Week 9: I CAN'T BREATHE!

Until the day we moved out, our friends and family jokingly told us we need to get out of our house because for one reason or another we all thought it was making us sick or worsening our allergies. We noticed a huge difference when we removed the carpet in the main living areas, but we still had issues. (That is not the reason we sold it btw). Now that we've been out of our house for a couple of weeks, my sinuses have never been worse. There goes that theory... Honestly, I think it's just a coincidence due to timing as my parents' house is super clean. My mom does have a bazillion plants in her garden, but I doubt they would make me this miserable. I'm pretty sure there is something aweful in the air.  I have been streaming non-stop and coughing/breathing as if I had asthma. I remember getting this bad only once shortly after we got married. I went to my doctor at the time who tested me for asthma and the tests came back negative. I even went to a specialist because I swore he was wrong and they said I was completely fine. Ugh!

To remedy this, I have been doubling up on my allergy medicine (which is probably destroying my liver), taking 12-hour cough syrup every night, using my sinus spray, stuffing Kleenex up my nose at night, eating Skittles and lots of food (the chewing helps my sinus pressure), drinking lots of water, and making sure I have plenty of Kleenex at hand. My poor family and co-workers have to suffer through my suffering. I truly am sorry. I think I need to go back to my allergist, but all he can do is prescribe me a different nasal spray or something since I'm technically not allergic to anything. (I still think that can't be right, but 60+ pricks in my skin showed otherwise). I had sinus surgery last November to help alleviate sinus pressure and swelling. It really has helped and I've noticed a huge difference. However permanent nose corks sounds like a great invention. :)

Anyway, all of this to say that I didn't exercise at all. I can't breathe and I'm way too tired in the mornings to get up early. I actually set my alarm to get up early yesterday and cancelled it out because I woke up at 2:00 AM coughing and hacking up a lung. I'M SO TIRED!!!! I've also been stuffing my face with food, which hasn't helped my case either. However, to my surprise when I weighed myself yesterday, I didn't gain or lose a thing and all of my numbers stayed exactly the same! Woo hoo!!!

I'm hoping whatever is causing this mess will die off soon and I'll be able to get back to normal just in time for us to rip out carpet and knock down cabinets. I don't think I'll have any more sinus issues any time soon...........Ha!

Week 8: We're Homeless

Good afternoon!

I just ate the most delicious sandwich from my favorite sub shop, The Great Outdoors! It's their #20 which is Muenster and avocado on wheat bread. YUM! I thought I'd just rub that in. Mmmmmm.

Anyway, this week we closed on our house and moved 90% of our junk into storage. The rest is crammed into my parents house along with all of THEIR new furniture that they are moving to their new house next weekend. Needless to say, it's a bit tight right now. However, they have totally made us feel at home. We couldn't be more blessed to be able to stay with them while we are waiting to move into our new home. Thanks to all of our friends and family for helping us move! You guys rock!!

This week, we have seen God's hand in SO many ways. A couple hours after we signed away our home, our AC broke. Really??? REALLY?!?! Could that have happened at a worse or more awkward time? We had so many questions. What do we do? Is it still our house? Do we fix it? Does the home warranty cover it now? Will the home warranty company even believe us? How are the buyers going to react? The next morning, we had the AC guy come look at it and it was just the fan motor that broke. We went ahead and paid for it to make sure that we took care of ALL of our problems before we handed the house over. The buyers were very understanding and were great to work with during this whole fiasco. It was a good lesson for us that God is in control of ALL things - good and bad. The night the AC broke, the weather was nice and I even slept with the comforter on me. Thank you, God, for your provision.

The night we were officially out of our house, Brad had to run Rhys to the ER because he had a 105+ fever! Can I tell you how frightening that was??? God's timing was perfect in this, too, because had it happened one day earlier, we wouldn't have been able to leave him at our in-laws while we finished moving. Our nephew who lives in their house is having surgery on Wednesday and couldn't chance getting sick. (So far, it seems has hasn't gotten the virus - yay!!) We also would have been completely exhausted and had no energy to move our stuff. Thank you, God, for your timing.

Some of our friends who were missionaries in Ethiopia came back home on Sunday. The kids and I stayed home since Rhys was sick, but Brad took our van in case they needed help with their baggage. They ended up not needing his help, but the airlines lost the car seat for their daughter. Fortunately Brad had Rhys' in the van so they were able to use it! Thank you, God, for taking care of the details.

God is good, all the time. All the time, God is good. Can I get an AMEN?? : )

So, not much on my eating and exercising, but hopefully my numbers will show how I did. :D

Week 8 Results:
Weight: 178.4 lbs
Body Fat: 44.3%
Water: 40.6%
BMI: 30.6 (Obese)

Difference from Week 7:
Weight: - 1.6 lbs
Body Fat: + 0.6%
Water: - 0.4%
BMI: - 0.3

Week 7: Exercise... it does the body good!

Hey guys! What a crazy week it has been! I'm sorry I'm just now posting this. I did NOT forget to weigh myself on Tuesday, but I haven't been able to find the time to update my blog. (I did manage to find time to play Candy Crush though... priorities people!!)

Well, the title of this post is slightly misleading as it wasn't until Tuesday night that I actually really "exercised" aka packed. BUT I did weigh myself the next morning and I'm hoping my results next week are even better based on that little sneak peek I got. I know I'm jumping ahead and had I posted this on time none of this information would be applicable to week 7's post, but alas, it is my blog and I can do what I want. Including run-on sentences! Even just packing our junk in boxes was good exercise. I broke a sweat, I walked a lot, I lifted "weights", and I drank a lot of water. Don't laugh! It's hard work. I also made sure to keep my boxes in my living room so I had to walk to them no matter what room I was packing up.

I packed some more today and helped Brad move stuff to our storage unit. And I sweated a lot more. Ew. However, I feel great! Last week I didn't exercise and I didn't eat great, but I made sure to make some healthier choices when I went out to eat. At Buffalo Wild Wings, I wanted to get a burger topped with a brat, topped with cheese, topped with bacon, but I got a garden party instead which was celery, carrots, flatbread, hummus, and ranch dressing; at Gloria's, I got there a little later than some of my co-workers, so I didn't have as long of a time to snack on chips and black bean dip (YUM!!!), and I ordered a chicken tostada instead of nachos or an enchilada like I normally do; and at Charlie's Grilled Sandwiches, I ordered the chicken teriyaki salad, which was DELICIOUS!! Normally I would get the Philly Cheesesteak sandwich with fries. Eating out is still not great, but at least I'm not eating heart attacks.

In a couple of days we will be moving in with my parents who are also exercising and eating healthier, so it will be good accountability and encouragement to be around them.

Here are the results from last week:

Week 7 Results:
Weight: 180.0 lbs
Body Fat: 43.7%
Water: 41.0%
BMI: 30.9 (Obese)

Difference from Week 6:
Weight: - 0.4 lbs
Body Fat: - 0.1%
Water:  0.0%
BMI: - 0.1

Week 6: Stress Eating (Part III)

I'm really hoping next week's title changes. I've been avoiding all of you because I'm embarrassed to post today's (yesterday's) updates. I have hit my "ignore" button on my weekly reminder for this blog numerous times. I even had a coworker get onto me about eating a couple of fun-size chocolate bars yesterday to which I responded, "I'm stress eating, I don't care." Yup. That's me. I don't care. But... I do. If I didn't care, then why am I writing this post? If I didn't care, why do I still want to keep trying? What is it that is causing me to give in so easily???

I did HORRIBLE last week!! Yes, I'm stressed, but I don't have to eat this way. I'm having a really hard time NOT giving into my woes, my stress, my immediate gratification needs (at least at the time I think it's is a "need"), and my lack of self-control. I'm a walking pity party. I also think I have a bit of depression going on right now. I can't begin tell you how much I've been sleeping, how much junk I've been eating, and how much crying I've done in the last week alone. Yes, Brad and I are going through a roller coaster right now with selling our house so quickly, having another house fall through and not being able to find another permanent place to live. However, I'm trying to find comfort in food and self-wallowing. HELLO!! There is my problem. I need to turn my focus away from myself and up to God. He is in control of all things! Philippians 4:6-7 says, "4:6 Do not be anxious about anything. Instead, in every situation, through prayer and petition with thanksgiving, tell your requests to God. 4:7 And the peace of God that surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus." 

Brad and I have family around us that we are able to stay with. Lots of people don't have that luxury. We have a roof over our heads, food in our bellies (a little too much actually :) ), two healthy beautiful children, each other, and most importantly God in our hearts. 

This week I'm going to work on my self-control. I need to put my big-girl pants on and learn to say "no!" I need to start going to bed earlier to start walking again. We're not doing stuff around the house at the moment, so I haven't been getting in much exercise. 

Pray for me. Please!


Week 6 Results:
Weight: 180.4 lbs
Body Fat: 43.8%
Water: 41.0%
BMI: 31.0 (Obese)

Difference from Week 5:
Weight: + 1.6 lbs
Body Fat: + 0.2%
Water: - 0.1 %
BMI: + 0.3

Week 5: Stress Eating (Part II)

Stress.... it does a body good. NOT! But.... kind of. So our house is mostly all packed up. This weekend I was stressing about not having time to do everything and it turns out I plowed through packing up all of our junk pretty good. If I pack any more, the boys won't have toys, we won't have clothes, and we'll be eating off of paper and plastic for a while. I think that is the only reason I lost weight. I was shocked when I saw that I lost. I thought for sure I was going to gain. When I stress, I eat. When I stress-eat, I eat BAD. We had chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream in the house... need I say more? Anyway, here are my results. I hope the next weeks to come will be even better!

Week 5 Results:
Weight: 178.8 lbs
Body Fat: 43.6%
Water: 41.1%
BMI: 30.7 (Obese)

Difference from Week 4:
Weight: - 0.4 lbs
Body Fat: - 0.5%
Water: + 0.3 %
BMI: - 0.1

Week 4: Stress Eating

Slowly but surely the pounds are coming off. This week I did a lot of stress eating with selling our house in one day and not being able to find another one - eek! I need to keep some carrots or snow peas or something healthy on hand to munch on instead of ice cream or cookies. I didn't exercise this week and need to get back to doing that. Once we start packing and moving, it will be different, but I was pretty stagnant this week.

To add to the stress, I may have Jury Duty today.... joy. It always seems to happen right something big happens. I've never been able to serve, though, and I want to for the experience. Two times now, I've been asked to serve right before we move. The first time, we were moving into a different county by the appearance date, so I wouldn't have been able to serve. This time I'm on stand-by, so I won't know until 11:00 if I'm serving or not. Then, when I was 9 months pregnant with Rhys I was asked to serve, so I asked to postpone my service. The following week I received a request to come in a week AFTER Rhys was due. HELLO! After my second request to reschedule, I didn't hear back from them until now.

Anyway.... we're praying we find a new home soon. The nicer apartments near us are booked, house rentals are more than a mortgage, and staying with family is very temporary. We know God is in control and has a perfect plan for us. I wish His clock was in synch with mine, but know His timing is perfect. :D


Week 4 Results:
Weight: 179.2 lbs
Body Fat: 44.1%
Water: 40.8%
BMI: 30.8 (Obese)

Difference from Week 3:
Weight: - 1 lbs
Body Fat: + 1.0%
Water: - 0.7 %
BMI: - 0.1

I'm not sure why my body fat and water complete flip flopped the last two weeks - my scale isn't 100% accurate either.

PS - totally random, but I LOVE CAKE WRECKS!! Great Post!

Week 3: Back on Track

Good morning, folks! Last week wasn't the best, especially considering it was only my second week! However, this week I got back on track. I didn't do any "traditional" exercise as I was working hard around the house all week. Our house is FINALLY on the market! Yay! I ate a few more calories than normal, but I wanted to make sure I had enough energy to do things around the house. Overall I did really good! I did have some pizza, banana cream pie, and even some donuts (gulp), but I ate really well otherwise. It's a short post this week, so here are my results:

Week 3 Results:
Height: 5'4"
Weight: 180.2 lbs
Body Fat: 43.1%
Water: 41.5%
BMI: 30.9 (Obese)

Difference from Week 2:
Weight: - 2 lbs
Body Fat: - 1.0%
Water: + 0.7 %
BMI: - 0.4

All of my numbers are going in the right direction! It's encouraging to see my body fat percentage go down. I'm REALLY close to getting out of the obese category with my BMI; I just need to lose a little over 6 more pounds.

Thank you for all of your support and encouragement. I read all of your comments and listen to what you tell me in person and I get butterflies in my tummy. I can't say enough that you guys rock!

Week 2: Train Wreck

Greetings! I hope you all had a wonderful week. My husband and I have been working our butts off (quite literally) around our house. We're getting ready to sell it and have been doing last-minute updates like crazy. This has been my main source of exercise this week, actually. I did yoga on Wednesday and walked on Thursday, but that's all of the traditional exercise I did.

Ready for a train wreck?! My eating this week was atrocious! This week was the first week in several months where I ate out several times. (The definition of eating out in this instance are sit-down restaurants as we tend to get fast-food a lot [at least we used to].) I went to Gloria's with my sister-in-law on Tuesday and ate two of my three beef enchiladas that were smothered in cheese. The chips and bean dip they serve are irresistible, too. I also partook in a mojito. I completely paid the price the next day when my stomach was totally off - ugh. (You're welcome for that memento.) On Thursday, I went to Taco Diner with a co-worker, again pigging out on chips and salsa. They had a new roasted tomato salsa that I couldn't stop eating. Then, of course, I had to try their new fried avocado tacos and tagged on some black bean and corn tacos. Why only order two tacos when you can have four? The waiter told me to do it. On Friday, I went to Kenny's Italian Restaurante for a co-worker's birthday celebration and ate veal with a white wine caper sauce, one prosciutto wrapped fried mozzarella cheese stick and quite a few pieces of fresh bread dipped in oil and balsamic vinegar. Our church had a women's event on Saturday which featured a dessert spread. I made Devil's food cake cupcakes topped with salted caramel icing. Now, the icing had to be sampled several times while making it to ensure the entire batch was consistent. That was mandatory. I was tempted to take a picture of my plate when I filled it up with all of the desserts, but was too ashamed. So instead I'm plastering my shame on my blog... I'm just considerate like that. I didn't eat every single thing on my plate, and I announced my intentions to my table as I was sitting down. But I still ate more than enough. To top it all off, we ordered pizza on Sunday night as all four of us were out in the yard all day and Brad and I didn't have any energy to make dinner. We also didn't have any food in the house. We wanted something fast and easy, so we ordered pizza. I had two big slices of Papa John's cheese pizza and two slices of their cinnamon dessert pizza. All in all, I had a pretty balanced diet, don't you think?

My biggest struggle was my mindset when going out to eat. "If I'm going to eat out, I can't just get a salad. I need to get something that the restaurant specializes in. Why would I choose to eat here if all I'm planning on eating is some lettuce." (I know there are other healthy things than a salad, but you get my point.) At each restaurant this ran through my head and the Devil won each time. I was fighting with myself to make a wise, healthy decision. Each time, I felt so guilty for what I chose, especially since I gave into temptation. A friend of mine reminded me of a verse, 1 Corinthians 6: 19-20: Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? 6:20 For you were bought at a price. Therefore glorify God with your body. I CHOSE to eat poorly. I CHOSE to ignore eating healthily. I CHOSE to consume all of the fat and horrible calories. I CHOSE to not glorify God with my body.

Yesterday when I weighed myself, I couldn't help but think where my numbers could have been had I not made all of those bad choices. I can't even tell you how shocked I was when I saw what the numbers were. The only reason why my numbers are where they are is because what I mentioned at the top: I'm literally working my butt off around the house. I waited to post this because I needed to test myself yesterday to make sure I could eat better and get back on track and I did. I didn't do it so I could post better numbers today (the number below are as of Monday morning ... my true weigh-in). I did it to slap myself in the face that I CAN do this, it's totally possible, and every single decision matters. This morning, all of my numbers went the right direction and I made progress. I'm going to stay on track. I'm going to make good decisions. I'm going to glorify God with my body. So all of this to say... my weight didn't change at all last week, which is truly by God's grace.

Week 2 Results:
Height: 5'4"
Weight: 182.2 lbs
Body Fat: 44.1%
Water: 40.8%
BMI: 31.3 (Obese)

Difference:
Weight: 0 lbs
Body Fat: -0.3%
Water: +0.3%
BMI: 0

Week 1: Not too shabby!

As I've mentioned, I'm going really slow this time around. This week, I woke up before 7:00 every morning. Monday - Thursday I either walked or did yoga for 30+ minutes. Friday, I didn't do a specific exercise. However, all day Friday, Saturday afternoon, and most of Sunday, I was going non-stop with cleaning the house and yard work as we're getting ready to sell our house. As far as eating, I did pretty good, but not great. I definitely did WAY better than I usually eat, but pizza, calzones, and Hot Tamales don't exactly fit in the "healthy" category. I'm not going to beat myself up for those items like I used to do. I told myself that I'm going slow and I'm ok with it. One step at a time. I will say, though, I had a small victory last night. I really wanted some Reese's Pieces and was getting up to get a handful, but instead found myself in the bathroom?? So, I weighed myself and am SO glad I did. I looked at the scale and said to myself, "You know what? Those Reese's Pieces are NOT worth messing up my numbers." Then, when I woke up this morning, they were even better!

Week 1 Results:
Height: 5'4"
Weight: 182.2 lbs
Body Fat: 44.4%
Water: 40.5%
BMI: 31.3 (Obese)

Difference:
Weight: 2.8 lbs 3.4 lbs
Body Fat: +0.4%
Water: -.03%
BMI: -0.6

I need to see my body fat and water percentages go the opposite way than they are going, but otherwise, pretty good, huh?? :D Thanks again for all of your support and encouragement! You guys are the best!

Gotta Keep Trying!

If you fall, pick yourself up and keep trying. This is my motto right now. I know I keep trying to get healthy, then shortly fall on my face. Each time I proclaim, "This is it! I'm really going to do it!" Then a week or so later, I'm done. However, I have hope. I know I can do this! I HAVE to keep trying - I cannot completely give up. Philippians 4:13 says, "I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength." I know I cannot do this on my own - I need Christ's strength to overcome my weaknesses: poor food choices, getting up early, exercising, etc.

I didn't want to post this yesterday as I didn't want people to think, rightly so, that it was an April Fool's joke. :) I'm back on the horse and am going to do this!! A co-worker of mine told me to write a list of the things I like about being healthy to give me some motivation. Here are my top three things:

1) My relationship with God gets stronger: every night and morning I pray to God asking for His strength to say "yes" to the things I need to do and "no" to the things I should stay away from; I ask Him for help to roll out of bed when what I want to do is sleep; I depend so much more on Him throughout the day than I usually do, which is a reminder to me that I have things SO backwards right now; and I hope to be His light through this by giving Him glory.
2) I like the way I feel: the energy I get, not feeling gross after stuffing my face with food, and the confidence I have from choosing healthy foods.
3) I like the way I look: it's nice when I don't have to push my stomach fat into my gut when I bend over so I can reach my toes; my full-size spare tire starts to go flat; I can confidently wear my cute clothes and not hide behind sweaters, jackets and baggy shirts; and I can FEEL pretty!!

So, per my measurements yesterday, here are my starting numbers:

Height: 5'4"
Weight: 185 lbs 185.6 lbs
Body Fat: 44%
Water: 40.8%
BMI: 31.9 (Obese)

My accomplishments so far:
- Yesterday and today, I woke up at 6:00ish and took a 30 min walk. I averaged a 17 minute mile. (I'm not sure if that's good or not for walking).
- I passed up 1/2 price Easter candy even though they had my FAVORITE available, and threw out 1/2 a bottle of Dr. Pepper when I wanted it the most. Those were definitely by the strength of God.
- I've eaten relatively well the last two days.
- I've gone to bed over an hour earlier than usual so I can get enough sleep and wake up more easily in the mornings.