2012 Year End...

This year has been a roller coaster.  It started out with change (I changed jobs) and ended with frustration.  In the middle I managed to lose 60 lbs, fell in love with the gym, have fun with my family and learn to focus on me. 

However in the month of November my life hit a bit of a roadblock.  My Grandmother (actually I should call her my mom) had a stroke.  I sat by her bedside for almost two weeks while she slipped away.  On the day after Thanksgiving she passed and I have been engulfed in depression.  It sucks and I am struggling! I feel like I am back to square one again.  I know I can restart and push myself, I just have not figured out how.  At the end of my work day, instead of picking the kids up and going to the gym, I just want to pick up the kids and go home.  I want to lay on the coach and veg or sleep.  I have not slept well since November 13 and the exhaustion is making me short-tempered and crazy.  I have waves of extreme depression (sobbing, difficulty breathing with anxiety) followed by manic episodes where I can not relax.  So either I have been cleaning, or more often than not cooking.  Making baked goods in the middle of the night is never a good idea, especially if you are a stress eater!

So now, as the year is coming to a end, it is time to refocus and reach my goals.  I main goal for the year is to compete in 12 organized races this year.  Mostly running, but I will do a few cycling events and possibly a triathlon.  My first race is a 5k on New Years Day.  I figure I should start the year off with fitness and it will set the tone for the year.  Second, I will take care of my mental health, as it is greatly effecting my physical health.  Doctor's appointment is already made.  Third, I will refocus my diet and start tracking again using my fitness pal or lose it.  I am also going to cut the carbs and try to eliminate a lot of gluten too.  I have also been struggling with some lactose issues, so dairy is going to be limited as well.  I am hoping this will help to detox my body and get me feeling a little better.

Well, I am tired and the kids are making it hard to type!  (Niece, Nephew and Son are going crazy trying to stay up till midnight).  I hope you all have a blessed New Year!

- Chandra

BUSY!!

I know I have been scarce for the past week.  I started my new job (which is going really well) and have been super busy adjusting to new work time, kids schedules, wardrobe changes (I have to wear business clothes and look very professional, ie makeup!) and where heels, along with all my other ongoing challenges.

I will do a huge post this weekend.

BTW - I am down to 237.6. - Small loss, but I will take it!

Catch Up

It is has been a busy week and so here I am catching up for the past three days.

Tuesday – Valentine’s Day

Had a nice day.  We have not really celebrated it because both my hunny and I work and it is hard to doing something together on a weekday.  Maybe we will do something this weekend (may just the two of us too since my MIL will be in town and might be willing to watch the kiddos).  I did make dinner and it was quite yummy.  I made chicken marsala with garlic sautéed broccoli and sautéed squash with peppers and onions.  The chicken was very tasty (I don’t really like chicken so this was great for me find something I like) and the broccoli and squash were also a huge hit.  My son could have eaten the whole bowl of broccoli on his own.  The entire meal was low carb and was within phase 1 of South Beach.  Woohoo for staying in plan!

BDS Day 7 – Change Your Environment

This topic was about changing your environment to better prepare for dieting and losing weight. The first step is to remove temptations.  For me this is out of sight out of mind.  Since I have kids it is hard for me to get rid of all the goodies so the key for me is to put them in the pantry so they don’t tempt me.  If I don’t see the cookies I don’t want the cookies!  The second step was to consider other people at home and work.  My family is well aware of my goals and they are on board so I don’t have to be too strict about what we are eating or what they are eating in front of me. I am also exercising some amazing self-control so changing my environment has been pretty easy to do.  I was able to walk past three large plates of homemade cookies at my office without eating any of them.  They were on the table for two days before they were all gone.  I am quite proud of this accomplishment!

Wednesday – Weigh in day – Official Weigh-in – 236.5!!

Wednesday was a typical rush out the door, get the kids to school, work, run errands, work some more, get kids home from school kind of day.  During the evening I had to prepare the kids picture outfits for today since they were both taking school pictures this morning. 

For dinner I made a fabulous Curried Beef Stir-fry.  OMG it was good and low carb and phase 1 of SB!!

I’m going to try and be a little more adventurous with my seasonings and expand my palate and not my waist.  Also, since I am eating more meat, I have to make it tasty since I am not a big meat eater to begin with.  Giving up the rice and other starchy carbs I’ve used to fill my plate in the past is definitely a change for the better and I am going to embrace this new low carb lifestyle to the best of my ability.  Especially since I am already seeing some really positive movement on the scale! Monday morning I was back up to 241.8 after a weekend of binging on carbs and today I was at 236.5 that translates to a 5.3lb loss in three days.  I know some of it is water weight and it will taper off, but right now it is super encouraging!

BDS Day 8 – Scheduling

This topic is all about scheduling time to diet.  Making time to prepare foods, eat slowly, shop for proper foods, and exercise.  I was required to write out my schedule to make this diet happen.  Below is my proposed weekday schedule (I am going to put it into effect starting next Monday.)

Today

This morning was another rushed morning.  I am having a lot of pain in my right hip at night when trying to sleep (I think it might be bursitis L, so I am going to start a regime of some anti-inflammatories, icing and stretching to see if I can get it feeling better), so I am not sleeping well which is resulting in me oversleeping.  Not good when trying to get three people ready in the morning.  Today the kids had their first official school pictures and I had to get them both adorable for them.  It is crazy, but  my 3 month old had her first school picture taken this morning and she was too cute!  She wore a fabulous pink and white polka-dotted dress with a matching flower hair clippie.  My son was looking pretty cute too in his blue and orange striped rugby shirt and khakis! I am excited to see how these pictures come out.  Dinner tonight will just be leftover stir fry, since I will be trying to clean house a little to get ready for company this weekend.

BDS Day 8 – Select an Exercise Plan

Today’s topic was to pick an exercise plan.  I’ve been pondering my plan for exercise for the past couple of weeks and now I have to decide what I want to do and when.  I actually really love to exercise, but my schedule has been preventing me from doing it so I had pretty much stopped.  I know to lose weight I need to get back on track so no more letting my schedule control me.  I will just have to schedule it in (first thing in the morning) and suck up the lost sleep.  Hopefully the benefits from extra energy because of the exercise will help me power through the day. 

So starting Monday, I will be getting up at 5:00 so that I can do Jillian Michaels 30 Day Shred.  I am also going to try and start walking a couple of evenings a week since it is finally getting lighter and I can see where I am going with two kids in tow.  I also want to try and do yoga once a week on either Friday evenings or Sunday afternoon at my favorite studio.  Those are the days that they have community donation yoga and the cost is substantially less.

I am also starting to think long term about my goal to do a triathlon this year before my 35^th birthday and if I am going to do this I need to get my bike repaired and start swimming.  I am looking to which triathlon I want to do and possibly joining the local tri club so I can receive some proper training regarding transitioning and pool privileges.  Decisions!

QOD – What is your favorite exercise?

Monday's suck but coupons rock!

Yesterday was the start of a new week.  The first full week of being back at work and the kids being in daycare and pre-K.  The morning went pretty smoothly and I actually got to work on time.  During my lunch hour I did a little grocery shopping at my local Vons using coupons.  I am just venturing into the world of coupon shopping and so far it rocks!  Yesterday I was able to save 52% using my club card and coupons and everything I purchased was healthy items my family will eat with no problems.  On Sunday I did some grocery shopping at Target and was able to save 44% using coupons.  Other than buying some fruit, a loaf of bread and some milk (which I actually have some coupons for) we are stocked up for the next couple of weeks.  We are on a really tight budget so I have to make our food dollars stretch.

So back to my day, I finished out the work day and picked the kids up.  The drive home was a little on the stressful side because it was raining and apparently no one knows how to drive in the rain.  The drive home should have only taken 20 minutes max and instead it took about 35, all the while Maddy was screaming because she was hungry.  Finally got home around 6:15 and fed the baby.  Logan and I got to eat around 7:30 or so.  I am so grateful he is being patient with his baby sister and understands that she needs so much attention.  I didn’t make the best food choice, I ended up finishing off some tortilla chips and queso but I didn’t go over my allotted calories either.  I was just so tired from not getting any sleep the night before that I just grabbed what I could make in about 30 seconds.  We crawled into bed around 10 pm.

This morning was chaos! Woke up really late and only had about 30 minutes to get everyone ready and out the door.  We made it!  Thankfully I have easy lunch/snack items stored in the fridge and I was able to pull something together in about 1 minute while my coffee was brewing.  Today I had a Trader Joes Greek Salad (140 cal), apple, string cheese, and non-fat strawberry yogurt.  I grabbed breakfast at Starbucks (using a gift card) since I was starving after I dropped the kids off (a veggie breakfast sandwich (350 cal) and skinny mocha (110 cal)).  Tonight Logan and I will have tacos from the leftovers from Sunday night’s dinner. 

On an exercise note – my legs are sore from taking the stairs!  I am glad to finally be moving a little more.  I will get some more exercise tonight since I have to clean house a little and I always burn a few calories doing that. J

Blogging note – in reading some of my favorite blogs I noticed that many post a question at the end so I think I will too.  I hope it will lead to some new information, insight, encouragement and new friendships. 

So do you use coupons? Any fabulous deals as a result of using them?

Weekends=Stress :(

This past weekend was tough.  I had ambitious plans to get a lot done, but when it was over, nothing was really done.  I really need to find some balance between taking care of the house, kids and relaxing.   My week days are packed with work all day and taking care of the kids in the evenings, which leaves me exhausted and climbing into bed around 10 pm most nights.  Thus, I have a desire to save up all the house work and major errands for the weekend, but this is not good either.  The kids and I only get to see my husband on the weekends so who wants to spend that time working when it should be a fun relaxing time.  So going back to this past weekend, spent too much time doing nothing really and as a result I returned to work this morning, completely stressed and feeling overwhelmed with the work I need to do at home.  I think I need to plan out my week better and use my lunch hour to run errands and grocery shop.  I get so much more done when I am by myself.  I really do love my family, but they really slow me down when trying to get things done.   Between baby girl requiring almost constant attention, the 5 year old who needs attention and constantly interrupts me to get that attention and my husband who needs helps with practically everything involving the house or the kids, I am left with my head spinning and nothing getting done.   I want to spend time with my family doing fun things, not resenting them because I am left with all the housework and errands to do all weekend.

Then to compound the weekend issues, I overate and ate crap all weekend.  Not the thing to do when trying to lose weight!  I ideally would like to lose two pounds a week but that will not happen if I eat pizza, cake and drink alcohol on the weekends.  But the past is the past and now it is time to move forward.

This morning I am back on track with my food and even got a little exercise in.  For breakfast I had an egg mug omelet and a large cup of decaf coffee with a little nonfat creamer.  I also packed my lunch and snacks (TJ Southwest salad, apple, almonds, Greek black cherry yogurt and string cheese).  I also took the stairs when I got to the office this morning.  I was totally winded after 4 floors of stairs.  I didn’t realize I had gotten that out of shape.  I will be taking the stairs exclusively! No more elevators for me.

First Week Back At Work - New Routines

On Wednesday, January 18^th I returned to work after being out on maternity leave for 12 weeks.  First, let me point out that it really, really sucks to go back to work and leave me sweet little baby in the care of someone else!  On the upside, I really like the location I choose to watch and teach my children. I hope this will alleviate some of my stress.

Second, my morning routine is going to be a balancing act.  I have to get myself up and ready, get Logan up and ready, and then get Madelyn up and ready. I have to make sure everyone is fed, school and work bags packed, drive half-way across town to drop the kids off at daycare and pre-K, then get myself to work by 9 am.  I have to leave my house by 8 am to get to work on time.  Of course I want to maximize my sleep because I am still getting up in the middle of the night to feed a baby so the earliest I can tolerate dragging out of bed is 6 am.  So far I think this schedule will work for us, however I definitely need to utilize some preplanning the night before to make sure it all goes smoothly.

Third, my job can be extremely stressful at times and at other times, very boring.  Both instances send me searching for food! I could easily sit at my desk and consume a day’s worth of calories in just a few hours, make that a few minutes!  To end this vicious cycle of eating (and to save money) I am packing my own lunch and snacks. 

Lastly, our evening routine will hopefully be the easiest part of the day.  We do not get home until 6 pm and everyone is starving by then so the challenge will be making sure that I am prepared to make quick and healthy meals for us.  It is so easy to just stop and get fast food on the way home, but my huge butt and empty check account can attest that this is not the best idea!

The next challenge will be working some real exercise into this schedule.

So far the first three days back at work have gone pretty smoothly and the routine seems to be working.  Hopefully it will get easier as time goes by.

Now that I am almost caught up on getting this blog going, I hope to post at least once a day.