Mamavation Monday-Cough. Sneeze. Hack.

This week has been a little on the rough side.

Let's start with the good news. I lost 0.2 lbs this week. Whether it was from actual work or cutting my hair off, I'll never know.

BUT.

A serious victory occured yesterday. I FIT BACK INTO MY PANTS FROM HIGH SCHOOL! And I'm excited. Can you tell?

Despite my victory, I've been horrifically sick this weekend. I have a sinus infection from hell. Coughing, sneezing, sandpaper thoat, green goo, fever--I'm having my ass handed to me. Needless to say, I haven't been moving as much as I should, since I can barely breathe when I'm sitting still.

BUT- yesterday I walked 3.5 miles, in the hot sun, barely breathing, with a fever of 101.  I made a promise that I was going to do a 5k on May 22nd to complete the Walk-It Challenge for Weight Watchers. And though I didn't drive 45 minutes from my house to do an actual race, I still did my 5k--and then some. So take that sinus infection.

Anywhoo...

The Mamavation Monday Question (brought to you by GruntStyle) of the week is:

What keeps you from having healthy snacks on hand when you are out of the house?

I have a hard time keeping healthy snacks on hand while I'm out and about because most of my snacks are parishable. I favor string cheese and cut up fruit, which I prefer cold. But I don't feel like dragging around a humongo cooler just to keep some pineapple rings and a string cheese cold. Blah.

I know there are more portable snacks out there. Like nuts and granola, but they tend to have higher calorie counts so I tend to stay away from them. I like it when the scale goes down--so a calorie, is a calorie, is a big ol' fat creatin' flippin' calorie. :)

I'd love to know if you guys have any suggestions of portable snacks for me! I get bored easily and love to try new things to switch it up. So get at your girl! :)

Wishing you all a most wonderful week.

Also, if you could say a prayer, do a dance, send up good ju-ju, whatever you do, my husband got called back for a second interview for a job we desperately need. So here's hopin' and prayin'! Thanks!

HAPPY MAMAVATION (Wait, what day of the week is it...)

Holy cow, I just realized that today is Wednesday! Where did Monday go? I'm pretty sure it didn't stop by my house this week!

For those of you that follow me on Twitter and on Facebook, you know that since about last Thursday, I've had one sick little boy. I took him to the doctor on Monday, (hey, looks like there was a Monday this week) to find out that he has the stomach flu. Dr. said that he should be on the up-swing, and although he isn't having liquid poo explosions any more, he's still oozing foulness from the bum.

I'm beginning to wonder if what he has really is the stomach flu, or if it's something else, like an allergy. Only time will tell I suppose.

Needless to say, I haven't had a very productive week. I've eaten like crap, since everything had to be fast, so I could continue taking care of my sickiepoo. But I got in a workout this morning, while the lil one is napping! A whole 40 mins of Yoga Booty Ballet (not to mention a shower!)  

Victory!

I hope I have better news for you next week!

Cleaning My Way Skinny

Whew! I'm dripping sweat! And you know what that means! Burning calories!

When maintaining a household we all have to clean. Love it or hate it, we've just got to do it. And with my weekends being jam packed, cleaning is how I get my workout in.

You may not realize it, but cleaning burns a TON of calories! If you're like me, you have a "cleaning day". One designated day of the week where all most of the cleaning gets gets done. For me, this can take anywhere from a 30 mins to 3 hours.

But the longer I'm at it, the more calories I burn! Which means I can eat more food! Whoo hooo!

Some of the most common household chores also have the biggest burn. For example:

Scrubbing the bathroom, 30 mins = 200 calories burned
Cleaning glass, windows, mirrors 30 mins = 125 calories burned
Vacuuming 30 mins = 90 calories burned
Dusting 30 mins = 50 calories burned

If you're curious, all those chores over the course of 2 hours, burns about 465 calories! That's equivalent to a Taco Bell Burrito Supreme with Steak!

You can also ramp up your chore's burn. Try incorporating exercises into your chores, like doing lunges while vacuuming. Or squats while doing laundry. You'll tone up, burn calories, and improve your balance!

With all of this talk about cleaning, I'm curious. What is your favorite chore? What is your least favorite chore?

Mamavation Monday--When to work out.

To workout, or not to workout? That is the question. I think every mom on the planet has some part of their body that they are unhappy with and would like to change. The only problem, we know that in order to change it, we must get active and workout. Ugh! And who has time for that?!?

YOU DO! Schedule your time! That's what I have to do. It's the only way I'm able to guarentee that I get my workout in. My workout time is when my son is napping. I get an hour and a half to myself to get my sweat on.

When my son is napping is the best time for me. It may not be the best time for you. I like to workout in the mid-morning (that's his nap time). I've eaten breakfast. My food has had time to settle. The sun is out, well, most of the time. And usually, there's nothing on TV anyway, so my distractions are weeded out.

You know yourself better than anyone else, and you are the only one that knows what's best for you! I know that if I don't workout in the mid-morning during my son's naptime, that working out is just not going to happen that day. Sure, I might be able to take my son for a walk in the stroller, but my workout is not going to be anywhere near as intense as it would have been had I worked out by myself in the morning.

And who doesn't want to get maximum calorie incineration in minimum time!

What's funny, is I know these things. I know that I have to schedule my workout during my optimum time. But I haven't been as good as I could have been this past week. I didn't work as intensely as I should have and I ate some things that I know I shouldn't have. And I've maintained my weight this week. Which, is better than gaining but still unacceptible in my eyes.

And I can't preach finding your optimum workout time and scheduling it if I'm not doing it myself. So that is my goal for the coming week. Schedule my workouts, and when I'm doing them, DO THEM!

***This post was in response to the question:
What time of day works best for you to be active? How do you make sure you stick to those planned workouts?***

Sigh of Relief!

This week was a tough one. I was really bad, as shown by my last post. However, I burried my "bad week" last night. I had some healthy Jimmy John's for dinner--didn't get my favorite -- The Vito. But my NEW favorite, Tom Turkey. And I made a decision that tomorrow was the day that I was getting out of this rut.

For those of you that don't already know this. Sundays are my weigh in day at Weight Watchers. I weighed in this morning and didn't gain! I'm counting that as a success after last week! But it's definitely NOT an excuse to quit getting closer to my weight loss goals!

This Weight Watchers meeting also couldn't have come at a better time. I figured out that one of my main problems is that I'm bored with eating healthy. And that was the theme of this week. My leader gave us all kinds of ideas for new and different foods to change it up a bit. I remembered that I LOVE these veggie burgers that I get as Costco, so after my meeting I went and picked some up.

This past week and the coming weeks, I'm going to heed Leah's advice. She posted a Facebook post about lifting weights and how much easier it was to lose weight after she did. So I'm restarting ChaLEAN Extreme. AND I'm excited about it! Some of you might already know that she's my FAVORITE trainer EVER! And lifting weights is giving me an outlet for my stress, instead of eating my stress. (If you want to see what ChaLEAN Extreme is all about here's a video: http://beachbodycoach.com/esuite/home/TurboGirl23?bctid=25219364001)

That said. I am officially back on the wagon. I'm taking the time tonight to go through my cookbooks and find some new healthy recipes. And update on the family: Aunt-doing okay, for as sick as she is. My cousin is in remission. My grandpa is home from the hospital. My grandma's shoulder is much "better" than originally thought, she'll heal just fine, and will just need physical therapy. And my good friend just had a traumatic brain injury, which is quite possibly the best case scenario for him and he's recovering well.

I look forward to seeing what the future holds for all of us! Thanks for all of the support Sistas!

Disappointed and It's Starting to Show.

On Valentine's Day I ate an entire small deep dish pizza. And that was bad news. Then a ton of horrific things happened the next day (familywise), all at once. Here's a breakdown.

It was my dad's birthday.
Grandpa ends up in the hospital with pneumonia.
Aunt starts getting 3 hr long chemo treatments for terminal lung cancer.
Cousin finds out she has Hepatitis A.
Found out one of my good friend's Humvee hit a roadside bomb in Afghanistan.
Bad day don't you think. This time I didn't have the will power to fight the emotional eating.

But after that I got back on track. And I worked out. A LOT. To try and counter the binging I had embarked on.

So I weighed Sunday. And I gained .8lbs. I was pretty upset. I had been doing so well.

Then the next part of my life came crashing in. My grandma fell and shattered her shoulder. The woman who helped raise me and became my mother when my mother died. At 90, can only imagine what this can mean...my mind just keeps coming back to the bad. I'm praying prefusely that she comes out of this alright.

All that upset has led to a bad week this week. I've been trying so hard to get back on track, but I'm finding myself helpless when I have to pass a tray of cookies (I've even eaten an entire box of Tagalongs, I'm ashamed to say). I don't know what to do to re-find my motivation. HELP!

(Sorry this is so late, our internet died at home--we can just add that to the list)

Mamavation Monday- I win! I win!

This week has be riddled with setbacks and victories. The week started with the Superbowl. And I ate. I deserved a treat. So I had some Motzarella sticks and some pizza and some chicken wings. They were really good. However, my tummy didn't feel too good after eating them. So that was the end of that. I was mortified that I had consumed a derailing amount of calories though.

Monday, my son was sick. Hence not posting last week until Tuesday. And then this week, he successfully passed the torch to me! I had one horrific cold for the past 4 days, but I'm finally on the mend! Thank god too, because these little illnesses are feeling more and more severe as I get older!

All that said, as you can imagine. I didn't workout much this week. A little here, a little there. Breathing was quite taxing. But I lost 1.4 lbs this week taking me up to being down 11.6! AND I got my first weight watchers ribbon for a 10 lbs loss!

Next step, losing 10% and then 20 lbs! I can't wait!

Mamavation Monday-Busted My Kinda Sorta Plateau

This week I was BAD. I mean REALLY bad. At least according to myself. But I could have been way worse I suppose.

Because of my teeny tiny loss of 0.4 last week. I was discouraged this week--yet I was also determined to figure out what the heck was going on with my body. So I changed things up a bit.

This past week started with a piece of cake. As previously written about, that wiped out more than 1/2 of my weekly overflow points. Then I did well most of the week with a serious break in the chain on Friday. On Friday we had a staff in-service, which typically means lots of junky food.

The day started with good intentions. The night before, I packed my lunch for the next day. I ate my typical breakfast of oatmeal, diced apple, and cinnamon. All was going good, or so I thought.

Upon walking into the meeting room, I am smacked in the face with a wonderfull smell. A smell, I have not smelt in a VERY long time. DONUTS. Knowing that I was not going to be able to be satisfied with my Fiber Plus bar while staring down the barrel of the donut gun, I gave in. I ate 4 Munchkin donuts. 1 of each flavor. Down went a glazed, then a chocolate, then a powdered sugar, and finally the spiced. Portion control, I thought to myself. 4 little donuts are better than one big donut right? However, I was satisfied, and did not go back up to the table.

Then lunch time came. The Cookie Lady catered (if you can't tell trouble is coming just based on her name). I took my lunch that I had packed out of the fridge and started to get strange looks from my co-workers. To avoid looking like a freak, I decided that I would eat what they were having. We had a choice of meat or veg lasagna. I chose the veg and it was in tomato not cream sauce, so I felt like I scored a little. Ceasar Salad, tossed in dressing--I only ate about 1 cup. And then came the cookie. I only took one. A small one. And that was my lunch--and I felt like less of a freak.

But then the Pièce de résistance of my diet failure came in the afternoon. One of our board members owns Vicki's ice cream. So it was only natural that we have a make your own sundae bar. And who can resist homemade ice cream? Well, I couldn't at that moment. I took a pre-apportioned vanilla cup (had about 1c or 2 scoops in it) and topped it with Reese's peanut butter cups. I'm not going to lie. It was really good. Despite all of the guilt I was feeling.

And that was that. I left work, went home, and got back on track and stayed on track for the rest of the week. To my suprise when I weighed in yesterday, I had LOST 1.4 lbs! How the heck did that happen? I don't know, I just hope that it doesn't catch back up to me at the coming weeks weigh in!

As for excercise this week. I decided that I wouldn't do anything too intense this week, because I didn't think I was eating enough on WW for TurboFire, hence my crappy loss last week. So I only worked out 2 days this week. I took my son to the mall and mall walked with him in the stroller for an hour on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Until next week! Best of Loss to the Sistahood!

1 Week Down and Still Going Strong!

Yay!!! I can finally share a victory with you guys! This week I lost 2.2lbs! Yahoo! Sorry, I'm really excited!

Anyway, I stayed on target all week this week. I even declined going to a party this past weekend, because I knew there would be heavy drinking going on there, and you know you can't be around sloshed people without being a little sloshed yourself! Hehe!

But the important part is that I did it. This week I'm working on scheduling my excersize. I bought a Groupon, DM me on twitter @LisaVFitness if you want to know what that is, for Jazzercise. 2 Months unlimited classes for $39! A steal! And I have a friend who is going to go with me! Support and Accountability!

So it looks like things are on the up and up on the weight loss front with me. Wishing everyone health, motivation and happiness in the next week!

'Twas the Week After Christmas--Mamavation Monday

'Twas the Week After Christmas, and all through my house every creature was stirring to burn off those holiday pounds.

Christmas was filled with pitfalls for me. I did well with the alcohol, which is what usually causes me to overeat. However, my major downfall this week was the food that was everywhere and my proximity to it.

My "game plan" usually involves serving myself, then putting the food away. I NEVER put food out on the table to let people serve themselves. I always leave the food in the kitchen, and then go out to the table to eat. When I don't have the food sitting in front of me, I'm less likely to keep helping myself to more.

But guess what--everywhere I went this weekend there were tables full of food. My in-laws, my dad's house, my mother's extended family. I felt like I just couldn't escape! I tried to utilize many of my other tactics like shrimp cocktail and drinking lots of water. But it just wasn't working.

All and all, I had a rough weekend. But I'm getting back on track today. I'm starting my "New Year's" workout plan early--today. I see no reason why I should wait another week to do something good for myself. And I'm making a better effort to eat healthfully. You won't find any food waiting for me on my dining room table!

Staying well, while being sick.

Being sick sucks. But inevitably, it happens. I managed to contract some sort of bug over the weekend. I had to work and go out in the massive snow we got here in Michigan--I blame that! LOL!

So I want to talk about how to stay well--or at least stay on track--while being sick. If you are anything like me, when you're sick (except when you're nauseous or throwing up) I will curl up on the couch and eat and eat in front of the tv. And comfort food is my favorite. I love a piping hot bowl of something ooey-gooey like mac and cheese. Because chicken soup is only appetizing for so long.

Some of my tips to distract myself from all of the ooey-gooeys that I love are:

Green Tea: It's hot, broth like, without being broth. And it's zero calories when sweetened with stevia. And you can get it in a ton of different flavors to liven up your taste buds.

Drink lots of water. Water fills you up and will prevent you from getting dehydrated. Particularly important if you are running a fever or having other "lovlies" like diarreha or vomiting.

Watch your portions and how you prepare things. You can still have your comfort food, just make sure you are using fiber filled noodles, and low fat styles of preparation. Instead of a block of velveeta, see if you can make mac and cheese with low fat cheese.

All told, I'm starting to feel better. I've been trying to evade creamy milk products like yogurt, milk and sour cream because they thicken mucus (I really hate that word by the way). But I don't have a problem with cheese.

But getting sick has made me learn my lesson: I should have worked out more these past couple weeks. Because exercise helps your immune system, and I don't get sick when I've been working out. Nothing like a little reminder from the almighty to get back on track!

Mamvation Monday-Chaining myself back on the wagon.

Pie. Brownies. Cookies. Chips. Dip. Crackers. Mashed Potatos. Rolls. The list goes on and on. This is my confession of the things I have put in my mouth in large unhealthy amounts this week.

I now know why people have such a hard time losing weight, or at least not putting any weight on over the holiday season. There is food EVERYWHERE! And for a food addict like myself, this is a really bad situation.

I thought I had everything all planned out. I planned how I was going to excute Thanksgiving. I planned what I would and wouldn't eat for Hanukkah. I'm planning for Christmas (yes, I do celebrate both). But, the problem that I'm finding is that I can't plan just for the holidays. The holiday food, lasts the entire holiday season. Which of course leads to all of those extra calories adding up. I know I don't have to eat this stuff, but it's just so hard not to. It's been tradition for years. And it makes me happy. And then I am sad because I ate it all. And then I eat to cheer myself up again. It's a vicious cycle.

So I'm trying something different this week. Instead of just counting calories, I busted out my old points slider and am going to try doing weight watchers again. Everytime, I have done it, I have lost a good 30lbs plus. I know if I can just stick to the plan for a week and see a decent loss, I will continue in my efforts.

I am also going to get back on the workout wagon this week. Now that my husband has taken up doing odd jobs and is hardly ever home, and my son has gone from 2 naps a day to 1. I'm having difficulty finding the time to workout. So my goal this week is to be more active. It's getting colder and snowier here in Michigan, so my Sketchers toning shoes have hit the closet, but now that I know that Earth Footwear makes boots for toning, I really need to figure out how to get my hands on a pair (If you would like to gift me a pair, here's the website: http://www.earthfootwear.com/ I really like the "Invent"-size 10 please :)). Earth's boots would make bundling up the baby and trudging through the snow a whole lot more comfy!

This weeks goal synopsis:
1. Loose at least 2 lbs with Weight Watchers.
2. Recommit to at least 30 mins of excercise a day.
3. Get some hot new Earth Footwear boots to make walking in the snow super cozy.

Mamavation Monday!

Happy Monday! Though some of you don't find Monday so happy...I was having one of those days today. I got a migraine from the blistering sunlight pouring in through the window of my "office" this afternoon. I wanted to VOMIT. I had my workout scheduled for when I got home, but the entire drive back home I was dreading it.

As soon as I got home, I knew that if I didn't suck it up, I would wallow in how crappy I felt and would never get my workout in today. So I did. And I was victorious. I worked out WITH a migraine. I'm not going to lie, the first 10 minutes were hell. But I persevered. I just kept thinking about my successes. I weighed and measured this morning.

Let me first start by saying that I finished the first 30 days of the TurboFire program yesterday. I lost 10lbs and 5.25 inches, 2.5 of those inches were from my hips/mama pooch alone! So that was what I thought about until the workout endorphins took over the migraine pain.

This further proves to me that if you focus on the positive, you can beat the negative!