Keep Moving Forward

Welcome to my blog! This blog is about my journey to continue to get fit and healthy in 2012. I lost 60 pounds in 2011 and hope to keep the trend going in the New Year. Along the way there will (eventually) be: before and after pictures, things I like, things I hope to achieve, people I hope to look like, things I find inspiring, recipes, places we go, yummy food, my crochet addiction and other randomness... of course, some of the challenges and joys of being a wife and mother may slip in there from time to time (there'll be some good stuff coming, trust me!) For now, here are some important details that I'd never normally tell my husband let alone random strangers - Height: 5'10" HW: 315+ CW: 248 CGW: 200 UGW: Somewhere below 175

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Hit the gym today with V for the first time in... well... forever!! It felt sooooo good. I can't tell you how much I missed it, and how amazing my body felt afterwards. And we didn't even do that much - just focused on cardio by hitting the elliptical, row machine and treadmill. I especially loved hitting the row machine again. It's my favourite thing in the gym. If I could have one at home I would. Such a great total body workout. Also got on the scale for the first time in a long while. 240. I wasn't sure if that was good or bad. On the one hand i'm up 6 pounds from the cursed 234, but on the other hand it's only 2 pounds up from where I was the last time I weighed in. If you take into account the fact that I haven't been working out or eating right for the past few weeks, 2 pounds really isn't that bad. That being said, my goal for this month is to get back to 234. Fingers crossed.

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I am alive!!

My apologies for not posting recently! My entire household has been sick and we've made more trips to the ER in the last couple weeks than we have in the last 2 years. Having a sick toddler with an explained fever consistently over 104 is one of the worst things I've experienced as a mother. It's been terrible. Add to that a sick, stressed husband with a major test to prepare for, being sick myself and having to deal with some personal drama from childish morons and you've had my last couple weeks. Course it wasn't all bad. I did go to London Fashion week last weekend, and that was amazing. As was the massage my hubby treated me too - he got one the other day as well. So that was good. Needless to say though there hasn't been a lot of working out on my part this week and my diet has been well... Crap to be honest. It's been frustrating and annoying and I have to say I've missed the accountability this blog brings to my life. Hopefully I can begin blogging again over the next couple days but firs to get the tot back to a 100%.

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Just walked into my bedroom and cried! My hubby used our absence to be productive and hang pictures in our bedroom and the tots bedroom. I am so overwhelmed and blown away by his thoughtfulness!! And that he listened to what I wanted. These pics are hanging above my nightstand. He has the matching set above his. And there is a series of Ansel Adams prints (my absolute favorite) along our biggest wall... My bedroom feels serene, calming and happy. It feels like a reflection of the things I value and treasure most... It feels like a place I can find peace in and recharge at the end of trying days like today. Have I mentioned that I am blessed????

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I've had a rough emotional day, and I need to go to bed. I had so many positive moments the past few days and only a handful of bad, but today, today was just FULL of emotion. I'm blaming part of it on life, part of it on being a girl, and part of it on the path we choose. In other news, tot went to "school" today. She did amazingly well. In other, other news I hate saying goodbye to dear friends... And being abused by others. Sigh. The pic is my nightcap - courtesy of my husband. My brain is in overload because I've just gotten home (after 16+ hours), haven't seen him all day and HAVE to go to bed so I can get up again in less than 6 hours. :( so this is his go to mix to send me off to la la land in a hurry. Sleepytime tea, local raw honey, & his prized 12 year old scotch (because we're out of mead & whiskey liqueur he usually uses) in my favorite mug. Holding that mug in my hands, I feel so love and blessed by his thoughtfulness and understanding. I am truly a lucky girl in that way. Goodnight.

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Happy Shrove Day!! (or Fat Tuesday or Pancake Tuesday depending on what part of the world you're in!) These are my contributions to the day! High protein* gluten free pancakes with fresh blueberries, turkey sausages and organic maple syrup all the way from my hubby's hometown in WI! DELICIOUS!!!! *pancakes made with GF mix, GF vanilla protein powder, 1 free range egg, vanilla almond milk, & olive oil. Big A had no idea!! ^_^

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Actually got my nap time workout in!! Woohoo!! I decided to do my BL yoga DVD because it's a gym night but I had no idea what we were going to be doing (upper body/lower body/etc) Just before I started I realized I had been doing the same section for MONTHS so I decided to change things up and try a new level. The result? My abs and arms on fire! Plus I was able to do so much more than I thought I could! I am so stinking proud of myself!!! Add to that a beautiful salad with carrots, broccoli & turkey topped with a sesame ginger dressing for lunch and you can see the start of some major progress through a series of good decisions! :)

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I'm finally getting smart about lunch - especially when it's getting closer to naptime (aka workout time!) So today I'm having a light lunch in the form of a smoothie - spinach, mixed fruit, banana, flaxseed oil, vanilla protein powder and water. A good mix of carbs and protein to fuel my body! After today's workout i'll have the other half a glass along with a salad and some turkey. Hooray for making smart decisions! Now if only I could figure what work out I'm doing... Hmmmmm.

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Simple Protein fluff This is just: - 1/2 cup of frozen strawberries - 1/2 cup water - 1/4 cup unflavored whey Beaten for more than 5 minutes with a hand mixer until the mixture gets fluffy. 

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I'm totally making this after my workout tonight!!

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Happy Tuesday tumblebugs! So sorry to be MIA all weekend! We were busy traveling and eating as we celebrate the hubby's birthday! (the big 3-0! We're "old" we know. We've come to accept it. Thanks.) So I did pretty well for most of the weekend. Accept when it came to dinner, and the hubby's birthday cake. Yep. Fail. Baskins Robbins praline ice cream cake. ok. epic fail. I admit it. That being said, I only had a couple minor food reactions (thank God), I feel as if I made smart decisions even when I ate things that were decadent (like only eating half of my dinner and having one drink), and while I didn't do a lot of exercising, I did make sure to walk more to make up for the yummy treats. So yeah needless to say, no weigh in today. I'm sure I would cry if i owned a scale. So the name of the game this week "is get back on track" and I'm off to a good start with breakfast - broccoli cheese omelette, spelt toast (little A helped me eat half!) and green tea with stevia. I've been doing lots and lots of research on weight loss over the past week and think I may have found a plan I want to work towards and stick to. It's going to be interesting and will push me way outside my comfort zone but that might be a good thing. The hubby is starting to get excited about it as well and is enjoying helping me research and figure out what will work best for me. So stay tuned on that one... For now it's off to do laundry and dishes so we can take advantage of the sunshine and hit the park for a bit before lunch/naptime.

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Can you guess which one belongs to the birthday boy??? Hint: it's the HUGE piece with the rose. On a side note, I'm going to be paying for this later. I can just FEEL it!!

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On a personal note...

Went to sleep in the arms of a 20-something for the last time and woke up in the arms of 30-something for the first time ever. It felt amazing, but that's because my husband is amazing. Happy 30th Birthday to the most wonderful man I have ever known. I love you with my whole heart. I am so proud to be your wife and thank God every day for the life we've built together.

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This really just happened. The good news? It's a CCK recipe!! So not only is it vegan but I did the lower fat option by using the applesauce instead of oil (saved myself a 100 calories!) and I only ate half. So that's another 70 calories saved, and my chocolate craving is totally satisfied. Thank you Chocolate Covered Katie.

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Thought I had better grab a pic of breakfast before I finished eating it all!! Broccoli, turkey sausage and cheese omelette (made from one whole egg - our last farm fresh one :'( sniff! & 3T egg whites), Rudi's organic spelt bread with a bit of organic smart balance butter, raspberry green tea with truvia, and part of a banana (that little A started eating for me!) that's about 400 calories and 23g of protein! And those are little A's grapes in the background. She had corn chex with almond milk, part of my banana and now some grapes. I'm helping her with those since she helped me with my banana. It's called "sharing" ;) So far we're off to a great start here - 2 miles done, healthy breakfast made, dishes done, laundry started, and it's not even 9am yet!! Woot woot!! Happy Friday!

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It's almost 7am...

and I'm up, the bed is made, social media checked (not sure why that's important first thing in the morning), had to dig thru the laundry basket to find my socks, but I'm lacing up my shoes and getting ready to work out. :)

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Every decision you make takes you in a different direction…closer or further away from your goals.

not sure who said it but i love it. something to remember when you’re faced with the decision to work out or not. or what to eat. (via fatgirlruns)

~ Love this quote. It's so true and a great reminder - just because we make one bad decision during the day doesn't mean that the whole day has to fall apart;it doesn't matter if it's your next meal or whether or not to workout - Your next decision CAN be a good one.

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Who says a green smoothie has to be green???? Purple kale, banana, strawberries, blueberries, ground flaxseed, protein powder & vanilla almond milk = post workout heaven!!!

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I just made broccoli cheese soup from scratch!!!! And it was AMAZING!! And get this - 234 calories, 15g fat, & 11g protein!! Not to mention 60% of my Vit a & c!!!!! Oh and it was DELICIOUS!! My husband licked his (sourdough bread) bowl clean. (yes I made him a bread bowl. No I didn't have one myself. But man I thought about it. I was jealous. Good thing I was smart enough to only buy one small loaf! I knew I would be tempted! ^_^) I did have to put away the leftovers before I ate the rest cause man I could've. So good. I'm totally having soup & a sandwich for lunch tomorrow. Mmmmmmmm. Thank you Men's Health!