A Newly Found Perception

Since I got married, I've gained weight. I've gained 15 lbs in the last 2 years. BLEHHHHHH.............................. So, off and on for a year now, I've tried to lose weight. Last spring, I was serious about it and lost 10 lbs. I lost those 10 lbs by joining http://www.sparkpeople.com/, doing cardio 5x a week and strength training 2x a week. SparkPeople is a great website that provides TONS of resources to help individuals gain control of their lives by changing their lifestyle. It allows a person to track their daily calorie intake, water intake, and fitness. It's amazing!

School ended and summer came. During the summer months, my husband and I bought a house, and I gained those 10 lbs back, easily. Now that my husband and I are settled in our new home and the new town, I'm ready to lose the weight, again.

At the end of November, I started the running program Couch-2-5K. I only completed 2 weeks of the program before I stopped due to sickness. Running while you are hacking and coughing is not fun. Trust me. I tried it. It's now mid-December, and I'm still overweight and haven't done any physical exercise in 2 weeks. During these 2 weeks, I've come to some realizations. I've come to the realization that I won't be losing any weight (on a conscious effort) before Dec 31st. I've come to the realization that I wasn't putting in enough effort before. Sure, I'm ready to lose the weight, but have I really put forth enough effort? No, I haven't. I wasn't tracking my calories. I wasn't drinking enough water. I wasn't cooking healthy. I wasn't buying enough fruits. I wasn't buying enough vegetables. Truly, for 2 weeks, the only thing I did was workout (running) consistently. To lose weight, I have to put forth more effort. I have to cook healthy. I have to eat healthy. I have to drink healthy. I have to workout for more than 2 weeks. I heard on the radio this morning that to lose weight, 20% comes from working out (cardio & strength train), and the other 80% is eating/drinking the right way.
SO............. Here's my conscious effort.
Effective January 1, 2011:
1. Joining a gym.
2. Cardio 4-6x per week.
3. Strength training 2x/week.
4. Sticking to 1200-1500 Calorie intake every day.
5. Tracking all 3 meals 5-6x/week.
6. Blogging EVERY DAY.
7. Cooking healthy (consciously) 5x per week.
8. Eating 2 fruits/day.
9. Eating 2 vegetables/day.
10. Drinking 8 cups of H20 every day.
I don't want to continue to fail at losing this weight and becoming healthy. I know I'm overweight. I know what weight I should be at. I'm not that far off from it. I know I can do it. I did it once, and I can do it again. I need to make conscious decision of making it a lifestyle change instead of a short-term change.

Now, just because I'm putting off my journey for another two weeks doesn't not give me free reign to do whatever the hell that I want. I'm still going to lightly monitor what I eat and drink. I just know it's going to be easier putting off this change until after the holidays. I didn't want to make this decision. I wish I was more assertive in the beginning and stuck to everything, but the reality is this: I didn't.
So, as of January 1, 2011, I'm going to jump on the bandwagon, with all the others, and I will begin being assertive. I will begin being diligent. I will begin being consistent. I will begin being conscious.

So Many Happenings...

Since I've last blogged, so many things have happened! So, I'll give an update according to the date. Brace yourself, it's a long post!


Saturday, 3/13:


Brandon and I decided to venture to Springfield that evening because I needed to pick up some make-up and face wash. After dinner, we went to the mall and walked around. After the mall, Brandon spotted a near-by pet store called Pet Land. He wanted to go in and just look around, but I knew if we went in, we would want to buy an animal. We've always wanted a dog and have talked about it many time. However, we currently are renting, and at the beginning, our land lady told us, "No pets." The bit of information of "no pets" just wasn't ringing a bell in our minds at the time, and we decided to go in and check it out. Right away, we went towards the puppies. There were so many cute puppies! I wanted to take every one of them home with me. We instantly saw two dogs that we gravitated to more so than the others: a yorkie-poo and a yorkie. The yorkie-poo (mix of a yorkie and a poodle) was so tiny and cute! The yorkie was bigger and older than the yorkie-poo and was much calmer. An employee of Pet Land came up to us and asked if we wanted to hold a puppy. I said, "No, because if I hold it, I'm going to want it." However, we ended up holding the yorkie. He was so calm and collected, and he never barked one time! We decided (without thinking about the "no pet" rule) that we wanted him. The employee wrote up the paper-work to get us our new puppy!!!! We were so excited. We decided to pay for him over 4 separate checks because puppies are expensive!!!! When we were about to pay for him, the store manager came to us and told us their system was down and couldn't accept checks at that moment. He told us that we could put down a deposit and come get him tomorrow. So, we put down the deposit and left with no puppy. 


Sunday, 3/14:


We had a lot going on Sunday without having to add in going to pick up our new puppy. We decided to get up early and go pick him up first. We arrived at Pet Land, and their system was working! Here's our new puppy: 

Chester Taylor Reed 

We left Springfield at about noon and headed straight for West Plains. There was a birthday party for Brandon's 2nd cousin, who turned 2, in West Plains, and we went to it. I didn't take any pictures because I rarely do. That is something I wish to improve on. Anyways, we had fun at the party and then enjoyed some quality time with him mom and grandparents. Everyone got to meet Chester! After we chatted for a while, we knew we had to go home at a decent hour to get some rest for the beginning of the work week. 


Friday 3/19 - Sunday 3/21:


I woke up Friday morning, and I decided to weigh myself. I hadn't worked out for an entire week. I also didn't weigh myself on Tuesday for my weekly weigh-in. I needed to know what I weighed and how much I gained (I knew in my heart that I had gained.). I got on the scale, and I LOST 5 LBS since I first began dieting!!!!! I was stoked!!!! Friday night was a low key night for us. A friend at work invited us to go to her church and listen to a local band play. We were going to do that but changed our minds later on. We ended up going out to eat at a local Mexican restaurant and going back home. I started not feeling well, so I went to bed early that night. Brandon had a friend come over, and they played video games ALL NIGHT LONG. I woke up Saturday morning at 6:30 to let Chester go potty, and I found them still playing games. They continued playing until 8:30. All three of us then went to McDonald's for breakfast. After breakfast, we came home and took a nap. I still wasn't feeling the greatest. Once again, I went to bed early that night. My throat was hurting and was feeling full. I didn't like it one bit. I woke up Sunday morning with NO energy and no motivation to do anything. I ended up laying on the couch all day sleeping. 

Monday, 3/22:

When I woke up this morning, I still wasn't feeling the greatest, so I decided to stay home from work. I SHOULD have went to urgent care to be seen by a doctor; however, I decided not to. I know I had strep throat. I've had it so many times in the past that I know my symptoms of strep throat, and I know what I need to treat it. Luckily, we had some antibiotics in our medicine cabinet left over from past prescriptions; therefore, I just took some of them. I'm so glad I took the antibiotics because I feel so much better!!!!! By this afternoon, I was up and around, paying bills, cleaning, doing laundry, doing dishes, and making dinner. For dinner, I made Baked Creamy Bacon Wrapped Chicken and Potatoes. Here's the recipe:

3 Chicken Breasts (all cut in 1/2)
6 Potatoes
12 slices of bacon
2 cans cream of mushroom
1 cup of milk
2 tblspns of sour cream (I used fat free and they were BIG tablspns)

In a bowl, combine the cream of mushroom, milk, and sour cream. Cut potatoes in small-medium sized quarter pieces and put in a 9X13 baking dish. Wrap 2 pieces of bacon around each breast half and place over potatoes. Pour cream of mushroom mixture over the bacon wrapped chicken and potatoes. Bake @ 375 for 1 hr & 20 minutes (or until chicken and potatoes are done). ENJOY! 

Here's what it looked like (Sorry, but I already ate some of it!)

I hope everyone has had a good Monday. GOD BLESS! 

Preschoolers Give the Best Hugs

Good Evening Bloggers! I've been skippin' out on blogging lately!! SHAME SHAME ON ME!!! SOO... here are the updates:

I've officially been dieting now for a little over 2 weeks and I've lost 3 pounds!!! During the day, I'm eating about every two hours, and I still manage to lose weight. I eat HEALTHY, watch my calories/fat/carbs/protein, and I exercise. It's amazing! I haven't felt this great in a long time! If you are looking for a great way to get started losing weight and/or becoming healthier, then I encourage you to join sparkpeople.com . This website is FREE, offers amazing resources/recipes, tracks your nutrition, tracks, fitness, and tracks weight loss! AMAZING!!! JOIN NOW!!

I recently signed up to go to the Missouri Speech/Language Hearing Association's annual convention. It's going to be April 16-18 at Tan-Tar-A. This will be my first year going to a speech/language conference and I cannot wait! I'm going with great co-workers, and I know I'm going to have a blast!

As of late, there has been something that has weighed quite heavily on my heart. It's a matter of religion. For a long time now, I've prayed to GOD about my relationship with him (or rather the lacking of a relationship), and I've prayed to him about offering guidance and strength as my husband and I figure our way through life.  I've come to the realization that this heaviness in my heart IS the answer that I've been praying for. GOD has given me the answer that I've been praying for! GOD has told me the answer, and he wants to be connected with my heart just like I want my heart connected with him. THANK YOU GOD FOR GIVING ME THE ANSWERING AND SHOWING ME THE WAY!

My heart was heavy today, and before I started working, I knew it was going to be a long day. However, my preschoolers proved me wrong. I ended up having one of the best days because of them! They know exactly what to say to me to make me smile, and they give the best hugs around! They eased my mind, my spirit, and heart.

That's the updated version on our lives! Good Night and GOD BLESS!

Weight Loss Challenge

I've been using www.sparkpeople.com now for a solid week. I tried to stick to the recommended calorie/carb/fat/protein intake (it didn't always happen) and only worked out 2 days. I ended up losing a 1/2 lb during that one week of dieting! I couldn't believe it! :) This may actually work! I'm going to continue to work hard, stick (or try harder) to my nutrition recommendations, work out 4 days/week, and drink at least 8 glasses of water a day. I CAN DO THIS!  I KNOW I CAN!  I'm not going to give up either because I've felt better within this past week than I have all year. Since losing the 1/2 lb, I have 19 1/2 lbs to go! :) Good night and GOD BLESS!

Workouts and Neti Pots

Life for me has been a little crazy and tiring lately, and I don't know why! Brandon and I joined the local YMCA Wednesday, and I completed my first workout since the end of summer. I knew not to go all out, so I just walked for a mile. I changed my incline and speed accordingly, and the workout went well! I wasn't sore the next morning, which was my goal! Even though I was feeling great from working out, the next morning, I woke up feeling not-so-great. I woke up feeling a little bit of sinus pressure on both sides of my nose. I knew it was only going to get worse, and it did! By the end of the day, I felt (and probably looked) like crap! I ended up going to bed early that night, but before I went to bed, I used our Neti Pot. 

This is the Neti Pot I have. I got it at Wal-Mart for approx. $15. 

Neti Pots are designed to clear out all the junk in your nose and sinuses. All you have to do is mix the Sinus Rinse powder in the Neti Pot with 8 oz of water. Shake and pour solution into one nostril. You need to tilt your head so that the solution will pour out the other nostril. After pouring half the solution down one nostril, blow your nose, and pour the remaining solution down the other nostril. 

I swear by Neti Pots! They are amazing! My Neti Pot has helped my sinuses and allergies to the extent that I can feel, hear, and smell immediate results. 

Hopefully, my sinuses will clear up soon because I'm tired of feeling this way. GOD BLESS!

Sparkin' It Up!

A great friend, co-worker, and neighbor of mine shared with me a great little website that helps a person lose weight and get healthy. The website is www.sparkpeople.com. This website helps you track the exact calories, fat, etc. of every food that you eat every day. It also will track your workouts, water intake, gives recipes, etc. This website is absolutely amazing! I encourage everyone to check it out!

I'm really trying to focus and stay on track with the number of calories they "advise" me to eat. I want to lose weight, but I know eating healthy is not going to do everything for me. Really, the best and only way I lose weight is if I run and lift weights.

Knowing that, tomorrow, Brandon and I are going to the local YMCA and joining. I can't wait! It's been way too long since I last worked out. I truly do love working out. I love the overall tension and stress reliever. I love the feeling after working out. I love the feel of sweating. I know. It's gross, but I love it. Good Night and GOD BLESS!

An Epiphany At Home

It snowed again last night; therefore, another snow day! So, today, I spent my time cleaning the house, doing laundry, catching up on my TV shows (Thank you GOD for letting man create DVR!) and watching movies with my husband! :) Today while watching Biggest Loser, it came to me that I don't have to wait until we get paid to start exercising. I have workout dvds that I COULD have been doing this entire 6 months that we have lived here. For some reason or another (a.k.a. laziness), I chose not to. Since the 20th is a week and a half away, I'm not going to wait until then to start exercising! I'm going to start tomorrow! First thing when I wake up, I'm making some coffee and putting in my favorite workout dvd! Hopefully by getting a jump start, my body won't be as sore when I begin the major workouts. Tomorrow and the days ahead bloggers, I will be discussing how my workouts are developing! Keep your fingers crossed and me in your prayers that my workout goes successfully! GOD BLESS!

A Cold Day In My Room and Apples

In my room at the school I work at, the only type of ac/heat comes from this rinky-dink device that is mounted on my wall. The device works 50% of the time. I usually don't mind and just dress for the weather. However, today was FREEZING!!!!! I borrowed someone's "old-as-Methuses" electric heater. The electric heater had seen better days because it really wasn't doing much for me. Needless to say, I made up my mind and decided I couldn't see kids in my room. I was productive today though; I managed to complete and mail out all of my progress notes! In a way, I'm kinda glad I have a faulty heater because it helps me catch up on all of my paperwork.

I just got word that school is cancelled for tomorrow because of ... Duh Tuh Duh Dah ... MORE SNOW! :) This little speech therapist is happy because I, now, need to get caught up on my house work. You would have thought I would have got caught up on housework over Christmas Break and the extra snow days, but I'm a procrastinator! So, tomorrow, I AM going to clean my house and wash and fold all of the laundry!

Over the break, I visited an aunt of mine that I hadn't seen in a long time. I expressed to her my frustration with my weight gain. She told me a secret involving apples. She said, "Mannie, if you are serious about losing some weight, just eat 2-3 apples a day. Don't eat anymore than 3 but don't eat less than 2, and that will help you lose weight." I've been following her advice, and I can say that her advice has made me feel a whole lot better. I don't notice any bloating or excessive eating! :) Now, I need to do something about my physical activity. My husband and I are still planning on joining the "Y" after we get paid on the 20th. Hopefully, by the end of March, our physical and spiritual bodies will get in better condition!