Friday weigh-in - what a roller coaster ride of weigh-ins!

Ho-ly Cow! These past 4 weeks have been crazy!

I lost 8lbs in the first week, gained one in the second week, back down a pound and a half, and now... Down 6.6 pounds!!! I'd say I've ben pretty consistent with eating and exercise, too.

That's nuts! I'm going to take some time to review MyFitnessPal and see what was going on. If I can recognize any patterns, I might be able to figure out the patterns. Although, I think I'll probably just find that this weight loss thing is strange... I'm not quite knowledgable enough about nutrition and fitness to figure out what is happening.

I'm in Jess' Skinny Jean Fit Camp, where I get exercise advice and a lot of support. I may have to reach our to the trainer and nutritionist to check out my food and activity and give me some advice. That makes me nervous, because I know I wasn't picture-perfect. I had days where I was way under my calories, days where I filled those extra cals with junk, and days where I just struggled. It scares me a bit to ask them to give it to me straight.

"Oh well. Get over it, that's why you joined." Right?

Bah! Enough with that - I lost SIX AND A HALF POUNDS this week! Happy Dance!

The good news is this puts me way ahead for my DietBets. I thought I'be cutting it close this time, but I was at my goal before this six pounds! At least I have a little wiggle room, and I almost lost as much as my last round of bets - 15 pounds. Happy!

Have a good weekend all!

5K, fundraising, and NSVs

Boy, I was having a hard time with easting this past week! I was really struggling with nighttime snacking and constantly craving snack foods. I am happy to say I pushed through it this week and have been committed to brushing my teeth with my kiddo at 8:00.

My other big NSV...

I'll be completing my first-ever 5K at the Lupus Walk for Hope and 5K! Now, I've only run a tiny bit over 1 mile straight, but who says I have to run the whole thing? I'm going to give it my best shot and see how far I can go. I committed to this idea nearly 6 months ago and I finally registered today.

We have a team - 'Nix Lupus' - in honor of my amazing cousin, Nickie, who was diagnosed with Lupus within the past year, possibly two. She is a 22-year-old woman with the most infectious bubbly and funny personality ever.  It is so hard to see her act as if everything is alright, when we know that she is in constant pain.

A little blurb from the Lupus Foundation of Minnesota about the disease:

Lupus is a chronic autoimmune disease where the immune system turns against parts of the body it’s designed to protect. This leads to inflammation and can affect many different body systems, including joints, blood cells and organs.


I am so happy to spread awareness about this disease that I knew nothing about until a couple short years ago, and to raise money to help find a cure. This is why I was so excited to run into an opportunity to design a t-shirt to raise awareness and money for Lupus.

I came across a company called TeeSpring. They offer anyone the opportunity to create a campaign, by designing a t-shirt to sell, to raise money for themselves or a particular cause. No money is needed upfront, and the shirt only goes to print once a specified goal is reached. I have placed a goal of 50 shirts on my campaign. I believe that would only give the Lupus Foundation of Minnesota around $200, so I would definitely like to sell more! The campaign is only 3 weeks long, though, so I don't have much time!

Here's the design. I found this quote on Pinterest and thought it completely represented my cousin specifically, as well as all the women and men dealing with this disease.

Now I just have to spread the word and get this baby sold.

So here is my plea. Help me spread the word!! The saying makes it the perfect workout tee, or you could fashion it into a tank - imagine the possibilities!

I feel like so little is known about Lupus and the effect it has on those whose lives are touched by it. Imagine your own immune system attacking itself and having pain in your joints or constantly ending up with fluid in your lungs...(or any of the other symptoms involved). We need to get some help and some answers.

I would be so grateful to anyone who could spread this message around via their blog, social media, or what have you.

Here is the link to the Nix Lupus T-Shirt and the Nix Lupus team for donations.

Thank you!!!

**TeeSpring was nice enough to offer me this campaign (for my other blog space Exploring Domesticity, after I had already decided to set up a design to raise some money, all opinions are my own, made up prior to compensation**

Weekly goals! Make it a good one!

Goals set last week:

1. Keep up with those quick and easy workouts, I have no excuse for not fitting them in. 

Nailed it! I've been keeping up with my 300s whenever I have a few moments and adding some new ab workouts.  I even brought the hula hoop in so I could keep moving while watching Extreme Weight Loss,

2. Make an effort again to organize a fitness social event.

Womp womp...I didn't even give this a decent shot.  I left a message for one person and never really pushed it.

3. Create a plan for said fitness social event - circuit workout, healthy snack and drink, something to make it fun and more than just a workout. Feel free to let me know if you want a copy sent to you - it would keep me accountable for this goal!

I do have a pretty awesome plan for when I finally do gather up a crew!  It's something!

My DietBet ends at the end of this week.  I need to get down to business!!  I've made my goal of 8lbs for the month, but I need to shave off at least one more to make up for clothing and holding the camera during my final weigh-in....  Fingers crossed!!!

Goals for this week:

1. Make all efforts to STOP late-night snacking!!  If I want a snack at nightI have to fit it in before 8. I will brush my teeth with the kiddo all week to stop food from entering my mouth at that time.  I bought Silk Iced Latte to slowly sip as my dessert after dinner - and that's it!!!

2.  Try again on getting a group together.  Continue to work on organization until I can actually gather the girls.

3.  Meal plan and use up ALL the things I bought at the farmer's market.



By the way... I know there have to be many of you, like myself, who need help every so often. I often have questions, need advice and, occasionally, run into some great tips that work for me that I'd love to share. It'd be great to be able to look for guidance and share helpful hints all in one place, so I will be starting Tips & Tricks Tuesday. Kristin, from Seeing Less of Kristin, has graciously offered to co-host! Once I get the button fixed up to include her, I think we'll see the party pop up next week! Exciting! You are all invited to come and link up old posts you think others would find helpful and link up any posts you have where advice is needed!!

Linking up with these ladies again this week too!

Weigh-in, nighttime snacking, and one active lady

Weigh-in day yesterday. I'm down one pound...

Don't get me wrong, I'm so happy to see the scale to down, but I was hoping for more... I have been bumping up my exercise and staying under my calories. It seems like I've been doing things right.

I haven't been doing my best, though.

I have been staying under my calories, but I've sunk back into my nighttime snacking problem. I've been wasting all my hard work after 10pm. Yuck!

I need to get back to brushing my teeth with the kiddo and writing about my awesome day, instead of eating!




Even though I was a little bummed about the scale, I had an amazing day yesterday activity-wise.

While the kiddos were napping, I watched a little Extreme Weight Loss for motivation and got a pretty great workout in. I did abs, grabbed the hula hoop for a bit (I can do it again!), and did my 300s.

2YO woke up while I was doing my 300s and wanted to get in on the action.

He did some wall push-ups...

Some squats...

And some jumping jacks, but I couldn't get a good picture of that for anything!


When the little lady woke up we went for a walk/run a little over a mile to the park. We played around at the park and walked back. I actually managed to get in over 10,000 steps! I always struggle with that.

When we got home we spent the rest of the afternoon outside playing, and didn't come in until dinner.

Yummy Fajita Pasta! I would have taken a nice picture of my bowl, but Hubby was late and I spent dinner time frantically cutting up food and keeping up with my kiddos with the big appetites. Guess it was a hit!

We spent most of the day outside today too. If I can get those nighttime snacking cravings back under control, I should be good!

Injuries, farmers market, and NSVs

Ok everyone, I've had my first sports-related-injury since I began this journey in March...

It's pretty serious, but I want you to know that I have been carrying on with my workouts even with this debilitating injury.

The picture of this gruesome injury is not for the faint of heart.  If the sight of blog makes you weak, turn away now.

Here it is...

I know! How did I push on!?! And how did this horrendous injury occur?

I was doing my 300s and managed to slice into that figure with my own fingernail, from the other hand, while doing jumping jacks. Who manages that one?


All kidding aside, I had a great day today. My mom helped me take the kiddos to the farmer's market. We walked and walked and come away with a ton of goodies!

We got about 2-3 hours of walking in and, after the kiddos napped, we went down to walk some more at a car show.

I think my Non-Scale Victories for the week would be:
1) Persevering with an injury - kidding, kidding....
2) Planning my day around ways to get some activity in. I loved walking all day today!
3) Even my new workout clothes are getting big - ahhhh!! :)
4) My health is at the forefront of my mind, I think about it all day, and I'm trying to figure out how to harness my excitement and help others find the fun in fitness.

Hope everyone is having a great week!

Introducing: Tips and Tricks Tuesday

Ok, guys. I'm about to enter a totally foreign territory for me...

I'm thinking about starting a Linky Party on Tuesdays, specifically for everyone to share tips and tricks AND for people to link up looking for advice. I think it would be great to get this all in one place.

I know when I was looking for advice on fitness trackers and food scales (still am, but the way), it would have been great to have a place to put it out there right in front of people so they could weigh-in. (Oh the corny pun jokes I could make.)

It would also be a great place for others to share tips and tricks they have. Post a new recipe or workout, share a new product you found, or spread some inspiration and motivation.

I'd love to get an idea of how many of you would find this useful and join in the party - asking for advice, or sharing your own bits of genius. I'll grab the free, boring text version of inlinks first, but if y'all show some interest I'll spring for the pretty thumbnails!

I think it would also be helpful to feature the most clicked links for the week, so we can see what everyone is struggling with or what kinds of tips and tricks others are looking for.

Whatdya think?

Buddies and Goals

I was so lucky the last two days to have a workout buddy! That is the biggest thing missing from my plan right now. The eating has been good and I get a little bit of exercise with walks with the kiddos, but I need to get a little more hardcore with the exercise.

I did so well with this is grad school and I got in the best shape of my life. I had so many supportive women around me all in one place. I went to kickboxing with a few, early morning spin with another, and Core Circuit (my favorite) with the more hard-core of the bunch. It was so much fun and incredibly motivating.

I've tried to re-create that at home by getting a group of girls together for some circuit training, but things are so different now. My friends are spread all over the country, those that are nearby are all moving on to new stages of their lives and don't live right in town anyway, and I have a difficult time with my own schedule after the two babies.

*sigh*

This weekend my cousin was at the cabin and I had a workout buddy again. What a difference that makes! We did our 300s and got a great mile run in each day! In fact, I'm astounded at our mile time on the first day and we pushed each other to perfect our form with our 300s the second day.

How great is that support?! And it's fun. I'd much rather get together with a group of ladies and workout than go out for another dinner or some drinks.

My goals this week:
1. Keep up with those quick and easy workouts, I have no excuse for not fitting them in.
2. Make an effort again to organize a fitness social event.
3. Create a plan for said fitness social event - circuit workout, healthy snack and drink, something to make it fun and more than just a workout. Feel free to let me know if you want a copy sent to you - it would keep me accountable for this goal!


Do you have a workout buddy you can count on? Do you prefer to workout with someone? Would you pick working out socially with a group over heading out to dinner or something?

Trying something new and linking up here too.