Bounce U

Housekeeping: I recieved a request for the link to the video I used to work in new moves in my workout routine. Here it is: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8VCT3SwEDg4&feature=related, let me know if it does not work and I will figured it out.

I went to Bounce U this weekend and had the workout of my life, no lie. They have a bounce house called spider mountain, which is like an army bootcamp type tower of pain.

It's difficult to see at this angle but, there are grids of elastic bands about every 4 feet. you have to climb up and through them and, if you are me, hoist small children up as well because they want to do it but can't work it out on their own. The one we were playing on also had a slide at the top, so once you go tup there, getting dwon was fun too! Today parts of me hurt, that I didn't realize could hurt. IT was so fun though, I had a blast running and playing with my kids. Also I had an NSV this weekend because the bounce houses have a 200 pound weight limit and I could go on every single one of them! Booger was freaked out for the most part, but Pumpkin had a hell of a good time.

Apparently we are going to have snowpocalypse of our own here in the midwest, looking forward to that (note the sarcasm). With the very real possibility of a foot of snow and and inch of ice, I am concerned that our power might go out. We are going to buy some wood for our fireplace, because if the power does go out, we can all sleep in front of it. We'll just drag the mattress into the living room and camp out. Our stove is gas so we'll be able to cook and warm water to wash dishes. Of course this could all be moot, but I like to be prepared. Well I've 14 zillion thing to do today and no time, so I'm gonna get to it. I'll be around and reading blogs tonight after I get home from work.

Update: My tummy is not happy today. Something I ate in the last two days has caused many unfortunate trips to the "euphamism". ick!
I am sticking to fluids for the rest of today, and gulping down water like nobody's business, cause, at this point the last thing I need is blizzard 2011 and a trip the ER for an illness induced dehydration.

Quick Poll: Gym or no gym when sick like this. The flabby red devil on one shoulder (read: whiney crybaby) says, go home, go to bed. The tough chick (the one in the robes and halo) says suck it up, there's a bathroom in the gym and you are a big girl, a really big girl, who needs a workout. Thoughts?

Wow...

So a few weeks ago I ran across a you tube video with one of the biggest loser contestants and a trainer showing this 10 mintue exercise program primarily using an inflatable exercise ball. I thought the moves looked good and they were things I had never tried before. So on Wednesday I added a few of them into my typical routine and though nothing of it, they weren't really easy but the effort felt good and I could do them without landing on my face...groovy, right?

Yesterday I woke up and could barely move. Today I feel like I've been in a hazing ritual where people take turns slugging you in the gut. My lower abdomen is the worst, but my arms and most of my torso also are really sore. Yesterday I did some yoga and cardio, but today I'm doubling up and doing a workout at the gym at work and them going to zumba class. I am going to do the new exercises again, and see if they are better tolerated this time.

I can really tell that my body was starting to get used to inactivity, and I'm glad I caught it before I turned back into a slug. Now I just have to get my hunger under control. If tis doesn't resolve soon I'm going to have to see if maybe something is wrong with me; tapeworm, pregnant, thyroid levels, something isn't normal here.

Jeeves brought me flowers the other day, and I finally found the great pants to go with my Eddie Izzard t-shirt. (Cake or Death?) So I've got a few pictures to share today.


Cake or Death shirt, my face looks awful because I forgot to wash it before I worked out which made it look like I slept in the crap, I hate makeup.


I just love these big yellow ones, so pretty!


A new shirt and cardigan I bough to go with the pants, can't decide if it's complimentary or kooky, someone give me an opinion.

He Ain't Heavy...

He's My Brother, and today he turns 26!

When I was two my mother told me that she was going to need my help with the new baby. I guess I took that to mean that he was mine. I never really stopped treating like he was mine except, sort of, in high school, when we became the best friends I've ever seen two siblings be. I love this boy with all my heart and hope he knows it. He was born a week and a day after my 2nd birthday, so we've shared a number of birthday celebrations.

My younger brother is the coolest guy I have ever known. You know that guy on TV who you think, "Damn, it would be cool to know a guy like that" Well that's Felix. Felix is not his real name, it's a nickname I have used for him since german class in high school. Yeah, we were so close that we took classes together intentionally in high school. He's funny and witty and his sacrasm will knock you on your ass, but you'll be laughing as you go down.

He is a wonderful father and while I can't speak to his husband skills, I would have to guess he's pretty great at that too. He is married to the fashion forward lady behind Vavoom Vintage and they are expecting a new litle guy in April. My neice Olivia lights up when she sees him and while she looks like her Momma most of the time, sometimes when she smiles, she's all Felix.

So here's to Felix, Frohe Geburtstag Bruder, Ich Leibe Dich!

Famished!

Something is wrong with me. I can't get enough food in my stomach today, I believe she's being bitchy because I gave her lots of sugar last week, and not so much this week. In an attempt to fill the void I have consumed water, a whole bag of salad with salad spritzer, water, a can of soup,  a whole bag of frozen broccoli with a few spray of no-cal butter, 4 ounces of grilled chicken, water, two protein bars, oh, and did I mention water.

I am going to watch a mindless movie and crochet all night to keep my hands and mind occupied so I don't go raid the chocolate animal cracker stash in the kitchen. I need diet prayers, make the beast be still and help me get through this temporary non-sense my stomach is putting me through.

Occasionally Random Non-sense

Hello All,

It's been a few days, but trust me, they were wonderful days. I am now back down to 184, and on track after my first day of keeping it under 1200 for one week. I didn't make it to the gym yesterday because, well, crap happened, and I got busy. I'm going today and have plans to go every other day this week.

On Friday night I went to trivia night at my church which was a heck of a good time. There were so many salty snacks that I'm surprised I don't look like that giant dude from the Monty python movie (just a wafer thin mint?) Hehehe, anyhow. We did fairly well, we didn't win but we weren't in last place either, and we laughed, a lot.

On Saturday we finally got together with Jeeves's family for Christmas and thanks to a bottle of blueberry flavored vodka a good time was had by me. I am on a mission to try all of the skittle flavors of Burnett's vodka, it's cheap but it's usually really, really yummy. So that with diet sprite compounded the bloat and meant that my pants were a bit tight.



So on Sunday I took an aqua ban and guzzled about three gallons of water (slight exaggeration) and felt fine for the trip to a local micro-brewery where we learned how beer is made and had the coolest tasting. I now have no less than three new favorite beer flavors. We also had dinner at the attached restaurant and I had a huge lo-cal salad so I could eat this fig-toffee-whipped-cream bit of heaven that seriously made me a little light headed it was so good. But I shared with the table and so my share was not enormous.

Yesterday as I said I was back on plan with a slim-latte for breakfast, yogurt and protein bar for lunch, and pizza and salad for dinner. Before you think I'm a liar, I ate an enormous salad and the equivalent of one slice of regular pizza. (it was saint louis style)

In Mommy News: Booger is potty training which, in our house, means she is running around sans pants. We find it works better to teach because they don't have anything on to catch the potty as it comes out and they realize really quickly that it's not fun to pee on yourself. (plus we have wood floors, so it's easy to mop it up). She's doing well and when she has no pants on she doesn't have "mishaps," so we are at least moving in the right direction. Funny thing that they don't always tell you about potty training, some kids (both of mine) don't know how to save up and pee every few hours. Some of them (both of mine) take awhile to develop the skill and attention needed to clamp it off untill a reasonably full bladder calls for a trip to the toilet. We've been doing a lot of flushing at my house. Three drops at time, Booger is going to get potty trained this week.

In Crafting News: I found a pattern for my Easter dress and am looking for the perfect fabric now, plus I'm going to make a puffy crinoline thing to wear underneath. so fun!

In Dinner News: Tonight we are having breakfast for dinner. Pancakes and sausage for the munches, whole wheat English muffin and egg beaters for me. I hope everyone has a great day,

Ninja Out.

What'd I tell ya

I'm 188 this morning. Drat! Damn Tequila, (No, no, baby I didn't mean it, I still love you)

I did go out and play in the snow but the snow wouldn't pack for anything so snowmen didn't happen. But Pumpkin did lose her boot in the snow and didn't realize it until her foot was soaking wet, needless to say, it was then time to go inside. I stayed out and cleared a path to and around the car. then poured down some ice-melt to keep it from getting too slick. It was fun being out in the snow.


Jeeves took me out for dinner to Stir Crazy, my favorite restaurant and then we went to the theater and saw Tangled. We sort of have this tradition of going to see animated movies on special date nights, birthdays, anniversaries, etc. Tangled was so cute, and there was singing!!! I miss the singing in Disney movies and this was a welcome surprise.

I had a huge plate of Szechuan Chicken with broccoli and rice noodles for dinner and triple happiness cake for dessert.

 The cake was heavenly and it came with two large puffs of very vanilla-y whipped cream, *swoon* I was going to for-go dessert, but I do that all the time and if you can't have cake on your birthday, when can you? Right? so I enjoyed every bite.

Then we came home and I went to bed early, all in all it was a great day. So many people took time out of their day to wish me happy birthday, I felt very loved. Mutti is going to take me shopping this weekend and I get to pick out a new outfit for a present, we are going to Trivia night tonight and on Sunday I'm going out with my girl friends on a brewery tour with a half hour of free booze at the end! This is going to be the most awesome weekend.

My tailbone no longer hurts and I am not coughing anymore so Monday will begin a one week, re-kick start to the weight loss. I am going to spend one hour in the gym every day and I'm going to keep my calories below 1200 everyday for one week. I've done this before and lost as many as 5 pounds in a week. Hopefully that will happen again

Frohe Geburtstag!

28 years ago today this happened.

(don't you just love that hair)

After Labor with no drugs, this is my sick momma, dealing with a chubby little lump of human in a military hospital in Texas. On the day they sent Mom home, Dad made her stop at the store so he could show me off. He was such a proud daddy. By the way the lady with the bad bangs, BEST MOM EVER!

It's snowing in Missouri today so I get a snow day for my birthday. That hasn't been the case in over 12 years, *awesome sauce* I am planning on going out to play in the snow with the munches today. Hopefully this snow is the right consistency for a snowman, it would make Pumpkin's day. I'm pretty well loving this day, because already awesome things have happened.
First, this is now chilling in my freezer.

Jeeves was out at the store last night and brought it home, along with the assorted what not needed for Tequila Sunrises, I love that guy.

Then my new best friend Erin stopped by last night with this...

I also got two "Birthday Babe" beaded necklaces. She hung out and visited for a bit until the snow became to extreme and she had to head home to safety. I gotta say, Erin is the most thoughtful person I have met in a long time. I am so pleased that I get to call her my friend now.

Diet wise, yesterday was incredible, I came in under 1500 calories, and even though I could not go to the gym because my tush was still in horrible pain I still felt really good about the day. As of Monday nothing barring a broken bone is going to keep me from the gym, I miss my workouts, I need to run, i need to row, and I need to feel the burn in my abs. I have been trying to keep up the weights, but cardio and crunches have been out of the question for a bit. Looking forward to getting back in the saddle. I am also considering joining a gym to go to some workout classes with Erin. I feel like having a workout buddy is going to be a good plan. I am still sitting at 184 but pretty sure that is going to go up a bit as I plan on imbibing and booze typically makes me retain water.

Have a good Day everyone, stay warm, except Randy...*giggle*

P.S. anyone want to buy me some pajama jeans for my Birthday?
*more giggles*

Turning The Other Cheek

My right cheek hurt yesterday, but today my left hip, cheek and upper thigh are tight and painful. It's not as bad as it could be, I don't believe I've broken anything. Walking is a bit awful, but I can do it without help or screaming, so I'm pretty sure I'll live. Thanks to everyone who posted well wishes and stories, I think that's the most response I've ever gotten from a post, 11 comments. I am still amazed that people read this and are interested in what I have to say. You guys are the greatest.

I went to the goodwill last night and found this totally adorable yellow sweater. It's a large, which means it fits a bit tighter than most of my other sweaters but I love the color and it makes me smile, and for 1.50 you can't beat the price.

I am going to find or make a dress with some yellow in it and wear this at Easter. something adorable with a very full skirt and so many bright colors it will make Jeeve's head explode. He wears four colors. Black, Blue, Tan and Gray. When I pull out my red cords and 70's fair isle sweater his eye starts to twitch a little and it makes me laugh.

Something along these lines.

I took this picture of my weight loss log on calorie count, it's a really cool way to see how far I've come since I started this.

I couldn't figure a way to import the actual graph so I figured this was almost as good. Randy says I'm making this look easy. I don't know about that but I hope I'm making it look do-able. I think of the decision to change my life as the motivational ending in a movie I saw recently while channel surfing. You know the scene where the shopaholic realizes she can't keep spending and needs to makes a big changes now, so she auctions her crap and pays off her debt. It wasn't easy but it was necessary and it was do-able. I think of this as auctioning off my fat and paying off my debts to myself. What debts?
1.) I owe myself order. I allowed my home to become the garbage heap my body was, full of junk I didn't need. I am now flying and have cleared about a half ton of clutter from my home, and more is leaving every day.
2.) I owe myself movement. I love to move and had forgotten about it. I crave the movement I had been denying myself for so long.
3.) I owe myself respect. I have always felt sort of blah about myself, I'm not awesome looking, or particularly stylish. But that doesn't matter, I'm not what I look like. I'm a friend, mom, daughter, sister and crafty girl who has things to offer the world.
4.) I owe myself happiness. I sort of always felt like I was stuck where I was but that's not so, I am making changes to do things that I love with people I love.
Every time I lose more weight I feel like I'm closer to paying these debts.

What do you owe yourself? Are you going to pay your debts?

The Hits Just Keep Coming

Just as I began feeling like my normal(well sort of), happy, healthy self; I get whacked back down again.  While stopping for some lunch this afternoon I slipped and landed on my ass, in a puddle. The worst part is the fact that it happened in front of like 4 people. This tiny little man came running over to ask if I needed help and all I could do was laugh. If he had tried to hoist me up out of that puddle we would have both gotten soaked! I feel like someone attacked my tailbone with a hammer. *mortifying* I happened to have a pair of jeans in the car so I didn't have to complete the rest of my day with sopping wet pants. -great- but I did have to change in the car which is not easy on a good day but after falling in a cold puddle it sucks even more...I had plans to go to the gym today dammit! Now I get to go home and sit on a heating pad and take ibuprophen instead, frak!

On the plus side of today the jeans I had in my car were size 12 jeans that fit me, that's two pairs of size 12 pants that now fit. I purchased the cutest size 12 dress for V-day. It needs a new zipper but as soon as I get that worked out I'll post a picture of me in my new fancy dress.

Random Thought of the day: (inspired by the radio) Whenever I hear "Jumper" by Third Eye Blind I think of Jim Carrey in Yes Man.

Alright, sitting here hurts my tush, I'm gonna go get my crap done at work so I can go home and be miserable there. Hope your day is less of a pain in the ass than mine has been.

Various What-Not

Item 1: I went to zumba class last night and managed to make it through the whole class without fainting or wetting my pants. I think this means I am on the road to recovery. It felt good to work out, get a good sweat on(even though I hate sweating, it's somewhat okay if I'm working out and have a towel to catch the drips)I did cough my way through one of the songs about half way through but, I did it.

Item 2: Today I am rocking my new work out shoes. I bought a pair of the air pod ones that are supposed to have similar benefits to the sketchers shape-ups. I had intended on buying some expensive shoes but I found these on sale at payless and thought why spend more when what I wanted was right there?

Item 3: I received an award. Stephanie, my most constant and wonderful supporter gifted me with the Irresistibly Sweet Blog Award. I've never though of myself as sweet so this was a welcome surprise. Thanks Stephanie. To accept this award I've got to tell you about 5 of my guilty pleasures and award this to three other people.



5 Guilty Pleasures

1. Yoga pants: I own 5 pair and have plans to purchase more this spring. I have two black pair that I wear to work sometimes when I know no one is really going to be paying attention to my clothes. They are comfy and snug and they show off the new smaller tush I am developing.

2. Bananas Foster Cheesecake. It's my own recipe and it's to die for. I serve it warm out of the oven and it is definitely not lo-calorie. But it's sooooooo good. I developed the recipe based on a sweet potato bake I saw once on Sandra Lee's show on food network.

3. Chips and Salsa: salty, crunchy, cold, nuff said.

4. Internet on my phone: I am connected to the interwebs 24/7 and it makes me so happy.

5. Jack Daniels: You know that song "whiskey girl" that's me. Crown Royal is a close second, I can drink both on the rocks, with soda, out of a shoe, whatever.

And the three Sweeties getting this award are
1. The Fat Mom
2. Kelly
3. Jacqui

These Moms are all sweet as can be and if you don't follow them you should take a gander and see what they are up to.

Happy Saturday All

B&M Meeting Mintues

The First annual meeting of the Bitch and Moan Society will now come to order.

The chair recognizes the Ninja, with a review of things she has to bitch about today.

Good Morning All. This shouldn't take long, it's not an all inclusive list, just some high points.

Item 1: I have so much to do and no clue how to begin, I am paralyzed by indecision and feeling a little overwhelmed. Now that the holidays are well past and I don't have any personal deadlines, I'm feeling a little purposeless. I want to do some crafty things, but I have a hard time doing them with kiddos around, they interrupt a lot and make it difficult to concentrate.

Item 2: I am irritated by my hair, I need something new, new color, new style, new length, new something.

Item 3: I have had a few days of bad food decisions, I have not had high calories but I've been eating out so the salt and fat are flowing through me and making me feel like a slug.

Item 4: Well I could go on, but what's the point. I need to get to work and stop procrastinating. I'm going to turn up my radio, suck down some more water and try to turn this day around, I'll probably post again later, maybe more whining, but hopefully not.

In unrelated News: there is a new radio station in town that might turn this day around for me. It's called Gen-X radio and listening to it is like being in high school again. Nearly every song has some great memory association for me, I grin like an idiot almost the whole time it's on.

Munches in the snow

I'd like to thank the Academy

I love blog awards. I have only ever received one of them, until today baby. Well, yesterday to be more exact. Ishmael and Kelly both called me out on their blogs and awarded me with the stylish blogger award.


I love both of these ladies, they inspire me, make me smile and their brand of hilarity is right up my alley. 

So here's my price of admission.
7 things about me, wow let the narcissism flow freely. 

1. I am first and foremost a momma. From the time when I could form the "what I want to do when I grow up" thought, it was always, be a mommy. My munches are my world, and they are hilarious.

2. I am terrified of engineering failures. I am convinced that I am going to die in some catastrophic building collapse, or the big glass ball at the Fox theater is going to land on my head. In related insanity I am also convinced that my double wide trailor is going to someday just fall apart like two halves of a clam.

3. I am a musical bi-polar. My IPOD boasts Queen, Anna Nalick, The Glen Miller Orchestra, Frank Sinatra, Pink, Lady Gaga and Bon Jovi.

4. I'm a slob, big time, crap everywhere slob. I will wear every peice of clothing I own so I can put off doing laundry for as long as possible. It's good that Jeeves is such a neat freak, he keeps our house from being condemned.

5. I -hate- sweating. I hate the feeling of sweat running down anywhere. It makes me feel like things are crawling on me. I will wear more clothes than needed so the clothing will soak up the sweat and I don't have to feel it dripping off of anything. Sweating makes me feel like I'm trying to diffuse a bomb or something, it makes me anxious and irritated.

6. I sing along with the kid shows on Nick Jr. I know the words and somedays I even get up and dance around. My kids are toddlers and they think I'm hilarious. We do alot of goofy jumping and dancing around on a daily basis.

7. I sleep better with my kids in bed with me. Both girls, Jeeves and myself can all Tetris our way into a comfy position and sleep soundly all night long. It's like I need to be touching them for my body to relax enough to sleep well. I'm pretty sure it goes back to when Pumpkin was first born and I could only rest when she was sleeping on my chest and I could feel her breathing. We are co-sleepers and I don't see that changing in the near future. This makes Mutti crazy.

Alright I'm supposed to nominate other blogs for the award. So I'm nominating

The Fat Mom - who is fabulous and doesn't realize it as much as the rest of us do.
Vavoom Vintage - who is more stylish than anyone I know.
Kreating Kristen - who is a Momma-bear and stronger today then I will ever be.
Calories and Crunches - who is so adorable I want to hang out with her cause I'd be cuter by association.
The Gasoline Free Commute - because he is showing us that dudes can be stylish bloggers!
Dancing Towards Myself - cause she can do something I want desperately to learn, belly dance!
Stephanie - who is kind and amazingly supportive of her fellow bloggers.

Since Kelly and Ish already have the award I am not going to re-gift, but I love you both more than my knee high black boots (trust me, that's saying something).
Sooooo, G'night!

Happy Birthday Blog!

I began this blog in January of 2010. Initially it was a craft blog, but my craftiness comes in spurts and I was really not the great at posting. So I let it go, didn't update for a few months and then in May I discovered I was fat. (Freaking Eureka, right?) So I morphed the blog into the sometimes funny, often sarcastic, very honest, and extremely helpful (to me at least) insanity you are now reading. Cooking it Off is a title I really identified with, I like the symbolism. Someday I'm going to get a picture of myself sitting in a huge frying pan, cooking the fat off my ass like bacon.

Anyway I looked back at the first post I ever did, it was about sick babies and how gross they are. Not very inspiring, or that interesting really. But, if you want to read it, it's here.

One year later I am closer to my goal than I thought I would be. I know that barring a baby entering the picture I will get there sooner rather than later. So the questions I have is, what does one do when losing weight is no longer the focus of a weight loss blog? Are you (my beloved bloggy-buddies) still going to interested in me if and when I reach my goal? What will I have to say? If this is indeed a life change then are you following my life and not just my weight loss? and for that matter, How long does one blog for? Is blogging forever? What would I do without all of you, I crave your online friendships as much as I need slimfast to remain on the market after I lose the weight. You are all so supportive, and have truly helped me get as far as I have gotten so quickly.

When I began blogging I though there was a magic blog club you had to get into. A club that only allowed cool kids to join, kids like Drazil and Mrs. Fatass, who have legions of followers. Once in the club you would have hundreds of followers and everyone would be interested in what you were doing everyday. I was sad when my follower list was so small for so long.

I'm not sad now, I havn't been sad for a long time. I don't need legions of followers. I have people that I hear from daily, people who remember my stories and know things about my life. I believe that I am helping others as much as you are all helping me. I am happy to be a part of a group of wonderful bloggers who are positive and supportive and, well, you make me feel all warm and fuzzy.

So Happy Birthday, Cooking It Off!

P.S. My actual birthday is next Thursday. I will be 28 years old, old enough to be an adult with my shit together and yet...

184!!!

Because it's there and I can't stop myself, I jumped on the scale today and my guess that I was holding onto water weight was true because after a good day of water intake and a low sodium day yesterday my scale read 184 this morning. I started this process at 232 and in 2 pounds I will have lost 50 of the 72 pounds I set out to lose. My goal is 160 pounds. It's not an over ambitious goal and 160 will still have my BMI listed as like 25 point something(technically overweight), but I am in this for me, not the experts and not what someone else says looks good on my body.

It's a snowy day in Missouri and I'm looking forward to getting home and taking the munches out to play in the 4 inches we got last night. They were so thrilled when it started snowing last night and I had to promise to take them out to play today to get them to go to sleep. On the plus side, I love playing in the snow, and I'm feeling up to it today. Pumpkin has been talking about making snowballs for weeks, so she'll get her chance today.

I am making chili for dinner tonight unless Jeeves and I can get a sitter. If we can get a sitter, Jeeves got free passes to go see the Green Hornet. I love comic book movies, even the bad ones. So I'm really hoping we can get a sitter. I am eating light all day, soup and slimfast, so when I get home this evening I can either enjoy dinner out with Jeeves or have two bowls of excellent spicy chili, with cheese. I love chili, and I make huge batches of it and freeze it so I can eat and enjoy it for weeks.

Well, I'm hungry and my latte is calling me from the kitchen downstairs. Hope everyone has a great day, keep warm!

Back to your regularly scheduled programming

This is, after all, a weight loss blog. I am holding at 186, but thanks to a bizarre visit from TOM and the sodium laden soups that help when one is suffering from the plague, I am bloaty and full of water. I took an aqua ban and have already downed about 40 ounces of water. Hopefully the next few days will show another loss on my new bathroom scale.

May I just say, I love having a scale at my house. I can weigh in naked and know the real number instead of trying to fuzzify the numbers because I'm wearing jeans and hooker boots. I was weighing in at work, so naked was not an option. BTW: how much does hair weigh? ha, ha, ha. I used to joke that if I shaved my head I'd lose 5 pounds, I seriously have a crap-ton of hair, It's think and fine and bone ass straight which means that it's heavy, static-y, and in my face. I used to perm it to give it some texture and make life easier but haven't done that in awhile.

I was going to try going to the gym today but I forgot my clothes and it still hurts to breathe a little. I think I may hold off another day or two. Or perhaps I will do a lighter version of my typical workout, just so I don't get too far out of the habit. I am going back to zumba this week, I have missed it and look forward to seeing my friends there and getting sweaty. I'm a little worried that with the holiday and sick I may pass out halfway through, but the floors are padded so at least I won't break anything.

I am going to buy my new 190 shoes today, hopefully Jeeves will help me with some photos later so you all can see. Funny story, he was sitting on the couch the other day and yelled at me that I had to go to Old Navy. Confused (cause he never asks me to shop) I asked why. He wanted me to go buy some yoga pants and get "instant yoga butt." I had to remind him that unless you actually "do" yoga, you don't get "yoga butt." And stretchy pants don't do much for flabby asses, so no yoga pants for the ninja until some more firming happens. I do like a zillion squats but I carry the majority of my extra weight in my ass and thighs, so it's gonna be awhile before I get anything even close to resembling a yoga butt.

In World's Most Awesome Shit News: I was at my mother's house yesterday and I decided to try on my wedding dress. It fit, a bit tight, but it zipped. I cried a little and danced around while my babies shouted, "Look, mommy's like a princess!" It was a good day.
I was a size 12 when I got married, and the year before that I was a size 10. This summer, Jeeves and I will have been married for 7 years and are considering renewing our vows at our church. When we were married we did not have a church and our ceremony was in the same room as the reception with a rent-a-friar. I want the Pastor who baptised my babies to do a wedding service for us and how cool would it be to be able to wear my wedding dress again? Score!

Rise of the Clones

My name is Nellie Louise. I was named after my great grandmothers Nelda Rose Conner and  Louise Ellen Henry. I never met Nelda, she died when my mother was a young woman, but my family has told me stories about her and how I am like her. I use recipes that she made and I have been told we have many of the same tendencies (though her penchant for absconding with Steak and Shake dinnerware is something I am glad I did not inherit.)
Anyway, I found this great photo of my great grandmother and wanted to show everyone the family resemblance. In addition to chins and upper lips we also share the exact same shade of green Irish eyes.

Nelda Rose
( My Grandfathers Mother)


Tracey Lorraine
(My Mutti)


Nellie Louise
(Me, The Ninja)


Hannah Lorraine
(Pumpkin)


Who says cloning is illegal.

Exit Swamp Thing

I woke up today with a marked difference in the pressure in my sinuses, I CAN BREATHE!!!! Halle-freakin-lujah. Last night desperation took over and I used vicks vapo-rub (thats right, it's not just for kids) and I went and got treated like a delinquent  to buy a box of real sudafed (sp?) so, apart from the bleeding holes left by the damned flu swab, my nose is now clear.

I counted my calories for Thursday, I was under 800, and yesterday around 1100. I"ve been chugging fluids and slurping soup to keep my throat pain down to a dull roar, so there hasn't been much room for food. Today I had a pancake and a piece of cheese pizza, And I'm done for the day, I wasn't even hungry for those things but knew I needed something in my stomach to help with the meds I'm taking. In addition to the antibiotics and decongestant,  I'm taking either acetaminophen or ibuprofen every four hours, because my ribs and sides are in agony.

So today I felt human and as I walked through my house without the sick foggy glaze over my eyes I realized that the house of a sick mommy becomes a stupid mess, in a hurry. I took a shower and did some dishes, and was sitting down watching TV when both of my munches came in to show me that they were "hot"...sickly munches, again?...-awesome-

I tried my hand at making granola bars, they are a bit too gooey because I forgot to add the flour and I put the hot butter on top of the chocolate chips, but oh well, you live you learn. Gooey or not, they taste pretty amazing.

Thanks for all your kind words and thoughts, It's nice to know you all were thinking of me.

Not the Flu

But the terror I had to endure to discover that I do not have the flu was epic. If you haven't ever had a flu swab, don't. If your doctor sends you to get one, run. Having the flu can't be as bad as having that scrapey non-sense shoved up your nose. It was like a pap-smear in your nostril. *shudder*

Yesterday was as awful as the day before and I broke down and called the doctor. When I made it home at 4:30 I went to bed and didn't move until 10. I woke up sputtering and coughing at 10 and stayed up dealing with munch non-sense until around midnight. Then I passed back out until around 5 this morning when I woke up and mindlessly watch VH1 videos until 7:30 when I left for my appointment.

Again I feel rotten, but I have antibiotics, hot tea, soup, and Afrin so I think Ill make it through the day, however I may shoot one of my children, they are very, very loud. I apparently have some sort of infection that morphed from the cold I had last week.

So To re-cap
1. I still feel like shit
2. Being a sick mommy sucks
3. Flu swabs are a must-don't.

Have a Nice Day!

Jiggety-jig

I'm home, and safe, and downing warm fluids to try to break up the mucus. Thanks for your concern, the folks at work did finally convince me to go home, so Jeeves is here taking good care of me.

Blammo!

I woke up this morning feeling, well....off. My head hurts a lot and I'm dizzy, two things which do not make sitting through a three hour training easier. During the training I rocked back and forth and massaged my temples(looking a bit like a lunatic I'm sure) in an attempt to alleviate the pain.

Worried that I was simply hungry, I had a protein bar and small bag of pretzels. This did not help and when I got back to my office I was getting ready to take my extra huge salad up to my desk to eat lunch and shazam I was on my ass. I got woozy and collapsed spilling the better part of a diet Dr. Pepper all over my brand new size 12 pants. (don't get too excited, they are stretchy.) My co-worker saw me, which was mortifying and she was trying to help but I just grabbed my stuff and hurried up the stairs. I have been coughing so long that my tongue hurts from pressing against the back of my teeth when I cough and I pondered wearing an adult diaper today because, well, I've had two kids and sometimes the control just isn't what it used to be.

I have been sitting at my desk wondering if I should go home, but concerned that if I fall over while standing up, what might happen while I'm driving??? "Just have Jeeves come get you," you might suggest, however in an attempt to spend less we are currently a one car family and I have the car. -great-

Yeah, I bought some size twelves last night, I intended for them to be goal pants but they fit when I got them home. They are stretchy but not uncomfortable, this could be a good sign. still 186 this morning so it's not a fluke. I feel like being 180 by the end of the month might be possible, we'll see.

I'f I feel better tonight, adventures in Stir Fry part two is planned, so I can post my new recipe.

Balancing Act

"The best and safest thing is to keep a balance in your life." Euripides

I am not typically a "two post a day" girl but I was thinking today about my weight loss and the possible cause of it beginning to pick up speed. Reviewing the chart on Calorie Count I have noticed some spikes, and they co-incide with times when I began adding in healthy habits.
From May 2010 to June 2010 - I started counting calories and lost 11 pounds in one month
July 2010- August 2010 - I started working out and lost 10 pounds in a month.
October 2010 - December 2010 - I started drinking water with regularity and lost a pound a week.
And the past two weeks I have lost 3 pounds because, I believe, I have been sleeping more.

I believe the key is balance, the reason healthy people are healthy is because they have balance, they are active, they eat well, they drink water and get enough sleep. From my experience thus far I would also wager that they are happier, because at 46 pounds down I am happier then I can recall being in a long, long time.

Now I want to do things, I want to see people, I want to try new stuff, even if I am not sure it is going to turn out awesome. I have balance. Like nature I think that I will come to crave this balance, and like nature when things happen I will correct the imbalance. I like thinking of myself, of this change, as a part of nature.

Balance is good.

December 2010

WOK!!!

I had intended on creating a new soup last night but fate had other plans and Jeeves had a friend over, so I pulled out the one thing in my kitchen I have never used. My Wok.

(Please pardon the picture, this was post cooking.)

I have decided that I needed to get back on the horse with creating new delicious foods for my family and making healthy recipes for the Red Headed Step-Child Blog. I enjoy cooking, it soothes me, I love the chopping, adding, tasting, and creating that cooking affords. I also like that a bad meal can just be pitched, it's not like a craft project gone bad where you have worked for hours to create something horrid.

Anyhow, my grandmother gave me this wok when she moved out of her big house into her retirement trailer. I actually inherited many things from her during that move but the wok was the only one that had not yet been used. I got bold and used a recipe that Jeeves aunt taught me. She makes delicious Thai food and I wanted to create a healthy version of that.

Voila!
 
My version of a Thai stir-fry. I used chicken, red chilies, garlic, evoo, cabbage and carrots.
It was very, very good, but Jeeves asked that I not use the red chili's next time, it was a little hot on the back end, you really could only feel the tingle after you were done eating, even though the picture isn't that amazing, the food was. Before the rice, the stir fry was around 200 cals, after the rice and a bit of sauce, it was around 500 cals for dinner, and it was a big serving. Very good, definitely going on the recipe blog as soon as I make it again and take a better picture.

I got to the gym yesterday, and after my 45 minutes on the elliptical I tried out some new exercises with weights and the exercise ball, definitely feeling the burn today. My heart rate went up faster yesterday than it has in a while and stayed up with less effort. I wonder if that had anything to do with how much harder it was to breathe. I'm still pretty short of breath from that cold last week.
It's going to be a good week I think, I am sleeping more than I have been and I think it's paying off, I got on the scale after the shower this morning and saw 186, if that was accurate and I keep up my 1500 with workouts, maybe I'll be a 185 next Monday. I'm going to throw a party when I lose 50 pounds, something tongue in cheek and hilarious, maybe an "Over the Hill" theme. :0)

So Far So Good

Foods for the day:
Balance Bar- 190 cals
Progresso Soup- 160 cals
Yoplait light- 100 cals
Total: 450 calories
Water: 52 ounces so far.
Not too Shabby

I have an ambitous plan to get my shit together this week. Two weeks of holiday nonsense threw up all over my house. Yesterday after church I went home and washed every stitch of laundry in my house and cleaned out the fridge.(I got rid of the toxic leftovers). I cleaned out my closet, stuffed two bags full of outsized clothes and organized my closet. I cleaned my bedroom and set up the munches new bed on the floor. Then I did my dishes and went through my youngest's clothes. She is between a 24month and 3T in size and there are several things she cannot wear so I weeded out the stuff that doesn't fit and put it in a bag to take to my SIL for my neice who is a little over a year now and growing like a weed, but a very, very cute weed.

I was up from 5:30 yesterday morning until around midnight. I got so much done that it inpspired me to do some more. Today I am tackling Pumkpins clothing and the spare room. I need to get the hoarder-esque pile of crap out of that room and begin turning in into the guest room/mommy room it needs to be.

I have an office/craft space that is in dire need of a good clean out, but that will be a project for after I work out my Etsy store business plan. I am going full out crafty this year, I want to be able to sell fun crafty things and make some extra cash at the same time. Adding to the crafty insanity, I am also asking my cousins if I can make the costumes for thier girls at halloween this year. My girls want very much to be the Disney Fairies and I currently have patterns for about 8 costumes, so hopefully we will have the cast of Tinkerbell to photograph this halloween. I want to get the costumes done kind of early and do a photo shoot for our elders, they love great pics of the munchkins in the family, especially my grandparents. (plus I like to dress up too, so I'll be designing some costumes as well.)

Today has been a good day, nothing crappy going on, and food on target. Water is going in easily and I'm feeling industrious at work today. I think good days are often overlooked, not everyday has to be an amazing explosion of excitement, sometimes it's a relief to just have a solid, middle of the road, boring good day.

The Best Laid Plans of Mice and Ninja's

As I said I don't do resolutions, mostly because I don't really like that sound of the word, it's so final. It sounds like the problem is no longer there, it's "resolved." Which isn't really the case if you are making a change in your life. If you want to change, your problems have just begun really.

So instead I prefer to declare intentions. This year I intend to:
1. Keep up my weight loss, I have 27 pounds left to lose before I hit my goal, that's not very far.
2. Eat more dinners at the kitchen table with Jeeves and the Munches, they deserve more of my time.
3. Read to the Munches more often. We share a love of books and that will only continue if I foster it.
4. Give back, I don't have much but I have more than so many others, it's time I shared some of my blessings.
5. Spend more time outside. It's a beautiful world and we should spend more time out in it.
6. Be more active and educated about my faith. My reasons are my own.

On to my next goal: I want to be a size 12 by Valentine's day, an achievable goal, I feel. So I am going to cut my calories back to 1500 most days, and increase my exercise. I want to be able to say I have lost 8 sizes in one year. I will posting an SSDD (Same Shirt, Different Day) post this week with the outfit I wore last v-day to show you all how far I have come, it's really amazing to see, stay tuned.

Peace Out, My Ninjas

New Year...

Same Old Me

Truth be told, I'm pretty happy with that. I don't need a new year, a new start, or a resolution. I made my resolution on May 17th of last year and I've stuck with it for 7 months and lost 45 pounds. I weighed in last night at 187. 

I spent last night in with mutti and the munches and then spent the whole day today in my pajamas, watching movies with my family. It was the best day ever-part 2. (Christmas being the first best day ever) I made a breakfast bake with lo-cal english muffins, egg beaters, turkey and mozzarella. Turned out to be about 150 calories for a serving, which was pretty small, but still really yummy and even at 300 cals for two servings, still a decent start for the day. I'll be posting this one on the recipe blog this week.

Anyway, see y'all tomorrow, going to watch another movie.