The 2 Month Mark

It's been a couple of weeks since I checked in. Life's been busy, what can I say? With 4 kids home all day, every day it makes for lots of busy mom time. Our summer has been off to a fun start, full of time at the park, splash pad, museum, city parade and carnival. Unfortunately, I haven't been so awesome at exercising like I should. I have walked to the carnival and splash pad, and we've done a few laps around the park, but I'm out of my every-day groove of walking, and I need to start up again.So that's my new mini-goal is to recommit to walking and exercising at least 5 times a week.

Remember that 30 day abs challenge I started two weeks ago? Here's how day 1 went: I figured the best way to be a good mom is to model fitness to your children and have them participate. I asked my kids if they wanted to exercise with me, and they all responded with a resounding yes! I got down and demonstrated the difference exercises, then we started in on our reps. Immediately, my baby started crying and crawling all over me. My two year old decided to inform me that he was poopy, and my older two children began punching each other in the guts. By the time I'd cleaned them all up and calmed them all down, I tried to finish my reps and realized that doing ab work with 4 little kids is pretty much impossible. I probably should have kept at it later at night after the kiddos were in bed, but.... yeah... not so much. Maybe I'll try it again some time. If you decided to do the 30 day ab challenge, how is it going? Are you still keeping at it?

Yesterday was my 2 month mark of trying to be a healthier me. I didn't get the time to do measurements today, other than weight, so here's the current progress with that:

Starting Weight: 225 lb
2 Weeks Ago: 199.3 lb

Today: 195.3 lb
2 Week Difference: 4 lbs
Total Lost: 29.7 lb

Almost 30 pounds in 2 months! I'm really excited about that. People who don't know about my fitness plan have started commenting on my weight loss, so I know it's starting to show. I still have a ways to go, but I know that I can get there. This past week my husband committed to counting calories too. He's doing it like a champ and has already noticed an increase in energy levels. It's easier for me to have him as a partner in all of this. He's been so encouraging this whole time, but it really helps me stay on the wagon when I know he is doing it too.

On that note, remember about a month ago, when I mentioned we had pictures take and promised to post some? Well, here is me making good on that promise. Even though I don't love how heavy I am in these photos, I really love how our awesome photographer, Tif Hafen, really captured the essence of our family. I just have to put out a plug for her business Tif Photography. If you are in Utah and need an amazing photographer for a great price, give her a call. You won't regret it.

Me and my wonderful husband:

 And a whole-body shot with the fam:

I'm lighter now than I was a month ago, so I'll have to do better at taking more photos of myself to document progress. It's so intimidating for me to actually be in pictures. I'm way more comfortable just taking photos of my cute kids, and lying to myself about my weight by never putting myself in the photographs. But since I'm trying to be more open and honest, I guess I should deal with my discomfort of photos too. I really hate bathroom mirror selfies though, and I feel dumb asking my husband to take my picture "just 'cuz," so maybe I need to figure out the automatic timer setting on our old camera. Anyway, I'll try to get over myself and figure it out. Not that y'all are dying to see my bulges in spandex or anything. Thanks for putting up with me and all my craziness in my "natural glory" haha!. And thanks again for being so supportive. I really do appreciate the encouragement and compliments from each and every one of you. You guys rock!

Out of the 200 Club!

It's been a week since my last update, so it's time for a check-in. You guys, I'm so excited! Today, for the first time in over 4 years, my scale has showed me a number under 200 lbs! Booyah! I reached my first mini-goal in just 7 weeks. I'm really happy with the progress that I'm making, and excited to be a smaller, fitter person. I still have roughly 10 weeks before my anniversary, which was my original deadline to lose 25 lbs and be under 200 lbs. Now, I'm hoping to have lost another 15 - 20 lbs by then, which would move me from a BMI classified as "obese" to a BMI of just "overweight." Why yes, I do strive to be overweight. Because overweight is healthier than obese. So, for right now, that's what I'm working towards.

Here is my spreadsheet for my weekly update:


















Like I mentioned, I'm happy with the way I'm heading. I'm losing pounds and inches, and my muscles are feeling stronger. As far as my mini-goal about water goes, thanks to everyone for the tips and suggestions. I was doing great for a couple of days, then I kind of got lazy and thirsty again. So I'm sticking with my goal to drink at least 8 cups of water each day, and probably it needs to be bit more since it's getting so warm around here. I'm going to try to keep a special "only for mom" water bottle stocked up with ice and water throughout the day. I tend to drink more if my water is nice and chilled. My kids like to steal my water bottle though and guzzle it up or just kind of dump water everywhere, so I need to keep better tabs of it.

I also saw this 30 day ab fitness challenge that I'm planning on doing. The rest of the world apparently started on June 1st, but I didn't because it was Sunday and I don't really exercise on Sunday. And since I don't exercise on Sunday I forgot to start at all. So yeah, June 3rd is a good day to start, right? Right! Here are the specs of that challenge if any of you care to know:

Looks like fun, right? And it starts off pretty easy and works you up to more of a workout, which is good for my poor flabby abs. I know some of my friends have already committed to doing this, so you folks will have to let me know how it's going.

So that's the latest from me. I'll check in again in a week or so. Happy fitness, all!

PS- I realize that for all intents and purposes, 199.3 lbs is still pretty much 200 lbs. Don't rain on my parade, yo!

PPS- Lest, you think I'm perfect Polly at this fitness thing, I don't even want to mention the daylight donuts I consumed yesterday, or how my lunch consisted of Costco food-court items. Let's just say that my workout yesterday was extra long in order to make up for some excess calories that were not so great for my body, but tasted delicious. If only junk food actually tasted like garbage...