2-27-13 Update

We're in the home stretch for my weight loss goal! Only 2 days left! How did this happen?!
I was doing so well for a while, and then the week of Valentine's Day came up. From sugar-loaded brownies at a Pampered Chef party, to EMORMOUS sugar cookies at a Young Women's activity (I am a Mia Maid Adviser), to ice cream sandwiches made with homemade chocolate chip cookies for Valentine's Day, to eating the rest of the cookie dough from the fridge for the next 3 days. . . I seriously fell off of my healthy-eating cliff. It was awful. I went from making it all the way down to 156.6 back up to 159. I struggled for the following week to get back on track and then it really hit me yesterday that the end of the month is SO close. So. . . I am on a mostly liquid diet until Friday. Yesterday I had 3 fruit/veggie smoothies, a Zrii Achieve meal replacement shake, and lots and lots of water. I did eat dinner with my little family though. Pizza quesadillas with homemade pizza sauce and homemade tortillas. I also made an apple crisp, mostly as a treat for Brad, but I did indulge in some of it with a little vanilla ice cream. Today i've had my Zrii Achieve, one fruit smoothie, and some fresh pressed orange juice from a ton of oranges I picked up at Smith's a few days ago. I also ate 2 slices of bread because Katie wanted some and it smelled so yummy. Haha! I'm out of veggies to add to my smoothies, so I'll be heading to Smith's after I get home from Young Women's tonight. I'll have to have another protein shake and a lot more water. Not sure what's up for dinner tonight. I had originally planned on Potato Mountain (I plan meals 2 weeks in advance), but that's not something I should be eating right now. :) Perhaps I'll just make some homemade hamburgers for Brad and Katie and roast up some veggies for myself. Good luck to me!

Oh, and irony kicked in when this morning my scale decided that it finally needed a new battery. After 3 years, the battery had to die today. Figures. It's a 9-volt, so i'll have to get one of those at the store as well.

2-8-13 Update

These little updates are so lame, but I couldn't help posting this one. I woke up this morning and weighed myself (I always weigh myself in the mornings. It's more accurate to do it at the same time of day each time) and I almost couldn't believe what I saw. 157.4 lbs!!! That's 8 lbs less than when I started at the beginning of the year! I know it doesn't seem like a lot, and 154 is still heavy (24 lbs heavier than what I "should" be), but I haven't seen that number in years. Not even just pre-baby, but pre-wedding and pre-college! I think the most exciting part is just that my stomach is getting flatter. I've got two babies worth of flab and watching it disappear has been so great! Even I can't believe I only had a baby 5 months ago! I wish I would have taken before pictures. I guess I can probably find some somewhere that were snapped without my permission. Haha!

It's a little accomplishment, but I'm proud of myself. I've been eating healthier, staying more active, and feeling great! (Apart from a lingering cough i've had for the last two weeks).

I can't wait until it warms up and I can start going on walks again with my little ones. Brad and I might be getting a couple of bikes so a bike trailer for the kiddos might be in order. Not sure about that though. I never was very fond of bike-riding. I wonder if I would look super lame, as a momma-of-two 20-something, rolling around on roller blades? I do miss roller blading!

As summer comes I'll also be spending tons of time in my yard pulling weeds, planting seeds, and tending to my future chickens (not too mention lounging in the above ground pool. I have this theory that the more time I spend outside, the more weight I will lose. And maybe get my tan back. And my natural highlights. We'll see.

Resolution Update: January

Time for my monthly goal update! On January 1st, I set 5 New Years Resolutions for myself. At the end of the first month, let's see how i'm doing!

• Lose 10 lbs by March 1st.
• I am down approximately 5 lbs! I have 4 weeks to go until my March 1st deadline and if I up my exercise a little bit more each week, I should definitely be able to accomplish this. I have had some brief relapses the last couple of days because i've been sick (apple crisp and bowls of ice cream), but  I'm getting right back on track tomorrow. I'm still sick today. :p

• Limit fast food intake to once a month
• On track! I chose Carls Jr. as my fast food of choice for the month of January, and I most thoroughly enjoyed my charbroiled chicken club. I didn't get waffle fries or a chocolate shake, my two other favorite things, but I had to show a little restraint for my weight loss goal. I am kind of regretting it though.  
• Attend the temple with Brad at least once a month  
• Success! My mom was in town for a couple of days so not only did Brad and I get to go on our monthly date (I pre-planned monthly dates as part of Brad's anniversary gift), but we were able to attend the temple the next night as well.  Funny story though, our temple bags have been in the trunk of our car for a while, and our gas can has spilled quite a few times back there. It wasn't until we were changing into our white clothes in the temple dressing rooms that we realized our clothing COMPLETELY REEKED of gasoline. So gross. Oh well! They are washed and good to go now.
• Take ONE 3-credit college course through BYU Independant Study and receive an A
• This one is nowhere near completion.  The cost of courses actually went up without me realizing it when I posted this resolution, so I need to somehow earn/find over $400 for a 3 credit course. Ouch! I've been taking surveys diligently though and have made about $20 this past month with them. I also earned about $20 in my PayPal through various things, but have already spent it on different things for the household. Our budget is SUPER tight, but I am still determined to make this goal happen!
• Post on my cooking blog at least once a week
• Success! Mostly. I did post 4 times in January, so that's about once a week, but sometimes it was more like, 9 or 10 days rather than every 7. Not that that's a big deal or anything. It has been nice blogging again, though. And it's definitely easier to find things to blog about when we can no longer afford to go out to eat or pay for convenience foods. I even made 2 loaves of bread to use for sandwiches, garlic bread and toast since we ran out of frozen loaves in the freezer.

Can't wait to see how things go in February!
I've only been exercising about twice a week, but i'm going to up that to 4 times a week this month. 
I still haven't decided what fast food I want for February. I'm thinking Del Taco. It's cheap and always delicious!
I'm not sure if my parents will be coming my way at all this month, so i'll have to find a babysitter so we can go to the temple. Hopefully I can find someone to do it for free!
I've also rustled up a few things I think I can sell, so I plan on saving that money specifically for my college goal. I'm thinking I can bring in about $30-$40 on selling things. I have another $15 coming to my PayPal this month, and hopefully I can get at least $10 from my surveys. Sadly, most sites only offer rewards and not cash payout, but I'll make it work.
For my cooking blog, I plan on continuing my "A Peek Inside My Freezer" mini-series, as well as sharing one of new favorite bread recipes and hopefully posting about my parent's famous enchiladas. There's a cookie recipe i've been wanting to try as well, so if that turns out yummy, i'll post about it too.