Stormy Weather

Seriously, this being sick thing is getting old. I have had no voice all day, and my sinuses are HORRIBLE. I just want to stick my head in a blender (and watch it spin around to a beautiful oblivion). I slept most of the day and just felt pretty miserable over all. Sorry these posts are so short but there really is not much to say when you can barely function.

Gale Force Winds

Boy, while I was under the weather yesterday, I am down right SICK today. I am almost glad though, that I got sick when hubby is gone and I cannot go to the gym. That way I don't have to feel guilty when I can't make it.

Even though I feel crummy, I have been working around the house, at least trying to keep my activity level up. Like I have said, it is better than sitting on my butt all day. So far I have cleaned the kitchen, cleaned out 1/4 of the pantrys (pantries?) and some of the cabinets. My goal tonight is to get all of the cabinets and pantries done. Time to weed out and get rid of stuff.

Under the weather

I am sick! Bummer. I have the same sinus crap that everyone else has. The babies are snotty, the kids were snotty but aren't now. Guess it is my turn. This really sucks. I hate sinus issues more than anything else on this earth.

Doug went out of town today for a day or two. That means no gym for me for a few days. Through Thursday evening at least. This means I must play some Just Dance to do SOMETHING. As long as I am not sitting on my butt for a week then I will be fine.

Wish this cold away for me, please!

Walking the Mall

I took all 6 kids to the mall today! We got out and met a friend of mine and her daughter. Kay now has a BFF, and they had such a good time together. I did not go to the gym, but I did get a little exercise by walking the loop at Katy Mills. It is about a mile but if you count the occasional kid chase, it was a decent workout. At least I wasn't sitting on my bum at home all day.

I will say that the kids did so much better than I expected. Chandler got a little upset at the start of the day, but settled down once he realized all the people around us weren't interacting WITH us, just AROUND us. Anthony and Mimi walked on their own for the first time. While they had a good time, maybe the mile long loop was a bit much for Anthony, although after we stopped for lunch, he got his strength back and was good to go the rest of the way. In fact, he was a little upset when we had to go.

I did bust on eating today and my stomach is pissed at me for it tonight. It is doing that weird cramping thing again so I am pretty sure I am having gallbladder issues. If I eat something greasy two days in a row, it gets really angry. While it sucks to be me tonight, it is good because it will help keep me away from greasy gross stuff.

I bought some yummy smelling peaches and plums at Walmart tonight. Cannot wait for breakfast to have some.

Rockin' it out!

So I made it to the gym 5/6 days. With all luck I will make it out there this evening. If I do not, I won't feel too bad because we have a playdate today at the mall with a friend of mine and her 9 year old daughter. I am sure that taking all 6 kids on a mall walk will be a pretty decent work out in and of its self.

I got up this morning and made myself some breakfast, since I am usually at the diner eating right now. I have taken a liking to the veggie omelet at 59 Diner. It was not the same without it but it is starting to get pretty expensive.

My weight is down more but I am thinking about not updating it for a day or two to make sure it sticks. Over all, I am so thrilled with how I am doing this time out. I am starting to really enjoy my time in the gym, and I am not changing my eating habits TOO much. In fact, I am eating more often, as I never ate breakfast. I am snacking less because I am just not as full as I was.
Can't complain.

Eating Healthier

I recently made the decision to start cooking again. I had to cast all laziness aside, make the other big people handle the babies and cook. Our wallet needed it, and so do our waistlines.

We have consumed WAY too much fast food the past year. It started when I had the morning sickness. My nausea was so bad that I could barely lift my head up. Hubby is not the best cook (insert southern- "bless his heart") so we ate a lot of take-out. From Taco Bell to Chili's to the occasional Olive Garden, we had it all. It got old REALLY quickly, and hubby gained about 15 lbs in the process.

After the morning sickness was gone, we discovered I was having twins and had high blood pressure again and had to stay off my feet and in bed most of the time, so the take-out trend continued. Then I had the babies, and was stuck in bed after, as recovery from the c-section was long and horrible. About this time, hubby decided to try his hand at cooking a little more and he did a great job most of the time.

I have recently gotten back into the swing of things like cleaning and cooking. (And exercising... don't forget exercising)
At first I was using the crock pot way too much, but now I am back in the kitchen more, cooking better and healthier meals.

You would think that buying more real food would save us a little bit of money, but unfortunately I am hung up on buying yummy things like fresh veggies and good cuts of meat, free range eggs and organic milk. This means my grocery bill is rather expensive at times. I found a great CSA that we bought a share into. Sometimes we do not use all of the awesome goodies, and I need to change that. I really suggest that those who have a local CSA take part. (Community supported agriculture- find one HERE). Our food comes from HomeSweetFarm. Amazing people and wonderful food!


My goal in the next few months is to stop buying as much prepackaged mixes and frozen food. Less chicken nuggets for Chan and more real chicken. Less powdered potatoes, more real, etc. Wish we luck on that one...

Farmers' Market

Sometimes I like to get up and go to the farmers market at LaCenterra. Kind of a yuppy part of town, but there is this bakery that sets up there called Sinfull Bakery. Now before someone gasps at me because this IS a weight-loss blog, their specialty is organic, vegan, gluten free, and sugar free products. I LOVE the vegan cookies. To me, I don't care the calorie count, because we eat them maybe once a month, and then they are so expensive, we never eat more than one per person. ($4.50 for 2 cookies).

I skipped out on the gym this morning, but instead loaded up all 6 kids and took them down to the farmers market. 30 minutes of getting ready, and 20 minutes getting them out of the car just to walk around for 30 minutes and eat a cookie, and then spend 20 minutes getting back in the car. :) That is a workout in its self.

As I enjoy the second half of my amazing cookie (we got cranberry orange, oatmeal raisin and chocolate chip), enjoy some pics of the day.

Food Food Food

I have been to the gym 4 days in a row. I am doing pretty good with that. I am sure my workouts could be a little longer but I am getting off my butt and am doing it more than once a week.

As far as food goes, I think I am doing much better by not snacking on everything and I am not eating near as large portions as I have been. I figure if I start slowly I might be more likely to stick with it vs. jumping in too fast and hard. For once I am trying to do this slowly.

That said, I weighed myself today and I am down about 5 lbs. HOORAY!!

Off to work on my Skinny Sister logo...

2 day streak!

I made it to the gym two days in a row!! It was not a long workout, but I kept my heart rate up so I know it counts! Every little bit counts. I did a little on the treadmill, 7 minutes on the elliptical, which is good for me, and then a few miles on the stationary bike in about 10 minutes.

Of course, today was my anniversary, and I blew all calories out the window and at a dinner from Olive Garden that was worth about 2500 calories!! YIKES! That was after I did so good on my breakfast. It was about 450 cals, and it was eggs and french toast!

On a side note, I am working on the most awesome little cartoon of myself, The Skinny Sister. :) Can't wait to show it off!

Good times!

So I made it to the gym yesterday! Hooray! I managed to do 2 miles on the treadmill in 40 minutes. Seems pretty slow but I have been out of the game for a while. I did the first mile pretty quick and then did the second slower but on an incline. It was a good workout but I need to get more done this morning. I usually go late at night but our sleep schedule is really messed up right now so going at about 5 am is better for me. I have time to grab some oatmeal or something, and then head in. I am determined to go again this morning.

As a note, I also remembered to get diet soda for my caffeine instead of regular. That will cut about half of my days calories tomorrow. Also, I would rather no comments on the hazards of artificial sweeteners. I have done my research and while I am not 100% comfortable with them, they are okay in my short term until I can get off of the caffeine.

I very well might make half a dozen posts on here a day, but I figure if it keeps me on track, all 3 of you reading this won't mind!

Wall of Shame

In my Facebook Group, Fat to Fit- Tracy's Weight Loss Challenge (more on that later) I have a photo album called "Wall of Shame." This is where we post the "before" pictures of our selves.
Only a few people have used it, but I think it helps me to see what I don't want to see. It makes me want to change it.
So here I am, posting my wall of shame pics here today.
Every month I plan on taking a pic even if I have not lost weight. Maybe it will remind me that I am doing this for a reason.

The Skinny Sister

I am Tracy.
I am 28.
I am a mother of 6.
I have brown hair.
I have brown eyes.
I have a wonderful husband.
I have a wonderful home.
I have an amazing family.
I have high blood pressure.
I am fat.
I am so fat, that if I do not do something about it, I will never see my 6 children grow up to be amazing adults, with brown hair, brown eyes, wonderful husbands/wives, wonderful homes, and amazing families.

I have 2 sisters. Both are heavier than me. Both try to lose weight. I am the smallest. By one pound. My sisters and I have always been competitive. I have decided to try to stay the skinny sister, and if I try to stay the skinny one, they may try to keep up with me, to beat me, so that I am NOT the skinny one. Either way, we are going to lose some weight. And we will all be better off for it.

Many times I try to blog. Most times I fail. I quit, just like I do a lot of things. Not today. Not this blog. Not this time.

To the gym, Batman. To the gym.