My Birthday blog :)

Today is my 36th birthday!! If you know me, you know that I LOVE birthdays!! Not only mine, but everyone's birthday!! I know the whole "getting older" thing can be a pain in the butt... but I see it as, at least I'm alive to get older!! I have learned so much this past year and I wanted to share those things with you & hopefully encourage you at the same time! This past year I have learned that one of the best gifts I can give myself is time. Invest a little bit of time into myself and then in turn that helps me invest a better "ME" into others. I give myself time to exercise and to eat well. I used to think that I had to take care of everyone else first and then take care of myself last, but I cannot take care of anyone the best I can unless I'm taking care of myself. I've learned to push through and keep going, that when the "I can't do it" thoughts come, I push harder! I've learned that you really can overcome those "impossible" things in your life. I remember at one point I just figured I would always be an overweight person. I never imagined being able to conquer that in my life. I had settled for that type of lifestyle. I now know, I never have to settle for anything... I know with God's help I can do anything! I have learned that I really am stronger then I thought I was! I can now run, I can now control myself with food, I can now influence others to change their lives. I can now raise my kids to be healthy kids/teenagers/ and adults! I've learned that even if there are obstacles in your way, that doesn't mean time to quit, it just means time to find an alternate route! There's never a good enough reason to quit on yourself or the dreams you have! I want to encourage you to keep going!! Nothing is too big to stand in your way!! If things don't look like you imagined them too, stay consistent!! Never ever ever ever quit!!! I have no doubt you will accomplish your goals!!

I have no doubt, we can get better with age :) I know I have!!
Thanks for reading!!!!

Pick, Pick Pickin' away...

Okay, so I had to get rid of a lot of the Halloween candy!! I have found myself picking at it over the last several days. The first week I was fine, it's just recently it's been getting to me. I put it out of sight,you know the whole out of sight out of mind trick, yeah it wasn't working anymore, so I had to take drastic measures!! RAWR!! I know there are times I find myself picking at food and I wonder why in the world am I doing this?! My kids are still pretty little so they rarely finish their own food, even if it's McDonald's they will leave lots of it behind. If you think about it, even if it's just picking at it, those calories can really add up! Did you know that if you eat 2 of your kids chicken nuggets, you've just eaten an extra 100 calories and just a handfull of fries out of a small McDonald's fries can add up to another 100 calories. A small candy bar can have up to 280 calories in it! I have learned to be conscious of what I'm "picking" at to eat. I put a lot of thought into this Halloween candy, and come up with some options if you, like me, are having a hard time with it. So here's my suggestions :)
1. Have your kids pick out their favorite treats and have the "Candy Fairy" come and pick up the rest and swap a small prize for the candy.
2. When they are sleeping go through it and toss out the stuff you have a weakness towards.
3. Donate it to the troops!
4. Donate it to a shelter or food pantry!
5. Send most of it to work with your spouse. (that's what I did!! Rob left this morning with lots of candy for the guys at work!!)
6. Take it to work with you to share! Just make sure the candy bowl isn't on your desk!!

One option I had was to hurry up and eat what I really wanted so it will be out of the house!! That's terrible advice!!! Don't do that!! I'm just saying it did cross my mind ;)

Stay strong my friends!! We are about to move into a season where food is one of the highlights! I have no doubt that we can go through this holiday season and still lose weight! Thanks for reading!!

Gettin' Physical

I don't meet too many people that LOVE to exercise. It's one of those things that we know we should do but find just about any excuse not too. Before starting Weight Watchers, I never exercised. Once in a while I would take a walk with the mindset of "yes, I'm working out!" but I wasn't consistent. After starting Weight Watchers I now see exercise in a whole new light. I remember taking those few pre Weight Watcher walks and thinking, "Wow I walked around the block a few times!! I can now eat a gallon of ice cream!" It doesn't work that way, boo!! There definitely MUST be a change in your eating to see a change in your weight and health. BUT... exercise is still very very important and necessary for a healthy lifestyle. When you compare someone that has lost weight by only changing their food vs. someone that has lost weight by changing what and how they eat and have also included exercise, you can tell a huge difference in the way they look. The person that exercises looks better, more slim, they are more active and have tons more energy! Plus, you can eat a little more when you work out :) that's always a bonus! When I first started losing weight, I didn't include exercise until after the first month. My first type of exercise was a 15 minute walking video that included resistance bands. I honestly was so wiped out after doing the 15 min. video. I would challenge myself to keep going by never getting comfortable. Once I conquered an exercise or exercise video I would move on to a more challenging one. I do believe that by challenging myself and setting new exercise goals will play a role in me keeping the weight off. I really do love to run. Now, let me  explain something though, usually I don't enjoy the few min. building up to running.. it's once I start running and when I finish are the parts that I really love. You feel so accomplished when you do something you never thought you could do! Exercise makes you feel so strong! I believe one of the MOST important things when it comes to exercise is consistency. I don't necessarily believe it's who can run the farthest, fastest or who can lift the most weights.. it's the one that can stay consistent with exercising. That, in my experience, has shown to have the most impact. There have been times I would push myself so hard I would be in so much pain that I wouldn't be able to workout for several days afterward and I would lose my momentum a bit. I have altered my exercise routine to include something I enjoy doing and I try to switch up what I do so I don't get bored with it. I do continue to challenge myself physically and I believe that's very important, but when it comes to my daily activity I try to do something I can stick with and enjoy. I want to really encourage you, start exercising! If you already exercise, continue to push yourself! Find things that you never thought you could physically do and work at accomplishing those things. You'll not only feel strong on the outside but you'll also feel strong emotionally and mentally!
I love this quote I found in my Weight Watcher journal;
Dieting makes you look good in your clothes, exercise makes you look good naked.

Thanks for reading!!!