My love of baking...

is not good for the scale.  I did okay today with making just about as healthy as you can make them chocolate banana muffins (whole wheat, lowfat), but then came the great idea to make my husband some peanut butter/Nutella cookies.  I don't know that you can make peanut butter cookies healthy, especially when you put Nutella between two cookies to make a sandwich.  Of course, I had to lick the batter and try the extra cookie before I indulged in a "sandwich."  I guess I'll have to do some extra exercises on top of my scheduled one tonight, which is Jillian's Banish Fat/Boost Metabolism.  The good thing is that I don't think I'll need another "sandwich" because one was actually too much. 

I go back to school/work on Monday, and hopefully, my schedule will get back to normal.  I don't do that well without a set schedule, especially when it comes to eating and exercise.  I guess that's a positive about going back to work.

Later...

Slow and steady wins the race.

It really bothers me when people look for a quick fix to lose weight.  There are so many advertisements out there for pills and food plans and everything else.  My thinking is if I can't do it for the rest of my life, I'm not even going to try it.  Once those people stop taking those products, there's a very high chance that all the weight will come back on.  Even shows like The Biggest Loser is seemingly a quick fix.  Many of the contestants gain back the weight because on the show, they are not eating enough and losing too quickly.  There's no way someone "in real life" could possibly exercise 6-8 hours per day everyday. 

It's taken me 4.5 years to lose my 90 pounds.  Of course, I did have two kids in there, so in reality, I guess it took me 30 or so months.  That's not a bad average...3 pounds/month.  LOL  I also didn't do anything extreme.  I've been doing things that I can do the rest of my life.  It's not that hard to do. 

So, what do I do?  I exercise 5-6x/week on average, eat fairly "clean"ly, eat whole grains (not white), eat 5+ servings of fruits/veggies daily, eat lean meats and lowfat dairies, and drink lots of water.  I always find it fun to take a recipe I've come across and see how I can make it healthier.  I try out new recipes all the time, as I like a lot of variety.  Speaking of variety, I have a lot of it in my exercise also.  I rarely do the same thing two days in a row.  I have a plethora of videos and incorporate running too.  Not boring at all!


But, everyone has their downfalls.  My biggest downfall is coffee.  I like those fancy iced coffee drinks, but I have learned to either make them myself or get the slightly less fancy ones at places like McDonald's.  Theirs are loaded with sugar though.  I think I've seen devices where you can make your own iced coffee drinks.  I might have to invest in one of those.


My latest try is Muscle Milk.  My husband and I have both been taking and notice a bit of an increase in endurance.  I hope it helps in the long run.  I don't really care so much for the cookies-n-cream flavor like others do, but the chocolate is okay.

Later...

As of today (3/24/10)

I am sitting right around 155 pounds, and as of late, the pounds don't mean quite as much.  I am noticing a change in my body.  Parts are getting smaller (i.e. my stomach, my hips...), and some parts are getting more defined and muscular (my butt, my legs, my arms).  I am doing a whole 30 day program right now (Jillian's 30 Day Slim Down), which includes tons of strength.  I can feel my butt getting tighter.  LOL  I can see my biceps getting larger, and honestly, I love checking them out in the mirror.  I'm not sure exactly how my husband feels about it, but who cares?!  I know he likes most of my changing body at least, and I don't mind him telling me all about it.  :)

I have signed up for my next 5K race.  It's April 3.  Some days I really love running, and other days, I'm just kind of "whatever" about it.  I feel badly spending too much money on it.  We don't have a lot of extra with three kids, but I know I need some good running shoes.  That might really help.  I also need other socks I guess.  Maybe one of these days...

One of the most important things that I'm trying to do right now is show others how important being healthy is.  I have started an after work exercise club, and while it's not really helping to benefit my body, I know it helps others stay accountable to getting fit.  I also try to impress the point of good nutrition and exercise on my children.  I don't mind sometimes when they're in the room with me while I exercise.  My oldest even showed me some of the exercises he does in preschool.  It was cute.

Well, I think that's enough rambling for now.  I need to figure out when to get my exercise in later today. 

Later...

Pictures I want to share

There are lots of pictures that I don't particularly want to write a big post about, but I wanted to share them anyway.

Here I am at my all-time biggest non-pregnancy weight.  This was 6 weeks postpartum with Aiden (April 2005).  I don't put this as my heaviest since I was still in the postpartum stage and breastfeeding exclusively.  I hadn't really started trying to lose weight at this point yet.  I'm guessing I was about 260 pounds here since I was 277 the day I had Aiden.

This one is in May 2005.  I would guess I weighed 250 or so pounds here.  It was Mother's Day weekend. 

Here I am in June 2009 trying to find an outfit to wear to my 10 year class reunion.  I got some compliments that night on how nice I looked, especially from those who hadn't seen me smaller at that point.  I was 182 pounds.

This one was in the fall of 2009, and I weighed about 170 pounds.  I was feeling pretty hot that day!  LOL

I am 157 pounds in these pictures (February 2009).  I've received TONS of compliments, which really fuel my fire to keep going. 

Finally, my muscle pictures.  I think they're bigger in real life.  LOL 

My first 5K Race

November 21, 2009

I signed up with my friend Teresa to run a 5K in Valparaiso.  I think I was more nervous to meet Teresa (an online friend only at that time) than I was about the race.
I put on my hot pink running outfit (see pictures below) and headed out the door.  When I got there, I went into the building to get my race number and tracking device.  I heard Teresa next to me talking to the race officials, and then she spotted me.  We talked for quite a bit about the race and family before we even began.
It was kind of chilly outside, but when the race started, I was okay.  I hadn't planned for the inclines, so that was a bit difficult.  (I have since started running where there are several hills.)
Teresa told me to leave her behind if I needed to, and I did.  I passed several old people and a few younger ones too.  I kept going the whole 3.1 miles, and I ended up finishing in 30:20.  It wasn't my best time, but it wasn't too shabby.  I got second in my age group and 11th overall.  Not too bad for my first race.  I even got a medal!

Here I am in my running gear...

Post-baby #3 Weight Loss (2009)

Gabe was born on 1/22/09.  I gained 40 pounds during that pregnancy.  I was up to 220 pounds when he was born.  After Gabe was born, I REALLY wanted to get back into the game.  I actually started too quickly with working out (what harm could an exercise bike really do?), and I ended up being VERY sore in the ab region.  I guess there's a reason you're supposed to wait 6 weeks for exercise.  Oops. 
On March 19, I was down to 200 pounds.  By June 2009, I was down to 182 pounds, which was when I had my 10 year class reunion.  I was only up 22 pounds from my high school weight.  Not bad considering my heaviest was a lot more than that.  I was doing videos mostly at that time, and I used the 30 Day Shred for the first time. I think I lost 6 inches that month.

In June I decided I wanted to try something new, something I always envisioned myself doing...running.  I started out walking a few minutes then running a minute or two here and there.  I brought a pen along with me so I could write down my progress on my arm every run.  I would get back to my house and tell Pat how long I'd run.  The number kept going up for running and down for walking.  (Let me note here that it's important to have running shoes...new...to do this.)
Finally, one day in early August, I decided to just see how far I could run straight through.  To my surprise I made it 30 or so minutes.  Yeah!  I just kept adding time.  My friend, who'd run a marathon, convinced me to run an organized 5K race with her at the end of November.  That was motivation!
I remember my longest run up to that point being 5 miles in 55 minutes.  It was on Halloween.  It was cold and windy and difficult, but I did it!  I eventually got down to about  a 9-9:30 minute mile before my race.

(see next post for my race info)

I got down to 170 or so before school started this year, but here's a picture at the start of summer 2009.  I was about 180-185.

Post-baby #2 Weight loss (2007-2008)

I gained 31 pounds while pregnant with Ava, so my delivery weight was 247.  Since I had another c-section, I had to wait about 6 weeks to start exercising again, but I sure was ready!  Pat and I started walking with the kids since it was summer, and we had bought a double stroller.  We lived in the country on some quiet roads, so we walked there.  We also walked at the city park some.  Because Ava was born in the summer, and I didn't start back to work until October, that gave me plenty of time to get back into a routine.  I didn't exercise much during pregnancy because I tend to have a lot of fatigue and nausea in the beginning that left me drained and just overall yucky feeling.
I started adding in new workouts, such as Turbo Jam (still one of my faves) and more toning exercises.  I decided I would start getting up before work to exercise.  It made it nice because I could then play with the kids when I got home. 
More compliments came, and I got down to just around 200 pounds by Thanksgiving.  I was averaging 5 pounds/month of weight loss.  I also joined a few online weight loss boards, which really helped me to stay accountable.  We had challenges all the time, and I am competitive, so that helped me work even harder.
I had to take a week's break in exercising when we got flooded out of our house in early January 2008.  As soon as we moved into our new house though, I started right back up.  I became addicted to buying new exercise videos and small equipment.  My video library eventually started to grow to more than 25 videos, so I definitely had variety.
I just kept plugging away and got down to 180 by May 2008.  That's when I thought I felt a bit "off," so I took a pregnancy test or two.  Sure enough...surprise!  Pregnant again.  I actually started working out in the beginning until the fatigue and nausea hit yet again.  I lost a few pounds at first, but I ended up gaining 40 pounds.  When you're "good" for so long then you don't have to be as good, it's easy to put that weight right back on.
Gabe was born in January 2009, and I weighed 220 (a number I never wanted to see EVER again) at delivery.  Such is life.

Here I am in early May 2008, just before finding out I was pregnant again...

My early workouts and weight loss

I started out using the first Biggest Loser dvd and Walk Away the Pounds.  Pat and I also bought a Gazelle machine that I used sometimes.  My back hurt, and I got tired easily, but I knew I didn't want to keep being fat forever.  I frequently thought of my mom while doing any punching moves.  I was mad at her for dying like that and not taking care of herself.  She just sat around all day, eating and smoking.  How dare she be so selfish and not think of what she was doing to herself and others?  I knew I had to change myself for my son and any future kids.  I didn't want them to have to go through the pain of losing me at a young age due to bad health.

Anyway, people started noticing my weight loss, and I started fitting into clothes that didn't fit since I had become pregant with Aiden.  I was feeling good about myself.  I journaled all of my food and exercise, and since I didn't want to write down something bad, I tried to avoid eating it or not exercising. 

I remember at one point my dad telling me that we should market a "water diet."  Drink a gallon of water a day for weight loss.  I decided that I should drink more water, and I eventually made it up to 96 ounces per day on average.  That did help with my weight loss also.

I don't remember exactly how quickly the weight came off, but I know in September 2006, I was down from 246 pounds (Nov. 2005) to 216 pounds.  That's when I became pregnant with Ava.


Here I am at about 220 pounds, which just so happened to be my pre-pregnancy weight with Aiden.

Where I started my journey (11/3/05)

I was at work, and I'd just got done teaching my first period class when my phone rang.  I answered it, and the secretary said my sister was on the line.  It was odd that they'd let her through since I was technically still teaching that period.  Anyway, Alyssa told me something was wrong with Mom, and I needed to get to the hospital.  Before I could even really think of lesson plans or anything, the principal came up to my room with another teacher.  He said my students would have study hall with that teacher.  Little did I know that my mom was already dead, and Alyssa had to tell the office that so I could leave. 
On my drive to the hospital 20 minutes away, I was trying to think of what could have happened to Mom.  She'd had hip replacement surgery just 2 years before, so maybe she'd fallen.  I was trying to think of anything and everything but the truth.  When I arrived at the hospital, my stepdad told me the truth.  I didn't know what to think or do.  I used my grandma's cell phone to call Pat, and he and Aiden came to the hospital.
Some of it is a blur, but I know we had to hear all the details of what my stepdad thought might have happened and that he'd called 9-11 while giving CPR.  She was already dead though.  I know she ate an English muffin last and that she'd fallen asleep on the couch. 
I chose not to see her body, which is something I regret.  She didn't look the same at the funeral. 
Anyway, the next few days were quite rough, especially trying to orchestrate Alyssa having Ethan and letting everyone know about that while trying to figure out my mom's arrangements and everything else.  I'm so glad that Alyssa had Ethan so quickly after Mom's death to help us all take our minds off that horrible event. 
Mom died on November 3, 2005, and she was buried on November 11.  Pat and I went to Merrillville the night of the funeral to eat at one of Mom's favorite restaurants, Olive Garden, and start our Christmas shopping.

It took me a few weeks to realize what I had to do.  A few days before my mom's death, she and I were eating at a restaurant and discussing the possibility of us both getting Lap Band surgery to lose weight.  I had no idea at the time that I was so big, and I didn't think my weight was THAT big of an issue.  But, I did need to do something if I didn't want to die young like my mom.  She was only 47 years old with two baby grandsons.  I wanted to be able to see all my grandkids and even great grandkids.  That's where my journey began.

This picture was taken a month before my mom's death.  My weight was 245 pounds.