Not forgotten

I wish you all could hear me laughing right now!!!! It has been almost 2 months since my last post!!!! I have not "forgotten" about the blog but finally realized that I needed to just give it up for a bit. I had been wavering back and forth with making wise choices and then making choices tat were opposite of wise ;) I had been getting myself excited and worked up about successes and my "plans" to make myself succeed. Then I would get frustrated and overwhelmed when those plans did not come out as I intended.

In some aspects I felt like I was letting you down. I know ultimately this whole blog is not about being perfect. In fact, it is quite the opposite.....it is about being REAL!!!! No one is perfect, no not one....that is in the Bible if you are interested ;) So although I would have loved to have shown everyone how self-controlled and disciplined I could be during pregnancy, I have to step back and realize that my trials are helpful too!

At this point I have put on 37lbs. I am nearing the 32 week mark. My belly is measuring 2 weeks ahead, which helps me to feel better about the weight gain because if my belly is huge then it would make sense that I weigh more ;) I never did get into that prenatal yoga. The one time I tried it, it totally kicked my pregnant butt and I was like "Never mind!!!" He he he ;)

I am VERY much looking forward to poppin this little monkey out and getting back in shape :) I am getting super excited to get back on the WW wagon and start running again :) YAY :) I already have some goal to focus on for the fall. There is a 5k on Sept. 24th called Miles of Hope for Moms Who Mourn. I did this race last year (They had a 5 mile option that I did) and I finished 3rd out of 50 women!!! Granted, it was a run/walk.....but still I was very proud of myself. This year if I have to walk some of it that is totally fine. I just want to DO IT, period!! The next thing I am thinking about is Homecoming weekend at my college back in MI :) (Alma College, in case you are wondering) Homecoming is usually the 1st or 2nd weekend in October.So I, if I pop this kid out at the end of July I can totally rock homecoming without looking like I just had baby #4, right? RIGHT!!!! YAY :)

Alright friends, I am off to start a fun filled day with my family!! Big guy is about to graduate from Kindergarten next week and he just lost his first tooth on Tues ;) Lots of excitement around here ;) I am not going to say when I will be back, I will just say that I WILL be back ;) So.....I'll be back ;)

Chao!

HEY STRAGNERS!!!

Hey strangers :) How the heck are ya? I am feeling great today after a wonderful marriage retreat this weekend :) YAY :) I surprised the hubby with getting us pedicures and a couple's massage :) He had never had a massage before and he loved it :) YAY :)

Food wise the weekend was a bust. It turned out that one meal would be pretty smart and the next would be the opposite! BUT I am really excited because this week I plan on implementing some movement into my daily routine!!! YAY :) One of my friends is letting me borrow a prenatal yoga dvd :) I think I have mentioned before that Jazzercise just has not been working out lately. I have only been able to hit that like once a week (better than nothing!). So, I am very anxious to start getting some exercise time each day (every day is ideal but I will settle for three times a week if I have to!!) With the weather warming up I am hoping to get outside and walk more too!!!! YAY :) It is almost 80 out today :) I am about to hit walmart for some flip flops!!!!

Now I need to meal plan for the week!!! Gotta get my head in the game!!!

If you have a few spare minutes, leave a comment and let me know how you are doing!!! Also, how are you planning on keeping motivated as we enter the spring/summer season?

I cannot wait till Summer is born and I can get out and start running again!!!! Yes, the baby's name is going to be Summer ;) Summer Jean as a matter of fact ;) I know....kind of dorky cause she is gonna be born in the summer and all but we like it :)

Talk to you all soon!
B

Beautiful

I will post an update soon.
Take a moment today and remember that you are beautiful, RIGHT NOW!!!! Yes, we may have more steps to take to reach certain goals but let us not forget that there is One who created us and He made us beautiful according to HIS definition of beauty, not the world's!!!! Read this article I found today. ENJOY!

http://www.crosswalk.com/devotionals/girlfriends/

Excitement and fear....all at the same time!!!

Alright, so we are beginning another chapter in our lives. Food has been on the table (so to speak) for almost two years now. However, taking drastic measures to make sure our finances are in order as been on the back burner (I am full of them today!). That is until now!!!!!!

Husband and I have decided to go to a cash only system. Now, all you thieves out there, do not come and break into my house expecting to find some mad cash ;) We do not have "lots" of money by any means. What we are attempting to do is to cut out spending that is not needed. So we are looking at each pay period and trying to figure out what things we NEED. Then we divide the cash up into labeled envelopes. We make sure to have all our NEEDS counted out before we even thinking about having an envelope for things like going out for coffee, etc. Here is where the fear and excitement come in ;)

I am totally geeked to finally say "ENOUGH IS ENOUGH!!!" and REALLY try to get out of debt and be good stewards of the financial blessings God has given to us!!!! I am also scared because it is just so foreign to us. I think of things we will have to sacrifice. There will be things that have to be given up here and there. When I stop and really think about it though, it is not like I "deserve" any of the extras that I blow my money on, ya know? Those things are a privilege, not a right.

How does this relate to me being healthy? WELL......If we do not have have the cash then I cannot buy the crap!!!!!!!!! He he he ;) Using that little plastic thing we call a debit card has really enabled me in my journey to health. I swing through McDs whenever I have "a craving" or whatever. Now, like I said....not having cash set aside for that will make me think twice!!!!

I had a little bit of "my cash" left in my wallet so I intentionally blew it yesterday and today on fast food items. I felt as if it were my last rebellious act or something ;) Now, if fast food is going to happen, it has to be planned for in advance. There's an idea ;) He he he ;)

Prayers in this area of our lives would be much appreciated!!!! I hope that each of you are doing well and making wise choices in all areas of your life....not JUST food ;) Until the next post .......

PEACE OUT ;)

OW!!!!!!!!!!!!

Pregnancy is usually my friend. I LOVE being pregnant! I do experience the occasional sciatic nerve flare up, swollen appendages near the end and sore back. However, this time around the lower back ache has kicked in super early!!!!!!!!!! The past few days I have been so uncomfortable!! I do not want to be a whiner but DANG!!!! He he he ;) I have tried tylenol and applying heat. Neither seem to touch it. If I lay down it eases up but as soon as I stand it is killing me again!!! I would not be so concerned about it is I did not have 4 1/2 stinkin months left!!!!!!!!!! AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!!!!

The thought occurred to me that maybe it did not start this early with the other pregnancies because I had so much junk in the trunk so it kind of balanced out the big belly ;) So this time, the belly being as big as it is already might be putting a lot of stress on the lower back. Ugh.....not too sure. I will probably be going back to my chiropractor very soon. That always helped with the other pregnancies.

Food wise, well....good one day, not so good the next. So, today is supposed to be a good day ;) I had a good breakfast (honey bunches of oats w/slices of banana and strawberries, 1cup skim milk). Now to keep it up throughout the day. Oh and of course....DRINKING MY WATER!!!!!!!!! I ate poorly yesterday and I did not get my water in....guess what? I felt totally icky!!!! I am sure you can tell the difference on the days when you fill up with what is good for your body versus the days that you don't right? You would think that would be enough motivation to keep us filling up with the right stuff!!! He he he ;)

Alright folks.....push on through this weekend with a positive attitude and wise food/drink choices!!! Do not let the weekend be an excuse to go totally crazy!!! Have a little popcorn or ice cream but make sure you are not eating an entire Ben & Jerry's carton all by yourself !!!!

Much love, my peeps!

Middle of the road?

Made more of an effort today to not stuff my face with junk :) The one thing that threw me for a loop was the awesome oatmeal chocolate chip cookies at my friends house ;) I ate 4 of them!!! They were SO good!!!! Since I am already talking about what I ate today here is my daily run down, I will blabber on some more after that ;) I am thinking today would be classified as middle of the road. It did not rock but it did not totally suck either ;)

Breakfast- 3/4 cup honey bunches of oats, 1cup skim milk

Treat- 4 oatmeal chocolate chip cookies

Lunch- Turkey medal ions Smart One, 1 cup grapes, strawberry yogurt

Treat- about 6 cadbury mini eggs

Snack- 2 pieces whole wheat cinnamon raisin bread

Dinner- Slow cooker lasagna, salad, 1 piece garlic bread

Snack- Popcorn, 1 cup orange juice

Oh....and some jelly bellys thrown in there somewhere ;) He he he ;)

So here is my exciting news.....I MADE IT TO JAZZERCISE TONIGHT!!!!!!!!!! Yay :) So...like I said, even though my food choices were not 100% where I would like to see them, they improved AND I worked out :) SO...GO ME :)

Working out almost did not happen tonight though. I could not find my work out pants to save my stinkin life!!! I was SO irritated. I looked everywhere. Honestly, this whole afternoon I felt like my brain was not even in my head!!! Could not find Brendan's book for sparks, lost my work out pants, put clothes in the dryer but did not start it, put clothes in the washer but did not start it....AAAHHH!!!!!!! He he he ;) It was nuts!!!!

I was NOT looking forward to going to target and trying to find the same pants! I went and looked for quite awhile. No luck. I looked on the clearance rack and there was one pair of them on sale for $5, down from $20!!! YES!!!! They are actually a size bigger than the ones I lost but since I am getting bigger it may prove to be for the best ;) I am still hoping the ones that are MIA will show up at some point !!!!

I have gotten some great encouragement over the past few days from people about this little blog. THANK YOU!!!!!!!! It means a lot to me to know that people are reading this and that you are being inspired to fight the good fight !!! Keep up the hard work!! We CAN succeed at living a life that is healthy!!!!!! I will try to check in with you all very soon!! Love you and goodnight :)

3:30am.....

Ok kiddos....I have had people asking where my newest post is.....well...it is right here!!!!! I have been meaning to write one for a few days but days just get away from me SO fast !!!! In my head it makes sense to blog at night cause then I can recap that particular day rather than posting in the middle of the day. However, since I have not been consistently typing out everything I have eaten in a day I suppose an afternoon post may be ideal since I usually have a little bit of energy to spare that point vs. the evening when I am exhausted ;) The pic you see here was taken over the weekend. I am 20 weeks 4 days in the pic :)

As you know, I have been feeling discouraged lately. That just will not cut it !!!! I am choosing to not let myself feel condemned for a bad day (or week). I KNOW that I need to press onward!!! I think for the most part I am still doing a pretty good job at getting in my fruits and veggies. I have been drinking a bit more water (oh and SoBe Life Water...YUM!!!!). I need to focus on those things that I am doing well !!!! I even made a menu plan for this week for dinners and I am sticking to it for the most part :) YAY :)

The other element I NEED to keep in place is remaining active!!! I have not been able to make it to Jazzercise for about a week. I was supposed to go at one point last week but had a headache that morning and chose a nap instead of working out. Then tonight (er, uh, yesterday) I was all set to go and guess what? Flat tire on the van!!!! UGH!!!! I think it worked out ok though cause I ended up going to bed by 8pm. Well, except now I am up at 3:30am writing a blog ;) He he he ;) Oh well ;)

My husband has been awesome through all of this! Poor guy, I cannot imagine how hard it is to be a husband ;) Us women are so back and forth emotionally when we are not pregnant.......so when we are pregnant I am sure it is even more difficult to deal with us ;) This morning I told hubby flat out that I am struggling and that I need his help. I think I have been keeping this struggle with food too quiet. When I was talking to him about it he even commented that it did not seem like I was having that hard of a time. I told him that it is because I have been doing it in secret. It is the drive through at McDs on my way to work (and I work for WW of all places!!! Sheesh!!! He he he!) and things like that which he may not even know I did. He was so gracious to me. He actually stopped and prayed for me right there!!!! Huge blessing!

So......let's keep moving!!!! This is week 21 of pregnancy and I want this second half to be a good one!!!!!!!!!!!! If you are struggling, take a deep breath, be honest with yourself and then take the next step you need to take to make a healthy choice TODAY!!!!!!! Do not beat yourself up for yesterday!!! Honestly, it just makes it more likely that you will repeat that pattern. So....TODAY IS A NEW DAY!!!!!!!!! Let's get it !!!!!!!!!