And the numbers are in!

      I took my measurements this morning.  I am proud to say I have lost 5 inches in my waist.  YAY me!  Not sure how much I lost in my hips but I am hoping there has been change there too.  I am one of those girls who was blessed with a booty.  So I realize and I have come to grips with the fact that I will never have a small butt.  I am OK with that.  My nickname as a teen from my wonderful brothers was bubble butt.  Which actually upset me.  This was before Jennifer Lopez came around and made the big booty popular.  Flat butts were in and nobody listened to Sir Mix A Lot and did not Like Big Butts!  ;)  My husband loves it so I will not complain too much.  I would like to get it to stop shaking.  I know not the visual you were looking for but it is a visual I see daily that motivates me to keep moving.  I will measure again February 7th.  I am trying to stick with my goal and take these numbers down every 2 weeks instead of depressing myself with the scale. 

     I am also happy to announce I have started eating more to keep up with my new active lifestyle of running.  Still have a way to go but I am doing much better.  Normally at the end of the day after all my eating and exercising I only have 500-600 calories to account for.  Which is not healthy.  Yesterday I ended on over 900 calories.  Doing better.   And I am hoping with the extra eating that it also fuels my energy.

    Target was having a health and fitness sale!!!  So I managed to buy myself one of those core fitness balls (that I will have to educate myself on), a jump rope and two 3 pound weights.   I know the weights are not heavy but I am trying to ease my body into this new thing that it has not seen in years. I do not want my body to go into complete shock.

   Tomorrow I start my week 2 day 1 with the couch to 5k!  I was able to finish day 3 from week 1 yesterday without any cramps or being utterly and completely out of breath! YAY!!  I am very proud of this accomplishment.  I am not so worried about the times right now.  Once i get to the point of running with out having the feeling of passing out then I will focus more on times.

     What do you do to stay fit!?  What is your favorite activity to do?  Did you know you can burn 50 calories in just 5 minutes from jump roping??!!  I did just 5 minutes yesterday and logged it in on my fitness pal and it said I burned 57 calories!!!  I plan on incorporating that into my daily exercise.  It sure does bring back memories when I was a little girl and how I could jump rope with no problem for such a long time.
     
      Let me take a minute and apologize for grammatical errors and spelling errors.  Well the spelling errors are not that bad.  There is spell check ;)
I am not a professional writer and never really did well at all in English class OK.  This is a diary of my journey from a frumpy over weight mom to a mom with energy to keep up with 6 kids.  So try not to judge me too much.  Thank you!

My challenge...

      Now that I have started moving my booty in gear and exercising I noticed I had gained 3 pounds.  I know not much but for someone who is working toward losing and has already lost so much.  It is a lot!!

      Very frustrating when I lose over 40 pounds sitting on my butt just watching what I eat.  And the moment I incorporate exercise into my routine I gain 3 pounds.  Hello!!!  I thought exercise was suppose to help you lose not gain!!

     So I did  a bit of research.  Talked to family, friends and my dear sweet friend google helped too.  I know exercise is great for your healthy.   So that's why I do it.  I am bad about taking my weight every single frigging morning.  After I took my weight today I was very upset to see that it had jumped 3 pounds.  My diet is still great and health.  I don't eat passed 6:00 pm and I am not starving myself.  I am eating plenty of good calories and fat to make up for the calories burned with out going overboard.  I sure as heck am not gaining muscle yet.  That would be a miracle to have muscle gain in just 2 days of half jogging and half walking.  If that were true there would be a huge epidemic of joggers out and about everyday.  Just casually jogging away their fat and gaining muscle.  HA!  A girl can dream right?!?

      Anyway!!  Back to my research.  My healthy guru brother told me to weigh myself once a month.  Beginning February 1st I will be weighing myself on the first of every month.  I will also be using a measuring tape and start recording my measurements and I will do that every 2 weeks and logging that. I also took another before photo since I am starting a new routine.  I want to see the transformation of my body through the couch to 5K.  I will post my before and after photo May 11th after I complete my first 5K.  So the next four months are gonna be challenging.  I am hoping to start noticing more of a  difference in my appearance from my reflection in the mirror then with the numbers on the scale.

       I found a 5 pound bag of sugar in my pantry that I had not opened yet and I lifted that.  I could not believe how heavy that little 5 pound bag was.  As I thought about it more and held that bag of sugar I imagined that I was holding 8 of them!!  Next time I go to the grocery store I am going to attempt to hold 8 of them at one time.  Those eight 5 pound bags of sugar are equivalent to the amount of weight I have lost!  That sure put things into perspective for me.

     I also found this pretty gross but amazing photo of the difference of fat and muscle both weighing in at 5 pounds.  Look at this!!!

      Look at the size difference!  Amazing!  The fat is not pretty looking even on the inside!  Yuck!

   OK!  To sum up my new challenge!!  I will only weigh myself once a month on the first of the month.  I am also going to take my measurements with a measuring tape every 2 weeks and finally every 30 days I will be photographing myself from different angles and on May 11th after I complete my first 5K (as long as I have not been driven off in an ambulance from exhaustion) I will post my after picture and hopefully see a difference like in my other before and after photo!  Prayers are welcomed!! ;)

A little more motivation! And a homework challenge!

      Just as you may feel discouraged because you are not seeing the results you want week after week.  Doesn't mean that change is not happening.  For me when I look in the mirror I still feel like I look like the person on the left in the attached photos.  It is not until I put a photo of my now body next to it and realize how much my body has really changed.   For those of you who are friends with me on Facebook you have already seen my changes from the past year.  And I am still amazed how much my body has changed.  The same can happen for you.  Just stay at it.  Stop checking the scale everyday.  Limit it to every month or every 2 weeks.  I am trying not to judge too much from that number.  Because although the past 2 months I have not lost much in weight on a scale.  I noticed the change in inches on my body.  My clothes fitting looser.  Something as wonderful in realizing I can fit into a medium shirt again.

     So!  My homework challenge for you is to take that unbearable before photo that you really do not want to see.  You do not have to be bold and brave yet if you are not ready and post that photo for all to see.  But at least have it for your records.  So you can see your improvements!

    Take the photo in a sports bra and a pair of shorts for you ladies and you men just a pair of shorts and no shirt or a bathing suit.  If you really want to see what changes are happening.  It's easier to see that difference with less article of clothing.  I mean look at my hips!!!  Check out that muffin top on the left there.  Huge difference!  So are you up for my homework challenge!

The left was taken September 2012 weighing in at 169 pounds

and The right photo was taken yesterday January 18th 2013 weighing in at 150 pounds!

Couch to 5K!

So today I did my week 1 day of my couch to 5K.  I successfully complete the whole program for today and I did not die!!!  My legs may argue back on that one.  But I am happy that I pushed through the god awful side cramps and the burning lungs in this 40 degree weather.  And might i add I successfully did this with two 25 pound toddlers in a city mini double stroller.  So not only was I carrying my 153 pounds of pure awesomeness but also pushing about another 75 pounds along the way!

The program is set to do 3 runs/jogs/walks in a week for the next 9 weeks.  My plan is to still keep up with my p90x but just do that 3 days a week now and then do my couch to 5k program 3 days and have my one day of rest.  Wish me luck.  I am determined to stick to this.  My last workout session I am ashamed to say was back in October.  But before that I was on track doing some sort of exercise for 6 days out of the week.  Then life happened and caused me to come to a screeching stop!

I want to be bikini body ready for the summer.   I plan on s pending the summer in Florida visiting family and hopefully get to meet my new niece or nephew who is due in July!!!!
So that's my story and I am sticking with it!  My husband and i even have the kids joining in.  My oldest two Anthony (12) and Ally (10) have been doing some of the p90x videos with us!  I love that my children are showing interest in not only supporting me and my husband but also taking the initiative and taking control of their health so early on.

I want to instill in my children that it is not skinny mommy is going for.  I want to be healthy.  I explained to them that being the weight I use to be was not safe for my health.  That is why it is so important for me to eat right and exercise.  So they will have a  healthy mommy with energy to keep up with all 6 of them.  I plan on living a long healthy life to see all 6 of them get married and one day have children of their own.  And if they actually have the amount of children they say they want I am even going to need that energy for the many grandchildren I am going to have one day.  Anthony wants about 6 too like us and Ally wants 4!  That's just 2 out of the 6 kids.  My heart and my arms will always be full.

Thank you for reading!!  Now if this mom of 6 can find the time to get her butt in gear and exercise 6 days of week there should be no excuse for anyone else!  Now get up and get moving!!!

I'm Back!

     Wow!  3 months since my last post.  I have been a bad girl.  A lot has happened since then.  I got busy between all the holidays and birthdays.  There's obviously Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years.  But, along with those holidays are my daughter's birthday.  She turned 10 on November 29th, my birthday was December 9th.  I turned 32!!  Yikes! And then my son Anthony turned 12 on December 21st. So it has been a busy few months.

     With all the fun and celebrating we had some bad news and a bump in the road for our family.  My husband was let go from his job and we were given this news 11 days before Christmas.  It was a big shock.  Scared and freaked out for a moment.  When we finally calmed down we prayed together as a family picked ourselves back up and started to move forward.  I love my family.  We know that God does not close one door with out opening a new one.  Although at the time we may not of understood why this has happened.  Why this company moved our family away from our family in Florida to Louisiana only to take it away only 18 months later.  It made no sense to me!  But like I said.  God does not close a door with out opening another.

    My husband is a fighter and picked himself up and started the job hunt.  In 2 weeks he managed to get 5 interviews and 5 job offers!  Today he started his first day of his new job with a great new company that is growing and expanding.  They had been searching and interviewing for the position for  8 months.  Finally my husband came along and their search was over!  We are excited about the possibility and the future again.  Thank you God.  And thank you to all my friends and family who have been following along and praying along with my family on facebook.

    Now onto my goals!  I am registering not only myself and my husband, but all of my children for the Color me Rad 5K.  It is a great way to get the family together and healthy together.  I am so excited to do this.  I am not exactly in the greatest shape though.  Sure I have been doing great with the weight loss.  Down 40 pounds now!!!  But that does not mean I am in shape.  I am jiggle wiggly.  And that has got to go.  So with that I am starting my new 90 day challenge.  I am focusing on gaining lean muscle now and also incorporating the couch 2 5k program so I can be ready for the Color me Rad on May 11th!  My only thing is finding the time to run.  I can't exactly do it with the kids.  Louis is not a very good runner and all i have is my double stroller.  I can run with the twins because i can push them along.  Just can't do it with Louis.  I may need to suck it up and wake up early before the kids get up and ready for school and do my run then.  I am not a morning person.  Just ask my husband.  lol.

So there it is.  My new goal for the new year.  I am only 10 pounds away from my pre twin weight.  But just because i am close to my weight goal does not mean i am done.  I still have my fitness goals i want to achieve.  I need to firm the jiggly wiggly bottom, legs, arms and belly.  Color me Rad 5K here I come!