Time for an update?

Hello? Anyone still there? I haven't posted in so long, I'm not sure I still have any followers, but with the start of a new Win, Lose, or Blog season and approaching due date, I thought it's about time I start blogging again.

 

I was looking back at pictures throughout my pregnancy, here's one I took right after I found out we were expecting for a starting point...

 

 

And this is what I am looking like these days...

 

That's actually a couple weeks old, and I know I've grown. I wanted to cry looking at my "beginning" picture compared to now, but in less than 6 weeks, I'll be holding my baby girl and it will all be worth it. 6 weeks after that and I'll be back in the game losing the baby weight and what I had left to lose before I got pregnant.

 

I had big plans to workout throughout this whole pregnancy, and I have to admit, I haven't. I am one of those blessed with morning sickness the whole pregnancy. This one has gotten better later in the pregnancy (I was still throwing up 5 times a day at this point with my first two), but to be honest, now when I am feeling well enough to workout, I don't have the energy or just plain don't want to! Since I didn't start off working out, the only thing I do occasionally is go on walks. As it gets cooler and I'm more ready to have this baby, I'm sure I'll be walking more :)

 

I was very overweight with my first two pregnancies and sick all the time, so I only gained 17 lbs with the first one and 20 lbs with the second one. Starting at a healthy weight this time, my doctor told me to aim between a 30-40 lb weight gain. I was hoping to stay toward the 30 lb range, but I'm up to 33 lbs gained so far with 6 weeks left to grow/gain :/

 

On the bright side: I am drinking TONS of water and still have my ankles. Yay!
I'm anxious to have this little girl and to get back into a workout routine.
I miss exercising, especially running. I craaaave running some nights now, and hope that sleepless nights ahead doesn't change that :)

 

SO for those that still read this little neglected blog, thank you! I'm sure I'll be writing more when I get back into the fitness/weight loss routine.

Win, Lose, or Blog "Mini-Contest"

Hey fitness friends!!! The Win, Lose, or Blog mini-contest has been hugely popular and we will be doing it again this season! We are holding our "mini-contest" along side the main Win, Lose, or Blog contest! We would love our followers to play along, get healthy, and win prizes in the process! Heres what you have to do:

Each Tuesday on Win, Lose, or Blog we will post our contestant updates on the main blog- just comment each week with your weekly loss. On the final Tuesday post of our 7 week competition- post your TOTAL pounds lost for the duration of the season and you have the chance to win some fabulous prizes! (No need to post actual weights- just the # of pounds lost each week).

Start today- comment on Win, Lose, or Blog HERE saying you want to join our mini contest. That's all you have to do to join in on the fun. Try to post your losses (gains or stalls) on each of Win, Lose, or Blog's Tuesday posts. as your participation gets you closer to a prize. Dont forget to weigh yourself to have a starting point. 

At least one of our "mini-contest" contestants will take home a fantastic prize. The last 3 seasons TWO mini-contest winners took home prizes. This contest is based on the honor system but pounds lost will not be the only factor taken into consideration for prize distribution. We will also take into account how actively you follow our blog. So join in the fun, get healthy and WIN some awesome loot!

• We will still be posting our sponsor thank you posts on Thursdays & Fridays- support our sponsors by liking them on Facebook, following them on Twitter, and leaving comments on our sponsor posts 
• We will still have some fabulous Friday giveaways. Our giveaways are open to contestants, mini-contest contestants, and all of our blog followers/ readers- so show our sponsors some love & enter to win!!!!
• We will still have awesome motivation posts, healthy recipes and cooking tips, and exercise information on Mondays, Wednesdays, Saturdays, and Sundays!
• We will still be rewarding at least one active WLB commenter with fantastic prizes this season- so comment on the main blog, the contestants blogs, join our mini contest, and enter our giveaways as each comment throughout the season will get you that much closer to winning a fab prize! Add our button to your blog, blog about us, help us spread the word about WLB and get some extra entries to win some of our follower prizes!
• Join us on Facebook and Twitter so you don't miss out on any of the exciting WLB happenings!

Happy losses all!

First Prenatal Workout

I finally have been feeling semi-ok today so I did my first pregnancy workout. I ordered Lindsay Brin's 4 DVD pregnancy workout set as soon as I found I was pregnant. I had the chance to review Lindsay's 60 Day Slim Down System when I was losing weight last year and love her DVDs, so I was excited to continue working out "with" her.

Each trimester DVD has 2 workouts, a cardio/toning and a yoga workout. She suggests doing cardio/toning on days 1,3, and 5...yoga on days 2 and 4 and resting on days 6 and 7. I did the cardio/toning DVD and loved it. I got a good workout without doing any crazy moves. I was totally comfortable with all the moves, although there was one that I found slightly cheesy. I already have the post natal boot camp DVD and love it, I'm looking forward to using that again when the time comes!

I'm hoping to stay active this pregnancy so after the baby comes, I can get back into shape and not have to start totally from scratch again. It already feels great starting the pregnancy off 4 sizes smaller than I did with my first two girls.

My first two pregnancies were a big reason I decided to lose weight this last year. I've always had rough pregnancies, and with my second daughter, I ended up having an emergency c-section. I had a few problems with that pregnancy, including pre-term labor which had to be stopped several times after 30 weeks. At the beginning of 2011, we knew we wanted to start trying for baby #3 in the fall and I knew I wanted my best chance at a healthier pregnancy and a successful vbac. Even though I didn't quite reach my goal before we started trying (I wasn't going to put off having a baby for a few lbs), I am now having my first pregnancy starting off at a normal, healthy weight. I'm excited to see how this pregnancy plays out. So far I have been sick, but not throwing up nearly as much as I did with my other two. My main hope is that I feel a difference later in this pregnancy and during delivery without the extra weight I was carrying before.

PS, thanks for the congratulations from those who still read this! :)

MIA??

I don't have many followers on this blog, but noticed I gained a new one recently and figured it's about time I post something. I know I seem like I have been slacking lately...I have actually. I haven't been exercising, I haven't been eating as well as I should be, but believe it or not, there is a somewhat legitimate excuse for this. My goal of getting down to 125 lbs will have to be put on hold for the time being...in fact, I'll just be getting further and further away from that goal...

And getting bigger and bigger...

We're expecting baby #3!

I'm due in October. Lately, I've been so nauseous and sick that it's been a battle to eat..at this point, I eat anything that sounds good and that I think I can stomach. I've gone on some anti-nausea medicine and I'm *really* hoping that I can get the morning sickness under control soon so that I can start exercising again..and my eating habits could use some improvement too :) I haven't gained anything so far, but my stomach is definitely growing already. Wasn't prepared for that to happen so early this time!

So there's my excuse for not blogging lately :)

It's the time again!

We are now accepting applications (here) for Season seven contestents on Win, Lose, or Blog! Last season our 8 contestants lost 90.8 pounds in 7 weeks! Win, Lose, or Blog is a Big Loser inspired weight loss challenge for the blogging world. Health & Fitness are my passions in life and I hope this competition will inspire others to lead healthier lifes too! I have been working with four fabulous ladies to create this fun and exciting new blog.

What does Win, Lose, or Blog have to offer you?

Want to be a contestant? Apply here.

Each season of the challenge (lasting 7 weeks) we will choose eight contestants. This is your chance to win some MAJOR prizes! The "big loser" (based on percentage of body weight lost) will win one big AWESOME prize. Second and third place contestants will also win some great prizes. And everyone else will get something just for participating.

Want to Play along?
Want to lose weight right along with our contestants? Post your weekly loss each week on our Tuesday Update post and you're in the running for some fantastic prizes! Last season TWO of our mini-contestants won fabulous prizes and lost a TON of weight in the process.

Just want to follow along?
We have multiple health and fitness gurus on our team who are going to be posting information, recipes, tips, inspiration and more. So come follow and get a little help living a healthier lifestyle. Also, at the end of each season followers will win awesome prizes just for leaving comments throughout the season. And you know it will be fun to watch the competition play out and cheer on the contestants :)

Go check it out!!! And spread the word!

Remember each comment you leave all season long counts as an entry for great prizes! Want to get a head start on those comments? Head on over to Win, Lose, or Blog, grab our button, and leave three comments for displaying our button on your blog and five comments for writing an exciting post announcing us to your blog friends. We want you to invite others to join the the fun and gain some motivation to live a healthier lifestyle.

Still Alive...

Sorry I have been MIA. The last two months have been a little crazy between the holidays, the constant sickies in our home and my daughter's 4th birthday party. I kept thinking, I need to update, but no one reads this little blog, but since I had a reader request an update (thank you! :) ) I will update. I am hovering around the mid-30s and not any closer to my goal of 125. I had hit my 50 lb loss mark, but I've put a few of those pounds back on. I'm working to get those off right now. I have given up ALL diet and caffeinated sodas/drinks as a new years resolution. I'm on day 3 of surviving. (I started my goal a couple days late, I wanted to get through the actual holiday/weekend). I can't drink water always, although that's all I have been drinking for the last 3 days, so I plan to treat myself to a sobe lifewater every now and then...it has 0 cals and is sweetened with stevia. I'm already noticing a big difference from not drinking soda/artificial sweeteners. Right now I am trying to focus more on eating right and getting back into a workout routine than stressing over the actual number on the scale. I'll get there though...

Tropical Traditions Giveaway at Win, Lose, or Blog

Christmas is just around the corner and this will make a great stocking stuffer!

You can enter for the chance to win a bottle of organic massage oil over at Win, Lose, or Blog through Saturday, the 19th.

It's available in 4 scents, I love this stuff. Go enter!

{Challenge}

Amy over at Fabulously Fit with Five is running a challenge right now while she works towards her Personal Training Certification. 

There are some pretty cool prizes up to win:

10 personal training sessions with her valued at $500.00

1 Purify Cleanse and Detox system valued at $130.00

30 day supply of Zrii Achieve, all natural meal replacement valued at $108.00

Also, I just guest posted over on her blog yesterday. Go check it out!

Funny Story...

This is going to be one of those TMI posts and I can't believe I'm sharing this, but since I'm trying to share all aspects of my weight loss journey, here goes...

So I've been trying to do really good this week with diet and exercise and yesterday I decided to start taking my vitamins again. I haven't in awhile...

So I took my vitamins (probiotic, multi and B6), upped my water intake and found myself in the bathroom a lot yesterday.

This morning I hopped on the scale and saw that 3.6 lb weight loss and chalked it up to the new battery...

At breakfast, I took my vitamins again and when I went to put them back on the shelf, I saw the label on my multivitamin bottle, only it didn't say multivitamin..it read Fiber Laxative. Duh! The bottles and pills look so similar, I guess I need to read labels more carefully before taking pills.

I might be the biggest dork ever. No wonder I lost so much. Go ahead and laugh, I did... or cringe if that's waaaay too much information for ya. Just thought my big 3.6 lbs weight loss overnight deserved an honest explanation. I'm still laughing...

I Could Kiss My Scale!



I could have kissed my scale this morning. Yesterday it was acting wonky..really it's been acting weird a lot lately, but it finally gave me a reading of 139.

Today it wouldn't start at all, it kept giving me an error reading when I tapped it, so I changed the battery and saw a happy...

135.4!

I weighed myself 4 times and saw the same number, so if goes up tomorrow, I'll be throwing it out of the window. I know I've been bloated the last week from too much sodium and that lovely time of the month, but yesterday when I pulled my straight out of the dryer jeans on, they felt a tad looser in the legs. I'm *hoping* my scale has gotten it's act together and that's an accurate number.

PS, I suffered through 2.5 miles on the treadmill yesterday and a toning/aerobic workout. Felt great afterward even though I loathe treadmill running. I'm back in the game! Just need to stay in this time :)

It's Game Time!

I have been having a hard time getting out of this slump! I have good days and bad days, but according to the scale, my bad days are outnumbering the good.

This morning I was at 139.

Up 1 lb in the last month.

I have GOT to get back on track. Now that it's colder, it's harder to get my running in since it gets dark so early and it is freezing out..I hate running on the treadmill. Hate it with a passion. I've managed to do a measly 2 miles on the treadmill in the last couple days, but that's not going to cut it if I want to reach my goal of 100 miles by the end of the year. I started a new babysitting job, which has thrown off my normal workout schedule. I try to do my aerobic/toning exercises during naptime, but that's harder with an extra kid around. I'm not making excuses, just saying it's going to be hard, but I'm going to have to make it work...which might mean suffering through treadmill running and getting up at 5 or 6am to workout.

Go for this week..get back to at least where I was the end of September, which was 138. 1 lb in 1 week. I can do it!

Where Have I Been??

More like where has the time gone??

I haven't even weighed myself the last few days, I know I'm up a few lbs and hovering at 140 lbs..up a couple lbs from a couple weeks ago. Darn.

Here's another confession. I have had a hard time finding the motivation to eat right and exercise. I've not totally gone back to my "old ways", but I've been in "maintain mode" pretty bad lately...and since I'm not at my goal weight, I've got to stop! It's not just about my goal weight either, I've had people ask if I've found I'm comfortable at my weight now and honestly, I'm not completely. I am more comfortable than I was at 183 lbs, but I know this isn't where I want to be..I'm not uncomfortable, really, I just know this isn't my ideal weight yet,,. or size. Let me remind you, I'm barely 5'3" and a size 10 now. I feel I could still down a size or two.

So, enough rambling! What am I going to do to correct my slacking?

I'm going to start running again. I've only run a few times in the last month. I know when I eat bad, I have crappy runs...wow, just re-read that and that came out waaaaaayyyy wrong.. :) lol. You know what I mean, though. If I eat bad and go running, I can feel it. I'm more sluggish and get winded easier. If I am regularly running, I am more motivated to eat well...which gives me more energy to do my other workouts too, like my strength training. So new goal. I'm going to run 100 miles by the end of the year. I'm going to try to find a ticker for running and put it on the side of my blog, so if you don't see it steadily ticking along, give me a nudge.

I'm normal baby! AND..I can't believe I'm posting this picture...

I'm finally at a normal BMI, for the first time in my teenage-adult life! I weigh less now than I did in jr high-high school!

Today is my 25th birthday and even though I didn't reach my goal, I'm proud of how far I've come so far.

Weighed in at 138 lbs this morning! I started off at 183..45 lbs gone so far!

I'm still keeping my goal of 125 for now and will keep going after this weekend is over, I'm going to indulge a bit for my bday first!

I woke up to find a new pair of jeans on the kitchen table from my sweet husband. I had to go exchange them, just for a slightly different color and I snapped a couple pictures in my new pants since I had my camera with me.

(hey cutie in the background!)

I've been walking around in baggy capris the last few weeks so it was high time I got some new jeans! No more saggy bottom for me! Yay! :)

And I can't believe I am posting this comparison picture, but I am, I saw this picture of me today and thought 'hey, I'm not totally disgusted with my arms anymore!'

I've had a few friends say they can't remember me being a size 18, or xl-xxl. well...let me remind you what that looks like...eek.

Here's me today...

And here's me at the end of March, right before I started competing in Season 4 at Win, Lose, or Blog.

AHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!! I laugh at my husband, but I about cried when I saw this picture of me at Sea World!

Yeah...it was bad...bad. bad. bad.

My arms still need some work, but they have come along way!

13 lbs to go! My new goal date for that is December 8th! I better get there before then :)

5K- 9/24!

Saturday I ran my second 5K. I met both my goals! My first one was to beat my first 5K's time (38 min 52 seconds) and my second goal was to run the whole time!

I ran the 5K with my friend Tina again and we both finished at the exact same time this time, 36 min 30 seconds.

My hubby was there to snap a couple pictures of me coming around the corner to the finish line...

She's hiding beside me in this picture, she's just so skinny you can't see her! :)

Here's us right before the race, she got the post race picture, but it won't let me upload! Pretty much the same picture, but sweaty in the post one. ha :)

I love having a running buddy and highly recommend running with a friend if you can! We don't even talk when we run, we just plug in our earphones and listen to music, but it's nice having someone to encourage and be encouraged by. There's been plenty of nights where one of us hasn't even wanted to run, but the other encourages to go...and there's been several times where one of us has wanted to stop running a mile in, but kept going because the other one was still going.

I know I really need to work on my stride, if I could just stretch those short legs of mine just a little bit more with each step, I'd cover more ground and I'd be faster.

We're already gearing up to do another 5K the end of October and then there's the turkey trot 5k on Thanksgiving we plan to do. My goal is under 36 minutes next time! I hope to improve a little each time!

5K goals and a little extra rambling...

Tomorrow morning I'll be running my second 5K! Keyword: Running.

My goal is to run the whole thing without stopping..and I want to beat my time from my first 5K in July, which shouldn't be hard if I run this entire one...I had to walk part of my first one.

I'm hoping to do a costume 5K at the end of next month, and a turkey trot on Thanksgiving. Think I can find one in December in Utah? :)

PS, I found another picture of myself from 2006...not sure my exact weight, but I know I was 4 sizes bigger at the time. Crazy to think about! I'll have to post it soon.

Happy Weekend, and wish my luck that I don't go overboard this weekend!



{Weekly Weigh In}

Well poo, close, but not quite there.

140.2

I was hoping to hit the 130s this week, but I can't say I am surprised after how I ate Sunday. Guess that's my goal for next week!

1.2 lbs for this week, which isn't terrible considering how I did eat over the weekend, but it just reminds me that if I can lose that in a week with eating crap over the weekend, how much better I can do if I stay strong through the weekend.

I think I'll "weigh in" next week on Thursday instead of Wednesday since that's my birthday. I won't be seeing 125 on the scale, but I'm going to try for a happy number for my birthday and then just keep going.

{what you eat today is what you wear tomorrow}

A friend on facebook posted "what you eat today is what you wear tomorrow"..I've heard this before, but boy is it true!

Yesterday I was wearing lasagna, french bread and accessorized in many kinds of treats. I went over to a friends house Sunday for a luncheon and there was lasagna and treats galore. The lasagna was delish, but I'm not sure it was of the "light" variety. I should have skipped the french bread and avoided the dessert table altogether, but I didn't. Darn me!

I keep kicking myself for how I eat on the weekends. I do pretty good on the week, but totally blow it in one meal..or two, or 4...I feel like I'm constantly doing 2 steps forward and 1 step back. I just need to reach my darn goal weight, because I really feel like things will be less stressful then. If I yo-yo a little from week to weekend for the rest of my life, I think that will be normal, but right now I feel like I'm leaning more toward maintain mode than losing mode and I need to stop that! I hope that makes sense. I'm not saying that once I reach my goal weight I will be able to eat whatever I want, but if I do good during the week, I will be able to "afford" splurging on the weekends, whereas right now it's keeping me at a "maintain" rate.

This Saturday I'm running a 5K in the morning and that afternoon we are going to a brazilian restaurant to celebrate a friends birthday and mine a little early. I'm hoping to not overdo it too much at the restaurant and do good the rest of the weekend so that when I hop on the scale next Thursday (my birthday), I can still see a decent number on the scale.

My "weight loss journey" doesn't end next Thursday, that's for sure! I might take a few days to indulge a little around my birthday, but then it's right back to getting these last 15 or so lbs gone. I'd love to get there before the holidays hit and since there's about 15 weeks left before Christmas, I shouldn't have any reason not to get to my goal weight before then.

Enough rambling..wish me luck!

{Weekly Weigh In}

Got to make this quick, but no overall gain for this week after all!

I was at 144.8 on Monday morning. 2 lbs gain over the weekend. yikes.

This morning I weighed in at 141.4!

woo hoo!

1.4 lbs away from that "normal bmi" range and so close to the 130s.

Goal for next week. 130s baby!

Biffed it off the bandwagon...

Bad.

If I had just fallen, it might not been so bad, but this was a full blown, unexpected hard biff off the bandwagon. I'm fully expecting a 2 lb gain this week. I've eaten everything I shouldn't have the last few days and in bigger proportions than I should have. I kept thinking, oh well, I'll do better tomorrow...that's been going on for a few days and I realize that attitude is what got me into this mess in the first place. I haven't ran or exercised in almost a week. I did go on a 3 mile walk Saturday, but that's it since last Monday. I was sick for a few days and then we painted our house this weekend which meant lots of eating out. I'm not making excuses, I could have eaten better, but I didn't.

I plan to do a gentle detox cleanse this week and reassess my new goal before my birthday. 125 is out the window for this month I'm sure, but I'm starting fresh tomorrow and want to get as close as possible.

A small loss is better than no loss, or a gain..right?

What a crummy weigh in.

142.8

Only .2 lb gone. I broke one of my biggest rules last night and ate a snack around 9...a fairly low cal snack, but still, that always shows on the scale the next morning. I know because I was at 142.2 yesterday morning, not much better, but I ate good yesterday and painted all day so I was constantly moving with no time for snacks. I'm sure if I eat good today and get a workout in, which will be hard since I'm coming down with a cold, that I'll be down more on the scale tomorrow.

I'm not going to beat myself up over it today. The number on the scale is still going in the right direction...I'm just sooo looking forward to the 130s..another milestone for me. A weight I haven't been since elementary school. Sad to say, but true.

My goal for this week...drink lots of water, not stuff my face with carbs and keep moving as much as possible. I'm hoping this cold doesn't last too long. It's hard to workout when your nose feels like it's packed with cotton :( Off to down some emergen-c.