Friday Weigh In: Week 3

I feel like I didn't have the best week.... I still lost weight, but I definitely could have done better. Maybe it was all the birthday cake? And then Kathryn made dozens of cookies while I was at her house. Not cool.

My plan to motivate myself to workout did not work :(  But I will try again this week!!! I will stick with the same 10 points for free and anything else I have to earn.

Weight Loss

Start- X lbs

Week 1: -4.6 lbs
Week 2: -1.4 lbs

Week 3: -1.6 lbs

Total Weight Loss: 7.6 lbs
Average: 2.5 lbs/week 

Monday and Tuesday are not accurate :) I swear, I ate. I just wasn't great at keeping track on those days. It is hard with a baby!! I just do the best that I can do!!! I think I just need to be making better decisions about the points that I'm eating. And I need to work out!!!!!! 

I don't really feel like I've lost 8ish pounds, but I saw a picture of myself the other day and I didn't feel fat! So that's an improvement ;) 

What I've been eating this week......

The Santa Fe Salad with Chili Lime Dressing!! Oh it is soooo good!! And I'm adding some chicken with a tequila lime marinade from Webber

Hubby and I eat these marinades all week long. Webber has the BEST selection :) You should especially try the "Just Add Juice" marinades... oh so good :)

Happy Dieting!!

Friday Weigh In: Week 2

Y'all!! It is still working!!!! Whoop whoop!!

Weight Loss

Start- X lbs

Week 1: -4.6 lbs
Week 2: -1.4 lbs

Total Weight Loss: 6 lbs
Average: 3 lbs/week 

Yay! I'm just excited that I didn't gain this week! My goal is to loose 1-2 lbs a week, so 1.4 is perfect. I ate every single one of my flex points because I went to a Raven's game and yesterday was MOPS... which meant a big buffet of yummy food. I indulged a litttttttle too much. {read: 2am cheese tortellini)

Mon, Tues, and Wed calories are wrong!!

So, this week was just a little crazy across the board. The first three days were very consistent. I used flex points on Sunday for a small treat, but my calories were super consistent. Then on Monday I went to the Raven's game. I had planned out what I would eat and then it wasn't available. I ate a crab cake sandwich because it was all they had left. And it was really bad :-/ What a waste of my points!!!!!!!

Now, some of my calories are wrong because my computer died and I had forgotten to save the spread sheet this is all in. Remind me to set up the autosave this week.... I remembered how many points I ate but I was too lazy to recalculate calories :)

New Plan: So, I'm loving weight watchers, but I need to tweak it a little! WW gives you 49 flex points every week and then activity points that you can earn for doing exercise. I have been using my flex points but trying not to use my activity points. This has obviously worked, but I need something to motivate me to exercise!! So, this week I'm going to start with only 10 flex points (instead of 49) and any other extra points I want I'm going to have to earn through exercise. Has anyone else ever played around with there points like this??? If I still feel like it is too easy for me to indulge then I will just get rid of flex points completely, but I'm going to start with 10. We shall see!!! 

Even though I've lost 6 pounds, I really don't feel it because I haven't been exercising. I think that makes all the difference. Hopefully this week will be better!!!! Either way, I'm still excited about the weight loss :)

Hopefully I get good results this week and I am encouraged to exercise!!!!! :)

** Just a reminder- if you're comparing my weight loss plan to yours, remember that I'm nursing. 1700 calories to me is like, 1300 calories to a non-nursing women. My goal is 31 points but would be 26 without nursing **

Elisabeth Grace: 8 Months

Happy 8 month birthday my sweet baby girl!!!

 Elisabeth, you have been getting so big this past month! I think you've gone through a major growth spurt for your height. You're still wearing a size 3 diaper and 6-12 dresses, but 6-9 month clothes are starting to get snug! Dress season is about to be over and I'm devistated! But I'm really excited for all your fall clothes, too :)

One of my favorite Fall outfits for you!! I love these jeggings :)

and OH how I love these shoes!!

Baby girl.... You want to crawl!! This past week you started crawling backwards which is cute, but you get so frustrated because you're trying to crawl forwards!  When we put you on the ground sitting, you start to lean off to the side with both arms out like you want to crawl, but of you actually go through with it, you face plant into the floor... Whoops!!

You are also loving the park right now! You just start squesling when we get there and you see the swing! You are so cute! When we were there the other day a bunch of kids surrounded you and they all wanted to push you. It was so sweet. One of them said, "She is just the cutest baby I have ever seen! Like, she is scuter than any baby in my family!" LOL! I'm biased, but I have to agree ;)

You don't really have a favorite food right now. You're not a picky eater at all! I don't think you have ever denied anything I've given you! These past 2 or 3 wee ks you've been eating Gerber food because I've been busy {lazy} but I'm planning on making a new batch of food today!! You eat butternut squash, sweet potatoes, peas, and pears. And we're also gonna try spinache today.

You're still nursing 6 times a day. You eat around 7:30/8, 11, 2, 4:30/5, 7:30, and you get a dream feed around 10 pm. After all of our vacations you weren't
sleeping that well, but you are back on track now. You sleep like a log from 8pm-7:30am. Recently you start screaming when I pick you up in the morning though!! You are such a demanding eater!!!

Elisabeth, you have become such a big girl this month! You like to play with friends now {aka- Isaiah} and it is so cute to watch you two interact!! 

Oh sweet girl, you bring so much JOY to our lives! You are the most precious gift God could have ever entrusted to your daddy and I and we are so thankful for you!!!

Ravens Season Opener

If you didn't know, I AM A HUGE RAVENS FAN!!! Like, for real. I don't miss games. The one game I remember missing in recent years was because we went to Jesse Mathhew's and Virginia Vu's wedding and I still remember being upset about it. I remember we were playing the Colts that day. I didn't know Jesse and Virginia that well at the time (they're Josh's high school friends) and I wasn't happy!!! Although now I know and love them and I'm glad I went, lol!!

My Dad has season tickets and he is so sweet and he always takes either Carrie or I. This was the first game that I had to leave my little munchkin at home though!!! I missed her so much. I think I said, "I miss my baby!" 10 times while at the game. I also texted Josh maybe 5 times about how much I missed them. lol! I rarely leave Elisabeth for more than 2 hours, but I'm sure I'll get better. I only go to 4 games a year :)

Here we are at the game!!

My sweet Ravens fan!

I LOVE watching the players come out of the tunnel! This was Ray Rice who had the privilege of coming out last tonight. They also had fireworks all around the stadium which was awesome. And a military flyover which is always over the top {in an awesome way}.

These are the girls that sit behind us! I will have to take more pictures of my section next time! We have all been together for 12 years so it's like watching the game with friends!

This is the {drunk}guy that kept walking around the stadium. Ugh. The guy sitting next to me kept offering me $50 to take a picture with him. No thanks. And this is one of the many reasons Elisabeth will not go to a game for a long long LONG time :)

I WAS ON THE RAVENS TV!! I'm basically famous now. If you want my autograph, I should be home until about 3pm today.... Seriously though, in the 12 years I've been going to games this was the first time we had camera guys in our section! It was awesome. Two different people at the game said they saw me on the screen!

And this is the view from our seats. I love sitting behind the end zone, it feels like home.

I LOVE GOING TO RAVENS GAMES! Ugh! I have so many great memories going with my dad, sister, and husband.

Here's a picture from last year at the game with Josh! 

So, this was another great game for the books! We dominated on MNF {which it feels like we never do...} and it was a great way to start the season! I still remember crying when we lost the AFC championship last year thanks to a dropped pass in the end zone {thanks Lee Evans} and a HORRIBLE missed field goal from like, maybe 30 yards out {oh Cundiff}. So, needless to say, I really needed this to be a great game, and it was!!! I'm ready to move on from last year and go forward. It's about time I guess. :)

GO RAVENS!!!!

Friday Weigh In: Week 1

If you came here because you thought I was going to tell you how much I weigh, you were WRONG. I'm just not that brave!! I wish I could do it but I just can't. But I can still track my weight loss journey on here!

This was my first official week of doing free Weight Watchers. WW for free is easy. I did a google search to figure out how many points I should be eating. Then, if you look online there are point values for everything! I bought a very cheap iPhone app, too and that tells me point values at a lot of restaurants.

So, the point value that most women should target is 26
I am nursing part time {because Elisabeth eats solids} so I should add 7 to that number
I don't think I actually burn that much from nursing {it is different for everyone!} so I added 5 pts

So my target number is 31 points. Then you also get 49 flex points every week. You can use these to splurge at a restaurant or for me, drink a pumpkin spice latte :)

So here's how I did for the week!

I thought that was pretty good for the first week!! I will almost always use some of my flex points on Sunday because we go out to eat after church. This week I used them on fajita's :) The two blank days were when I had a stomach bug so I didn't count points then, I just ate what I could. Wednesday and Thursday I still wasn't at 100%, but I'm trying. I forced myself to eat Thursday and it was hard. I'm hoping things will be better today. {better = increased appetite}

And the final weight in was.....................

Weight Loss

Start- X lbs

Week 1: -4.6 lbs

I lost 4.6 pounds!!!

My goal for this next week is just to maintain that. I lost too much this week, probably because I was sick and then didn't eat enough after. So if I could just not gain this week that would be great :) But hey, I'll take 4 pounds any week. But seriously though, I want to stress that loosing that much was NOT my goal. I don't think that is a healthy number for someone my size to loose. Especially since I'm nursing. I'm sure my appetite will be better this week!! :)

Now, a question to anyone who does Weight Watchers.....

What's up with the flex points? Should I use them or not? When I drink a Pumpkin Spice Latte, if I can just take that out of my regular 31 points, can I just do that? I'm a little confused. Maybe someone can enlighten me?

Thanks! And happy dieting!! ;)

** I feel like I should say that WW is a great program and I bet they have a lot to offer at their meetings!! If you are interested, you should totally go to an actual meeting and check it out. Unfortunately, WW is just not in my family's budget right now. I do think I'm missing out by not actually going to the meetings and I hope to do that another time. Maybe after the next baby?  But for now, I'm just going to use some of their free principles that are available online and hope for the best.

A Family-Filled Week!

I love Elisabeth :) And so does our family!!! When they don't get to see her for a few days, everyone starts calling to get in their baby E time.

Tuesday we saw Granddad {although it was a short visit}. He was at church while I went to Ladies Bible Study. They are so cute together!!

 On Wednesday, Elisabeth's Grandmommy {Nancy} came over for a visit and I forgot to take a picture. She had not seen her in almost 3 weeks which is not the norm at ALL. So she needed to come get her Elisabeth fix!!

On Thursday, Grandma {Laura} came over for a visit. And again, I didn't take a picture! They hung out for the whole night though while Josh and I went out :)

On Friday, Elisabeth and I went to go visit Poppy (Dennis) at work! We went out for lunch at Lee Lands and spent some good time together! I had forgotten to bring Elisabeth her puffs though and she let me know that she was not happy about it!!  So instead, she chomped on this spoon the whole time :)

 Oh and this little outfit she's wearing is reminding me..... I also took her to Target on Friday morning. Seriously, at one point she was smiling at some people walking by and next thing you know she has FIVE people surrounding her going, "Oh my gosh, she is just the cutest baby ever!" I even had one guy come up to me and say, "I seriously thought she was a doll. I really really did!" It was hilarious. Now I wish I had taken a picture of them all surrounding her cart! I know it sounds like I'm bragging about Elisabeth.... and that's because I am. Ha!!! :)

After Target we went to our first library class, which I ALSO forgot to take a picture at!!!! Ugh! Elisabeth actually did really well! She was really watching the teacher while she sang and read books. She has a MUCH better attention span that I ever did! I'm thinking of taking her to a 6 week baby sign class at the library. They may have started this week while I was sick, but I can always start next week :)

Then, on Saturday we went to a Kelehan family party to celebrate Miranda's 30th birthday!! It was a surprise birthday {2 months late! Ha!} and it was so fun! But the real surprise was that we all left with a nasty virus. Like seriously, all of us. And no, it was not food poisoning.

Elisabeth with Aunt Kathy!

Hanging with my cousin Drew! First time he ever held a baby!!

After we left the party, we went to Babies R Us to find a big girl car seat for my little girl. I don't think she needs a big girl anything, but what do I know ;) Doesn't this car seat just make her look so small!!! Ugh! I love that little face :) I seriously can't believe that Elisabeth is this close to growing out of her infant carrier. My little munchkin is so tall!!

This is just a funny picture that needed to be added. When we got home from church I put Elisabeth on the floor surrounded by her boppy. Now, I saw her fall out of it, but from this picture it kind of looks like the pup pushed her out and stole her seat! And Elisabeth looks so mad!!! Pup thinks that all of Elisabeth's things are hers :)

And last and probably least, here we are sick. I'm trying to stick my lip out, but instead I'm somehow looking like a blow fish. Maybe I just look like that?? I don't know. I need to start taking some more pictures with my girl because this is certainly not how I want her to remember me!!! But I did enjoy some of our sick sleepy snuggles. Elisabeth barely got sick and that was good. I guess that's the advantage of breastfeeding with the extra immunity!! God's design is so good :) But now we are on the mend and back out and about in the world!

If you actually read to the end of this blog post, I'm impressed. I just wanted to write it all out so Elisabeth would know how much her entire extended family loves her. I think she also saw Aunt Carrie and Uncle Sean 2 or 3 times this week, but I didn't take pictures. I swear, I'm going to get better at that. I will do a whole separate blog post about how they are the absolute best another day. Because they really are the best Aunt and Uncle a little girl could ever ask for!!!

I thought only old people went to Weight Watchers :-/

It's true, I seriously thought that this was for old people. So, maybe I'm old?

Y'all, I cannot loose this baby weight!! Okay, well, I COULD loose the weight if I could stay motivated long enough. But so far it has not happened. It's no secret... I've never really had a very strong self-will. Ever.

The problem is, I love food. Like, if I didn't care what y'all thought of me, I would probably be really really big. One day I looked at my husband so seriously and said, "Can we just be fat together? Because I don't wanna be fat by myself, we have to do it together or I'll look stupid." Seriously, I said that. I have a long way to go to get back to healthy thinking :)

In my younger days, I cared WAY too much about weight. I think I just kind of burnt myself out. I need to get back on track. I don't want to make any CRAZY changes that I won't keep with though. I want something I can live with forever.

So I'm going to try weight watchers. For free. I have done tons of research and you can in fact follow the weight watchers program for free. Apparently, I'm cheap. I'm not that cheap (have you seen my daughters closet??) but $20 a month is a lot to a mom who is trying to stay home full time!!

I seriously don't know what it is about the point system, but I think it just looks easier than calories. I'm actually really good at counting calories. I have done it on and off since I was 12 and I could probably tell you the calories in just about anything (that I eat). But when I see something is 1000 calories, it doesn't make me gasp like it's point value does.

For example...

Who know's what this is?? It's a slice of heaven... it's called the Eggsuberent and you can get it at Eggspectations. Now, when I looked up the nutrition information I saw that it was 1300 calories. Holy. Cow. But I have to be honest, I would still have it! I'm like yeah well, it I eat it at 11am it's like my breakfast and lunch, so it's not that bad.....

But in WW points, it is a whopping 37. Considering I only get 31 a day (and that's because I"m nursing! The average woman gets 26) I seriously should not be eating this colossal meal!!! Now, in all honesty, I don't use all the syrup, I order turkey sausage instead of regular and I only eat half of that, and sometimes I get fruit instead of potatoes. Sometimes. But it's still ridiculous

One of the things I like about WW is that you get flex points. So every week I get 49 extra points that I could use on something throughout the week. So, if I follow my plan perfectly throughout the week, and I want to splurge on this absurd meal, I can do that!!! But it would mean no dessert all week, which is a no-no for me. I also like the flex points because when I do splurge on something, I don't have to feel guilty about it and give up on my whole "eating healthy" experience. I just count out the points and move on and there is no guilt involved.

I seriously hope I stick with this. Seriously seriously seriously. I really need an accountability partner. Anyone?? Anyone at all?????? I am a little embarrassed that I'm doing this and I wouldn't have written about it if I didn't want help. So, who's in with me???