medium frozen shrimp. I popped the tails off and let them marinade in Sriracha in the fridge for about an hour. We heated them up in a skillet and then added them to the fried rice. IT WAS DELICIOUS!! I am SOO glad we tried this! Although it was a little pricy (calorie wise- 440 calories), it is a new staple for our house FO SHO!

Tuesday we started hearing reports of a Snowmegeddon heading our way. Although we did get some rain Tuesday, the real fun started on Wednesday. The temperatures dropped and we got iced in.

 

I think my hubby was the only person in GA that WANTED to grill out in that mess. I'm pretty thankful for that though because our turkey burgers were ON TIME. Glad that better weather is upon us though so I can get back to walking.

 

Today we are back to the grind. My days are totally messed up but I am glad I only have one more day of work until I can snuggle these cuties.