Project: Hot Mom

Yesterday started day 1 of my new program, which includes eating right and a killer kickboxing/strength routine 6 days a week. I can honestly say I've never been so excited about a fitness routine and am already addicted. I think it taps into my desire to take control of this aspect of my life. 

I pride myself in the fact that I've never been a yo-yo dieter. Actually the only diet I ever recall being on was the no bread, no beer, no pasta routine about a month before my first wedding. 

It's sad I can't really display these pictures anywhere- I love this shot of me, my mom and Aunt Lila. It was literally 100 degrees outside and I was trying to air things out a bit ;)

Now that I say that I remember my journey with food and it all went downhill about that time. Before that I didn't put much thought into what I ate. My roommate at the time- Rachel- was a health NUT, so I did pick up some of her tips in terms of working out, but I just didn't care about nutrition. I had just broken up with my college sweetheart, so naturally lost 10 lbs and people were telling me NOT to lose any more weight. Imagine that!

Thanksgiving 2003

Then I met my first husband, who was also a work out nut. I remember coming home from the bars one night- hungry- and making fried egg sandwiches with real butter. He said "I cannot believe you eat that shit!" I took that as a challenge and began an awful cycle of working out too much and not eating enough, hoping to hear from him that I needed to eat more. You can roll your eyes; it's even humiliating to type that.

I began travel nursing, and moved out to Delaware, living alone and working out twice a day- running in the morning than a full workout after work. I would eat lettuce with tuna for lunch and peanut butter for dinner. 

Then my Grandma Shaffer died. That sent me into a downward spiral... I remember leaving the gym early the day I got the news and going to the mall, wandering around aimlessly feeling so sad and lonely. By the time the mall closed I was so hungry I ordered a big plate of fried rice from Panda Express and ate the. whole. thing. To make matters worse I bummed a cigarette off of a perfect stranger on my way out...! By the time I got back to my apartment the guilt had taken over, and for the very first time I made myself throw up everything I had just eaten. Instead of feeling ashamed or embarrassed I felt... liberated...?! I could eat absolutely anything I wanted and just get rid of it... genius!

I won't bore you with all the details, but I will tell you that went on for about 5 years, after I had been married and divorced and got into a relationship with someone who truly cared for my well being- my husband Dustin :)

He wasn't harsh or judgmental, he just did not want me to do that to myself, and asked me to stop. And I did.

Although I haven't done "that" since before we married over 5 years ago, I haven't really had a healthy relationship with food either. The good news is that I haven't been obsessed over everything I put into my body, but the bad news is I haven't been obsessed over everything I put into my body ;) 

SO after putting on 10 extra lbs during my pregnancy and feeling icky in my own skin- not to mention the entire wardrobe in a size smaller that I can't fit into at the moment- I'm ready to obsess in the healthiest way possible.

Paleo is a great concept, but as my sister in law the nutritionist said "it's just not sustainable". The last thing I want to do is start something that isn't reasonable to continue forever. I don't enjoy cooking as-is; if I'm going to cook it better be something everyone can eat. I need a "real food" diet.

The nutrition portion of the Ferrell's program is so simple: eat 6 small meals a day which include a protein and a carb, lots of water, and unlimited veggies. I've got a log book to write down my meals, and I have a coach who helps to keep me accountable. Apparently it takes longer for women's metabolism to kick start (go figure) so it's a bit of a stretch but my 5 week goal is to lose 2% body fat. I started the diet yesterday, and can say I didn't feel hungry at ALL all day. My challenge is going to be staying away from caffeine (you're not supposed to have ANY!) and drinking enough water (80 oz/day). 

The kickboxing starts tonight. Here goes everything I've got! xx

 

long time no blog...

Wow what a whirlwind this past month has been. I'm behind on pretty much everything: correspondence, bills, blogging...

The good news is Megan and Andy's shower went without a hitch. It was so perfect! Aunt Shanne and I texted photos back and forth for weeks beforehand, and everything we had went together perfectly. The food was great. The flowers Uncle Todd and Leslee brought couldn't have set it off any better. I think everyone had a great time.

Grandma Shipman and Grandma Grabe

Leslee and Todd

The guests of honor

Jonah wasn't feeling the greatest :(

A group of Grabe girls

Thank you Pinterest for all the great ideas!

The food was great!

another Pinterest project....

Ashley found this great idea: "Thank Ewe for touching Megan and Andy's life, now you can touch their baby"!

it was crowded, but cozy

A guessing game.

Our house hasn't fully recovered yet, but I'm not overly concerned. I sure enjoyed every bit of the flowers sticking around after the company was gone :) Unfortunately Jonah was coming down with some awful upper respiratory infection and was so sick for his first Easter :( He was sick enough that we didn't even take him to Grandma's and instead took turns staying home with him.

This past week Jonah turned 10 months old, and my Dad was here for 2 nights for another minor surgery to get all the margins of the pre-cancerous cells. I did NOT freak out this time like I did before thank goodness. I think I got out all of my emotions for an entire year in that post not too long ago.

I took this month's photos in his jammies because they're so stinking cute. He still is just sporting the two bottom teeth, which the pediatrician says is nothing to worry about. He went from crawling everywhere as fast as a little spider to standing up every chance he can get! Last night he had a great time pulling everything off of the bottom two shelves of the bookcase in his room :) He'll be walking in no time. He's still a skinny little runt, weighing in the 9% and still long in the 75% for his age. 

He still loves music and will stop anything he's doing if he hears a song or someone sings to him. He loves puppets- whether on a Baby Einstein movie or in person. He doesn't have the attention span for his jumper or to watch anything on TV anymore; he has got more important things to do! ;)

He's developing his own little appetite which is challenging to figure out at times- especially since we really want him to eat up! He loves chicken, peanut butter and bread, but he's pretty much over any form of baby food that doesn't come in a squeeze pack. He also "ET's" everything, including the opening to the squeeze packs. He sticks his pointer finger in the hole every time to be sure it's patent :D

He's also recently discovered his man parts, which makes bath time pretty entertaining as it goes a little something like this: Splash, splash, wiener check, splash, splash, wiener check. It also makes changing his diaper a little easier; instead of attempting to escape to find something more interesting he spreads his legs and looks for whatever it is down there that feels funny ;) Who knew having a boy could be so fun?!

Speaking of having a boy... I got to be a part of my best friend's gender revealing party on Friday and they are having another BOY!!! I'm so excited for her and so excited for whenever our #2 joins us. 

Alright that's all I have time for today, but I have so much more on my list of blogs I want to write. Look for my battle of the bulge post (I'm starting the Ferrell's program tomorrow...gulP!) and also a post on what I deem to be the necessities of having a newborn. xx