Blogging Slacker

I’ve been a complete and total (yes those words mean the same thing!) blogging slacker lately.  We just haven’t done anything out of the ordinary or exciting to take pictures of or blog about!  I even got out my planner to make sure—no, nothing too exciting lately!

So what have we been up to lately?  Mostly just going to the gym!  Have I blogged about my weight loss journey yet?  I don’t think so, actually.  So that is what I will do today! 

So let’s start at the beginning.  When I got married, I did so in a size 4 wedding dress.  Austin and I will celebrate our 4 year anniversary in April… so yeah, not that long ago.  After we got married, 2 months later I was pregnant with Makenna, and thus I started my weight loss battle!  I gained over 50 pounds while pregnant with Makenna.  I think what basically happened was, I was really sick with her and eating was the only thing that would stop the throwing up.  So I ate lots!  And if I didn’t eat, I would get super cranky and sick and Austin would pretty much have to force me to eat more.  And I ballooned up.  And 50 pounds doesn’t just disappear after your baby is born!  So after she was born, I hurt for pretty much two months.  And then we moved to Arizona when she was four months old.  And then I had just decided I was going to hit the gym and get back down to my original weight, but six months after Makenna was born, I was pregnant with Max.  Needless to say, exercise wasn’t going to happen then!  I only gained 20 pounds or so with Max, but because I was already so overweight it didn’t really matter.  So cut to now, when Max is 20 months old, and I am just so, so overweight!

A friend from back home told me that she was really losing a lot of weight.  So it motivated me, and I went to the doctor to see what I could do to do the same.  My doctor told me that I was really overweight and the pounds needed to come off NOW!  His advice?  Eat less calories and burn more.  Thank you doctor for that brilliant advice!  But even though this wasn’t some new idea, I decided I would take him up on it and I WOULD lose weight! 

So my weight loss journey started after I went to the doctor—on January 13th.  Well, I take that back.  I went to the doctor on a Thursday, but I didn’t really start to diet/exercise until the next Monday (I thought I would start fresh at the beginning of the week).  So since then, I have been tracking every bite that enters my mouth on livestrong.com. I seriously love that site!  You can also put in your weight, how much activity you do, and it will tell you how many calories a day to eat to lose “x” amount of pounds each week (or maintain weight or gain weight).  Perfect!  I’ve also been hitting the gym most days a week.  I shoot for 5 days a week, but sometimes I get only 4 and sometimes I actually go 6 times.  It all just depends on how I’m feeling that week or how the kids are feeling.  Most of the time they enjoy playing at the Kid’s Club at the gym, but ever once in a while (like today!) they just do NOT want to go!  I don’t really like making them go if they just really want to stay home.  I figure I send them so often, that it is only fair we get to do what they want to do sometimes too!

So anyway, that’s what I’ve been doing.  Sometimes it is a struggle.  I still crave a lot of junk food.  And I have so little self control that I can try to eat one tiny piece of chocolate, and then end up finishing off the whole bag!  So I really  have to make sure there isn’t a lot of junk in our house!  And even though I have grown to actually enjoy working out, sometimes I am just tired or I want to stay home.  It’s been hard to drag myself (and the kids!) out every morning!  But I have definitely been trying!

So after four weeks of diet and exercise, I weighed myself and had lost 16.6 pounds!  I was really proud and excited!  But then I went back to the doctor on February 16 for my next check-up (it had been 31 days and he was just seeing how I’d been doing).  He said I had actually got my weight mixed up.  I suppose that came from changing scales mid-way through!  According to the doctor, I had actually lost 23 pounds in a month!  Woo hoo!  That was a huge motivator for me!  It told me, “Hey!  This actually DOES work and you actually CAN lose weight!” 

So I’m continuing on!  I still have about 25 more pounds to lose before I am at a weight I will be comfortable with.  To be honest, I am only 10 pounds away from where I was right when I got pregnant with Makenna.  But to be at a really healthy weight, I’m shooting for 25 more.  I also really want to get my muscles built up and strengthen my abs.  Two babies in 15 months does a number on your abs!  I’ve found that I really want to be healthy and strong! 

So there you go.  That’s what we have been doing most days!  We get up and get ready, head to the gym, and then (depending on the day) go either to the library (on Tuesdays) or home for lunch and naps.  And bam!  Our whole morning is gone!  The afternoons have been spent running errands, cleaning and doing chores, and the occasional play dates with friends.  My kids have also been sick A LOT lately.  Max pretty much keeps a runny nose (the doctor earlier this week said it is actually allergies.  So hopefully we can get him on some meds and get rid of all of that!).  Makenna has been getting nasty coughs and fevers a lot lately too.  I’m sure it probably all comes from being with the kids at the gym so much, but I’m not sure what to do about that!  Hopefully they will get over it all soon!  Also, hopefully, I will have more to blog about soon.  March will bring Makenna’s birthday and (later on) party, a visit from Austin’s mom (Woo hoo!), and we have a trip to the Children’s Museum for my Parents As Teachers meeting scheduled.  So hopefully I will get more pictures up soon!