13 weeks!!

Today marks the 13 week of my pregnancy. Now, those of you who pay close attention are probably like "Hey, what about week 12?". Well, at the ultrasound last Thursday I thought I was 11 weeks 4 days but the baby said it was 12 weeks 2 days :) So, according to the ultrasound today is the start of week 13!!!!!!!!! YAY :) WOW.....if my belly is this big now.....YIKES!!!
It is interesting to me how my journey has been able to encourage other people. A lot of times we beat ourselves up and focus on our failures instead of what we have accomplished. I am So glad that my triumphs AND struggles can help other people realize that they are NOT alone in this struggle with weight loss and maintenance. Thank you to all of you who have been asking me such good questions lately. When you ask my advice it gets me excited about this journey all over again!!! It really helps me to work hard at making sure my life is different from what it was before!!!! Thankfully, God has helped that to be true more often than not !!!! For me, doing this without the big guy would be impossible. I give HIM the real credit. On my own I would just quit.
Remember my challenge to myself for this week? Drink my water!!! I am doing pretty good at that and I am very encouraged! That has been a huge struggle for me for as long as I can remember. Now, I am still falling short on some days but I am still drinking more that I have in the past!!!! My other challenge, given to myself yesterday, was to get my dairy in today. Well, I had some cheese this morning and some cheese on a salad. Don't think I quite hit the goal on that one!!!!! Tomorrow is another day!!!
This girl is SUPER tired tonight !!! I have been up since 5:30am. I think that the bed is calling my name!!!! Before I give my daily digest of what I digested (I know, I am funny, right?), I want to give you a chance to give some feedback. In my posts I basically just tell you how I am doing on that particular day, what happened in my life, how I am feeling, eating, etc. I would like to know from YOU if there are any specific questions or topics you have for me to run with in some posts? Hit me up with your ideas and such :) Now, onto the food list ;)

Breakfast- Egg Sandwich made with 1 egg, 2 egg whites, 2 pieces of toast, 1 slice american cheese, 1 slice canadian bacon- 6pts plus, banana- 0pts plus

Treat- Light grande java chip frap. from starbucks- 6pts plus, 4 smallish cookies at a friends house- 6pts plus?, finished one of my bottles of water by this point

Lunch- Salad- 0pts plus, cauliflower & cheese sauce (jolly green giant)- 1pts plus, apple- 0pts plus

Snack- Corn bread muffin- 3pts plus, 1 cup grapes- 0pts plus

JAZZERCISE- +4 activity points!!!!

Dinner- McDonald's Southwest salad (grilled chicken) WITH dressing- 11pts plus, small fry- 6pts plus, medium wildberry smoothie- 7pts plus

All in all....42prs plus day ;) Not to shabby :)

*edited to add- I ATE SOME HERSHEY'S CHOCOLATE WITH ALMONDS- again ;) He he he ;)

Ending the day with Chocolate :)

It must be Monday!!! I am currently sitting here writing my blog entry while treating myself to some Hershey's chocolate with almonds :) YUM!!!!!
After the emotional day I had yesterday, along with my lack of eating things with lots of nutrients, I knew today had to be different. When my alarm went off my whole body screamed "NO!!!!". I even hit the snooze button. Yet, as I lay there I started to think about the fact that I was just laying there awake, wasting time. Not to mention I had to pee ;) So, I decided to get up before the alarm went off again.
I came downstairs, lit some candles, put on some music on pandora and sat and had some quiet time with God before the rest of my world was awake. Then I got the oldest child's lunch ready, started chili in the slow cooker and made corn bread muffins. Today HAD to be a slow cooker day because right after school Brendan had piano so dinner had to be done when we got back. When the husband came home he took the big kid to school so I could finish up the dinner prep. Then when he got back I got to take a shower!! YAY :)
Some friends came over for a play date later in the morning, which is always helpful to pass the time. If you have not started having play dates.....DO IT!!!!!!!! He he he ;) It is SO important to be connecting with other moms when you are a mother of little ones. It is SO easy to feel isolated and alone. So, make the effort to hang out with someone!!!! Pick up the phone (or send an e-mail) and get together in person!!! I am sure most of you know that when you feel lonely it is very very easy to eat your way through your loneliness!!! Combat that with taking steps to be with other people!!!! Then not only are you not "alone" but you are also in a place where people can help you in your self control. Maybe a friend could gently make a suggestion, like "Judy, would you mind if we had apples for a snack instead of doughnuts?" I bet you would defer and do the apples ;) He he he ;)
Eating was much better today. Although I realized I am struggling again with getting in my dairy. I KNOW that is a very important part of taking care of myself and the bean. So, that is my goal for tomorrow, to get in more dairy!!! I need some more protein too. Tomorrow I will start the day off with an egg sandwich I think :) I DID, however, get all of my water in today :) YAY :) So, yes, I was in the bathroom a lot ;)
A few posts back I posed a question and you know what? NO ONE responded. It was the post where I asked what you do to chill. So, either people just do not want to talk to me OR you guys seriously need to take time for yourselves and learn how to chill !!!! Maybe it is a bit of both ;) As I mentioned, when you take time and do things that refuel you, the stress factor will diminish which will help with eating too many cookies or doughnuts or whatever your vice may be ;)
How about a recap of my food intake for Monday? Let's do it!!!!

Breakfast- 2 pieces of toast with 1Tbs peanut butter on each slice (LOVIN my PB this morning!!!)- 7pts plus, apple- 0pts plus

Snack- clementine- 0pts plus, 1 raspberry Hershey's hug- 1pts plus, and I had also finished one of my big bottles of water at this point

Lunch- Leftover Ziti- 9pts plus,

Snack #2- Goldfish crackers- 3pts plus, WW ice cream cone- 4pts plus (I think, but I threw out the box so I could not double check)

Snack #3- 1 cup grapes- 0pts plus, 1 corn bread muffin- 0pts plus, finished second bottle of water

Dinner- Took a bite of Z's cheese sandwich- 1pts plus, chili- 3pts plus, 1 corn bread muffin- 3pts plus, salad- 0pts plus, finished third bottle of water

Snack #4- Popcorn- 5pts plus (guessing)

TREAT- small handful of almond M&Ms and then some Hershey's chocolate with almonds- because I did good all day I decided not to figure out the points for my chocolate!!!! I know, I am such a rebel ;) He he he ;)

Blubbering breakdown

Pregnant lady + husband who gets invited to go watch a football game = drama.
I was "that" pregnant wife today. While we were at church someone invited Jay to go watch the football game this afternoon. Now, if you live in the Kenosha area you can understand what a big deal this was! Packers vs. Bears for the playoffs for the first time in like, forever. Being so close to IL, yet living in WI. Yeah...it's a big deal. My hubby is not a huge sports fan but he was all geeked to go watch the game. As soon as church was done I ran to the grocery store to get food for the week. While I was there I kept trying to prepare myself for hubby leaving as soon as I walked in the door.
This man does SO much for me! I cannot even begin to tell you the countless times he has said ok to me going out for coffee with the girls or hung out at home while I ran off to a MOPS leadership meeting or a Weight Watchers meeting. I KNOW that he needs time with his friends too. He has actually been doing that quite a bit more lately which I think is GREAT!!! Today, however, it was just kind of sprung on me. I was just not prepared. I did not want to make it all about me but I knew by the time I got done at the store I would be WAY tired. I was right !!!
On my way out of the store, husband calls to double check and make sure it is cool that he goes to watch the game. I try to tell him it is fine but I cannot bring myself to sound happy about it. Girls, you should have seen me at the end of the grocery trip. I looked like a zombie. I was literally spinning in circles in the produce section at one point because I could not find the nectarines. Yes, maybe if I continue to spin in circles they will magically appear ;) Sheesh.
I load everything up in the car and begin my drive to the house. I can tell that I am about to start crying. I was SO torn inside with wanting him to go and hang with his friends and on the other hand I REALLY wanted him to stay home. Then the tears started. Once they start, as I am sure so many of you know, they just do not stop!!!! I cried all the way home. I felt so bad. I did not want to be "that" wife who does not "let" her husband go hang with the guys, ya know?
As I parked in front of the house I tried to calm myself down but I continued to wail. It was quite the ridiculous site!!!! I get to the door and the two big kids open it and see me crying. Immediately, they are asking a million questions about why I am crying. The oldest assumed that I was scared that something was wrong with the baby in my belly (he is such a sensitive little guy). I tried to assure him that was not what was going on. Then husband comes over and asks what is wrong. I could not even talk. Then he says "Oh Scott is here." as we see a van pull up out front. Quickly followed by "I did not tell him to come get me yet." He sends me off to calm down.
While I am trying to compose myself, husband and his friend bring all the groceries in and put them away. Then Jay comes down to talk to me. Guess what I ended up doing? Yup you guessed it.....I cried some more. Basically, I just told him that I felt like a super huge brat if I said no but at the same time I really needed him to be there. Plus, I was planning on making Ziti for dinner. Which was apparently really important to me because when he suggested I wait and make it tomorrow I freaked out and started wailing "BUT ZITI IS ON THE MENU, I WANT TO MAKE THE ZITI!!!" Since I had been crying like a fool for so long, I made myself even more tired. I really needed to lay down for like an hour.
Being the great husband that he is, he stayed home. I rested for a little while and then got up and made dinner. Yes, the Ziti. The night ended on a pretty good note. It was a hard day. I knew he was bummed that he did not go watch the game and I felt really bad :( There are some things in life that just do not make sense.....one of them being me, while I am pregnant. I honestly think that had his friend invited him yesterday that it would have given me enough time to adjust and prepare for it. The whole last minute thing just totally threw me for a loop. Like I mentioned, he is totally cool with me running off to here and there and everywhere but it is always planned at least two days in advance. I just think it is very helpful for a family to have things kind of planned out. I understand that you cannot plan everything but when I am pregnant, I think it might be a good idea ;)
Speaking of planning, I did not plan ahead very well for this afternoon. I knew I was going to get groceries right after church but failed to line up something in my mind that would be a wise choice for lunch. I stopped at KFC on my way to the store. Yeah....a SMALL popcorn chicken 11pts plus!!! Ugh!!! I honestly did not eat very much today. I did not get hardly any fruits or veggies in. One positive thing is that I do not think I went crazy with any of my portions. Tomorrow I will shoot to get those good health guidelines in!!!! Here is what I did eat:

Breakfast: Maple & Brown Sugar Oatmeal- 4pts plus

Lunch- KFC- small popcorn chicken- 11pts plus, small potato wedges- 8pts plus

Dinner- Ziti- 9pts plus, 1 cup skim milk- 2pts plus, 1 piece of bread- 1pts plus

Snack- half a doughnut- 5pts plus (that is just ridiculous!!), blueberry yogurt- 4pts plus

Still added up to a 44pt day! Ugh!! Yes....fruits and veggies, I am coming after you tomorrow!!!!!

JUST SAY NO!!!!!!!!

Wouldn't it be great if it were just that easy? Just say no!!!! HA! Sometimes it just does not work. You get swept away in the moment. Unfortunately, that has been the case both Friday and Saturday evening this week!! Let's talk about last night.....
We had a lovely dinner at church last night for everyone who serves on the worship/sound team. We pulled up and to our surprise they had people waiting to park our cars for us!!! Valet parking? Awesome :) I immediately had a huge smile on my face and was ready to go in and connect with some of my favorite people :) Right as we walk in the door they had little baggies of popcorn. The cute kind that say popcorn on the front ;) Made my night even more ;) As the evening continued, we had some time to sing as well as thank different people who serve in different ways. It was very encouraging :) Then came the food......
There were green beans and a salad on my plate- GOOD!!!! There was also a large piece of lasagna. Ok, not SO bad. There was also a small helping for bow tie pasta as well. In my head (and my heart) I knew this was starting to add up. They also had a bread basket on the table, of which I helped myself to two small pieces. I said to my friend next to me, who is also pregnant, that I bet they would bring out cheese cake and make us eat it. We both laughed. Minutes later......out comes the cheesecake and it is placed right in front of me. I decided it would be rude not to eat it, right? UGH!!! Honestly, I am not sure why I do that to myself. I felt yucky for the rest of the night. I was all bubbly in full in my belly. Can I get a witness up in here? Anyone relate?
I think I need to remember that being out having a good time is fine. Eating a bit of cheesecake and pasta is also fine. It is the AMOUNT that I put into my face that is killing me!!!! So, my goal for this new week is to make sure that even if I go on special outings with friends or family that I will eat reasonable sized portions!!!!
Saturday's food list-

Breakfast- 2 pieces toast- 2pts plus, 2TBS peanut butter- 5pts plus, apple- 0pts plus

Lunch- Smart One Pot Roast-YUM- 4pts plus, about 1/4cup of hash browns w/cheese-5pts

TREAT- Light grande Java chip frappaccino- 6pts plus

Dinner- 2 pieces bread- 4pts plus, popcorn- 3pts plus, Lasagna- 8pts plus?, Bow tie pasta- 3pts plus, green beans- 0pts plus, salad, 0pts plus

Cheesecake- 14pts plus (at least!)

Gettin active!

After not being allowed to work out for the past two months it felt SO SO SO SO good today to finally get back to Jazzercise!!!! It is so strange to have been someone who never really worked out, then started to become active only to have that privilege taken away. Then to regain that freedom. It was just amazing. Granted, I did feel like a buffoon trying to do some of the stuff since my belly is already gettin big ;) But I did what I could. As I did the hand weights part of the class I kept thinking "Yes!!! This is what I NEED!!! Just because my belly gets huge does not mean the rest of me needs to!!!!".
I know that Jazzercise is not the answer for everyone. Heck, I never even looked into it before because I expected to see a bunch of people like my mom and and aunts out there doing stuff Sweatin to the Oldies style :) BUT to my surprise, Jazzercise uses top 40 music from NOW and it uses a mixture of different types of working out....dance, Pilate's, strength training, a little kick boxing kind of action, etc. So, for me....it works. If that is not your thing, that's cool. Let me encourage you though......FIND WHAT WORKS FOR YOU!!!! If you are someone who hates work out videos at home (I am one of those people, too), then buying yourself the latest and greatest work out video probably will not do you a whole lot of good!! If you like to walk but cannot stand running, then maybe you should not be trying to force yourself to become a runner.
There is something to be said about trying new things, however. So, if you do not know what you like then you may need to try many different avenues until you find your "IT" thing, ya know? Once you find it, I am sure you will know. It just clicks in your little brain and you say to yourself "Self, I really like this. When I think about doing this I get excited and I feel like it is something I can actually do and stick with." Bingo, that's your "IT" thing!! Run with it !! Or...jog with it....or...swim with it....or ...dance with it.......k, I think you get the idea ;)
Besides moving my booty today, it was a pretty good day all the way around. The only down side I would say, is the headache I have had for two days along with a SUPER cranky, almost three year old. Oh man!!!! I did somehow manage to get her to take a nap for the first time in about two months!! I laid down in bed with her and closed my eyes. I just kept telling her to hush and lay her head down. I did not think it would actually work. I was mainly just hoping that I would get 1/2 hour of "rest" for myself. Then at one point I looked up and .....she was totally passed out !!! YAY :) I stayed there for a little longer but then I had to pee SO bad I had to move. As I started to slide out of the bed I prayed and prayed that she would not wake up. I think she slept for about another hour after that.....THANK GOODNESS!! I got to catch up on some e-mails and stuff. It was very good!
My eating choices seemed to be pretty smart today too :) Part of that was because I knew I was going out to dinner with a friend so I was kind of trying to save up a bit of wiggle room for tonight. I have to be honest.....I ate too much at dinner :( Bugger. We got desert and everything. Oh well ;) Now, sitting here trying to write I am in a total food fog. This may work to my advantage when I try to lay down and sleep, though ;)
Are you ready for the daily run down? Yes? Well, I think that I should not type it up here until you each promise me that you are going to tell at least one person to check out the blog ;) He he he ;) Ok, so obviously I have no way of tracking that and I know you guys have been waiting ALL day to read about what I ate ;) So....here you go ;)

Breakfast- 3/4 cup honey bunches of oats- 3pts plus, 1 cup of skim milk- 2pts plus, nectarine- 0pts plus

Snack- Yoplait blackberry & pomegranate yogurt- 4pts plus

Lunch- Quesadillas with 1 extreme fiber tortilla- 1pts plus, 1/4 cup shredded cheddar cheese- 3pts plus and slices of red pepper- 0pts plus, dipped in salsa- 0pts plus (4pts plus total for the quesadilla) along with a side of Jolly Green Giant Just for One- cauliflower and cheese sauce- 1pts plus

Snack- 1 sheet graham crackers- 2pts plus, TINY bit of peanut butter- 1pts plus

While serving kids dinner- two bites of hot dog- 1pts plus?, four dorritos- 1pts plus?

Dinner- four pieces of bread- 8pts plus
one virgin strawberry daquiri- 6pts plus (totally guessing)
1/2 a plate of tortellini with spinach, red peppers and mushrooms- 10pts plus (estimating)
1/2 chocolate chip cookie sundae- 11pts plus ( they did not have the nutritional info. for this so I looked up the one they have at Applebee's and divided it by four since I am pretty sure I had about 1/4 of what the Applebee's one would be)

Plus 4 activity points :) So, all in all I would say I went over my "goal" points for the day by about 11pts plus. Yay for extra weekly points. And don't worry, I am holding the "points system" loosely for this pregnant lady. Just give me something to shoot for so I do not go totally overboard!!!

Water- I got about 2/3 of my water intake for the day. I WILL get all my water tomorrow!!!!

Thankful Thursday!!

SO much to be thankful for today!!!! We had our ultrasound and the little bean looks GREAT so far :) S/he waved at me right away :) I am very excited now :) Plus, they lifted all of my restrictions :) So guess what? I am going back to jazzercise!!!!!!!!!!!!! YAY :) Not only will I be sharing what I eat but I will hopefully mention when I make it to class and keep you posted on how that goes as the pregnancy progresses!!! I have NEVER worked out while pregnant before. I am telling ya, this pregnancy is gonna be different from all the others!!!!
Today is also a day to be thankful for wise choices and self control ;) Drank my water and ate well for most of the day :) I am bummed though that I still have the same headache that I have had since 1pm today!!! I would like to think that eating right would help that kind of stuff!!!! What do I know? He he he ;)
Looks like my post is gonna be short tonight. Sleep is something that is needed VERY much at the moment !!! Here's the list:

Breakfast- Oatmeal (Maple and brown sugar)-4pts plus, 1/2 a banana- 0pts plus, nectarine- 0pts plus

Lunch- Smart Ones (Oriental chicken)- 6pts plus, cool ranch doritos (24 chips- 2 servings)- 8pts plus

Treat- WW ice cream sandwich- 4pts plus

Treat #2- Reese's peanut butter tree- 5pts plus

Snack- Apple- 0pts plus

Dinner- Pita pizza topped with LOTS of veggies...SO SO SO SO good- 9pts plus (would have only been 7 according to the recipe but I added a bit of spaghetti sauce which added some points), lots of broccoli- 0pts plus

Snack- Popcorn- undetermined amount, homemade- ? pts plus

Water for the day- CHECK :)

WHATEVER Wednesday!!!!!!!!

Last night I was too tired to update the good old blog. I went to bed by 9pm. Honestly, with how I ate yesterday I would rather not put it on here ;) BUT like I said, I want to be honest with myself and with you!!!! It would be easy to blame it on nerves with knowing I was having an ultrasound in the morning but I know that is just an excuse ;)
Yesterday did start out pretty well as far as eating goes. Had my 3/4cup of honey bunches of oats with just a tiny bit of milk and half of a banana. I tried to keep it small because I knew I would be having brunch at MOPS.

Begin tangent-

What is MOPS you ask? Well.....let me tell you!!!!!!! MOPS stands for Mothers of Preschoolers. It is an organization meant to equip, encourage and strength moms with kids from age 0-5yrs. It is an international organization so there might be a local MOPS group near you!!!! Go to www.mops.org. On the left hand side click on groups, then go to find a group and put in your zip code!!! It has been such an awesome experience for me (and SO many moms I know!!!!). Our local MOPS group meets twice a month. The kids go to age appropriate rooms with supervision while the mommies go to a large meeting room for much needed "mommy time". We have brunch at every meeting, then we either have a speaker on a topic that relates to us as mothers or we do a creative activity, then we break off into small group discussion time. So, if you need a place to connect to other mommies........go to MOPS!!!!!! YAY :)

Back to brunch- Ok, so I knew I would have brunch at MOPS and I tried to make sure to take small portion sizes. It worked out ok. Then, on the way home.......I got Taco Bell. I had been thinking about it for a week or so and finally caved. See, it would not be so bad but everything I ate yesterday added up REAL quick. Do not even ask me about water cause I do not think I could have even told you where my water bottle even was 99% of the time yesterday!!! So, I think that answers your question about that!!!!

Today is going ok so far. I would say it is kind of middle of the road at this point. Not horrible but not wonderful. I AM getting my water in today. I will post all of the stuff from today later on tonight. For not....here is the run down from my "whatever Wednesday" ;)

Breakfast- 3/4 cup honey bunches of oats- 3pts plus, tiny bit of milk 1pts plus, half banana- 0pts plus

Brunch- mini crepe- 2pts plus (guessing), 1 mini blueberry muffin- 2pts plus (guessing), VERY small piece of strussel cake- 2pts plus (guessing some more), Strawberries and grapes- 0pts plus, some kind of chocolate chip & coconut bar- 5pts plus (guessing again)

Lunch- 3 soft tacos- 16pts plus, 2 chicken nuggets that the kids did not eat- 3pts plus, couple of french fries- 2pts plus,

Treat- handful of Almond M&Ms- 3pts plus (guess), 3 little cookies, 4pts plus (guess), 1 root beer- 5pts plus

Snack- Nectarine- 0pts plus......at least I ended the day on a good note ;)

So, yeah, like a 47pts plus kind of day ;)