Well, I have a funny little story to share with you guys! It might not be funny to all y’all and it might be one of those “you had to be there” stories, but I’ve been chuckling about it all day!
My 5 year old was playing with a small piece of Minky-type fabric today. He put it on the baby’s head and the baby seemed to like it! He kept it on his head for a while and if it happened to fall off, then big brother made sure to put it back on. Anyway, what made me laugh was when my 5 year old put it on my baby’s head, he said, “Now he looks like a McDonald’s worker!”
Wha?! I really don’t see where he gets the whole “McDonald’s worker” thing, but I thought it was hilarious! He kept calling him a “McDonald’s worker” all morning. Ha! Soooo, here’s my little “McDonald’s Worker”…
LOL!!! I don’t know why it struck me as so funny! I seriously don’t see the resemblance. I think he looks more like Donald Trump. Ha ha. I love the cute things my kids say….it’s cheap entertainment for sure!
Well I hope y’all had a fun weekend! We had a busy one. On Friday, I went out to lunch at California Pizza Kitchen with my parents and sister. We were celebrating my parents 75th birthdays (they were born 4 days apart!) It was so nice to spend some time with them!
On Sunday, we had another celebration for them with some of my siblings and their families. We took the opportunity to get a family picture with my sweet parents.
GUYS, I’m thankful every single day for my parents, siblings, husband and sweet kidlets! I am so so grateful.
My parents taught me so much; my dad has the biggest heart ever and taught me about forgiveness, acceptance, hard work, kindness and unconditional love. My mother is AMAZING and I’m not kidding when I say that I have never in my life heard her raise her voice. I didn’t know how amazing that was/is until I became a mother myself. I have to say, I don’t share her same track record…ha ha. My mom taught me about patience, charity, tolerance, humility and just pure sweetness.
OH, how I love them!!!
On Friday night, we had a birthday party at our house for this cute guy…
He is now TWELVE years old and is such a great kid. I enjoy making my kids birthday cakes and my son requested a “layer cake that is decorated with candy.” So, this is what I came up with and he loved it!
For his party, he had 10 cute boys over. They played Frisbee and football in the backyard with music playing on the speakers. They had a ball (literally….ha ha.) We also had pizza, cake, opened presents and then watched a movie in the backyard on a big screen with a projector.
I can’t share pics from his party because I don’t have permission to post pictures of all of the cute boys on my blog, but I will share a picture of our deck that we decorated…
It wasn’t anything fancy; I am SO NOT a Pinterest worthy party mom! Ha ha ha ha! But, it was simple and my son was so happy with how it turned out. We just hung up some banners, got some balloons and strung some Christmas lights and cheap paper lanterns (Dollar store) around. We had my son’s favorite songs playing on the speakers and he thought everything was “so cool!”
I think my older teenagers were wishing they did a party like that. We had so much fun!
On Saturday I was able to go on a great run with the baby…
Oh wow, the sun is NOT doing my hair any favors! Yikes. It ended up being a great 6.2 mile run! It was a little hot, but for the most part I felt pretty good. We are planning on running a Half Marathon in November, so I’m starting to ramp up the miles again. I’m actually excited about it! I plan on running 6 or 7 miles again tomorrow.
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Well, I’ve been telling you guys about my frustrations with weight loss lately! First off, I want to say that I SO appreciate all of the sweet emails you guys sent me and the comments you guys left me on my blog and Facebook page. A lot of you shared encouraging words and your own frustrations with me. Seriously, all of you guys out there in the world (the ones who comment and the ones who just read), I hope you know how much I love each and every one of you!!! It sounds so cheesy and even though I don’t know most of you, I really appreciate your support and encouragement of me and my little blog.
As a blogger, I put my whole life out there for the world to see. Yes, I feel quite vulnerable at times, but I try to be 100% “real” and authentic anyway. I know I’m opening myself up to judgement and criticism, but thankfully most of you guys are nice to me! Ha. I have had my share of critical and negative comments from time to time. I’m always saddened and surprised by the negativity I see out in cyberspace sometimes.
Anyway, I digress.
Some of you guys told me you thought I didn’t have any weight to lose….I’m here to tell you I DO! I’m slowly getting down to a healthy weight again, but I definitely have some poof left on my body!! I don’t really have a specific “goal weight” in mind, but I think I’ll just know it when I get there.
I’ve loved my Ultimate Oxygen Challenge and have definitely noticed some great results. I don’t think I’ve ever in my life trained this hard and consistently with weight training! I used to go to a lot of weight training classes at the gym and I dabbled a little with Jamie Eason’s LiveFit Trainer (love that program, BTW!), but I’ve never consistently trained with heavy weights for this long (almost 3 months!)
I’ve only missed a few workouts, but as you know I’ve struggled a bit with the eating plan. However, I can definitely see more muscle on my body! Yay! I know that if I can just lean out and lose these last 10 pounds or so, I’ll actually be able to SEE that muscle more easily! I really think my results will be quite dramatic.
Soooo, I had a few pep talks with myself and read a few things recently that really made me think! I recently read somewhere that “If you are trying to lose weight and you’re not seeing results it’s usually because of one of two things; 1) you have an underlying medical condition (thyroid issues, PCOS, etc.) or 2) you’re eating too much food!
Ding, ding, ding, ding, ding!!! When I read that, it was like I’d been hit by a bus! I’m eating too much food! It sounds really simple, I know, but sometimes you need to hear things from a different source. I have been so focused on eating healthy food and eating more protein, but I think I’m just eating TOO MUCH!
I had a similar “ah ha moment” several years ago when I was trying to lose weight, but apparently I’m a slow learner. I like to think that when you’re filling your body full of healthy, real food you don’t need to count calories, but sadly, I still think you do!
If you’re just eating a diet of fruits, veggies and moderate amount of protein products, then I think you can eat to your heart’s content (with moderation in the meat department!), but when eating things like whole grains, dairy products, peanut butter, etc….you really have to pay attention…even if it’s healthy! Those foods are more calorie dense and can definitely add up!
Sooooo, I’ve been using My Fitness Pal the past couple weeks and I’m loving it so much! I used it a couple years ago and kind of, sort of liked it, but for some reason I’m LOVING it now!!! It is so helpful and educational to see exactly what I’m putting in my body. I’ve also been watching my Macros a bit (fat, protein, carbs) and it’s been so eye opening. I’m thinking once my challenge is over, I’m going to start counting Macros. I’ll talk about it more in another post. It really seems to make a lot of sense to me!
Anyway, I also read some advice on a blog recently that also spoke to my heart. It said something like, “For people who are trying to lose weight, I would recommend being 100% committed, getting it done, and working HARD until your ideal weight/body is achieved.” Losing weight is so hard, but it’s worth it to just WORK HARD, sacrifice, be a little hungry, and just GET IT DONE! Maintaining that ideal weight/body is so much easier than losing weight.
Soooo, I’m now focusing not only on the quality of food I’m putting in my body, but on the amount too!!! I’m going to stick to a 1200 calorie diet 3 days a week (on the days I’m not as active) and a 1500 calorie diet on the other days (the days I’m doing more cardio.) I will remind y’all that I’m not a doctor or medical professional, so I would advise each of you to check with your own doctors before starting your own weight loss adventure.
I also know some of you will think that 1200 calories is too low! I’m here to tell you that FOR ME, it’s just fine. I’m filling my body with lots of nutrient dense, healthy, FILLING food and so I feel okay about 1200 calories.
Sooo, I ate 1200 calories on Sunday and Monday and around 1500 calories today. I felt quite hungry between meals on Sunday and Monday, but it wasn’t anything I couldn’t live with. I didn’t feel too hungry today though. I’m sorry to say that I think it’s perfectly fine and probably GOOD for us to feel hunger occasionally. Our society is so used to EATING every time we feel the slightest hunger pang and I don’t think that’s good!!
Soooo, I’m determined to just HIT IT HARD, stay committed and focused and get to where I want to be! I didn’t mean to go on and on and on, so I will be quiet now. 😉
I will also share some of my favorite foods I’ve been eating lately. I’ve really been eating a lot of the same things over and over again. I LOVE all of the food I’m eating, so I really don’t get sick of it. It also simplifies things to just eat a lot of the same things.
A bowl of oatmeal with a side of Egg White Muffins topped with a little cheese and ketchup (now that I’m watching calories more closely, I’ll probably cut out the cheese.)
Grilled chicken topped with Wholly Guacamole with a side of Cauliflower Potatoes (I’ll probably cut way back on the guac next time too!)
Steak with salad and peas!
Roast Beef with veggies (I took this picture after I’d already eaten half of it! Sorry!)
Plain Greek yogurt with a little cocoa and Stevia mixed in….
I have a recipe on my blog for Protein Pudding, which is essentially this yogurt mixture plus protein powder (and sometimes peanut butter), but in an effort to save calories I cut out the PB and protein powder and I think it tastes just as good!!! So, for now, I’m sticking with this.
I’ve also been eating lots of salads with or without brown rice/quinoa mixed in. YUM!
Oh, I also discovered that my baby likes celery! Who knew?!?!
I had some celery with peanut butter the other day and he wanted to try some. He loved it! I know celery is very stringy, so I was careful to make sure he didn’t choke, but I was so surprised by how much he liked it!
Well, that’s about all I have to say tonight. I’m excited to see where my new “pay attention to calories” plan will take me.
Seriously, I’m a slow learner! I’m trying to lose weight and it’s taken me this long to realize I probably better keep my calories in check!??! Geesh.
I gotta go to bed. Love you all! xoxo
Good luck with the weight loss. Now that I’m done with my big race series, I need to get serious about dropping a few pounds before the marathon. I know hauling 10 extra pounds around during the half marathons definitely was harder on my body. First step for me is quitting the between meal snacking + decreasing the amount of cheese in my life…
Oh, I can definitely feel every extra pound on my body when I run too! I’m a lot slower runner than I was a couple years ago and I know it’s the extra weight! I’m also a big lover of cheese too. YUM!
I typically do a 1200 calorie diet too when I’m really working at it and paying attention. That’s how I lost most of the weight from both my pregnancies. I usually found that on active days I was super hungry the day after and that’s when I’d allow myself the extra snack or a slightly larger lunch. I would break down the calories per meal and snack and have a plan for each day. I also logged everything on My Fitness Pal which I love and should probably use more. I tend to drift from it when I get ‘close enough’ to my goal and think I can just wing it from there. 🙂
Your plan sounds absolutely perfect. When I’m actively trying to lose weight, I try to stick to 1200 calories too, but I also try to listen to my body. When I’m really into running, I always seem to need a bit more “fuel” and can’t keep the calories as low. I’ve really learned to love My Fitness Pal, but I lose motivation with it sometimes too!
I’ve been struggling with the eating too much thing, too, but while training for half marathons, it’s really hard to avoid putting on weight. It’s so disappointing to be working so hard, physically, and to feel like you’re so ravenous you could eat your own arm right off after a long run. I’m sure you’re also dealing with getting to a new equilibrium after weaning the baby. That can’t be easy.
You’re always an inspiration, Mel. Good luck!
My sister always tells me that she becomes ravenous when training for marathons and half marathons too! She seems to gain weight too, which is so frustrating. I don’t seem to notice a big difference in my appetite when I run, but I do notice a change as my hormones change throughout the month! When I’m PMS-ing, I want to eat ALL THE CHOCOLATE! Ha!
Oh man, I eat about 2000 calories a day, sometimes much more. I don’t think I could function on 1500 or under. I would say if you’re going to be upping your running mileage perhaps up the food too, or at least honor your hunger! It’s a constant up and down ride to discover a good middle ground.
I think if you’re not actively trying to lose weight, 2000 calories can work just fine! You’re right though, it’s tough as a runner! I try to eat a little more, especially carbs on the days I’m running. On the days I weight train, I know I can eat less. If I’m really strategic with what I eat, I can keep the calories low AND stay full in the process! It’s definitely a balancing act though and a tough one at that!!!
I can’t wait to read about your macros. Those tricky little things like all natural peanut butter and cheese do have a lot of calories, but they’re so good! I think you’re doing great and you look awesome.
Happy birthday to your parents!
I’ve really been enjoying learning about macros! The beauty of being aware of macros is that I think you can still fit in peanut butter and cheese…it’s all a matter of balance. I’m still trying to figure out the balance myself, but it’s been eye opening to me!
Oh my gosh that birthday cake was amazing looking, great job.
Thanks so much Abby!
I started using myfitnesspal a week ago. I find it a lot of work but I wanted to make an effort to track my food for a bit, and see how everything balanced out. It told me 1200 calories too, which I think is really low actually but I figured I would try a week or 2 and see what happens. I would like to shred 5 to 8 pounds before marathon training starts….. hang in there.
When I first started using My Fitness Pal, I thought it was kind of a pain and a lot of work too! Since I’ve started using it again (after at least a 6 month hiatus), I’m finding it invaluable! Since I’ve been paying closer attention to my macros, it’s very helpful and such an easy way to see exactly what I’m putting in my body. It’s still a pain, but seems more “worth it” to me now. I hope you get the results you’re looking for before your marathon training starts!!!