Day 3

I had breakfast today instead of a shake. I hope I can do well the rest of the day! Slim Fast is hard to follow because even eating extra snacks of fruits, veggies, and nuts, I still feel like I'm starving.

Day 2

I am doing pretty good on the Slim Fast diet during the day, but the "sensible dinner" has been just whatever I want to eat. I'm proud of myself for at least doing well during the day, as I keep going I will get used to less food and will not have so many cravings - I hope! Ha! I was 223 on Sunday and this morning (Monday) I was 220. That's awesome! I know it's all water, etc but still, just to see the scale move is amazing. I need to stop weighing myself every day but I can't stop myself! Working during the day makes it nice because I am busy and don't just sit around thinking about food, but as soon as I get home I can just sit and think about what to eat and I never want healthy stuff! I can't wait til my boobs finish drying up so I can add in exercise also.

Slim Fast 3-2-1

Today is my first day doing the Slim Fast 3-2-1 plan. 3 snacks, 2 shakes or meal replacement bars and 1 balanced meal a day. I am trying to stop breastfeeding so I'm really engorged and sore right now so I'm not starting any workout til my chest feels much better,  hopefully in the next week.

So I'm nervous about the Slim Fast plan. I really hope I can stick with it!

My meal plan for today:
Breakfast - Shake + Fruit
Snack - Banana
Lunch - Shake
Snack - Apples
Dinner - Grilled chicken, broccoli, sweet potato
Snack - Snack Bar

I hope I can make it through one week without cheating so I can get an accurate idea of how this will work for me. I weighed myself and after all my holiday eating I am at 222 lbs. Ugh. I hope to drop a few quick pounds in the first week, that should get me motivated to keep going. I liked seeing the inches lost when I was working out, but I desperately need to see the scale move or I completely lose motivation.

Okay, I haven't quit, but I haven't restarted yet either!

I have been so busy, I haven't restarted the cardio kickstart program and I know I really need to but I'm hoping to get started after Christmas. I'm ready for things to settle down, but school starts back up in a week and I'm just thinking of all there is to get done!

Tomorrow is a new day....Day 1 again LOL

Okay, I am restarting the 3 week cardio kickstart tomorrow! I hate that I have to start over, but I got so far behind when I started work. Anyway, tomorrow is day 1 again and I'm excited! I'm going to keep the photos and measurements the same and I'll take and post some more pics in the morning.

End of Week 2 Measurements

So while I didn't workout as much as I was supposed to, you will see below I still lost some inches. The scale I thought went down a pound, but when I checked my measurement sheet it is exactly the same. Haven't done so well with my eating again. I'm going to really try to eat better this week and fit in my workout. I'm going to have to restart my 3 week cardio kickstart because I'm too far behind in my workouts to keep going, but I'm not giving up!!!

Body Part        Begin      End Week 1    End Week 2      Difference
Neck               16.50        15.50                15                  -1.5
Bust                 46.00         45.00              44                  -2.0
Right Arm        13.50          13.50             12.75               -.75
Left Arm          13.50         13.50              12.75               -.75
Waist               49.50          46.25              45.25              -4.25
Hips                 49.75          47.00              46.75               -3.00
Right Thigh       26.50          26.00              25.50                -1.00
Left Thigh         26.50         26.00             24.50               -2.00
TOTAL INCHES LOST OVER TWO WEEKS 15.25!!!!

I've been a bad, bad girl..........

I haven't done my workouts!!! Grrrr I know I need to do it but I'm sooo tired after work. I am going to have to restart the 3 week cardio kickstart unless I do 3 workouts tomorrow. But I'm fine with starting over, because I don't want to give up! I've been so busy at work, but there's just a lot to learn right now and that's why I come home so tired. Well, I am going to work 9-1 tomorrow so when I get home I am going to try to do 3 workouts and catch up and if I can't do it, I will start over on Sunday. I can't wait til tomorrow morning to do my measurements! And my new photos! I doubt there's been much change this week, but fingers crossed there  has been!

Week 2 Day 5 - Bad day

I didn't do my workout today. I am feeling worse than ever. I had to see the doctor again today and they said it could take several more days for me to start feeling an improvement. In case you didn't know, I have a staph infection in my milk ducts and the staph was detected after the doctor did a culture on my breast milk. It is extremely painful and after a lot of thought and effort, I have decided to take the doctor's advice and stop breast feeding. That is extremely painful too! I really hope to do my workout tomorrow (it is a workout day, I will either have to do 2 tomorrow, Friday, or Saturday). I definitely know I haven't lost a pound this week, but I'm anxious to do my measurements and see if I've lost any inches. I'm definitely not losing my motivation, it's just hard to think about working out when I'm in so much pain.

On a happier note, I am starting my new job at Wal-Mart tomorrow! We all know how much I love Wal-Mart so I'm pretty excited, not to mention I'll be getting some exercise just by being up on my feet all day!

Week 2 Day 4 - Rest Day!

I have enjoyed my rest day, especially since I didn't have much school work to do, just a little tinkering with my school project. I finished my Christmas cards, hung out with the kids, and took a nice long nap! :)

BUT...........................the cravings set in and I begged and pleaded until Chad went and got me a bacon cheeseburger combo meal from Hardee's with a root beer. It was sooooo good but the whole time I was eating it was thinking about how I had to write it on my blog and it was depressing. I only had about half the burger and was so stuffed I couldn't take another bite, which makes me happy because I used to have the stomach capacity to eat a whole large combo meal plus dessert! Anyway, I have to tell on myself for eating this naughty meal but I was having such strooooong cravings!!

I can't wait til I don't have cravings anymore! Other than my slip ups here and there, I'm actually doing much better than I thought I would be doing!

Workout tomorrow!!

Kipp Family Christmas Card 2010

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from our house to yours!!

Week 2 Day 3

Today was a workout day. Phew, those straight arm planks are killer, but they are starting to get easier! The foot fires are sooo hard, but those are getting a little easier too! I am starting to look forward to these workouts, so that makes me happy!

I had a really yummy dinner tonight - New York strip, sweet potato, mixed veggies, and a multi-grain roll. Delicious!

I also found these wonderful Weight Watchers ice cream treats that are 100 calories a piece. I seriously am not ready to live without chocolate, so I got these for when I'm having cravings because they are low calorie!

Week 2 Day 2 - Rest Day!

I enjoyed my rest day, I did really well with my eating and I'm looking forward to my workout tomorrow!

End of Week 1 Photos!

Beginning at Left, End of Week 1 at Right

The front! My stomach looks a little different in this picture, but you can't tell much what the results are.

Beginning at Left, End of Week 1 at Right

 This picture amazes me and makes me so happy! I just can't believe the change in my stomach and my back already. I just think if I had eaten healthier I could haven't gotten even better results!

Beginning at Left, End of Week 1 at Right

The back! If you look at my back in the first picture and see the top little fat roll is about the same, but the big spare tire underneath has reduced dramatically in just one week!!!

Week 2 Day 1 and new measurements!!

Today I will start week 2 of my 3 week cardio jump start. I did 2 workouts yesterday and it's a good way to keep me from missing another workout because it was hard!

I didn't do very well with my eating, so if I had I probably would have lost more weight, but I did lose inches! Here's my old and new measurements!


                          Old           New         Difference
Neck                16.50         15.50            -1
Bust                  46.00         45.00            -1
Right Arm         13.50          13.50             0
Left Arm           13.50          13.50             0
Waist                49.50          46.25          -3.25
Hips                  49.75          47.00          -2.75
Right Thigh        26.50          26.00          -0.50
Left Thigh          26.50          26.00          -0.50
       WOO HOO!!!!!!!!     -9 inches!!!!!!!!!!!

So even though I only lost 1 pound, 9 inches is awesome! And it's so much to be proud of!! It definitely motivates me to keep going and to start eating much healthier than I did last week. Thanks for all the encouragement and I hope those that are on the journey with me will keep going also!!

Day 7 - Caught up on my workouts!

So my last few posts have been a real bummer to post, and while I still can't say I've been eating great, I can tell you I did 2 workouts today and I'm caught up! It feels good to see my game says 0 missed workouts!

I will be doing my measurements tomorrow and my pictures as well. I am pretty sure I haven't made any progress this week because I've had a hard time staying motivated and my eating has been not so great for the better part of the week, but I'll do it anyway and see how it goes!

I'm ready for week 2 to get here, this game is kicking my ass! But I know the more I do it, the easier it will get and the more results I will see!

Another challenging day........

So, life is busy, and it sucks because I really don't have time to do my workouts. I think I'm going to have to re-start the 3 week cardio jumpstart because I am so far behind in my workouts now. In addition, I have not been eating very well. I'm not any less motivated than I was before, but it's the last 2 weeks of school and there are so many exams and projects and extra assignments to complete. In addition, Chad is sick so it's like having 3 babies!!! LOL The next couple of days will be hectic with school work but I'm really hoping to get my workouts done. I wish I could send the kids away for an hour a day so I could workout and then shower. Too bad it is sooo cold outside -  I hate even taking them out in this cold weather to even go get groceries! Keep me in your thoughts and send me some positive vibes to get myself back on track quickly. School has just completely taken up the next couple of days so I can get my assignments completed and finish this term strong.

Day 5....Struggles!

Okay, so today was another long busy day. Chad and I went Christmas shopping for the kids, then wrapped presents, then my sister and her kids came over. Again, no workout. Tomorrow I am going to have to do 2 workouts to catch up! I fear my measurements and weight won't reflect much difference this week, but I will still take them on Sunday and post them. I also haven't been doing so well on my eating. Breakfast is always about the same and then a sub sandwich for lunch and ended up having some Christmas goodies this afternoon then pepperoni and feta pizza. The only good thing about the pizza is that it is homemade and I used wheat crust. I am off my candida diet since I am sure we my breast problem is not yeast, so I need to get back on track and get on another eating regiment. I hate the word diet because it makes me want to each chocolate!

So, folks, there you have it. I'm not doing well. I need motivation. I'm busy and it's hard to find time to do it all. In addition I've got tons of extra assignments to do this week and next week are finals. But I'm determined to do this. Tomorrow! Two workouts!!!

Day 4

Day 4 was a long hard day for me! I didn't get to do my workout, so we will let today be a rest day and tomorrow we will do today's workout. I had a job interview at 11am but it took FOREVER so I didn't finish until 3:30pm and then I had to go to take my drug test and then I got home, nursed the baby, ate some (fast food, sorry!) and then I had to go to Doctor's Care to try to get something figured out with my horrible breast infection and got home at 9pm. Just a long day and wasn't home much, but tomorrow I'm back at it! Hope all is well for you and that you got to do your workout today!

Day 3!

I woke up at 4am with the baby and at 5am Chad and I got up and put on our workout clothes and did our EA Active 2 workout! It feels good to get up early and get it done without kids needing attention or diapers changed or food or just running in the way! It's also a great way to start the day! I'm feeling pretty positive today, although I must admit I made a bag of popcorn and ate it last night. And then I made and ate another one LOL Okay, but I did have grilled chicken and brussel sprouts for dinner, so the night wasn't a total loss! Baby steps, right? When I adjusted my rest days on the game, it didn't take effect for this game so today we did yesterday's workout and today is still considered a rest day and we will work out tomorrow too. It just made the adjustment for next week. Hope YOU got up and did your workout today too!

My Before Pics

Front view w/ my desired changes

Side view w/ my desired changes

The front! As you can see, I've used Paint to mark the changes I would like to see. My double chin has got to go!! My arms need to slim down (you will see better in side view), my mid-section is my biggest problem area, and my hips and thighs need to be slimmed down.

Back view w/ my desired changes

The side view! You can see the stomach area much better in this pic, as well as the arms. My butt is a big bigger than I would like it. And I've got "fat back" which just makes me so mad, but there are several exercises in my workout that target this area!








And the back! I hate the top part of my back/bottom of my neck. It got really thick as I got bigger, so I'm glad my workout targets this area as well! I have the back fat rolls and the spare tire around the midsection. And once again, the hips and thighs need work.

Day 2 Blues (Don't worry, I'm not giving up yet!)

Today I woke up and the infection in my breast is at it's peak when it comes to pain. I had a hard time getting out of bed and I've been mostly laying around crying in pain and taking pain meds. I have decided to wait until Austin goes to bed tonight to do my workout, but I still plan to do it! I plan to update every day about my mood, my energy level, how I'm feeling about myself and my body and my workouts, how I'm doing with my eating and also any challenges I am facing. The eating is going fine. I feel hungry, but mostly because with this diet I can't have the snacks I normally have, I have to go actually go make something. As far as energy goes, I'm pretty wiped out from the infection and the pain meds, so it's hard to tell for sure. I still feel really positive about working out and reaching my goals, I just kind of wish I had started this after I got my pain under better control. I will come back to update this post when I've completed my workout this evening as well as post my "before" pictures. Scary!! LOL

UPDATE - I have changed my workout schedule for this week on the EA Active game to reflect as one of my three rest days this week. I am having so much pain in my breast and need another day of rest and meds. I have still been sticking with my diet, and my hope is that after another day of using gentian violet, Diflucan, Ibuprofen, Monistat, and pain meds I will be feeling better tomorrow. I am totally purple all over from gentian violet so I'll take my before pictures tomorrow after I try to scrub some of this off :) I'm excited to do my workout tomorrow. I hope that Ethan wakes up around 4 or 5am and Chad and I can get the workout done super early!

Goals!!!

Thanks to my friend, Maura, for telling me she was praying I accomplished my goals and then some....and then I realized I had not set my goals in stone yet.

My goals are simple:

• To stick with my workout plan - if I find it's too much at first, I will drop the Zumba and enjoy those days as rest days
• To stick with my diet plan - this is crucial for the first few weeks so I can rid my body of this candida infection and then I'll restructure my food plan if need be
• To lose weight - I know it's "slow and steady" and I'm not sure exactly what weight I want to end up eventually so I will say for now I want to lose 10 pounds. When I reach that goal, I will do another 10 pounds. 
• To reward myself for meeting my 10 pound weight loss goals!! Pedicure, anyone? :)

The reason behind the name of my blog (and other things I hate about being fat)

If you're reading this, you are probably wondering why I have named my blog "I'm Not Pregnant, I'm Just Fat" - or if you're a big girl like me you probably already know why! It's simple, and it's my number one reason why I HATE being fat - people constantly ask me when my baby is due or how far along I am, even when I'm not pregnant. I am one of those apple shaped girls that gains all my weight in my mid-section and constantly look pregnant. It's miserable and I hate it! It's also completely embarrassing for people to ask me when I'm due when I'm not pregnant at all. And when I was pregnant, people were even ruder and told me how HUGE I was and how there was no way I could possibly only be having one baby. It's frustrating and I can never think of the perfect comeback.

Another thing I hate about being fat is skinny people. Not all skinny people though, just the ones that constantly say how fat they are. It's like "Okay, if you are 10 pounds overweight and you are soooooo fat and I'm 100 pounds overweight, wow, I'm a fucking cow!" Yeah, it's annoying. I know what it's like to be slender and athletic as I was in high school, I know what it's like to be 160 pounds and wear a size 14 and feel amazing in my own skin because I'm proportioned well and enjoy my curves, and now I know what it's like to feel fat. So, little miss size 0-size 8, you might "feel" fat, but you're far from it. So shut up please!

What else do I hate about being fat? Eating in front of people. I feel like everything I put in my mouth is scrutinized by others. While most people probably don't pay attention or care what I am eating, I feel like anyone around me when I eat is thinking "All this big girl needs is a salad!" Well, I probably do just need a salad, but that doesn't mean that's what I want!! LOL

I hate stairs. No explanation needed!

I hate being hot! And not sexy good looking hot, I mean overheating, stripped down clothes wearing, AC on in the wintertime, sleeping with two fans pointing at me HOT. All the time! I know it's because I'm heavy, and because of the foods I eat. The funny thing is when I was working out before, I stopped having all the hot flashes and started feeling cold sometimes! It was a strange feeling, but it made me feel normal if that makes sense!

I hate not having any confidence. I used to be a pretty confident person. I used to go to a job interview and feel comfortable in my abilities. I would walk with my head held high. Now, I feel like people look at me and all they see is a fat person. If I apply for a job and a normal weight person with the same credentials is to apply for a job, I feel like they would be hired over me. I have hardly any confidence when it comes to school either. You would think an Honors student with a 4.0 GPA would have some confidence in their abilities, but I don't. Every time I submit an assignment I just *know* I'm going to get a bad grade. I want to feel good about the way I write and the school work I submit. 

Nothing fits!!! I am so sick of wearing maternity clothes. For real. I want to wear a pair of jeans and a shirt without my stomach coming out of the bottom of my shirt.

I hate that I don't ever want to take care of myself. I hardly ever shave my legs anymore (poor Chad!), I will go days without brushing my teeth, and sometimes I only take one shower a week. Some might say this is postpartum depression, but I don't think so. I have happy times and I have sad times. But for the most part I figure what's the point in taking a shower? I can't wash the fat away. I'm still a fat person, whether I'm dirty or clean. I used to practice excellent oral hygiene and care about my teeth. Now I really don't care. I don't think my smile is pretty anymore because my face is so fat. It's awful! I look at pictures of myself from a few years ago and I used to smile and be happy, but now I just look ridiculous when I smile. I hate my huge double chin. Ugh, it's awful!

I hate my friends and family seeing me fat. Especially when I find old friends and family members on Facebook and they see my pictures. I wonder if they think or say "Wow, she really let herself go."

I hate my husband seeing me fat. And I  hate that I never feel like being affectionate anymore. When we got married, we were affectionate all the time. As soon as I gained weight, the affection stopped. Not because he doesn't want to hug and kiss and touch me, but because I don't want him to hug and kiss and touch me. I feel like he doesn't like what he sees or feels. I feel like he will touch my stomach and think of how huge I am. I feel like he will see my stretch marks and think they are disgusting. I feel like he's lying when he tells me I'm beautiful.

Okay - having said all of these things, I'm seriously not all miserable and weepy and hating my life. Overall, I have a great life! My husband adores me, all 221 pounds of me! He is really supportive of my fitness and nutrition goals and has even started to journal all of the food he eats, count his calories, and do the workouts with me! My adorable sons are the light of my life. Austin is just the sweetest, most polite and well behaved kid I know! Every day he has me laughing over doing funny and crazy stuff - plus he's my Zumba buddy! Oh yeah, he will dance right along with me! Ethan is the easiest baby I've ever known. He smiles all the time, eats like a champ, and sleeps well at night so I can get my rest. He has such a sweet disposition and I just couldn't be luckier! I also am so lucky that I have the opportunity to go to school and stay home with my kids. School is a challenge, but in 2 years I will graduate (with Honors if I keep it up like I'm doing now!) and have my Bachelors degree in Health Care Administration and hopefully find a great career with job security and a paycheck that will allow me to save for Austin and Ethan's college - although I'm hoping they will get athletic or academic scholarships to college, be excellent in sports, and join the NFL or NBA!

Alright, well I guess I need to end this now. I need to get some rest so I can get up early and do my workout tomorrow. Thanks to all who are reading this. I can really stay motivated knowing people are reading this and encouraging me to stay at it.

Eat to live, don't live to eat

My dad used to always tell this to me when I started noticeably gaining weight and it used to piss me off so bad. But I am a junk food junkie. I LOVE food. Love love love food! I love to cook and if I could bake I would do that often too. It's become a pretty bad obsession to me, almost like I have to be eating constantly. It's weird because even when I have eaten what should be plenty of food for a meal, I will still feel like I'm starving. I don't know if I'm actually hungry or if I just have this overwhelming urge to eat.

Let's talk about my weaknesses:

• Diet Coke - since I'm breastfeeding it's Caffeine Free Diet Coke, but it's a soda nonetheless. And even though I love water, I could suck down at least 6 of these a day if given the opportunity
• Fast Food - ahhhh my love of fast food is a huge down fall. I get the combo meals, I get them as large as they go and I get 6 packs of mayonnaise for my french fries. One fast food meal for me is probably the same amount of calories I should eat for two days!
• ICE CREAM! Oh boy do I love ice cream. My favorites being Rocky Road, Moose Tracks, and Strawberry Cheese Cake. This love of ice cream might not be a problem, except when I sit down with the entire container, I usually eat about half of it or more in one sitting.
• Popcorn - I eat at least one bag a night. Some nights I will skip dinner and eat 3 or 4 bags of it! The next day my fingers are swollen from all the sodium.
• Pizza - the more cheese the better! My favorite pizza is pepperoni and if I can get feta cheese on it I'm much happier. Frozen pizzas made at home get handfuls of extra cheese on top. I can wipe out a frozen pizza in one sitting. Stuffed crust is a big favorite too!
• CHOCOLATE!!!!!!!!! What woman doesn't love chocolate?!?! In nearly any form it's just irresistible to me!
• Cheese - Not the fancy cheese that goes with wine, I love cheddar, colby jack and mozzerella, provolone...if there's something that gets cheese, it gets twice as much cheese or more when I make it!

So now that I'm on this candida diet, I can't have any of these things. The difficult part is quitting all of these things at once! I know it will get easier as I go along, but the first week will be difficult. Wish me luck!!

Workout 1 Complete!

Wow, it is really hard to get back into "workout" mode! But I got my butt up out of bed and told Chad it's time to get it going. He did the workout with me! We did the EA Active 2 workout for Wii. There is a 3 week cardio jump start and then a 9 week program. I chose to start with the 3 week cardio jump start. We also did some of the Zumba workout. Those are so high energy and we are having a hard time getting the dance moves down, so we just did a few of the tutorials!

My workout schedule for the next three weeks will be:
Sunday - EA Active 2
Monday - Zumba Beginner (20 mins)
Tuesday - EA Active 2
Wednesday -  Zumba Beginner (20 mins)
Thursday - Zumba Beginner (20 mins)
Friday - EA Active 2
Saturday - EA Active 2

I love so many things about the EA Active and Active 2 workout games. Here are my top reasons why:

• It's fun! Especially if you have a workout partner (even if they don't have the controllers they can follow along in the exercise with you and keep you motivated. But it's also fun alone!
• It's rewarding. Every time you reach a milestone, you get a trophy! It's fun to collect all the trophies and feel accomplished.
• It's an excellent workout. It's circuit training, so you do 2 sets of different exercises with a warm up and cool down period. 
• It's easy! Even the most non-athletic people can do this, just start on easy and when you stop getting out of breath (which won't be for a looong time) you can bump it to medium and then hard!
• It keeps track of your calories burned and the Active 2 tracks your weight and heart rate for you! 

The Zumba is awesome too, but I just have to spend a little more time working on the dance steps. The tutorial is a little hard to follow because if you shake your hips ever so slightly, it counts that you have done the correct step and moves on. What I did was just left the remote on the couch and when I felt like I had learned the step, I picked up the remote and gave it a shake LOL It was much easier to follow along that way!

I know I am going to be super sore tomorrow, but I can't wait to get it done! Tomorrow I am going to do it earlier in the day and hopefully it will jump start my day and get me energized. So since my workout is done for the day, the hard part is not sneaking any junk food into my mouth tonight!

Healthy Measurements Vs. My Measurements

First of all, a healthy BMI for me (calculated at 5 feet 2 inches tall) would be 19-24, which is 104-131 pounds. Currently, I am 221 pounds which is a BMI of 41 and considered "Extremely Obese". Scary!

Also, a healthy waist circumference for a woman is 35 inches. Mine is 49 1/2 inches! This means I am holding a lot of visceral fat, which is fat that is around all of my organs. It's very dangerous! So while I am extremely lucky that I don't have any major health issues like high blood pressure or high cholesterol or diabetes, I am definitely at an increased risk for all of these and more.

Here are my starting measurements:
Neck:           16.5 inches
Bust:             46 inches
Right Arm:    13.5 inches
Left Arm:      13.5 inches
Waist:           49.5 inches
Hips:             49.75 inches
Right Thigh:   26.5 inches
Left Thigh:     26.5 inches

This is super embarrassing for me to tell everyone, but I hope it keeps me focused and motivated to work hard and get this weight off! Who's with me?!

The Excercise

This should be the fun part, but the hardest part is getting motivated! My mother in law got me this really cool game a couple of months ago for the Wii called EA Active Personal Trainer. The first couple of workouts were really difficult, but on day 4 I switched it from the easy setting to medium and was able to keep up! I did a few slight modifications at first, such as taking out the squats until my legs were a little stronger. When I started, my size 18 jeans were too tight. At the end of the first week, I was wearing a pair of size 16 shorts! Amazing results! And it was really fun because there are sports games that my husband and I could play together. I was just amazed at how quickly my body had changed, it was a vast difference in a matter of a week!

After almost 3 weeks doing this workout, I got a breast infection and had to stop because I was in so much pain. I was in bed for nearly a full month taking pain medications and anti-biotics and every pound and inch I lost crept back on. I finally got over the first infection and felt good for a few days and am now suffering another infection, this time it's yeast, which is just as painful (maybe more!) and has me completely unmotivated to put on workout clothes and run and jump and stretch and go anywhere that is not my bed or couch.

For my birthday, my husband got me the EA Active 2 game for the Wii, as well as Zumba! I tried the Zumba once, it's difficult, but fun!

Today will be day 1 of my EA Active workout and Zumba workout. Wish me luck. My big ass is gonna be sore tomorrow!

The Food

So I just started a new diet. Not because I want to, but because I have to. I have candida (yeast) on my nipples, and I am breast feeding, so this is an extremely painful experience for me. I found a diet online that has me cut yeast and sugars from my diet (in essence, starving the yeast in my body) and putting more vegetables and proteins in my diets.

My morning started with 3 organic fried eggs and 5 strips of nitrate free all-natural bacon. Not too bad! I could start my day like this every day! But I miss having toast! For snack, I had a small bowl of chopped pecans. Lunch time is here and I'm going to have a grilled chicken breast with some steamed brussel sprouts (this is a first for me, so not sure if I can actually finish these or not!) and dinner will be another piece of grilled chicken and some steamed asparagus.

Now, if you know me personally, you will know that my favorite things on this planet are chocolate and cheese. These are NOT allowed on the candida diet. So that's a bummer. But, I really need to get rid of this infection so I'm going to try as hard as I can to stick with the diet. Once the yeast has cleared up I can try to make some modifications so I can have some of my favorites, but keep the high protein and added vegetables.

The First Post!

Hi, and thanks for coming to see my blog. I am hoping this will be a motivating factor for me to finally lose weight and be fit. A bit of background on me - I was a normal weight in high school. At 5 feet 1 3/4 inches tall, I was about 115 to 125 all through high school. I was a cheerleader, was in the high school marching band, and worked a full time job that had me on my feet the entire shift. I stayed active and could eat whatever I wanted. I always heard that all that eating would catch up to me, but it didn't really click until I got out of high school and all the activity stopped. My weight started to creep up and I was constantly around 160 pounds. When I got married at the age of 27, I was 160 pounds. I was going to Curves 5 or 6 times a week and was on my feet 50 or so hours at work every week. I got up to 203 pounds the first  6 months I was married.

At 203 pounds, I got pregnant with my first child and actually lost weight during pregnancy. I was 199 when I had my first son, Austin. I continued to lose weight after I had him and then I don't know if I got struck with some baby blues or post-partem depression, but I just started to eat and sleep and lay around all the time. By the time I got pregnant with my 2nd baby about a year and a half later, I was 237 pounds. I lost weight with the second pregnancy as well. When I had my second son, Ethan, I was 220 pounds.

I was so excited to finally have Ethan and to start working out and eating healthier, but it's easier said than done! My lowest weight after having Ethan was 204 pounds and I was shocked and excited and I vowed to never gain another pound from that day on.

Yet here I sit today at 221 pounds. Let the journey begin!