Lighter, Healthier, Happier (Part 2)

Just a quick moment, before we get into this read, to say thank you for the emails, comments and well wishes about my dad. He is in full recovery after having heart stents placed two days ago and currently under going 2 weeks of physical therapy. We are all SOOO relieved after a long week of slow and uncertain answers. GOD IS GOOD!

So last week, after writing a post about being Lighter, Healthier and Happier, I promised y'all a second post on what "saying no to the treadmill and yes to weights" has done for me! So, without further intro, here it is! Be warned. It's a long read ;)  

1 Year Pre-Baby 126 lbs                                                                        17 Months Post-Baby 128 lbs

Currently, I am wrapping up week 7 of Jamie Eason's Live Fit Trainer. Ever heard of it? Or of her, for that matter? I have to say. She is pretty awesome, along with her fabulous FREE program. I love that there are still good people out there, willing to share info without a buck attached to it. ESPECIALLY in the health and fitness industry. Everyone is always trying to sell you the latest and greatest. It's hard to know where to turn or invest your money! So when things like this come along, and there is no money involved, yet has countless, positive reviews from people who have followed the program... Well, that's just gold! But this wasn't meant to be a post about my Jamie Eason crush. So moving onto what I've done to loose the baby weight and tone up! I felt it was important to post a comparison of me at my thinnest, instead of me at my heaviest. I wanted y'all to see just how very little lean muscle mass I had before the kiddo. In the before photo, I was 126 lbs, using all cardio for my mode of fat loss and definitely not educated on the benefits of weight training and eating right. In the after photo, I am 130 lbs, 17 months post-baby, using weight training and light cardio for fat loss and VERY educated on how to fuel my body with the right nutrition. Thank you JAMIE and countless other articles found via Google!!  

2 Months Pre-Baby 137 lbs                                                              17 Months Post-Baby 130 lbs

  Jumping right in here, I can tell you, I definitely didn't start with weight training to loose the baby weight. (I really wish I had) but that typically requires the use of a gym and being a new, breastfeeding, mom who felt attached to the house, that seemed impossible at the time; there's such small windows of opportunity with a newborn. It literally was like, every 30 minutes SugarCube needed something. A nap. The boob. A diaper change. tummy time. cuddles and soothing because even she couldn't tell us what was wrong, ha! And that's just the baby. Forget about the household needs as well as your needs. So I did what I could! I dusted off my very under used (like only been on it 20 times in 3 years) treadmill for the first few months and actually lost 20 lbs. In that time, I made sure to eat very clean and lean while staying in the fat burning zone 45 minutes out of my day. But then I got bored of the hill, walk, run routine on the TM and decided I needed some more intensity. So I called in my boy Shaun T. We worked hard together 6 days a week for 2 weeks, ha! (I did a real dumb thing and gave myself some major shin splints, which hindered me from doing all the jumping and crazy none sense Insanity is known for ) So, then I decided I needed a new buddy. Someone who knew me better and would take it easier on my ankle. Someone who was KNOWN for at home resistance training vs jumping around like a monkey for 45 minutes a day. Ahhh yes. There you are Tony! P90X makin a come back. However, I didn't have a lot of the weights or the pull-up bar this program required, so I just selected 3 of Tony's dvd's, Kenpo, Plyometrics (definitely not as brutal as Shaun T's) and Ab Ripper, paired that with my trusty treadmill and in 1 month I lost another 7 lbs. Wow. But I still had 13 lbs to go before I would reach my goal weight... Sadly, those 13 lbs were put on hold for 3 months as I packed up our house, said so long to my hubby for 7 months, moved to Arizona, got through the crazy holidays and well into the new year.

This is where Jamie Eason comes in. Hubby had been deployed for 2 months at this point and hitting the weights hard in his absence. Hello even hotter hubby! He inspired me y'all. He was working so hard, eating as best as he could and well... When I'm around motivated people, I cannot help but be motivated myself. So instead of getting left behind, I decided to change with him. I knew this also meant that I needed to get uncomfortable...REALLY uncomfortable. You see. I have NEVER worked out in a gym before. So joining a gym for the first time, learning how to workout properly (alone) plus navigate the scary "MAN"side of the building while looking like a complete NUB! It was scary y'all! I was definitely feeling the pressure to run and try something, not so scary. But then my hubby told me about this awesome site called bodybuilding.com. And that was the game changer for me. 

Week 6 of Jamie Eason's Live Fit Trainer

I perused countless profiles of girls/mama's who also got uncomfortable at some point. They looked so strong and healthy in their after photos; possibly the happiest they'd ever been... And then I found Jamie Eason. Her program seemed to be the perfect fit for a beginner, and I was right. She really eased you into a structured workout regimen as well as hand walked you through the proper nutrition to fuel your body along the way. I WAS HOOKED! From day one, I felt the burn in my muscles and pride in myself. I also learned to like, sorta, the adrenalin feeling of being uncertain and scared every time a new lift or machine was introduced. Jamie's program changes every 2 weeks, you see. I would finally get comfortable with the routine and with my machines, but then she would change it again, and again I looked like a complete nub. But change is good and very important! I've learned that your muscles adapt quickly to a routine, getting bored, and eventually you stop seeing those huge gains your sweating your bunz off for. Not so good. 

After only 4 weeks of weight training, I started noticing a DEFINITE difference in the mirror and on the scale as well. I FINALLY had a lift in my derriere, where this gal has NEVER seen one before. I was that girl y'all. Complete pancake ass. But what could I really expect, when I LOOOOOOTHED squats and lunges and refused to see them for what they are... The GOD's of body sculpting, especially for a nice, firm rounded booty. I kick myself for such stupidity. All those years of hating my hinny and hiding it from even myself, when all it would have taken was bending at the knee! Moving on. I also saw other big changes in those short weeks, like leaner, sculpted arms and HEY muscles in my chest!?!? Even my back was expanding and my shoulders plumping, adding that extra "thin" look to my also shrinking waist. It was changes like this that kept me going. Which I can't stress ENOUGH how important it was for me to take progression photos along the way. I think I would have quite 10 times over, if it weren't for them. I'll admit, they are not always fun to take, especially in the beginning. But when you all of a sudden have that "after" photo or even an "in between" photo like the one's I'm posting today, you feel like you've accomplished so much more then you gave yourself credit for, just moments before. True story.

Week 6 of Jamie Eason's Live Fit Trainer

It has been a total of 4 months (with some breaks here and there) since I began weight training and I am astounded at the difference such little time can yield. I can tell you, and I hope you have figured this out for yourself or are willing to give it a try, but cardio alone will NEVER give you that shape your looking for ladies. Cardio is good at burning fat, but if there is no muscle underneath that padding, you will always have mediocre tone and mediocre satisfaction. I have done the eat less, do more cardio gig for ALL my life. I can tell you first hand, I never got the body shape I wanted. I literally thought, if I became skinny enough, then all these muscles, I haven't worked for, would just appear. I'd have abs and biceps and nicely toned legs. And a FIRM ass. PAH!! If only I could write a letter and send it back to young and uneducated Becca... It would say something like, "stop looking to rail thin models in magazines as fitness gurus for one. And when you get married, which you eventually will, listen to your husband when he suggests lifting a dumbbell instead of obsessing over that silly number on the scale." Had I of done that, who knows where I'd be!

I can't tell you where I plan to take this. But I can say, I am not limiting my body or mind! Right now, I'm just having fun. Enjoying my little bit of therapy each day as I sweat and exhaust every muscle and brain cell in my body. I definitely have an aggressive image in my head of what I'd like to see once in my lifetime though and it's definitely a strong, healthy, female hard body. But for now. I'm just enjoying the ride, happy to be where I'm at, yet moving forward!

 I will do another update when I'm finished with Jamie's program. I'm hoping these next 6 weeks, I'll see an even bigger difference in shape and tone. Although this week, with the stresses of my dad being in the hospital, has been horrible for my eating. Gotta clean it up if I want the results to keep coming ;) Thanks for reading y'all! Stay tuned for Lighter, Healthier, Happier (Part 3) where I'll be talking about the nutrition plan I've followed along the way! I'll leave you with one of my FAVORITE (altered) fitness quotes. This one really hits home for me and puts that fire in my resolve. I'm not going out with regrets or missed wishes y'all. ESPECIALLY when I AM the wish granter. HELL NO!

AGREED?! 

Lighter, Healthier, Happier!

After 14 months of on and off work and 17 months postpartum, I DID IT! 

BEFORE 166 lbs                                                                               AFTER 130 lbs

I've lost all of the baby weight (and then some) and even took it a step further where I've worked to get in the BEST shape of my life! I'll be coming back during the next few weeks to write posts 2 and 3 on everything I've done to get here, things I've learned and things I'd do differently! It's all just one one big learning experience :)  I just wanted to show y'all quickly what I've been up to in my blogging absence ;) See. I've been a productive mama!

I actually hit a point, 3 months ago, where I made it to 128 lbs. But having all four wisdom teeth extracted, the hubby's home coming and moving back to Washington, all in the space of 1.5 months, kinda put a halt on the gym. Sadly, I also allowed my eating to slide big time and it showed! Regardless though, I am back on track, hitting the gym 6 days a week and having the time of my life! Stick around if you'd like to see what, saying no to the treadmill and yes to weights, can do...

Fitness Friday

This is my first week linking up with Kelly  on Fitness Friday and I'm super duper stoked! 

I did fantastic this week with getting my sweat on, and although I cleaned my diet up comparatively to Decembers goodie madness, I still could have done better. I'd give myself a B+

I don't know about you, but I love seeing pictures of everyone's day, no matter how mundane or uninteresting the focal point. But darn it all. It's pretty awkward taking self photos in a gym full of sweaty locals, looking at you like your pretty bizarre for doing just that. Hence my pursed lip pose above, ha! I thought about taking one, after my workout, in the bathroom stall but then I realized those butt runners were behind me in the photo (not sure what they're called. Butt runners make sense to me) and that just seemed really desperate, so sorry guys. No bling this week! Although I really am loving my workouts! I promise. If I felt I could have smiled, I would have been beaming. At this point, I was 30 minutes into my workout, abs screaming, ACDC Thunder Struck blaring and life was more than good!

I took a pretty good 2 month hiatus from working out and watching my diet over the course of R deploying and SugarCube and I moving to Arizona. So to step on the scale last week, realizing I hadn't gained anything over the holidays and actually lost a pound, was pretty fantastic! I was going really strong over the summer, losing 27 lbs of baby weight in 3.5ish months, but then I lost my motivation, time, and energy through all the events of the past 60 days. But now that life has slowed to a manageable pace, it's time to lose these last 11 lbs and T.O.N.E- T.O.N.E- T.O.N.E!!! So without further chit chat, here is my workout stats for the week.

♥♥♥♥♥

Sunday: Insanity's cardio resistance (45 minutes)  Monday: 3 mile outdoor run with 2 mile brisk walk pushing a stroller Tuesday: Gym, 15 minutes on the elliptical, 15 minutes on a stationary bike, 30 minutes of plank, moving plank, sit ups , pushups, v pushups, triceps dips. Wednesday: 30 minutes on the elliptical, 20 minutes on machines working abs, lower back, inner thighs, quads, hamstrings, glutes.  Thursday: 30 minutes at home, on a stationary bike. Friday: Insanity's pure cardio (45 minutes.)

Not too shabby! This week felt good. I never struggled with the want to sham on a workout and was actually excited for my little bit'o fitness everyday. I used to struggle all the time with slowing motivation and drive but there's something to be said about the learned behavior of, get up in the morning and workout before your brain catches onto what your doing. Then it's done and you have the rest of the day to be lazy! (well if I didn't have an 11 month old that might ring true) Point being, get it done early and you don't have the time to talk yourself out of it. This next week, I'm going to work just as hard, clean my diet up even more, focus more on water and get my 8 hours of rest each night. it all sounds good in theory. Wish me luck and I'll do the same!

Happy Friday!

I'm Excited To Finally Be Sharing This!

Time has really gotten away from me y'all. I've been promising a post on my weight loss program for a month but have yet to deliver! So it's finally time I sit down, put a progression collage together, and give you the deets! I'm excited for this! So let's dive in---

Rewind to the beginning;)

-crappy smart phone pic-

July 2011

Ridiculous crazy hair, 138 lbs, 5 weeks pregnant and loving life!
My husband and I had decided to try for a baby (again) after our first attempt failed. So when we came up pregnant, after only a month, we were SHOCKED and very excited of course! That was way easier then expected!!! When it's your turn, it's your turn--- Right?!

January 2012   Here I am, 33 weeks pregnant, 54 lbs heavier and weighing in at 188 freaking lbs! For someone that has always been petite with no more than 5 pounds to loose at a time, can you say "emotional wreck?!" OMG--- I was miserable. I had complications with preeclampsia, starting around week 20, shortly after my dad had a serious stroke. Boy did the weight REALLY love me then...grumble grumble.. My first trimester, I was steadily gaining a whooping 10 lbs a month. OIE!!! Eating an entire coconut cream pie, once every week  2 weeks, probably didn't help;) Well--- it wasn't always a cream pie. Sometimes I'd shake it up and go for marion berry or peanut butter silk. Ssssssh.... Don't make it weird;)    SO!   August 2012: Current  

     After the delivery of my daughter on Feb 12, 2012 and one month later, my weight plateaued around 165.5... I'm 5'6 and NOW weigh 145 lbs!!! That's a total of 20.5 lbs lost in roughly 2 months. Not bad!     If I were going by the Army weight control standards, a 3-5 pound loss a month is very respectable. So, according to them, I'm in hyper speed and kicking butt!    I have 7 pounds to go before I'm at my pre-pregnancy weight (138 pounds.) WOO! And another 19 lbs before I'm at my goal weight of 126 lbs. I'm hoping to reach that by mid October. I'm confident that this is a reasonable amount of time; considering how active I am (NOW) and my diet.   About time we get into that, right!?!       If I could post one thing about why I'm succeeding and loosing the baby weight, this would be it! I wish I could enlarge this image to make reading easier. However, if you take the time to "squint" and read this, you won't be disappointed! This is almost exactly much what I've been doing for 2 months. Which has made me feel FABULOUS and yields massive energy. SERIOUSLY. Ridiculous energy y'all! Even with an almost 6 month old;) It's all about the foods you choose, to start..  

         The main thing is, I eat 5-6 small meals a day where I focus on FILLING foods. See example below;)       It took me a while to understand what people meant when they said, "eat filling foods."  I'm a visual learner y'all, so this picture helped. I guess you could say I had a light bulb moment when I saw this;) Not to mention, you ARE FULLER when you eat clean like this. So it's a double affirmation. Filling foods equals fuller, duh...lol...I can be so dumb sometimes, ha!   Eating clean means something different to everyone. But to me, it's making sure I stick with one ingredient foods like fresh produce, meats, good fats and good grains, etc. No processed foods, nothing from a box, bag or jar (mostly.) I choose to focus on lean proteins like chicken and turkey as well as healthy fats like nuts, fish and avocado. Sticking with complex carbs like spelt and millet bread, brown rice and quinoa is also another good one. Try to stay away from your bad sugars like

• Sugar
• Coke 
• White bread
• White pasta 
• Potatoes
• Artificial sweeteners
• Candy and pastries

  Just to name a few... When you consume simple sugars like this, it SPIKES your blood sugar which leaves you feeling drained and gross and also leads to many more negative side effects; the most visible one being weight gain.    I'm not sitting here telling you, I NEVER consume sugar. PAH! I limit myself  with a cheat day once a week, were you'll find me RUNNING to the nearest DQ while popping that tin top;)   I try and follow a 1300-1400 calorie diet (THAT IS JUST ME AND WHAT WORKS FOR MY BODY) I am in no way saying you should do this as well. You have to do what works for YOUR body!    Here's a loose guideline if you'd like to follow what I've been doing. My day typically looks like this:   Breakfast starts around 5:00-5:30 and is ALWAYS

• 1 whole egg+ 2 egg whites
• 3 pieces of turkey bacon.
• 1 tsp REAL butter to cook my eggs
• 8 oz cup o' joe with no sugar and a lil' cream
• WATER
 

 Snack is 2-3 hours after breakfast where I usually eat one item from this list:  

• 7 Walnuts
• Half an avocado with lime
• Cup of Greek Yogurt
• 1 Tbs almond butter with 1 small apple
• Piece of fruit like a banana or peach, etc.
• WATER

    Lunch is 2-3 hours after my snack and is MOST always:

•  3 oz of baked chicken breast 
• Half a sweet potato
• Cinnamon to flavor
•  1 tsp real butter to flavor
• WATER

  I throw in another snack 2-3 hours after lunch.   Dinner varies a lot but the foods are always simple and I do portion control. I usually choose

•  3-4 oz broiled tilapia 
• Olive oil and spices to taste,
• 1 cup veggies or more 
• 1/2 cup good grains like brown rice or quinoa.

  As for exercising, my routine is not as rigorous as you might think. I do 15 minutes on the treadmill in the morning; 10% incline at 3.6 speed where I burn about 150 calories. The goal is to burn 300 calories a day. I do another repeat of this in the afternoon AT LEAST! However, I usually like to complete 30 minutes of P90X plyometrics or kenpo instead. If I can't fit that in though, depending on my day and what my daughter will allow, I default to the treadmill.   I've noticed that the days where I do JUST the treadmill vs the days I use P90X, the weight loss is the same if not a tad more! What I get out of using P90X though, is a more toned body in addition to the weight loss:) I just mean to say, that you don't have to be a cardio junkie, doing crazy workout routines, to loose substantial weight! Make sense?     And that's it y'all! Nothing to it! Only thing I haven't mentioned is that I use a site called My Fitness Pal where I track my calories and exercise. I don't REALLY need to do this because my diet is VERY basic but I just like to. Plus the support and motivation I get from the other ladies on there is just fantastic and keeps me going! It's also kinda addictive calculating your weight loss each week, seeing those pounds evaporate! They also have a fabulous app for your Android or iPhone to make tracking on the go easier. The bar code scanner is one of the best out there too. It makes logging food SO FLIPPIN simple and fun:)   I hope this was a fun, clear, concise, informative read. If you have any questions or would like more detail about anything, just email or comment! I'd be happy to assist in any way I can. If you'd like to join the My Fitness Pal site, please do! My login is grabbin_life84. Send me a friend request! I'd be excited to have you on board.   Edit: As of October 28, 2012 I have lost another 7 pounds with this health plan! My current weight is 138.2 pounds, leaving me with another 12 pounds to lose before I reach my goal. :) I fell off the weight loss wagon pretty good, during the crazy event of my husbands deployment (still on going) but I'm back on and ready to get serious!           

Baby Love Meets Baby Scare!

I've been a terrible blogger for over a month-- bad Becca! But it hasn't been wasted. I've spent the past 2 months working on a much healthier me and I'm so happy with the results!

Take a look!

Before

After

Before

After

Pretty awesome if you ask me and I couldn't be happier. I've lost 18 lbs since May 24th! I still have a lot of work to do; another 21 lbs before I reach my 126 lb frame and size 4 jeans but I know I can do it!

 I've been half assing my eating and workouts for a few weeks now (ever since the hubby got home) and I haven't had any losses to report so I need to crank this puppy into high gear again! I really want this weight gone by my birthday which is November 6th. If I keep this pace up ( well not the past 2 weeks pace, lol) I could possibly loose the last of this baby love by October!

Here's to hoping, riding on the wings of hard work and determination:)

Speaking of baby love... Yeah

Not a fun week for this mama! We had our first pregnancy scare which was VERY scary. We all know I just gave birth 5 months ago, ekk! (I promise I'm working on a Sugarcube update) And that my husband is deploying in the very near future. I hate even typing that. So living 3,000 miles from home, my live in sister moving to Vegas in September and that leaving me with very little support and help--- The thought of another baby on the way was VERY sobering.

This post is not meant to hurt or offend any awesome ladies out there having trouble getting pregnant or just not being able to have babies. Seriously. It's just not a good time for us. Had we been pregnant, I would have welcomed the little angel with eager arms and nothing short of heart bursting love. But I'm really glad God has different plans for us right now.

I had a really hard pregnancy, physically and emotionally. I'm not looking forward to having another one like it so soon, without the support of my husband and, or family close by. I would also be starting this pregnancy 20+ lbs heavier which doesn't sit well with me. Obviously I could work hard to not gain much, but still. Not to mention just the financial side of having another child!

We completely plan to have another baby. R and I both want that little bubba running around, terrorizing his big sister;) And if baby #2 ends up being another girl--- Well, we might just try for baby # 3! We plan to try again, shortly after R returns from his tour, sometime mid 2013.

HOPEFULLY!  

So what about you? What are y'alls thoughts on baby number 2 or 3? Would a baby scare be good news or bad timing or just not in your immediate plans?   

My Plastic Saved The Day!

Oh my goodness. Why do they make it so hard to activate someone else's credit card!

HAHA!

I know, I know...But seriously...My husband is gone for another 2 weeks and still doesn't have his phone back, in order to PLACE me on his account...I'm trying to activate it, to make the first purchase! My sister told me about this card where you can basically get a free airline ticket just by signing up for this card, paying the $70 annual fee, making a small first purchase and BAM! Free ticket...BUT NOOOOOOO! We're kinda on a time line people!

We're seriously attempting to fly home to Rob's side of the family mid August. He has summer block leave, which he never really uses, but this year is different. He's deploying this fall and I want him to see his family before then. As well as introduce his daughter to his dad and grandad who has yet to meet Sugarcube.

Speaking of credit cards...Kind of unsettling that my front door is so easily jimmied by one of those plastic devils...But it seriously saved the day. My sister and I took Sugarcube and the puppies to a dog park today and left our house key locked inside. It was either scale our 2 story house and break into baby girls nursery window or pick the lock...It was a snap! I will, for now on, be locking the dead bolt when we leave...  

I'm working on a vlog post for y'all explaining the weight loss plan I'm on. It's really awesome and makes you feel so good the entire process! I'm hoping to have it up in a few weeks as some friends on Facebook are very interested too:) They should be. It rocks! I've already lost 2 more pounds since my last post!

P.S I guess I just told on myself....I've returned to Facebook before loosing that 20 lbs...It was just too tempting and I missed my friends and family on there! LOL. I know. I'm weak;)

Getting There!

   Today is a VERY good day! 

I've lost 5 lbs in 2.5 weeks!

Collectively, since my weight plateaued in March, I've lost 7 lbs. However, I'm only counting from where I got serious, which was me weighing in at 163 instead of 165.

I was ABSOLUTELY starting to believe I couldn't get my body below the 160's! It was so frustrating! Now that I'm sitting at 158 lbs, life is good and I have confidence in my body again. Everyday I feel stronger and more motivated, which is key. A strong mind can achieve great things!

I see a slimmer face in the mirror now and a flatter tummy! I can fit into my wedding band, but still a no go on my engagement ring...I'll get there though! I have more energy and more smiles and slowly, I'm loosing interest in sugar and the bad foods I crave. I want to be healthy and eat healthy and I am! I've done it for 2.5 weeks now. Gosh, it feels like a huge mile stone, lol! I know myself. If I can stick something out for 2 weeks, it's like a resolve washes over me and I become so much stronger. I've put too much work into this to turn back or fail.

I really have my sister Autumn to thank for this success though. Sure, I've put in the hard work and I'm the one talking myself through weak moments where I want a brownie, or soda or you name it. But she motivated me with a diet and exercise plan that fits my life right now. And I'm EXTREMELY inspired through her success!

 My sister really understands the NO TIME thing being a mother of two, while running an at home daycare. She's had 34 lbs of excess baby weight to loose since the birth of her first child five years ago. However, at the beginning of this year, she decided it was time to invest in herself and loose the weight. She started educating herself; picking the brains of personal trainers and nutritionists, formulating a program that would work for her! My brother in-law was so supportive also and bought her a second hand treadmill. It took only EIGHT WEEKS! And she did it! She lost all of those 34 lbs y'all and has kept it off through simple portion control! I am so proud of her. I can't wait to see her skinny little booty in a few weeks! And to also thank her for sharing, what obviously works!

I will definitely write a blog post on this diet and exercise plan to share with you. I know I have a lot of new mama's on here, in the same boat as me, trying to loose the baby love:) I plan to give it another 2.5 weeks before I weigh in again and at that point I will divulge all! I think I'll have very good news by then. Hoping to make that 5 lb loss into 10!

Wish me luck!

 

Goodbye Facebook!!!

I'm one hundred percent, officially over this chubby love nonsense...

This is seriously what I looked like in my second trimester at 15 weeks pregnant...

See...Wrong angle but same effect! *tear*

I love you so much little one but good grief, this weight loss thing is hard!

I pulled out P90x today and sailed gasped my way through 30 minutes of an hour workout. Sheesh! I had forgotten how brutal that Tony Horton is!!! This workout really makes you want to just curl into the fetal position, suck on your water bottle and call for your mama, haha!

I did an insane thing 7 days ago. Yes I'm counting...I TRIED to delete my Facebook account!! Like seriously tried but Facebook wouldn't let me...It kept saying that my password was incorrect...After the 100th time of angrily keying in the password, I gave up and just decided to take a hiatus from the time trap. Why do this, you might ask? Well, mostly for personal reasons...At the time, I was feeling emotionally unstable. Like EVERYTHING in my life was falling apart. I didn't  realize my monthly visitor was literally a day away and wrecking havoc on my poor fragile emotions;) Give me a break, it's been close to a year since my last run in with the witch, lol! However, after struggling to NOT login for 7 days (which I've failed) I decided that I will use my obvious addiction to Facebook to loose this weight!

The goal is to not post one picture, status update or comment until I have reached my first weight goal of 140 lbs. That means I have my work cut out for me because that is a 20 lb loss, ekk! After that, I will then have only 14 lbs to loose before I look like this again!

All 126 lbs of the old, glorious me!
I figured breaking this weight down into increments of 20 might work better then looking at the whole HUGE ugly picture;)

I do realize a lot of you are probably thinking and saying...Will she ever stop bitching about this weight ALL READY! Hahaha!!!! But I have new followers! They might do me a solid and listen/tolerate my whining for a bit longer. Heehee:)

Wish me luck y'all! I'm feeling some Facebook fever coming on....It's seriously worse then a craving for something bad!!!

Momma and Sugarcube Update

Things are FINALLY starting to feel normal around here...I'm just a few days away from preforming heavy sweat sessions again  (Thank you Lord!) Although I did cheat and pull my Brazilian Butt Lift program out just last night. It's pretty intense with lots of lunges, squats and cardio. So in other words, it pretty much broke me off!! I woke up absolutely paralyzed for Sugarcubes 4:00 a.m feeding this morning, wishing like hell I had a wet nurse at my disposal right about then, haha!

But the good news is--- I've lost 4 lbs in 6 days ♥  I'll take some more of that, please! The method behind my success has been tanking up on proteins, veggies, fruits and water; limiting my sugars, fats and carbs...Add that with a smidgen of exercise and viola!

Hubby and I have a hot date coming up, on the 30th---SO READY to spend an evening out; just the two of us!!! You might remember me talking about the pending military ball...That's our hot date!! I've been running around like a mad woman trying to get ready for this thing...And let me tell you, I'm going all out! I have a gorgeous dress that fits this chubby voluptuous post pregnancy body well, sparkly accessories and sexy shoes. I'm getting my hair cut and styled, a pedi and eyebrows waxed. I've also visited Saphora a thousand times replacing my makeup for the absolute perfect evening look...  

This is called "the red carpet look" and apparently Carrie Underwood wore this exact makeup at one point. I know I look NOTHING like Carrie Underwood on the red carpet, but I say...Not bad for a makeup armature!!!

Something else making me smile these days...We found a house! It's so much bigger than our rental right now with a much friendlier neighborhood for dogs and walking/running...Excited!! I'll be sure to post pictures once we move in, which won't be until the middle of April---So looking forward to all of that square footage and finally having an extra room for Sugarcube and her nursery!!

Speaking of my baby--- and because she is so cute and I love taking pictures of her!!!!

Here she is in her very first bow...I think she was about to rip it off; if only she had the hand coordination for that, haha! Alyssa is just perfect and such a sweet baby. She is staying awake more through the day and starting to "coo." I love those quick smiles she gives, although I'm told they are not actual smiles...They're still adorable, however! She HATES having her diaper changed and screams bloody murder (most of the time) until you replace it, making her cute baby bunz warm once more:)

Notice the cloth diapers--- We've been a successful cloth diapering family for roughly a month!! I really don't understand what the big deal is with cloth diapering...It's really not that hard, expect for the extra laundry...I LOVE the Flip system on her...She started to get a small diaper rash in her disposables during the weeks where I was waiting her the umbilical cord to fall of. Once I switched her to these, it was gone in LESS than a day! I love that we tried this and that it's working for our family ♥

Other things I've noticed about our little niblett---She is SOOOOO impatient when it comes to being hungry; spooling into a frenzy until you feed her. * side note: I was driving and almost home when I realized this. I don't allow my daughter to scream from hunger on purpose* On the flip side of my previous sentence, she can be screaming so hard, yet once you give her the boob, she latches and acts as if she was never upset... It makes me chuckle:) 

Baby girl also LOVES baths; this makes me happy because I love giving them to her!

And one last picture, just because I think it's adorable...She was totally mean muggin her Momma! I kinda went camera crazy that day, so it was warrented;)

What cute baby denims and what a cute face!!

Okay. I lied. One LAST picture. But only because it is precious and I forgot I had this one!

The End!

Baby girl has woke from nap so we're going to eat and play!!!

1 Month

Please shed a tear with me as I type "My Sugarcube is one month old!" Call me bias but isn't she just Gorg!

story time with mommy

In addition to being a month old, she's also taking pictures with her eyes wide open now!!! Everything about her is changing so fast and I don't think I'm ready for it...Sigh...

I love just watching her sleep

But she is doing wonderful and growing like a weed! So I guess that means I'm doing something right:)
I'm also super proud to say that we made it a whole month breastfeeding! I was completely prepared to exclusively pump and bottle feed if things went south, which I had convinced myself it would. But nope! I bonded with it right a way, after Sugarcube got over her sucking issues that is, and we've been trucking right a long ever since.

 I'm so glad I made the decision to at least give it a try because it's been a wonderful experience. I thank God for that huge blessing--- Sugarcube LOVES to nurse and it makes me feel extra good inside knowing that I'm doing the best for her that I can...I'm not talking negatively AT ALL about formula fed babies here. Baby girl would have been rockin the formula if this hadn't panned out! I'm just personally glad that it worked out for us and that we didn't have to spend bukoo bucks on that over priced cows milk. My husband and I do not have a money tree growing out back, ya know!

Other than rockin the BF'ing scene, Sugarcube and I are just hanging out, bonding and I'M trying to glimpse some form of a daily pattern so I can plan errands, etc.
So far, it's hit or miss---Some days I get a lot done because she's on a (eat every 2.5 hours, change diaper, sleep schedule) but most days I do a whole lot of nothing because she cluster feeds a lot and LOVES to be held close...I don't mind most days--- except when self imposed pressure gets the better of me. You know those days where laundry is PILING high, the dust in your house could be seen from a satellite in space and a home cooked meal hasn't hit your table for days...Yeah, those are the days where I might have whined just a little about not getting anything done;)

In other news, we're moving!!! I wish we were moving to another duty station. Particularly a duty station with lots of sunshine but no...We are moving to another house! Our current land lady is wanting to put this house on the market this Spring so we're trying to be out by April 1st. Doesn't leave much time! We knew about the eviction---I was trying to do the right thing when we got here last August, informing our future landlord of R's deployment taking place, like now, resulting in a 9 month lease... However, he got moved to a different unit when we arrived so that deployment was pushed off towards this fall...So the lease is ending and we're moving--- And then we're moving again once he does deploy but that's a post for another time.
  I have a few homes we're looking at. The one is just PERFECT so we'll see if we get it! This means I'll finally have an extra room for Sugarcubes nursery!!! What plans I have already:) Can't wait to post details and pictures!

Tomorrow is Weigh In Wednesday but I won't be weighing in. I did TERRIBLE this week. I'll be the first to admit it...I had way too many sweet things and not enough exercise. Kind of really disappointed in myself:( However, R and I have been talking. We both have fitness and weight goals right now so we are going to get tough and help one another out! Right after I get cleared for regular exercise, in less than 2 weeks, I'm bringing P90X back baby!!! I used to do this program back in Georgia and LOVED it; it's a smoker! Just what I need:)
So instead of weighing in tomorrow, tomorrow I'm starting over! Don't you just hate the initial uphill struggle of weight loss...Once I have a good 2 weeks under my belt, I'm a golden goose! But until then, everyday, potential failure is lurking---

 I'm really sorry for the lack of commenting these days...I'm still adjusting and probably will be for sometime---Just know that I do read about your lives as much as I can and for those that still comment on my blog, I read each and every comment! I might not be replying personally through email as much but know that I cherish you taking the time to respond through encouraging, kind words!!!

P.S So excited for Jenn, Bonnie, Sarah, and Roxy's little bundles to arrive! Looking everyday for those baby updates:)

Weigh In Wednesday!

This is going to be a short post because I MIGHT have another 20 minutes before Sugarcube wakes up. However, I wanted to be diligent and keep up with my "Weigh In Wednesday" posts!

I stepped on my shiny NEW scale this morning (not for the first time since delivery, yeah I cheated) and...It read 165.5 pounds....

I guess I'm okay with a 24 lb loss in 3+ weeks;)

Now the REAL work begins...This leaves me with 40 lbs to loose to get back to my comfortable weight of 126 lbs and 27 lbs to get to my pre-pregnancy weight of 138 lbs---

Those numbers scare me, frankly, but I can do this!!!

To kick start my weight loss journey---Friday I went and bought a new pair of running shoes (that ended up in a $25 parking ticket) but I scored some comfy sapatos!!!

I also upgraded my iPod to a pretty pink Nano with some bad ace tunes! This equals motivation and inspiration ♥

So now, I just have to wait another 3 weeks or less to really start using them i.e trading in the walking for running, yay!

The sad news is, while I'm breastfeeding, I'm not supposed to count calories or diet etc...I have to actually eat MORE which also scares the bejezsus outta me---That goes against everything we've been taught in how to loose weight! The key is eating healthy calories and EXERCISE!!! Also, I'm not supposed to loose more then 1.5 lbs a week..Anything more then that could effect my milk supply in a negative way...So it's looking like what everyone says is true---It took nine months to gain the weight so expect it to take nine months to loose the weight...Sigh...

Oh well!! I'm sure those nine months are going to just fly by with a little one to raise and chase around:) 

Okay, yup---I called it! Baby girl is screaming at me through the monitor so mommy duty calls!

P.S. These Wednesday weigh in's are for my own personal motivation, really. I realize it's not cutting edge material so you're not going to hurt my feelings if you want to skip these posts altogether:)

Until next week!  

It's Time---

Goodness, I can't believe that tomorrow our little girl will be 3 weeks old!

 This has made me realize, EVERY FLIPPIN DAY that time is FLYING by so fast--- Because of this rude (yes rude) awakening, I think it's time to start my "Weigh In Wednesday" posts!

Big Hooray!

 I admit that it would be all too easy to ignore these extra pounds for a little bit longer. Lets face it! Any new mom knows that having a newborn is time consuming enough, let alone adding exercise to your day...PHEW!

~BUT~

Waking up months from now, realizing I have a 2 year old and still look like I just gave birth doesn't sound too appealing---

So this Wednesday I will start my journey to losing this pregnancy weight. Kinda excited! I won't be able to kick it into high gear for another 3 weeks but I can definitely start in other areas;)

 On a side note: I appreciate all of your comments and suggestions regarding going to this military ball. I'm happy to announce that I've decided to go! Not only that, but the hubby and I are actually going to make it an over night, date night. Ekk!!! My sister is going to watch Sugarcube for us so I feel completely comfortable doing this.


This also really gives me something to focus on for weight loss. My goal is to loose 10 pounds by the time of the ball and I think I can do it!

Stay tuned and wish me luck y'all!