Day 3: Love me some Spinning!

This is the bike we use in the spinning class I took last night. I'm hooked! I used to spin a lot before my wedding and loved it! It felt SO good last night to sweat and hurt and sweat some more!
I have figured out my strengths and weeknesses:
strenghths: cardio...put me on a treadmill or a bike and watch me go
                 legs! I love squatting and lunging. Anything that makes my legs burn.
Weeknesses: MANY, but most obvious is upper body strength and the belly:(
                 I tend to carry most of my weight in my belly fat. It's easy for me to lose it in my legs and butt, however I have a muffin top BIG TIME! Which I find this weird since I do a lot of cardio...I guess this is where the diet comes in, huh?!
So here is day three and I have to admitt that today has been a little tougher when it comes to food. I had a sweet tooth craving earlier...and I curbed it:( I ate a little ice cream thing...but no worries. My plan is to not eat such a big dinner.
I also think I need a lot more water. So I am going to focus a lot on that in the next few weeks too.
Tonights workout plan is my Iron Fit class. I'm so sore from the last two days that I'm curious to see if I can even move! Could be comical :)
Dinner plan is Rice (flavored with taco seasoning) and lots of veggies!!!

OUCH! Day 2

I'm sore from class last night!!!
I'm also taking before pictures tonight and if I like what I see in a couple months...I will actually post before and after pictures. It will be gross. But I think it's fun to see progress and who am I kidding...most of my friends and family have had children and know what post baby bodies look like.
I'm planning on tanning a little too:) I used to say that "tan fat looks better than white fat." Come to find out...that is what most people say and think too. So I can't take credit for that motto!!! I haven't been tanning in a very long time because a couple summers ago I suddenly became afraid of skin cancer. Honestly, it was a fear that happened over night. But I think I will tan a couple times and then get a spray tan!

Todays meal plans...
Breakfast: Quaker Weight Control Oatmeal...3 pts
                 lots of coffee
Snack: Weight Watchers yogurt...YUM 1pt
Lunch: Smart Ones frozen meal. These are SO good. Somewhere between 5 and 8 pts.
Snack: Bagel thin or something like that! about 3 pts
           a protein bar before the gym   5pts
Dinner: Something involving chicken. I also have some progresso soups.
I save most of my points for dinner because we eat as a family and I love to scarf a big meal after I workout.
I am going spinning tonight at 5:30. Tomorrow I will have sore triceps from last night and a sore ass from today! AWESOME!

Wedding day pics to keep me motivated ;)

DAY ONE...

I woke up today rarin' to go. I've been eating like crazy lately and as much as I thought I would enjoy all the yummy crap...I found myself feeling gross and not enjoying it at all. All that to say, I am SO ready for this weight loss challenge!
So the challenge is a team thing at my gym. My team consist of myself, Candy, Heidi, Lisette, and Rebecca. Each person pays to participate and the winning team splits the loot at the end. My team is really competitive so I think we will give everyone a run for their money...literally:)
Today we weighed in. I've been pretty consistent about weighing myself so today was no surprise. And although my weight was not a shock, I'm not happy about it. I have never even told my husband how much I weigh. The number just does not come out of my mouth. But if I'm going to blog about this adventure to keep myself accountable, motivated and hopefully inspire anyone that happens to read this...then I need to get real about EVERYTHING.
I am 5 ft 7ish...almost 5ft 8! I WEIGH 166.2 lbs. According to the mirror and the Body Mass Index chart...I am officially considered overweight. A healthy BMI is up to 25 and mine is 26.1.
My goal weight is 150 give or take two pounds. That is really close to my wedding date weight. I think it's realistic. It will be hard work getting there and staying there. But I have the rest of my life to work on it, right?!
My eating plan:
a Weight Watchers type diet. I can't say I'm on WW because I don't pay to go weigh in and I don't have all the resources. I do, however, have an idea of how many points I should consume each day and a calculator to figure out how many points each food is. I am breastfeeding (Thank God) and get lots of extra points for that!!! So I don't feel like I'm starving at all. During volleyball season, I did the ww diet and dropped a quick 11 pounds and that was without working out. So I hope that by combining the two, I will drop weight even quicker.
My workout plan!!!! (I love to workout and sweat so I'm excited to get addicted to it again!)
I am taking a class at my gym called Iron Fit. It's a Crossfit style class. Google Crossfit and take a look...its pretty intense. I will do this Mon and Wed evenings.
Tonight was our first class and I'm pretty sure my face is still beet red. I'm already really sore too. We did a variety of stuff tonight but our workout of the day was:
3 rounds of:
400 Meter run
21 Kettle bell swings
12 pullups (jumping pull ups for those of us that can't do a real pull up)
It took me just over 13 minutes to do this...and it was NOT easy.
On Tues and Thurs I am going to do about an hour of cardio. I am going to do a spinning class but I also like to run on the treadmill so I'll do whatever floats my boat those days.
My goal is no less than 4 workouts a week but would like to shoot for at least five days.

I am happy with my day number 1. I think it was a success. I even saved two points for a skinny cow ice cream sandwich...so that's where I'm headed now...and to watch the Bachelor but shhhhh don't tell my husband.

Resolutions???

The word "resolution" to me implies a little bit of the word "failure!" This may not be true for everyone but it is for me. Anytime I have made a New Years Resolution, I forget it, don't follow through or make excuses why I just can't do it. Therefore, I'm a failure at making and following through!!! I'll be the first to admit it!
SO...I am making PLANS for the year 2011! See, plans can be modified, changed or whatever else and it doesn't necessarily mean "failure." Here are a few of my PLANS for 2011:
-Jan 3rd is day 1 of the group weight loss challenge at the gym...I plan to do this 120% and WIN!!!
-I will maintain my weightloss forever and ever!
-I've started a Boobie Jar! YES, I want to have plastic surgery and that is something else I am not afraid to admit!
-Committ even MORE time playing with my kids and less time watching tv. We have drastically cut down on tv time for Nathan now that Kendall is a little older.
-Continue to work on being a better wife and housewife.
    -this has many layers to it! Maybe a whole different post in itself ;)
-Continue to make the house a home! I want to do little projects to make the house more put together...things for the walls, organization, finish spare room, etc...
-Keep trying to save an "emergency fund." Suze Orman SAYS I need to start looking at our overall wealth and future wealth...we need to start planning and putting away!

Most of these plans are ongoing not just for 2011 but for many years to come.
Wish me luck with my weigh in on Monday...I've really not held back from the "good" foods lately but I am SOOOOOO ready to kick it into high gear on Monday. (what better motivation that having team mates, a winning cash prize, and putting that cash prize into my boobie jar:)) That crosses off the first two items on my list of PLANS!!!!!!
Welcome 2011 and Happy New Year to all my friend and family!

PREPARE FOR PICTURES!!!!

 First up...Christmas at Grandmas!

 This was Maggie's attempt at opening a present! (she is laying on it:))

 Nhi Thuy and Uncle Tom Tom!

 Then we have Christmas Eve and Nana and Papa's!

 Samm, Kyle and Ashton working on their gingerbread house!

 Cutest little Noah Bear!!

 Gary, Heather, Joe and Papa during the gingerbread house competition.

 Alyssa...pretty sure their house was the winner!

 Nana with Alyssa!

 Nathan and Cass working hard!

 Funniest little boys...Nathan, Ashton and Anthony in Beau's cage:)

 CHRISTMAS MORING AT HOME!!!

 Pretty sure she liked Nate's stuff more than her own!!!

 Grandpa Bob and the kiddos!

 Reading with Grandma

 All Smiles!

Christmas can be exhausting:) 
To some up this years Christmas....LOVE!!! One of the best yet!

Updates!

Kendall:
-This girl does not stop! All since Thanksgiving:
   -Started crawling
   -Immediatly started pulling herself up on anything and everything
   -Climbs over and on us all the time
   -Figured out how to clap
   -I swear she waved at my mom:)
   -Eats great...mostly baby food but we have started giving her little bites of our food.
   -Spent 10 days on antibiotics for a stinkin' ear infection
   -Cut her top teeth...now has four in total!
   -Still only sleeping about 4 hours at a time at night.
   -Her nicknames are Kenny, Roo, LooLoo

Nathan:
-Loves to argue but also can be SOOOO sweet.
-Decided he now pees standing up!
-Spent 2 nights in a row at grandmas...I think he wants to live there.
-Is 3.5 but wearing 4T and 5T clothes...shoes is size 8 or 9 depending on the shoe.
-Loves to sing and dance.
-Says his favorite days of the week are Tuesday and Saturday.
-Loves to snuggle.

Cass:
-Turns 30 in two months :)
-Still working graveyards and doing good with the weird sleep schedule
-Just won his fantasy Survivor game at work...nothing like making an easy 30.00!
-Has started a truck fund...to save money to buy a new truck next year.
-Really wants to switch from Comcast to Direct TV to go with our new 42" flatscreen:)
-Provides for his family like a total CHAMPION!

ME:
-Still working on weight loss. Joining a weight loss competition at the gym. Winner get $$$!!!
-Tried kicking out the Lexapro...didn't work!
-Lives in sweatpants...will buy a new wardrobe with my weight loss comp. winnings!!
-Is really trying to get creative with the house. Unfortunately some of my ideas are time consuming so I'm trying to find the time. Ex. painitng, shopping to find exactly what I'm looking for, etc.

That's us in a nutshell as of lately!

Lately...

 Such a cute place...StoryBook Land!

 This was taken a while back but LOVE it...my grandma, mom, bob and Nathan!

 Pumpkin carving in October!

Fun with cousin Noah!!!