And so… I’m quite bored tonight! We all are… rah! We had a little thunderstorm this morning but it’s felt wonderful as far as temp goes. We got up, ate, hung out then left out about 1PM to go pay some billllllls then go to the store to buy our groceries. I took my blood pressure! Happy to see that it has come up a little bit… It was 102/63 and pulse was 77. If I could get it back up to 110/75 that would be fantastic! I’m gonna try my hardest to build it up because when PMS hits again If I don’t have it built up enough then It’s just gonna fall once again and rinse and repeat. I bought some pumpkin seeds to put in my oatmeal! They have 25% of your daily iron in a serving so just trying to get as much iron in my diet along with taking the FEOSOL iron pills. I researched reviews about the Feosol Carbonyl Iron and everyone had great things to say about it and how it really helped them so let’s hope the same can be said for me. Katie was Miss WHINE all morning… ugh. We got done at the store and then when we got home I fed her lunch then Brad put her straight down for her CLEARLY MUCH NEEDED NAP. I watched an episode of Secret Life and haven’t done much else this evening besides fold and put away a load of laundry. I’ve got 2 episodes of Secret Life left and then I’ll be all caught up! Their new season starts sometime in March and hopefully I’ll be able to keep up with it as the new season comes along.

I’m ready to get my iron up to par so I can lose this weight. I’m ready to put our moving plans into action so we can actually GET moved! I have all this eagerness and nothing to do with it! Makes it worse since I’m pretty bored. Just listening to Breaking Benjamin and trying to find something to do… ho hum…

I’m gonna make this short but Sunday has been lovely!

We went to church and had a great time as usual! We came home and I gave Katie a snack then put her down for an earlier nap because when she woke up we got ready and headed out to spend the evening with Brad’s Mom and his younger sisters. It was great!!! Katie’s had a big day! At church all morning then spent the evening with his family so I know she is tired. We put her straight to bed when we got home so she should be asleep by now.

Highlights~
– I usually keep Katie in her stroller at church but I didn’t even bring it since It’s the new jogging stroller and It’s bigger so I didn’t even mess with it. Katie just sat in a chair! Heh.
– Teaching the kids in Primary was great!!! I taught about the 10 commandments.
– Before we went to visit the family, we stopped by Wal-Mart and I picked up Feosol Iron pills! Their Doctor recommended and so they better be good since I paid a bit more for these then just your regular ole iron pills.

It’s been a little windy today but It’s picking up and it feels WONDERFUL OUTSIDE. We’ve got storms heading in tonight and espically for in the morning. ANYHOW! We haven’t eaten dinner so I’m gonna go start that so we can EAT and RELAX! =)

I want 2011 to bring about lots of good changes for me and I’m gonna try my hardest to make that happen.

I cleaned house today then took Katie outside for an hour since WOW, it was a gorgeous day!!! It still feels good outside so I’ve got the living room window open. While Katie and I were outside I was trying to see which bills we need to pay and trying to put moving plans into place since I’m really ready to move forward with this! Brad keeps saying “We’ll figure it out” but I’m ready to get to the actual figuring! Of course we’re using most of our tax money for the move so we have to be really careful so that we don’t wind up spending too much on other things then wind up short with moving money. I can’t tell you how READY I am to have some BIG BIG changes in my life and this move will make all those a reality to me! It’s been lovely being a stay at home Mom for Katie but being alone 99.9% of the time with ONLY Katie… yeah. I’m really kindof over it. I said in the beginning I wanted to be a stay at home Mom and I have been but now I want to get out. I need it badly.

I don’t think I should of done an hour of exercise yesterday because I didn’t feel well yesterday evening and today I haven’t felt the best either. It’s so confusing. I’m trying to figure out what my body needs and what I need to do to get back to where I want to be. I know I need lots of rest. Even though I know I keep saying I need to focus on my health first THEN weight loss but it always ends up I focus on weight loss again. About calories. I ate breakfast this morning then munched on quite a bit of carbs but ah well. I researched about maintaining my weight and with light exercise I can eat around 2,000 calories a day and I’ve been eating around 1,800 so I’ve actually been lacking and that is probably not good with my body all out of balance since it’s needs plenty of nutrition. Uggggggh. Why can’t I just eat like I used to and feel like I used to? I know I can eventually and I will but gotta get over this BUMP in the road first.

It’s just so hard. Patience is important….. I keep telling myself this. Also doesn’t help that I don’t really have much to distract me from these issues. I am tired.

GOOD MORNING ALL! I took my first immune boost packet this morning then eventually ate breakfast and felt like I wanted to exercise!!!! Laced up and just finished a fast walk on the treadmill for an hour!!! Actually got a bit sweaty and I drank 44oz of water while doing it! I hate that I can’t run but close enough! Gotta build back up BUT OH YOU BET I’M GOING TO. I love running toooooooo much! I need some new exercise shorts because these are actually Brad’s lol.. but I’ve been wearing them for exercise since mid-2009 and they’ve now got holes in the inner thighs and OWEEEEEEEEE talk about chaffing pain! Also, I think my feet grew a little thanks to the +30 pounds because they crush my toes when I fast-walk and now I have a bleeding toe! Or it might just be that my toes need a clippin… my fingernails do too. I’m sitting here listening to music and munchin on a cup of multigrain cheerios + sippin on my energy drink aka treat!!!

While on the treadmill I was thinking of what I wanted to blog about. I have been through SO MUCH with my weight loss journey and of course still learning and I’m gonna KEEP LEARNING! I wanted to blog about the essentials for getting started with weight loss. I guess you could say I was my own guinea pig in the beginning because I didn’t have a trainer, didn’t even have a workout partner! I also apparently didn’t do enough research because I’ve had lots of stumbling blocks along the way but I know as I keep going all these stumbling blocks are only gonna make me a better athlete.

ESSENTIALS FOR WEIGHT LOSS:
check-up OK OK OK. First off- our health IS SUPER IMPORTANT. it would be good to go to the Doc and get a CBC and full overall check-up plus PLZ FOR THE LOVE OF ALL ATHLETES GET YOUR IRON/IRON STORES LEVELS CHECKED! all this BEFORE you start your weight loss journey. I wish I would of done this!!!
the scale It’s AWESOME to see those numbers dropping on the scale right? Don’t be so caught up in those numbers though. I know I was when I lost the 76 pounds in 2009. If I didn’t see weight loss then I would be SO destroyed mentally. I’m not like that now. The number on the scale is a good thing to keep up with but It’s not EVERYTHING. I remember in 2009 I changed my diet and gained 3 pounds in a week and I was sooooo upset because of it. I’ve learned It’s OKAY! We will have struggles with those numbers but we just have to keep focused! Which leads me to the next essential……
thought process You have to WANT to lose weight. Be POSITIVE and change your thoughts. Focus on the goals and know that you CAN DO ANYTHING YOU WANT TO! Positive thoughts will take you a long, long way. Even If you have hard weeks, gain a pound, don’t eat on track or whatever life throws at you… JUST KEEP GOING and know that things will be OK and tomorrow is always a fresh start. Don’t be discouraged and don’t be afraid to push yourself beyond your usual limits. THAT’S when you really find your true potential. We all have GREAT POTENTIAL SO LIVE IT AND BELIEVE IT!!! =)
diet, nutrients, vitamins&minerals I knew that vitamins and minerals were important but BY GOSH I had no idea HOOOOW important they were until I started to push my body (and I’m good at that…) with INTENSE exercise and trying to restrict calories to lose weight. When I first started trying to lose weight, I tried to set up an eating plan for myself and after about a week? I started to feel like I was losing my mind!!! I felt awful! I didn’t know what was going on! I went to the Doc and she said I was eating nothing but carbs and that when I exercise I really need PROTEIN. That’s when I switched to the high protein, low-fat, low-carb diet. Do yourself a favor. Don’t restrict too much on anything. It’s okay to have a certain limit but I’ve learned that a moderate amount of fat/carbs is FINE and lots of protein is good! You know what they say – EVERYTHING IN MODERATION! Well, really what it all comes down to is what makes YOOOOOOU feel the best. For me it’s higher protein! If you are trying to cut back on calories… here’s the key. YOU HAVE TO GET ENOUGN NUTRIENTS! HAVE TO HAVE TO HAVE TO. If you do not… bad things will start to happen. I am living proof of that!
***** If you are restricting your calories a bit to lose weight and exercising then make sure you take a multi-vitamin, eat enough IRON rich foods and give your body all that it needs to keep that energy and well-being UP! If you start to feel fatigued even though you ARE getting enough sleep and have taken rest days then get it looked into it. I WISH I WOULD HAVE. Listen to your body… it’s so important If you want to get the results you want and KEEP THEM.
no weight loss If you are trying to lose weight but time and time again aren’t losing it then listen up. You are either a) going over your calorie limit, b) not eating ENOUGH- women need atleast 1200 calories but really that’s way too low. the lowest I ever went was 1400. c) not doing enough exercise to make a deficit, d) having a health problem. if there is something messing up your body that will most of the time interfere with weight loss, e) not giving your body variety! eat a variety of foods and do different exercises! change it up so that your body is constantly challenged!!
cardio and weights Personally I think the best workout plan involves BOTH cardio AND weights. Ladies don’t be afraid to pick up those weights!!!!!! You actually burn MORE with weights and will burn calories even after you’re done exercising with the weights.
HYDRATION Drink that water!!!!!!! 8 8oz glasses a day or more! I’ve really been watching my water intake lately and I now drink 66oz throughout the morning and then into the afternoon I drink on a 59oz until around dinner time so I drink almost a gallon a day. Your body NEEDS the water!

In short- RIGHT DIET FOR YOU+NUTRIENTS, EXERCISE, GOOD AMOUNT OF SLEEP, WATER, POSITIVE THINKING AND DETERMINATION!

With careful thought and the right setup for you, you WILL get the results you want. I know I did but I stumbled, didn’t have the right nutrients and my body fought back in a bad way. I’m giving my body PLENTY of nutrients now and will get back to the body I had a year ago. I was getting LEAN, had a good amount of muscle and felt better than I’ve ever felt IN MY ENTIRE LIFE and guess what? YOU CAN TOO! YOU CAN TOO! No matter your age or situation, you can feel the way you’ve always wanted to feel with special care and the right tools. It’s never too late to start getting healthy but you have to WANT IT and be motivated enough to make those changes. Take care of your body and It will give you so much happiness in return.

I LOVE LOVE LOVE posting about stuff like this! I live for it!!!!! I hope this can help someone out there. I’ve been my own guinea pig but again “WHAT DOESN’T KILL YOU MAKES YOU STRONGER” and I am deffo stronger for all this I’ve been through. Here’s to health and happiness my friends! The world is ours and we can have it all! SO THANKFUL for my Heavenly Father and everything He has given me! Including this body! Have a great day everyone!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! LOVE YOUR LIFE, LOVE YOUR BODY!

Well, well! The sinus meds I’ve taken the last 2 days have made me feel a little better! Last night a bit after I took the meds I was deffo feeling them a little, LOL. Brad’s gonna buy some more sinus/cold meds tonight when he goes and buys the remainder of the groceries we need. It’s quite warm in the house right now!!! According to my weather widget on my Firefox it says it’s currently 72 outside! It’s been really cloudy and WINDY out there most of the day but then this afternoon the clouds lightened and the sun peeked out for a while! We’re supposed to have some severe storms later tonight so we’ll see what happens or doesn’t happen.

I don’t have much to tell about today! I fiddled online this morning, got a shower then ate lunch and let Katie play till nap time. I fixed my hair, put on some laundry and watched The Secret Life! Got Katie up, fed and started our dinner. Also folded said laundry and am now cooking my sweet potato + PB snackie!!!!

I’m so excited to see how good I’ll feel with the immune boosters PLUS sinus meds AND Brad’s buying me a treat… energy drink! And a protein bar, yippppppeeeee!! Yes, the small things bring me great joy, lol.

SO iron pills + immune booster + sinus meds = ON MY WAY TO 100% AGAIN! I know the iron pills I’ve been taking since last month have already helped me quite a bit but now I’ve got to MURDER this cold and boost my immune system!!! WOOT WOOT WOOT! I’m also really glad that Brad and I are getting really close again. Last year was REALLLLLLLLLLLY tough on us and now that I’m starting to get better, our relationship is really taking off in a good direction again and It’s SO NICE! Again – it’s the little things. I love him so. With everything I am!!! Always.

I’m so lucky. And blessed!

Don’t ask me why I named this groovy… lol. I was trying to come up with a title to do with music and GROOVIN and GROOVY came into my mind so there ya haveeeee it. SO last night Brad and I were debating on what we wanted to watch and decided upon The Last Exorcism. We watched the trailer and Brad said we would start watching it and if it seemed lame we’d turn it off but It kept us mostly interested… UP UNTIL THE END. Enter cult and demon baby… lulz! Yeah, that movie does not get a gold star. Or any star for that matter! I took my sinus/cold meds last night and woke up today feeling much better! Still random sniffles and a tiny, tiny sinus headache but not bad.

TODAY WAS = TO:
~ online work
~ listening to lots of music
~ watching lots of music videos online
~ random dancing around the house, whee
~ one episode of THE SECRET LIFE! yup. gotta get my dose!
~ soft hair! yes! my hair was softer today than it has been so that’s great.

Still keepin up with a higher protein lifestyle! I eat lentils with my eggs/cottage cheese mix since we didn’t get to buy any turkey sausage when we went shopping yesterday. I had my salad, beef liver and a KIWI for lunch! A bit later on I had chocolate protein oatmeal for a snack and my last snack tonight has been a small sweet potato AND CAN YA GUESS?? … dun dun dun! PEANUT BUTTER! Heh.

Last night was Tuesday AND YA KNOW WHAT THAT MEANS? Tonight we watchhhhh BIGGEST LOSER! Wellllll, I gotta get Katie ready for bed soon then wait on my handsome looooovie to get home from work so we can EAT AND WATCH! Forever thankful, grateful and blessed!!!

MUAAAAAAAAAAAAH! :cute:

I woke up with a slight headache and very heavy eyes. Brad got up at 7:30AM this morning and thought he heard something so he stayed up. I took my iron pill and went back to BED. I didn’t get out of bed until after 10AM and still had the slight headache and heavy eyes. After food and hanging out, we headed out to buy enough groceries to last us until Brad gets paid Thursday.

The blood pressure machine was fixed at Wal-Mart so I sat down to take it and It was taking longer than usual… well I know why! My blood pressure was 101/50! SHEESH! No wonder I’ve felt like CRAP. The bottom number is crazy low. I haven’t had my Vitamin C the last few days and I know that’s having a bad impact. Not only does the Vitamin C help my immune system but also helps absorb the iron. I need it MORE THAN EVER right now with this blasted cold and sinus. Brad and Katie are pretty much over the cold but mine is still lingering. I feel better than I did as far as the cold goes but seems like my immune system has really taken a hit. Here’s my plan. Keep drinking the OJ I bought today with my iron pills and take sinus pills starting tonight to hopefully get over this. When Brad gets paid Thursday I’m gonna have him go after work to buy us the rest of our groceries PLUS some Ester-C Immune Booster packets. It’s got the 1,000mg Vitamin C plus other stuff to really give the immune system a boost which is EXACTLY what I need right now. I would of bought them today but we were on a very tight budget so couldn’t. If I can kick this cold then I know my blood pressure will start to improve since I’m doing ALL I can do as far as the iron goes. I had planned on trying to do some light exercise – HA that went out the window.

Anyhow… we bought our groceries and I cried on the way home and more when we got home. I’m just SO FLIPPING TIRED of feeling so bad and just when I think things are going in the right direction I either mess it up or something else happens to make it worse!!!!!!! Brad attempted to make me feel better and made me pancakes. He’s really sweet. I had pancakes, a salad and a kiwi for lunch. Deffo was stuffed! After Brad put Katie down for her nap… I just didn’t want to do anything and was just blah so I went and laid on the bed and dozed off a little then got up. I watched an episode of The Secret Life then got online before starting Katie’s dinner. Brad left for his church meeting and I eventually got Katie up, fed her then started mine and Brad’s dinner. After fixing that I called Mom and talked to her for a bit… always love SOOOOO much talking to Mom!!! Can’t WAIT to move and be around her again!!!!

It’s almost time to get Katie ready for bath then bed and wait for Brad to come home. I really hope that I can get my body straightened out before summer. Please please please. I want to really enjoy my summer and have my energy back to really start losing the weight. I guess we’ll see. Just gotta keep my head up, hoping for the best and praying. I know Heavenly Father will take care of me. I’m so thankful even through all my struggles — I know He has given me so much.

One day at a time.

It was suuuuuure windy outside today! Super cloudy too. We usually go shopping on Mondays but my work money still hasn’t transferred into the bank account soooo hopefully it’ll be in there in the morning so we can shop! I woke up at like 5AM? I think? I was way hot so I threw some covers off me then went back to sleep and woke up at 8AM like yesterday and went to the bathroom, took an iron pill then went back to sleep. We all eventually got up, ate and hung out until a bit later when I wanted to go for a walk! I know I can’t do intense exercise but I really need to do SOMETHING. We all got dressed and headed out! Katie didn’t wanna be in the stroller… again… but yeah. We were hoping we wouldn’t get rained on and we didn’t… YAY! Total walking time was about an hour then we came back and walked around the backyard for a bit so Katie could get some roam time. Once we all came inside, I fixed mine and Katie’s lunch then she got to watch an episode of Blue’s Clues before nap. After she was down, Brad watched 2 episodes of The Secret Life with me.

This evening hasn’t been eventful. Brad’s starting to watch Lost on Netflix and I’ve watched bits and pieces of it. We’re cooking deer roast! It’s been in our freezer for a long time, lol. We didn’t have many choices since our fridge is almost bare! Can’t wait to get more foodz!

I still can’t believe that I gained ~30 pounds back. I really, really, really hate it. PLUS I’m at such a DISADVANTAGE because someone who is 100% healthy and gains back 30 pounds could just pick up the exercise, drop the food intake and lose it again but in MY CASE- I can’t exercise intensly and need to rebuild this iron so grrrr. In due time… I’ll just do what exercise I can, get lots of iron in my diet and take the iron supplements. That’s all I can do. And hope for better days! A good thing is that I’m definetly not feeling as fatigued and I am thankful for that!

Dinner is almost done and then afterwards we need to study our scriptures! I can’t believe It’s almost March.. WOW. It’s already going fast! I’m ready for Daylight Savings, woot woot.

Ahhhhhh man It was nice to sleep in this morning! I woke up all stuffed up and Brad handed me a cough drop and those always seem to open up the sinus cavity. Well, I woke up earlier than that at around 8AM and was hot so I turned down the heater then went to the bathroom, took my iron pill and OJ then hopped back into bed for a bit longer. After breakfast and whatnot, we all just chilled. Katie threw a bit fit (AS USUAL) after her breakfast but she eventually calmed down. After she went down for her nap, Brad and I went outside in the backyard for a bit to soak up the nice weather. We decided we’d make a nice little controlled fire in the backyard (we’ve done it before) after Katie got up and ate her dinner so we did just that! We put Katie in the new stroller since It was dark and we had a fire so I didn’t want her running around with that and she was not happy in that stroller hahaha. She eventually just looked around. We stayed outside for about an hour before coming back in. She got to play with her toys for another hour before bedtime! We’re sitting here eating dinner and relaxing. I think we’ll probably watch One Tree Hill soooooon!

DAY 10 OF HIGH PROTEIN! Oh I’m thrilled! We got up later today but I didn’t eat my 3rd snack this evening since I held off from 6PM till now at dinner, WOOOOOOT! Progress! I’m gonna have my greek yummeh yogurt for dessert. Hopefully my money for my online job will be transferred into our bank account from paypal tomorrow morning so we can go buy a handful of groceries until Brad gets paid on Thursday! Our tax return might be coming in Friday and oooooooooh I hope so I HOPE SO!

Thankful for so much!!!!

Ugh. I have felt like POO all day. Just drowsy and my sinus cavity has been throbbing a little. I feel pretty sleepy right now. Brad didn’t feel good this morning either but he went into work but said he might come home early. I set Katie up with a movie then got to slowly cleaning house. IT WAS A GORGEOUS DAY so I opened windows. I finished cleaning then went to take a shower and Brad knocked on the door then called me on my cellphone to come unlock the door, lol. We’ve just been lounging all day pretty much. I went outside and talked to my Mom for quite a while then watched 2 episodes of The Secret Life. I had some BABY CLAMS in my salad today for lunch along with a slice of the beef liver. MMM iron! I haven’t felt *as* hungry today but that might be from this cold too. The temp outside all day has been GREAT GREAT GREAT! I’ve still got windows open, YEEE!!

I’m hoping I’ll feel maybe… possibly… slightly better in the morning? I can hope right?! I’m definetly hoping so. We’re all staying home from church tomorrow since we don’t want to get anyone sick and honestly I just wanna stay home.

Speaking of church! I’m so thankful that Brad led us to the church. It’s an incredible church and I love everything about it. We don’t pay someone to preach to us.. we teach each other. We don’t pass around a money plate but do have tithing but no one knows how much we do or don’t give because It’s between us and Heavenly Father. The tithing goes to GOOD and not to someone. It helps with welfare for people who don’t have much and for building Temples and other things for the church. For the people out there still thinking Mormons are so bad… we are not a cult. We do not and I repeat… DO NOT practice polygamy anymore – that was rid of long, long ago. We believe that families are forever. Yes, we have what some would say is “strict” rules to live by but guess what? We don’t HAVE TO. We have free agency so those of us members who do follow these “rules” follow them because we want to be more like Heavenly Father. Our bodies are our temples and the Word of Wisdom just is a guideline to taking the best care of our temple and you know… It REALLY REALLY has helped me realize how important my body is. We do not worship Joseph Smith – we worship Heavenly Father. We DO read the Bible along with the Book of Mormon. The Bible talks about other books does it not? The Book of Mormon is one of them. What other church has all of this? Whenever I talk to non-members about the church a lot of them say, “Well each to their own!” Which is true but still. How can I not share my love about a church that I know holds so much truth about The Gospel?

I love The Gospel. I love my Heavenly Father. I love my life and I owe everything I AM and EVER SHALL BE to my Heavenly Father. Life has taken on such a greater meaning and understanding to me since I really opened up to religion and Heavenly Father. It’s incredible. I wish the same for everyone but It’s hard in this world with so much greed and hardened hearts and SUCH NEGATIVITY. I want to live a positive life and be hopeful even in the worst of times because life is short and precious.

Every day is a treasure so cherish it!