Things that happen when mom isn't in the room.....

The other morning, I could hear funny noises coming from my bedroom, where I thought the boys were just laying on my bed watching Mickey Mouse. So I grabbed the camera, and this is what I found....

 

He thinks he is so strong!!  Good thing I walked in right?

52 Week Challenge - Week 8

Well, this was my first week since I had to "start over" with my scale setback and all. It was a pretty good week. I should have posted on Saturday but I was in Logan with my little family at my parents house, so I am posting today. It was also good to spend some time with my parents as my dad is on a weight loss journey himself, and he was able to give me a few tips. More about that later. Anyway, my Biggest Loser points this week were 46, up a lot from last week, and I was really pleased with that, but even better was my weight loss this week. I lost two pounds!! Down to 281, but sorry to share so much, I was also on my period!! I know that can have an effect on weight loss, so I am hoping this upcoming week will be good too. Overall I am pleased and looking forward to more, I hope!!

52 Week Challenge - Week 7 - Big Setback today

Well, I have to report bad news today, but I'm not going to let it get me down. Before I report my results for this week I want to preface by saying a few things. First, please remember that I just had Taylor at the end of September. Then I decided to start my 52 week challenge the first day of January. That is a short recovery from a tough pregnancy. Since it happened during the summer, I put on a ton of weight, a lot of which was water. When I found out I was pregnant with Taylor, I weighed 263. I put on over 75 pounds while I was pregnant, putting my top weight at between 340 and 345!! Nasty and scary right!! But in the first two weeks after giving birth, I lost about 60 pounds. So I thought I was right around 285 ish, which is what I reported at the beginning of the year when I started the challenge. My first official weight was 284.

The other thing I want everyone to be aware of is that just before the challenge started I went to Target to buy a bathroom scale. A couple of things about it is that it was incredibly cheap, only $7. Also, it was analog, not digital, which I know are much better because analog are hard to read. This particular scale also only went up to 280, then it started wrapping around, which also made it hard to read, and I noticed that if I shifted my weight it would fluctuate a few pounds. Finally, it had to be turned back to zero almost every time I weighed in.

Last night, I broke down and spent more on a Health-o-meter (Good brand) digital scale. So all in all, I don't know what the problem was, I could have started higher than I thought, I was probably reading the scale wrong, or it was just defunct from the moment I started using it, but my starting weight this morning was 283. So in a way I guess I am starting over. I am going to stick to my plan of trying to lose about 2 pounds a week, so getting to 180 will take longer than a year, but that is okay. And I am not going to let this discourage me, I am just going to work harder. Please continue to support and love me, it has meant so much!!

In other news, I didn't do very well on the Biggest Loser challenge this week. I only got 39 points. That is something else I want to improve on. I am actually excited about today though. My fantastic wonderful best friend sister, Lindsay, has decided to join the Biggest Loser challenge, and she and I are having our own little contest for prizes this week to see who can get the most points. I am shooting for at least 55 this week. That would be my highest to date, and hopefully enough to get me to win!!! Love you Linds!

Thanks again to all of you, and here we go again!!

Betcha can't tell who's who!!!

This is a non-weight loss post again. Just some funny stuff of the boys I wanted to share. Taylor is exactly 5 months old today, and it just so happened that I fed him some carrots in his high chair for the first time for dinner tonight. Of course I took a picture, which stirred me to look for pictures of Chase the first time he ate in his high chair. Here are my cute boys!

This is Chase, at about 5 1/2 months eating carrots.

And this is Taylor tonight eating carrots.

Can't you tell they are brothers!! And really cute ones too!!

52 Week Challenge - Week 6

Short one this week. I have okay results this week. I am down another pound, so I am at 274, that is ten pounds total finally!! That means I get my first reward. I think it will be getting my hair done. Also, I managed to get 44 points on the Biggest Loser Challenge, which is not as good as I would like, my goal is at least 50 out of a possible 70, but it is better than last week, when my total was only 41. Hanging in there, people,I am hanging in!!!

52 Week Challenge - Week 5

Well, let's start with the bad news. I knew this was going to be a hard week for me to lose cuz I found myself cheating a lot! I don't know what my problem was, but my willpower must have gotten flushed down the toilet. I feel like it is going to motivate me to work harder this upcoming week but only time will tell. For the Biggest Loser challenge this week, I only got 41 out of a possible 70 and my goal of at least 50. That is pathetic. But I did get some good ideas about the sugar craving thing from all of you, so I think that may be a little easier for me coming up. Also, I weighed the same today. So I have to try to look at the bright side and say at least I didn't gain. So I am still at 275. That is 9 pounds so far, which if I am sticking to my 2 pound a week goal, is pretty close to target. It is week 5 so being at 9 when I am shooting for 10 is pretty darn good! I really hope this is a better week because Brad and I decided for every 10 pounds I lose I get a little reward, so my good friends, Lilly and Becki and I want to get our hair done!!

On the bright side though, I took my monthly measurements and pictures today. I was please with both of those!! I will be doing that the first Saturday of every month from now on. Today's measurements were....Arms 14.5 inches, .5 inch lost in each arm, Bust 47.5 inches, .5 inch lost, Waist 46 inches, 1 inch lost, Hips 51 inches, same, and Thighs 28 inches, 1 inch lost in each thigh!!! That is a total of 4.5 inches lost!! In 5 weeks I am very encouraged by those results! I also took pictures. I can definitely tell a difference, but I am more interested in what all of you think....

Front view, taken today.

Front view, taken January 1st.

Side profile, taken today.

Side profile, taken January 1st. What do you think?!?!?!?!

52 week challenge - Week 4

Well, I do have some fantastic results this week, if I do say so myself!! Looking forward to next week too, because I will do my once a month picture and measurement update as well. But for today, I am pleased to report...

275, 3 pounds lost, 9 total to date!!

Also, on the Biggest Loser Challenge I got 49 points this week. That is out of a possible 70, and one shy of the 50 point goal I set for myself. So I am feeling good about that too. If you want to stop reading now, you can....

However,

I would love some advice. In my first post about the Biggest Loser Challenge, I said that the two areas I was worried about getting my points in were 8 hours of sleep a night, and 5 servings a day of fruits or veggies. Surprisingly, I have done great in both of these areas. And now, after two weeks of the challenge, the one area I have never scored a point in any day is NO SUGAR!!! It is so my weakness!!! I will take any and all tips on how to curb my need to have sweets, especially chocolate, every day!! I thought it would be easy since I gave up chocolate for three years, but my willpower for sugar still hasn't kicked in!! HELP my friends!!!

Non weight loss post

My boys are growing...literally!! Today we had a double doctor appointment, Chase's three year and Taylor's four month. And both boys are doing great!!

Chase
Weight 34 lbs 80th percentile
Height 39 in. 88th percentile

Taylor
Weight 14.7 lbs 39th percentile
Height 25.5 in. 65th percentile
Head 17 in. 70th percentile

I have such big, healthy, strong boys!! I am lucky!

52 Week Challenge Week 3

Well, I knew this would be an interesting week for me. As most of you know, last Saturday we left for Disneyland, and we were there all week. In some regards I was very proud of myself. Obviously I got lots of exercise, walking all over the parks, pushing a stroller and carrying a backpack and Taylor in the Bjorn most of the week. I also planned ahead and brought lots of water and snacks into the park, including lots of fruits and veggies. It was actually much easier than I thought it would be to get my 5 servings of fruits and veggies a day as part of the Biggest Loser challenge. One thing I did notice though was that a lot of the snacks I brought, beef jerky, almonds, chips, etc, had a lot of salt, so that is something I need to be more careful of. It was also nice at the end of the day to have the boys be so tired from so much stimulation and sack out every night. I got at least 8 hours of sleep every night! But of course I did allow myself several treats, like hot chocolate and other things. I also started my period this week so that doesn't help on the scale. So, my results are as follows.....For the Biggest Loser challenge, out of a possible 70 points for the whole week, I got 52!! Which I was really pleased with because I made a personal goal to get at least 50 points a week. And as far as weight goes, 278, no change this week. It makes me want to try harder next week, and post better results. At least I didn't gain though, which is easy to do on vacation. Stay tuned!!

52 Week Challenge - Week 2

Well, an overall okay week. I had a little more stress this week as I was planning and packing for our vacation we are leaving on today. But I have to realize that that is life, and giving in to temptation when we are stressed is just no good, and has to be overcome. I did however do well on my exercising, aerobics once, and Zumba twice. I could have done better but the kids were a little under the weather so I didn't go to aerobics the other two mornings. And I did great with drinking water, so I'm pleased with myself. Something I'm looking forward to now, even this week when I'm going to be faced with temptations in Disneyland, is starting the Biggest Loser challenge I outlined in my last post. I think it will help me work harder knowing I get points for every accomplishment, and it's not just based on my weight loss. So I will start reporting on that next week.

All in all, weight loss for this week....

278, 2 pounds lost!! Right on track for my goal. Thanks again for all your support!