Follow up to resolutions

My first week was amazing. Second week was equality ok, HOWEVER I did not add in the exercise I had wanted. And It was only one persons fault (THIS GIRL)  I lost stamina, and gave up.  I had accepted that its alot of work to eat right and get exercise in and I was just EXHAUSTED!!

January in UTAH kicks your BUTT! 

This is a pic of the Salt Lake Valley covered in Inversion.  It is nasy yucky air trapped for us to breath every day.  When you take that and add SAD.  It is just NO GOOD!

 "

Seasonal Affective Disorder or SAD

What is seasonal affective disorder?

Seasonal affective disorder, or SAD, is type of depression. It occurs during certain seasons of the year — most often fall or winter. It is thought that shorter days and less daylight may trigger a chemical change in the brain leading to symptoms of depression. Light therapy and antidepressants can help treat SAD."  

With all that doom and GLOOM :) aside. I am going to keep pushing and keep myself accountable.

I will be drinking my water and eating better.  No excuse.

However those of you dealing with SAD I am so sorry, and know im Praying for you!!   

Real Life resolutions

#1 resolution nation wide is to loose weight!

I'm a money person and just like dieting we all know what to do and how to do it. It is the doing it that is the problem.

Many who know me think of me as normal!!! (What the heck is that!!) I've always been normal height normal weight etc!

When I had my boys I made a goal to myself to never weigh over 150 lbs. dumb maybe, but I worried about it.

After kid one I had some serious un diagnosed post partum. 

Fast forward 5 years later and kid #2, needless to say postpartum was much worse this time around.

Needless to say when dealing with that personal health and weight are far down on the list.

I didn't own a scale but if I were to guess I was prob hovering around 100 lbs at that time. About 8 weeks after having my 2nd kid. I weight 149 lbs the day I delivered and he 6lbs and 3 oz.

I had the most amazing support system and made an awesome recovery. Here I am approx 3 yr later, and now ready to face anothe challenge head on. 

I know that where I am in the weight department isn't crazy, but to me, after growing up "normal" it sucks to have s physical and told you are overweight!!

I started a personal challenge to myself on January 1st!!! Yeah for stereotypes!!! 

I went about mine a little out of the ordinary! (FYI! I'm not ordinary!) 

I knew when I had surgery last year I had hovered around 150 lbs.  When I committed to myself I was gonna change, I bought a scale!!! (Euck) and reality sunk it. January 1. 158.6 lbs!!! Wtf where did those 8 lbs come from. 

Needless to say I was quite disappointed to find out that my challenge just oft harder. 

I started with a very obtainable goal, write down everything I eat. This is a well known weight loss help is to know what you are putting in your mouth. I didn't stop myself from eating anything, just had to write it down. I also started a bad habit that I'm going to try to stop. But it is to weigh myself each morning. The first week was awesome!!! I knew those 8 lbs had to be a combo of eating too much and holiday blagh!!! For a week straight I lost weight, and did nothing but keep track of what I ate. 

Today was a step backwards. Not really in a real way but in a way that kinda punched me back into reality. I like to live in the clouds!! ⛅️ 

I for the first time in a week when my up in weight. I know that is normal for people who exersise, however for me at this point, all I do is write down what I eat! And yesterday I ate the least amount of calories I had in a long time, but I know that's not good either.

I could have started today on step two, but why do that when you can have a donut at church and champagne while reading!

Tomorrow starts step two. I make very small steps!! I will try to keep the fat and sugar I put in my body to a minimum, an di will start doing the silly target 5 min work out from my app.

I did that work out last Monday and was stil sore on Wednesday. I did it again today and by the time I was done my body was on strike!! I'm hoping I'll be able to build up to do that daily and then once it gets warm again get out biking!

Hibernation

I have decided rather then planning to post then not following through I need a Hibernation break! I love you all, but with the cold weather and busy tax season at work, posting is just not something that happens.
See you again when it is warm!

Sleeping beauty!

I love to sleep! I have this amazing ability to sleep way more then most! This has both great blessings and curses!! When I did the ultimate health challenge with my sister & others a while ago, I wasn't great about eating well or exercising, however I did win when it comes to sleep!!!

I put a lot of that on my boys! They all sleep for minimums of 8-10 hr a night! And I couldn't tell you the last time I got less then 7.

That being said on my 3 day weekends/ with my Ewan I set an alarm to make sure I'm up and out of bed by 9. Which normally means I have 10 hr of sleep..... This week I decided to be a bit different!

When Chris gets up and takes Liam, I wake up too!

Thursday:
I did a NOT ASHTEN ISM! I mowed the lawn. That might not be a big deal to many, however growing up my daddy hated doing it so he hired someone.  Then we owned a town house, so this is the first time I have a yard. So my second time EVER mowing the lawn and I made it beautiful :S NOT QUITE but I'll pretend.

Then Ewan and I headed out to IKEA! It was quite the JOURNEY! We had a blast and enjoyed running around like crazy people.  He had a blast playing with the kitchen and driving mommy crazy!! I got some lights that I have wanted for a LONG TIME!! They weren't quite what I had expected but the boys love them.

We headed home and stopped by Sherwin Williams.  OMG I LOVE THEIR PAINT!! I am not a painter, but as you can see this new work schedule is giving me a whole new look on life. Then it was nap time. I got panting the boys bed and Ewan took a nice long nap for me

Friday:
I got up super early again.  Ewan and I had an amazing breakfast.

 we went and joined Liam at school for some much needed Jesus!! It's been quite a long time since I last went to church and now with my new work schedule it makes it even more difficult.  Ewan was less than ideal, but Liam loved having us there. Then Ewan and I headed back to the FABRIC STORE!! I got the fabrics for Liam's quilt.

Saturday:
I'm on a roll.  I woke up and was ready to get out of bed around 8:30.  Not early for most but WAY early for me! Considering I normally get up on sat between 10-11 :D
I decided since I haven't gone all year to head down to the farmers market. It was PERFECT!  The weather was nice, the food was amazing, and I just got some good ol mom time.
I got to come home and make my family breakfast from all of the amazing foods I got!

My loot consisted of: peaches, pears, apples, raspberries, cherry tomatoes, regular tomatoes, corn, cheese, eggplant, squash, and potatoes.  It was wonderful!

I loved that as I brought out the food both boys were ecstatic to see what I got! Liam was so excited that now he will have pears for his lunch and between he and Ewan they downed the raspberries!

I feel so blessed that taking alittle time away from sleep and to change my weekend for the better and getting some more time with my boys!

We went to some fun at Liam's school and had to try to take some selifes with the MOON! 

Healthy Week! Green Smoothie

Fad, obsession, beneficial? Who Knows? 

With the UHC I need to eat at least 2 veggies each day. The fruits for me are super easy, and I am really good with eating salads. However I wanted to try something alittle different.  Many of my colleagues have "green smoothie's" each day so I thought for my personal goal for week 4 to try it out.  

I normally am a slacker when it comes to making breakfast, between waking up 2 boys getting them dressed and ready food is down on the priority list.  Even more considering they eat when they get to daycare.  Week 3, I ate everyday, but many of those days I would buy breakfast at work. WHICH is super yummy, but the $$ adds up quickly. 

Before I really do much of anything though.,. I like to research. I know fruits and veggies are good for me, however I also know that eating an orange is MUCH better then drinking a cup of orange juice; so I just wanted to get some other opinions. 

Green smoothies: Full of health benefits or hype? USA Today 

• Drinking green smoothies is a good way to get nutrients, stay hydrated
• The beverages have stirred a few health concerns
• Nutritionist: Eat a variety of green and other veggies

Why Am I Not Losing Weight Despite drinking Green Smoothie Everyday? 

• Watch out for hidden calories, especially in foods that we don't typically count as meals. 
• Exercise boosts your energy while toning muscle.  This burns extra calories and sets your body into fat-burning mode.  Sure, weight loss is partly (maybe mostly) diet, but exercise is also super-critical to shedding the pounds of getting to a healthy weight.
• Do not do any of these things. Do not do a green smoothie-only diet. Do not skip meals. Do not become a slave to the guy. 

After reading all that I felt pretty good with my idea!  I don't know how long I will continue to do this, but for now each night I make the next mornings green smoothie and at least I get something in my body other then just coffee AND I get points for the UHC. 

Healthy Week! UHC: Ultimate Health Challenge

I have decided for the "WAIT NO MORE" challenge this week, I'm going to adjust it to fit what I really need.  For me right now that is food and heath! So this week i'm gonna dedicate it to that!

I AM NOT A HEALTH NUT!!! Not at all!! I love sugar cereal, mac and cheese, and a good ol' fashioned full fat Hamburger with french fries.   However, that doesn't mean I don't try to be healthy. Every year I think as a new year resolution.  I want to be healthier!  I have never been overweight, but that doesn't mean that I eat well or exercise enough!

My amazing sister had this challenge that one of her colleges started.  It;s called The Ultimate Health Challenge!  It is 10 weeks of focusing on a few highlights of health.  My sis has always been a great inspiration about how to eat and how to live a healthy life.  She now has shared her knowledge and this week I want to share all about it and other healthy living things I like to look into.

This is prob no big SHOCK to anyone there are certain things we all can do to be healthier.  We all know them, I love studying money for the same reason.

Health: Eat well and exercise. Money: spend less then you make!  

THE ULTIMATE HEALTH CHALLENGE

Challenge has a total of 100 eligible points each week for following categories

Exercise: 35 points 

• 1 pt for 15 min of exercise up to 20 pts. 
• 1 pt for 30 min of exercise up to 5 more.  
• 5 pts for mix of 30 min cardio, 30 min Strength and 30 min flexibility.  
• 5 pts for exercising at least 3x this week

Water: 7 points 

• 1 pt each day for drinking 40% of body weight.

Sleep: 14 points

• 1 pt for min of 7 hr of sleep each night
• 1 pt for going to bed before 11 on weeknights and 12 on weekends

Healthy Eating:  40 points

• 5 pts per day for servings of fruits and veggies
• 2 bonus points for having 2 fruits and 2 veggies mix. 
• 3 bonus points for having different types of fruits and veggies. 

Personal Goal: 4 points 

• any goal you pick 
• week 1: take pills every day 
• week 2: Eat Breakfast
• week 3: work motivation  
• week 4: Green smoothie (I'll post about that this week too))

Negative Points: max -25 per day

• -1 Small Sweet
• -1 Small Fat
• -3 Empty calorie soft drink/caffeine
• -4 Large Sweet
• -5 Large Fat

My sis got a bunch of us together to make this happen and we are now starting week 5.  So far my scores have been the following. 

Week 1: 43 

Week 2: 66 

Week 3: 67 

Week 4: 51

My goal for this challenge is just to get better each week! It didn't happen this last week, but this week I will recover! 

I don't own a scale, so I have been weighing myself each week when I take my Liam to swimming lessons.  I know at the start of April I was at 149 lbs.  Now starting week 5 I'm down to 144lbs.  Not a huge transformation.  But I'm good with a lb a week for not doing much different other then being aware of what I should be doing.