Not forgotten

I wish you all could hear me laughing right now!!!! It has been almost 2 months since my last post!!!! I have not "forgotten" about the blog but finally realized that I needed to just give it up for a bit. I had been wavering back and forth with making wise choices and then making choices tat were opposite of wise ;) I had been getting myself excited and worked up about successes and my "plans" to make myself succeed. Then I would get frustrated and overwhelmed when those plans did not come out as I intended.

In some aspects I felt like I was letting you down. I know ultimately this whole blog is not about being perfect. In fact, it is quite the opposite.....it is about being REAL!!!! No one is perfect, no not one....that is in the Bible if you are interested ;) So although I would have loved to have shown everyone how self-controlled and disciplined I could be during pregnancy, I have to step back and realize that my trials are helpful too!

At this point I have put on 37lbs. I am nearing the 32 week mark. My belly is measuring 2 weeks ahead, which helps me to feel better about the weight gain because if my belly is huge then it would make sense that I weigh more ;) I never did get into that prenatal yoga. The one time I tried it, it totally kicked my pregnant butt and I was like "Never mind!!!" He he he ;)

I am VERY much looking forward to poppin this little monkey out and getting back in shape :) I am getting super excited to get back on the WW wagon and start running again :) YAY :) I already have some goal to focus on for the fall. There is a 5k on Sept. 24th called Miles of Hope for Moms Who Mourn. I did this race last year (They had a 5 mile option that I did) and I finished 3rd out of 50 women!!! Granted, it was a run/walk.....but still I was very proud of myself. This year if I have to walk some of it that is totally fine. I just want to DO IT, period!! The next thing I am thinking about is Homecoming weekend at my college back in MI :) (Alma College, in case you are wondering) Homecoming is usually the 1st or 2nd weekend in October.So I, if I pop this kid out at the end of July I can totally rock homecoming without looking like I just had baby #4, right? RIGHT!!!! YAY :)

Alright friends, I am off to start a fun filled day with my family!! Big guy is about to graduate from Kindergarten next week and he just lost his first tooth on Tues ;) Lots of excitement around here ;) I am not going to say when I will be back, I will just say that I WILL be back ;) So.....I'll be back ;)

Chao!

HEY STRAGNERS!!!

Hey strangers :) How the heck are ya? I am feeling great today after a wonderful marriage retreat this weekend :) YAY :) I surprised the hubby with getting us pedicures and a couple's massage :) He had never had a massage before and he loved it :) YAY :)

Food wise the weekend was a bust. It turned out that one meal would be pretty smart and the next would be the opposite! BUT I am really excited because this week I plan on implementing some movement into my daily routine!!! YAY :) One of my friends is letting me borrow a prenatal yoga dvd :) I think I have mentioned before that Jazzercise just has not been working out lately. I have only been able to hit that like once a week (better than nothing!). So, I am very anxious to start getting some exercise time each day (every day is ideal but I will settle for three times a week if I have to!!) With the weather warming up I am hoping to get outside and walk more too!!!! YAY :) It is almost 80 out today :) I am about to hit walmart for some flip flops!!!!

Now I need to meal plan for the week!!! Gotta get my head in the game!!!

If you have a few spare minutes, leave a comment and let me know how you are doing!!! Also, how are you planning on keeping motivated as we enter the spring/summer season?

I cannot wait till Summer is born and I can get out and start running again!!!! Yes, the baby's name is going to be Summer ;) Summer Jean as a matter of fact ;) I know....kind of dorky cause she is gonna be born in the summer and all but we like it :)

Talk to you all soon!
B

Beautiful

I will post an update soon.
Take a moment today and remember that you are beautiful, RIGHT NOW!!!! Yes, we may have more steps to take to reach certain goals but let us not forget that there is One who created us and He made us beautiful according to HIS definition of beauty, not the world's!!!! Read this article I found today. ENJOY!

http://www.crosswalk.com/devotionals/girlfriends/

Excitement and fear....all at the same time!!!

Alright, so we are beginning another chapter in our lives. Food has been on the table (so to speak) for almost two years now. However, taking drastic measures to make sure our finances are in order as been on the back burner (I am full of them today!). That is until now!!!!!!

Husband and I have decided to go to a cash only system. Now, all you thieves out there, do not come and break into my house expecting to find some mad cash ;) We do not have "lots" of money by any means. What we are attempting to do is to cut out spending that is not needed. So we are looking at each pay period and trying to figure out what things we NEED. Then we divide the cash up into labeled envelopes. We make sure to have all our NEEDS counted out before we even thinking about having an envelope for things like going out for coffee, etc. Here is where the fear and excitement come in ;)

I am totally geeked to finally say "ENOUGH IS ENOUGH!!!" and REALLY try to get out of debt and be good stewards of the financial blessings God has given to us!!!! I am also scared because it is just so foreign to us. I think of things we will have to sacrifice. There will be things that have to be given up here and there. When I stop and really think about it though, it is not like I "deserve" any of the extras that I blow my money on, ya know? Those things are a privilege, not a right.

How does this relate to me being healthy? WELL......If we do not have have the cash then I cannot buy the crap!!!!!!!!! He he he ;) Using that little plastic thing we call a debit card has really enabled me in my journey to health. I swing through McDs whenever I have "a craving" or whatever. Now, like I said....not having cash set aside for that will make me think twice!!!!

I had a little bit of "my cash" left in my wallet so I intentionally blew it yesterday and today on fast food items. I felt as if it were my last rebellious act or something ;) Now, if fast food is going to happen, it has to be planned for in advance. There's an idea ;) He he he ;)

Prayers in this area of our lives would be much appreciated!!!! I hope that each of you are doing well and making wise choices in all areas of your life....not JUST food ;) Until the next post .......

PEACE OUT ;)

OW!!!!!!!!!!!!

Pregnancy is usually my friend. I LOVE being pregnant! I do experience the occasional sciatic nerve flare up, swollen appendages near the end and sore back. However, this time around the lower back ache has kicked in super early!!!!!!!!!! The past few days I have been so uncomfortable!! I do not want to be a whiner but DANG!!!! He he he ;) I have tried tylenol and applying heat. Neither seem to touch it. If I lay down it eases up but as soon as I stand it is killing me again!!! I would not be so concerned about it is I did not have 4 1/2 stinkin months left!!!!!!!!!! AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!!!!

The thought occurred to me that maybe it did not start this early with the other pregnancies because I had so much junk in the trunk so it kind of balanced out the big belly ;) So this time, the belly being as big as it is already might be putting a lot of stress on the lower back. Ugh.....not too sure. I will probably be going back to my chiropractor very soon. That always helped with the other pregnancies.

Food wise, well....good one day, not so good the next. So, today is supposed to be a good day ;) I had a good breakfast (honey bunches of oats w/slices of banana and strawberries, 1cup skim milk). Now to keep it up throughout the day. Oh and of course....DRINKING MY WATER!!!!!!!!! I ate poorly yesterday and I did not get my water in....guess what? I felt totally icky!!!! I am sure you can tell the difference on the days when you fill up with what is good for your body versus the days that you don't right? You would think that would be enough motivation to keep us filling up with the right stuff!!! He he he ;)

Alright folks.....push on through this weekend with a positive attitude and wise food/drink choices!!! Do not let the weekend be an excuse to go totally crazy!!! Have a little popcorn or ice cream but make sure you are not eating an entire Ben & Jerry's carton all by yourself !!!!

Much love, my peeps!

Middle of the road?

Made more of an effort today to not stuff my face with junk :) The one thing that threw me for a loop was the awesome oatmeal chocolate chip cookies at my friends house ;) I ate 4 of them!!! They were SO good!!!! Since I am already talking about what I ate today here is my daily run down, I will blabber on some more after that ;) I am thinking today would be classified as middle of the road. It did not rock but it did not totally suck either ;)

Breakfast- 3/4 cup honey bunches of oats, 1cup skim milk

Treat- 4 oatmeal chocolate chip cookies

Lunch- Turkey medal ions Smart One, 1 cup grapes, strawberry yogurt

Treat- about 6 cadbury mini eggs

Snack- 2 pieces whole wheat cinnamon raisin bread

Dinner- Slow cooker lasagna, salad, 1 piece garlic bread

Snack- Popcorn, 1 cup orange juice

Oh....and some jelly bellys thrown in there somewhere ;) He he he ;)

So here is my exciting news.....I MADE IT TO JAZZERCISE TONIGHT!!!!!!!!!! Yay :) So...like I said, even though my food choices were not 100% where I would like to see them, they improved AND I worked out :) SO...GO ME :)

Working out almost did not happen tonight though. I could not find my work out pants to save my stinkin life!!! I was SO irritated. I looked everywhere. Honestly, this whole afternoon I felt like my brain was not even in my head!!! Could not find Brendan's book for sparks, lost my work out pants, put clothes in the dryer but did not start it, put clothes in the washer but did not start it....AAAHHH!!!!!!! He he he ;) It was nuts!!!!

I was NOT looking forward to going to target and trying to find the same pants! I went and looked for quite awhile. No luck. I looked on the clearance rack and there was one pair of them on sale for $5, down from $20!!! YES!!!! They are actually a size bigger than the ones I lost but since I am getting bigger it may prove to be for the best ;) I am still hoping the ones that are MIA will show up at some point !!!!

I have gotten some great encouragement over the past few days from people about this little blog. THANK YOU!!!!!!!! It means a lot to me to know that people are reading this and that you are being inspired to fight the good fight !!! Keep up the hard work!! We CAN succeed at living a life that is healthy!!!!!! I will try to check in with you all very soon!! Love you and goodnight :)

3:30am.....

Ok kiddos....I have had people asking where my newest post is.....well...it is right here!!!!! I have been meaning to write one for a few days but days just get away from me SO fast !!!! In my head it makes sense to blog at night cause then I can recap that particular day rather than posting in the middle of the day. However, since I have not been consistently typing out everything I have eaten in a day I suppose an afternoon post may be ideal since I usually have a little bit of energy to spare that point vs. the evening when I am exhausted ;) The pic you see here was taken over the weekend. I am 20 weeks 4 days in the pic :)

As you know, I have been feeling discouraged lately. That just will not cut it !!!! I am choosing to not let myself feel condemned for a bad day (or week). I KNOW that I need to press onward!!! I think for the most part I am still doing a pretty good job at getting in my fruits and veggies. I have been drinking a bit more water (oh and SoBe Life Water...YUM!!!!). I need to focus on those things that I am doing well !!!! I even made a menu plan for this week for dinners and I am sticking to it for the most part :) YAY :)

The other element I NEED to keep in place is remaining active!!! I have not been able to make it to Jazzercise for about a week. I was supposed to go at one point last week but had a headache that morning and chose a nap instead of working out. Then tonight (er, uh, yesterday) I was all set to go and guess what? Flat tire on the van!!!! UGH!!!! I think it worked out ok though cause I ended up going to bed by 8pm. Well, except now I am up at 3:30am writing a blog ;) He he he ;) Oh well ;)

My husband has been awesome through all of this! Poor guy, I cannot imagine how hard it is to be a husband ;) Us women are so back and forth emotionally when we are not pregnant.......so when we are pregnant I am sure it is even more difficult to deal with us ;) This morning I told hubby flat out that I am struggling and that I need his help. I think I have been keeping this struggle with food too quiet. When I was talking to him about it he even commented that it did not seem like I was having that hard of a time. I told him that it is because I have been doing it in secret. It is the drive through at McDs on my way to work (and I work for WW of all places!!! Sheesh!!! He he he!) and things like that which he may not even know I did. He was so gracious to me. He actually stopped and prayed for me right there!!!! Huge blessing!

So......let's keep moving!!!! This is week 21 of pregnancy and I want this second half to be a good one!!!!!!!!!!!! If you are struggling, take a deep breath, be honest with yourself and then take the next step you need to take to make a healthy choice TODAY!!!!!!! Do not beat yourself up for yesterday!!! Honestly, it just makes it more likely that you will repeat that pattern. So....TODAY IS A NEW DAY!!!!!!!!! Let's get it !!!!!!!!!

Feelin Lucky?

Feeling lucky today on St. Patty's day? I would not call it lucky...I would call it blessed! I was SUPER sick with sinus stuff last week so there was no bloggin to be done. Today, I can say I am starting to feel a lot more like myself!!!!! This also means that I am becoming a lot more positive about my ability to be successful at being a healthy pregnant woman!!! YAY :) Just looking around my house today at my kiddos, I just had so much joy in my heart because I am blessed with such great monkeys!!!!

Speaking of monkeys......guess what.......we know the gender of the new little one!!!! We are having a little GIRL!!!!!!!!!!!! YAY :) Two and two and we are done ;) At least I think we are done ;) God may have a different plan that we do ;) He he he ;) I am glad I do not have to stuff three boys into one bedroom!!! I think the whole family was hoping for another little girl :) The hubby was for sure, which I think is SUPER cute ;) I love that guy :)

I tackled menu planning and grocery shopping today :) Feels so good to get the "good" stuff in the house!!!! Only down side was when I went to eat some strawberries and found a little spider inside one of them because it was hallow!!!! EW!!!!!!!!! Made me want to throw out the entire container!!!! Ok, so after weeks and weeks of not telling you what I have been eating, here is what I ate today:

Breakfast- 1cup go lean crunch, 1/2 cup of 2% milk (would have been a whole cup but we only had 1/2 cup left!!!), banana

Lunch- Ham and cheese lunchable- reduced fat version with chocolate pudding, then I finished a little of the kids' crackers from their lunchables ;)

Treat- 3 cookies (small ones), 2tbs ice cream, 1/3 cup crasins

Dinner- 1 slice Parmesan Turkey Meatloaf, 1/2 cup peas, 1/2 cup potatoes (sliced 'em, drizzled with olive oil and spices and then baked them), 1 cup milk

Treat- medium SHAMROCK SHAKE BABY!!!!! Hey, it is St. Patty's day!!!! Had to have one ;)

1 Eddy's frozen fruit bar :) YUM :)

P.S. On a side note, I have given up my Starbucks Java Chip Frappacino for lent ;) Doing fine with it so far!!!

#4

Ha, number four.....yeah......I am NOT talking about baby number four. Unfortunately, I am talking about McDonald's #4. Two cheeseburgers, medium fry and a medium coke. I have fallen victim to lack of self control several times with this little number :(

I have neglected the blog for several reasons. I have been CRAZY busy and well, I have just not been trying very hard to make healthy food choices. This is a really hard deal while being pregnant !! I know a lot of it is the fact that I am making the excuse that since I am pregnant I can go ahead and do it. I also know that it is due to the fact that it IS hard to do while pregnant (and when not pregnant).

Honestly, I just feel so alone in this. I started the blog so I could hold myself accountable and so I could encourage other people along the way. However, I still do not feel like I have anyone who is checking in on ME, ya know? I mean, people tell me the blog is encouraging them and that helps me to want to keep going with it. But, in reality I feel alone in this fight. I am not saying that anyone else is at fault for me making poor choices. I just wish I had people who would ask me how I am doing with my eating and challenge and encourage me, ya know?

The fact that we are so busy makes it really easy for me to make excuses. On top of the busyness, my sinuses have decided to act up yet again!!!! Also, our almost 6yr old has been having strange things going on with his heart. So, we will be getting a heart monitor that he needs to wear for a whole week. We are hoping he has one of his episodes while wearing it so we can figure out what is going on! So, yeah.....stress is a big factor too.

I NEED HELP!!!!! Not sure what I think that would look like, but I need something to help me move forward and not get stuck where I am at !!!!!

Still pregnant and still not fat ;)

Hey y'all!!!! I am FINALLY feeling better!!! Back to the spunky crazy me that you all know and love ;) He he he ;) The past two weeks have been a whirlwind of busyness coupled with sickness which meant that my blogging and my eating were......not exactly where I would have liked them to be!!!! Not to mention being pregnant with number four is enough to put anyone over the edge anyway ;)

Tuesday night we had women's small group and I felt so sick the whole time. Stuffy head and then the cough started. Half way through our meeting I got really hungry. I decided since I was feeling so icky and that it would be late when we got done that McDs would have to do. Well.....it did ;) I ordered a number 4 (ironic? he he he). This meal consists of two cheeseburgers, medium fry and a drink. I actually ordered a shamrock shake for my husband for the drink so at least I did not have soda ;) Anyway, I ate those cheeseburgers in probably less and two minutes flat !!!! Do you want to know the crazy thing? After I ate the burgers and fries I was STILL very hungry!! I honestly felt like I had not eaten anything!!!! It was insane. Now, I know that people say that it takes 20 minutes for your head to catch up with your stomach. So, maybe it was because I ate them so fast that my head did not realize that my stomach was full. Or maybe since I am a pregnant lady in the second trimester I really was still hungry. I will never know for sure.

What I AM very thankful for is that I jumped on the scale on Friday just to see what it said. I was pleased to find that the scale read 2lbs under what my Dr.s scale said :) Part of it was what I was wearing and I am sure part of it was due to being sick for two weeks. I was still surprised. Especially because I was not focused on eating wise healthy choices these last few weeks. Hey, I will take it though ;)

After not blogging for awhile I really started to beat myself up. I started to believe lies about myself that are just not true. Lies like "You cannot keep up this blogging thing....you are not eating well enough." or "You might as well quit blogging because it is obvious that you are going to start eating like a pig and not be able to stop." I need to continue to remind myself that, just like when I was on program, I will have good days and bad days. Maybe even a good week and then a bad week. It does not matter as long as I pick up and move forward with determination!!!! So, that is what I am planning on doing this week, friends!!!!

On a really fun note, we had a Weight Watchers open house in Milwaukee yesterday. Not sure if you have seen the recent TV commercials for WW or not. There is a wonderful young mom named Esther who is in one of the commercials. Guess who was at OUR open house? Yup!!! Esther was there!!!! She is actually an official blogger for WW. Here is the address for her blog:
http://www.faintstarlite.com/ She has a link to the commercial on there somewhere too.

The afternoon was just so much fun getting to hear from Esther and then learning about wise food choices. Everyone was so friendly and full of smiles :) That is why I LOVE this job!!!! People come in looking for encouragement and that is what we are there to provide!!! Those of us who work for WW are living proof that if you work the program, the program will work for you! Of course any one of us will tell you that it is hard sometimes. That is another great thing though, being able to be transparent and honest with people. When a person sees how vulnerable you are it makes them feel like they are not alone. Anyone with me on this one?

That is all I have for today. No food log (although I am pretty sure I know everything I ate today). I have my kitchen loaded and ready to fire off healthy choices this week. Dinner planned out for each evening and all that good stuff. Let's do this!!!!!!!!

Just cannot stay away....

Alright folks, I just thought I would amuse you with a pic of me and my husband from back in the day as well as a more current pic ;) For those who do not know, we met in high school........at band camp ;) Can you get more dorky than that? This summer will be our 15 year Kissiversary :) Aw ;) I will post a real post soon.....still under the weather but on the mend!!!!
ENJOY!!!!

Pregnant + Sick = BLAH!!!

No posts since about Friday.....yeah....this pregnant girl is not doing so well. With eating, you ask? Well, yes and no. I have been going back and forth with that. I have everything written down from Friday till now. Just have not plugged it in on here.

Really my deal right now is I am just plain miserable :( I have been sick for over a week. I thought last Thursday was the worst but as it turns out it was only the worst in one category. I am pretty sure I have a sinus infection and last Thursday I just threw myself back in bed when the hubs got home in the morning. My head was so stuffy and I was just not able to function. The next day I had work so I knew I needed to rest. Felt ok enough to go to work and had a pretty good weekend over all.

Here we are on Tuesday evening and I feel like I have been knocked in the head with a giant sledge hammer. Like I said, I am just miserable. Now it is not so much the sinus aspect that is making me feel so poorly. At this point, it is the lovely chest cough that is setting in :( I just took some cough medicine and I am about to get to bed. I am praying I will not be up all night hacking. It hurts to cough.

Going to the Dr. to get some antibiotics and probably an inhaler will be the next thing on my to-do list. That and of course.......REST!!!! So, my dear blogger family, please be patient with me as I may be out of commission for the rest of this week. I may just start blogging and logging the food again this coming Friday. I would like to do it every day but I have to give myself some slack here. I want this blog to continue to be fun for everyone, including me. So, if I force myself to keep up with it even when I feel like this then I think it may lose that "fun" side, ya know?

So.....until I am more "me".....night night !!!!!!

Finally Friday!!!!!

Today has been a pretty successful day in life in general. I was really worried that today would be really hard to get through. As I mentioned yesterday, I am not feeling well. Combine that with the fact that I was up until 3am and you could have a recipe for disaster!!!!

Not sure exactly why I was up that late. Part of it was probably because of the rest I got yesterday morning. Oh yes.....the other reason would be that the hubs and I had starbucks at 8pm last night. Those two things combined can make it pretty hard to sleep ;) The my mind kept running and running with details about next fall. YES...next fall. I know, I am crazy ;) I was thinking about work, MOPS and our small group from church. I kept wondering how all of that will play out schedule wise. I am confident that everything will fall into place ;)

Day two of work meant that I would not be sneaking in a nap during the day today. So, this morning I prayed and asked God to sustain me and help me to accomplish everything that needed to be done today. That is something I NEED to remember to do every day though ;) I got the kids all up and fed this morning, big guy off to school, showered when the husband man got home and then I went to work :) It is still strange to say "went to work" ;) I like it though ;) Had to make sure to pack stuff to eat for lunch while I was there. Good thing I remembered that !!!!

When I got home I WAS able to get a little nap in because my husband is awesome :) Then he took a nap after me. He had worked all night last night and then stayed up with the wee ones while I went to work. While he napped I worked on piano with the big boy and then got dinner prepped.

Turkey burgers were on the menu for tonight and they were GOOD!!!! Now the kids are about to head to bed :) Husband and I are planning on having ice cream and relaxing together :) Good start to the weekend if you ask me :)

Tomorrow morning is a women's event at church talking about marriage. I am very eager to hear what God has to say to me about that particular topic ;) There is always room to grow in that area!! The question I am asking myself is if I want to go work out at 6:45am and then head to the women's meeting. UGH. The immediate answer is NO!!! However, I KNOW that if I go work out I will feel SO much better about keeping myself healthy while pregnant !!!

In baby news, I have been feeling the little bean moving a bit more lately :) I am SO excited for that to become a regular occurrence :) Our BIG ultrasound is March 14th :) Hopefully the little booger will show the goods ;) For a while I was convinced it is a girl, now I am thinking it is a boy......only time will tell ;)

Friday foods:

Breakfast- banana, 2 pieces of toast with 2tbs of PB

Snack- nectarine

Lunch- 1 cup grapes, 6oz blueberry yogurt, mini cinnamon sugar bagel, WW multi grain crisps

Dinner- turkey burger, salad with fat free dressing, 20 light regular flavor chips

Treat- 1 cup monster cookie ICE CREAM!!!!!!!!! YAY :)

Sick.....not fun....

Being sick is one of my least favorite things in the world. Ok, seriously, what kind of crazy person would say that they LOVE being sick? He he he ;) I could feel it coming on for a couple of days now. My throat was sore on Tues. and Wed. This morning BAM!!!! I was hit full force with the sinus yuck that haunts my life! I usually have sinus issues from Sept. until May. I have had all kind of tests done to figure out what my problem is. Turns out I have an immune deficiency thing that I was born with and there is nothing they can do to treat it. Bummer!

This morning I felt so icky that my hubby stayed up after working all night last night so that I could rest. I was in bed from 8am-11:30am. Got up, had lunch, laid the little guy down, put blue's clues on for sissy and then I laid on the couch for most of the afternoon. I even had someone bring the big kid home from school.

Of course, now, here it is going on 11pm and I am still awake when I should be back in bed sleeping. I am scheduled to work tomorrow so I KNOW I need to go get my rest. I just wanted to make sure to post my food intake for the day ;) Until I hear back from my boss, I will not be posting any points values. After reading some of my top secret employee info. I am not sure if it is "allowed'. So, dear readers, I will continue to log what I eat, I just may not be able to share the pts values with you. I will keep you posted ;)

Breakfast- 1 cup strawberries (remember I went right back to bed, otherwise I would have had more than just a cup of fruit!!!!)

Lunch- sandwich- 1oz ham, 1 slice american cheese, lettuce, mustard, 2 pieces of healthy life bread, 1 cup Mrs. Grass chicken noodle soup (YUM!), 1 cup O.J.

Snack- 1 egg and half a piece of toast with jelly

Dinner- Smart Ones Ravioli Florentine- SO GOOD!!!!, salad with red wine vinaigrette dressing, vernors ginger ale

Treat- Skinny pumpkin spice latte from starbucks (a.k.a. the devil as my hubby would say ;) He will drink starbucks but his heart is with those little mom and pop local coffee shops!!! I like them both!!!)

Log for Tues. 2/15 and Wed. 2/16

HOORAY!!!!!!! Today was a GREAT day for my tracking!!! Do you know WHY today went so well? If you read my previous post from today then you will know the answer.........because I PLANNED!!! YAY :) Now check it, I DID have McDs but the rest of the day I chose very smart things. At this point in the evening I still have 3 pts left :) Part of that is because I went to Jazzercise and earned myself some extra points ;) Anyway, I have lots of other things to get to tonight before I crash. So, here is the food log from yesterday (Tues. 2/15) and today :) I am "planning" on making wise choices tomorrow as well :) Won't you join me?

Tuesday Feb. 15th-
Breakfast- yogurt- 4pts +, 2 pieces healthy life toast- 2pts +, 2tbs PB- 5pts +

Lunch- Chunky soup- classic chicken noodle- the entire can- 6pts +

Treat- more of that darn rainbow chip cake- 10pts + (the cake went to work with hubby last night though!!! Thank goodness!)

Snack- banana- 0pts +

Dinner- Smart Ones mini pizzas (four of them)- 7pts +, McDs small wild berry smoothie- 5pts +

Snack- popcorn- 7pts + (I really do not know for sure since it was on the stove. I should really try to figure that out some day!!!), Vernors ginger ale- 4pts +

Wednesday Feb. 16th-
Pre-MOPS snack- banana- 0pts +

Brunch at MOPS- grande java chip frap (that an AWESOME friend surprised me with!!!)- 6pts +, 1/4 cup of some cheese potatoes- 5pts + (guessing here), 1/4 cup of yogurt and fruit- 2pts +, cookie- 3pts +, cherry crumble stuff- 5pts + (guessing here too)

Lunch- mighty kids meal from McDs- 6 piece chicken nuggets- 7pts +, small fry- 6pts +

Dinner- Fussuli (pasta) with yellow pepper sauce- 6 pts +, broccoli- 0pts +

Jazzercise- 4 activity points :) YAY :)

Snack- nectarine

Another little snack.....who knows what it will be ;)

Cliche?

Failure to plan is to plan for failure.

Ok, how many of you want to smack me in the face right now? Your initial reaction may be a defensive one "No, I can still succeed in making wise choices even if I do not "plan" for them." Now, take a deep breath and ask yourself if that statement is 100% accurate.

Honestly, I think that the old cliche is definitely onto something but I do not think it is always 100% true. I think that we CAN still make wise food choices, at times, even if we have not planned ahead. I do however, know that planning ahead can REALLY REALLY help us stick to our healthy lifestyle!!!!!

As I mentioned earlier this week. I did not "plan" for the days when I had training last week. So, I ate out more than I would have liked. What is my weapon for this week? I PLANNED out meals for dinner. I then went to the grocery store with a LIST for those meals and anything else that we NEED for the next two weeks. I stocked up on lots of fruits and veggies. You know what? It feels SO SO SO SO SO good to have a plan!!!! There may be a few days here and there that the plan does not play out exactly how it is written on my calendar. I have to realize that I will survive and that it is OK!!!!

The point is that I am setting myself up to succeed!!!! Most likely, if you buy food for a specific meal you will try to use it up instead of letting it go to waste. We know that letting food go in the trash is not only wasting food but wasting money as well. Neither of which we would actually want to do.

Planning for two weeks worth of meals may seem quite overwhelming. Let me assure you, I do NOT cook a "real meal" every night of the week. I take a look at our schedule and figure out who has to be where which nights or what the activities look like during the day. I then plan accordingly. I know that if I have MOPS and three other activities in one day (Lord I hope I never have that much going on in one day ;) He he he), then the dinner for that night needs to be quick and simple. That may mean that we have a frozen pizza that night. You may be thinking "Wait, did she just say FROZEN PIZZA? I thought this girl was blogging about eating healthy!!!" You see, writing it on my calendar that we will have frozen pizza on Wed. night will help me to plan to eat more strategically for the rest of the day leading up to pizza time. Make sense? I will also plan on NOT eating 5 pieces of said pizza!!!!

Let me encourage you to start some kind of planning of your own. It may be for two weeks, it may just be for two days. It really depends on what you think you can handle at the moment. There have been weeks where I was SO overwhelmed at the thought of planning dinners for two weeks that I could only bring myself to plan for one week. TOTALLY fine!!! What have I been telling you this whole time? You CAN make wise choices!!! You CAN change the way that you eat and live!!!! YOU CAN DO IT!!!! Let's do it together!! You are NOT alone!!!!

New train of thought-

Pregnancy. Yes, that is something still on my mind. Makes sense, considering I am pregnant and all that ;) I figured I would just give you a little update on how things are going. I am 16 weeks along. We heard the heartbeat on Valentine's day :) SO excited :) Up until this point I have gained 13lbs. This is a hard thing to think about. I KNOW that I have to gain while pregnant, it just takes some time getting used to watching the numbers on the scale go up ;) However, my husband did tell me the other day that I am a "hot" pregnant chick this time around ;) I'll take it!!!!

There are some possible changes coming up concerning my prenatal and delivery care. During this pregnancy I have been less than thrilled with the treatment I have been getting from the medical staff at my OB's office. It is kind of hard to put my finger on exactly what it is. Things have just changed over the years since I first started there. Lots of new employees is part of it. Also, I just end up feeling like a number. I do NOT like feeling like a number!!!! I want to feel like my Dr. and the staff actually CARE about me and my baby. I know this is hard with so many patients but I think it is still something to strive for.

Also, I am planning on trying to do this labor and delivery thing without any drugs!!!! I have had an epidural with the first three but now I think I want to end my pregnancy years by going all out to try and do it free of pain meds!!!! One day I just said to myself "Let's do this!!!". With everything at my OB's office along with my desire to have a natural birth, I am looking into going to see a midwife. I found a lady who accepts my insurance and everything :) My next step is to meet with her and decided from there. We shall see ;)

On that note, I think I better scoot. Little guy will be waking up from his nap very soon and then I need to go get the big guy from school :) Check back in later tonight as I will have my food log from yesterday and today posted!!!!

Monday Munchdown :)

Ok folks here is the food log to go along with my post from earlier today :) If you did not see my post from earlier, take a second to scroll down and read it :) Also, keep in mind, my house is pretty much void of any nutritious food at the moment! I am heading to the grocery store in the morning!!!! Must stock up on fruits, veggies and good proteins :)

Breakfast- banana- 0pts +, yogurt- 4pts +

Snack- 2 mini doughnuts- 3pts +

Lunch- leftover tortellini from our Chicago date night- 10pts + (it was a pretty small amount but I am sure there was a lot of butter and cheese packed into it)

Treat- grande light java chip frap- 6pts +

Not a real dinner- McDs small fry

Late night dinner type thing- burrito with 1 slice of American cheese- 9pts +

Treat- 1 piece of hubby's b-day cake!! Rainbow chip with rainbow chip frosting!!! THE best!!! 10pts +
That is for 1/12 of the cake. I think my piece tonight was smaller than that but I will go with the big points anyway ;)

Who's your valentine?

Here is a tough question for you......who is your valentine? For those of us who are married or are in a relationship, that wonderful man may be the immediate answer. However, I would like all of us to take a minute and think really hard about what we are putting first in our lives. What are we "loving" the most?

I think it would be a pretty accurate guess that we all too often make food our "love". We put it above lots of other things in our lives, hoping that it will satisfy something that is missing. We might eat when we are stressed, bored, angry, sad or when we are actually hungry. I am here to testify that food is a VERY bad valentine!!!! When I have run to it seeking comfort, all it has given me is more pounds on the scale!!!! Or if I have lovingly approached it during times of celebration.....I was left deflated!!

I think you all know me well enough by now to know that I am NOT saying that you should not ever do a special meal that is less friendly on the points side ;) What I AM saying is beware of making food your first love. When we do this we end up disappointed every time. It is a temporary fill that then leaves us fat.

Interestingly enough, when I think about what my first love should really be, it is not even my husband in the #1 slot. For me, as a Christian woman, God wants my love to go first to Him. He fills me up more than and food or any man could ever fill me up!!! He then helps me to be able to love those in my life in a much more free and selfless way. When I am putting my husband before God and look to him to fill all my needs, guess what? Like food....I am left wanting. Not that my husband is not SUPER TOTALLY AWESOME!!!! He is that for sure!! It is just that he is human, which means he is not perfect. What I would like to focus on today is loving God more than myself, my husband, my kids or my food!

Switching gears here......

As I am sure you have noticed, I have not posted since last Thursday. I did so good at at least writing everything down from the day I left for NY until last Thurs. Then, this past weekend, I just did not do it. I would say I was teetering on a fine line this weekend. I ate some really wise food choices and then I ate some things that were not so wise. My life has just been spinning like crazy and I kind of lost it for a bit.

Between getting back from NY, training for WW three days last week, my oldest child being sick, going to Chicago not once but twice this weekend......I have been skating on thin ice!!!! Yesterday I actually had a breakdown at church. We were running a little late so I felt very rushed and out of sorts. I had a HUGE headache and really just wanted to be at home. I could tell I was gonna lose it. I tried to fight it but, you know as well as I do that pregnant ladies (heck, women in general) just need to cry sometimes!! I felt better once I got it out but DANG it is so not fun!!!!

This morning I had an OB appointment and I knew they were going to listen for the heartbeat as well. I think I was anxious about that yesterday which also added to the reasons for the meltdown. The appointment went great :) Strong heartbeat in the 140s. I will be 16 weeks tomorrow. I have put on 13lbs so far. Not sure how to think rightly about that. Basically I know that I need to just keep on blogging my food and try to make the best choices that I can and not beat myself up too much!!!!

My requests today are simple....examine your life and tell food that it is a lousy valentine and you are breaking off your long term relationship. Yes, you will still see each other but food no longer holds the #1 love in your life!!!! My second request is KEEP READING THE BLOG ;) I know that my intentions to put up a food log every day is a good one, but I think that stumbling a bit is also ok because it reminds you (and me) that I am not perfect. Not even close ;) I can, however, move forward and grow each day in this challenge to stay healthy!!! Let's continue on this journey together!!!! Shoot me an e-mail and let me know how this blog has been encouraging to you!!!!

NY and back again!!!

This post is going to a LONG list of what I have eaten from LAST Friday morning until yesterday. Once I left for NY and came back I had to start my training for WW. I was so tired this week that this is the first time I have sat down to try to catch up with everything. As you will see I do not have points values for everything. At this point I am not even gonna try to go back and figure all that out for a whole week.
The basic idea is that I will pick up and move forward from here. The biggest thing is that I at least wrote EVERYTHING down. There were a few splurges in NY (on purpose!!!) and then this week I have only been trying halfheartedly to keep myself in line ;) Now that I am home and getting back into the normal routine things should even out quite a bit ;) I need to get my booty to the grocery store and stock up on all the "good" stuff ;) Ok....well....ENJOY the crazy list!!!

Friday- Feb. 4th
Breakfast- 2 pieces of toast- 2pts +, 2tbs PB- 5pts +, strawberries- 0pts +

Lunch- McDs southwest salad with dressing-11pts +, bottle of water

Treat- 1 square of PB Snickers bar

Dinner- Irish pub- 1/2 grilled chicken sandwich, 1 1/2 cups (estimating) of chicken shepherd's pie

Treat- 12oz chocolate milk, 1/2 of a big sugar cookie with reese's pieces

Saturday- Feb. 5th
Breakfast- clementine- 0pts +, egg whites with a little hot sauce wrapped in Flat Out bread

Lunch- 1 bowl of chicken mushroom soup, 2pieces of bread- 6pts +, 1 16oz coke, 1 small asian lettuce wrap

Treat- Small strawberry/orange smoothie

Dinner- 1 big slice of healthy whole wheat pizza with olive oil, mushrooms, zuchinni and roasted red peppers, topped with a little fresh mozzarella, 4 breadsticks with sauce, 1 mini canoli

Snack- 1 20oz coke and popcorn

Sunday- Feb. 6th
Breakfast- 2 clementines- 0pts +, 1 wedge vanilla creme brulle french toast, 1 slice turkey sausage, 1 egg- 2pts +, 1 hot chocolate with a homemade marshmallow (yum-o!!!)

Treat- Grande java chip frappacinno

Dinner- 1/2 chicken wrap w/avocado (first time eating avocado!!!), 1/2 order of fries, glass of coke

MOVIES!!! 1 small popcorn, small cherry coke, box of snow caps (I would call this my big splurge)

Monday- Feb. 7th
Breakfast- apple- 0pts +, bowl of cereal with skim milk

Lunch- salad-YAY, 4 potato skins (not so yay ;) he he he)

Dinner- Little Cesar's Pizza- 2 pieces pizza, 3 bread sticks, cup of orange soda

Crazy 10pm "snack" or second dinner- Taco Bell- 3 soft tacos

Tuesday- Feb. 8th
Breakfast- 3/4 cup honey bunches of oats- 3pts +, yogurt- 4pts +

Snack- 2 pieces of banana bread- 6pts +

Lunch- smart ones- Broccoli fettuccine alfredo- 6pts +

Treat- java chip frap- I cannot remember which size I got

Dinner- Burger King- chicken sandwich, small fry, small coke

Wednesday- Feb. 9th
Breakfast- clementine- 0pts +, omlette (1 egg, 2 egg whites, red pepper, 1/4 cup reduced fat cheddar cheese) 4pts +, 1 cup O.J. 3pts +

Snack- 1 package WW multigrain crips- 2pts +

Dinner- McDs mighty kids meal- 6 chicken nuggets, small fry, small coke

Snack- popcorn, vernors- 4pts +

Treat- 1 cup ice cream

Thursday- Feb. 10th
Breakfast- 2 pieces toast- 2pts +, 2tbs PB-5pts +

20oz cherry coke- 8pts +

Snack- banana-0pts +

Lunch/dinner- Subway- Foot long spicy italian on 9 grain wheat with lots of veggies- 28pts +

Treat- tall java chip frappacino- 6pts +

Vernors- 4pts +

Night out with mom- Applebee's- side salad, side order of steamed veggies, virgin strawberry daquiri

I have NOT forgotten!!!

Ok kiddos, I have NOT forgotten to come back to the blogging world after my NY trip this past weekend!!!! You will be glad to know that I DID write down everything I ate all weekend!!! I do not know points values for some of the stuff but that is ok. I was proud of myself for at least being aware of what and how much I was eating!!!! That is really important while on vacation. The funny thing is that I ate worse the day I was leaving NY and then today than I think I did while I was there. Go figure :)

I will try to get you all caught up very soon! This week is just crazy!!! I flew in from NY yesterday afternoon. Was home long enough to have dinner (Little Cesar's pizza) with my family before leaving for a MOPS leadership meeting. This morning I had to get all three kiddos up and ready to take the big guy to school. Then it was off to Bible study. Then home long enough to eat a VERY quick lunch and head to my first day of training for my new job at Weight Watchers!!!

I KNOW I am gonna LOVE working for this company!!! I was so excited and encouraged while at the training session!!!! YAY :) I will keep you guys updated on all of that as well !!!

For now, this girl (who is now 15 weeks pregnant!!!!!! YAY!!!), had GOT to get her booty to bed!!!! Also due to everything going on this week I probably will not get to Jazzercise. I WILL get there next week!!!!

So excited to be back "with" all of you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

On the New York track.....

Alright folks....so like I mentioned, I leave for NY tomorrow!!! After much debate in my brain I have decided to track what I eat while I am gone!!! Someone reminded me that this is real life and there is no pause button. So, if I am gonna blog this journey then I need to blog ALL of it, not just the parts that are "normal" life. Oh snap!!! So true!!!! I will try make wise choices like having a salad or some fruit before I have my main meal. I will also be sure to treat myself while there!!! This will be an adventure!!!!! Come on along for the ride!!!!

I have been trying to pack for the last couple of hours now. Funny thing is, I have not really been trying. I have been sitting here thinking....what do I need to do? I am just packing for me so it is not like I really have to put much effort into it ;) No diapers, wipes, little people clothes, toys and enough clothing for two adults. Nope, JUST me :) It is GREAT!!!! I printed off my tickets to the Broadway musical Million Dollar Quartet, which we will be in the 5th row for!! Then I checked in for my flight online ;) Ah....technology ;) Now I am just waiting for some clothes to dry and then I will be in bed by 11pm!!

Speaking of adventures....today was it's own little adventure......an IHOP adventure. That little IHOP visit cost me 32pts + for one meal. I was not surprised in the least. I did split it up and ate half of it at home later. Even after having IHOP I am only over by 7pts today. Not a total disaster. I am really curious to see what the weekend holds.......

For now, here is my Thursday list:

Breakfast- IHOP- 2 pancakes, 2 triangles of french toast, 1 piece ham, 2 eggs, a few bites of hubby's hash browns- 32pts +, water- 0pts +

Snack- Nectarine and strawberries- 0pts +

Lunch- finishing the IHOP meal

Dinner- 1 cup spaghetti- 5pts +, sauce- 2pts +, garlic bread- 5pts +, salad- 0pts +

Snack- Nectarine- 0pts +, frozen fruit bar- 2pts +

NYC - baby!!

With all the snow we got I was not sure how my weekend plans were gonna turn out. I am supposed to fly out of Chicago to NY on Friday. As of yesterday flights were still canceled. I was getting mixed opinions from friends and family. Some thought that all the cancellations would affect my flight and others said it would have nothing to do with my flight. Looks like the side I was voting for won!!!! So, tomorrow at lunch time I will be on a plane heading to see my best friend from college :) YAY :) We get to see TWO Broadway shows!!!!

How will this affect my point counting and food intake you ask? I have NO idea ;) I am trying to decided if I want to "be really good" or just do the whole "go and enjoy yourself" thing. Now, I understand, that I CAN do both. You CAN "be good" while enjoying yourself. I KNOW that is totally doable. I guess what I am really trying to figure out is if I actually WANT to keep track of everything. Again, I do not intend to go TOTALLY over board but I DO intend to eat some NY pizza and go out to dinner somewhere in the city. What is your advice on this, friends?

I would like to revisit what I said about adding points to my daily intake. After looking at my tracker and thinking a bit more I am gonna try to keep it at 39pts + (plus the 49 extra weekly). If I am actually eating well, I can hit that goal no problem. Last week was just kind of crazy so I went way over and used my weekly too quickly. So, I am gonna stick with it for a while and see if I think it is actually doable for me. This will also be another exercise in giving myself grace if I do happen to go over my points. I will also talk to my Dr. when I go in on the 14th. The only thing is, doctors do not speak in point language ;)

There will be one more post this evening to recap the day. Then, I plan on falling off the face of the earth until Tues!!!!!! The suspense is going to be killing you, isn't it? Just waiting to see if I am actually going to track this weekend or not ;) He he he ;)

Well, without putting it off any longer, here is the run down for Wednesday!!!!

Breakfast- 1/2 banana- 0pts +, cinnamon roll- 8pts +

Snack- nectarine- 0pts +, Eddy's frozen fruit bar- 2pts +

Treat- chocolate- 2 hershey kisses and one bite size baby ruth- 4pts +

Lunch - leftover chicken divan- 8pts +

Snack- yogurt- 4pts +

Dinner- leftover split pea soup- 4pts +, salad with FF dressing- 0pts +, strawberries & nectarines- 0pts +, half grilled cheese sandwich- 2pts +

Treat- 1cup bunny tracks ice cream- 10pts +

Snack- popcorn- 3pts +

Starving before bedtime snack- two servings of honey bunches of oats- 6pts +, 1 cup skim milk- 2pts +

14 weeks :)

Yesterday marked the 14 week point in my pregnancy :) I have to say that overall, I feel GREAT!!! I still have issues with my sinuses and headaches and I am still pretty tired but the queasiness has almost completely disappeared!!!! YAY :) That is a HUGE relief in my book!!!! Second trimester...BRING IT ON!! I am SO looking forward to feeling this little one moving around!!!! There is nothing else quite like it.
I have decided to adjust my daily points target. After talking with a few people I realized that I probably had my target set too low. I added enough for what I figured would be the extra 300 calories I would need each day however, I think just adding that to my 29pts would still be like a losing target. So I am bumping my target up from 39 to 49. I think that will help with the hunger that I have been experiencing the last few days. It will also allow for some of those little cravings I have been having as well ;)
Tuesday turned out to be a pretty good day :) We had a snow storm hit starting yesterday afternoon so hubby got the night off of work :) I made a VERY delicious meal :) Chicken Divan, lightened up. You can find that recipe here: http://www.skinnytaste.com/2010/11/chicken-divan-lightened-up.html#more It seemed kind of fancy for some reason. Maybe it was the name ;) I also made some asparagus to go with it. I blanched them, then sauteed them in olive oil, salt & pepper, garlic and a little bit of parmesan. Everyone in the family ate it :) Score!!!!
The day was a mixed day with some really good choices as well as some treats thrown in. Trying not to beat myself up for having a doughnut or chocolate, ya know? I am not totally pigging out on those things. So, I have to give myself some credit for not going completely overboard!!!! Being pregnant is both wonderful and difficult at the same time ;)

Tuesdays food list:

Breakfast: 1 cup grapes- 0pts +, glazed doughnut- 6pts +

Snack- yogurt- 4pts +, nectarine- 0pts +

Lunch- Smart One- sweet & sour chicken- 5pts +, salad w/little fat free dressing- 0pts +

Treat- cookie- 4pts +

Snack- Carrots w/1tbs light ranch- 1pts +, off brand Honey Comb 1 1/3 cup- 3pts+

Dinner- Chicken Divan (lightened up) 1/6 of a 13x9 dish- 8pts +, asparagus- sauteed in olive oil, garlic and parmesan- 2pts +

Treat- Hershey's chocolate w/almonds- three sections of a giant bar- 6pts +, Big cup hot chocolate- 5pts + (guessing)

Snack- lots of popcorn (homemade)- 6pts +, orange juice- 2pts +

Only 3 points over my new target- not too bad ;)

1,000 HITS!!! YAY :)

WOW!! I feel special :) Pregnant, NOT Fat has reached 1,000 hits!!! Now, I realize that in the blogging world this may not seem like a big deal but it is a huge deal to me!!!! I am SO glad that people are reading this!! My life may not be super exciting and I may not have crazy awesome health tips, but my goal is to be real with all of you and for some reason....you like me, you really like me!!! In celebration of this momentous occasion I would like to give something away!

Whoever is the first person to leave a comment on this post will receive a copy of the book Made to Crave by Lisa TerKurst. I have yet to read this book myself, but I am planning on picking up a copy this week!!! What is it about? Well I think the subtitle says it all "Satisfying your deepest desire with God, not food". For those of us who totally idolize food, doesn't that just get ya right in the heart? UGH!!!! I am eager to hear what she has to say on this topic!!!! You can read more about it if you google the title.

My training for Weight Watchers is coming up next week and I am getting REALLY excited....AND nervous. For some reason I continue to doubt that I could help anyone in this weight loss journey. I look at all the times I "fail" or "slip up" and get discouraged. Then I remember that all those little bumps in the road prove that I am like everyone else which makes me MORE likely to be able to help people because I HAVE BEEN THERE TOO!!!! Also, they will be providing training, so it is not like they just dump me in there and watch what happens ;)

How are all of you doing lately? Do you find the winter months getting you down and making it hard for you to stay on track with your healthy goals? Being busy can also put a kink in your "planning" mode. So, I would like each of you to take a moment. Stop reading the blog (for just a second). Make one goal for yourself that goes from right this minute until Friday when you go to bed.

This may be food related (i.e. getting in more veggies) or this can be a goal to get moving (i.e. even though the weather is bad, I WILL do something active two times between now and Friday). This goal may even be related to planning. Maybe you need to set the goal that on Friday night, you are going to sit down with some good cook books and plan dinners for next week. Of course, make sure you look at your schedule and consider what kind of meals you can handle each evening. You do not need to "make" something EVERY night. It could simply be planning that on one of your crazy nights, your family will have frozen pizza. This will help you plan out the rest of that day so that the pizza does not crush all of your healthy efforts ;)

This blog is about me, yes, but even MORE importantly.....it is about YOU, too!!!! This is meant to give you the chance to see how one woman (mother of three with one on the way) tries to maintain a healthy lifestyle so then you will be encouraged to look at YOUR life and figure out what will work best to keep you moving toward the goal of living healthy as well!!!! You CAN do it!!!!

Let's talk about Monday, shall we? The week started off better than the weekend went. That is a good thing. However, I am finding that heading into this week after such a hard weekend is very difficult. Husband got some doughnuts yesterday. They sounded so good. So, I told him I would like either a custard filled doughnut or one with sprinkles on top. He is such a doll, he brought one with custard AND sprinkles ;) He he he ;) I also finished off some of the Chuck E. Cheese pizza from Sunday. Still got in some fruits and veggies. At the end of the night I was STARVING!!! I got in some extra fiber and dairy by having a bean burrito with cheese on top :) YUM!!! I was over in my points by 11. And so....the journey continues!!! I am currently eating some carrots ;) He he he ;) I will post again later about how today went when all is said and done ;)

Mondays Munchies-

Breakfast- 1cup strawberries- 0pts +, 1piece of toast with 1tbs PB- 4pts +

Treat- Custard filled doughnut (with sprinkles)- 11pts +, 1/2 glaze doughnut- 3pts +

Lunch- 1 1/2 pieces of Chuck E. Cheese pizza- 8pts +, strawberries and a nectarine- 0pts +

Snack- apple- 0pts +, yogurt- 4pts +

Dinner- 1 1/2 cups split pea soup- 6pts +, salad- 0pts +

Treat- Hot chocolate at local coffee shop- 5pts +

Night time snack (or second dinner!!!)- hot beef and bean burrito w/one slice American cheese on top- 9pts +

If anyone has some suggestions on how to get more veggies in please let me know!

This is HARD!!!!

Not gonna lie...this is H-A-R-D!!!! Just in case all of my previous posts have left you thinking that I have this "eating healthy" thing down, this one will remind you that it is just as hard for me as for anyone else!!!! This whole weekend has been a total (or at least almost total) bust!!!! The best thing about the weekend health wise was that I worked out on Friday. Other than that I went WAY over on my points Friday, Saturday AND Sunday.
Friday I went out with a friend and knew I would use a bunch of points and I was ok with that. Totally planned for it. Saturday just seemed to kind of slip through my fingers. I just made some poor choices in my food content and it spoiled the whole day. My water intake has been minimal. I MUST get on that tomorrow!!!! Then Sunday.....oh Sunday. Let me tell you how that went down......
The morning started off pretty well. I got ready to head over to church early since I was serving on the worship team (such a wonderful privilege!!!). I was running a bit behind so I put my trusty honey bunches of oats in a ziploc bag, grabbed and apple and my water bottle. While I was driving I remembered that I still had a little money left on my starbucks gift card the hubs gave me for Christmas.YAY :) I decided getting my light java chip frappaccino was a great idea, especially since I was a bit tired. I ordered a grande, paid for a grande.....they gave me a venti !!!! So, of course I HAD to drink the whole thing!! Extra points, plus extra wired!!!!!
Lunch time was not so bad. 8pts + including some crumbs of those awesome cool ranch doritos I have been talking about. I counted those as half a serving (6 chips worth). No big problems there. Then it was on to the grocery store. I am now totally stocked up on fruits and veggies for the week!!! I have dinners planned up through Thursday. The trip itself was very enjoyable since it was just Sissy and me :) It was really nice to have some girlie time with my sweetie :) Here is where things start to turn a little sour. She did a great job, so naturally at the grocery store I chose a food reward for her. (why do we reward ourselves and others with food? UGH!!) This was a box of frosted heart shaped cookies (she got one and the rest came home for everyone else). One cookie for me, 4pts. Again not SO bad.....but here comes the dark cloud...........
Jason had mentioned last week that it has been quite a while since we have taken Brendan to Chuck E. Cheese. He brought it up again today and I decided he was right and that we should go. Sitting here now, I KNOW why it had been such a long time since our last trip!!!! Not only does it cost as much as a time share in Florida, but it is also enough points for me for a day, in one meal !!!! I ate 2 pieces of pizza, 4 little cinnamon sticks and a cup of soda. Please do not put any food or liquid in your mouth right now because what I am about to say may make you choke.....the cinnamon sticks alone cost me 20pts!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I am not talking 6 inch long sticks. I am talking MAYBE 3 inches a piece. UGH!!!!
Getting the kids out of the house and running around really was a great idea. Come on people, it IS the middle of winter in WI. Also we are supposed to get totally hammered with snow this week (up to 18 inches). So, there maybe no "getting out" much this week. The question comes down to whether or not it was worth all those points and how disappointed it made me feel. They do have a salad bar (not a very good one) but it is $5.49 for one trip. After spending as much as we did on the rest of the food I decided I could not spend that amount for one little plate of salad. Maybe I should have. Then maybe I would have been too full to eat so much pizza and cinnamon sticks.
All, in all, this weekend was a good reminder to me that I am still in need of God's strength to get me through each day. I am also in need of His grace when I have a day (or weekend) like this one!!! Just because I have made some poor choices does NOT mean that I am defeated!!!! This is the same for you my dear ones!!!! Tomorrow is another day FULL of choices to make. Which kinds of choices will YOU make? Me? I am gonna make wise food choices tomorrow!!!!! I am also hoping to make wise choices in general: family life, friends, how I spend my time, taking time to focus on my Creator and being filled with JOY!!!!!!!

Here is the Sucky Sunday Rundown ;) ENJOY ;)

Breakfast- 3/4 cup dry honey bunches of oats- 3pts +, apple-0pts +, venti light java chip frappaccino- 9pts + (guessing on this as they did not have nutrition info. for larger than a grande on their website)

Lunch- Smart One- Parmesan Chicken (YUM!)- 5pts+, Jolly Green Gian- cauliflower and cheese sauce- 1pts +, 1/2 serving of cool ranch doritos (6 chips worth of crumbs)- 2pts +

Treat- Frosted heart shaped cookie- 4pts + (the shape really made it more enjoyable....sprinkles too ;) he he he)

Dinner- Chuck E. Cheese- 2 pieces of pizza-15pts +, 4 cinnamon bread sticks- 20pts +, cup of soda- 6pts +

Snack- eddy's frozen fruit bar- 2pts +

1am Snack while writing this blog- 2 more frosted heart shaped cookies- 8pts +

Whole lotta nothin...

After eating so much the last couple of days, I wanted to make sure not to over eat today. Somehow, I did not eat a large amount of food but I still used up my points for the day. I neglected LOTS of the good health guidelines I need to be getting in. So just because I stayed within my points does not mean I ate "well".

Breakfast seems to be honey bunches of oats lately. It is just SO good :) Pregnant lady likes :) I would like to try to change things up a bit for my sake and for yours. I can imagine that it may get pretty boring if you seem me eating the same things ALL the time!!

Water was not a good component of my day today. I drank one of my big waters bottles of water and then just stopped. I took a REALLY long nap today so I think that may be part of why I missed out on some things. I slept from noon until 3:30pm. It must have been because I stayed out so late last night ;)

My down fall today? Mac 'n Cheese. Whenever we make it for the kids I just cannot help myself!!! Jay and I thawed some chili for us but I was still drawn in to the cheesy goodness!!!! It is such a bummer because it is 11pts + for 1cup!!! UGH!!! It tasted very good though :)

The kids are finally in bed. The husband and I are gonna go chill out for a while. I may have to eat some popcorn ;) Or, maybe some chocolate ;) If I do happen to eat anything else tonight I will make sure to edit the list ;) * editing.....

Saturday's food:

Breakfast- 1 cup honey bunches of oats- 4pts + (notice how I upped it from 3/4 cup to 1cup today? Yeah I needed more), 1cup skim milk- 2pts +

Snack- Yogurt- 4pts +

Lunch- Cinnamon & raisin bagel from Panera Bread- 8pts + (this is where I started to lose it this morning. Should have made a veggie and some fruit to have along with the bagel!!!!)

Treat- 1/4 cup PB M&Ms- 7pts +

Dinner- Chili- 3pts +, 1cup Mac 'n cheese- 11pts +, 1 cup grapes- 0pts +

Snack- Fruit bar- 2pts +, popcorn- 5pts +, MORE PB M&Ms....not sure exactly how many I ate but it was a lot ;) So....yeah ;) Probably at least 10pts +

Shake It !!!!!

HUNGRY! That is the only word I can use to describe myself yesterday!!! I would eat a little something and then still be hungry. I would attempt to make a wise choice yet I would have to immediately make another wise choice because I was still hungry!!!! I do not think I was craving anything in particular. I just wanted to eat and eat and eat!!!!

Knowing that I was going out to dinner with a friend I knew that my food choices needed to continue to consist of lower point foods. I had done a pretty good job. When we went out to dinner my entree was even a great choice. What got me? I decided to have broccoli cheese soup 10pts + before my meal. Then we finished off out time with a sundae shooter......11pts + for a little tiny shot glass of a sundae!!!!

Next stop, karaoke :) I was a little nervous going in there. Usually, I will have an adult beverage before I get up to sing. Not in the cards for a pregnant lady! That combine with the fact that here we are, two pregnant ladies, in a bar. It was just weird to me!!!! There is no smoking in bars in WI so it is not like we were putting the wee ones in a poor environment or anything. Yet, it was still strange.

Another thing we used to do in the past when we have gone there is dance a little. Oh man, I really do love to shake it ;) In college my best friend even told me that I could "shake it like a black girl" and you KNOW they can move!!!! So that was a HUGE complement in my book!!!! Well, there was no gettin me on the dance floor last night. That was just one step too far ;) So, we just sang :) The first song I did I TOTALLY bombed. Dixie Chicks- Long Time Gone. Just NOT my cup of tea for karaoke. My second song made up for the first. Pink- So What. Much better and WAY fun to sing :) YAY :)

Got back to my house a little after midnight, which is LATE for a pregnant lady to be out!!! Guess what? I was HUNGRY!!! So, I ate my leftovers from Applebee's. Still hungry....found some popcorn hubby had made but did not finish. How nice was it of him to leave it on the counter for me? Ate that. Then decided I needed chocolate after all that salt. More of my almond Hershey's bar it was!!!! I am pretty sure I ended up going 23pts over for the day even after I used up my 8 remaining weekly points ;) It's all good, no worries ;)

Today I just cannot shake this feeling that I want doughnuts!!!!! If I do not go out and get them, then we do not have them. So, that is the plan. I am staying put!!!! He he he ;) We may actually go sledding as a family later on if we can figure out snowsuit stuff for the babies. We shall see!!!

Fridays food:

Breakfast- 3/4 cup honey bunches of oats- 3pts +, 1/2 cup skim milk 1pts +

Snack- Apple- 0pts +

Jazzercise- add 4pts + for activity

Snack- Yogurt- 4pts +

Lunch- Broccoli Alfredo Smart One- 6pts +, 1 cup grapes- 0pts +

Treat- Eddy's frozen fruit bar- 2pts +

Snack- 1 piece toast w/PB 4pts +, salad- 0pts +, clementine- 0pts +

Treat- 1/4 cup PB M&Ms- 7pts +

Dinner- 1 bowl broccoli cheese soup- 10pts +, grilled shrimp and island rice with seasonal veggies- 9pts +, extra serving of veggies for home- 0pts +, hot fudge sundae shooter- 11pts +

Beverage- Shirley Temple- 6pts + (guessing)

Snack- left overs from dinner- points included above, popcorn- 5pts +, chocolate- 6pts + (guessing)

About a 70pt day. Hey, it was lower than Thursday ;) Today will be a good day though ;)

Pizza! Pizza!

Yesterday was a day of celebration :) One of my friends, who moved out to Oregon in June, came back to WI for a visit. Three of us got together and hung out all day long!! It was VERY relaxing and so great to catch up on life. We planned ahead of time that we would have pizza. I fully intended to "pig out" and use up some of my 49 weekly points. Boy did I!!!!!!! I used up 39 of them :) I had 4 pieces of pizza, 3 bread sticks and sauce! You know what? That is JUST FINE!!!

I do not and I WILL not feel guilty about it! I planned for this and I knew exactly what I was getting myself into. That is what the extra weekly points are for, using them however you would like. I may use up the rest of them this evening but have not figured all of that out yet. A friend and I are heading to Applebee's and then out for some karaoke. At this point I only have 8 extra weekly points left since I ended the evening with popcorn and yogurt (not at the same time).

How funny will it be going out for karaoke with a big old pregnant belly? Double the funny cause my friend is pregnant too!!!! We started this little girls' night out thing about a year ago. It is great to go make a fool of yourself. You would think that someone who was a vocal music ed major in college might be really good at karaoke. NOPE!!! He he he ;) I mean there are some songs I do alright but for the most part it is just plain laughable ;)

I will give you my long list of food's from yesterday and then I will come back tonight and fill you in on today's ups and downs ;) As always....KEEP MOVING FORWARD!!! Learn from yesterday to become stronger today!!! You CAN do this!!!

Breakfast- 1cup natural vanilla yogurt- 5pts +, 3/4cup honey bunches of oats-3pts +

More breakfast?- Eggs with red peppers and onions and a tiny tiny bit of cheese- 3pts +

Snack- MORE honey bunches of oats- 3pts +, 2 cookies- 2pts +, apple- 0pts +

Lunch- 4pieces of pizza- 30pts +, 3 bread sticks- 8pts + and sauce- 1pts +

TREAT- 1/4 cup peanut butter M&Ms- 7pts

Dinner- Chili-3pts +, corn bread muffin- 3pts +

Snack- Eddy's frozen fruit bar- 2pts +, popcorn- 6pts + (guessing), yogurt- 4pts +

WOW- an 80pts + day!!!! That is crazy! But, I PLANNED for that extra craziness and it was good :)

The Batmobile and ICE CREAM!!!

How can a day go from calm and relaxing to crazy insane in the span of an hour? Oh, that's right....I have three children, a husband and my hormonal self that are all part of the equation ;) Why the title for today? Well.....let me tell you .....
The batmobile. Brendan was supposed to make a cardboard car for Awana for tonight. We have known about this for a few weeks. What does that mean in our house? Jason started working on it last night. Yup, looks like the same pattern of procrastination that I had in high school and college. At least this time we really DO have lots going on so it is somewhat understandable. We still could have planned ahead more but at least it got done...today. Jay had to spray paint it this morning......in the basement. Which meant that the whole house wreaked of paint which I know is not good for anyone, especially the pregnant lady!!! When I came home from our play date this morning I was blown away by the smell !!! During the afternoon it was MY job to figure out how to make the bat emblem. GREAT! Oh, that is sarcasm, by the way!!! I had to use my brain, which we all know is complete mush right now, to figure out how to get the yellow part on there and keep the black bat in the middle. Finally had a plan. Carried out said plan. Failed at the plan. We had yellow spray paint and it ran like crazy all down the hood of the car :( Bad mommy award!!! Good thing I have a bunch of acrylic paints to help me salvage the bat mobile! Brendan was totally geeked when he saw his car :) That made me feel a bit better. I still felt bad that we pretty much coped out on the whole thing. I mean, we painted a car black and then put the emblem on it. Granted, the cardboard car design that Jay put together was pretty stinkin cool. So, that made up for it. That was the afternoon. Now let's fast forward to dinner time......
Omelet Potato Skins were on the menu for this evening...YUM! I was trying a new recipe and was really excited about it. However, due to the pain fumes I was not feeling so well so I asked Jay to get up early, go get Brendan from school and let me lay down for a bit. This pushed my prep for dinner back until about 4:30pm. NOT a good idea when you are starting a new recipe!!!! I came downstairs to a kitchen over run with dirty dishes and sighed. Jay started the prep and I began the dishes. The potatoes took forever to cook!!!! We had the veggies cut up for the eggs, mixed that all together, started to cook the eggs but the potatoes were still not ready. At this point it was 5:30pm and Brendan and I needed to leave by 5:45pm to get to Awana. Even if the potatoes were done right then, we would have had to wait another 10 minutes for them to bake after putting the eggs inside them and the cheese on top. I was SO frustrated. I yelled "Alright, dinner time. We are having eggs!!!!" I put the egg mixture on everyone's plates and gave the kids some grapes too. I threw the potatoes in the oven to finish cooking. Now I need to figure out what to make out of them for tomorrow ;)
Dropped Brendan off and then ran to Walmart to grab a prescription. While I was there I decided that since I am pregnant and cannot by an adult beverage to partake in, that I would HAVE to buy some ice cream. You guys.....I stood there staring at Ben and Jerry's. GASP!!! I looked and looked. I had brought along my points calculator just for the fun of it ;) I whipped it out and got to calculating ;) 1/2 cup B&J ice cream....7pts. There are 4 servings in one container. Now, I know for me I would have to at least have half of the container. So, that is at least 14pts plus. Now, PLEASE once again, do not get me wrong. I am all about the whole treating yourself and splurging once in a while (I actually had 2 WW chocolate ice cream sandwiches today!!! SO good!). However, I know that tomorrow I am gonna splurge on having a little pizza party with friends tomorrow for lunch :) Since I know that is part of my plan for the week that really helped me to stay on track in the ice cream aisle tonight ;) I walked down to the WW ice cream section. I actually opted not to get more of the ice cream sandwiches tonight for fear that I might eat the whole box in one sitting ;) It was just that kind of night ;) I looked over and saw Eddy's Fruit bars. They are 2pts plus per bar. Not bad at all :) I grabbed two boxes. One of them is pomegranate and the other is acqai & blueberry. I had one on the way home and they are SO SO SO SO stinkin good!!!! VERY refreshing :)
A moment of encouragement- Ladies (and possibly gentlemen if you are reading), there are going to be days when life happens (he he he, yeah I know, that is everyday!). You know what I mean though, when the day is just NOT what YOU had planned. It is important to have options for yourself. Maybe that is allowing yourself to eat a little ice cream. Or maybe that is a day you go out and run EXTRA hard to get rid of some stress. What I want to you do is stop and take a breath and evaluate what it is you REALLY need in that moment. Like tonight....thankfully I was able to realize that it just was not worth it to get Ben and Jerry's. So, I chose another option. There will be days though when you say "I DO need that soda or ice cream or chips." If you make that choice. Make it and then move on. Do not do the normal girl thing where we eat it and then beat yourself up for the rest of the night. That is why I am telling you to really take the time to think and decide on which choice is right for the moment instead of just reaching and opening before you have really thought it through! You will feel SO much better about yourself. It is amazing how you can choose one of those high point foods and not feel guilty about it when you have thought through your choice. SO freeing. So.....MAKE YOUR CHOICE. If you do not think it through and find that you have eaten an entire carton of Oreos.....again, do not beat yourself up. Remind yourself that there is grace to be had. You CAN make wiser choices tomorrow!!!!! That is the wonderful part of this journey, you can start fresh every day!! That is not to say that every day you freak out, eat everything you can possibly think of then then try again tomorrow. I am strictly speaking of those occasional "Oooopppsss" moments. To conclude....KEEP UP THE GREAT WORK!!! You CAN do it!!!! YOU can be HEALTHY!!!!!!!! Let's do this together!!!!
What about my choices today? As far as dairy goes, I got a little more in today. Unfortunately, I took a step back with my water. So....tomorrow.....WATER and dairy ;) He he he ;) The run down is as follows:

Breakfast- 1piece of toast with 1TBS of peanut butter, banana sliced on top- 4pts plus

Snack- Coffee flavored yogurt- 4pts plus

Lunch- AWESOME toasted chicken sandwich thanks to my friend Amber! Bread, sliced chicken, mustard and provolone- 9pts plus, strawberries- 0pts plus, baby carrots- 0pts plus

TREAT- 2 WW chocolate ice cream sandwiches- 8pts plus (it is probably more than 8 if you add all the info. together and figure out the points)

Snack- Cool Ranch Doritos- need I say more? YUM- 4pts plus

Dinner- Eggs with onion, red pepper and a bit of cheese- 5pts plus

Treat- Eddy's frozen fruit bar- 2pts plus, hot chocolate with my man- 2pts plus :)

I still have at least one more point for tonight....so I may update this in the morning if I choose to have something else before bed :)