My failures

Well I haven't been on here for a while.
Basically I have fell back into my bad eating habits and I was to embarrassed to write about it.
I felt like a complete hypocrite and failure.
I got to a comfortable spot and decided it wasn't that big of deal if I ate chips or cookies on a regular basis.
It's a struggle for me.
I think I have gained about 6 lbs back.
I am a complete believer that sugar is addicting.
And at the moment I am an addict.......again!
I have started drinking wine at least 3-4 nights a week.
This is the biggie!
Alcohol just makes everything spiral.
I tell myself it's ok to eat whatever I want after I've had a glass or two.
Then the next day I feel puffy and bloated, don't want to go to the gym, and if I'm lucky I don't have a headache!
It's better if I just stay away from it or at least limit it to once on the weekends!

So I need to get back on the fitness train.
I was happier and felt better about myself when I was eating healthy and working out regularly.
I have been thinking of doing the Advocare 24 day cleanse but man it's expensive. 
I even get a discount and I still think it's expensive.
But I heard from many people that it's worth it, so will see.
If your interested in it click on this Link to see details

I need to get back on a workout routine.
It's a simple fact with me that I obviously need a plan to stick to if I'm going to get my booty back on the workout train.

Well I want to say the holidays completely destroyed me and blame this all on them.
But the reality is they didn't.
This is all on me and I am taking complete responsibility for my actions and bad choices.
So time to get back on track and I have to do that one day at a time.

I'm not a failure I'm human just like everyone else but I need to own my choices!

Peace,
Shelby

What is normal?

Hey y'all I'm back!

What a crazy holiday month it has been.
We just got back from Iowa from our 3.5 week I guess vacation which it felt nothing like.
So glad to be home.  I feel like I've been running around with my head cut off ever since we were back.  Our trip didn't go as planned.
The flu and some other bug hit our family and we were down and out for about two weeks of the trip.  Let's just say I've seen enough and cleaned up enough vomit to last a life time.
My daughter even puked on the airplane on our way there.
That should have been a sign:)
We didn't get to see near the amount of people we wanted to or get to spend as much quality time with people that we wanted to.
If we weren't sick it seemed like they were:)
And I have to wonder what we were thinking going to bak to Iowa in winter when we could have spent it in Raleigh.
I think 3/4 of the days there was negative temperatures.
I remember it being 20 and sunny one day and we were saying it's so nice out. LOL
But it is what it is.
It was still a good time and our children go to spend time with their grandparents and cousins.
It was a trip we will never forget:)

Welp I managed to go to the gym twice or maybe three times when we were back.
I think I've been hovering between 153-155.
I honestly didn't watch what I ate and barely worked out.
I think being sick helped keep my weight down:)
I can tell I'm not near as tone was I was.
I think a lot of my muscle turned to flab.
So time to jump back on the wagon.
I need to hit 150 asap, then 145.
My small goals are my focus now.
So far this week things have been all screwed up.
My daughter seems to want to nap whenever I want to go to the gym and our toilets are broke and the repair people have come two different days right when I needed to head to the gym.
I can only go when daycares is open so that limits me a little.
Hopefully after this crazy week things will get back to normal.
Wait, is there a normal?  I mean with two kids nothing is normal right.

Anyways I hope your holidays were all good.
Starting on Monday I'm getting back to hopefully my normal workout routine and I will be back posting like I normally do.
It felt good to unplug for a while.
I didn't get on an actually computer once while I was in Iowa.
I got on my phone but basically I just checked my email and fb.
It feels weird typing on here but I'm sure that will last a whole 20 min:)
Anyway I hope the holidays didn't kill anyone.
I'm excited to get back to it and figure out what my new goals are for 2015.
I'm really thinking I want to hit the 140 mark.
Will see hopefully a new year and  a new me:) 

Stay positive,
Shelby

Try to survive the holidays

The holiday season is in full swing in the house.
I will start off by apologizing now.
I have not been updated as often as I would like.
My kids have been sick, now I feel like pooh, and we have been crazy busy on top of that.
I haven't experienced crazy holidays in a while.
I have tons of packing to get done by Thursday day this week a because it's time for IOWA!!!!!
So I will post on this blog but it probably will be minimal till mid January and might not be so fitness related:)
Here's some fun pics from our community Christmas party last night.
The kiddos had a blast and so did I.
The hubby was outta town so he was there in spirit:)

We have my hubby's xmas party tonight.
I'm gonna look smokin hot.  LOL!
I'll post pics.  This will be the first time I've worn a dress in a while.
And the first time I've worn something other then yoga pants or sweat pants two nights in a row,whoa watch out!

I still haven't gotten a chance to check into gyms where I'm going to be.
I need to. Working out outside in December/January in Iowa usually isn't an option.
And I know if I don't I will feel like a fat blob by the time we leave.

I will say not drinking is not an option over this holiday.  I'm going to be living with family for 3 weeks straight.
Drinking maybe what gets me through it.
Don't get me wrong I love and have a blast with my kin but sometimes there is drama ( wait I lied it's more then sometimes).
But that's what the holidays are all about:)

So what are some tips to keep the holiday weight gain down?

1. Drink your dinner - raising your class up to your lips and putting it back down counts as an arm workout.  Make sure you alternate arms;)
2. Bring a small child with you so consistently chasing them around.  You won't have time to eat.
3.Only eat at buffets so your consistently getting up and down to get food.

LoL that's all I got for now:)
I know I'll have tons of stories and advice on how not to go completely insane over the holidays.

Keep calm and breath:)
Shelby

Weigh in Wednesday

I was completely dreading today.
Getting on the scale was the last thing I wanted to do after eating crap and drinking wine all weekend.
But I knew it had to be done so I sucked it up and jumped on.
And to my surprise

I'm not really sure how this happened.  I mean I guess I did eat crap for two days but Monday I started eating normal healthy again.
I guess something can be said for eating right.
Actually I think a lot can be said.
I've struggled to lose weight for the last 3 years.
I've gone to the gym at times pretty consistently even though it mainly consisted of running and the scale never budged.
I think ever since I changed my diet and eat mainly clean it has made a huge difference in everything.
There are definitely days when all I want to eat is crap but those are becoming fewer and farther in between.
I eat way less sugar then I used to and I think it makes me feel 100% better over all.
I'm not stupid in know that the holidays will be a struggle.
I think they are for everyone.
I would really just like to maintain and hopefully hoover around 150 by the end of the month.

One big thing for me is to not beat myself up when I eat something that's not good for me, when drink a little to much wine, or if I skip a workout.
I used to beat myself up all the time and it turned into feeling sorry for myself and I would just give up.
I've come to realize being a stay at home mom, or a mom in general, or I guess just life in general calls for doing things on the fly.
You have kids and most of the time they come first or something important pops up that you have to take care of and can't make it to the gym.
My daughter has a cold and a nasty cough right now and I can't take her to my gyms daycare.
Normally I would beat myself up over this but it is what it is and I can't change that.
I'll try to do some little things at home but if I don't have time then I don't.
I still focus on eating healthy and that tends to be enough if I need it to be.
Don't get me wrong I want to workout and I'm hoping she feels better soon so I can get in the gym.
I need to get my lift on but I'm just saying you gotta work with what you got.
Don't beat yourself up just do what you can do and when your doing it give it 110%
I need to remember that when I'm in Iowa for 3 weeks and finding a gym might not be that easy:)

Ok enough with me lecturing I hope you all have a great hump day.
I will post pics soon but with my daughter being sick I haven't had time.
One step closer to small goal number #2.  I'm giving myself a, YOU GO GIRL!  lol

Shelby

Trip to Asheville, NC

What a whirl wind weekend.
We decided to take a trip to Asheville, NC this weekend.
We rented a cabin in the mountains.  It was fantastic!
If you ever get a chance to go I would recommend it.
I hope we get to go back this summer and check out more of the outdoor activities.
It was chilly out and hard to go hiking with my 1yr old.
We mostly just chilled and relaxed.
Drank to much wine, watched some football and hung out.

I had heard of this resturant called Tupelo Honey that was supposed to have southern food with a twist but was supposed to be hard to get into.
They don't take reservations and there's always a line.
Saturday was a little rainy and we got into town around 10:30am so I thought it would be a great time to check it out for an early lunch.
With the rain and it being so early there surely wouldn't be a line, right?
WRONG.
There was but turns out it was only a 20 min wait so we walked around a little and then got seated!

The food was excellent.
We ordered way to much food but it was all soooo yummy!
They give you biscuits at the beginning with blue berry jam.
They were to die for and I don't even like jam that well.
The kids were getting restless and hungry so the biscuits helped keep the them under control to.
We ordered fried chicken and biscuits and some breakfast bowl.
Me and my hubby shared both.
Not healthy at all, I know,  but it was worth it!
So if your ever in Asheville hit up Tupelo Honey! It's a must.
And I think they are opening on in Raleigh now in the Cameron Village area down by NC State.  Num Num!

Every since we've been back from Asheville my daughter has been sick.
I didn't make it to the gym yesterday because she can't go in the daycare.
I'm hoping she's feeling better today.
I need to go burn some calories off from the weekend.
I hope you all had a good weekend and are having some fun adventures this Christmas season.
I have a ton of them coming up so I'll be busy busy busy!

Peace,
Shelby

New Workout Strategy and New Hair

*New hair color*  

What cha think?  

It's growing on me.  

I feel like I need to get some self tanner for my face though

The darker hair makes me look pale.  

And a new shirt.  

Gosh I'm really horrible at taking selfies.  

You can tell I don't do it that often.

Thought I'd throw a pic of my yummy breakfast in here today.
I used left over veggies to spice up my eggs this morning.
They were delicious.
I need to mix that up to.
Plain eggs were getting BORING!
On a side note did you know asparagus makes your pee smell funny.
If you didn't know before you do know:) LOL

I found a new workout I've tried the last three days.  

I've had to modify it a bit but that's ok, it's whatever works for me right?

I got back on bodybuilding.com and decided to give their Rewired workout a whirl.  

It's more focused on burning fat and building muscle. 

The Erin Stern workout I was going to try seemed to focus more on building muscle and that's not what I need right now.  

Eventually it will be, but I want to burn some fat first. 

I might try to incorporate part of her workout into mine though because there was some stuff I really liked.

I've also increased my treadmill times this week.

As you all know, well if anyone reads this they would know that lately I have had a bad taste in my mouth for running:)

I had been doing basically 20 min on the treadmill 5-6 times a week.  

They were all mostly HITT workouts.  

This week I've been on the treadmill at least 30-40 min. per workout.

I'm going to keep that plan going and increase it to hopefully 45 min per workout when I have time.

Doing a 45 min treadmill workout plus weights makes for a long time at the gym.

I wouldn't really care but I can only put my daughter in the daycare there for two hours and I like to try to shower if I can before I leave.  

It just makes my life easier. 

So I'll have to play it by ear and see what I can work in and what I can't.

So hopefully I see some results from this new strategy for a couple weeks.  

I need to find a good ab workout to incorporate to.  

I'm not a fan of situps.  

I will lift arms and legs all day but situps, blahhh!!!! Not my fav!

Ok better get moving.
Have a good one!

~Shelby

Weigh in Wednesday

Well only an extra pound on that scale this morning. whoop whoop!
I can live with that.
I was scared it would be more like 5.
Now I only have about 2 weeks to get some more weight off before I leave.
What's a realistic goal for this month?
Do I shoot to lose 5lbs, 7lbs, 10lbs??????
Or do I just try not to gain any weight since it's the holiday season?
I'm going to be in Iowa for 3 weeks, 3 loooooong weeks.
That's 3 weeks of traveling back and forth between my family and my husbands family home towns.
There's will be lots of drinking and lots of food.
So I need a plan.
I need to check with the YMCA in our home towns because I think since were members here we can use their facilities in other cities either for a free or a discount.
That would make working out a lot easier!
Just another thing to add to my list of to do's before we go.

So I think I'm going to shoot for a 5lb weight loss this month.
That will put me at 150 going into the new year and I will be happy with that.
I know it's only 5lbs.
They lose more then 5lbs in a week on the biggest loser all the time.
But for some reason my weight is not coming off like it used to.
I must be getting old.  LOL
At least I'm trying to lose all this weight the healthy way and not starving myself.
For to many years I would just not eat and workout and it sucked but it worked.
But obviously it didn't work for the long haul.
Cause here we are again:)
Now I'm just ranting.
So 5lbs this month.
It's on, and if for some reason if I manage to lose more then 5 I will be in absolute heaven.

When I really think about it I'm sitting at a really comfortable weight for me.
Any time I have been between 150-155 I've just been comfortable.
I could just stop now and be content with how I look but I know more then likely the weight would creep back on.
I don't want to be comfortable.
I want to push my body as far as I can personally right now.
I want to be fit and strong.
So here we go.

Here's my measurements from my 4 week challenge.
Not to shabby if I say so myself.

Frist number is old measurement second is new 

Bicep

R-11 - 11

L-11 - 10.5

Hips(right around the hip bone)

38 - 36

Butt

43- 40.5

Thigh(10in. above the knee)

R-25 - 24

L-26 - 25

Calf

R-15 - 15

L-15 - 14.5

I lost a total of 7.5 inches. 

Can't disappointed about that at all!

Happy Wednesday everyone!

Shelby