A Texan Odyssey

Dress & Sandals (TJMAXX) Plaid Shirt (Target) Purse (Ross) ...is a no no, but a sweater dress that is as comfortable as pajamas is perfectly fine! I found this one on clearance at TJMAXX recently and know I'll get a lot of use out of it this fall and winter. The above pics are from last Saturday for some errands and park time with the family, and the one below is from Sunday before church. It was a lovely weekend, despite all of us still having the sniffles. We got groceries after church, picked up lunch, and then settled in to watch the latest Doctor Who episode. (Still waiting for this season to pick up a bit...) Sean's allowed to play games on the weekend so Ryan got him set up on the computer and I got Connor down for a nap and then we enjoyed our mini date together. With iced coffee and snacks of course! Oh and speaking of snacks, I'm still trying to get back into better eating habits, I've made some progress but I'm not where I'd like to be yet....

 Shirt & Shorts (Old Navy) Boots (Marshalls) Watch ( Fossil ) I've been feeling pretty frazzled lately, especially after a weekend spent at home with a sick baby (just a cold thankfully), and then getting sick myself. Lack of sleep and falling back into poor eating habits don't help either. (Like that scone pictured above!) I've gained some weight back and that sends me into a cycle of feeling bad about myself and then eating sweets to feel better, and then feeling like a failure for not having better self-control. I need to pray for strength to do what's right for my health instead of giving into the momentary pleasure of junk food. I know I feel better and have more energy when I follow a paleo diet, but I keep slipping up and vowing to "do better tomorrow." Last week I made cookies and strawberry cobbler for the family, and today it was a toddler on a nap strike that drove me to sweets. Ryan rescued us from cabin fever after work and we went ...

Top (Ross) Skirt ( Marshalls) Sandals (Marshalls) Watch ( Fossil ) I can't decide if this outfit is cute or cutesy. The former is definitely preferred over the latter! I'll be 30 next year (eek!) and I wondered if the silhouette of the skirt is too young. Ryan said it was fine though so I wore it and I think I agree with him after seeing the pictures. We took these today when the boys were at my Mom's house for the afternoon. It was heavenly to get a long date with Ryan! Since we already finished our whole 30 we chose sushi for lunch and picked up some ice cream too. It was like being reunited with a good friend. ;) We're pretty stoked with the outcome of our second whole 30, ten pounds down for me and fifteen for Ryan. I'm back in the 140's and pretty darn close to my goal weight! (I'm 5'10" and would like to get back down to 135, which is what I was when I got married almost 8 years ago.) If we keep the ice cream to a minimum I'm sure I...

(Top from Target, jeans from Old Navy, shoes from my mom, watch from Fossil, Nine West purse from Ross) I wore this to church on Sunday morning. It's blazing hot down here already so this old halter top I have was perfect for trying to stay cool. It's funny how losing five pounds can make me feel more comfortable showing my arms! (New weight: 137) The bridesmaid dress I had to wear on Friday was a bit skimpier than I'm used to (even after alterations to make it longer and not so low on top), so I'm glad I lost some weight so I wouldn't feel like I was popping out of it. Ryan is also down another ten pounds for a total of 55 pounds lost! He is 208 right now and hopes to get to 195. He'll practically be at his college weight then. Doesn't he look healthy and handsome? I'm so proud of him! (Dress from D'Yoly, earrings from Kohl's, heels from JCP) P.S. I've used the Xen Tan self tanner a few times and it wasn't too noticeable in pictures, bu...

(Tank from Ross, blouse from Kohl's, jeans from Old Navy, sandals & earrings from Target, purse from my mom) (Looking quite rosy in the light of the setting sun!) I bought this diaphanous peach colored blouse (couldn't find a tangerine one!) from Kohl's on Friday and wore it promptly the next day. (It came with a pink tank, but I liked it better paired with a navy one I already owned.) We had a super fun and busy Saturday complete with an outing to the fair (pics to come later!) lunch at a sweet little cafe, a date with the hubby for some froyo/bubble tea, an excursion to a bridal boutique where we got fitted for the tuxedo and bridesmaid dress we'll be needing for a friend's wedding later this month, and dinner at my sister's house. My bro-in-law took the photos above for me with his fancy Nikon camera. I've got a serious case of camera envy! I think for my birthday in June I'm going to request cash towards a new one....

Run Run Run by valfox   Most Friday's Fancies participants will be featuring some amazing high heels, beautiful boots or cute flats this week, but I am so in love with my new Asics running shoes that I just had to showcase them! I bought them using a gift card I got for Christmas. They were originally 100 dollars on sale for 50! They're super comfortable and just the thing I needed to start my new year off right. I surprised my hubby with his own pair of Asics for his birthday and he really loves them too! We've been working out almost every day as he prepares for his firefighter agility test next weekend. I'm not a runner yet, by any stretch of the imagination, but I'm hoping that I can build up my endurance and speed soon.  Since I haven't done a weight loss update in FOREVER ,  I guess I can do so now! I weigh 138 , one pound more than before the holidays. My biggest mistakes lately have been snacking right from...

Good little 25 minute workout I did this week ( Source ) New Weight: 137 I did it! I lost the 3 pounds I wanted to this week. Yay! All it took was cutting out sweets for a few days and watching my portion sizes of snacks and meals. The second half of the week I was able to have one sweet thing a day (piece of dark chocolate, 1/2 cup of sherbet, etc.) and still keep losing weight. I also exercised four days this week. Those jumping jacks in the image above were tough, but I did them all. Also, my husband lost almost 5 pounds this week! He has lost 30 pounds total and has 30 pounds to go. It's so exciting to be that family going to the gym and eating healthy instead of being lazy. I LOVE it. Today is our cheat day though, and we're going to grill some burgers here at the apartment with some friends and family. It's going to be fun but we're not going to pig out or go crazy!  Alrighty, we are now down to the last rule from Bethenny Frankel's  book ! "Good for y...

It's not really week 59 of my weight loss journey, but honestly I don't even know what week I'm at anymore! From now on I will title these type of posts: Health and Fitness: ____________. The one for today really should be called Healthy and Fitness: (Or Lack Thereof), because.... New Weight: 140. I gained 3 pounds in the several weeks (just checked, it's been over a month actually) since my last update. Oops! I've been exercising, but I've been making the wrong food choices and eating too much sugar. I maintained for a while and then three pounds crept on when I wasn't looking! For some weird reason as soon as my hubby started eating right, I stopped! Meals are still healthy, but I need to get my snacking in check. So as of now, I'm back on track! I'll be back to 137 and closer to my goal of 135 soon I hope!  I'm so proud of Ryan for being so diligent with working out and eating right. He is looking better, but only lost half ...

New  Same Weight: 137 Yay I maintained this week! :) Insanity Update: I did three Insanity work outs this week. Next week my goal is to fit in five. I love that image from pinterest up there because it reminds me that even if I'm going slower than the super fit gals on the Insanity videos, I'm  still doing something and that's what counts! I need to pack for our trip tomorrow so instead of continuing on with Bethenny's rules for healthy eating, I'll just throw my measurement improvements out there.  First measurements are from 4/30/11 and the second ones are from today.    Bust: 36 ---> 36  Waist: 29 ---> 28 Hips: 36.5 ---> 35    Rear: 41 ---> 38  Thighs: 41 ---> 38     Calf: 14 ---> 13  Ankle: 9 ---> 9 I've lost 18 pounds since 4/30/11 and 9.5 inches. Ok, time to pack!!

Eek I'm so behind on these weight loss updates! Here goes! New Weight: 137 Two pounds down. I'll take it! (But honestly it's just 'cuz I didn't eat anything yesterday because I had really bad food poisoning. Hopefully I can keep the pounds off even after easing into eating again.) Insanity Update: I've failed colossally with keeping up with Insanity the last few weeks. I'm still trying to exercise several times a week, and sometimes I do an Insanity workout but I'm not doing the day to day schedule anymore. I don't know whether I want to be strict about finishing month 2 or not. Some of the routines are fun, but I find myself resting so much that I feel I'm just wasting time. We'll see what I decide to do. Here is the next rule from Bethenny Frankel's  book . "Check yourself before you wreck yourself." I'm supposed to be getting ready to go on a date with Ryan, (Yes I'm still going despite be...

New Weight: 139 One pound down. I didn't get around to posting a weight loss update last week because I was busy with Sean's birthday party, but I'm getting back to it this week! My hubby's up a few pounds this week. His hours changed at work and he's not doing the more physical late shift anymore. He knows he needs to work out now! Insanity Update: Last week while doing the fit test I was trying to do 100 switch kicks in a minute and I pulled a muscle in my back. I was going too fast I guess. I tried to keep doing the month two workouts for a few days but even sneezing or picking up my son hurt really bad and exercising was just too painful. After a week and a half break my back was good enough to continue and I've been doing the month two work outs. I actually love them! Here are the next two rules from Bethenny Frankel's  book . "Downsize now." and "Cancel your membership to the clean plate club." ...

- Pork with mango and light whipped cream cheese sauce - Santa Fe style brown rice -  Sauteed asparagus New weight: 140 I didn't get around to doing last week's weigh-in post because I just got busy with stuff over the weekend and didn't make time to sit down and blog on Saturday. I've been kind of stuck at 140! Back when I was 150 it seemed so hard to get into the 140's and now it feels really hard to get into the 130's. I briefly saw 139 a few weeks back but was 140 again by my official weigh-in day. It's kind of frustrating and I wish I could say that my body is trying to tell me I'm fine at 140, but I know I should still lose more fat from my stomach. For me it's definitely the hardest spot to lose it from after having a baby! It's been exactly three months since I started this blog. Weight: 155 --> 140 Body Fat:  22.3 --> 18.3 Muscle Mass: 39.6 --> 42.1 BMI: 22.1 --> 20.1 Insanity update: I'm finishing u...

New Weight: 140 That's a total of 15 pounds for me since I got back to being serious about losing the remainder of the baby weight, and 10 pounds since starting Insanity. Ryan lost 5 pounds this week for a total of 20 pounds lost! Yay!  On to Bethenny Frankel's second rule in her book Naturally Thin : "You can have it all, just not all at once." This is probably the rule that helped me the most as I've been losing this weight. Here's a little history. Growing up I was always slender and could pretty much eat as much as I wanted. I always had (and still have) a major sweet tooth. I would sit down with a bag of candy and finish it in one sitting as I watched TV or  read a book. Back then I could get away with it, now I can't. Before I got pregnant, I had actually just read Bethenny's book and lost 15 pounds by following her rules. Then I got pregnant and went back to eating whatever I wanted and gained almost 50 pounds! The first 35 po...

New Weight: 141. Still. I hate plateaus! Honestly though I'm surprised it wasn't a higher number after the week I've had. I went into holiday mode and kept snacking and splurging on and off throughout the week. Hubby stayed the same as well. Now let's talk about what I should have been doing. Bethenny Frankel's first rule in her book Naturally Thin is: "Your diet is your bank account." Basically you need to balance your food intake like you do your savings and spending. If you have a starch for breakfast, have protein and veggies at lunch. If you know you're going to have a dessert after dinner, have your afternoon snack be fruit or veggies instead of a sugary choice. Another thing she talks about when expounding on this rule is that if you generally make smart investments in your food choices, i.e. healthy fresh stuff, then when you really want a bowl of ice cream or a slice of cake you can eat it without feeling guilty...

Buy Here New Weight: 141 One more pound down this week, for a total of 14 pounds since starting this blog. Hubby gained a pound, but I'm sure he'll get it off next week!  My sister wanted to start doing the Insanity work outs with me, so I started month 1 over to do it with her, instead of going on to month 2. I think I might have done that regardless, because those month 2 workouts are insane ! (pun intended) I'm not quite ready for them, especially because I'm not working out with full intensity to even the month 1 exercises. (2nd floor apartment remember? I can't do those jumps!) Now on to the picture above. Bethenny Frankel's book Naturally Thin: Unleash Your SkinnyGirl and Free Yourself from a Lifetime of Dieting  is amazing ! My sister recommended it to me a while back, and then my Mom bought one and gave it to me after reading it herself. Bethenny has excellent tips to eat what you want (in moderation) while still losing weight, or maintaining your...

Healthy Smoothies: Milk, Ice, Strawberry and Banana New Weight: 142 One more pound down! 13 lost total and 7 more to go! I can't wait to be in the 130's, maybe next week!!! I'm also SUPER proud of Ryan for losing 3 pounds this week, for a total of 15 pounds lost!! My failures this week were indulging in sweets too often (again). My birthday ice cream cake was soooooo good and I got sent home with the second half of it, which hubby and I finished within a few days. (At least it was a very small cake!) I also had some candy and ice cream for my second birthday celebration, and over the week finished a bag of Twizzlers. The good thing is that I never pigged out on these desserts and have continued my Insanity work outs daily. Today will be the last day of the recovery week and Monday I'll start month 2 with the fit test and max interval circuit. I'm also drinking a lot of water and eating healthy meals! (Linking up again to the beautiful Fashion Momma'...

Turkey burger with Havarti cheese, romaine lettuce, onions and cherry tomatoes on an Oroweat sandwich thin Corn, refried beans, onion, and cilantro salsa Mixed veggie chips Cranberry juice diluted with water Herb crusted chicken breast Mashed potatoes with gravy Steamed green beans New Weight: 143 So that's a weight loss of one pound this week. (12 since starting this blog) I knew I would see a smaller number this week due to last week's three pound weight loss, but I'm content with it! It's still progress in the right direction! My husband lost half a pound this week, which he was happy with because he thought he had gained!  The above pictures are two meals I made this week for dinner, I included them to show a sample of what I'm cooking and eating. I'm trying to have my protein serving be about the size of a deck of cards and have veggies be the majority of the plate. I kind of failed on that in the first pic, since veggie chips don't reall...

New weight: 144 Down 3 pounds this week, and a total of 11 pounds since I started this blog! Wow! It's hard to believe that when I lose 5 more pounds I'll be in the 130's! I can't wait! I'm also basically back to my pre-baby weight, and am now working on the happily-married weight! (Hubby is down 2 pounds, for a total of 12 pounds!) I've had to scale back the intensity during my Insanity work outs because I was experiencing a lot of foot and back pains. (Exercising barefoot probably wasn't the best idea) I'm still doing them I'm just not going all out like I was trying to do before. Also our apartment is on the second floor so I can't do the crazy jumps for fear of angering our downstairs neighbors! I've been eating healthy long enough for it to be a habit now! It is much easier to not snack late in the evening, to only drink water, and to serve myself smaller portions now. However last night I was looking through Carlotta's food ...

I lost a pound this week. New weight: 147 I am really happy with my progress so far! I've only lost 8 pounds over the last 5 weeks, but I have lost inches and gained muscle as well.  My clothes are fitting better and I have more energy and feel better about myself. Insanity is really getting me into good shape, even though the pounds aren't falling off. I finished my second week and it's amazing. My body fat is down to 20%, which puts me in the athlete range of this General Body Fat Percentages Categories Chart . (Me, an athlete??? What???) I weighed between 142-145 pounds before I got pregnant, and hopefully in a few weeks I will be back there again. This time I will be more fit though! My husband lost 4 pounds this week, so I am proud of him as well!

New Weight: 148! It feels great to be out of the 150's finally. I also finished week one of the Insanity workout. I'm bruised and sore and my back is killing me, but I did it! Unfortunately Ryan and I both caught a cold and are feeling pretty miserable today. Isn't it horrible when you're sick on the week-end? Also Ryan's weight stayed the same and he's ready to give up on healthy eating and exercising. I hope and pray he will stick with it so we can set a good example to Sean as he gets older.