Friday Favorites

I am SO Not a morning person! However when I put Mandisa's new song "Good Morning" I can't help but go get a little pep into my step! It makes me look on my day with an excitement at the possibilities that this day might bring. If you have not heard this song, you need to!






I am also enjoying my low calorie chocolate cupcake/muffin! When you are dieting & PMS hits -girls, this is the cure!!! I know there are several variations of this recipe but the taste & the texture is so right on my kids ask me to make them. Wow!





I just mix all the ingredients together with a mixer -real well so there is no "crunchy" part in my muffin. Bake according to the directions on the cake mix box. I use Duncan Hines Devil food cake mix, & then sprinkle 4-6 chocolate chips on top of batter in cupcake liner papers prior to baking.







I am also enjoying listening Zig Ziglar podcast, they are free on iTunes & are positive & motivational. Filling my brain with positive stuff as I work around the house.






My last favorite thing I am enjoying this week, is the above new foundation. I heard several good reviews on the product, & when I ran out this week I decided to give it a try. I am so glad I did! It provides good coverage with a light shimmer to deflect light and give a more youthful dewy appearance, can you say "yes, please!".

Well those are my Friday favorites. Hope everyone has a great weekend!

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losing weight and step class -the low down

Well if you like to dance, if you love to shake your thing step class might just be for you. I love step class! However, It has taken me 60 pounds down to be able to really to be able to start taking step class without making my knees hurt.

The low down of losing weight and taking step class is this:

1. Try it! if it makes your knees hurt, stop!

2. When you lose 20 pounds try it again, if it still makes your knees hurt -stop, wait for another twenty pounds down and try it again.

3. you have to be comfortable with yourself to not try to keep up with aerobic barbie in your class, and just do what you are able to do. If it gets to hard, just do what everyone else is doing on the step on the ground.

(*now I will be honest with you when I first tried step class I was not at this place. So what resulted was my knees hurt, I could barely get out of bed the next day- which in the end cost me 3 days of moving my body and burning calories -ugh!)

4. Remind yourself "It is not about being perfect, It's about effort". Yes, I have to remind myself this fact oh, about 30 times about half way through class when I am sucking wind, and aerobic barbie is bouncing around like we just got started.

5. It does not matter what you look like while exercising all that matters is that you are moving your body, burning calories. You are getting stronger, and improving you!

6. If you start back up and your knees just barely ache, come home ice them while watching TV, and take a few ibuprofen and hopeful you will feel fine in the morning. That's the key, and when you know you can add something to your regiment. (Some classes I am still sore the next day, but as the day wears on the soreness works itself out then it is a good type of soreness.)

However, like the old saying goes "The best exercise is the exercise that you will do!" So if you try step class and it is not for you. Hey, it's not for you, go try something else! Just keep moving!

I spin you right round, baby right round

Well I had a horrible, horrible eating weekend!! pms struck me hard & nobody dared to get in between me & chocolate this weekend!! (trust me! I would have hurt somebody if they had even tried!) But at last today is Monday and I am back on the wagon again, striving for clean eating and I added a spin class today so............ Drumroll please .........I will be taking spin 5 days a week now!!! (dunt, dunt, Dah!!!!) (don't you just love "implied" sound effects!) So we shall see if I am still able to walk on Friday. (this has been about a month and half process to work up to). Definitely whining all the way!!

I have added step class back into my routine, and will be blogging about the low down of step class tomorrow. Now that is some fun stuff!

I am going to try to eat clean and step up my work outs for the next few weeks, I have set a "target date" to see what I can accomplish by that date of October 14th. (I have an annual party to attend on the 15th so I am going to use that as a source of motivation to keep me, keeping on. Hey! I have been on a diet since January you really have to set either different weight loss goals and/or event motivators to kick you in the bootie to kick it up a notch!). So much of this weight loss journey that I am on all starts in the mind!!! And for a large part 50% of it is fought and success is determined in the mind! What is my decision today? Will I make good eating choices today? Will I move my body today?


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Let's Celebrate Good "changes"-come on!

Hope everybody had a great 4Th of July! We went and enjoyed watching fireworks last night in a town next to ours. Above is a photo of the night sky. Who did you choose to celebrate with?

We choose to celebrate this year with family, a smaller celebration than last year. However still fun and enjoyable. (Above is a photo of Grace-our youngest princess sitting on her Daddy's lap watching the fireworks)

(above is my sister, my Daddy, and my sister's boyfriend - notice that my Daddy is sitting in between them.

My youngest had so much fun blowing bubbles waiting for the firework show to begin. She did not even seem to notice that it was 96 degrees outside. Bless the young!

Above is a photo of the other 2 princess in our house- Kaylee and Paige.

As I thought through out the day how we celebrate the 4Th of July, and why. I first was very thankful that we live in an amazing country that gives us so much freedom! That made my thoughts go down the path how do we celebrate the other good things that happen to us in our lives. On my weight loss journey - I have victories that are not just a change of the number on the scale.

I have had several this last week. So I thought I would Shout out with Glee on my blog some of the victories I have had this last week.

1. I went shopping for a new shirt -I had a great coupon from Fashion bug store. Fashion bug is a store for women's clothing that is divided in half where half the store has juniors and misses size, and the other half has women's plus size clothing. (Last year I went in there in May and purchased a bathing suit for vacation which was the biggest size I had EVER bought, and yes I looked longingly at the other side of the store and dreamed about one day losing enough weight to get to shop on "the other side of the store". (insert a deep sigh here). Notice the picture below and how the store is divided with a divider wall down the middle of the store.

Well guess what?!?! I got to shop on the other side of the store!!! Woo Hoo!

2. I went for a "walk/jog" the other night for the first time this year - and guess what? I jogged (now keep in mind this term is used loosely!) around an entire block!! Wow! I am growing stronger and more in shape. Progress!

3. I only had 1 (one) hamburger for dinner the night of the 4Th! (last year I had 2/3 yikes!) Some victories are small, but it is important to recognize the changes that you are successful at making and stay positive!!

4. When I leave body pump class now, I am tired and sweaty - However I am now recognizable! I am not drowned in sweat where I have no make-up left on my face, and my hair looks like I have taken a shower. (I still am sweaty but I now appear to glisten, not drenched!)

5. I now can do 16 girl push ups in a row!!! (Baby steps!!)

6. On the squat portion of the class (I take body pump 2 times a week) I went up in weight to a 10 pound weight on each side of my bar bell- Yeah!!! (I started with a 5 pound on each side - back in March.)

With all the above reasons for me to celebrate this week. My two favorite sayings for the week are:

*IF you change nothing,

nothing will change!

*You can bike ride, swim, run

no matter how slow you go,

you're still lapping everyone

on the couch!

What victories have you had this last week or two in your life?

Are you recognizing them? Are you celebrating them? I would love to hear from you!! I will celebrate with you! Positive, healthy changes add up! Keep on Keeping on!!

down 56.3 pounds

Do you need to lose weight? Have you tried before only to be derailed from your efforts? I know! I had slowly gained weight over a decade of having 3 babies. On one hand I knew I was gaining weight, on the other hand it just did not seem that important to me I was busy enjoying my life, and my kiddos to try to focus on that. Then one day I saw a picture of myself and my daughter that was taken as we were walking down the beach. OH MY GOODNESS!! Can you imagine my horror, when I realized how large I had become! Why, oh why had my husband not told me? Yes, I saw myself everyday as I applied my make-up and styled my hair. However I did not get a full length body shot in the mirror every day. In fact the more I thought about it, when I sat down to do my hair and makeup the mirror just let me see about boobs up. As a began to take an inventory of what my body really looked like now. I will be honest with you I was overwhelmed!!! I thought is it even possible to loose this much weight without surgery? I just did not know.

Then last fall, I attended the Friday night football game, at our local High School. It is the event of the week in a small town! Notice all the kids out on the field for the pre-game welcome of our high school football team. I mean to tell you the whole town shows up for the Friday night football game. (think Friday Night Live, TV show). It was there that I spotted a lady who had once been heavy who was amazingly skinny!!! I had to know right then and there -How? What did she do? I did not realize it then, but seeing her success made me realize that there was hope for me, I had potential to lose weight to. After all, if she could do it, so could I!

I started gathering information on how she had done it, talking over the possibility that I should really

gear up and try to lose the weight I had accumulated. I decided to start in January after the holiday (after all I had decided it would be very hard to start during that time of year). My husband, and my mom

became my cheerleaders! They refused to accept excuses from me. They told me it was possible to lose the weight if I really tried.

So I have to tell you as of this week I am down 56.3pounds. I am so excited that I moving right along in this weight loss journey that I am on! I was stopped yesterday at the grocery store in my

small town and was asked how I am losing my weight. Yeah! Clerks at the store are even noticing all

my hard work!! I have to tell you I have 44 pounds left to go - but I now know it is possible! I can do this

and I will do this. If you need to lose weight, or are starting to question if it is possible and even worth

trying I want to encourage you to see the potential in yourself! You can do this!

Diet Strategies

If you are planning on losing 50 pounds or more, you need to mentally cowgirl or cowboy up that it is going to take some time! Now I am not being negative, if you choose not to go on a diet to lose the extra weight you are caring around, you will just be that much older down the line 5 months to a year. However if you are gearing up, psyching yourself up to lose a large amount of weight - be realistic. You did not gain the extra weight in 3-4 weeks, so it makes since that it will take longer than 3-4 weeks to lose that extra weight. So as you give yourself the freedom of knowing that losing a large amount of weight is going to take some time. You need to come up with some good, livable diet strategies for you and your household. (Especially if you are wanting your household to support you! You may be on a diet, but that does not necessarily mean the rest of your household wants to be! My kids would revolt, hold strike signs in the front yard if I tried to make them adhere to my diet plan.) However, let's be real. Most of us have to figure out how to diet at home, or at work - the exact same places that we put on the weight. So what works?

1) I started by cleaning out all the "junk" food and "unhealthy" food that were my triggers. I instead bought snack food for my kids and family that were not temptations for me, but they love. For example, ice cream and Popsicles do not tempt me at all! So they are no problem to have in the house.

2 & 3) If my family demanded to have certain foods in the household that they think they can not live without. I will occasionally buy these items, but my rule is "no food but healthy food is allowed out on my counter". Any other type of foods have to be stored in a drawer or cabinet. You see I have 3 children that range from the ages of 3rd grade-8th grade. Since they outnumber me, and I wanted to not feel like a short order cook. I started to keep a basket of snacks on the counter so the girls could reach them and help themselves. Well that had to stop because if I was hungry and walked into the kitchen, I would most likely grab at the first food I saw and eat quickly before I had even had a chance to think "Is this a good choice? Is it the best choice for me?". Now I have some snacks down low, that the 3rd grader can reach by herself when she wants an afternoon snack but I don't have to stop folding laundry, etc.. to run go get it for her. Also the less time I am in the kitchen, the less opportunity there is for me to eat.

4) Plan ahead, have healthy snacks, or calorie correct portion snacks ready to eat and in a place that you know if you get hungry you can look at these 2 places and anything there will be safe to eat.

5) I really don't like to make 2 dinners but sometimes I try to "tweak" the meal a little bit for me. For example, on nights I make spaghetti for the family. I set aside my spaghetti sauce with out meat, to the side before I add meat to the sauce for my family. Also instead of using noodles for spaghetti like my family eats. I cut a zucchini in long slices wet them with water, and coat them with bread crumbs and bake them in the oven. (I will often hit the top with a spray of Pam) this allows me to eat at the table with the family. My plate looks very similar to theirs. I get the flavor of the marinara sauce, but not all the calories for the noodles. A win-win situation!! (also some nights, I skip the sides that I am serving the family if it happens to be a baked potato, or mac and cheese etc.. I will subsitute a low calorie bowl of soup as my side, but still eat the meat portion of the dinner and throw in a fruit.)

6) Also sipping hot tea in the evening is amazing! I try to buy flavored teas for the things I like, "coconut cocoa" tea, "cocoa spice" tea, can you see a chocolate theme here? Also mint tea is great as well. I am excited to try a pineapple tropic tea this upcoming week!

7) Remember as you lose weight, and you adjust to a new eating pattern some of the things that would make you a raving lunatic might not be a big deal any more. You might have tried some things that work, so stick with those. Other strategies might not have worked or are no longer necessary be flexible to change. Look for better subsitute for the things you are craving.

8) Get a support group! I don't mean a girlfriend that has only 5 pounds to lose!!! If you don't know anyone personally find some weight loss blogs of real people losing weight! Watch the TV show Extreme Weight loss. They will help to keep you inspired as you are on this journey!

9) Also Keelie over at RealFat says to take pictures of yourself while you are on this weight loss journey. I love, love, love this idea! Because if you have a lot of weight to lose it might be a few months before other people start to recognize all the hard work you are doing. So you can look back over the photos and see how your body is changing and be encouraged.

These are my tips that I have found that seem to help me in my weight loss journey. I have currently lost 52.1 pounds and have 48 pounds left to go. I have been on a diet since January 7th 2011. That means I have been on a diet for 5 months. and I have 48 pounds left to go. So I know and understand that losing weight is hard, and yes, sometimes gruellingly slow. However keep it up! We are here to encourage one another no matter what the journey or struggle we might each be facing. I thank everyone that leaves sweet comments and encouragement on my blog! Thank you, Thank you, Thank you!! I read each of them and treasure them in my heart!!