Keep gettin' it summer challenge

I thought I'd give a little update on my summer challenge.

Its not going super great.

I've been sticking with the eating better, that's much easier right now than trying to find the time to get a consistent work out in. I would love to be able to wake up before the kids and get in a workout.  Lets be honest, that ain't happening until sweet little baby actually sleeps at night.

Even with not getting to work out as much after a few weeks of not weighing myself I stepped on the scale the other day not expecting any change, and I lost 3 lbs. HUH? I was a little confused, but they do say that its mostly about the food you consume.  Oh well I'll take it!

Slow and steady, I don't like to lose too fast.  So I have a few pictures for ya.

I realize now that i should have put the start on the left and the current on the right, but oh well.

It seems the only consistent thing about my summer challenge is water spots on all the mirrors in my house and how I hold my phone taking pictures. LOL!

Just for a comparison of where I actually really started here is a picture of me from the blogging event I attended in April at 3 weeks postpartum.

Cheers to making small changes and small progress.  Progress is progress and should be celebrated!!! 

Have an awesome day! 

You can get it

Sometimes in order to better yourself you need to be vulnerable.

I started, a few weeks ago, my own little personal challenge for the summer. I call it, you can get it #youcangetit. To eat a little better, drink more water, and workout for at least 20 minutes every day till the kids go back to school on July 25th.

Eating better and drinking more water is the easy part. Finding the time and motivation to work out just 20 minutes is the hard part.

Right now i'm trying to write this post and my 3 year old is asking me over and over again for pink cereal, while my baby is crying in my ear cause I'm holding him and typing.  He's a bit high maintenance and doesn't appreciate being put down to chill on his own. boo. But even with all the insane things that are happening right now i at least try to run up and down the stairs a few extra time during the day, & do squats or lunges while holding Leo.

Since there is only a few weeks left of summer i'm going to give you my half way progress, i guess.

This is were vulnerable comes in. its picture time!!

This was taken June 1st went I started

This was taken the 15th

Not much difference but there is some change.

I do feel a lot better and am happy to be back in the grind.

I like a good challenge and having accountability for me is key too success.

I'll keep updating as the summer goes. hopefully i'll be able to figure out a system to make sure i get a solid exercise routine going.

Thanks for following along and as always being awesome.

am i doing enough

i've been feeling really frustrated lately.  i haven't been losing weight really this last few weeks, month really. i haven't gained anything it's always the same when i get on the scale once a week,(just a few ounces here and there difference) but i just haven't been losing. and it's really discouraging.

i'm not gonna lie, these past 4 months have been really hard.  especially with having to be a mother and wife and helping my children and husband with all of their needs when all i really want is so be number one.  i really just want to only focus on me.  yeah only in my dreams right. hahaha. i can dream right. 

i've been doing a lot of thinking and figuring out myself a bit more and figuring out why i let myself get to where i was/am.  someone i know said to me one day.  "you are always going, and moving, why are you not a stick?" yeah, burrrrrn. but even though those words were maybe harsh, she was right. why was i not a stick? i'm always going, doing something active. it all revolved around food for me. i like to eat. who doesn't right, but there is a time to eat, and a time to not eat. i've finally noticed when i eat when i'm not supposed to. when i'm upset, frustrated or just bored (aka: mindless eating).  so clearly i was that way all time cause i was eating alot. i would say mostly mindless eating.  just the comfort of eating something, made me feel good.  well, i was happily eating my self to a terrible life.

i am no way "cured" of this mind set of eating, but i am certainly getting better. It is frustrating to eat well, exercises, do what i know i should be doing to get healthy and not see any results on the scale from this, and then i start thinking a little treat won't hurt it will make me feel better.  I start a war with myself on whether i should eat this or not.  it's a constant mind battle, and i'm getting the healthy me to win. 

i have been especially frustrated today.  so i decided to go through my old clothes and try them on.  first i was angry with myself because these clothes are HUGE, then i felt relief.  I am NOT that person any more.  It made me feel better about the progress that i've been making.  It has been so far, long & hard, but very rewarding too.  I still have tons of work left but i'm hoping by the end of the year i'll be a completly different person. A happier and healthier person.

i'm getting rid of all the old clothes that dont fit anymore, a sort of closure on that past person. :)

thanks for sticking with me and keeping me motivated! :)

have a happy thursday!

starting over

I've decided today is the best day to start over.

why start Monday when you could start today. hooray!
 

"dieting" is hard for sure.  well, it's not really a diet, i'm going more for a lifestyle change and i'm getting it. i know more about what my body responds too.

funny story. 


this is a direct quote form my husbands facebook page.


"Just had an interesting conversation with erica. I walk in the room, and she mumbles something. I ask her what she said, and she says "yes". I said "I didn't hear what you said in the first place" and she replies "i said yes!". Confused, I asked again what she was talking about, and she said "you know what, I'm done, I am going back to sleep." I asked one more time what she was talking about and she says "i told you, yes, she has the carrots. You asked, and I said yes" she rolls over and I think she is out. Still have no idea what she was talking about, but I guess I will look for carrots in the morning."

see i AM getting it! i'm dreaming about carrots! that is awesome!

i'm going to go full on awesome mode now. ready for this, cause i know i'm ready for this. what i've been doing has been a warm up :)

1,200 calories a day.
exercises at least 5x a week.
get 8 hours of sleep.

sounds easy enough right. hahahaha. oh man.

one thing i know i need to get rid of is the one thing i'm trying to hard to hold on too.....

diet soda. i know it is so terrible and awful for you, i'm just having a hard time with it. slow and steady, i'll get off the stuff soon. i can't just go cold turkey, that's just too hard. i hate that i'm addicted to the stuff. ugh.

cheers to a new me. wish me luck. :)

how i went about being a loser

so i got a couple of questions about how i'm losing weight.
there is actually few things that i've love to share with ya.

just so everyone knows. it's taken lots of time, patience and dedication for sure.

At the end of November i started really getting motivated and i really wanted a way to track my food and just see how bad i really was. 

So i signed up with My Fitness Pal. a free calorie counter.  i did a week of just what i normally ate. I was all over the place! some days i would only consume 600-800 calories and others over 2000! i obviously was not smart about what i was eating and not knowledgeable about how much i should be eating, i was a mess.

so i started off by setting my goal to eat 1500 calories a day and drinking 8 or more glasses of water a day.

i wasn't going all crazed diet, i didn't put crazy restrictions on myself, i knew i would cave and sabotage myself. so i let things open.

and honestly after just a few weeks of doing that i was feeling great!! i lost a few pounds, and was doing good. the holiday's hit but i was still doing good. i didn't over do it because i knew I'd be logging everything in and i didn't want to disappoint myself.

i was doing really great. i knew though i need to change my calorie intake to be a little lower soon. that's when at the end of January Weight Watchers came into play.  i was just what i needed to keep me going.

i got a handy dandy phone app to keep track of my points, but by then i was so used to tracking my food i kept doing that too. so for the last 3 months I've been keeping track of points while at the same time tracking the phone in myfitnesspal too. i've added friends on myfitnesspal to keep myself honest and motivated.


it seems to be working really well for me.  i started walking, then did Billy Blanks Boot camp to get some muscle, now i'm going both walking and the boot camp intermittently to keep things going too. i feel better when i work out. i may not loose as much because of it, but i can feel the difference and my clothes feel the difference too. it has helped that i've been eating more fruits and vegetables every day, they are zero points so i try and eat as much as i can, so i stay full longer and feel more satisfied.

this has gotten kind of lengthy so i won't go into what i eat specifically, but if you'd like to know...ask. i'd be happy to share!

:)  so now you know how i became a loser.  it's pretty awesome and to think i could be 40 pounds down in another 3 months! that's so exciting to think about!

about time twenty

Yeah is the freakin weekend! woot.


To start off this week i am celebrating 20 pounds lost!
holy moly is finally came! i'm hoping that this plateau that i went through is as its end.
to celebrate i'm going clothes shopping with my sister. yes the same sister who is amazing at picking out clothes and making you look hot, yes. my personal shopper. haha. im very excited to get some great clothes that actually fit.


we are going to AZ mills, so we can go to a lot of different store and see what we can get. eeeek. excited. i'm never excited about this kind of stuff.


so the children. 

i was talking to someone the other day and the conversation was like this.

lady: so you have a little one now right?
me: actually i have two little ones.
l: wow, how old are they?
me: 4 and 2
l: ::wide eyed::
me: both girls too
l: ::still wide eyed:: oh my goodness you have quite the little family now.


it always surprises me when people seem to get surprised at the ages of my kids! it doesn't seem weird to me.  i know i'm a younger mother but i don't feel like it's a shocker to find out a 25 year old Mormon mom has a 4 year old and a 2 year old. hahaha. honestly i feel like i'm behind in kids. i should really have at least 4. bahahaa!

i was very amused about that the rest of the day.

the girls are just as sassy as ever.  Amelia's terrible two's have really started to shine through a lot more. Evelyn's ornery fours are just a light of sunshine in my life. Lets just say we went to the park a lot this week to get them out of the house and good and tired.

They keep me busy, and keep me cleaning. :)

I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend! Make it a great one!