Blogging Challenge!

So, one of the blogs I read posted about a challenge to post on your blog every day in the month of November. Challenge accepted! Now, I know that I am still new at this whole blogging thing, but I thought what the heck - I am willing to give it a try!

Happy Halloween!! We had a bit of a fight this morning when we were trying to get the girls dressed and out the door to my mom's house... We have really been talking up Halloween, trick or treating and the twin's costumes. So when I went in and got the girls up this morning, the first thing I said to them was Happy Halloween!! Camille shot past me out the door and was yelling "Jessie, Jessie."  Fast forward a few minutes and it is her turn to get ready.. I showed her the new Halloween shirt she was going to wear today to my mom's and explained that we would go trick or treating after work today.. But what I got in response was: "NOOOOOOOO, I AM JESSIE.. ALL DAY LONG, MOMMY.. GRRRR" Literally she growled at me. It took me a good 10 minutes to convince her that she would still be Jessie, but not until tonight. She eventually calmed down, but man is she strong willed. I absolutely love that about both my girls, they definitely know what they want and are not afraid to stand up for themselves - but in this case, I wish it wasn't a fight that she would have just trusted me...

I was able to get back to Zumba last night, I really do love it... It is truly exhausting, but it is such a great workout that I am going to try to go 2x per week starting next week!  Also, I have heard a lot of people in Facebook land talking about this place called Title Boxing Club. Yesterday, there was a Groupon for it that was $15 for 2 weeks worth of unlimited classes. So, I snatched it up. I will give them a call tomorrow and see about starting my 2 weeks on Monday. They have classes every week day at noon, so I figured if I could go 4 days a week for 2 weeks, it would work out to $2 per class! The days alternate between kickboxing and straight up boxing! I am excited to get in there and give it a try.

Well, I worked my butt off Monday and yesterday.. Here are my stats:

Monday:
30 Points Plus values used / 0 remaining and I used 2 of my weekly points
Earned 10 Activity Points / 128% of my goal achieved - hell yeah!!

Tuesday
29 Points Plus values used / 0 remaining and I used 1 of my weekly points
Earned 9 Activity Points / 125% of my goal achieved - woohoo

I also got my activity report for last week... It was great! I earned 44 Activity Points for 110% of my goal for the week (and that was with not doing anything on Sunday, not even wearing my Active Link)...

Have fun and be safe trick or treating tonight! Now, I am setting a goal for myself to not eat ANY candy tonight.. I had 2 small pieces today before lunch, so no more today. This is going to be tough!!!

XOXO

Busy Weekend!

Man did we have a lot going on this weekend (not that it was very different from any other)! Friday night we went to the Dallas Zoo with my sister and brother (and their families) for the Halloween Nights activities. It was so cool! The kids were able to see some of the animals and were able to "trick or treat" at booths throughout the zoo. It was cold, but really alot of fun!

Saturday morning we got up and headed down to Fair Park for a 5K run that my company was the title sponsor of supporting the Diabetes Wellness and Health Institute. It was pretty cool, we had like 75 people on "Team MedAssets." So, our first 5K was at the end of September at the Plano Balloon Festival. We ran the entire way (I was hoping to run a mile) - I had not gone out to run one time prior to it. I had a goal of 45 minutes with walking/running. Dave was the most awesome support throughout the run and I actually made it (we made it) the whole way! It was awesome!! Best feeling!! Our time was 38min and 7 sec. I was very, very excited.

So this run we just wanted to beat our previous time.. Now, it was literally 38 degrees outside and it was MISERABLE. Camille and Avery were bundled up in our new jogging stroller and they whined and cried the entire 3.1 miles (and for the next hour before we went home). I felt stronger (lord knows I was 10 lbs lighter that the last race) and we knocked 2 min and 10 sec off our time! I was thrilled. Even better was that I was not as 'done' as I was after the Balloon run...

Saturday night we went to a Halloween carnival with my sisters and their families. It was awesome and the kids had so much fun!

Sunday morning we had our final weigh in for the Biggest Loser contest my family was doing. We had 7 participants and sadly, only 2 of us weighed in on the final day - me and my mom.... I felt great, I lost 25 lbs since the beginning of August... But dang it, so did my mom... Because she started at a lower weight, she had a higher percentage of weight loss. I was so disappointed.... Seriously..... But then she made my day by splitting the winnings with me, so we each walked away with $175!! She is so great and I appreciate her doing that, not sure if I would have been so flexible with the winnings, lol...

So, here are my stats from the weekend:

Friday:
28 points plus used
3 activity points earned (forgot to wear it all day) / 78% of goal

Saturday:
26 points plus used / 2 remaining
10 activity points earned / 133% of goal

Sunday
Didn't track anything and didn't wear my activelink :(

XOXO

I love seeing the results!

I mean, who doesn't, right?? I weighed in today for my weekly meeting and I lost another 2.6 lbs - putting my total at a whopping 63 lbs! I love it, I am 25 pounds away from my weight watchers goal, which in January of this year seemed almost unattainable. I am so close, I will most likely not get there by the end of this year, BUT I WILL be there by the end of January 2013. The one sad part is that I lost yet another Point Plus off my daily total, so I am down to 28 points each day (I literally started at 38 or 39 points back in January), so that is actually pretty cool! :)

I was able to go to advanced boot camp today. I have not been in a few weeks (after being sick and then doing the cleanse). I am already sore.... We used these evil things called kettle bells. I have never used one in a workout before and HOLY MOLY!! I usually use my 5 lb weights at camp when we do our various exercises.. The evil contraption today was 18 lbs - and wow have I been slacking... Now, by no means was it easy, it was rather difficult but I did it! I must have been grunting extra loud and my facial expressions must have shown pain b/c the trainer told me to trade to a lighter weight. I told him no, that I had to finish with the kettle bell that I was given in the beginning of camp. I was really proud of myself and I felt so strong after we were done and I love it!!

Here are my stats from yesterday:

Point Plus Used 29 / Remaining 0
Activity Points 7, 105% of my daily goal!

Today was a good day! XOXO

Success!

Well, the cleanse is finished - woohoo!! I was only kind of bitchy at the end of day 2, so I thought that was as much of an accomplishment as finishing the whole thing was, lol. I feel really great.I went to bootcamp this morning for the first time this week and although I was pretty weak from the cleanse, I made it through and felt really good afterwards. Now, the cleanse itself.. I had gained like 2 pounds from Thursday when I weighed in at WW to Sunday morning when the cleanse started. So, I lost 4 lbs during the cleanse but unfortunately it will only reflect as a 2 lb loss. I am not sure why that bothers me so much.. I loose that amount, it seems, every Sun/Mon/Tues recovering from not great eating over the weekend.. But that cleanse is really not that easy, I mean I am getting enough protein, but it is not like eating all of my points each day.. Hopefully today's workout and my food choices will have me down another lb tomorrow when I go to weigh in at WW.

This weekend is going to be tough, but with Sunday and Monday's weigh ins looming, I know that I will stay strong and at least just hold the candy and treats (along with my piece of pecan pie from dinner last night) until at least Monday :)...

Here are my numbers from yesterday:

Points Plus - 17 used/12 left (same for Sunday and Monday)
Activity Points - 6 (but only 98% of my goal)

I will leave you with a few pictures.. XOXO



This was me in January 2012 on the right and September 2012 on the left! 1/2 way to my goal!



My hubby, Dave and the girls, Avery on the left and Camille on the right!



Me and my girls (Camille left and Avery right)



Found my Activelink!!

We looked everywhere for this stupid thing! This morning I am getting dressed and grab a bra out of my dresser and lo and behold there it is - on my bra strap! Geez.. I could have sworn I looked there...  Oh well, it is not like I am doing much today and tomorrow anyway... I am officially 1/2 way done with my 3 day cleanse.. I am doing okay, but I know that day 3 is the WORST! To make matters worse, it is my brother in laws birthday tomorrow and everyone is going to be enjoying meatball subs (deep sigh)... Oh well, it will be worth it when I never see my current weight again :)..

On a totally random side note: I am so excited for the first weekend in December! One of my closest friends moved to Florida for college when we were 18 and she never came back.. Well, not literally, she never moved back to Texas. She met her hubby in school and they moved to Jersey and recently back to Florida with their 2 kids. I was at her wedding, they came to our wedding and I have seen her a handful of times only during the last 20 years.. She is that friend that I don't have to talk to very often, and we are still close - I love that about our friendship! Anyway, she and her fam are coming to Dallas for the Cowboys/Eagles game the first Sunday in December. I could not be more excited! Her husband is a huge Eagles fan (and she is a huge Cowboys fan) so we are buying the game tickets today!! WOOHOO!! Can't wait to see her!

That is all I have today except that tonight my indoor soccer team plays at 10:45 (totally sucks) but if we win, we might actually make the playoffs. Now, I am really the only player that has ever played before (there are a few that played a bit in HS, but mainly is it moms that became friends due to their kids and then asked me to join). When I started playing a was literally 60 pounds heavier than I am today - crazeballs! It is great to get back out there and play again, especially now that I feel like I can run and I am mobile enough to really have flashes of the way I used to play... I know that the smart thing to do would be to skip the game, however I just can't do that the the team - I have this crazy sense of responsibility to be there...

Let's hope we pull out the victory tonight! XOXO

Weekend fun and a new recipe

This morning I made it out to boot camp again for my second leg workout in two days.. OUCH!!  There are two trainers that work the camp that I attend and they are both very tough on their own BUT have them each run 1/2 of the camp and to quote Avery, "Holy Moly" are they tough. It was another great workout, I am so glad I woke up in time to go. Last night Dave and I went to see Dark Knight Rises - it was so good - at 9:10 before realizing it was a 3 hour movie.. Now, I am a 9-10 PM fall asleep person and we didn't get home until after midnight, and then my brain was in hyper drive after the action packed movie.. 7:15 came really way to early and I was not sure I would make it!

After camp, we went to my niece, Ella's, school fall carnival. It was SO much fun and the girls had a blast with the games, bounce house slide, cake walk, lunch and playtime at the park! But man was I tired when we got home.. We put the girls down for a nap, Dave went out to mow the yard and I laid down... 3 hours later I woke up! I guess I was tired! We just hung out the rest of the afternoon, grabbed some dinner and Dave headed to my sister's house so my sis and brother in law could head out for a date night :)...

Tomorrow I will start my 3 day cleanse, I hope I am not too bitchy by Tuesday!

Now for the recipe! These are the 'Mexican Muffins' that we tried the other night - they are awesome!

Ingredients:

3	Large whole wheat tortillas or heart healthy, or enough to cut out 12 small circles
1 lb	lean ground beef - 96/4
1/2 cup	Salsa of choice - this actually made it a bit to spicy for the kids, will not add it next time!
1/4 cup	Dry taco seasoning
1/2 cup	Low fat refried beans
1/2 cup	Low fat shredded mexican blend or 2% cheddar cheese
Optional	Toppings: sliced black olives, shredded lettuce, low fat sour cream, chopped tomatoes

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Spray a 12 count muffin tin with non-stick cooking spray.

2. Start by laying each tortilla out individually on a flat surface, and use an empty can, glass cup, or cookie cutter to cut 3-4 medium circles out of each wrap.

3. Press each wrap circle into muffin tin using your fingers. (Note: it doesn’t have to cover the entire side of the tin, it should just fit snuggly!)

4. Brown the ground beef and make the taco meat according to seasoning instructions.

5. In a small bowl, mix together the ground meat, salsa (if using) and refried beans. Stir until well combined.

5. Scoop 1/8th cup of meat mixture into each wrap.

6. Top with shredded cheese, (dividing evenly between each pizza), and olives if desired.

7. Bake in pre-heated oven for 12-15 minutes, or until cheese is melted.

8. Wait for mini Mexican pizzas to cool, and remove from muffin tin using a fork or knife. Pizza’s should pop out with ease!

9. Serve with a side of salsa, low fat sour cream, chopped tomatoes, and/or shredded lettuce if desired!

They are DELICIOUS! I used regular cheese (not 2%) and each muffin was 3 points plus. I ate two of them for 7 point plus - and I was full! Highly recommend these!

XOXO.

Back to business!

Finally, I felt well enough to get back out to boot camp this morning, thank goodness! I can definitely tell I have a. been sick and b. not worked out for a week.... I am SO sore! Friday/Saturday are both leg days at camp so by tomorrow afternoon walking might be a tough prospect.. LOL... Every quarter I do a 3 day Shakeology cleanse.. My sisters were pretty funny the first time I did this back in July. They thought it was one of those drink lemon juice for three days cleanses... Hell no! I could never, I would be so hungry and so bitchy that it would not be a good thing (and, I would eat my body weight in food at the end, completely negating the cleanse.

The Shakeology cleanse is awesome! I will drink three protein shakes each day (breakfast, lunch and after dinner), along with a piece of fruit (I will put a banana in each shake) and then a salad with 4 oz of white meat protein (chicken breast) and 2 oz of lite salad dressing.. It really just helps to cleanse your system of the processed foods that stay with you a little longer than the fresh/more healthy options. I am going to be honest, the first time I did this I was fine - until day 3 that is... So, I am hoping that by Monday I will not be as snarky as I was last time, I think Dave and the girls hope that too! So, I will go to boot camp in the morning and then start with my first shake when I get home.. Say a prayer for me, lol... I hope to lose like 4-5 pounds while doing this and the great thing is that you don't gain that back with the first meal you eat after the three days.. The shakes are supplying my body with the correct amount of protein needed to keep my system up and running!

Dave and I have a date night tonight! My sister and her husband (one of them) will come over after we put the girls down for the night so we can go to a movie and then tomorrow night we will do the same for them. It is a brilliant idea that my brother in law came up with and I am looking forward to some 1 on 1 time with the hubby tonight!

XOXO

Good Week/Bad Week

Well, I am having a good and bad week all at the same time. I was sick earlier in the week, but I am feeling much better now, yay! I am actually going to attend my first boot camp since last Saturday tomorrow morning and I am SOOOO excited!! Even with being sick, I was very aware of the number of points I was eating each day. I really focused on hitting my Points Plus target each day, and I actually was successful (good) and I went for my weekly weigh in yesterday, as I am in a training class today and was not able to get to my normal meeting at lunch time. I lost 3.2 lbs this week!!!!!!!  That puts my total at 60.4 pounds total lost on this journey (HELL YEAH)! I am so pumped and a good week after several 1 pound losses make me feel even more energized!

Now for the bad.. UGH, I can't find my Active Link anywhere :(. It has disappeared. I wore it on Sunday when we went to the fair, and I realized last night when I was on my way to our first Mavericks game of the season that I didn't have it on... I looked all over this morning and couldn't find it. The only good thing is that I have not worked out at all this week with being sick, but man I miss wearing it! Hopefully I can find it tonight since camp is at 5 AM tomorrow morning.

For the past 6 years, my mom and two sisters and I have had a mini-season ticket package with the Dallas Mavericks - we LOVE them!  Last night was our first game of the season, even though it was pre-season and it was awesome.  One of the best parts is that I need to buy a new shirt! The reason is two-fold. First, the two player shirts I have are no longer on the team, so that obviously won't work (Jason Kidd and Jet Terry if you were wondering); second (and the best reason ever) is that my old shirts are just TOO big! WOOHOO! I put on a shirt last night that was really too snug for me to wear the last few seasons, but I wore it anyway and it looked ridiculous last night... I was so happy! So, going into the store last night I took a look and I really wanted a player t for one of the new guys (we are in a total rebuilding year) but the shirts have not been released yet. So, as excited as I was, I was not willing to settle for a shirt just to get a shirt, you know?

So as I said, I was able to eat all my points while being sick, and looking back, I literally hit my 29 points every day this week! I was very excited. As for my activity points, I have no idea (definitely have not hit my target at all this week because of no exercise..  Hopefully I find my active link soon!!

XOXO

Under the weather

Well, I have already fallen behind, but it is not my fault.. We went to the Texas State Fair on Sunday morning with my sisters and their families. I woke up that morning and my throat was a little sore and by the time we were on the train coming home, it hit me like a ton of bricks!  I felt bad enough that I went to the doctor yesterday and I have strep throat and sinus infection - good times!

Last weekend was so fun! Started off the weekend with boot camp at 8 AM on Saturday morning, Dave and the girls went for a walk at the park where boot camp was at, so they had a ton of fun finding a new park to go to. After camp, we went to the Egg and I for breakfast, it was SO yummy!! Then, we had a couple of parties on Saturday, a friends surprise 50th birthday party and a welcome to Texas party for a friends boyfriend (who is also another friend's brother)... I have to admit that I didn't eat particularly well (especially at the Welcome to Texas party), but I stayed away from the alcohol so I think it balanced each other out :)....

We had so much fun at the fair! I had taken the twins last year with one of my sisters and her son. They really didn't get it but this year was a whole different story. They wanted to ride rides, play games, see shows and Camille got her face painted! Avery had two tries at it, but really freaked out and so she will try again next time.. I did alot better than I thought I would on the food at the fair! I had 1/4 of a Fried Samoas order, a Fletcher's corny dog and a few bites of a funnel cake. By the time we got home I felt so bad I didn't eat dinner, so my point total was okay for the day! However, I didn't track, and I didn't track yesterday because I was in bed all day.

I hope to get up and be back on track tomorrow. I am working from home today, because I have little to no energy..  XOXO

Checkin #1 :)

I just re-read my inaugural blog post.. Man, am I long winded. It was actually a bit overwhelming to put that all in writing and to out it out there for anyone to read...

So, tracking what I eat everyday. I have to admit that it is a bit of a struggle at times. I am generally REALLY diligent with it Sunday-Wednesday/Thursday but I pretty much fall apart on some Thursdays-Saturday.. I would like to say I don't know why, but I do know..  I am eating more points than my allotted 29 each day. I think the reason this might be is because when I started back on this journey in January, I was allotted like 38 points a day - if you do the math, that means I am now get 9 less.. That is a really big swing and I am not all that adjusted to it yet.. That being said, I have to do better. Even if I eat more than my daily total, I have to track that way on Thursday when I weigh in I know why the scale says what it says.. Since re-joining I have lost weight every week except 1. I am very proud of that fact, but I really want to get back to losing 2 pounds per week. I know I can do it, I am putting in the activity, so I just need to not lose it over the weekends. I can do it... I can do it.. I think I am trying to convince myself..

So, yesterday's post said that I would notate what my points were and activity points... I am had to take a second to total things up... Here we are:

Daily Points Used: 30, so 1 over for the day
Activity Points Earned: 6, 103% of my daily target

Not as bad as I thought.... Boot camp yesterday was really tough (as was this morning) and I am a bit sore... Tonight we have a surprise party for a friend and a welcome to Texas party for a friend's brother (and her best friend's boyfriend). Tomorrow we are off to the State Fair - I am definitely going to have to go for a run in the morning b/c I can't wait for my corny dog and funnel cake!

Have a great weekend! XOXO

My story...

To be honest, I probably should have started this blog back at the end of January when I started back with Weight Watchers... But I don't know if at that time I really felt like I could do this, lose 100 pounds. It makes me cringe a bit to know that I had let myself get to the point where I had 100 pounds to lose, but there is nothing I can do about that now. I just have to get it done and get back to the old me (physically anyway).

I started played competitive soccer when I was 9. I was small and fast and I had a great aptitude for the game that I love. I excelled at it and by high school I was ready to play in college and to have the opportunity to represent my country on the national team. After playing at SMU, where we went to the final four my senior year (but sadly didn't win), I continued to play professionally in Brazil and semi-pro both in Chicago and Dallas.

I love the game of soccer and all that it has afforded me in my life - travel, free education, and some of the best friends a girl could ask for. What I didn't realize was that the fitness level that I had to keep up all those years was doing a great job hiding my horrible eating (and drinking) habits. So, at the end of the summer in 2001, I finally decided to a hang up my competitive soccer boots and give my body some rest.

The only problem with that was that I didn't change any of my other habits, I simply removed the one habit that was keeping everything in check... So, I quickly gained a bit of weight. I was still in my 20's, and the following fall of 2002 I was ready to marry my best friend. I lost 30 lbs in 2 months prior to the wedding - simply by following the points program with Weight Watchers. I was amazed at what tracking what I was eating did for me and how great I felt. After our wedding though, my big event was over and I fell off the band wagon.

Over the next 9 years I would follow weight watchers for several months and then would get off track.. It seemed like I would lose/gain the same 30-40 pounds every year. It was SO frustrating because I became so sick of being overweight.

We started trying to have a family literally right after getting married :)... Finally in 2005 we were referred to a specialist. After almost 5 years of frustration, we had to change our strategy and find a surrogate to carry for us and luckily we had a friend that stepped up and helped us bring our beautiful twin daughters into the world in January of 2010. 

I knew at that time I needed to make a change. I didn't want the example I was setting for my girls to be on of inactivity, horrible eating habits and that being overweight and doing nothing about it was okay. I continued with the few months on/few months off program. But finally in January of this year I decided enough was enough. It was time for a serious change and I needed to get it done like now..

So, I set a goal for myself, I needed to lose 95 pounds by the following February. I was not sure how I was going to make it happen, I just needed it to happen. So, I signed back up with Weight Watchers and got to it. I was doing really well until one of my best friends died suddenly in March. She was so young (31) and one of the leading causes of her pulmonary embolism was her morbid obesity.. That sent me into a bit of a tailspin. All I could think about was what if that happened to me and I left my beautiful daughters without a mom.. It makes me tear up still today when I think about it.

So, I needed a new, better, more intense plan. Changing my eating habits was a great start, but I needed to do more - I wanted to do more. I had bought a Groupon in February for a boot camp and decided that in June I was ready to give it a try. I signed up and realized that it was going to hurt, but I am an athlete and I knew that my body would really respond to the effort and energy I was putting forth.

Man do I love it, I am about 4 1/2 months into it and I have not felt this great in a long time... I am tired, my body is sore but I LOVE it!! So far, I am down 57.2 pounds.. I have a ways to go, but I thought now would be a perfect time to start chronicling my journey. One of my uncles actually suggested it about a month ago but I blew it off. The more I thought about it, the more I realized I needed to do this for me. Another way for me to stay accountable - just like weighing in each Thursday at lunch and showing up at boot camp each day.

My plan is to post each day with how my food log looked the day before, my activity points earned (and % of daily activity reached) and just one thing new that I either learned, was able to do the first time, new recipe... whatever just a new tidbit each day. I might even occasionally post about my beautiful daughters (Camille and Avery - now 2 3/4 :)  and my awesome husband whose support and love is truly making all of this possible!

I have no idea if anyone will ever read it, or if I will even share it with those in my life or not, but I think the point of blogging, for me anyway, is the chance to put my thoughts and feelings down on 'paper' and not be worried about who might see it!!

I think that is plenty for my first post - lordy I apparently have a lot to say.. Take care for now and I am looking forward to posting tomorrow about my journey... XOXO...