Liebster Award!!!

Laura from Simply Healthy Mama nominated me for a Liebster Award!  I am so honored and excited!!!  For those of you that don't know what a Liebster Award is, the gist of it is that it is awarded to new and up and coming blogs/bloggers that don't have very many followers.  I have to give a little info about myself, answer the questions the person who nominated me wants to know, think of questions for my nominees and then nominate some blogs/bloggers for the award as well!  So, lets get started!

First I have to tell some things about myself:

1.  I am a preacher's daughter and have been my entire life.....contrary to popular belief, I am NOT "the worst", although I did go through a slight rebellious stage but my parents (at least my dad) knew about everything I did!  Haha!

2.  I also married a preacher.  :)  What can I say?!  It's all I've known!

3.  I have a Bachelor's degree from Bible College that I am doing nothing with, therefore I want to go back to school to become an RN.  :)

4.  I have lived in 5 different states.

5. I went to 2 elementary schools, 2 middle schools, 2 high schools, and technically 2 colleges.

6.  I absolutely hated living in Kansas when I was in high school, but now I wish I still lived there.  (Funny how things change after you have children!)

7.  I always wanted to be a mom and thought that pregnancy and birth would be so much fun....boy was I wrong!!!  I had "morning sickness" the ENTIRE pregnancy and anytime during the day.  After 2 days in "labor", my son's head started swelling through my cervix and they had to preform an emergency c-section.

8.   I think I will always struggle with my weight.

9.  My family means more to me than anything in the world!

10.  I have never traveled out of the United States.

11.  It is a goal of mine to become a Level 1 CrossFit Certified Trainer.  (I have a LONG way to go!)

Now, I have to answer Laura's Eleven Questions

1.  What is your favorite clothing store?  Old Navy
2.  Heels or flats?  Oh, I so love the look of heels.  They are just sexy, but they KILL my feet so I have to say, flats all the way!
3.  Favorite book?  Hmmm, this is a good question.  I have really enjoyed ALL of Robert Whitlow's books.  law/mystery with some religious undertones.
4.  What is the furthest you've traveled from home?  I have no idea what is "further"....Florida, Texas, Colorado, Wisconsin.
5.  Which season is your favorite?  Summer!!!
6.  Favorite tv show?  Biggest Loser, The Voice
7.  Favorite subject in high school? Is Band a subject?  If not, then probably Algebra and Chemistry.
8.  Beach or Mountains?  Beach all the way!!!
9.  All time favorite movie?  I have been thinking about this one for the last 5 minutes.....I have NO clue!  I like a lot of movies but none come to mind if I have to watch it over and over and over again.  Hmmm, I will have to think about that!
10.  What superpower do you wish you had?  The ability to read people's minds. 
11.  First celebrity crush?   JTT

Next up is my questions for my nominees.

1.  If money weren't an issue (for schooling) would you change professions?  If so, what would you do?

2.  What is your favorite color?

3.  Cats or Dogs?

4.  Soda or Pop or even Coke?

5.  Have you ever been arrested?  If so, what for?

6.  If you could live anywhere in the world, where would it be?

7.  If you could go back and change one thing from your past, what would it be?

8.  What is your favorite food?

9.  What is your favorite sports team?

10.  How many states have you visited?

11.  What is your favorite exercise?

I nominate:

Emily @ Running Like a Mother

Lara @ Dandeleinss Fit

Ashley @ Work That Ash

Jen @ Losing It?!?!

I don't have 11 to nominate, sorry!!

Planning to Succeed and 11 months

I have really been evaluating what I need to change so I can really lose weight and my eating is at the top of the list.  I feel like even though I am logging my calories, I am still allowing myself to eat junk food if I have the calories for it.  For example, Friday night we went out to eat with some friends.  They found out several months ago that anytime after 7:30 PM, Krispy Kreme's HOT NOW sign is on....guess where we went Friday night after sushi?!  I have the picture to prove it!!!

I was a pure glutton for punishment and indulged in a WHOLE, 400ish calorie cookies and creme donut that is new.  It was good, but not worth the 400ish calories.  And then, of course, they original glazed were fresh off the conveyor belt so I had one of those too...at about 190 calories and THEN, half of a blueberry cake donut....and I don't remember how many calories are in that one....yes, I NEED to clean up my diet!!!!

So this is what I did.  Last night, I sat down and planned meals for the next 4 weeks based on what we already have in the house and what I need to buy.  All fairly clean, ex. switching pasta for spaghetti squash and definitely upping the veggies.  You can't really tell from the picture, but I even made my grocery list based on the different departments in the grocery store.  Bam!!!  Planning to succeed!  I can do this and I am so thankful for a supportive hubby who will eat pretty much anything I cook.  Makes my life soooo much easier!

While I was working out today, I attempted week 4 day 3 of Couch to 5K...keyword being "attempted".  I got halfway through and because of this horrible cough I have I was only able to complete half.  I completed the time but walked while I was supposed to be running.....the good news though is I shaved 1:07 off of my mile time!  I am now at a 14:46 mile instead of a 15:53 mile.  I know it's not great, but thinking about how long it took me to fumble through a mile in middle and high school, I am extremely proud of how far I have come!!  I am anxious to see what I can do when I'm not sick!  :)

And I will leave you with the many faces of Camden.  :)  Our baby boy turned 11 months old on Sunday!  I cannot believe how quickly the time flies!  We are in the midst of planning his first birthday party...sock monkey themed and hubby just printed out the invitations tonight!  He is a genius!  :)

Happy Monday y'all!  Hope everyone has a fabulous week!

Struggles

I am going to be completely honest in this post.  I am struggling.  I feel like I have several people looking up to me as such an inspiration and I am struggling.  I don't want to work out, I don't want to eat healthy, but at the same time, I don't want to be fat for the rest of my life either.  I think this is in part from feeling icky the past 2 days and pretty much eating whatever I want the past two days as well.  I don't want to fall off the wagon, but I know I am struggling.  I need to clean up my diet.  I need to work out because I know it will make me feel better.....but I just don't want to!  Where has my motivation gone all of a sudden?  I guess this is the time to just suck it up and deal!!!

I have goals to meet and I know that I can't meet them by sitting on the couch and sulking in my sickness.  Sometimes I wish I lived closer to the people that I could work out with or that I could afford a gym membership, but at this point in my life, I would rather stay at home with my son and not be able to afford to go to a gym.  Accountability is key and that is something that I don't feel that I have a lot of but I know that is what I thrive on.  

Anyway, time to pick myself up and dust myself off.  I can do this!!!  I will do this!!!

Beast Mode

I started writing this post yesterday and today ended up being a completely different feeling so I started the post over.  I started week 4 of Couch to 5K and beasted the first day, however, when running tonight for day 2 I struggled.....a lot.  I had to stop several times to stretch out my calves and hip flexors and actually ended up not being able to run all of one of the 3 minute runs, but then ended up running all of the next 5 minute run....it is all such a mental struggle!!  I pushed through the pain tonight, by seriously praying that God would take the pain out of my legs.  I continued staring at my Weight Loss Goal Milestone sheet and looking at my ultimate goal weight.  In fact, I actually bit the skin on my pointer fingers to make the pain go somewhere else so I would take my mind off of how badly my calves and shins were hurting....call me weird, but it worked and I pushed through and finished the last 5 minute jog!!!

I may have mentioned before but this summer is going to be full of lots of time spent at the beach and by the pool and beast mode is now in session!!!  I HAVE to get this flab under control....it would be nice that my second summer after having a baby, I could actually get in a two-piece and feel comfortable in it!  That is my goal, but I have a long way to go!!!

For those of you that are doing either (or both) of the March challenges, how's it going?  I will be honest.  I haven't worked a lot on my No Scale Challenge measurements (tricep dips, push-ups, etc).  But I have still been working out.  I am also really enjoying the Lean Legs challenge!  

Hope y'all have a happy Friday tomorrow!! 

It's March!!!!

Hey ya'll!  It's March....my birth month....:)  We have already started celebrating my birthday even though it isn't actually until Monday.  When I picked Thomas up from the airport on Thursday, he had gone to The Body Shop while in the Charlotte airport and bought me body butter, body scrub, and shower gel in   Moringa, that is a fruity floral (yes, it is both) smell that is awesome!!

The Body Shop

Then, today he took me to the Outer Banks to go to one of my favorite restaurants, Mama Kwans to get their famous fish tacos, that are OUT.OF.THIS.WORLD!!!!

Mama Kwans

And of course, while we were down there we had to go down to the o-chin!!

Anyway, enough of my day and the spoiling that my hubby does of me.  :)  

Again, it is March!!  That means it is the first day of mine and Laura's No Scale Challenge!  I wrote about it earlier in the week on Tuesday, but just as a refresher: 

The rules for the No Scale Challenge are:

• Weigh yourself ONLY once a month.  If you have too big of a temptation, have someone hide the scale for you.
• Complete these six activities and record your results:
• One mile time
• Plank time in one minute
• Crunches in one minute
• Push ups in one minute (military or on knees)
• Burpees in one minute
• Tricep dips in one minute
• Then, work on improving each of the above mentioned activities at least three times a week.

You can do as little or as much of this as you want.  But, YOU are your only competition in this.  Laura and I are mainly doing this to get rid of our obsession with the scale, but we both wanted other ways to see improvement, besides how our clothes fit.  We want to KNOW that we are getting stronger.  Push yourself!  We are also here if you need some pushing.  ;)  We can and we will do this!

I also, took my body measurements (neck, left and right biceps, bust, waist, hips, left and right thigh, and left and right calf just as a baseline.  Laura's awesome husband made a spreadsheet for us to keep track of all of our measurements and results that you can download from her blog!  (If I was all techy and knew how to put it in my blog I would, but this way you can check out Laura's blog too!)

So, here are all of my measurements for the month of March, and some pictures too!

Neck--14"
Right Bicep--13"
Left Bicep--12 3/4"
Bust--41 1/2"
Waist (at belly button)--39"
Hips (at largest part)--43 1/2"
Right Thigh--24 1/2"
Left Thigh--25 3/4"
Right Calf--17 1/2"
Left Calf--17"

One mile time:  15:53 (treadmill)
Plank time:  01:47:01 
Number of crunches in one minute: 52 (Sit-ups--coming ALL the way up were 35)
Number of push-ups in one minute:  37 (knees)  
Number of burpees in one minute:  13
Number of tricep dips in one minute:  41

Sizes:

Jeans: 14--YES, I am FINALLY in a 14 again!!!  I started this whole thing out in 18's--pushing a 20!!!

Shirts L/XL

I don't wear dresses, so I have NO clue!  I would imagine a 14 or 16....but who knows!  LOL

My final weight, as of this morning, after eating and drinking a cup of coffee was 190.4!!!!!!  WOOHOOO!!!  Total, I have lost 49.6 lbs since having Camden last April!  So exciting and so close to 50 lbs lost!

And, now for some pictures!!!

SIZE 14 Y'ALL!!!

And, this is my motivation wall!  On the paper, I have all of my weight loss goal milestones and rewards for each 10 lbs lost.  :)

Have a fabulous weekend y'all!!