Catching up....

Time for a check-in.  We got home from Disneyland on Tuesday evening.  We weren't scheduled to come home until Wednesday sometime, but we were ready to pack it in.  The kids were tired, we were tired and didn't have any desire to fight the crowds in the park or LA traffic Wednesday morning.  Good choice on our part I believe.  While we had a great time, I won't do the "on vacation during Christmas" thing again.  I really missed our normal Christmas routine and the family get-togethers. Lesson learned.
Since coming home I've struggled to get back on track. One part of it is having the hubs home.  I have a very difficult time when he's underfoot.  Throws me all off.  I am definitely ready for him to go back to work on Monday :)
Truthfully though, I am struggling with sugar again.  Broken record, right??  I know better.  I do. Blah. Yesterday was a terrible binge day.  I haven't had an out-of-control, free-for-all, shove-everything-in-your-face, make-cookies-so-you-can-eat-them type of day in a long time. I've had some less intense binge days, but this one was bad. Double Blah.
Since I can't change my behavior from yesterday, I just have to pick myself up and move forward.  Today is day one of sugar detox.  I need to make a trip to the grocery store and load up the fridge with a variety of leafy greens and other veggies. 
I am working on a list of new fitness goals and will share that in another post soon. Last time I weighed in (Thursday), the scale said 151.6 lbs.  Maintenance.  After yesterday's debacle I know the scale is WAY up.  I will not be weighing for a few days since I know a temporary up-tic in the scale will not help my mental state. 
Anyway...
Hope you all had a great Christmas! 

Are you setting any new goals for yourself? I'd love to hear what you're thinking. Please share!       

Lucky Girl

Sorry I've been absent.  There's been a lot going on. 'Tis the season and all that. Plus, I was feeling very upset and didn't feel like spewing on all of you.  Having a school age child, the tragedy at Sandy Hook Elementary hit me hard, as I'm sure it did most of you. 
Eating has been a bit scattered recently. Hubby is home on vacation, 3 kids running around (6 right now actually since cousins are over visiting), trying to get things ready for our trip to Disneyland... yeah, things are hectic. Through it all though I'm cognizant of the fact that I am a lucky girl.  I am truly blessed and I am thankful for everything I have!  
Being the emotional eater I am, having holiday treats around has been difficult.  I have definitely indulged in a few things lately but I have also eaten mostly good the rest of the time.  This morning's weight was 151.4. To be honest I really don't care what the scale says right now.  I'm working out to Ripped in 30 and living life.
Hubby was super awesome and surprised me with something that has helped keep me a little more on track lately....

Vitamix blenders are expensive!!  I freely admit to being a total cheapo most of the time.  My husband is the "spender" lol.  I totally love him right now for being a spender :) I love smoothies because they are  quick and easy. Having a Vitamix blender makes them 100x better!!! Being able to add things like celery, carrots and kale to my smoothies has been awesome.  I have added kale to my smoothies before but the texture of the smoothies wasn't that great.  Now I can have a nutrient/veggie packed smoothie WITH a great consistency and texture. Woo-hoo!! Thank you dear.
By the way, it's okay if some of you think I'm crazy for being so excited about a blender.

Hope you all are doing well!  Merry Christmas friends!  I'll be back next week sometime :)
Hug your babies if you got 'em.  Stay safe.

Exercise, excuses and kids...

These days figuring out the "when" to exercise is tricky.  I switch it up often as my list of things to do varies from day to day.  If I'm running, I generally wait till hubby gets home from work mid afternoon (so I can go by myself).  If I'm doing a DVD I try to squeeze it in during nap time.  Lately though, that's been interesting.  My 2 yr old stinker  angel is trying to give up her nap, which she still NEEDS.  In the past, my 4 yr old "rests" and watches a movie in my room while the 2 yr old naps, which allows mommy some sanity time to workout.  Not so much lately.  So I had to come up with a solution.  Depending on how the angel is behaving any given day, I've been attempting to let them both rest and watch a movie together.  Preparing ahead of time is key.  Feed them lunch, change the little one's diaper, get a small snack set up on the table and juice in the cups, potty break for the oldest and then give the speech "Please don't argue, keep your hands to yourself, watch the movie till mommy's done". Some days it works, some days it doesn't lol. Some days I walk in and find this....

My point is, I could easily use the kids as a reason NOT to workout. It's easy to find reasons why you can't.  It's harder to lose the excuses and DO IT some days. 
I will say though, I am a better mommy for making the time to exercise. I feel better and have more energy.  Yay :) 
Something else I like to do is incorporate the kids into workouts where possible (in the form of play).  Some of my best ab workouts are in the evenings when I'm playing with the kids.  Reverse crunches with them on my legs, hip thrusts with a kid sitting on me, downward dog into up dog (bridge is open, bridge is closed...hurry kids, crawl under before the bridge closes).... you get the idea.  Fun times all around. Sometimes even a good old fashioned dance party is just the ticket.

For you mommy's out there, how do swing it? Do you get up early, use childcare at the gym, exercise with the kids?  What's your plan of attack?
For those of you without kids... do you make excuses not to exercise? What are the reasons you use? (Kids are an easy one, but I know the list is endless).

Weigh-in 12/6

Previous Weight: 151.8
Current Weight: 149.6
Change: -2.2 lbs

So apparently all I have to do is say "Screw you" to the scale and it moves dramatically downward.  Good to know.
In all seriousness though, while I'm thrilled with the loss this week, I am determined not to let the number on the scale be the only yard stick by which I measure my success.  Big picture Tiff. The big picture is that I am treating my body with respect and living in a way that I feel is sustainable... and as a bonus, it makes me look pretty good lol.
I really like the idea of setting some concrete fitness goals for myself (as someone suggested in my last post) so that will be next on the agenda.  More on that later.
I'm headed to a football game this evening with the hubby. Early Christmas gift from my in-laws.  This will be my first NFL game and I'm looking forward to it.  Food may be a bit sketchy today. We'll see.
Hope you're having a great week!  

Screw you scale!

I mentioned on Thursday that I was a bit upset with the scale.  It's not moving.  I'm doing the right things and it's sticking at 151.  As much as I want it to drop into the 140's, it seems to be perfectly content at 151.  I did some serious thinking yesterday and decided I need a little break from the number based obsession.  My sanity depends on it.  Funny enough, two of the standards by which I am judging myself, BMI and weight, are somewhat flawed. Technically until I get under 150 lbs I am still in the overweight category for BMI.  That bothers me... even though I know it shouldn't.  
As a solution to the problem I did two things.  First, I decided not to actively pursue weight loss for the rest of the month.  As in I am not stressing about LOSING. If it happens, fine, but if not that's okay too.  I upped my calorie goal slightly on MyFitnessPal. While it's still set to a deficet, it's not as low as before. I will continue eating healthy, logging my food and exercising.  Ripped in 30 is working great.  I'll also continue to take my measurements every two weeks and we'll see what happens.
The second thing I did was take some new pictures.  My 155 lb picture in the side bar is from over a year ago.  Time for an update.  I also wanted to show off the fact that I am wearing a size 4 jean now!! It's hard to be pissed off at a stupid number on the scale when I'm fitting into a size 4.

I ordered these jeans from Old Navy and they came in the mail yesterday.  To say the least, I was a happy camper when they fit!

I have come a long way.  I am PROUD of my progress. 

Hope you are having a great week!!