Mamavation Mon, oh Tuesday.

Last week I lost 1.6. At least I WAS down 1.6 the day before Thanksgiving. And on Thanksgiving I had a plan. A plan that worked until just about the time that the yummy deliciousness hit my mouth. And then I ate. The potatoes and bread that I was going to skip made their way in, followed by 4. Yes, FOUR. F-O-U-R, desserts. 

Thankfully, I managed to avoid eating a crap ton of leftovers, but the carb overload on Thanksgiving triggered a vicious monster inside of me. One that caused a deluge of horrific eating, up until today. Today, I am back counting calories and points, and eating better. So now that I'm back on the wagon, that's where I'm staying. Patiently waiting to find out just how many pounds I potentially gained from my eating bender. God do I hate having an eating disorder.

In the meantime, I'm joining the #2WeekChallenge!

Mamavation Monday-Being a Thanksgiving Loser

Well, this week went by quickly! But I've got somewhat good news. I lost 1.4 lbs this past week, not the whole 2.2lbs that I was hoping for. But I guess that's still a loss, it makes my total 23 lbs down since I joined Mamavation. And 8.2 since the beginging of October. This week, I've been training hard core for my 5k Turkey Trot on Thanksgiving Day.  However, last night, I found out that I might be over-training. Oops.

Example: Saturday, I went from basically no running to a 45 minute run. Just got in my head and pushed it out. I ACHED the next day--still am actually. Then, I did TurboFire last night. And since I'm no longer living in an apartment worried about the people underneath me, I went BALLS OUT. For real. I jumped. I ski-three-kneed. I Air-Jacked. I Jack-Tucked. (I've never done these "intenser" moves, I always followed the modifier) Afterward, I coughed up a lung, and then wheezed for the rest of the night. Today, I'm raspy, but I'm going out running after work.

I think we need an episode of MamavationTV that talks about over training, it might be the kick in the pants I need to not torture myself. :) I just don't want to disappoint my brother--have him sign up to do it with me, and then run a half mile and walk the rest. Not cool.

The Mamavation Question of the Week, Sponsored by Eco-Foil.

What is your plan to avoid overindulging during holiday feasts?

This year, I actually have a plan, a two phase plan actually, which is better than I can say about years previous.

This year, my plan starts with the prep. I'm not going to be making the standard high sugar, high fat fare that I normally do. I've found new recipes that focus on healthy whole foods that I'm going to use instead. For Thanksgiving in particular, instead of canned cranberry sauce, I'm making orange cranberry relish, instead of green bean cassarole, we'll be serving steamed green beans, instead of sweet potato cassarole with marshmellows and butter, I'm making roasted sweet potatoes with cumin.


But just because I'm making healthier alternatives, I know that there's still not room to eat 10,000 lbs worth of roasted sweet potatoes! So I'm dividing my plate into sections. Half my plate is going to be devoted to non-starchy veggies, a quater of my plate to protien, and a quarter of my plate to a starch. Since, I'm not skipping the roasted sweet potatoes, I'm giving up my dinner roll. I'm also allowing myself a small dessert. I think I deserve it after running a 5k that morning. :)

I think the biggest part of my plan, I guess that truthfully means there's three parts, is that Thanksgiving Day, Is a DAY. It's not a week or a month. Same with Chirstimas, and New Year's. They are just one day, one day, to have food that you might not normally have, not an excuse to eat your way through the entire holiday season. I'm sending my leftovers home with others, and/or taking them to work the next day, and being mindful of the other things I will be consuming on the "regular" days of the year.

This post is sponsored by Eco-foil and I’m writing this to be entered into a giveaway hosted by Mamavation – a community dedicated to obesity prevention & weight loss for women“

Mamavation Monday--I was right.

Well. I was right. I did gain this past week. 2.2lbs to be exact. And I wanted to kick myself. So instead of kicking myself, I got right back on track. I've been really good this week, tracking what I'm eating to a Tee. I even got Chicken and Broccoli from the chinese place last night, instead of my usual Almond Chicken (Miracle in and of itself), and suprisingly I didn't miss the crispy greasiness of the latter. So hopefully, I'll be able to take those 2.2lbs off, just as quickly as I put them on. Only the scale will tell.

If you've been following my posts, you know that I haven't exactly been working out like I should. Between the baby and I passing illness back and forth, I've been hard pressed to get in a run, let alone anything else. And now I have a problem--kind of a big one.

I have my first 5k race, The Turkey Trot, on the 24th. I whole week and 2 days away. I'm running it with my brother-in-law while he's home from the Navy on leave. So god knows that he's not going to have trouble banging out 3.2 miles. But I, on the other hand, am lucky to make it through a mile without dying or throwing up. So here's hoping that I can pull this one out of my ass, because I'm not quite sure how I'm going to go from 0-3.2 in 9 days flat. Any suggestions?

Now it's time for...

The Mamavation Question of the Week, Sponsored by Omron.

What kind of activities have you done with a pedometer on?

Well, normally, I walk. Though, I'm not sure exactly how accurate my pedometer is; I have to clue how to measure my stride length. However, I have used my pedometer just for fun, to see how many steps I can rack up doing other fitness activities, but once again I worry how accurate it is, because aren't you just supposed to use it for walking? Won't you get residual bounce? Anyhoo...

Crazy things I have done with a pedometer on....

TurboJam and TurboFire, just to compare the difference :)

Run on the treadmill

Ride rollercosters all day at Cedar Point

Hula Hoop, it's kinda hard because the hoop hits the pedometer

Rollerblade/Rollerskate

Go Sledding

SkyDive (Okay, I haven't done that. But it sure would be fun!)

Can't wait to see all of the pedometer craziness from everyone else! Wishing you all a fabulous week!

This post is sponsored by Omron and I’m writing this to be entered into a giveaway hosted by Mamavation – a community dedicated to obesity prevention & weight loss for women

It's the most wonderful time of the year!

Image courtesy of freechristmaswallpapers.net

Ready or not, Christmas is coming! And FAST! And one of the most cherished traditions in our family is sending Christmas cards. If you send out cards as one of your time-honored traditions as well, it's time to think about getting them together so they get out in time, after all, there's only 41 days until Christmas! No, I don't know where the time has gone either. Last year, we bought our Christmas cards from TinyPrints, and they were a HUGE hit with our family. So this year, as a returning customer, I thought I'd share with you some of my favorite designs, and I want you to help me choose! Leave a comment with your favorite, and help me choose our Christmas card design.

Favorite Design #1

Favorite Design #2

Favorite Design #3

Are you thinking about your 2011 holiday cards yet? Aren't these ones cute? Have fun choosing your own cards at Tiny Prints!


Tiny Prints provides simple, modern, and unique stationery from Christmas cards, New Years cards, party invitations, and address labels to thank you cards. Once the holidays have come and gone, Tiny Prints will still be here to fill your stationary needs with their exclusive designs from the nation’s top designers.  All year round, you’ll fine business cards,birth announcements and even custom wedding invitations. Come try the easy card personalization, a powerful preview engine and top-notch customer service and paper quality for yourself. With Tiny Prints by your side commemorating every holiday and momentous occasion is a cinch!


**This post is sponsored by Tiny Prints, though I am being compensated for this post, all opinions are my own**

Are You Fit 2 Fight?

The month of November is Diabetes Awareness Month, and throughout the month Better'n Eggs is raising awareness about Type 2 Diabetes and ways to counter act it.

I myself was diagnosed with Type 2 Diabetes after I gave birth to my son. I had developed gestational diabetes while I was pregnant with him, but had gained such a significant amount of weight that my body developed type 2 diabetes post-partum.

Since my diagnosis, I have lost weight and now am "diabetes free". One of the things that helps me to lose weight is increasing the amount of protein I eat, so I'm less hungry for carbs. An excellent way to do this is by adding Better'n Eggs or AllWhites to your diet.

But eggs, particularly egg substitutes, are boring right?!?! WRONG! There are so many excellent, tasty, and healthy recipes that incorporate Better'n Eggs. Some of my favorites are (click the link below for recipes):

Bacon Cheddar Mini Egg Cups

Mini Turkey Meatloves

And if you're looking for something sweet...

Blueberry Oat Muffins

Don't those recipes look delicious? And you can make them all with Better'n Eggs! AMAZING!

For more recipes and tips on fighting type 2 diabetes with Better'n Eggs don't miss the #betterneggs Twitter party with Bob Greene on 11/16 from 8-10pm EST. Visit http://bit.ly/sa9wmC for more information!

**This post was sponsored by Better'n Eggs as part of the the Fit2Fight Type 2 Campaign. Though I am compensated for this post, all opinions are my own**

Mamavation Tuesday--Preparing for failure.

This week I'm preparing for failure. I'm already late with my post because I was on vacation all weekend.

Last week I lost 1.2lbs (as of last Thurs--I weigh Thurs because that's when my WW meeting is and I want to be consistant), and the week before 2.8 or something like that--it was almost three. That's all I remember but this week I'm preparing to have gained back all that and then some. Not that I want to or anything.

Let me start by saying that my friend from Austrailia was in all last week--I haven't seen her in 9 years, since high school. I was good all week until her trip's conclusion when we had a girl's weekend out in the form of a trip to Chicago. My friend is skinny, gorgeous, and fabulous. She doesn't have to worry about a thing she sticks in her mouth. I do.

That said, here are the reasons I expect to gain this week.

Friday night
4:00pm Peanut Butter Pretzels and Grapes
7:00pm McDonald's Chicken Nuggets and Fries
11:30pm A glass of Chianti and what I thought would be a slice of pumpkin cheesecake at a resturant, turned out to be a six inch cake. I shared with my travelmates, yet still ended up eating 3/4 of it.

Saturday
9:00am HUGE Starbucks berries and yogurt and a tall pumpkin spice latte.
2:00pm Half panini and just a few chips with a red velet whoopie pie.
7:00pm Chicago style deep dish pizza (1 slice. I ended up eating the other 3 once I got home)

The only redeeming part about the trip is that I walked over 10 miles on Saturday, and have no idea about friday evening--my guess is 2 miles. Since I've mentally chalked this week up as a loss, I'm having MAJOR difficulty getting back on the wagon. I've made a promise to go out running tomorrow. And I'm hoping that that gets my ass back on the wagon. I've got my first 5k on the 24th and I have no idea how I'm going to do it, when I haven't ran for the past 3 weeks since I've either been sick, or the baby has.

I'm kind a little FML right now. How is everyone else doing? I need some inspiration!