A good reminder

So I get the Jillian Michaels emails in my inbox, and just wanted to share this as it struck a chord with me. I didn't even need to read the whole article...lol just the teaser caught me.

"Who doesn't want to look totally hot? If you asked 100 people who were starting to exercise for the first time (or returning to regular workouts after a long time off) what their main motivation was, the majority of them would say something like, "I want to look good," or "I want to fit into a size __ again." And hey, whatever gets you on track initially is good enough for me. But when that scale hasn't budged in a few weeks, it's time to remind yourself that there are lots of other reasons to make exercise a habit."

You can read the rest here.

That struck close to home, even though it hasn't been weeks, but this week my body has been quite weird about the weight. On Wednesday, it jumped UP 2.4 lbs, and I've eaten REALLY good this week. SO I was getting frustrated. It's just SLOWLY come back down the last two days too. But I keep reminding myself that that doesn't give me the liberty to say screw it and eat whatever and not exercise. That this is a day by day process, and even if I lose NO weight at all, I'm doing what is right for my body so that I can lead a HEALTHY and more productive life. I'm eating healthier, making better choices, and getting my workouts in. As such, my body IS getting stronger. I do things in my workout with my trainer that I couldn't do 3 months ago. I can feel the changes slowly but steadily. So for now, I'm good...that email was just the motivation I needed to keep at it another day. And I thought I'd share.

Not so daily anymore...

I have SO slacked this month posting on here...sorry! I have been posting on Beth and I's Losin blog daily, recording what I eat and my activity. Since March 1st, I'm down 6 lbs. Well, 8, but our weigh-in today was after a lot of carbs etc for me on Saturday, so 6 "official" lbs. Regardless, despite some emotional stuff going on, I've been sticking to the diet for the most part and am feeling pretty good about my choices.

I started walking again today. D and I got out for a 3.27 mile walk tonite. It was tougher than I thought it would be, but did include some decent hills.

I'm pretty much having to admit that I likely won't make the Heels and Hill Half Marathon in May. It saddens me, but I just don't think I'll be ready! I'm going to keep pushing forward as if I'm still doing it though, and might make a last minute decision to go ahead, but as of now, I'm not seeing it happen. I still weigh 29 lbs more than last year's half, and can only imagine how much harder it will be. So that's my big announcement. However, the September half is definitely still on, and I'm excited about having all summer to swim and get in good training walks, now that the majority of my eating is under control.

And finally, our 3 Day team fundraising is going really well! We just had a garage sale this past weekend, and will continue it this coming weekend since we still had so much stuff left. Despite the rain and cold, we were quite successful!! So...on we go towards hitting our goals!

It's never too late...to start over...

So...Beth and I decided to restart the Losin Together blog today. Goodness I've been struggling, and she has as well, so it's about time. We've talked about it in the past, but now, it's on!

I haven't posted food on here in awhile anyway, so this blog will stay about the same...I'll keep doing updates a couple of times a week, or every day if I really make some improvements.

So as of tomorrow, head over to our Losin Together to check out our progress or search for us on Facebook, we have a fan page!

In other updates, I'm still diggin training with Janie. She just upped my reps again, and while OUCH, it's a good feeling to be stronger and know I couldn't have done this three months ago.

We ate crap yesterday, BUT we got some good walking in. Two friends, me and our kids walked to eat lunch at a restaurant, which is 1.2 miles from my house. We walked back, hung out a bit, and then walked up to a football game half a mile away from my house. We got in a total of 3.4 miles roughly. It was such a good feeling! Too bad I ruined it with the food choices I made.

In memorium

So yesterday was D and I's 3rd anniversary of the adoption being final. Well, today, is the 3rd anniversary of my grandad passing away. He'd been in a coma for a week or so, the end stages of Alzheimers, and I almost rescheduled the adoption hearing, but we had no idea when he would go, he could have gone another few days. And I really felt that with everything going on centering around my grandad, that D deserved "his" day.

The day that he died was interesting though. We were waiting on my uncle to get back in town to say goodbye. My grandparents have 5 kids; 4 girls and one boy. I had this feeling my grandad was waiting on my uncle to get there, and sure enough. We'd been at their house most of the day, and as soon as my uncle showed up, D and I left to go to my other aunt's house so D could get a nap. As we were headed to her house, it was right as a massive sandstorm blew through Dallas, and as we got to her house, we got the phone call that he had died. The sky was all orange and brown, it was surreal.

It's been 3 years and half the time I still feel like he's here. When I'm at my grandma's house on Sundays, sometimes it seems like he's going to come out of the bedroom at any moment. My dad and I have gotten closer since I got D, but my grandad was so much more like a dad to me growing up. He was a great man, quiet, solid, always there. I miss you, Grandad. We'll never forget you, but I so wish you and D had been able to get to know each other.

Happy Gotcha Day!!

Today is the 3rd anniversary of D and I going before a judge and promising to mommy and son forever! He never promised to be good, and I never promised to be perfect, and we're an even match. I *heart* that kid!!

How did we celebrate? Well...I put him to bed early, and left him with my brother to go see one of my favorite shows: Phantom of the Opera. Yes, I'm a mean mommy, it's ok, we'll celebrate tomorrow. POTO was AMAZING. I've listened to the music of it for years, and have seen the movie, but none of those could compare to seeing it live. We ended up getting 6th row seats from another momma who was not able to use them. It was TOTALLY worth the expense.

Rough, emotional week

I got some bad news regarding after school care for D on Wednesday and it really made my week spiral. And as such, so did my emotional eating. :(

I also know that this coming week is going to be an emotional one (stay tuned for posts on that). SO today, we hit up the grocery store, got lots of fruits and veggies, lean proteins, etc, and I am ready for a good week. I tried to make sure to be as prepared as possible.

We did have a good weekend though even though it was busy. Some babysitting, two trips to Ikea, hanging out with good friends, and busy work on my living room (pics to come), made for a very tired Brandie!!

Best snow EVAH!

So I purposely waited til today to post again. I noticed that as it got closer to VDay this past Sunday, I got increasingly DONE with it. And all I wanted to do was rant about the day. So, to spare your eyes that, I stayed away from here. I'm better now. We did end up having a fairly busy weekend, but the HIGHLIGHT of it was that the weather made it a 3 day weekend!

This past Thursday, around 3am, it started snowing, and kept snowing. We got about 12 inches of snow! So work let out early on Thursday, and most schools in the area shutdown on Friday. No work! The best part, was that really, the roads didn't ice. It never got low enough in temp to, so we were able to get out and about on Friday, and just enjoy the day! D loved playing in the snow, I think it was a once in a lifetime opportunity! I'm 30 and have never seen that much...so...YEAH.

We also got to meet my cousin's new baby girl! They were visiting this weekend from Colorado, and she is just PRECIOUS...

I topped off the weekend with a trip to Ikea for a new coffee table, side table, and rug. I'm revamping my living room some and can't wait to see it completed!