Weigh in Day: A Holiday Week

 

I was gone for a week and out of my normal routine. I had good moments and bad moments. It seemed to get worse the longer I was gone!

At the worst of it, it made me realize how much I need help with the emotional eating issues. I am looking forward to my next appointment in a couple of weeks.

I walked with my sister twice for a total of 7+ miles. I’m sure that helped with covering some of the extra calories but it also got me into a “I want to workout” mood. I even hopped on the treadmill today for a 1 mile walk.

But anyways, I actually lost .5 lb. over the week! I am very happy with that because it’s a lot better than a gain!

I have lost a total of 12.6 lbs. and I can’t wait to get back to losing more now that I’m back home and back into my routine. I am really happy with Isagenix!

I am following the Isagenix 30 Day Cleansing and Fat Burning System and I am an associate. You can purchase the product from me at the link above.

Don’t forget that today is the last day to enter the Thankful Journey 5K!

 

How did your week go? Did you gain, lose, or maintain?

Sale Saturday

Disclaimer: These are affiliate links. If you click on a link and make a purchase, I will receive a small commission from the sale.

 

My Black Friday Shopping Finds

Did you do any Black Friday shopping today?

I didn’t plan on it, but my brother said he wanted to go out and get an Apple Watch and new shoes so I tagged along with him.

I decided to run in Torrid. They had 40% off the store and 50% off clearance.

Holy Moly. I found so many cute things at prices that I felt ok about.

I tried on their leggings and they’re perfect for me. I got a pair in grey, black, and red.

I also bought a pair of these knee socks that I think will look cute peeking out of a pair of boots.

I put together a cute outfit with three of my purchases.

I splurged a little bit with this sweater. I bought Little Miss Sunshine a black & white dress with a red sweater this week. When I found this red sweater, I knew I had to get it for a family picture.

I’ll wear it with a black tank underneath.

I have been eyeing a knee length denim skirt for a long time and I was happy to find my size in the clearance section. It’s not listed on the website, so I can’t show it to you until I share a picture of myself in an outfit sometime.

I would wear these red leggings with tall black boots.

Does that sound cute? I’ll have to take a pic when I wear it sometime.

The sweater and leggings would also look cute with a black skirt too. Lots of options!

I’m making a good effort to dress a little better than yoga pants and sweatshirts. Don’t get me wrong, they’re still my standard at home attire—but I’m trying to look a little nicer once in a while.

I just love this plaid drape front cardigan, but I didn’t want to spend any more money. Maybe another time!

I am really impressed with the clothes at Torrid. They look and feel like the high quality trendy clothes at the “regular” size women’s clothing stores, but are available in plus sizes.

Not only that, they fit really well. Sometimes plus size clothes fit right at the top and then they’re tight in the hip area. Everything I tried on fit me how it was supposed to.

They sell quite a few styles that aren’t quite my style, but they also sell some really cute items too.

By the way, the sales are online through tonight also.

Anyways, just wanted to share my Black Friday shopping finds!

 

Did you make any Black Friday purchases? Tell me about them!

 

Disclaimer: I am a Torrid affiliate. If you click on a link and make a purchase, I will receive a small commission from the sale.

Happy Thanksgiving!

I hope you had a great Thanksgiving!

Here are a few pictures from our day. Sorry they’re not the best quality but I’m choosing not to spend time editing them today!

I made a Snickers apple salad. It was really good and I’ll definitely make it again for a special occasion. The dress I’m wearing is a Gwynnie Bee dress—not one I’ll be keeping, but it was comfortable.

 

 

Here I am with my sister, nephew, and my mom.

 

Love this pic of my parents.

 

 

Hubby and me.

 

 

BIL trimming the turkey and dad overseeing.

 

 

Nom Nom.

 

 

Matching shirts for the girl cousins.

 

 

Showing grandpa her book. This was before I realized I had dressed her with her shirt on backwards.

 

 

And this was a common scene over the holiday! This is my brother with my niece and nephews.

 

 

How was your Thanksgiving?

More Walking and 10 lb. Reward Redemption

This morning the babies were fussy, so my sister and I headed to the mall again for a walk with the babies.

This time we walked 4 miles—so I guess that counts as 2+ Thankful Journey 5ks so far!

This afternoon, I took my neice with me to get a pedicure for my 10 lb. reward. She got her toes painted. It was fun!

Now a few more pounds to go and I get my first facial! That will be interesting.

I’ve only had a couple of people submit photos saying they finished the Thankful Journey 5k so far…be sure to send those over or post on social!

Thankful Journey 5K: Complete

Hey everyone!

Don’t forget that you have through 11/30 to complete your Thankful Journey 5K and be entered to win some awesome prizes! Check out this post for all of the details.

My sister and I did a little mall walking. It took about 6 laps around the mall to get in the 3.1 miles. I pushed a single stroller and she pushed a double. The babies were remarkably content except towards the end.

I’m glad that I got that out of the way so I don’t have to worry about it for the rest of the week!

I am thankful that my sister walked with me and helped pass the time and keep me encouraged.

So far I’m still losing weight this week, despite it being a holiday week, being with family and just out of the normal routine. I’m happy about that!

It’s actually not all that hard to stay on track. I thought it would be a lot more difficult. I think it’s the fact that I just know what I get to eat and that’s it. Plus, I’m filled up and not hungry all the time.

For example, being on WW I would think, “I can have a little bit of this…well, maybe a little more…” and just keep eating and fall off the wagon. Not so much on this plan.

I do plan on eating on Thanksgiving day. Honestly, I’ll probably have shakes for breakfast and supper and eat the delicious food for lunch. If I want pie or something, I’ll have it. I can’t skip my mom’s pecan pie—it’s THE BEST.

 

Do you have a plan for Thanksgiving?

Weigh in Day: Week 2 on Isagenix

 

I had another good week. As expected, the weight loss was smaller this week—but I am also losing inches so that is exciting.

I lost 2.9 lbs. this week and a little over 6”.

Total weight lost: 12.1 lbs.

Total inches lost: 19”

I am happy with this progress! I’m doing my best to stay on track this week with the holiday. So far so good.

I am 15 days in and there are 15 more to go for the 30 Day System. I will post progress pictures at the 30 day mark. It will be fun to compare!

I would have loved to have lost another 9 lb. this week, but I know it won’t come off that fast. If I lost 3 lbs. per week, I’d be down 12 lbs. in a month and I’d be happy to have lost 24 lbs.! I just have to keep things in perspective.

I’m happy that I’m not having any major cravings and it has been relatively easy to stick to the plan. I’ve had a few stressful moments where my first thought was “I want to stuff my face with food”, but I worked through it and did just fine.

As I’ve said before, it’s just nice not to have to think about food. You can see more about Isagenix here.

 

How did you do this week?

Inspiration Sunday

Sale Saturday: Charming Charlie’s

I am excited to be a part of the Charming Charlie’s affiliate program. If you click on a link in this post and make a purchase, I will receive a commission from the sale.


First off, you can get free standard shipping on orders over $50 at Charming Charlie’s right now.





Here are a few of my favorite sale items at Charming Charlie’s currently!

DIAMOND QUILT TOTE $22.99

CALLEY MULTI-BUCKLE HOBO BAG $22.99

SURI TRIBAL SWEATER $19.99

CHEVRON SWIRL SCARF $4.99

SWEET THOUGHTS JOURNAL $6.99

BE HAPPY DOTS IPHONE 5/5S CASE $2.99

The Top Five Posts of All Time {Currently}

 

The fifth top viewed post of all time with over 1.5k social shares. This makes me happy because I hope that it has helped someone suffering with PPD. Check it out here.

 

The fourth top viewed post of all time. I’m not really sure why this one is a top viewed post, but it’s a day in the life of post with food pics, etc. This post is from 2013. See it here.

 

This third top viewed post of all time. Yet another one of my plans! This one was from 2012 when I attempted tracking calories in Lose it and using my first Fitbit. Check it out here.

 

The second top viewed post of all time. This post is just another typical day of my life back in March of 2013. See it here.

 

And the Pineapple Angel Food Cake recipe post is the top viewed post of all time. It is pretty tasty! Give it a look here.

 

I’m curious, do you have a favorite post of all time? What type of post is your favorite (recipe, day in the life of, article, memoir, etc.)?

Calorie Restriction vs. Calorie Adjustment

I was reading through a forum where someone commented about calorie restriction and adjustment. I can’t remember what site it was on, but it got me thinking anyways.

When you think about calorie restriction, you might imagine your ordinary diet—you eat less so that you can lose weight. A typical calorie restrictive diet is a plan followed temporarily until the results you are looking for are achieved—primarily with weight loss.

Being that I am overweight, but otherwise healthy (no medical problems contributing to weight gain), it’s evident that I consume far more calories than I burn—hence, my body stores the excess energy in fat cells.

As a 5’5 woman with a medium build, a healthy weight for myself would be about 130 (give or take). According to the American Cancer Society Calorie Counter, a 30 year old woman of this size would need about 1,900 calories to maintain that weight.

This means that throughout my life I have consumed more than 1,900 calories per day on average. I have no idea how many calories I would consume on a day where I am not consciously trying to limit my calorie intake, but let’s say I consumed 2,500 calories per day.

If I go on a “diet” and only eat 1,500 calories per day, is that truly restricting calories? You could think of it that way, but thinking of it as a calorie adjustment is more indicative of lifestyle change.

The reason for this is that I only truly need 1,900 calories per day to function and maintain my weight. For weight loss reasons, eating 1,500 calories per day would cause me to lose weight—but in reality it’s only 400 calories less than I would theoretically be eating if I were at a healthy weight of approximately 130 lbs. and wanted to maintain. Yes, it’s also 1,000 calories less than what I would be “over eating”, and a larger body requires more energy to function—so it would equal more weight loss.

If I am used to eating 2,500 calories per day and suddenly I am only eating 1,500, I’m probably going to be hungry because my body has gotten used to the higher calorie intake. Sometimes the hunger will be physical and other times emotional.

You could think of this as calorie restriction, but is it really restriction if your body doesn’t truly need 2,500 calories per day to function?

A calorie adjustment, which would mean that you are simply readjusting to consume the amount of calories that your body actually requires, and that once you lose the excess weight you will have adjusted to the true calorie requirement that your body needs.

It doesn’t stop there. If you begin to eat more calories than your body requires, the weight will come back on.

So my point is this—use the time that you are actively trying to lose weight to let your body adjust and work on an adjustment of your mind also. If you’re like me, a significant part of the reason you are overweight has to do with your emotions.

It’s kind of like re-calibrating the body and the changes truly will be an adjustment, both calorically and mentally.

This is my goal right now—to analyze my thought process which leads to over eating, and work on re-calibrating and adjusting my mind and body to a place of good health. I want the weight loss to be permanent this time—not just temporary.

 

What are your thoughts?

Making the Most out of the Days and Nights While Working Towards Good Health and Fitness

This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #HealingNightsSleep #CollectiveBias

 

 

It has been a couple of weeks since we moved our clocks back and lost an hour and I think we’re finally used to the time change. Isn’t it amazing how one hour can make such a difference? Instead of feeling sleep deprived, we’re finally making the most of the daylight hours.

As you know, hubby and I have been working toward better health and fitness. We’re both doing really well with the weight loss and have been working toward adding more activity and workouts into our week.

Primarily, we go for walks. It’s always fun to check out a new trail and explore the area. We love going for bike rides when the weather is nice. But pretty soon we’ll get getting our activity in by sledding and, dare I mention it, shoveling.

 

 

The funny thing is, I think I got a better workout from climbing up a playground ladder at lightning speed than I have from anything else I’ve done lately!

I should explain.

I will preface by saying that our Little Miss Sunshine is a dare devil at only 18 months old. Not much scares her. She loves to stand on the merry-go-round and walk around while it’s spinning. Her favorite pastime lately is spinning around in circles until she’s dizzy and then trying to walk. This is followed by loads of giggles.

 

While at the playground, she was walking across a very safe area of playground equipment bridges with rails. And suddenly, she made her way to the adjoining section of the playground shown below. From the ground, I told her to come back, but she just kept going until she was making her way up the steps to the tall slide.

I almost had a heart attack! I climbed up the 8’ ladder (the S shaped type to the left) faster than I thought possible and grabbed her as she was at the very top step to the slide. 

 

 

You wouldn’t believe how sore I was that evening. I couldn’t believe it. Yet another reason to increase my fitness level—so I can keep up with the little one!

Little Miss Sunshine keeps us on our toes and gives us a workout every day.

I believe another important part of healthy living is having an organized environment that’s free of clutter—it’s good for mental health. So I have been slowly working on getting rid of things that we really don’t need.

I have cleared my closet of so many clothes that I could probably open a shopping mall. Recently, I finally conquered a book shelf that has been making me feel unsettled every time I looked at it.

There have been so many 20-gallon totes filled with clothes and books that I’ve had sore arms from carrying it all around. You have to love good functional exercise too.

 

 

So much better. Clean home, clear mind.

Our diet has changed drastically. I’m cooking a healthy and balanced supper each night as opposed to feeling too tired to do anything except pick up the phone and order a pizza.

The plan that we are following is low glycemic so we have cut out sugar for the most part. At first, we had withdrawal symptoms—headaches especially. But it’s for a good cause—better health.

There sure is an awful lot of pain involved in getting healthy and fit, right? From headaches, to sore muscles, and let’s not forget a growling stomach—ok maybe that’s not considered pain, but it sure feels like it sometimes! 

At the end of a long and productive day, when my body aches and it’s keeping me from getting a good night’s sleep, I’ll turn to Advil PM for a Healing Night’s Sleep. A good night’s sleep is the only way to ensure productivity the next day.

 

 

I picked up a bottle of Advil PM at Walgreen’s in the Pharmacy section and it has been nice to have on hand.

 

 

It also helps to use the foam roller to alleviate pains and I always make sure to drink lots of water, which can help you recover faster.

I look forward to someday having aches and pains from completing a triathlon or running a marathon rather than just from chasing after Little Miss Sunshine!

Working towards our health and fitness goals will be worthwhile someday and a little discomfort now will seem like nothing when the time comes when we finally achieve our goals.

 

How do you manage the aches and pains required to achieve health and fitness goals?

If you need a little assistance from Advil PM or other Advil products, you can save with these offers so you can get a healing night’s sleep.

Baby, I Can’t Live Without You

This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #loveandprotect #CollectiveBias

As a family, we all rely on each other and the truth is that every member of the family provides a portion of the support which helps keep the family going strong. The Holderness family (the family with the funny holiday greetings videos) created a funny video for Protective Life about the humorous side of how families rely on each other.

Watch it. It’s funny, I promise. It does poke fun at spouses, but it brings up an important topic—needing to be prepared for the unthinkable.

I know I can’t live without my hubby and I thought I’d share some of the reasons with my own personal ballad to him.

 

Who would keep my feet warm at night? My feet are always fuh-reezing and I depend on hubby’s warm legs to keep them warm. I usually catch him off guard and he shrieks when he feels how cold my feet are—which leads to a lot of giggling on my part.

 

 

I’d be stranded without gas. Hubby is the one who always puts gas in the truck. It’s gotten to the point where I don’t even realize the tank is running low until the empty light comes on.

 

I’d have an inflated ego about my cooking. With no one to tell me what’s wrong with the meal “this time”, I’d surely think I was an award winning chef.

 

Life would be boring without our adventures. Did I tell you about the time hubby decided to drive our jeep into a field covered in a foot or two of snow? I told him it probably wasn’t a good idea since I was pregnant and we didn’t want to get stuck. “We won’t get stuck”, he said. Well, we got stuck. I got to enjoy a few laughs while he dug us out—wearing his Sunday best. This is just one of many adventures we’ve been on together!

 

How would I experience the country life? From taking down fences, to riding on tractors, shooting a gun, and getting covered in mud on a four wheeler ride—I’d never have experienced any of it without him.

 

My tires would be flat. The very first gift I received from my husband was a digital tire gauge. True story. So romantic. But he cares about me and takes care of me in the most practical ways.

 

Who would clean the toilets? Ew. Ew. Ew. Ew. Ew. Cleaning the toilets is just one of those jobs that I can’t stand. All I can think about is all of the germs and it just grosses me out.

 

I don’t know how to load the dishwasher correctly. Or so he says. The silverware must be placed facing upward singly within each slot. The bowls must go here, the plates over there and they must only face a certain direction. The soap must be added in just the right amount and the cover shut in just the perfect way.

 

Who would take my before picture? I can poke fun at myself too. Seriously, how many of these pictures do I have? Probably a hundred or something. One of these days I’ll have the after picture.

 

 

I could never raise our daughter alone.  I need his support when my patience runs out or she poops her diaper while I’m cooking dinner. Really though, I couldn’t do this without him.

 

Who would comfort me when disaster strikes? It’s times like this when you realize what’s most important. When we experienced a derecho (a hurricane of the prairie) and we were huddled in the basement hearing the house creak, wondering if our house would still be standing in a few minutes, hubby told me everything would be ok. He’s my rock in this life.

On a serious note, planning for the future is so important. Nobody wants to think about the possibility of tragedy striking the family, but it can happen in an instant and your life can be changed forever.

Did you know that it costs approximately $400,000 to raise a child? I learned that while reading an article in Protective Life’s Learning Center.

I know I wouldn’t be able to make ends meet without my hubby’s income to support us. We have made plans so that if the unthinkable does happen, we are prepared and taken care of financially.

 

Be sure to check out the Holderness Family’s video for a chuckle and head to the Protective Life Learning Center learn about the importance of being prepared.

Who can’t you live without and why?