What to do, What to do..

Quick recap on weigh in this am:
Nick: -4.4 total: -13.1
Me: -1.4 total: -9.7

I was a little disappointed with my small loss. I know its still a loss and I should be happy it wasn't a gain, I just thought it was going to be a little more. I really wanted to hit 10lbs down, but on the bright side, I should be able to do it next week :) Nick is kicking my butt! But that's to be expected, right? He is a guy and has a bit more weight to loose than I do.

I'm trying to find more ways to be active during the day. It's not as easy to stay busy during the day when you don't have to be at work. I have been getting up, usually between 6am and 7am. This seems to help with my overall attitude and I don't feel like I'm wasting the day sleeping. It's nice to have some time to myself as well because Noah is gone to school, Nick is gone to work, and Nolan will usually sleep until 9ish. I also haven't felt like I need to take a nap when Nolan does. This is something new! I used to sleep in with Nolan and then still take a nap with him. I thought I wouldn't be able to get through the day without a nap. I have now gone 3 full weeks without taking a nap with him, or even feeling like I WANT to. It's amazing how good I feel.

Anyway, back to my original idea... I need to find things to keep Nolan and I busy during the day. It has been so cold out, we are not getting to play outside hardly at all. It's so easy to get sucked in to sitting on the couch watching cartoons etc. Don't get me wrong, it's not like we sit on the couch all day or anything, I just want to come up with a hobby that will be fun not only for me, but Nolan also. Next week, he is going to help me make a fabric covered headboard. But once that's done....what's next? I don't really care to scrapbook. We've made decorated picture frames before. We bake sometimes. I just want to keep our butts off the couch! Any suggestions would be great!

Slacker!

Oops! It's been 8 days since I last posted. Sorry! I've really been a slacker! But I haven't been slacking on getting healthy. :)

Also, did you see that I updated my ticker? Yup, thats right, down 5.1 lbs more! (as of 1/14) I will be weighing in again tomorrow! A little curious about 5.1lbs in 1 week but we will talk about that in a little bit.

Since my last post not much has changed. I don't think I said much though, about my husband, Nick. He has decided to join me in a weight loss journey! WooHoo! This is great support and helps me even more. I'm so excited that he made this decision. He did it on his own, which makes me even more excited. And he really is determined to get healthy.

Here's a little info about Nick:

Height: 6'1"
Starting weight (1/7): 266.5
Goal weight: 215
Starting BMI:35.2
Goal BMI:28.6

Nick Week 1 weigh in (1/14): 257.8, loss of 8.7lbs!!!

Nick has the same problem as I do, not eating enough through out the day and then stuffing our face at dinner time. Nick also has a SWEET tooth. Another problem Nick has, is that it's very difficult to eat healthy during the day because of his job. He drives truck. He is home everyday but, he doesn't always get a lunch break or when he does get one, he doesn't have a place to warm up a lunch he brought from home. This leaves him with the option of fast food or gas station food. He has been doing great, getting salads and fruit but I wish I could help him with all the temptation to just run through BK or MCD's... Any ideas would be awesome!

So enough about Nick :)

Back to the fact that I lost 5.1lbs last week. Isn't this a bit much? Is it healthy to lose weight that fast? I guess in my head, any weight that comes off is good, my body is healthier with it off.. but will it come back easier if it comes off so fast? This is something that I will need to do some research on. Have you experienced weeks with that high of a loss? I also wonder what caused it. I didn't change anything. I'm still eating the same amount? lso, for you ladies.. do you really notice a difference in your weight gain/loss around that time of the month? Wow, there's so much to learn about getting healthy!

I'm pretty excited to weigh in tomorrow. I think I had a really good week.

Here's a few pictures to see a little more of who we are :)

And I left the best, most recent one for last! Hope you enjoyed :)

Am I brainwashing my kids???

I am still so excited about my new journey to be healthy...but am I brainwashing my kids?? They keep hearing me talk about calories, fat grams, weight loss, exercise... this is a whole new lifestyle for my family. My almost 4 year old said to me yesterday, "Mom, this apple has 2 calories in it." At first I laughed and just told him not to worry about it, that apples are really good for him. Then the more I thought about it, I wonder how much he is thinking about everything. The picture above is my 9 year old son doing Jillian. He chooses to do it..and did it for 4 days. I let him thinking that any exercise is good exercise. Neither of my children are even CLOSE to being chubby, overweight, or even thick.. they are plain skinny. Anyone with kids have any advice here?


Also, I sooo excited about my new favorite snack! Baby carotts with Roasted Red Pepper Hummus! Hummus is something that 2 weeks ago, I would have never tried! It's 60 calories for 2 tablespoons and the baby carrots are 35 calories for 3oz. It's very filling and lets me eat something crunchy thats not chips with chip dip! I have also tried it with Red, Green, and Yellow Bell Peppers. YUMMY! And the peppers are only 20 calories for the entire pepper! I would love to try to make my own hummus. Has one ever tried this? Any tips would be appreciated!

Blogging

I am still so excited to be blogging. It's something that I have wanted to do for quite a while but never knew what I would write about. I'm finding out that I have lots to write about!!
I would like to make my blog look a little better. I want to learn how to add more pictures, maybe a toolbar with an about me, weightloss graph, etc and for sure one of those bars where I can put my starting weight and move it along as I lose the weight towards my goal weight. Anyone that knows how, I would love some direction! :) Thanks in advance.

Just have time for a quick one :)

The day was great! We had a blast tubing and it WAS a workout even though we were towed up the hill by a rope! Pulling the tube from the bottom of the hill and walking up a bit to the rope got my heart going. Then after you ride the tube up, you have to be ready to jump off, walk up a bit and then retrieve your tube from the guy working. It was a blast.

Best of all, Ann met me there! So you know what that means!! She borrowed me her Polar HRM. Right after she gave it to me, I wanted to skip Pizza Hut and go straight home to see how many calories I would burn doing the 30 day shred. Since everyone rode in my van, I wasn't able to do that. I had to go to Pizza Hut.

We walked in and I was set that I would allow myself a salad, 1 breadstick, and 1 slice of pizza. Well... I did all of that, plus an extra slice of pizza. It was just sooo good! But, I planned for it by only eating breakfast (180 cal.) so I had roughly 1120 cal for Pizza Hut. I haven't sat down to figure it out, but I'm gonna call it good. :)

We got home and I sat down on the couch still feeling over full. I decided that I needed to get up and do my workout or I would end up falling asleep and missing it. So I got up, changed, and put on the HRM. I was very excited to find out how many calories this was gonna shave off. If it wasn't for this new, exciting part to my workout, I might have skipped it today. (THANKS ANN!!)

I made it through the shred. Immediately after, and a million times during, I looked at the watch on my wrist. Guess how many calories I burned??????? Aren't you dying to know???? 289! 289!!! in 20 minutes! This seems like a lot? And it didn't stop there! It kept climbing for about 20 minutes after! A total of over 400 calories before it started slowing down. Maybe I don't know enough about this whole exercising thing but to me that's a lot! I'm even more excited to do my workout tomorrow!

Once again, thanks for all the support I'm getting, from people I don't even know. It's amazing!

Baby its cold outside!

Every day since I started this whole getting healthy thing, I've tried to plan my day out. I try to plan what I'm going to eat for each meal and snacks and also when I'm going to do my Jillian. Well today is the first day that I am stumpt. Here the deal, I'm supposed to go snow tubing at a local ski hill. And after that... my whole family is eating at Pizza Hut! :s Pretty scary if you ask me.

First of all, the tubing. I'm pretty sore from doing Jillian the last 4 days. And, BABY ITS COLD OUTSIDE!! Will I even burn any calories being towed up the hill by a giant rope? And am I going to be in pain the entire time because my legs hurt soo bad? And I still plan to do Jillian when we get home.

But the biggest issue here is PIZZA HUT! Come'on their Pizza is so good! The stuffed crust...mmm, I can almost taste it right now. I'm telling myself that I can have 1 piece. I know its a lot, but maybe I just need that 1 piece. I'll get the salad bar and be happy with it, because I really do love salad.

BUT!! I do have something that I am super stoked about! My friend, Ann, is meeting me today to let me borrow her Heart Rate Monitor! I'm so excited to finally know how many calories I am burning doing Jillian!! Thank you so much Ann!

Well here goes! I'm off to freeze my buns off! :)

a 1, a 2, a 3...counting, counting, counting

So this one is for you Ann :)

I'm trying to decide how many calories I should be eating in a day. I started on the Slimfast 3-2-1 plan on Friday 12/31. Three days later I added Jillian Michaels 30 day shred. I do minimal activity during the day. Usually some laundry, light household cleaning, and taking care of my almost 4 year old while my oldest is at school. I'm not sure exactly how many calories I burn doing the shred or for that matter what my resting metabolic rate is. I'm doing ok with the 1200 calories and only getting hungry when its about time for my next snack or meal. I should probably add that before starting this, my daily eating habits were horrible. I would not eat breakfast and usually not even eat lunch. Then I would literally pig out and be miserable at supper time. Here is what my intake looked like yesterday:

Breakfast-
Slimfast shake 180cal

Morning snack-
9 baby carrots 35cal
2Tbsp hummus 60cal

Lunch-
Slimfast shake 180cal

Forgot to have afternoon snack

Supper-
Chicken Breast 120cal
Multigrain pasta 150cal
Sauce 30cal

Evening snack-
Spinach salad
Spinach 20cal
Fresh mushrooms 20cal
Green bell pepper 20cal
Dressing 20cal

9 baby carrots 35cal
Hummus 60cal

Slimfast snack bar 100cal

Total calories for the day:1165

And I was full all day???

Yes, I am blogging!

Hi!  I would like to welcome you to my blog :)  First off, here are some ideas of who I am, along with what I am doing and why I want to write a blog.  My name is Nicole.  I am 26, married and have 2 kids.  I am a stay at home mom.  I am going to use this blog as a tool in my "get healthy" new years resolution! 

My family is very supportive in my new goals of getting healthy, but I feel as they get sick of listening to me rant about Jillian (30 day shred) or what kind of shake I'm having for breakfast (doing slimfast) so I decided that if I wrote out everything that I would be saying to them, I would feel great and I wouldn't have to annoy them :)  If they want to hear about it, they can read my blog. 

My family is planning a trip to Southern California in March.  My goal is be look good to go!  I started slim fast one week ago and today will by my 4th day of Jillian Michaels 30 day shred.  Im feeling great!  Here's my stats so far:

Starting weight 12/31: 158.1  Goal: 128
Height: 5'5"
Age 26
BMI: 26.3                            Goal 21.3

Im on my way there!  Week 1 weigh in this am was 154.9.  That's a loss of 3.2lbs my first week!!! I'm so excited about that!

Here are the ways that I'm going to achieve my goal:

1. Slim Fast 3.2.1 program
    3 snacks
    2 shakes
    1 500 calorie meal  
  Total 1200 calories/day

2. Jillian Michaels 30 day shred

3. Daily water intake of at least 40 oz.

I can do this, and this baby will get IT back!