weigh to go: 3 months in

Posted on April 10, 2013 by mommyinthemidwest

This is the picture that did it for me. The one that made me realize that I really didn’t like the way I looked. Christmas morning with my boys and all I could see in this picture was how big my arms and stomach and legs looked. [My hair’s pretty gross too, but that’s not the point.] It’s not even that I think I look necessarily huge, I just didn’t realize that this is what I looked like. At all.

On January 2nd, I started a diet. A couple weeks later I joined the gym.

Click here for the previous update.

As of a month ago I had lost 12.something pounds. I posted this on Instagram.

I’m happy to report that 1 month later, as of today, I’ve lost 16.4 pounds. This is not a dramatic weight loss – just averaging a pound a week, but that is fine. I find it a little surprising because my lifestyle has changed quite dramatically since I started all this healthier living business.

I started Couch to 5k, are you familiar? I’ve historically never been a runner. I’ve historically always complained about my crappy knees. But. I’ve recently been sooo inspired by Mommy Boots and her success with this program that the urge to try it was overwhelming. I am currently in the middle of week four. In case you are not familiar, this program is designed to train a non-runner (definition: ME) to run a 5k in just 9 weeks. There are 3 sessions per week and each one is just about 30 minutes. Easy enough to commit to that, right?

To give you a better, but brief rundown, I think Wk 1 starts out alternating 60 seconds of jogging with 90 seconds of walking. By Wk 4, I’m up to this:

Warm up walk: 5 min
Jog: 3 min
Walk: 90 sec
Jog: 5 min
Walk: 2 min 30 sec
Repeat (minus the 5 minute warm up)
Cool down walk for 5 min

I have been doing the program outside at least 1x a week and inside on the treadmill 2x a week since I started. Not intentionally necessarily, but it’s just worked out that way. Jogging outside is like 54ish times harder than on the treadmill. I hate it during, but I love it afterwards.

My knees do hurt initially, but that kind of goes away once I get into my rhythm. I did day one of week four outside and it was quite a jump from week three so it was rough. REALLY rough. But I completed it. Did it again tonight on the treadmill and it was easy. I’ve already told myself that if I am not able to successfully complete a day, I am going to repeat it until I’m successful. So far, I haven’t had to repeat anything. Which is surprising since that 60 seconds of jogging the first week nearly killed me. Or so I thought.

This month’s major milestone: I fit into my “skinny jeans” that I quickly outgrew about a year ago when I stopped nursing Dexter. Woo!! Getting back into them has been a goal since I started on this journey. I did it and here’s the proof!

Disregard the dorky pose, fake smile, and wet hair.

So despite the fact that the numbers are not changing rapidly on the scale, I feel MUCH better. I desperately need to buy some new clothes. I notice that I care more about how I look. I’m wearing make-up. Getting my eyebrows done again. Dressing (a little) cuter despite my limited wardrobe (the picture above is not intended to depict that). Contemplating a new hairstyle.

I’m proud of myself for challenging my brain and my body with this jogging madness, and I have so much more energy than I can remember having in recent years. I’ve been known to bust out 50 jumping jacks in the bathroom at work. I’m still sticking with My Fitness Pal, logging everything I eat and all of my workouts. It seems like a lot of work at first, but it really just takes a few seconds here and there and is kind of addictive! Not to mention sooo motivating. Come join and be a pal if you haven’t already!

xo,
~C~

fun bonanza: a week in photos

Posted on March 20, 2013 by mommyinthemidwest

I should probably break this up into at least six separate posts, but eh. My blog. My rules.

First things first, the boys got haircuts last Tuesday. It was sort of spur of the moment. I didn’t realize when I said “use the clippers” that Dexter would be BALD 2 minutes later. Whoops. I had her use the scissors on the top of Theo’s head. My boys look so different.

Moving right along. Friday I took dinner to a friend who had a new baby boy 2 weeks earlier. Maybe it was partly an excuse to get over there and snuggle up with a cute, squishy newborn. Maybe it was an excuse to get my boys together with her big boy, who is 7 months younger than Theo and 7 months older than Dexter. Neato. 🙂

The boys loved little Parker and had fun playing on Paxton’s cool bunk bed. We had to get home to clean up the house before my mom rolled into town and were surprised by sweet friends who stopped by with some gifts and pizza for Theo’s belated birthday. Dexter was kind enough to help Theo open his presents.

Somehow I managed to forget all about bringing my camera along with us on Saturday but posted a couple of pictures of the fun things we did on Instagram.

We went to the zoo. I took this picture while Dexter and I were waiting for my mom, Theo, and Ryan to finish looking at icky snakes. Honestly, it’s so hot in the desert building that I was about to start sweating. We were fine catching some fresh air and chit chatting about life. See? That’s Dexter’s serious face.

After the zoo, we visited Jersey’s Cafe, which Ryan and I had seen featured on Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives 2 years ago or so. The food was amazing! I had the Little Egg Harbor Crab Cake sandwich. Wow. Just wow.

We stopped by Ashley Home Furniture on the way home to see a bed in person that a friend of mine is selling. Turns out, we love the bed and are getting it this weekend. Like it?

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Then we went home and talked about how full we still were from our late lunch, played with some cute little boys, and went to bed. Sunday we revisited one of our favorite places to take the boys in Columbus, Indiana. I love looking back at the previous times we’ve been there to see how much these bubs have grown!

The first time we went, Dexter was 2 months old and Theo was 16 months old.

The second time we went, Dexter was 9 months old and Theo was 23 months old.

This time, Theo was way to old to count his age in months (36) and Dexter was 22 months old.

It never ceases to amaze me how fast time flies. It’s even more painfully obvious when you have young children. I love these two places I’m about to blog about for the THIRD time, but even more I love looking at how much the boys have changed.

We visited the Commons, an amazing and unique indoor playground perfect for cold or rainy days, and an old fashioned soda fountain, Zaharako’s, perfect for ruining any diet. (P.S. Did you notice my naughty eating habits…Friday pizza & Saturday giant sandwich. Oh, and a sundae on Sunday. That splurge meal turned into a splurge weekend…gotta live a little, right?)

This kid was a little tentative about climbing by himself.

Watching his big brother, not too sure what to think. Nervous face.

Ryan and I both ended up climbing to the top a couple of times. So much fun (and not a bad workout).

Up the slide…

And down the slide.

(Ha – I just noticed Ryan & Theo on the big slide in the background!)

my monster.

A step back in time just across the street.

Restored to it’s original glory. Ridiculously beautiful and equally delicious!

Mom headed back to Tennessee after lunch and we visited Ryan’s parents afterwards since Theo’s been begging to go there for the last week or so. Monday was uneventful. That brings us to tonight.