Biggest Loser

In January I started going to our local free fitness club on Monday nights. I hadn't been there very long and they advertised they were starting a biggest loser competition. It was 30 bucks to enter. I really had to force myself to enter because I knew if I paid the 30 bucks I would most likely stick to it. I knew it wouldnt be easy, but since I was already training for my half marathon, I figured what the heck... might as well!

So, I went the first not and got weighed and measured. Measurements don't lie... let me tell you! After 4 weeks of eating 1200 calories a day and working out 5 days a week, I had lost nearly 20 inches from my body! This was good motivation that it was working! I had no idea if I was losing a good amount of weight compared to others or not, but I kept going. It got harder the longer I was in it.. I started to crave sweets! I got discouraged one week when I only lost .2 pounds... thats point two, not 2! So I let my cravings get the best of me. I bought some junk food, ate it.. and then felt terrible, haha. All that hard work for nothing?! So, I then busted my butt and ended up still losing 2 pounds for that week! So, it went to show me that one or two mess ups isn't going to make me fat... just like one or two healthy meals isn't going to make me skinny. For me, its all about portion sizes. If I'm going to eat what I cooked for my family for dinner... that's fine as long as I don't get double portions. I continued to use my fitness pal (an awesome app) on my phone to track calories for each day. Towards the last week, I got to the point where I didn't need to use the app anymore.. I just kind of tried to keep my breakfasts to 200-300, my lunch to about 400-500 and save the rest for supper which is always the most calories for us!

The final week came and I was feeling good! I made sure to wear some shorts for my weigh in despite the snow on the ground and 30 degree weather... I didn't want those yoga pants weighin me down ;)
Drum roll please.... I WON!! I was the winner and won $200!
I lost a total of 14.6 pounds and a total of 26 inches! The inches broke down to this:
Chest 38.25 to a 34
Waist 36.5 to a 29 (YAY!)
Hips 43.5 to a 38
R Arm 11.75 to 10.5
L Arm 11.75 to 10
L Thigh 24 to 20.5
R Thigh 23 to 19.75

I can really tell that my pants are looser as well as my belly fat is disappearing... I didn't say it was gone by any means! I still have a lot of work to do! I would like to lose another 15 by summer!

I recently ordered Shakeology chocolate meal replacement shakes. I just ordered a one month supply to try it out. I have heard good things about it and seen some amazing results of the shakes plus workouts from beachbody. My workouts were a combination of beachbody's Hit 15, Hit 20, Low Hit 25, Low Hit 30 and most commonly Jillian Michael's 30 Day Shred. That was my cross training days for my marathon training. The other 3 days a week I ran. My running was usually 30 minutes on the treadmill twice a week and then one time a week I did a long run outside. My long runs are getting longer! I did 6 on Saturday... my personal best!

I have realized through this whole thing that eating what you want while working out does not work. You have to make a lifestyle change... eat healthy AND workout! 30 minutes a day can make a big difference as you can see from my results!
Some things I ate were: fruit for breakfast... or a greek yogurt
A snack of a cutie, or a banana mid morning
Lunch: lean meat like tuna or turkey sandwhich on 45 calorie bread, or a wrap with lettuce, avacado, tomatoes, and grilled chicken, along with a greek yogurt or cottage cheese usually.. another favorite was an apple chopped with a half cup of granola and a container of flavored greek yogurt... yum!
Dinners varied but I tried to stay under 600 calories for dinner.
 I have also been drinking 64 oz of water a day!

Tubes

Monday was rough. Not because Hunter didn't do well, but because I didn't get to stay with Hunter during his surgery. I had decided since I've missed so many days this year I would be okay with letting Jared take Hunter to the hospital for his surgery... Mistake. I cried all day Sunday because I was upset I had to work and couldn't be with my baby! Then my sister planned a freezer meal planning day and some of my friends were going and discussing it and I knew I couldn't attend that either :( so, it was just a sucky day!!

I actually thought I might be able to make it to the surgery because we had to be there (Sara bush) at 6am. So I thought I'd drive separate and since the surgery was only going to take a few minutes I thought I'd stay and then go to work when he was done. Well... We got there at 5:50 and sat around till I finally had to leave at 7:15 and they hadn't taken him yet :( I cried once again... He was getting very tired and hungry! Poor guy hadn't eaten and had to sit around forever.  He was a cranky mess when I left! And reaching for me as I walked away didn't make me feel any better.
Apparently right when I left they took him back though. It lasted about 15 minutes and Jared said he came back a very cranky dude. Doctor told Jared that hunter had lots of gunk behind his right ear and that it may bleed a little more.
Since we've been home he slept the first night and was up at his normal time in the morn... Darn! I thought maybe he would start sleeping in! I guess I shouldn't complain about 7:00 am. The next night he cried out at midnight for just a few minutes. He may have been cold though cause I covered him and pat his butt and he was back asleep till the morning. He seems to be doing well and I haven't seen him tugging on his ears which is good! He also seems to be jabbering and blabbing more... Saying bahhhhh a lot. Not sure if that means bah-bah or what?? It's cute :)  so glad my little guy got some relief! Hoping for no more sets!

Spring Fever

I am so excited for warmer weather! I was much anticipating a 60 degree sunny Saturday. It did finally get up to about 55 but it wasn't very sunny until about 2 or 3 in the afternoon. I really wanted to bring Hunter out to the trek trail and do some walking or running. However, it was windy and didn't quite feel warm enough yet.

Sunday (today) was warmer and we got to get outside a little bit. Hunter and his cousins rode the gator for a bit while we were at dad's for lunch! I seriously can't wait until Hunter can run around with those boys! He will have so much fun! I can't wait for summer time at papa's in the pool every chance we can get! Love my big boy! We can't wait to go on walks and hang out everyday! 11 more weeks of school!!!! It can't come soon enough!

9 months!

I've been slacking on the blog lately! I guess that's what happens when you're a full time workin mom who's trying to find time for all sorts of people and activities every week!
We are loving this 9 month stage Hunters in. He is such a fast crawler you can't take your eyes off of him! At 9 months Hunter is:
- eating less (this could be caused by the constant chronic ear infections) the doctor told me its amazing how happy he is considering the pain he's in... Poor babe!
- has been on antibiotics for 3 months straight for a never ending ear infection that even a shot didn't cure!
-is FINALLY getting tubes!!!!!!! Yay!!!! It's money well spent! Dr said hunter failed his hearing test... So that's our main concern. He's hearing at 35-40 decibels which people normally talk at 40-45 so he said basically Hunters hearing is muffled like he's underwater... :(
-sleeping off and on through the night because of pain if he wakes up we are supposed to give him tylonol and ib profin. So he gets that quit frequently.
- we are starting to wean down to 3 bottles a day per dr... She said within the next month or 2 but he's pretty well doing it on his own already... Sometimes skipping his supper bottle (5pm)
- wearing 12-18 months
-size 4 diapers
- 22 lbs 15 oz and 29" long
- taking 2 naps a day still usually about 1.5-2.5 hours each
- sleeping from about 7:30-6:30 at night
-loves Mickey, doc mcstuffins, and chugington
- waves bye and claps all hours of the day haha
-goes to anyone! No stranger anxiety! Friendliest kid ever!
-antsy, nosy and in to everything!!
- pretty well done with the jumperoo and exersaucer
-standing on his own for a few seconds when he doesn't lean into mom and dad right away
-stands against toys and walks with his toy walker with little assistance
- favorite word is dada for sure... Says it all day long
Happiest little boy I've met! Cutest too :) haha love you Hunter Wayne!

On The Move

Hunter is finally on the move! About a week ago we really noticed him trying to scoot up and get my phone in front of him. He would get on all 4's and then let his front half down. He wasn't going far but man oh man can he go now! I'm not sure why I was so anxious for him to be mobile... I should have known he is so nosy he would be into everything... yep! It's like he wants to explore the whole house and go on a hunt for cords, haha. If I sit him in the living room on his blanket with some toys, he immediately goes to his belly and army crawls to the cords. He does get up on all 4's but only takes a few inches forward before he is army crawling. Either way, he is speedy! I am way more worn out watching him and not letting him get into things!

His second bottom tooth just popped through finally! We have been able to see it for at least a month now and today it is finally popped through the gums! Now, waiting on the two top teeth which are also white, but not quite close enough yet.

San Diego Half Marathon

I am not a runner. I do not enjoy running.... why am I running a half marathon?!

I am going on a little mini vacation with my mom and sisters in May to San Diego. While we are there our mom decided to run the San Diego marathon. Well my sisters got the bright idea to train for the half... I couldn't be the only one going that didn't run so pretty much felt obligated to do it as well. Even though I despise running, I started training for it last week. I needed a little boost and motivation to lose some weight so why not?! I do not plan on running the whole thing.. there is just no way. I am so out of shape! Right now I am trying running 3 minutes and walking 2 on the treadmill... I will probably stick with that training schedule for the next 16 weeks unless it just all of the sudden gets easier for me and I can run a few miles...I doubt it though. I'm telling you, I'm really out of shape! So, I don't expect my in shape skinny mini sisters to stick with me through this because I'm totally okay with them zooming past me and getting the best time they can! I not going to stress about it  (anymore) and just run walk it at my own pace and enjoy it! I am just doing this as something do to with my sisters, and to help me get healthy! I will be happy if I finish it in 3 hours.

I have started counting calories and hope to continue doing that until I can lose about 20-30 pounds. I just want to be healthy again. So, here goes nothing! Wish me luck :/

June 2nd is the big day

8 months

 Little baby Hunter is looking more like a little boy now! He is growing too quickly.

At 8 months- we can now add yet another ear infection.. or maybe its been 2 since he was 7 months. I've lost track by now... Actually, in the top picture you can't tell that he's actually miserable with a double ear infection and a sinus cold, again. I am getting pretty good at knowing when he has one becuase of the instant runny nose and sleepless nights... so we went yet again to the Dr. this week.

-weighs 22 pounds 4 oz
-measures 29 1/4 inches
-is such a little ham... He will smile or laugh at anyone; he's so friendly! Still very content and currently loves walking by holding our hands or in his walker...

Here he was standing against his toy all by himself!

 

-Has 1 tooth.. but his other bottom tooth and 2 top teeth are sooo close! I think that's probably the reason for this ear infection.

-Takes great naps and still sleeps all night from about 8pm-7am

-Gets 4 bottles a day but seems like the more food he eats the less milk he wants lately.

- Dr. told us to wait until he is 10-11 months old to do whole milk because they can develop anemia since they don't eat meat yet...

-Just switched him to Enfamil Adavance which is just like the normal Enfamil brand... not the fussiness and gas one anymore (they were out of his normal at walmart and I figured I could try him on this one... plus its a little cheaper)

-size 4 diapers

-size 12 month pants and 12-18 month shirts

-loves Mickey! We have decided to have a Mickey birthday for him since Mickey Mouse is his favorite. He will watch full episodes, yet I don't like to let him this young!

-starting to say mama and dada even though he doesnt know what they mean yet, haha

-LOVES little kids.. any baby or child can entertain him for hours. He so badly wants to do what they are doing

-also seems like he says "hi" sometimes

-waves bye bye and gives kisses!

-starting to clap, but when he gets excited he more so likes to flail his arms all over!

-Overall not much has changed since 7 months.. he seems to be slowing down on growing lately

I am anxious to see if the doctor says anything about tubes for his ears when we see her next month...not that I want another surgery for him, but I also don't want him to have scar tissue or hearing damage.

 

We love our little Hunter boy!