Mamavation Monday - Feelings of Failure

About 2 weeks ago, I hit a big milestone at Weight Watchers. I lost 10% of my body weight. It was a big deal for me. So big of a deal that I celebrated by ordering pizza. Probably not the smoothest of moves, but I did.

The only thing is, ever since that day I've been depressed. Almost like I am sad to see 10% of myself go. And with that depression, I've eaten every thing in my path, and then whatever else I could find. So much so that as of last Thursday I was up 4.6 lbs. Even through the #2weekchallenge, though I was working out, I was chowing down. Thus, I only had a meager loss of inches and pounds. And I'm dissappointed in myself.

But today I made a decision. I'm starting over. I'm committing to 30 days of consistancy. Today I've eaten better than I have in the past 2 weeks, and I also worked out (I've been slackin on that since the challenge ended). I'm commited to finishing Jillian Michaels Ripped in 30 even if it kills me (it almost did today, my legs are on FIRE!). But 30 days, what's thirty days, right? I'm going to pull this off. I have to.

Wishing you all a great week!

Mamavation Monday - Loss Again

Sorry I'm late! I meant to do my post yesterday and attend MamavationTV last night. I know that Eden Fantasies always brings a good show! However, my hubby was home with me (for once) and we had a little calorie burning "homework" to do. Hehe. :)

Anyways, this past week I lost 2 pounds! Yahoo! According to Weight Watchers I officially lost 10% of my body weight, and then some. Though, I lost my true 10% a loooong time ago. Since I'm down 40 lbs post delivery, and I believe somewhere right around 27 lbs since I joined Mamavation. Sadly, though I am afraid I've gained back that 2 lbs and then some. As part of the #2WeekChallenge and have been putting in my workouts, but I have been insatiably hungry. I swear, I've been eating all freaking day long. So I'm really afraid I'm sabotaging myself--but I can't stop. I try every day. And then I end up eating all day long again. Darn vicious cycle. One thing is for sure though. I AM NOT BUYING PAZACKIS TODAY! So that should save me a crap ton of calories!

Wishing you all your best week ever!

Mamavation Monday- Return from being MIA

This past week, I lost another 1.2 lbs, taking me up to 5.2 pounds down since the last time I posted. Which was, a while ago. For a total of 26.2 since I joined Mamavation.

Things are still crazy, people are still sick/recovering in my family. January ended with ALL of us catching Norovirus. AKA, the virus from hell. For almost an entire week someone was in some sort of Gastro distress. Leading to me taking the baby to the hospital while I was still rocking a 103 fever, and my husband was stuck at home throwing up with diarrhea. This was the timeline:

Thursday: Lil Man throws up, a couple times--thankfully it was after Weight Watchers and the grocery store.
Friday: Lil Man appears to be doing better.
Wee Hours of Saturday Morning: I start throwing up so long and hard that I rupture almost all of the capillaries in my face.
Saturday Early Evening: Lil Man starts puking like something out of the exorcist. Husband tells me he's starting to feel crappy.
Saturday Evening: Baby ends up in hospital. See Photo
Sunday Night: My mother in law who drove Lil Man and me to the hospital so I could attempt to catch his vomit, starts throwing up.

It was insane. Thankfully we've all recovered well. AND it helped me lose 4 pounds that I didn't put back on. Score! This week, I'm hoping to reach my goal of losing 10% of my body weight at weight watchers. I've been trying to get that darn keychain for far too long now! And if I lose at least .6 this coming week, I'll make it!

I'm also in for the next round of the Two Week Challenge. This is my third challenge and I'm ready to win one of those prizes! Here are my measurements as I start off the challenge:

Weight 163.8 lbs
Waist 35.5 in
Hip 41in
Thighs 24 in on both
Arms 13 in on both

But now it's time for.....you guessed it!

The Mamavation Question of the Week sponsored by us, Mamavation!

What is your favorite way to relax?

My favorite way to relax, is to literally pretend I'm dead. Seriously. I'm not trying to be a creeper, my favorite way to relax is in Corpse Pose! For me, Corpse Pose is the most relaxing thing I can possibly do. Here's why:
1. It's time to myself. No kid. No hubby. No one to drive me insane.
2. I get to focus on my breathing and just slooooooowwwwww down for once.
3. While in corpse pose. I tense my entire body, and then release one muscle group at a time. It feels amazing, heck, almost orgasmic. And then I lay there in bliss after all of my muscle groups have released.
4. It's ten minutes of my time, where I get to be outside myself. Outside of my brain, that is incessantly running. Time when I give up on thinking (so don't interrupt me, I can't be held responsible for any actions I could potentially take against said intterupting party).

Wishing everyone a fabulous week and best of losses to my fellow challengers!

Mamavation Monday--Feelings of Discouragement

I'm starting to get discouraged, and yes, a little pissed off. I've been doing Weight Watchers (again) since October and I've only lost 11 pounds. And I've followed the program precisely. This week when I gained .8 lbs when I weighed in, I was LIVID. I was (insert multiple expletives here) kind of pissed. I had another perfect week, complete with more (cardio) workouts. My 25 year old body should be a fat incinerating MACHINE, not deceiving me...WTH.
This is about the 5th time this has happened to me since October.

(Up on Soapbox)

I'm giving up on Weight Watchers, on giving up on PointsPlus values, I believe it's a sham. If it helps you, that's great--I'm all for people losing weight, however, I believe WW is a money making machine more than helping people put up numbers.

Here's why, The PointsPlus program does NOTHING to back the scientific fact of: a calorie, is a calorie, is a calorie. They are declaring fruits and veggies to be "FREE", implies that it doesn't make a difference how much you eat of them. AND good old WW is doing little to encourage proper portion sizes--because, yes my friends, that pear you just ate can make you gain weight just as much as a candy bar, if you are eating too many calories. I cannot tell you how many times I have heard "eat a much as you want" when it comes to veggies and specific (lower carb) fruits at my meeting.

So, I'm done. I'm using a combo of MyFitnessPal to track my calories--including those of fruits and veggies, and my BodyBugg to see how many I'm burning. Aiming for a deficit of 1,000 calories per day. And I'm working out at least 30 minutes a day 6 days a week with a mix of strength and cardio.

I'm not doing a mid-challenge post, because I'm hoping to be blown away next Monday. I need some sort of big progress marker to keep me going.

(Step Down from Soapbox)

It's time for the Mamavation Question of the Week! This week's question is brought to us by The Chia CO!

What are your latest healthy food discoveries?

Hum. This one is hard, I've been eating the same stuff a lot lately, and I haven't ventured much out of my comfort zone because I know exactly how many calories I'm consuming. However, the biggest healthy food discovery I have made lately is less of a food, and more of a food website, with TONS of healthy and low calorie recipes. It's Skinnytaste.com. This site has AWESOME recipes. I've tried a few and they were raves: The Spinach Roll-Ups, Roasted Green Beans, and Baked Potato Soup. For those of you who are doing Weight Watchers, it even has the old points and the new points plus values listed for you. (Not that I care! LOL!) If I had one healthy eating website to recommend, besides Mamavation of course, I would say SkinnyTaste hands down, 110% that Gina chick really knows what she's doing! :)

Wishing you all a fabulous week of losses! Even the Weight Watchers members! :)

XoXo,

Lisa

This post is sponsored by The Chia Co 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--Two Week Challenge Part Deux

Hey everyone! I hope your holidays were fabulous! Things have been really crazy over here, for starters my Grandma-In-Law and one of my primary babysitters for the baby was diagnosed with colon cancer, then my husband's former step-dad and brother-in-law's father had a stroke. The baby puked all over the place on New Years Day, getting me sick afterwards. And my pregnancy was a false alarm, I had a chemical pregnancy (the technical term for an early miscarriage) and am no longer pregnant.

Happily the one thing that has stayed consistant in my life has been my quest to shed the extra pounds. Since my last post, I lost 2.8 lbs the week before last, and last week I lost another 1.6, for a grand total of of -4.4 lbs the past two weeks and down 21 since I joined Mamavation. This morning I even went from the fifth notch, to the sixth notch on my belt! Woot Woot! This week, my goal is to break the 170 lb barrier that I've been beating my head up against for the past 11 months. I'll see you on the other side next week!

I'm excited for the this two week challenge, doing the one before Christmas put me in a good spot for the holidays, and I'm ready to be in an even better place to start the new year! Here are my starting stats:

Weight: 170.4 lbs.
Waist: 36.75 inches
Hips: 41.75 inches
Legs: 24.25 inches
And just for giggles, Arms: 13.5 inches

Good Luck to all of my fellow challengers!
But enough about me, It's time for the Mamavation Question of the Week!

This week's blogging carnival and MamavationTV is sponsored by Budhi Skin Care. They ask:

What do you find most challenging in skin care?

The thing I find most challenging about skin care is finding the right product for my skin type. I have skin that can't make up it's mind. And last time I checked NOT ONE bottle of product is labeled for "indicisive skin". Let me explain, one day I'm oily, the next day I'm dry, then I have acne and blackheads, and on top of all that I have rosecea so I can be sensitive, sending me right back to oily, dry, or acne.

Vicious, annoying, cycle.

So finding a product(s) that will balence my skin, that ends the vicious cycle is the most troublesome, and hard to do

Wishing you all a wonderful week of losses!
~Lisa

Mamavation Monday-The end of the two week challenge

Well. I finished the two week challenge. Some days were harder than others, but ultimately I did it. Toward the end, I didn't quite stick to the nutrition plan due to the parties that have been popping up.

I've tried to bring healthier options just for me, like the roasted green beans from Skinnytaste, but some of the "goodies" were just too good to pass up. Like those damn cheesy potatoes.

Overall, I'd call the two week challenge successful. I lost a total of 1.8lbs, an inch off my waist, a half inch off my hips, and an inch total off both of my thighs (0.5in a piece).

The Mamavation Question of the Week!

What is your biggest achievement of the year?


My biggest achievement this year was sticking to my 2011 new years resolution. That resolution was to lose weight. Though I have had a few little sticking points where I've deviated from my plan, food benders if you will, I have always managed to get back on track. Sometimes not as quickly as I would have liked. But ultimately I've gotten back on the wagon, and kept going, sometimes even picking up speed. I'm down almost 20lbs since the beginning of 2011, and life is easier. I get around better. I'm not as winded chasing after the baby. My knees don't hurt anymore. It's not as hard as it was for me to get up off the floor. At 25, it was sad, and catastrophic that these things plagued me. But now I'm free. AND I've got my eyes on the prize, 135 pounds. I've still got to lose about 35 lbs to get there, but I fully intend on being there by next  Christmas, and my biggest achievement for 2012 will be that I met my goal weight!

I’m writing this to be entered into a giveaway sponsored by YumYucky, Eco-Foil, andMamavation and hosted by Mamavation – a community dedicated to obesity prevention & weight loss for women”

Mamavation Tuesday -- 1 Week Into the #2WeekChallenge

Life is super crazy right now, So here's just a little update. #2weekchallenge is going well. I've been doing the trying my best to stay within the nutritional parameters (I've tweeted most of my food), and I've been getting my workouts in. So I'm happy to report that this week I'm 169.4 lbs that's a loss of 1.6 lbs! From last week to this week! Yahoo!

Mamavation Monday--Let's Get This Challenge Started!

So the damage from Thanksgiving wasn't nearly as bad as I thought. I gained less than a pound, 0.8. I'm TOTALLY counting this as a victory after my
F-O-U-R desserts, multiple bread rolls, and multiple helpings.

This past week I've been on  oral steroids, so I'm really expecting a gain come Thursday (official weigh in day), but I've been extremely dilligent about what I've been eating, and I've been working out, even though I'm not really supposed to because of my ear. Oops. I've been careful though!

The next step of "Ear Drama 2011" is a trip to the ENT, to see about gettting my tonsils out. Joy! So that will be interesting.

As for today, I'm starting the #Mamavation #2WeekChallenge! Woot, Woot!

My starting weight is: 171.2
My waist measures: 37in
My hips measure: 42 in
My thighs measure: 24.5 in each

But now it's time for The Mamavation Question of the Week, Sponsored by Reflect It Apparel!

When it comes to holiday shopping, how do you make sure you stick to your budget ?

When it comes to sticking to my holiday budget, the first thing I do is have a list of who to buy for and what I intend on getting them, or what they want, and how much the items total. My goal is to complete my list while spending AT LEAST a $100 dollars LESS than what my original total was. My gifts never total more than $500, I REFUSE to spend more than that on gifts.

Then I start shopping early, pricing the items, and using the internet to find coupons and the best deals. I also haunt black friday ads online for weeks beforehand to make sure I'm getting the best deal. I also sign up for e-mails from the companies, and get notices in my inbox when the items I'm looking for go on sale, or a new coupon code is released. Typically, if it's not at least 50% off, or I don't have a coupon or coupon code, I won't buy it. I'll wait, go somewhere else, or if all else fails opt for a similar product, at a lower price.

That's my secret! What's yours?

This post is sponsored by Reflect It Apparel 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 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!