Just LIVE!

It's Friday and the 3rd day of Challenge365!

2010-06-11T11:19:00.000-07:00

Well I know that last night I hit on the fact that changing our lifestyle impacts your children so much, but I'm going there again! When we tried before to lose weight, our biggest excuse/problem was we didn't know how to incorporate the kids! We tried plans that you bought all your meals from... that was great except we still had to feed the kids, not to mention lugging all those boxes around when we went out of town. Plus, we are human, we are going to go out to eat! We now feed the kids the same thing we eat. Of course we have to be a little creative, for example on pizza night, we make one for us like you have seen on previous posts and one with cheese. On spaghetti night, we do whole-wheat noodles, spray butter and a little Parmesan cheese. The kids HAVE to learn to eat health from a young age so they don't have to go through this when they are older like us! Snacks a big battle in our house. We completely cut out sugar cereals! I found that my kids would sit around and eat a bowl of fruit loops in the middle of the day... and I wondered why they were so cranky... DUH KEISHA! Anyway, we have found that the kids do like fruit, they actually love it. They like different things, Morgan is into grapes and apples, Alex loves oranges and watermelon and Carson like just about anything you put in front of him! I took pics to prove to you that kids will eat healthy when given no other option!!! I'm not saying it happened over night, because like us adults, they had to undergo their own sugar detox. Just be patient and don't give up on them... they need this as much as you do!

Alright... how is it going so far? Anyone want to share? ANYONE AT ALL??? Happy weekend!!!

Thursday Night Post, Day 2 of Challenge365

2010-06-10T18:52:00.000-07:00

So I'm begining to wonder if there is anyone out there reading this and following any of the advice? I'm really hoping YES so I will continue on! If this is able to reach just one other person and help them feel the way I do now, than it is totally worth it!!! I hope you are all doing great following your food, reading some educational books and exercising so far!

It's almost the weekend and I know this is where it gets harder. You are all home from work and want to go grab some quick food out on Saturday afternoon or Sunday after church. I know the drill, you think that it's just this once and you will change tomorrow. Well fight the temptation with all you have!!! It's just not worth it. You are trying to change your life which means you have to train your brain! You do not need the junk, your body doesn't want it, it's just your brain. Teach your brain that you don't want it either.

So another awesome thing about changing your life and getting healthier... teaching your children the importance of health too! This is something that I knew was important, but I had no idea the impact it would make on my young children. Tonight we had a swim meet and it dawned on me that we probably wouldn't be here if we were in the same place we were a year ago. Our kids see us being athletic and want to do the same. We encourage them to do the best they can and to be proud of themselves for what they accomplish! I was a proud momma tonight, my little guy swam in his first meet and he was SOOOO EXCITED AND PROUD!!! My daughter did great too, her first meet was last week! I've told them both that it's not about coming in first place, it's about giving 100% and doing the absolute best job you can do! This is something that I've only recently learned. The triathlon I did was not a race to be number one, it was a race against myself to finish! I was very proud of myself and I've learned that it's ok to push myself to things that I would ordinarily shy away from. God gave me this body and I should be proud of it and take care of it! It can do way more than my mind thinks it can... mind over matter!!!

Two of my babies... Morgan is the girl in the middle and Alex is the little guy in front! They are with their sweet friends Taylor and Allie.

First Day of the Challenge

2010-06-09T13:47:00.000-07:00

Well, I hope those of you following the menu and making a change had a successful first day! Last night for dinner Andy made us one of the awesome pizza's I have on the Menu to right hand side of the post.

This is a whole-wheat crust (Whole Foods Brand, Organic 365). He added pizza sauce, roasted bell peppers from a jar, artichoke hearts, 2% mozzarella shredded cheese and spinach on top. Set the over for 425 and cook till it's the way you like it!

This is my new FAVORITE snack food!!! Dark Chocolate Acai with blueberry. They are so awesome, they are perfect for a quick sweet fix. Serving size is 1/4 cup and contains 7g of fat and 180 calories. However, they are very good for you! My kids LOVE them, they call them chocolate balls and eat them like they are candy! I can't believe I have tricked my kids into eating acai and blueberries, YAY!!! We bought them at Costco.

On another note, I have found a training schedule that I am going to be starting tonight for my first workout! My good friend Kristina and I are going to run a half-marathon this coming October in Athens, GA!!! I'm so excited because I went to college in Athens and the run will go directly through the University of Georgia and the surrounding area. You can check out my schedule here.

Remember to keep up with your exercise, try to hit 30 minutes of walking a day. Keep up with it now, because every week it's going to change and get more difficult to jump in. Just keep a smile on your face, because you are changing your life! Try to take a pic of yourself in the mirror or something each week, it's a lot of fun to go back and look at them later!

If you are following this, send a quick comment so I know who's actually reading this, haha!

Week ONE of Challenge365

2010-06-08T04:16:00.000-07:00

Alright everyone, here it is. Your one year challenge. I know there is at least one person out there reading this, so I will continue to update this blog with weekly instructions and lots of tips and just inspiring tips throughout the week. We will all get on the blog and update our progress every Monday. For those of you with a blog of your own, I will set up inLinkz so you can link your blog up to the post directly with your update and those of you without one can leave a comment so we can all be accountable! If there is anyone out there right now, I would really like to hear your story and so would others... for inspiration!

For week ONE, follow the menu I have added on the right hand side of the blog. For breakfast, pic ONE that works best for you and do it every day! It's a good idea to make this a habit and keep it simple. For lunch, feel free to change it up, but again keep it simple. For me, it was much easier to just have the same thing when I was home at first. Now that I'm more confadent in my choices, I am much more flexible. For dinner, you do not have to follow my menu perfect, just try out the different recipes and fit them into your life! We actually eat spaghetti twice a week most weeks, because it's good and easy! I will also be adding a link to the right about fast food options! It is ok to eat out... we are HUMAN. Just be ready and armed with the right choices to make when eating out.

Please remember that I am not a doctor or nutritionist and this is NOT a diet! This is a lifestyle change and I am just trying to put the advice that has helped my family make a lifestyle change. Following an eating plan is great, but in the long run you will have to learn why we should and should NOT eat certain foods, so I am going to suggest some books that you should pick up and read! Use this as a learning time, you don't have to know everything before you make your change, learn as you go. I'm still a work in progress too and I'm learning right along with all of you!

The books to start looking for are the "Eat This NOT That" by David Zinczenko. There are several different choices in this series, I suggest picking up the new 2010 edition shown here.

Also, lets all start out getting up and moving this week. I'm not sure the fitness level of all the readers, so let's start easy and work up from there. If you are more advanced, feel free to modify at your own comfort level. Let's start out by walking 30 minutes a day! Try to do it every day, but if you can't, don't beat yourself up! Do your best... that's all anyone can ask!!!

GOOD LUCK EVERYONE! Be sure to comment with YOUR story or link up to the post with your own blog and story!

One year challenge!!!

2010-06-07T08:56:00.000-07:00

Alright, so I've been thinking a lot lately about the past year. Well almost a year. We started changing our food and losing weight July 20, 2009!!! I've been reflecting on that journey for me and how it has changed me. I hear the same thing from so many friends...

-oh I can't believe you've done that

-oh I could never do what you have done

-oh I wish I could do a triathlon, but I can't

blah blah blah... the list goes on and on!!!

So I've decided that if there is anyone out there that actually reads this blog and would like to take the challenge, I would LOVE nothing more than to show you how you can not only lose any extra weight, but complete a sprint triathlon too!

Every year in June, there is a "My First Triathlon" at Lake Lanier. There are so many people of so many different fitness levels. Some are in amazing shape, some are huffing and puffing to get through, but they all have the same goal in mind... FINISH! If you are reading this and you live nowhere near me, I'm sure you too can find a sprint triathlon or some other type of event to join in and accomplish. The point is to have a goal and stick to it! Anyway, here is what I propose for those interested. Every week, I will set out some menu options. I will work with my sweet hubby Andy with the dinner recipes (since he does the cooking). He has some amazing options! You can pick the ones that you would like to try (I encourage you to try new ones, because you never know until you try it). Every week we will meet up on the blog and share our progress and any ups and downs we experienced over the week. I will add some things that I experienced along the way at each level as well. I will have to go pull out my journal! I'll iron out all the details over the next couple days and get the post up for anyone who is interested. I don't really mind if there is only one person out there reading this, I am more than willing to give my help!!! Thanks everyone, hope to hear from many of you soon. Please feel free to pass on the blog to friends and family who are interested as well.

The question is... WHO'S WITH ME?

Well I DID IT!!! I completed my first triathlon!

2010-06-05T21:30:00.000-07:00

I am very proud to announce that I completed my very first sprint triathlon today! My time was 1:45:48. I was so proud of myself for doing this and beating my goal of 2 hours! The swim was my weakest part, since I am clearly NOT a swimmer, but I plan on working on that. The biking was my favorite part! I had no idea I would enjoy it so much, but it was very relaxing and gave me some time to recharge before the run. The run was HOT! It was so hot I thought I was going to catch on fire. I just kept running along... but it was way more difficult than I had planned on the run to be! I love to run, it is my strength, but you wouldn't know it by the 31 minutes it took me to run the 3.1 miles today. In any event, I had a great time and I found something else that makes me happy and keeps me in shape! I of course can NOT skip over the most important part... my family! They were awesome, cheering me on the entire race. My sweet husband helped me set up before and after the race AND watched the 3 kids! Thanks honey, I really appreciate it!

I'm BACK!!!

2010-04-22T13:57:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone... it's been a long time since I've posted on this site! I apologize for that... it's been very busy around here. For an update... we have continued eating healthy and working out. We no longer follow the rigid 15g of fat per meal that helped us lose our weight. Once we were at a healthier weight, we started learning what was good and what was not! We eat much better than we did even then! I barely eat meat at all anymore. I do a lot of black bean burgers, veggie burgers, whole wheat pasta and organic foods! I will be sure to add some pics on here of the past few months so you can see where we are now! I can promise you that I will NEVER get back to where I started!!! I LOVE being the size I am now (115 pounds) and I will stay this size!

On another note, I have been very busy making lots of homemade goodies for my new etsy shop. Go check it out, if you see something you like, convo me and let me know you found my shop from this blog and I will give you $5 off any dress or top and/or a free lens cap holder on the camera strap covers. Thanks and have a great day!

http://www.etsy.com/shop/mommymac2004

Some of my Etsy items...

New Training Program AND My Baby Niece turns ONE!!!

2010-02-08T11:55:00.000-08:00

So, since my first official run... I am addicted!!! I'm starting a training program for a half marathon! I will start tonight... I tried to start last week, but it was cut short after our trip to Tennessee and the SNOW! Anyway... I'm going to run my short 4 mile run tonight.

On another note, we went out of town this weekend to celebrate my nieces first birthday. I know there are a lot of 1st birthdays, but this one was VERY SPECIAL! My sister's water broke when she was only 22 weeks pregnant, she delivered MaKenzie at 29 weeks, she weighed 3lbs. 4oz. Today... she is one year old and a CHUNK!!! God is so good and we are so thankful to him for letting us have her in our family! Also, she has NO problems at all that you might expect with such an early birth! A MIRACLE BABY!!!

Completed my first 5K!!!

2010-02-01T08:51:00.000-08:00

Wow, it's been forever since I've been on here! I'm sorry, I will try to post more often. Life sometimes just gets busy. Last week was 3 birthdays in my house, so I've been in party planning mode for some time! My husband and I had a birthday on Wednesday and our daughter turned 6 on Saturday. I'm not 28 years old, woohoo! Anyway, back to the post. I ran my first 5K on Saturday morning. I was joined by my husband, brother in law and my cousin. It was sooo cold and raining. Everything was frozen over, brrr. It was 33 degrees when we ran! My time was 28min. 44sec. I was very happy with this time. I usually run it much faster, but I'm usually not running outside in that weather! I was very proud considering that only 6 months ago I was 155 pounds and could barely walk 3.1miles without huffing and puffing! My husband finished in 32min. 14sec., this was an awesome victory for him as well. I was so proud of all of them out there with me that morning! We had a blast!!! Can't wait for the next run. We are doing another run in March, I'm going to train for the 10K this time!!! Set goals!!!

Quick Reflection

2010-01-05T11:35:00.000-08:00

Disney World Pictures from Thanksgiving 2009 Trip!

So my mom posted something on her facebook last night and it made me start thinking. She was talking about how much she loves life and how your life can be as GREAT as you make it! She has a point here. She also mentioned that you are the one to decide how your life will be. This is very true. So, as I was running last night on the treadmill, I was thinking about what she said. Here is what I took from it...

Your happiness is not measured by how much weight you lose or how much debt you pay off, how much money you make or the size house you live in. It doesn't make you happier if you drive a fancy new car or have top notch decorations in your home... happiness is so much deeper and simpler than all that! I didn't lose weight and all of a sudden realize I was happy... it was a process. I had to look at all the things that made me happy and work from there. For example... I have a wonderful family, 3 healthy children and an awesome husband! I started there and worked around that. I want to be healthy so I can teach my children how to be healthy too, I want to live as long as I can so I can watch my children grow up and become adults! I want to have a life with my husband AFTER he retires like I do now! I don't want to get the kids off to college and realize we can't do all the things we planned because we are too out of shape or have too much debt and not enough income! So, I MADE A CHANGE! I am a very happy person, my life rocks, however, that doesn't mean that everything goes perfect all the time... because it doesn't! Life is a roller coaster, you have to learn to take the bad with the good. The journey is way more fun than the end result!

I hope that all of you will take the plunge too, it's sooo much fun! JUST LIVE!!!

Weight Check after Christmas!

2010-01-04T06:13:00.000-08:00

A picture of Carson and I on Christmas Eve... he was so tired!!!

Well... I weighed in and after Christmas and New Years and 10 days away from home... I'm now 120 pounds!!!

I'm so excited, because I haven't been this small since I started college! The best thing is I'm losing weight now by being athletic, which is totally different! I feel GREAT and my tummy is shrinking! YAY!

I'm going to put some before and afters on here of my husband too... his transformation is amazing! Stay tuned... kids go back to school tomorrow so I'll have a little more free time to write on here!

Out of town for 10 DAYS!!! HOME!

2010-01-02T08:49:00.000-08:00

Well, I did it... I survived Christmas and New Years without eating everything in sight!!! Usually the holidays are pretty rough, because all the goodies just sitting out asking for you to eat them, but I resisted! I stopped myself from eating a hundred smores, but I did have ONE last night and it was sooo yummy! Probably better since I held off so long! Anyway, I have not weighed myself yet to see what change I have in 10 days! I've been eating well and running so we will see find out...

On the financial front... everything is looking well. We have been paying off our debt with the Dave Ramsey snow ball. We made a payment on the 31st to put our current credit card balance under $2000! It may not sound like a big deal, but we have managed to pay off more than $14,000 just like this since March 1st. I need to get busy listing some more things on ebay now that the holiday are past and life is slowing back to normal.

My food and New Running Shoes!

2009-12-29T08:39:00.000-08:00

What do I Eat?

This is the question that I have been asked the MOST!!!

I've decided to sit down and right down what I personally eat every day. This does not mean that it will be the perfect thing for you, but it has worked well for me! I will also let you know what my husband eats, because we have different schedules that allow for different meals for breakfast and lunch.

BREAKFAST:

My typical breakfast is a Zone Bar. I know it sounds like not much, but it really keeps me full!

Total Fat per bar: 6grams

Calories: 190

You can also add a small glass of skim milk if you would like.

My husband has a little more time than I do in the morning so he makes oatmeal or steal cut oats. NOT the instant oatmeal... that stuff has way too much sugar. He adds cinnamon and bananas or raisons. Decide what works better for you and pick something that you will stick with! For me, I do not have time to cook anything in the morning because I'm busy running to the bus stop and carpool!

LUNCH:

My typical lunch is a black bean burger by Morning star and a serving of BAKED chips.

Total Fat: 10grams... 7 grams (burger), 3grams (chips)

I also look around for good veggie burgers and salmon burgers to use to change it up.

My husband is out of the house during lunch time, so he either takes his lunch to work or eats at Subway.

If he takes his lunch, he takes a wrap. That is a whole wheat wrap with a sliced turkey and FAT FREE cheese, with a side of baked chips.

At Subway you have tons of options. He usually picks a turkey sub, 6 inch, flatbread or whole wheat bread. Load on the veggies, NO CHEESE!!! ABSOLUTELY NO MAYO!!!

My personal Subway order is...Veggie sub on flat bread. I load it up with all the veggies that I like and add sweet onion sauce! It's so yummy, I can't believe I didn't eat it years ago! Subway always has BAKED chips too! Yay for Subway, they are great!

SNACK:

Around 3:00pm I eat a snack. Usually I will have half of a zone bar.

Total Fat: 3grams

If you are exercising before this, you may to have the entire bar!

My husband has yogurt. Probiotic yogurt, NOT sugar flavored! PLAIN YOGURT! Check the fat, make sure it's low. He adds blueberries or any fruit on it. This is totally up to you, however DO NOT SKIP THIS!! It will help keep you full until dinner and it will keep you from stuffing your face at 6pm!!!

DINNER:

We do a lot of fresh veggies on the stove, very little oil! We will put it on whole wheat tortillas. Another typical dinner for us is the black bean burgers cooked and smashed up, add fat free cheese (melt it on your burger in a bowl) put on a whole wheat tortilla and add salsa. If you eat meat, stick to lean meat! Chicken can me baked or grilled, just cut off all the fat before you cook it! Eat lots of veggies and even fruit if you like it! The more good stuff you eat the less bad stuff you will crave!

NIGHT SNACK:

I run at night because that's the only time I can with my kids! After I run I have a zone bar for energy and carbs! It's also a great idea to have half of a banana before you exercise because it gives you energy for your workout.

DO NOT MUNCH ON SNACKS LATE AT NIGHT!!!

stick to a healthy low fat night snack, but that's it! I have mine around 8, because thats when I'm done running. I would recomend eating a snack around 7 or 7:30!

Remember I'm not a nutritionist, so please don't think that I am!!! I'm simply a mom who was tired of being FAT!!! I hope this helps! If you feel like you need more, don't starve your body, it knows what it needs!!! Please feel free to ask any questions!

Alright, so I bought a new pair of running shoes... woohoo!!! I did run in the ones I had, but once I started running 3 miles a day, I thought it was worthy of buying new ones! I picked a pair of Nike Vomero 4's. I read so many reviews online that I thought I was going to go crazy. I narrowed it down between the Nike Vomero 4s and the Nike LunarGlides. Both were awesome, but these happened to be the ones I found in my size in the better color. You really can't go wrong with either!

Transformation... Part 2!

2009-12-26T10:17:00.000-08:00

So here is a current picture, I am sorry it's not that great! I will add a better one soon! I am out of town and I didn't want to make you wait until I got home for an update!

I am wearing a size 2/4 jeans and weighing in at 122 pounds!

I am thrilled to say the least! I love my newly found body and I'm still working to tone the areas that need it. I have had 3 c-sections so I have a way to go to rebuild the muscle in my tummy.

This picture was taken a few days ago. I put on my size 10 shorts that I was wearing on our beach trip this summer (pics on Part 1 post).

I am still eating the same amount of fat in my diet. I maintain less than 15grams per meal. There is NO REASON to eat more than that!

Recently I have added running to my daily routine. I never thought I would enjoy running, but it is very relaxing and peaceful to me. I would like to eventually run a marathon (hence the blog site name). For now, I'm focusing on a 5K run at the end of January. I just started running a few weeks ago, so I will continue to update you on the progress of that.

I will say, the first run I did was NOT GOOD! After about 2 minutes of running I thought I was going to DIE! Seriously, I had to tell myself that it will get better... and it has. The first time I ran one mile I was so excited I could almost cry. I never thought I would be able to do that. I am currently running 3.1 miles about 5-6 times a week. I do see changes in my body from running. I see my belly shrinking above my scar. This is exciting for me!!! I hope you are inspired my story and start your own. It is the BEST thing you can do for yourself and your family! Please leave comments and let me know if you are also in your own journey. Together we can help others and encourage ourselves to continue when the tough times come!

Thanks everyone, hope you all had a great Christmas!!!

Transformation of myself... Part 1

2009-12-21T08:08:00.001-08:00

This is me in April 2008. My youngest was 5 months old at the time, so I justified my weight as "baby weight". I was wearing a size 14 jeans in this picture, I was about 165 pounds here.

This was at my daughters preschool graduation in May 2009. At this point, I think I had just given up and tried to make the best of the situation. I am wearing a size 12 pants and I'm around 160 pounds.

This is my youngest and I on our summer vacation to Charleston, SC July 2009. I was feeling a little better since I had lost a little weight. I'm wearing a size 10 pants and weighing in at 155 pounds.

This picture was taken on the same summer vacation as the above picture. We were at Myrtle Beach, July 2009.

After this trip, we came home and I decided I was tired of living like this!!! I was so tired of picking through pictures from our trips and only showing the ones without me on Facebook. I was tired of having adorable kids and feeling like a fat blob! I was so happy in part of my life... I have a great husband and great kids. Yet I was so miserable in a different party of my life... I was not the way I felt I should be. The biggest question is... how and where to start? Well I'm not great at cooking at home, so we eat out a LOT! That had to stop! When we did cook at home, it was usually the cheapest thing I could buy at the grocery store... that was also the worst for you! High in fat and just gross! Well we decided to start with something simple so we would quit!

We started by only eating 15g of fat per meal! Sounds too simple, but take a look at what you eat and how much fat is in it... scary!!! If we were going to go out, we would get online first and check the nutritional facts. We didn't really pay much attention to calories and stuff at first, that would have been too difficult and we wouldn't have stayed on track!

We started on July 20, 2009. I weighed in at 155 pounds that morning. I was wearing a size 12 or a size 10, but they were tight on my belly!

We didn't tell our families how much we had lost, they saw us for the first time at Halloween for my youngest sons 2nd birthday. To say the least, they were SHOCKED! Everyone started asking us how we did and they all wanted to know what we were eating etc...

At Halloween I was 132 pounds and wearing a size 6 jean.

Check out Part 2 of my post where I reveal my current weight and jean size and show you more about how I did it and what I'm doing now. Not only have I lost a lot of weight, I have completely changed my lifestyle... come see for yourself!