I’m going back to last week to start this goal… here is why. 

I have finally settled on how I want to set my goals now. I’m going to go in ten pound increments and my slight OCD makes me want to go from 10 to 10. Like 180-170. :o)  SO I’m backing up to last week when I weighed 180 and starting my new goal.  I’m not putting a time on this one I’m just going to do my best and when I get to ten pounds I’ll set another goal. I’ve already lost 1 so I have 9 more to go to get this goal knocked out.

Here’s hoping that I have as easy a time meeting this goal and as much success !!

Pick either word in the title. They both work and so are interchangeable. This has been a very bad week in many ways.  I did horrible with my diet and I didn't exercise AT ALL !! I didn't pig out so to speak I ate everything in moderation but I ate a LOT of unhealthy "comfort foods".  It is soooo easy to slip and dive, not fall,  DIVE right back into those familiar habits.
I am dealing with a lot in my life lately and now have had a one more potentially serious thing added to my plate. It involves one of my children and to me that is the ultimate thing to stress about the health and well being and general happiness of my babies.
So the good news is I may not have  followed my plan to it's fullest potential and I may feel like I've had a failure of a week in that department but... I weighed in yesterday morning and

179

So despite everything I still lost one pound. I am thrilled with that one pound !!!  I got on the scale with my eyes closed and had to force myself  to open them. I just knew at the very least it was gonna be a stalemate week with no movement. But I was heavily leaning towards a gain.  I am holding on to my one victory this week but trying not to let it lull me into a false sense of “I can do what I want and still lose” . Partly because it was the breastfeeding that saved my butt and I won’t always have that to rely on. Also I am a bad “give an inch take a mile” person and I will eventually quit altogether if I don’t nip this in the bud so to speak.

So that sums up this week… I will try to blog better next week.  Justin was supposed to be home today. We’re now not sure when it will be but hopefully in the next week sometime.

However… My goal was 12 pounds in 6 weeks. I have lost 14 pounds in 6 weeks. That’s already 2 pounds more than my goal. My motivation to meet this goal was my husband’s return so now I have another week to see how much more I can shave off before he comes home. :o)

Peace

Steph

So I got on the scale this morning and …      180

Once again I am excited !!! I have now not only met my goal I have passed it by a pound AND I did it in 5 weeks instead of 6. YAAAAAAAAAAAAY !!!!!!!    :o) 

I’m not sure what I’m going to do as my I met my goal treat. I know it won’t be food though. I made up my mind at the beginning of this journey that my goal met rewards would not be food and will most likely be something for my appearance a pedicure, new clothes , a new hair do, getting my ears re pierced etc.  “Hey I just lost 10 pounds lets chow down on a gallon of ice cream”  just seems kinda counter productive.  It would make this a ONE step forward,  TWO  steps back thing and I would eventually give up. Anyway, when I decide what I’m gonna get I’ll post about it ! I may wait til Justin gets home and let him help me decide.

And  THAT  folks is my tip for today !! DON’T make your rewards a food item !! You would do better to pick a day (mine is friday night at family movie time) and let yourself have ONE serving of something you REALLY miss… for me it’s root beer. Barqs to be specific.  :o)  If you do that you can handle sticking to one portion where if you put it off for a looooooong time and make it a reward you can’t help but eat a lot cause you missed it for so long and you feel entitled to do so cause you “earned” it. But you will also “earn” your way back up the scale.  I will pick anything I may want (cds, movies, a shirt, my new tattoo)  but I know a good bit of the time it will go toward my appearance. I want to enhance the new me cause I’m proud of the work I’m doing and the self control I now have. Plus being pregnant for almost 2 years straight I did NOTHING for my appearance. When I’m pregnant I’m to miserable to care.  :o) 

I am going to work out EVERY day this week including Saturday and Sunday because hopefully Justin will be home next weekend for 6 days and I don’t know how much formal exercise I’ll be getting in that week. I am also going to work out twice a day every other day this week.

So “the skinny” is ….  I worked out Mon.- Weds. and I worked out twice on Thursday.  Today I did yard work for exercise and it kicked my butt cause I was already sore.

I stuck to my calories all week EVERY day !!

Peace

Steph

There have been many changes in my life since I decided to start this blog. One of them being I have become a “temporary single mom” 3 and a half weeks out of the month. I also have started babysitting my neighbors little boy to help her out. However in a few weeks I will be taking on a full time babysitting job to help out with some of the bills and household expenses. It will be two children and one is a baby only a month older than mine. I am already busy and soon I will be busier so I have made a decision. I will blog any day I get a spare moment but…  I am going to really only blog twice weekly now.  Friday cause its weigh day and Tuesday cause its about the halfway point. If I have a bad day and cave to temptation I will definitely post what happened though. So if I don’t post assume I had a good day and stuck with it.  :o)   

I have done something interesting … I have been trying to add in  a second workout but just haven’t gotten to it.  Well  I finally did ! I finished watching Biggest Loser and thought “I’ll start doing a second workout today kind of like a “last chance workout” and if it works out I’ll continue to do it every other day and then eventually add it to every day.”  It went well and I enjoyed it ! I did my favorite  Firm DVD after getting Connor off to school and then did the short 30 minute one I blogged about the other day at 4 after getting Connor off the bus. Weigh day is tomorrow so we’ll see if it paid off.

Jamie I am working on a good vs. empty calorie tip section for you ! And I have asked my sister to make her first guest post about that as well so be checking for that !

SO I have been at this now for about 4 weeks but I took that week long vacation in which I neither gained nor lost so we’ll skip that and say I’ve been at it for 3 weeks…

I weighed this morning and    183

I am so excited 10 pounds in 3 weeks !!! My goal is 12 pounds in 6 weeks and I have almost met my goal with 2 weeks left !! YAY !!!  10 pounds, I can NOT believe it ! I have struggled so much in the past I can’t believe how everything is coming together for me this time instead of working against me. I have put in some serious hard work as far as will power and sticking to my calories go but all in all it has so much easier than before. And I have done all this without really exercising so i can’t wait to see how this week goes when I step up and workout ! My sister has shared with me that even on a breastfeeding diet with the breastfeeding exclusively  burning 500 calories a day if I were to add even one workout I could get fabulous results. I got started and never got around to the exercise and am doing great without it. I am excited to see how much more it can help :o)

Well I finally have something to say here ! I am EXCITED and ECSTATIC and so many other feelings. WOW ! I can’t wait to keep going,  I can’t wait to do more. It is amazing what seeing some results can do for you. I am way beyond motivated right now I just want to hold on to this feeling, wrap it up and save it for the stressful days when I THINK I desperately NEED that bar of chocolate or bowl of ice cream. :o)

I’m going to get back to writing down what I eat so those who might need to see what I am eating to know you can eat good and enjoy it can see it. I’m also not walking around “hungry” all the time. Some days I have trouble eating enough to get my whole calorie quota met.  I have not really felt deprived since starting this. I might miss the occasional candy bar or soda but thats about it. I have discovered help for my big weakness though and that will be tomorrows tip.

So “the skinny” for today is

Another work out

And my daily calorie total is       1811

SO… I actually did some formal exercise yesterday that wasn’t a ride on my recumbent bike while watching TV. Although I have decided that I don’t get enough exercise and as long as I ‘m not having to hold the baby atleast one of my hour long shows if I wanna watch I gotta pedal :o) that gets me exercising,  even on my busiest days I make time for a little tv. Anyway… I did one of my favorite things a THE FIRM workout dvd. I have several and I tried a new one cause it was only 30 minutes and I didn’t have a lot of time.  Also it promised to be light and easy and I’m WAAAYYY outta shape (no wait round IS a shape :o) ) So I did it and I made it thru the whole workout without stopping. I was barely sweating and my heart rate was up but not killing me. I thought ok either I didn’t do it right or I have finally found a work out by them that is awful. I have found ones I don’t enjoy or care for but never a bad one. And then,  I got up this morning and couldn’t walk up my stairs.  HELLO muscles I forgot I had. As the day wore on I felt it even more. HELLO muscles I haven’t used since my horse riding days. Then this evening I sat down to watch my favorite show and when i got up after an hour I was stiff and even more sore… HELLO muscles I didn’t even know existed. And hello heat pack. It’s really not that bad I can function but I can indeed feel that I did something and did it right :o)  I am so glad I did this cause now I have found a good easy one that I can manage even on busy days (not crazy days but the busy ones there is a difference) and I am now motivated to get back to doing these every day I can. I was putting off doing my dvds cause I was afraid that I was so out of shape I would be dying half way thru and hate it.  The picture below is the workout I did   

SO my tip for today is www.thefirmdirect.com  You can find older  dvds (and the new ones) by them on ebay (search the firm workout ) and clips to see if you’d like a specific one on youtube. Also if you want to know what a specific one involves and if you’d like it email me I can probably tell you :o)   They promise visible results in 10 workouts and they deliver if you do them right. I remember my mom saying when she started their older series when I was younger “Yeah you get  results in 10 workouts, you can’t walk .”  These things really work I LOVE them they are my favorite workout ever and I swear by them so to speak.  I may highlight the contents of my favorites in later tips.

“The skinny” for today is

I worked out again so I’ll probably be REALLY feeling it tomorrow

And my daily total in calories is … 1796

Peace

Steph

I had no idea that the diet would be easier than I expected and the blogging every day part would be the hardest.  I have always had so much trouble losing anything after any of my pregnancies. ( part of why I am so heavy at this point) This time it all just seems to be coming together for me and I am so grateful ! The blogging every day I thought would be so easy but life has been so CRAZY !!

So todays tip is the other half of my food schedule…

I now sit down in the morning (or the night before) and plan out my meals for the day. If i do this I know how many calories I’ll consume that day.  This way I don’t come up short in 2 ways both of which are bad.

At first I would get to the end of the day and go to total up what I ate for my blog and I would come up several hundred calories short which might be ok if I was full all day and not starving myself but not right now. Since I’m breastfeeding I really need to meet my quota. Then I realized that was no good so I’d come to the late afternoon total up what I had eaten so far, come up short and eat til I met my quota. Also not good. Even though I stayed within my limits that many calories all at once or squished close together most of them get stored as fat because you can’t burn them all that fast. Also it was the END of the day so I’m getting ready to climb in bed and yup you guessed it store calories instead of burning them cause I’m sleeping so I’m not using much energy.

If I get into the day and decide I don’t want what I had planned I just look for a substitute that does sound good at the moment with a very similar calorie content. That way I don’t have to refigure my whole day but I’m not stuck to what I wrote on my menu.

Okay not a whole lot to say here again… I have noticed again that I’m starting miss a few things. We do “family movie night” on the weekend though so I’ve decided that if I’ve stuck to my calories thru the week and exercised (formal exercise) at least twice I will let myself choose one small thing I miss as my movie night treat. Then I will also have to exercise self control and portion control while I eat it. I think giving myself this “treat” now that I’m well established in my GOOD eating habits will keep me from giving up or giving in to often. :o)

So here’s “the skinny” for today

Couldn’t begin to tell you exactly what I ate since I am playing catch up here but I’ve been writing down my daily totals.

My daily total is                 1805

Peace

Steph

Ok I have been battling allergies and a breastfeeding issue. The issue made me VERY ill and had me down for 24 hours with flu symptoms including a fever. Thats why I missed some days blogging and I did not weigh this week.

So the issues I faced this week are going to be the focus of my tip today. I’m not exactly sure what the title for this tip would be so I’m just gonna write what I learned this week.   I recommend  a meal plan for the day. It’s how I do it. I actually have 2,  sort of. I have my overall schedule that I try VERY hard to stick too.  You’ve seen it in “the skinny” it goes Breakfast, Snack, Lunch, Snack, Dinner, SMALL Snack.  (I will share my other plan in tomorrows tip.) It keeps my blood sugar and fullness level on a pretty even keel and helps to not feel the need to over eat.  SO  I say TRY because lets face it life gets in the way and I may be out when I need one of the snacks. Or I may not quite be home in time for lunch and I have to remind myself EAT as soon as I get home. But this week I faced and even bigger problem with sticking to my schedule. I was “sick”.  It is almost physically impossible for me to eat when I have a fever.  So I went about 24 hours without eating much at all and my body has gotten used to a steady schedule of food. Plus with the breastfeeding by the late afternoon I was a dizzy mess from lack of food. I forced myself to eat a little something. The next day though… I was still a little weak but no fever and I was ravenous !!! I kept my choices healthy but I ate EVERYTHING I could get my hands on.  I ended up feeling sick because my body is not used to such massive intake anymore.  SO sick is sick and changes the game plan but try to be careful still. Sip soup something anything to get some calories in you. I wish I had thought things thru more while laying on the couch. :o)  I will weigh this Friday as usual but I skipped this last week.

Again nothing to really say here…

So “the skinny”  for today is…

Sunday so no formal exercise

I lost my list of food and calories but my calculator is still open thankfully so my daily total is …                                   1796

So back to following my diet very closely the vacation is over.

I was a little afraid that the slight vacation and a little Easter candy would make it hard to get back on track. Not really though. I think it was balanced out by two things, 1. a shopping trip during which I took 22 items in the dressing room and only one fit right. (and all these items were XL I HATE THAT ! I will not be XL for the rest of my life, I WON’T !! )  And even more importantly…  2. Seeing my sister. She has been dieting and faithfully working out  (with a much busier and schedule and waaaayy more temptation than I have) and has lost 30 pounds !!! She looks amazing and I am so inspired to keep going ! Her progress is incredible.

Hmmmm… a tip for today, what do I have to share ???  I guess right now I would recommend a diet and or workout buddy. Just watching my sister’s progress from afar has inspired me and knowing my dietician sister is supposed to be reading this also helps.  I know that having someone you’re accountable to can be a great motivator. I have heard of friends having a contest but I don’t think that would help me personally. I just need someone to encourage me and to chastise me when I want to fall off the wagon. LOL :o)  A workout buddy is great too ! It can get you to the gym even on days when you don’t feel like it  cause no one can resist some girl time. Just make sure you do your gossiping and TV show talk while sweatin on the treadmill. And that’s todays  tip.

Nothing really to say here today cause I pretty much shared it all in my opening paragraph…

So here’s  “The Skinny “ for today…

Breakfast: 2 packets instant oatmeal     260

Am Snack:  Apple                          75

Lunch: Progresso hearty vegetable and noodle soup Peanut butter and one slice whole grain                         350

PM snack   pretzels and cheese           420

Supper:  Lean Cuisine herb roast chicken and red potatoes cauliflower in cheese sauce                                           260

Dessert:   Captain crunch and skim milk        280

Daily total                       1645    

Gotta up that daily  total !

Peace

Steph              

I am back from vacation... I was careful but did not count every little calorie and I actually was very active !! I weighed this morning and... 185. So I did not lose but I did not undo my progress either I am satisfied with that.

I know I haven't posted in a while... sorry. It's been crazy here I'm trying to get the house and laundry all clean so I can on vacay for spring break.

Just to catch up... I did maintain my calorie count and twice I rode my bike 20 minutes almost 4 miles 110 calories burned.

I weighed on Friday... 187 !! I lost another pound...

Today I weighed again cause on Friday it was "that time of the month" so i was holding water. PLUS my baby had been sleeping 9 hours so I was really full from not feeding him as often. Today both those things were over so I wanted to see if it made a difference. Apparently so because between that and riding my bike 2 more days and eating right 2 more days I lost more. My scale this morning said 185 !!!

SO... 185 !!! I am so excited ... I'm going on vacay this week but I'll check in when I can. I'm going to try and stick to my calorie budget as much as possible.

Peace
Steph

Tip for today...vitamins. I had not been taking mine but I started on day 6 and I've noticed a difference in how I feel. I think with cutting my calories and breast feeding my multi (I'm using prenatals still) is helping to ensure I get all my nutrients and so does Colt. :o)

Still nothing really to say today... except I noticed I've gotten far enough into my diet that I'm stating to miss a few things. I really hope to see at least a pound gone on Friday to help shore up my resolve.

"The Skinny" for today is
No formal exercise I was running errands today.

Breakfast:oatmeal 260
AM Snack: granola bar and pears 240
Lunch: Steak and cheddar panini 360
PM Snack: apple and cheese 405
Supper: corn dog cauliflower and cheese sauce choc skim milk 370
Dessert: Kashi oatmeal dark chocolate cookie 130

Daily total 1,765

Peace
Steph

It looks like I may have to change my schedule and post the days stuff the following morning. That just keeps working out better.

Todays tip is don't go crazy with your diet. Make sure that you don't cut your calories by to much. Eating to little causes your body to go into survival mode and it will hold on to everything it can.

Nothing much to say today...

"The skinny" for today is...

Rode bike for 20 minutes about 3 and a half miles and burned a little over 100 calories !!

Breakfast: Shredded wheat skim and orange 310
AM Snack: grapefruit 100
Lunch:Healthy choice chicken 420
PM Snack: peanut butter whole grain and skim chocolate milk 410
Supper: Chicken club Panini 360
Desert: 170

Daily Total 1,770

Peace
Steph

Sorry no tip today !

Today was ok just super busy so I didn't have time to even think about boredom or depression eating !! YAY !! Being so busy makes it hard to blog though...

"The skinny" for today is
No formal exercise LOTS of work and projects

Breakfast: shredded mini wheats and an orange 310
AM Snack: biscuit and cheese 365
Lunch: pepper jack and bacon stuffed chicken breast and cauliflower in cheese sauce 300
PM Snack: Peanut butter toast and 8oz chocolate milk 410
Supper Salad 300
Desert low fat ice cream sundae 130

Daily total 1,815

Day 5 is a so so day not happy, not sad just kinda there...

Today's tip is... MINTS !!!!
I know this may seem silly and like I'm just trying to come up with something in a hurry but thats not the case. Like I mentioned before I've been watching The Biggest Loser and one of their sponsors is Extra sugar free gum. They are constantly plugging it on the show which is getting annoying. But it does seem to work ok at keeping my mouth busy and giving me a little bit of sweet. On jillianmichaels.com she suggests brushing your teeth every time you eat cause it is so yucky to snack or drink with that minty taste in your mouth. I like that idea better but I have really thin enamel and sensitive teeth so that option was painful. But I found a happy middle ground, sugar free mints. Icebreakers are my favorites cause they are strong. They have the same few calories as the gum and same minty fresh feeling in your mouth as the tooth brushing. It has helped me TREMENDOUSLY with my boredom grazing!!!

Normally today would have been hard not to emotionally eat with Justin leaving out again so I am VERY glad I got on that scale yesterday. Seeing that 4 pound drop was exciting enough to keep me in check. Also knowing that I have 6 weeks til he gets home again and I can look so much better than I do now when he gets back. That is the whole reason I started when I did so it's a help to see that I'm already making progress in such a short time. Imagine what I can do in 6 weeks.

SO "the skinny" for today is...
I don't do formal exercise on the weekend. Just whatever I get cleaning and playing with my kids. It gives my muscles a little recovery time. But today Andrew and I played outside and we washed the car which took MAJOR scrubbing and "elbow grease".

Breakfast: Peanut butter toast, grapefruit 360
AM Snack: Granola bar 120
Lunch: tuna sandwich and a salad 305
PM Snack: pretzels 130
Supper: Beer batter chicken and cheese fries 780
Dessert: low fat ice cream 120
Daily total 1,815

That wraps up day 5
Peace
Steph

So I wasn't going to weigh today because I just did on Tuesday. I was gonna wait til next Friday. Well I couldn't help myself and I got on the scale anyway... I lost 4 pounds between Tuesday morning and this morning !!!!!!!!!! I am so excited and so extra motivated ! Then the boys and I went to the playground with a friend and I used that as my exercise chasing them around. It was so much fun ! We are gonna have to make it a regular thing. Then to make a good day GREAT Justin got to come home for the night !!!!!!!!

So no tip today I'm typing this in a hurry to go spend time with my hubby before he leaves :o)

I am soooo glad I didn't binge yesterday when I was so down. It was so awesome to get on that scale and see that drop ! Today was easy to stay on track I was so busy !

I will add my calorie count for today on here tomorrow Justin's ready to watch a movie! Gonna go snuggle :o)

OK small problem ... can't find my paper with all my calories on it...
But I remember my daily total was 1785 !!

Today I have no tip. I've been busy... I had a friend visit and I'm preoccupied with the bad news I got today. So I haven't had the time or mind set to put together the tip section of my blog. PLus I didn't get yesterdays typed up and posted til today so it's gonna cover both days :o)

So as you can guess today has been really hard in the emotional eating area... REALLY hard. Today I get warned that Justin may not be home on April 30th he may have to be out up to 3 more weeks. I am so NOT HAPPY... I want warm brownies, fudge sauce and vanilla ice cream or a brownie batter blizzard from DQ or even a chocolate or jamocha shake from Arbys. My skin is crawling I want it sooooooo bad. But maybe, possibly, eventually they will let him come home and I want there to be a noticeable difference so I'm NOT gonna run out and get all those and eat them. But it's tempting, very tempting.

SO the "skinny" for today is
15 minutes on my bike but I fogot to write down the calories it said I burned :o(

Breakfast: Frosted shredded wheat and skim, orange and 8oz gatorade 365
AM snack : apple and 3oz colby jack 405
Lunch: peanut butter on whole grain, 8 0z chocolate skim, half cup carrot sticks 493
PM snack: pretzels 130
Dinner: Healthy choice chicken parmigiana 350

NO DESSERT tonight... there was an "apple crisp" cup in the healthy choice and if I eat anything sweeter I'll pig out and ruin my progress...

That wraps up day three

Peace
Steph

SOooooo I am getting this up a day late. Things are crazy and I am so tired. I am not sleeping well without Justin.

Today I want to share with you a website www.jillianmichaels.com
I have started watching The Biggest Loser for motivation and have become slightly obsessed with Jillian. She looks amazing ! While I know we have different bodies and I won't look "like that" I want to get to the "like that" for my body type !! So her website is great. There is thing that says they'll give you a free weight loss plan. Thats sort of true. It does give you a general guideline after analyzing your info. But if you wan a meal and exercise plan to go with you have to pay. However I found the guideline/outline VERY helpful.

Today was pretty easy as far as cravings go I was running errands most of the day so I had no boredom cravings and was so busy I didn't get sad cravings either. I did splurge on dessert though... I couldn't help myself.

The "skinny" for today is

Again no formal exercise I was running around all day though :o)

Breakfast:Life cereal and skim milk plus 2 tangerines and 8 0z Gatorade 285
AM snack: granola bar 120
Lunch: Corn dog, cauliflower in cheese sauce, apple 295
PM snack: 8oz skim nesquick, peanut butter on one piece whole grain bread 410
Lean cuisine Panini chicken club, mango peach applesauce, 8 0z gatorade 500
Dessert: 1 cup Edy's slow churned thin mint cookie ice cream 240
Daily total 1,850

Yes I splurged a little on dessert but I still did ok on my calories and I don't plan on doing that every day. I needed my comfort chocolate. But hey I chose ice cream so I could get a little more dairy and not a candy bar (what I really wanted) which is totally empty calories so go me !! Yes I could've eaten 1 serving at 120 calories but hey, half a cup of ice cream is a joke. I'm finding it hard to get as much dairy as I'm "supposed" to. I don't really like it except cheese.

Well thats day 2...

Peace,
Steph

Since today is day one it is also "Weigh Day". It is also time to set my first goal !

Starting out I am 5'4" and weigh 193
Healthy weight for someone my height is 115-140. So for now my end goal is 140. That may change as I see how well things go.

My first goal is 12 pounds by April 30th. Thats about 6 weeks and 3 days. If I lose 2 pounds a week I can meet the goal. that is easily attainable and healthy even while breast feeding. I know I checked with my sister :o) I made my first goal for 6 weeks cause I want to lose a good bit by the time Justin gets home. After this I'm not sure how I'll set my goals.

My tip for today is ... drink lots of water. I did because it is good for the breastfeeding and it turns out I ate so much less. I've always heard that sometimes when you get the munchies try a drink you might actually need that not food. Apparently they were right. I munched a lot less when I sipped a lot more.
Sorry, I'm on a time crunch and still formulating exactly what to do so I promise from now on the tip section will be better. :o)

Today was soooooo hard not to give in to my emotional eating. There was a pan full of brownies and I was very down and missing Justin badly. It would have been so easy to give in and justify it but I didn't. YAY me !!!! Those brownies were calling my name loudly though. LOL !

For exercise I'm going to start with riding my recumbent bike twice a day and when I'm doing well with that I'll switch it up to 1 video workout and one bike ride daily.
Calorie intake... When I did a consultation with my sister before getting pregnant with Colt we decided on a calorie intake of 1400-1500 to lose weight. Once again since i'm feeding the little guy I'm gonna start with the higher number and then add my 300 extra breastfeeding calories. That gives me a total of 1800. I'll play with this number as I go if necessary.

So "the skinny" for today is...

No exercise. I had some projects to finish and they took all my free time that the baby didn't demand. Plus I slept in. I couldn't sleep last night. I've never spent a night without Justin so it was hard.

Breakfast: Life cereal and skim milk plus a tangerine and 8 0z of Gatorade 250
AM snack: Apple 75
Lunch: crunchy peanut butter on whole grain and glass of skim milk 420
PM snack: pretzels 130
Dinner: Healthy Choice balsamic chicken dinner 400
Dessert: 2 Kashi dark chocolate oatmeal cookies 260
Daily Total 1,535

I was short on my calorie intake today so I guess it's ok that i missed working out. However since I'm breastfeeding I really need to make sure I meet my calorie quota. I'm gonna have to add about 300 calories. The trick is making sure they are not empty ones. They need to nourish me not add weight since the only reason I'm adding them is to feed my baby well.

I feel like I'm off to a good start ! Here's to setting my first goal and hopefully achieving it!!

Peace
Steph

So here's how things are gonna go... (for now things may change as I go if I find something that works better. I am working around the schedule of 3 kids. :o) )

I will blog every evening and each day's entry should have 3 parts.
1. A tip I find that day or maybe something I already knew but used that day. Just some helpful info of some kind.
2. A journal about my day... if I found it hard to workout and why, if I had cravings and if I caved or not. :o)
3. My log of food and exercise... so calories eaten and burned.

After this Friday will be my "Weigh Day" and will have a special paragraph about that.

Also I have an incredible advantage... My younger sister is a dietician and is a tremendous help with my diet especially since i am breastfeeding and want to lose safely. She might occasionally on the weekend post a quick helpful blurb on diet so watch for that !!!

Now here's a little "about me" and why I'm doing this.
I was always thin growing up but then... I went thru 4 pregnancies and I definitely ate for 2 with each one. Okay I ate for 3 or 4 :o)And I never lost much inbetween pregnancies. My third pregnancy we lost the baby at 36 weeks and I'm an emotional eater so I "ate" my feelings away constantly. And the pounds kept piling on. Now I'm at a place where I don't plan on any more babies any time soon, if ever, so I'm ready to get all this weight off and let the skinny me back out !!!
Also my extra incentive to start now and stick with it is my husband (who loves me just like I am no matter what) has left out on the road to be a truck driver. He will be gone a 6 week stretch this first run and I want to see how much I can lose while he's away and surprise him when he comes home !

I will start posting this evening. So here goes...