a loooooooong day!

Can today just not count? Here I sit on the couch, lap top where it should be...on my lap, chowing down on a delectable double chocolate muffin from Costco. Its an attempt to recover from today. Three kids at home, bickering non-stop, piles of laundry higher than Mt. Everest, and a kitchen that has now been cleaned 4 times today. We've gone on 3 walks around the block hoping that might ease some of the stress....it obviously didn't because I'm here drowning myself in chocolate and calories and thinking about how I should be down on the floor doing 100 crunches instead.

Here's to tomorrow and a clean slate!

Speechless....

So, I was rummaging through my stack of "I'll organize it when the pile takes over my counter"pile this morning and saw a mailing from Similac, you know the baby formula people. My little Corbin is on their Alimentum formula because of allergies, so I knew a long awaited $5 off coupon would be inside. I opened up the envelope with the intent of finding the coupon and throwing the rest of the "how to be a GREAT parent" advice (from people who probably don't have kids) in the trash, when one little flyer caught my eye. The picture is a mother from waist down walking out the door of her home, she's dressed in business attire....a nice black skirt and heels, in one hand she has a laptop case and diaper bag, and in the other hand she's holding the infant carrier with her, what looks like, 4 month old smiling, chubby, happy little baby. The caption under the picture reads, "This Mom has things to do!" Wow! Things to do? Like what? Be a mother? Hold and love and sing and hug, and kiss this little one who has no idea she's about to be dropped of in daycare? Sorry, I know some of you may use day care or even work as day care providers and that is great, it can be good when it is needed. I'm not here to argue whether or not daycare is good. I just think that this little blurb sends the wrong message to us and our daughters, that being a "mother" is not enough.

I know that had nothing to do with fitness, but its all I've got on my mind right now :)

So, back to the challenge. I have had a few successes the past few days. My biggest success is that for the past 3 days I've stopped eating 2 hours before bedtime! I've always been a big, get the kids in bed and sit down on the couch with a bowl of ice cream, type of person. But I got to thinking how many extra calories I was adding to the end of my day....wow! So instead of the bowl of ice cream, or toast with chocolate milk (one of my all time favorites), I've started to dry bananas....and oddly enough they quench the night time snack craving.

Karen, you inspire me! I feel the heat and go right back in the house...maybe today I'll brave the heat and take my boys for a walk :)

Where is everybody?

I think we've gotten off to a bit of a slow start here. I loved the introduction posts from you ladies. They were inspiring. Jessica's class about body image was so important. I totally needed to hear that. And Margie - you going out and exercising in this horrible heat, while committing to writing everything down that you eat was a big step, I know. I know even Ann is giving it her best even though she's got a big trip coming up with all the stresses that go along with that.

I hope this blog can continue to be an inspiration/motivation for all of us. But it can only be if we use it!

I don't know about the rest of you, but my committment wanes if I don't feel a sense of accountability. For me, that's what the blog is.

So, I hope we can all use this blog daily to share our challenges, achievements, funny stories, whatever works to keep us all on track.

Today is weigh in day for me - we'll see if I've done any good.

I hope everyone has a great day! I'm cheering for you!

ugh

So, today was really rough for me. I tried working in my yard for exercise this morning, and did for a while, but I had to come in...it was just too nasty outside. I'm hoping the rain we got today helps cool things down a bit so I can walk in the morning.

I had a really hard time staying under calories and eating all my fruits/veggies. Blah!

But! Tomorrow is another day.

I'm going to go to bed so I can get plenty of rest and feel refreshed tomorrow.

Here's to a better day tomorrow!

This is me

Hey I am Karen's sister Ann. She and I started doing a challenge at the beginning of the year with some ladies in my ward and one by one they dwindled down to just Karen and I. I just have to tell you, any of you that might not be totally "into" this, that this is an awesome way to loose weight and get fit. It takes the focus off of the loosing weight and it is exciting to see the changes that you begin to make.

I am leaving for vacation on Friday, so for me my focus isn't quite there, but you can bet when we get home I will going strong. So good luck to all of you ladies, and thanks for giving this little challenge a chance. If we get more particpates we might want to try teams, that's what worked really great for Karen and I, so if you like what we're doing recruit your friends!!

My kids WILL remember me as being the "fun mom"!

I hope to be one fit chick! Not necessarily a size 6 chick or a chick with chicken legs, but a chick who jumps on the trampoline with her kids, who is willing to run through the sprinklers with her kids; and if they want to run a 5K, I'll be right there with them.

A little intro, I suppose. My name is Jessica, and I'm out of shape :) I'm married to my best friend of almost 10 years. We both grew up in Utah and moved down to the valley of the fiery inferno almost 4 years ago. We have a 6 year old daughter, Riley; a 3 year old son, Gage; and a 4 month old son, Corbin. Life is a bit crazy....okay, a lot bit crazy.

When Karen first asked if I'd like to join the challenge, I was all for it! I have baby weight that is preventing most of my clothes from going on smoothly....Oh, I could get them on if my husband were to liquefy me and pour me in, but thats not the look I was going for. I wanted to be that size 6, to be the one who everyone says, "wow, she just had baby?" But this past week two experiences have changed my objective. The first was the opportunity I had to attend a Body Image class put on by my church. They spoke of what the "world" wants us to look like and the extremes some people go to achieve the pre-pubescent body figure and the lengths magazines go to, to change a woman's appearance (through airbrushing) to make her look "perfect". Then they went back to our two purposes for coming to Earth. (1) To gain a body, and (2) To be tested, then they went on to say, what seems in my mind to be over and over again (probably because its the part I needed to hear most) that our body is NOT the test. What? OUR BODY IS NOT THE TEST! It made sense, it clicked. Do I need to exercise? Yes, to ensure my body is healthy. Do I need to be a size 6? No. Do I need to stress about my rolls and stretch marks? No, they are badges of honor from growing 3 perfect babies inside of me! This body of mine is PERFECT, perfect for what I need to do while I am here!

The second experience happened this past Tuesday night when we received word that my husband's cousin had lost his 2 year old son due to a tragic accident. I looked at my own little ones and then thought about how much time I spend in the presence of my children but absent from what is going on with them. I want to have fun with them, I want to enjoy them, I want to cherish every second of life with them.

So, my goal with this challenge is to get into shape. If the rolls and stretchmarks choose to stay, so be it, but this chick is getting fit, this chick is going to enjoy life!

Great Start!

So, I got up this morning, laced up my WORN OUT walking shoes, got the dog on the leash and walked Hannah to school. I walked around the neighborhood for a little while afterward, too - 40 min. in all. It's sticky and nasty outside today, so I took along some water (next time I need to bring a bowl for my picky pooch who won't drink water out of the gutter - even tho I poured it fresh from my water bottle).

This was me after my walk

Don't hate. I know - I'm gorgeous! The bright red,sweaty face is the evidence of my walk today.

And now...for a quiz...

In the following picture my shirt is drenched because...

a). My dog jerked the leash away from me while I was drinking my water - a clear act of defiance seeing as I forgot water for him.

b). My body is a highly efficient metabolizing machine, and any amount of exercise produces massive amounts of sweat!

c). someone drove by and threw a water balloon at me.

If you guess correctly, you can count an extra point for the day!

Have a great day, everyone! And good luck on this challenge. I'm excited to be back in the game with you.

For this, the first day of the rest of my life I want....

You fill in the blank. To eat healthier, to exercise, to be happy. I am so excited for this new beginning with Karen.

So just a little about me. Mom of two, wife to one insanely busy guy I value serenity and balance though I struggle to achieve the two . I have never been a fad dieter. I try to exercise some of the time. I am not so keen on counting calories. I don't drink enough water. I have quite a few pounds to loose. I am a very non-competitive person unless I am competing with myself. Mostly I just want to get into a healthier routine and have better life habits. No diets for me, please! But this is a great opportunity for me to start somewhere.

I started back last week to my exercise routine and was pretty proud of myself when I figured I had 51/2 miles in. I tried to count calories one day in anticipation of this for Karen and pretty much crashed and burned. I think I just have too much fear about actually seeing what I am eating. I guess there's no better time than the present for overcoming that.

So my goal for this week is not necessarily to count calories but to write down everything I eat. For me this is a big step in moving towards counting calories. That combined with my morning exercise is what I want for the first day of the rest of my life.