So Long Diet. Hello Baby.

Today I'm feeling a little bummed. I haven't been to the gym in quite some time, haven't been good about posting, and have realized that all our goals have been torn to shreds.

The goal to lose weight is on hold for about 7 more months. I'm expecting another baby, which I'm looking forward too more than I thought I would be, but still that means gaining weight not losing it. Maybe this is why I wasn't losing it very quickly or at all. I do want to get to the gym and walk or bicycle at least to keep somewhat in shape. Maybe this will help me have a healthier pregnancy.

I haven't been eating well. We've done a lot of eating out which is also not good for the body. But how I love someone else fixing the meals and cleaning them up. :) I have been buying more fruit though if that is any consolation.

I haven't been managing money the greatest recently either. All the eating out with a family my size consumes alot of the green stuff that doesn't seem to grow on trees or magically appear on cards. :) I do have a new goal though of getting Quick Books or something and start over. Make a budget and really try to stick to it. I'm not good at this as those who know me well can attest but I do want to keep trying. Eventually I have to succeed, right?

We also aren't going on a family vacation this year. Although Larry's health has improved greatly he still has limits to what he can or rather should do. We don't want to push too hard and backslide. Plus with me being prego I don't feel like chasing 6 kids with another on the way around places. So we'll stay close to home again this summer and swim at Papa's pool. Maybe we'll try to do a night someplace fun but otherwise nothing this year. I feel bad for the kids but also realize that the older 3 have had fun things in their lives. The younger 3/4 don't know much now and hopefully by the time they are older we can do some fun things too for them to experience.

So although I'm a little bummed about things right now I do have hope for the future. I can reset goals and achieve some of them.

Off Track

Some how I've gotten off track. I was doing so well with getting up and exercising each day...now not so much. Life is catching back up with me. I find that if I'm exercising my housework isn't getting done. If I stay home to clean then I don't have time or energy to exercise. I have got to get into some kind of routine. I think my house may just have to suffer so that I can exercise and keep my sanity, I can then have energy to play with the kids, and then work the evening/night away. Housework can get done on weekends or something. This will be my new goal. I enjoy exercising and going to the gym. I love my gym membership and my IPOD - they truly keep me sane. I find I'm more calm if I take this time for myself. So here's to a new goal of balancing exercise, family, housework and work into my days.

We have changed our goal for Summer Vacation. We are planning as a family to go to Washington DC. We are super excited for this and are very grateful to Heather's Dad for letting us visit him. This will be so much fun for the family. 2 days driving, a week in DC with a possible day or two in NY, and then 2 more days home. Busy but fun. I have almost 2 weeks off, just a couple of days shy of 2 weeks, so we have time to drive and relax and have fun. Let's hope we can save what's left of our Tax Return for the trip. Must Save, Must Save, Must Save...

My next goal is to also keep the kids busy in extra sports or something. I think they are starting to go stir crazy being home and together all the time. Kait has soccer and violin. Kaijsa has piano and will hopefully have classes and job soon. Kam has T-ball. I want to get Kinsee into Gymnastics, possibly after 3rd b-day. Another thing to save up for but a must I think. I love having family time and togetherness but sometimes being apart is good too.

Well...here are my new goals and wishes. I sure hope I can make them happen.

Weight loss is at a plateau of 165/166. I'll round down to 165 because that makes me feel better. :) I will keep working on it and my diet. It is such a life altering and life long change and goal. So hard for me because I'm an emotional eater. Oh well. Here's to future days and achievements.

On a Roll!

I decided a while back to renew my committment to losing weight. I did this by joining a gym, after the trial period to make sure I'd like it, and trying to eat healthier...again. This time it's WORKING!!!! I've gone from 183, a couple of months ago (maybe less?) to "drum roll please"....166! I'm so super excited! I can't say as I really see a difference but it's nice that the scale is. I am LOVING the gym. I went to a spinning class and it kicked my butt but I loved it. I can't wait to do it again. I'm enjoying my yoga/pilates (whether the class, Wii or DVD's) and I have even started to like running. The eliptical is still a favorite as well. I want to try the kickboxing class but haven't gone yet. I'm just glad to finally see the weight coming off. I got myself a new dress for Easter to reward myself. Also with my bonus money from work in addition to the gym membership I got myself an IPOD so I have something to listen to while working out. The kids enjoy the Kids Club and that is nice as well. Makes me not feel so guilty for going. Anyways...I just wanted to share my progress with y'all. I still have a ways to go but I know I can't do it all at once. Plus I'm sure I'll have set backs but I WILL keep trying and doing what I can. Here's to losing more and reaching my goal!

On a side note we may be changing our summer vacation plans but are still going to be able to save up and do something fun for/as a family. Just waiting on those pesky tax returns. Oh well, at least we're getting something, that's better than nothing. I'm starting to realize how blessed I am and how grateful I should be. It only took me 34/35 yrs.

New Breath

Ok, so after venting and being upset for a while about my lack of weight loss I've made some new steps toward achieving what I want. I got a bonus this year from the company I work for! So with this extra money I decided to get a gym membership to 24 Hour Fitness. I'm not usually one for gyms but felt like I needed some extra help. I got a 2 year membership from Costco, because this was the better deal, and went today. I had a free trial memebership for a week and enjoyed going. They have a Day Care room so the kids can go and play while I work out. They love it and I love it too! After a week or so of not weighing myself but still getting some exercising in I re-weighed myself today........and YAY!!! I lost 6.*** according to the Wii. I am now 172.something. I'm just going to round down because that makes me feel better. :) So 172 it is. This may not seem like a lot but when I've been bouncing between 177 and 183 usually around 179 this is a good surprise for me. I'm excited. I will still do my Wii Fit Plus and the other exercises that I bought. I love doing the exercise ball and I really enjoy Yoga/Pilates. Now I have the Gym to go too as well. I haven't been to any of the classes yet but I want to. I want to try the spinning and kickboxing especially. I have enjoyed the Eliptical and Treadmill. It's nice to work up a good sweat. So here is to starting anew and breathing new life into my goal of losing weight.

Give Up or Keep Going?

This is a short post because I'm getting tired of my goals and not being able to reach them. I'm going to have to rethink things I think. I once again weighed in today and I'm back up to 179. I hate HATE THIS!!!!! Granted Valentine's Day was rough on the diet, all the food and candy. I have been exercising but obviously that's not doing anything. Today I started to exercise and then the Wii shut off and lost all that I had been doing. Needless to say I gave up today. I'm just too dang frustrated. Plus the 2 little ones are driving me INSANE! They just make working out at times more frustrating and it makes me more angry instead of calming and relaxing me. So today is a bum day. I'm mad, frustrated and ready to give up.

Good day

So I weighed myself today and it was down a bit. I am now at 177.something. The Wii doesn't give me the ounces so I guess on those. But I am in between 177 and 178. I finally went below 179! YAY! I'm going to round down because I feel like I work my butt off to get where I'm at. Larry got me for Valentines Day the Wii Fit Plus. Some of you may be thinking "What?" "Why?" but I asked for it. I also got me a pair of exercise pants in one size smaller than I bought at Christmas time. So I feel like I'm making progress, even if I'm not. We opened the Wii game early because the kids didn't want me to wait till V-day and since I'm not a huge lover of Valentine's Day I said Ok. We are loving it. There are some really fun games and a few new exercises on it. Even Kamden and Kinsee are able to play a few of the games and they are loving it. I think it's really good for them to learn to play. It teaches them to take turns, to balance, their right and left, hand -eye-feet coordination, etc. We've been having a good time. I'll save the pants for the actual day of V-day. I'm just excited that I lost a couple of pounds, finally! Larry also has a new program on his I-touch that helps me keep track of my caloric intake and burn of calories. I love it. Knowing what I'm eating and taking in plus burning is really helping me to stay on track. I have a few weak moments but overall I'm glad of the new steps I'm taking and that my family is helping me. I'm glad they love me for who I am and how I am but it's nice to feel better about myself too. Thank you Larry and kids for loving me and helping me on my path toward fitness and good health!

Part of the good health for my family is the Dr. We've had several appts which I mentioned on my other blog. This year WILL be the year we get healthy no matter what. We'll find a way to afford to fix us all up or die trying. :) Ok so let's not hope it really kills us.

Hope all y'all are doing well on your goals. Keep it up! We Can Do It!

So Angry

I'm angry today because once again I'm not losing any freakin weight! I'm so frustrated with this whole process. What is the use of dieting and exercising when it's doing NO GOOD! I bounce between 179 and 183 all the time. No matter how much I cut out or how much I'm exercising I'm not losing any weight. If I do I just gain it back. I gained 3 lbs just by going to bed last night! What is the point?! I've been exercising since October or at least November. I should lose around a pound a week. I understood gaining at first because I'm rebuilding muscle but by now I should be losing! Nope, nada, nothing. I need to start seeing some results or I'm going to go postal!

Little Blessings

I did my weigh in today and lost 3.5 lbs! I'm excited even if it's not much. I'm now at 179.something. I'm just glad it was a loss instead of another gain. I will continue to keep working out and trying new things to keep me interested in exercise. I'm enjoying the excercise ball and yoga/pilates. I've also done some jumping rope, which I remember being so much easier when I was a kid. At least I'm doing something though right?

As for our family goal of saving up for summer vacation we're doing ok. We've added some and borrowed some from the pot. Whatever we do borrow I try to put back in. I'm also trying to come up with a backup vacation plan that we all like just in case we can't save up enough. I have the time off of work so that's not the issue. I just want to do something fun.

Kaijsa is working on finishing the Book of Mormon before New Beginnings in February so she can get her Medallion. She is almost done. I'm so proud of her. She is also getting much better at the piano.

Kaitlyn is doing well in school but needs to focus a bit more on Spanish. She has the opportunity to work for violin lessons and is considering doing this. I think it's a great idea. The teacher even offered to let me work as well and take lessons with her. I may just do that.

Kamden turned 4 and I've noticed some calming down but not a lot. But every little bit is nice. :) He's such a sweet brother. So caring and loving.

Kinsee Belle is doing well. She is working on getting potty trained. This is going much slower than with Kamden but she is trying. She loves to go in the toilet and get a sticker for each of her successes.

Kaileigh is rolling over and sitting up. She is talking more and laughing lots. She even stood up holing on to her chair the other day and took a step. I think she'll walk and skip crawling. If she does crawl I don't think it will be for long. She's a sweetie.

Kira is in UT and saving up for Girl Scout Camp. She is doing well in Basketball.

We're all holding up ok. We'll just keep working on our big and little goals.

Grumpy

I'm so upset! I started exercising in October I think. I had this dream of exercising and losing some weight. I started going to my Ward's Yoga/Pilates class twice a week and running. Instead of losing though I gained 10 lbs. I thought "ok, I've just started and I'm regaining my muscle mass". We all know muscle weighs more than fat so fine. I keep exercising. Finally, after months I lose 2 lbs maybe 3. The holidays hit and I'm frustrated. I bought an exercise kit with a ball and different videos. I'm still doing Yoga/Pilates and I randomly run. If I don't run I'm jumping rope, trying to do something. Well I decide to weigh myself today. I think of today as my weigh in. And what do I find out?! I have GAINED 6 lbs! 6 LBS!!!! I'm so angry. Why do all this exercise only to keep gaining weight? I want to lose 60-70 lbs not gain them. I admit I haven't eaten very well lately. Lots of eating out and a soda a day but still. I don't eat horribly. So I've decided to recommit myself and cut out all soda. I may have 1 glass of Kool-aid a day but try not to. I'm also going to try and not eat out so much. First because the food is bad for me. Second because it's expensive. Anyways...I thought I'd vent and fill you in on my goal to weight loss. No loss just gain. I will keep exercising though because it seems to help my level of patience. Here's to trying again.

Food I Eat

I have been paying more attention to the foods we eat. I have discovered that we eat out far too often. I need to do so much better about cooking meals for my kids. I really need to start organizing my day so I can get good meals planned and fixed. I try and some days I actually do a good job but most of the time...not so much. I have thought about having our big meals during the lunch hour so that the calories can be burned during the day. Instead of eating a big meal at night just before I sit the night away working. So far we've done this once or twice but like all new habits it takes time.

I have also discovered that I'm definitely an emotional eater. I eat when I'm stressed, sad, bored, anxious, etc. I really need to stop this as my life is full of all these emotions. I need to find something else to vent my feelings on instead of food. I will work on this but have no specific plans just yet. I did get up and jump rope the other day instead of eat. Maybe I just have to keep a jump rope handy.

I have been doing the Wii fit. My little lovely Kinsee Belle has popped my exercise ball so I'll have to get a new one of those. We've had fun exercising and I can feel myself getting stronger. Unfortunately, I think b/c of my eating habits, I haven't lost any weight. I will keep working on things. I know it won't happen over night. I would really like to lose 20 lbs by this summer though. I need to kick it into a higher gear I'm thinking.

I do think this blog helps me realize what I am doing and what I'm not doing. Kind of makes it more real or something. Hard to explain but it makes me truly aware of my daily habits. Plus it reminds me of what I need to be working on. Here's to realizing my lifestyle and trying to change. Another week will begin and a new day will start. I can always do better, just after I realize that I need to.

The beginning

Maybe I'll post these by the week or maybe bi-weekly? I haven't decided yet. I will post my progress on my weight loss and exercising as this is a big goal of mine this year. Now that we're done having children I figure I can lose the weight and get back into shape! So...

Goal #2 is to lose weight and a lot of it. I'm currently at 177 and want to be around 110-120 (closer to 110 but 115 is fine)

I would like to lose around 60 lbs. I've currently lost 3 so far after gaining 10. When I first started exercising again I gained 10 lbs, this was very frustrating. I understand that muscle weighs more than fat so I gave myself some time to figure it out. My ward has started a yoga/pilates class that meets twice a week. I love it. It's amazing how fast I lost my flexibility and agility but I WILL gain it back. I also started running with the intention of doing a half marathon in April. I was up to 5 miles but have decided not to do the marathon. I'm going to put the money towards our family vacation this summer instead. I am still trying to run but with it colder outside this has become harder to do. I don't get down to my dad's house as often as I used to so using his treadmill isn't as easy as it once was. But...I do run at times, I do the Wii Fit, I have a DVD for my exercise ball, I have the yoga/pilates class and I have a jump rope. So I figure if I'm determined and dedicated enough I can find something to do. I have come to really enjoy exercising once again. I totally notice a difference in my mood/attitude when I do get some time to myself to exercise. Plus it helps my energy levels a bit. I'm still super tired but I figure that's from all I have to do and worry over. Now to work on my diet. I don't want to cut foods out but maybe cut back on certain things. Sugary drinks and snacks especially. I'll work on that once I get better at the exercising. I can only do one thing at a time.

Hmmmm...I hear my kids getting into trouble so I better sign off. I'll update on weight each week and keep y'all posted on everything else as well. This is more my journaling than the family blog so if I'm whining skip those sentences.

New Year - New Goals

This is the first posting of my new blog. This one will be all about goals. I did a Team background because I want us to think of the goals and accomplishing them as a game and doing it together as teamwork. I hope I can keep both blogs up...I guess that will be my first goal.

Goal #1...to keep up 2 blogs. I can and WILL do it.

When I have more time I'll add to this. For now this is a good beginning. We all have to have a beginning and this is mine.