Well folks, this past week my life and healthy living mojo has been turned on it’s head! First off, we’ve had the stomach flu at our house…all week long!
Ya.
It entered our home Sunday afternoon and I think (fingers crossed) it might be officially gone now! My poor baby got sick on Sunday. It was the first time he’d ever had “the flu,” so it was so sad to see him so sick!
On Tuesday morning, I awoke early with that awful gnawing feeling in my stomach. I was like, “Noooooo!” and was very much in denial for several hours. As I lay on the couch feeling sorry for myself, I got a call from my daughter at school saying she was sick too! So, I picked her up from school and she and I laid on the couches, feeling sorry for ourselves together!
Thankfully, my baby loves snuggling and reading books because we did a lot of that!
I actually looked a lot scarier in person. Ha ha. AND, the only reason I had makeup on was because I had to look somewhat alive when I picked my daughter up at school! Oh, and in that pic on the right my baby was actually throwing a fit because he didn’t want me to take selfies! He wanted me to read that book! Too funny.
Anyway, I felt quite a bit better by Tuesday night, but my daughter was soooooo sick! She missed FOUR days of school, including a field trip with her dance team to BYU. She was soooo excited to go to that and I was sooooo sad she had to miss it. She had a meltdown last night because she’s a straight A student and was worried about missing so much school. Thankfully, she’s starting to perk today and I’m hoping no one else will get sick!
Oh, and Kev got sick Tuesday night and was very sick for 2 days. My cute 5 year old (almost 6!) came running into my room yesterday morning and I immediately knew he was the next victim. Thankfully, he is just fine today! Oy.
My three boys who were spared were so worried! There was a lot of hand washing and hand sanitizing going on! My funny 12 year old went around the house like this…
It was comical. My daughter made fun of him and called him a “germaphobe.” He responded, “I made it to the final three, so I must be doing something right!” Ha ha.
Well, in the midst of all the sickness at our house, we also had two birthdays! My daughter turned FIFTEEN! Wha???! I still feel fifteen and have no idea how she can be fifteen too!???!?
I was so grateful my daughter wasn’t sick on her birthday. She didn’t want a cake, but instead chose a wonderfully dangerous dessert! It’s a recipe a friend of mine gave me several years ago. ..
You basically just make a tray of Rice Krispie treats, top it with half a jar of Mrs. Richardson’s Butterscotch topping (microwave the jar a bit so it’s pourable!), then top that with melted milk chocolate chips. Then, let it set in the fridge and enjoy!
Yes, it’s pretty much a sugar rush. It is so good and I hadn’t made it in years! I “thanked” my daughter for reminding me of how good it is, dang it.
Anyway, I took this picture that pretty much sums up our family perfectly!
My daughter is the sweet, calm peacemaker in our home and her crazy brothers are CrAzY (with the exception of the precious little one in glasses; he’s sweet, calm and peacemaker-y too!)
I also had to laugh because we had “candle issues!” We were severely lacking in candles at our house! I only had four birthday candles and a bunch of number candles….so we improvised!
We are very used to “going with the flow” around here. Ha ha.
My little baby seven year old turned EIGHT yesterday! I can’t believe he is so big! Really. I still think of him as a four or five year old. Sniff, sniff.
Even though several members of our family were still sick yesterday, we still had a fun family party at home with the “non-sickies!” He is not a cake person and didn’t even want me to make a treat, which was actually quite nice. I took this pic of him with his presents…
He got some Spy Gear Video Walkie Talkies, a Lego set, some candy and Vitamin water. It was a fun night and again, I was so grateful he wasn’t sick on his birthday!
So aside from our crazy birthday sick house, we also struggled to adjust to Daylight Savings! Wow, Daylight Savings is NO JOKE with kids!!! No one wanted to go to bed “on time” and then no one wanted to wake up “on time” either! It was rough. We were all grumpy walking zombies for a few days. I’ve decided I’m not a fan of Daylight Savings, although I’ve been loving the extra daylight!
Kev and I also went out of town last weekend. Kev ran the Canyonlands Half Marathon with our friends, Kevin and Kelly. I was supposed to run, but couldn’t train because I injured my foot! Boo hoo.
I have to say, when we got to Moab I soooo wished I was running the race too! I could feel the race excitement in the air and I wanted to be a part of it! Moab is such a gorgeous place and 11 miles of the race is down a beautiful canyon. This is definitely a race I want to run another year!
Kev took this pic with our friends at the start line…
I headed over to the race finish line when the 1:30 racers were finishing. I have to say….it was inspiring! Those people crossing the finish line at that time were fit, fast and just freaking cool. I was more that impressed. I continued to be inspired as I watched all the other runners finish no matter the time! 13.1 miles is a great accomplishment, no matter how fast.
I love the feeling at a race! I felt myself get all teary on more than one occasion; as I watched those amazingly fast runners zoom across the finish line, as I saw a man walking and limping across the finish line, when I saw a man finish the race with his kids running by his side and as I watched family members cheering on their loved ones. Races are just cool. Period.
I took a pic of baby and I as we were watching all the runners come in…
I was a little worried about Kev at this race because he hadn’t trained as much as he should have (he’s done that before!) He’d also been having some issues with his Achilles, so I had visions of seeing him arrive in an ambulance or on the “Sweep Vehicle!” Ha ha.
I was happy when I finally saw him approaching the finish line!
He finished in 2:19, which is his slowest Half by far, but I was still proud of him….and I still wished I could have run too!!!!
Sadly, I didn’t see my other friends come in though. 🙁 Kelly finished just under 2 hours and Kevin finished a little after my Kevin.
After the race, we decided to go to lunch at the Twisted Sistas’ Cafe. It was very very good and I would highly recommend it! I ordered the Buffalo Chicken Wrap (came with grilled chicken) with a side salad and it was fabulous. I didn’t even take a picture though. Booo.
It was such a fun, but quick trip!
Well folks, between the trip, Daylight savings, the 3 sick kids, me getting sick, the sick husband and 2 birthdays (all in less than a week!), I am pooped. My healthy eating and macro counting is kaput. I have been eating whatever the heck sounds good and sugar has been my friend.
I’m okay with it though because I was on “survival mode!” It’s also been a good opportunity for me to evaluate my life and identify some changes I want to make.
First off, I am feeling chubbier than I want to be right now. For the first year after I had the baby, I thought it was “baby weight” and it would eventually come off. However, once a baby is 19 months old, I think the weight is just “weight” and is here to stay! Soooo, it’s time to make it go away! I’ve lost and gained the same 5 or so pounds several times over the past year!
Every time I mention that I want to lose weight, I always get a bunch of comments or emails from people telling me I don’t need to lose weight! Although I don’t have a lot of weight to lose (~10-15 pounds), I assure you I can definitely stand to lose a few pounds! I know that the goals I have for myself are not unrealistic or unhealthy.
I am very honest with myself and if I recognize changes that need to be made….I make them! I don’t do it because I have a poor self esteem or warped body image; on the contrary…I love to set goals and strive to be the best I can be! Yes, it can be hard, but I actually love a challenge!
So, with that being said, I love macro counting. I really think it is a wonderful, healthy, realistic lifestyle. However, I’ve been macro counting for a few weeks now and I haven’t lost a single pound! It’s made me a little discouraged, but in full disclosure, I haven’t been as careful on the weekends and I snitched a few things here and there that I didn’t account for. As a whole, I’m happy with my efforts, but I realize I can’t be discouraged if I’m not giving it my all!
I decided to seek out the help of a macro coach and I paid to have her recommend my macro ratio to me. I’m sure the ratio I was using would have been fine, but there’s something about “someone else” telling me what to do that gives me a little more confidence in the process! So, I was originally following a 1500 calorie diet with a 40% Protein, 35% carb and 25% fat ratio. She recommended I do 1450 calorie diet (on non-workout days) and a 1600 calorie diet (on workout days) with an approximately 40% Protein, 30% Carb and 30% Fat ratio. Not much different than what I was already doing, but it just gives me more motivation to know I’m following a recommended ratio. Weird, I know.
I also realized that although I CAN fit a little bit of my favorite treats into my macro count each day, I’ve decided I’m not going to have treats while I’m actively trying to lose weight! It’s just too hard for me! I’ve learned that when I’m trying to lose weight, I have much more success and stay much more motivated if I just DO NOT have treats!
Some people think I’m crazy when I do that, but I just know what works best for me! I think when I allow myself a little bit of sugar, I start to snitch a little bit more here and there and then my results stall. I stay a lot more focused when I just cut it out….and I never snitch!
Soooo, I’m going to use this weekend to rest and recoup after our crazy week (I still feel a little weary and weak!) and then I’m going to get back at it on Monday! When I set a new goal or make a new “plan,” I usually like to start the very next day, but this time I know I’ll be much more prepared and set for success if I wait a few days.
I know that staying away from treats will be hard; there is always some party, special occasion, get-together, etc. that will make me want to eat sugah!!! We have another birthday in our house in a couple weeks, Easter is coming up and I have a couple fun trips planned in the next few weeks, but I DON’T CARE! I’m stickin’ to my goals and that is that.
I also know I need to do a little more food prep and planning if I expect to be successful. I’ve done well the past few weeks, but I haven’t been as prepared as I would like. Soooo, this weekend I’m going to take some pen to paper and plan out my life.
I’m also going to set an “initial goal weight” for myself (probably 7-8 pounds) and when I get there, I will have some treats (sounds ironic, I know!) Then, I will get back to work until I hit my ultimate goal weight (10-15 pounds!) I don’t really know my goal weight, I think I’ll just know my “goal feel.” I know how I want to look and how I want my clothes to fit.
Well, I think that’s all the talkin’ I’m going to do about that! I’ll keep you guys posted in the process! I WILL see some results this time! I’m determined. We just better not get any more sickness ’round here. Oh, I’ll share some quick cute pics….
Thank heavens for Amazon Subscribe and Save because we get fun big boxes every month! The kids love to play in them and draw on them. These two were having so much fun in this box and looked so darn cute, so I took a pic! I had to laugh when I realized I was letting my baby play with markers. He’s definitely a 6th child. I didn’t let my oldest kids use markers until they were probably 4 or 5, but when the baby wanted to color, I thought, “Meh, they’re washable markers and it’s keeping him busy!” Ha ha.
My, how times have changed!
I hope you all enjoy your weekend! xoxo
UGH THE STOMACH FLU!!! WHAT IS THE DEAL! I feel like it’s hitting EVERYONE!!!!!!! I had some weird bug about a week after I came back from England and then again 3 weeks later- and I NEVER GET SICK! So weird. My Food Pervert pal had the stomach flu for the past 3 days, and ugh… I just know so many people who’ve had it – and now you’re WHOLE FAMILY! I am so sorry about your daughter missing her trip!! 🙁 Ugh. I would have been soooo bummed. I am also impressed with her desire to go back to school, so many people would be so happy to NOT go to school for 4 days! HA! I like her that much more now 😉
I really think the stomach flu is one of the worst forms of torture!!! I’m so glad it’s gone from our house for now. I hope it stays away a long long time! I’m sorry to hear you were sick twice so close together! No fun!!!!!
Being sick with little kids is the WORST. I’m sorry.
My diet has stalled out and I’m finding myself in a place where I need to seriously recommit. I guess it’s hard because it’s only 8 – 10 pounds. Sometimes I think, “meh, good enough.” But I know it’ll just keep creeping up there. It’s actually very motivating to read about your commitment. Thanks!
Thanks Beth! I know I can easily get comfortable with myself up 10ish pounds and just accept it as “good enough.” That’s not necessary a bad thing, but I feel determined to hit it hard while I’m still young-ish enough to do it!!!
I have really enjoyed reading your posts each week! I can relate to pretty much most of what you write about! I have four kiddos! Everything from the flu hitting and taking down the majority of our family members in january (everyone but me) to loving the feel and excitement of races (just reading your description I got teary eyed remembering my own experiences with half marathons)! Then of course the inevitable 5 lbs that come and go and…come back again over the course of a year! Phew! Thank you for keeping it real!
Thank so so much for your sweet comments Sarah! I’m glad to know I’m not alone in all the challenges of motherhood/weight loss and life!
The pictures of your kids are always so cute. You are amazing to successfully handle a family of 6 ! I am always so impressed and you NEVER complain.
I have never tried macro counting. When it comes to losing weight, I decrease carbs and up healthy fats AND / OR reduce portion size. I never restrict myself of anything because the more I do, the more I want it and end up overeating.
As you get older the weight does have a tendency to hang on….
How much fun that both you & your husband run. I hope your foot is better.
Thanks for your sweet comments Karen! Raising 6 kiddos is a challenge and there are many days that I ask myself what in the world I was thinking??!??! Ha ha.
So far I’ve liked the macro counting. It helps me to have such an organized approach. I seem to lack the self discipline when I just try to “do better.” I’m hoping Macro counting can be something I can learn to stick with! I am worried about the weight hanging on as I age. I’ve already noticed it. Yikes.
Oh no. Sorry everyone was sick. That is miserable. Hope you are all feeling a 100% now.
Thanks so much Abby. It was no fun, but I’m so glad we’re over it now!!!
Boo — sorry to hear the sickness swept through. I swear winter makes it worse, but I’m glad you’re feeling better. And no, you could never look scary! You should see me, like right now. haha
Congrats to your husband, that race looks so pretty! Spectating is fun, but I’m with you, it makes me wish I was running it too! But it looks like it was a nice day to run.
Thanks so much Christy! I’m so so so glad the flu is over at our house and I hope it stays away for a loooong time! That race seemed so beautiful and the weather was perfect. I’m slowly ramping up my miles again and can’t wait to run a race!
WHY are we always twins!!?! We just need to live near each other and workout/eat together to stay on track because it’s ALWAYS easier with a buddy. I’ve gained 10-15lbs the last year and now I’m on a cycle of on track/off track and it’s driving me bonkers!! HA!
BOOO to the flu, but that race looks magical. I have a half marathon in less than a month and I’ve been terrible with my training. I suspect a painful finish, but a proud finish nonetheless.
LOL!!! I totally hear ya about the yo-yo weight stuff. It drives me crazy because it seems like I work so hard to get it off and it comes back on so easily! Gah! I wish you all the best on your upcoming Half. So fun!!!