2 blog posts in ONE day?!

Really?!  Today has been such an “off” day I figured I might as well. 😉  Plus, the boys are very much enjoying their TV time right now…I found a long lost Blues Clues dvd and they are mesmorized.  I figure I have about 10 minutes before they go crazy again. 🙂

As I write, I am enjoying my afternoon pick-me-up…

Thanks to my beloved K-Bob I was up at midnight, and again at 4:37AM because the darling threw his blankie out of his crib, then proceeded to scream for it.  This is a little game he likes to play, and has been for about the last week.  He usually saves it for naps only, and last night was the first time he actually did that and I seriously wanted to poke my eye out.  After the second time, I decided to just get ready to go to the gym, since I had been planning a 5AM wakeup call to go anyway.  Noah had a dentist appointment this morning at 9AM, which meant I was keeping him from school and missing my normal workout time.  After going back and forth, I decided to go to the gym when it opened rather than drag both of them to the gym later on in the day, or skip my workout all together.  Sooooo, i dragged my big butt to the gym at 5:30AM…it felt weird driving around in the dark. LOL.  Oh, but where was I going with this?  Oh, yes, my afternoon pick-me-up…yes, that is why I need this PM cup of coffee.  I made it extra special and brewed my chocolate macadamia Kona coffee. 🙂

Lunch today was another Lean Cuisine…

I eat Lean Cuisines for lunch because they’re easy and I usually have such a short amount of time for lunch before I leave to get Noah, and I usually break up my lunch in 2 parts: first part being around 11:30, then the second part being around 1:30.  Today I got to eat my entire lunch in ONE sitting…fathom that. 🙂

The 2nd part of my lunch was 2 tbsp of hummus and 1/2 a pita. 🙂

As I was catching up on blogs, The Fitnessista discussed calorie counting.  As you all know, I count calories and its working for me.

This is the journal I record my food in, as well as my workouts.  I log things in on My Plate at Livestrong.com, but I am also old school and like things in written form.  I think counting works for me because I am a numbers person and I need to see the input/output of things.  While some people find it tedious and obsessive, I am actually having fun with it. 🙂  Yes, I am a nerd.

Ok, K-Bob’s lack of sleep is catching up to him so I need to get off this computer quick…see ya!

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“This is so much more than about being thin…

…this is about taking control of your life.” –The Biggest Loser

I hear this statement said by one of the former contestants every time I turn on a Biggest Loser dvd, and it is so true.  People who know me might think I am becoming OBSESSED with diet & exercise, and with the idea of becoming THIN, but this is about so much more than vanity.

Its about this…

…and about this…

😉

I know I am being a better wife, mom, friend, daughter, sister, woman when I work out.  Working out makes me feel strong and capable, and like I can accomplish anything.  I also feel a huge responsiblity to my kids; it is ME who is ultimately in charge of what they eat and how much activity they get, and I feel the best way to get them to live a healthy lifestyle is to model one for them.  I get huge satisfaction knowing that my boys are seeing me eat fruits and veggies and seeing me go to the gym and doing exercise dvds…they see The Hubby doing it too and they are seeing that a healthy lifestyle is just how we do things around here.  😉

Yes, I do understand that there is more to life than working out and eating right.  We are big advocates for education (hello, former teacher here…and mommy & daddy have gone on to earn their graduate degrees), and we try to instill Christ in all aspects of our lives, but we all know we have ONE body and we need to fuel it and treat it right so that we can be 100% in other areas of our lives.

(Source)

So how do I manage to exercise 6 days a week with 2 little kids?  Well, being a SAHM, I schedule my workouts around school drop-off, pick-up, lunchtime and naptime, and I will admit my schedule gets a little tight in the mornings.  My morning/early afternoon schedule looks a like this:

• 8:15AM – Leave the house to drop Noah off at school (which is in Pensacola, about 25 minutes away from where we live)
• 9:00AM – Noah’s at school & Caleb and I are on our way to the gym
• 9:10AM – Sign Caleb in at the Kid Kare
• 9:15AM – 10:00AM – Workout…I always do at least 40 minutes of cardio, breaking it up on some days between 2 machines (I get bored easily)
• 10:10AM – On our way home, trying to get there before Caleb falls asleep in the car
• 10:35AM – Home from the gym, put Caleb down for a nap (he gets an early nap bc we need to leave to get Noah around noon)
• 10:50AM – 11:10AM – Do an exercise DVD
• 11:15AM – Clean up, check email, FB, blogs
• 11:30AM – Eat lunch
• 12:10PM – Wake Caleb up from his nap (I hate to do that), pack his lunch in a baggie, load him in the truck, and we’re off to Pensacola to get Noah

So in those 4 hours I manage to get an hour workout a day and burn 600+ calories.  And I do this why?  Because it is my sanity…it is my time to myself, just me, no one else, no one pulling at my coattails, no one needing anything, just me and my body doing amazing things…things I could have never imagined doing (Hello, running THREE miles? I can DO that?! Yup!) and feeling absolutely fabulous afterwards.

So…now you know it is so much more than about being thin…its about taking control of my life.

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Happy February!

Hey folks!  I actually have the luxury of blogging in the afternoon…because I’m a SAHM, you’d think I have all the live long day to blog, but not so.  I usually have a couple minutes here and there to check email, FB, blog, & Twitter but most of the time the boys are pulling me in different directions and I do my blogging at night before bed.  Today though, both boys are extremely entralled with Blue’s Clues and I’m taking advantage of them not pulling on my coattails. 😉

Can you believe its already February?!  I always feel like January goes by in a blur because we’re all getting back on track from the holidays, getting used to the busy schedule again, and just trying to keep our heads above water that I usually breathe a sigh of relief by the time February comes around.  This February marks the 2 month mark before we head to Maryland!!  I am excited and stressed out about it all at the same time.   But I am ecstatic to finally be getting out of FL.  Sorry Floridians, but this place is just not my cup of tea. :p

Anyway this morning I woke up TIRED so there aren’t any pictures of my breakfast but I do need to share with you my collection of Larabars I got yesterday at Publix…

LOL! The Hubby & I are very much in love with these things…esp the apple pie flavor.  YUM. 🙂  I also picked up a couple Luna Bars…

…and while they weren’t terrible, I wasn’t too impressed.  I’d much rather have a Larabar of Clif Bar any day. 🙂

After the hustle and bustle of the morning rush, I made it to the gym completely exhausted.  I did manage to pound out 3 miles on the treadmill though and burn 431 calories. 🙂  I feel so much lighter on my runs that I can just keep going and going…and probably would if I didn’t have Caleb’s nap to worry about.  I weighed myself at the gym and lost another pound, making the grand total 11 lbs. 🙂 Holla!  When we got home from the gym, I did part of Jillian’s level 2 30 Day Shred…I say part of it because Caleb was refusing to nap, so I shut it off after circuit 2.  I still managed to burn 150 calories. 🙂

Lunch was an unpictured Lean Cuisine and for my snack this afternoon I had some yummy hummus & pita chips.

I am a huge fan of spinach artichoke dip and haven’t had any in about a month so I decided to try out the spinach artichoke flavored hummus.  It was a great substitute!  And at only 70 calories per 2 tbsps, you can’t beat it. 😉

Very very good!  The pita chips were tasty as well, although next time I might use carrot sticks to dip…the chips were 110 calories for every 7. :p

A great advantage to us making healthier choices is that our kids benefit too. 

Caleb wanted his own bowl of hummus and pita chips too…oh and he insisted on a water bottle to drink. 😉  Gotta love it. 🙂

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So bright I gotta wear shades…

Hola! How’s everyone’s Saturday been so far?  Mine has been fabulous…lotsa family time, lotsa relaxing, and I got a sweat session in this morning…badabing! 😉

I love weekends because I know I’m going to be eating good.  The Hubby had control of the kitchen this morning and made us a scramble of Egg Beaters & sausage…I put mine in 1/2 a pita, sprinkled some cheese and I was go to go.

It filled me up.  Just what I needed for my Saturday workout.  I went to the gym reluctantly because the cramps were KILLIN’ this morning…and when I first got on that elliptical I wanted to just quit and go home, but after 10 minutes, I was feeling good so I’m glad I went.  I made it an elliptical day and did 40 sweaty minutes and burned 431 calories.  No weights today, I went home and had my post-workout snacky.

I ran out of Larabars and our commissary doesn’t carry them.  We’re making a trip to Publix tomorrow so I’ll stock up then.  Luckily we have a stash of Clif Bars, which are just as good. 🙂  (PS…those are my favorite water bottles ever.  I got them from Target and when they put them on sale for $6, I stocked up and bought 4 more of them.  I have 6 total. LOL.)

After the gym and K-Bob’s nap, we headed out to do our grocery shopping.  We hit up the commissary because it was a meat-buying week (we only buy meats from the commissary…sooooo much cheaper!).  The Hubby & I have a system and we like to do the grocery shopping together.  We always have.  We had to adapt a little when Noah came along, but for the most part, things were pretty much the same.  Since K-Bob has entered the picture, grocery shopping has been a sweaty, stressful, almost unpleasant experience!  K-Bob does NOT (I repeat) does NOT like being restrained for any reason what-so-ever, except for in the car.  So, 5 minutes into any shopping experience, he’s being a nightmare and The Hubby & I end up running in different directions, grabbing things and dumping then into our cart.  We should probably change our grocery shopping style, but we have yet to do that. :p  We just really like making it a family experience! :p lol.

After the commissary and dropping the food off at home, we headed to Pensacola to browse Innerlight Surf Shop, particularly their sunglasses and flip flops. 🙂  Yes, it is January and yes, I said flip flops.  Believe it or not, I actually wore flip flops a couple times this week. 🙂  I ended up getting a pair of sunglasses that I had fallen in love with awhile back…

Von Zipper Trudie!  They look just like my cheapy Target pair…The Hubby hated the Target pair (he hates cheap sunglasses?!) and offered to get me the VZs. 🙂

Dinner was sirloin steak & rice…after burning all those calories this morning, I felt 1 serving of each wouldn’t hurt. 🙂

1 cup of steamed white rice & 3 oz of sirloin steak = 440 calories.

My stats for today is as follows:

• Total calories consumed: 1560
• Calories burned: 431
• Net calories: 1129

Alright peeps…signing off for the night…have a good one!

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Mudpies, anyone?

Dontcha love the mudpie Ms. A sent Noah home with today?!

My oh my.  My first thought was, “How am I going to get this home without getting it all over the place?”  But it was cute nonetheless.  Noah was very proud of his creation. 😉

Anyway, let me rewind to the beginning of my day…I woke up stiff, sore, and in pain.  My run yesterday was definitely the culprit.  I got on the treadmill yesterday just NOT in the mood; I was PMSing, bloated, and I was grumpy from being awoken prematurely by K-Bobzilla.  Anyway, I told myself I would just run.  Run until I felt like stopping, then whatever else I felt like.  I actually felt really good once the run started, and there was so much to watch while I was running (the Chamber of Commerce was at my gym for some ribbon-cutting ceremony) that the time flew by…before I knew it, I had been running for 40 minutes.  Hello!  I hadn’t run that long…um, ever.  It felt fantastic. 🙂  Buuuuut, today I was feeling it.  I made today’s workout an elliptical day. 🙂

For breakfast this morning, I had an old trusty:

Oikos w/honey & granola with my DD coffee. 🙂

Lunch was an unpictured Smart Ones and my afternoon pick-me-up was…

my beloved coffee and 2 slices of whole wheat toast with 1 tbsp almond butter and a sprinkle of dark chocolate chips. 🙂  It was just what I needed because I was dragging around 2PM.

For dinner, The Hubby had been marinating chicken wings & drumettes since last night and baked them tonight.  I had 1 serving of drumettes (4 pieces) and a cup of rice and it hit the spot.  I noticed that I hadn’t had rice (well, except for sushi…lol) in about a month.

Like the presentation?  The Hubby did that. 😉  Food blogger in the making. LOL.

I rounded out today’s eats with some good ol’ Greek yogurt and a cup of Kashi…

My stats for today were:

• Total calories consumed: 1725
• Calories burned: 657
• Net calories: 1068

Nighty night folks!

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