Chick-Filet Sauce

I'm sitting here trying to think of something perky and wise to say to you all about how things have taken a turn for the wonderful and how all blog posts will be positive and uplifting from this day forward... but for the life of me I can't think of one sweet and fluffy thing to say.  I was just thinking of a way to give myself the "glow" though and that would be to grab a flashlight and put it against my chin and light up my face.  I feel that even though the act of doing this would only cause creepy shadows to fall across the bone structure (that isn't all that visible anymore) would only suit the true nature of my glow - fake and harsh.

I need one of these :)

I do have some somewhat good news!  I made it through the weekend without killing anyone!  This is a big deal on normal weekends much less on a pregnant holiday weekend!  I drove over a hundred miles, partially through Houston, and I only yelled at a few drivers.  I am actually very proud of myself for this because there were moments I wanted to take off my flip-flop and throw it out the passenger window at a few drivers.  It used to be that when you were driving out in the country the slow person you were tailgating would nicely move to the shoulder to let you by - now however they just seem to like reading my VIN off my registration sticker through their rear view mirror.  RUDE!  Its very simple - get out of my way and both our worlds will be better.

Another positive thing from the weekend... I finally found a way to eat fresh strawberries!  Think what you like but this is a really great recipe that I stole off someones FB and wow - yummy!!  So you take a strawberry and hollow it out a little then you take a cheesecake like filling and squeeze it in there then top with crushed up graham crackers (I used vanilla wafers).  YUMMY!!  Everyone loved them and they were so easy!  Next time I'm thinking about sealing the cheesecake in with dipping chocolate and then putting the crumbs on top of the chocolate :)

http://homesteadsurvival.blogspot.com/2012/05/cheesecake-stuffed-strawberries.html

Also on and awesome note!  I got to see my youngest brother John this weekend!  He is also in the Navy and is stationed in NY State.  He has such a dry sense of humor which I LOVE!  When he first came in to give me a hug he pointed down at my stomach and said, "So there's like, a baby in there?"  "Yep," I replied. "Cool - I like the sound of Uncle" and gave me a hug.  I know it sounds goofy but you just have to know my handsome, genius, amazing brother John!

Yesterday I hit a rough patch.  I have had migraines for a while.  The kind where the right side of my head feels like someone slammed a crowbar into it several times.  The kind where my right eye feels likes its going to be pushed out of the socket by some unknown force and I can feel my pulse throbbing under my scalp.  Yeah its great waking up with one of these!  I was prepared though!  Right before I realized I locked my keys in my car I took a painkiller.  Of course I hadn't eaten yet but the plan was to grab breakfast on the way in to work so no big deal right?  Oops! That didn't quite work out as I had to wait for my hubby to save me (once again).  By the time he was able to get away from work and open the car for me I was already tired and nauseous.  Okay no big deal!  Stop for donuts on the way in (yum) and finally make it to work... where I throw up the donuts :(

I make it through the rest of the day trying not to look up at people because for some reason when I look up the nausea gets worse.  I finally leave for lunch around 2:30pm right after taking another pain pill and pick up some Chick-Filet, and throw up as soon as I get to my house.  I eat my chick-filet in bed on a towel and have my hubby tuck me in when he gets home.  I sleep until 7:30pm.  Hubby goes and gets me a yummy baked potato which I eat and then we sit down for the Hatfields & McCoys.  Here comes the crowbar feeling again!  So much for it slacking off!  Another pain killer... and another running dash to the bathroom!!  GRRR - at this point I start crying out of self-pity and take a shower.  We finish the first part of the movie and then head to bed.  And the pounding just gets worse.  What to do?  ER?  No - Kennith has to wake up early.  Call my PCP?  Nope - Sadler Clinic shut down (FAIL!).  After hours call into the OB/GYN it is!  Not much help there but I was told I could take 2 Excedrin PM with a Zofran. Praise Be!  No headache this morning! :)

Gidget Greenmyer

To add a little bit of humor to my migraine.  For those of you who may not know my husband and I adopted a Jack Russel mix shortly after our honeymoon.  Her name is Gidget and she is pretty crazy but she is so cute we excuse her for much!  Now my puppy feels that she has just as much a right to be in my bed as I do and she makes sure both Kennith and I are aware that her spot is right in the middle of the bed between us.  Cuddle with my husband at night?  No way!  Gidget is worse than an old maid at an 8th grade dance in the 40's.  Anyway so I mentioned I ate my chick-filet on a towel in my bed.  Well I'm sure that by the time I finished there were a few spots of Chick-Filet Sauce (the best most yummiest sauce in the world hands down!) left behind so I rolled the towel up and put it at the end of my bed and forget about it.  Later, as I sit listening to Kennith tell me about his day, I look down and see that my dog has burrowed her way into the towel and is licking the sauce and crumbs I left behind.  She looked like a confused hermit crab because her butt was sticking out of the towel while the upper part of her body was engulfed inside the towel and I could literally see her tongue going up and down the towel from the inside.  Then (because she is so bright) she tried to stand up but the towel wouldn't give so she proceeded to flop around the bed with the towel stuck on her head until Kennith stopped laughing and helped her out.  It looked like we had put her in a puppy straight jacket!  Of course she must have realized she missed a spot because she proceeded to stick her head right back in there to get any little morsels left behind!  Silly puppy!  There is never a dull moment with her around!  What a personality! 

Anyway - today has been pretty good so far!  I feel more human for sure and managed to eat a few of the donut holes left over from yesterday!  Hopefully my doctor will be able to give me something better than what I'm taking for the migraines because the other solution is to take fenegren with it and that stuff pretty much makes me hallucinate - no bueno!  

Milestones

Today we are at 7 weeks and 4 days.  We still have about five weeks to go before entering into the "happy-glowy" second trimester but at this point I'm still a little reticent to believe there is such a thing.  Last night I went with my mom and husband to see, "What to Expect When You're Expecting" and I must say I think I saw my twin up on that screen.  That's right - I'm the one who calls, "Bulls*#t!"  I'm still here looking for the glow promised in every magazine, photo-op, and Palmer's Cocoa Butter commercial (though technically I'm pretty sure most of that glow comes from airbrushing).

Though the dizziness has receded my upper half is still pretty tender and lets not forget my now extremely oily and very spotted skin!!  I went into a skin care store today and I explained to the woman that my skin had taken a 180 and was now very oily due to my pregnancy and I asked her to help me find some new products so that my freckles don't slide off my face in an oil slide.  I informed her of the products I am currently using and she proceeded to argue with me and tell me that those are good products and that I'm probably not actually oily or that its probably just that I touch my face often.  I informed her that I am positive my skin is oily and that I have not changed anything in my routine other than carrying a child and she just stared at me.  Really?  At this point those little hormone gremlins started showing interest in the artery that runs through her throat but luckily the blank look left her post-menopausal face (no hormones to fight back) and she started selling me some new products made to combat acne and oil.  They better work for what I gave for them because if they don't I will calmly call the gremlins to arms and bring every last bottle back!

Moving on from women with blank looks who seem to think telling a pregnant woman she doesn't know what she is talking about is a healthy choice... 

We heard the heartbeat on Tuesday!  It was pretty amazing watching that little flicker on the screen and hearing that 154 beats per minute.  Of course the first pictures we have of our offspring consist of a gritty grey oval within a slightly larger black oval but its got noise and movement and that means that the chances of miscarriage...though not completely gone...have lowered dramatically and that is helping me with the stress marginally.  

Baby Greenmyer

Stress and anxiety.  I wouldn't be Sarah if I wasn't stressed or anxious about something but since I had to stop taking what I refer to as my "happy pills" and had an influx of gremlins take over my body I'm having a hard time being excited about even the "amazingly awesome" things like hearing the heartbeat.  I'm hoping that once I enter that mystical 2nd trimester I'll start feeling more sparkly instead of like a black hole that sucks in and destroys all things good.  I'm not quite sure how my husband has survived the last seven weeks.  He is the bestest most wonderfulest husband in the whole world!  Honestly I don't know how he does it because I swear the next time I burst out in random tears I might just slap myself across the face!  

Yes I know... I'm the Debbie Downer of the pregnancy world but I'm telling like it is, for me at least!  Interesting fact - I found out through a friend the other day that their are 13 girls pregnant attending my old high school right now and most of them are freshman.  I replied that their may be 13 moms but their are probably only 2 dads - tacky I know but probably true!  Can you imagine though?  In a school that might have 400 students and 13 are already pregnant.  I cannot imagine feeling this way, and being a teenager, and having to go to high school, and having to live with my parents, and not doing this with my husband!  Makes me pretty sad!  I can't wait to start doing my prevention classes in these schools!  Hopefully I'll be able to keep some of these girls from going through this!

In closing, I'm thinking about that movie last night and how this mother's whole pregnancy was really crappy and she suffered from every horrible thing that could go wrong and yet as she looked down at her newborn in the hospital she realized she had finally found what she had been looking for - her glow.  Here is to meeting my glow on January 6, 2013.  As horrible as battling gremlins daily can be it will all be worth it when I finally get to meet the reason for the gremlins.    

Crying Shame

Notice the Bad Driver he is Eating?

Does anyone remember the movie Gremlins?  I don't remember all of the details but I do remember those little pointy eared things that go crazy terrorizing the city.  This is how I look at my hormones... little gremlins.  Yesterday we made significant progress with the little gremlins in regards to being cranky.  I was only sporadically cranky throughout the day and those bursts of rage mainly presented themselves on the road.  That's right ~ people who have no clue how to operate a moving vehicle and yet are somehow still surrounding me in death machines are not exempt from the Pregnant Ginger Wrath.  Also the dizziness only affected me a few times yesterday and I was actually cold for several hours!  I'm pretty sure this is a mean trick but I'll take what I can get!


 What then, do you ask, did the mean little gremlins do yesterday?  Those mean little creatures took over my body and turned me into a natural spring!!  On my way to my group yesterday I'm listening to the radio and every song that came on had me tearing up!  There I am driving down the road and all I can think is, "Why in the heck does Dierks Bentley's Am I The Only One making me want to breakdown in tears?"  The gremlins merely chanted in the background, "cry, cry, cry...sniffle, sniffle, sniffle...cry cry cry!!!"  I held strong though!  I just kept switching through the radio trying to find anything that didn't cause my eyes to water ~ No such luck.

Not sure what about these lyrics made me feel the need to sob like an infant...

It was then I decide to turn off the radio (which I'm pretty sure has joined the gremlin conspiracy) and call my Mom.  You see my Mom went on a road trip with one of my little brothers (I use the term lightly) to see my other little brother in Florida and then head up to Norfolk, Virginia where he is now stationed.  We are all very excited about this because he has been stationed out of the country for at least the past four years.  This means that all three of my younger brothers, who are all in the Navy, are now stateside!  So here I am talking to my Mom and she is telling me all about how they finally found the right base, got him registered to drive on base, and then some other person came and helped them out by giving them a tour and showing him his new barracks etc. etc.  And I literally start tearing up again!!  REALLY??  I mean I'm just so HAPPY that he is HAPPY and who wouldn't cry about the fact their little brother got a tour around a Naval base?
 
Thank goodness for work!  I get off the phone to head into the school and spend the next hour with my girls.  As I'm leaving I pull out my phone to text my husband that he was supposed to call me while on break and what do I see... A missed call from my husband (sniffle).  He is so amazing :)

Later in the day my hubby gets home and asks me if I want to go to Babies R Us and run some other errands before dinner.  How lucky am I?  Then we get a text from his parents saying they want to eat out and asked if we want to join them at Ryan's for dinner.  When my husband comes to check with me about it I lose it.  I honestly think I scared him to death because I just start sobbing.  I give him total credit though because instead of getting mad he comes and gives me a hug and valiantly tries to figure out what is wrong... the answer went something like this...

My Very Amazing, Very Good-Looking Husband!

*sobbing* "I'm so fat!  I look like a fat cow and I'm not even that pregnant!  I can't fit in any of my clothes and our child is only the size of an apple seed!  I need to workout but I can't get anyone to work out with me!  Everyone has just abandoned me!  Everyone wants to tell me what I need to do but no one will help me do it!  I'm killing myself and our baby by eating out all of the time!  What if something happens to the baby because I'm not eating healthy and I'm supposed to?"

*Kennith* Baby!  You are not fat and you are NOT hurting the baby!  I'm sorry I need to do better!  I'll start cooking more!  Its going to be okay!"

*sobbing* "Its NOT going to be okay!  And I could cook more too!  You already do too much as it is... You're just going to get tired of me and go find someone else who is nicer and does chores around the house and cooks and is nice."

*Kennith* Sarah!!  I married YOU!  I love YOU!  I'm not going anywhere!  Stop saying that!  Everything is going to be fine!

*sobbing* Okay... but you deserve to be happy and I'm a horrible person!  I'm mean to the dog and I'm mean to you!  And I'm so hot!  I can't breathe!  *sobs more* I'm tired of being so hot and the dog stepping on my stomach and my b**bs!  It hurts!  I don't want to go eat!  I'm not hungry!  I had too much to eat for lunch and I don't want to eat!"

*Kennith*  You are NOT a horrible person and I'm sorry you don't feel good but starving yourself isn't the answer either.

*sobbing* "I'M NOT STARVING MYSELF!  I'm just not hungry!  I ate too much for lunch and now I don't want to eat again... because I'm too fat!  I don't even have a reason to be fat yet!  I'm going to have gestational diabetes or high blood pressure!  Why can't I work out anymore?  I can't do it by myself!  I was doing so good and now I'm horrible... sob sob sniffle... sob...  And now my make-up is messed up and I look ugly!  I don't know why you want to stay here with me!"

So that was the first about 6 minutes of this 20 minute episode.  It was pretty rough but luckily my husband stuck with me and did a GREAT job!  I know he loves me because when I finally found my way into the bathroom to redo my make-up I not only had mascara under my eyes I had it on my cheeks, jaw, and believe it or not... my forehead.  Needless to say I did not re-apply the mascara.  It also didn't help the re-application process that I kept having random tears streak down my face, but who wouldn't tear up when you have a husband sweet enough to stay in the bathroom with you handing you Kleenex every three seconds.

We did manage to make it down to Babies R Us which was pretty fun.  I was a little sad to find they don't actually carry the stroller I want to try out.  I'm pretty sure Kennith broke to floor model strollers which was pretty funny and though we didn't find anything that struck us as "amazing" we did find several that are definite NO's!  LOL  I guess we will be practicing with the stroller and carseat before Hannah/Remington gets here so that we don't maim our child while trying to put them together!

I have also determined I'm going to have to make me a shirt that says, "Its not you, Its the Baby" for when we go out to eat because I'm sure our poor waitress last night either thought I was on the brink of death or just couldn't stand her due to the fact I was trying not to be sick the entire time we were sitting there.  The fact that it was -28 degrees at our table didn't help much either.  When we were finally wrapping up and the waitress said she hoped I felt better, Kennith told her it was the baby making me feel queasy.  This we will be doing from now on because man did she get so super nice after that!  Offering us everything but free desert and I'm sure I could have managed that had I been sure I could have eaten it!  She even told me I made a very pretty pregnant woman in my dress!  HAH

When we got home I aired up our air mattress and put it in the living room so I could lay down and watch TV.  That lasted until the dryer was turned on... the dog started crawling on my stomach and b**bs... I had to pee... and my head started killing me.  At that point, with all the grace of a two year old mid-tantrum, I snatched up my pillows and stomped into my bedroom.  I threw the pillows on the bed, took a pain killer, and climbed into bed whining about how it was too loud in the living room and I felt bad and just wanted to lay down.  My husband apologized to me (I'm so horrible) and proceeded to turn off the tv and all the lights before getting into bed and making the dog lay on his side so that she wouldn't bother me.

I was finally able to go to sleep...though my wonderful puppy woke me up at 11:30pm needing to go outside :(  So I got up and took her out in a nightgown and robe with my hair all crazy and in camo house shoes... Naturally the firefighter neighbor guy was on his balcony.  I didn't know this however until he cleared his throat, I'm sure to let me know he was there, at which point I stepped deeper into the shadows so that he couldn't see anymore of my rear-end hanging out of my robe.  RUDE!

LOL - So I slept like crap and had some more of my super weird pregnancy dreams!  I don't know what is up with that but they are not the best of dreams!  I did wake up in a much better frame of mind this morning though I did suffer from some morning sickness...  I'm hoping I will continue feeling better because this afternoon we are meeting with a group of our good friends/family to shoot some skeet and get in some pistol practice!  I used to enjoy this quite a bit pre-pregnancy so I'm hoping I'll still like it today!  My luck I'll forget which way to point the gun or not be able to hit the broad side of a barn much less a sporting clay... sigh

He's Always Got My Back

So there you have it!  My day of shame brought on by uncontrollable sobbing, encouraged and directed by the gremlins of this pregnancy!  They are running my husband ragged... he even asked me last night which trimester is worse the first or third.  I told him the first but since I've never been pregnant before who knows... He just needed a little light at the end of the tunnel and he did perk up when I told him that!  :)  I'm pretty sure I would make a pretty awesome birth control ad for teenagers who think having a baby is so wonderful and magical LOL - Scare Tactics - love them!

Well let me know how you are doing and if you have any advice on how to kill off the gremlins!  Texas_Ginger23@yahoo.com and on FB!

Pregnancy Brain

Pregnancy Brain... Mommy Brain... Pregnancy Amnesia... Momnesia... Sarah losing her mind!!!

Oh its real!  Don't let the cutsie little names fool you!  It has been scientifically proven that pregnant women suffer from memory deficits.  How do I know that its real?


1. Home & Car Keys left in my front door last night.

2. Putting business cards in a "safe place" before pregnancy and now having absolutely no idea where they hidden.

3. Not being able to recall simple words during conversation and ending up staring blankly at whatever poor soul I was attempting to talk to.

4. I'm not even going to mention the grammatical or linguistic errors that happen in this blog.

5. Using sentences like, "How are we there getting?"

6. Staring blankly at my work computer trying to remember what that really important something I needed to do was... and then wondering if there actually was something really important I needed to do in the first place.

These are of course just a few examples of how my brain is betraying me daily.  It is a horrible feeling for someone who graduated with an English and Psychology degree to try and discuss a simple topic and to not be able to manufacture simple (much less complex) sentences.  I'm sorry Renee... please accept my sincere apologies :(  I of course cannot complain about my inability to solve simple math problems because even at my best I could never do that.  Its sad really... If one of my students asks me a math question during group (thank heavens it doesn't happen often) I merely smile and say, "Who here knows what 8X6 equals?"  I only hope they get it right since I don't have my phone nearby to check their answer.

Interestingly enough I did find an article on pregnancy brain today that states some people believe that pregnancy brain is nature's way of getting you to make your future baby your priority by making your brain only be able to focus on the baby and simplifying your life in preparation of its arrival.  I found this to be quite interesting because honestly I can remember 5 different bottle names and what makes them special and unique but I cannot find those business cards ANYWHERE!!!!

The cause behind pregnancy brain is (that's right! you guessed it!) HORMONES!!!  Those demon little things that take over your body and then laugh when they make you do horrible things.  Don't believe me?  Here is a taste of what these tricky little H-Monsters have made me do over the past week:

1. Tell my husband he doesn't love my because even though he cooked dinner, cleaned the kitchen, poured me a glass of tea, and sat waiting for me to realize dinner was ready even after he told me it was (pregnancy hearing loss) he didn't fix my plate.  Obviously the man couldn't care less about me or the baby and wants us both to starve!

2.  Make me sleep on a towel every night thanks to night sweats regardless of the fact I just cut all of my hair off to help with the heat problem.

3.  Cause me to be in a constant state of dizziness preventing me from exercising and leading to rapid weight gain.  (Though I do feel a small sense of triumph every time I make it up and down our stairs without falling... especially when my dog is dragging me down at 90mph because she maybe, just might, on the off chance have seen what could have been a bird within 50ft of our apartment).

4.  Watch my skin break out like I'm 15 years old and have never heard of an acne product in my life!  Really????  Oh and now Ulta and Sephora no longer carry my favorite face wash... this does not make me smile.

I could go on but I'll save you from the more embarrassing things the H-Monsters have made me do lately...really I promise you don't want to know...

Luckily today my dizziness seems to have decreased by about 10% however I have found that whenever I am not dizzy I feel like my flesh is going to melt off from the inside because apparently the little H-Monsters have installed a supercharged heating system that uses my blood vessels to super heat my body instantaneously.  I have had two people ask me if I'm okay this week because I was vigorously fanning myself off with coloring pages apparently looking like I was on the brink of... well ... passing out, death, exploding?  Who knows...

I asked my husband what he was most looking forward too during the pregnancy and he replied, "The second trimester.  I just want to make it to the second trimester so you won't be so cranky and hopefully you will feel better and be happier."  My poor, poor husband.  After informing him he didn't love me because he didn't put food on a plate for me, I whined out an apology and told him he had to take everything I said with a grain of salt for the next nine months.  I'm thinking now that I should have put that clause in our wedding vows - hindsight's 20/20 I suppose.

I do have some good news!!!  I got my first diaper bag in the mail today!  I'm so excited because it is soooo CUTE!!  Kennith wanted to share a diaper bag between us but I think when he saw me pick out this one he decided he didn't mind so much if we had two.  He is now looking for a tactical (no joke...he wants a for real military grade ~ made to carry weapons and ammunition bag) diaper bag.  Luckily they have some pretty cute ideas for this and we even found some "daddy blogs" that talk about them!  Back to my super cute bag!  Its by JJ Cole and I got a good deal on it on Diapers.com so I went ahead and ordered it.  Am I way ahead of myself?  Naturally.  Will I despite my best efforts be able to stop this pre-second trimester baby shopping? Nope.  This means that baby is expected to make an appearance on or around January 6, 2013.  No ifs, ands, butts, or excuses accepted!!!!!

Oh and to add to the pregnancy brain proof bucket... I couldn't find my new Victoria Secret card this morning or my coupons though I searched high and low in our office, shuffling papers and whatnot.  My husband came home, grabbed the "Sarah Stack" of papers and what did he find LITERALLY on the very top of the pile... yeah, its a sad thing.  So please don't ask me to babysit any live creatures human or animal because I would probably lose it... and then I wouldn't be able to help look for it later when you came back for it... then you would find it sitting on the couch laughing as I crawled around my apartment looking it.  SMH

Okay well enough for now!  I'll talk to you guys again soon!  Don't forget send your comments my way!  I'm on FB and at texas_ginger23@yahoo.com

I've really enjoyed everyone's comments and encouragement from the past few posts!  Its really great to know you guys are out there reading!

Oh and question of the week...  BOTTLES!  What do you use?  What do you like?  Why?  Etc. Etc.  I've done some research but I want to know from those of you who are using/have used them before.  I've used Dr. Browns but I want to know what works for you!!!  Let me know @ Texas_Ginger23@yahoo.com

The Beginning of a Journey

I miss blogging.  I miss being able to sit down and type out the things flowing through my brain, though honestly at this point there isn't a whole lot floating through my brain that makes a whole lot of sense.  I haven't been as active lately because honestly I haven't been too sure about what I should be writing about.  I have been struggling with the idea of having a "pregnancy blog" because most of you are either not interested in hearing about the day to day life of a pregnant ginger and the rest of you have lived through it yourselves and are all in the know.  

So what do I do?  I can't write about working out if I'm not working out yet, thank you 24 hour dizziness, and I don't want to bore everyone with writing about baby this and baby that... trust me, I know, even I get tired of, "and on this day my baby is .33cm bigger!!"  However there are several of you out there that I'm not able to see or talk to very often who would like to know whats going on in our lives so I'm going to use this forum, my forum, to chronicle my ups and downs, ask questions of those of you in the know (hopefully getting some answers), and basically share my journey with you.

This whole thing started April 16, 2012.  That is the day I went to see my OB/GYN who told me, "Everything looks great!  All you need to do now is get pregnant."  WHAT??  For a split second I thought there was some sort of conspiracy going on between my mother, supervisor, doctor, pinterest, and facebook.  (I have not yet ruled this possibility out either.)  Everything for weeks had been baby, baby, baby, baby.  Baby furniture, baby clothes, baby books, etc. etc.  Everywhere I looked there was a baby belly staring at me from across the room.  No pressure at all...none...my life was strictly baby pressure free.  However, the good doctor got me to thinking.  

First thought: I'm getting OLD!  To most of you 26 isn't old but for me this is the oldest I have ever been and considering that I am the oldest female in four generations of my mother's side of the family to have children... that pretty much makes me ancient.   

Second thought: Conceiving could take a long time due to the problems I've had in the past... not to mention I'm working with only half the equipment most women have which could put a damper on things... 

Third thought: Babies...sigh

So what did I do before I left the doctor's office?  I might have asked..."Not that I am trying, but if I were to try what should I do?"  Boy did I get an answer... this guy really wanted me to get pregnant!  I was informed about how to use predictor kits, given a prescription to get my hubby tested, and told to take prenatals for good measure.   

As you can imagine I had more than a little to think about on my drive to Wal-Mart to pick up some groceries with my husband.  Why I felt the need to talk about this while walking around the produce section I don't know but that is exactly what I did.  The problem with this is that when I have nervous energy I can't stand not moving around and need to walk and talk... my poor husband however has a problem walking and discussing important subjects.  We did a lot of stop and go talking around Wal-Mart that day.  Finally that night we decided that we would start trying to conceive in May.  I bought a predictor kit to start using in May and we were prepared for this taking several months to a year if not longer due to my past problems.  Am I ever so glad we had this discussion!

On the 24th of April we were at my in-laws house visiting when I started getting nauseated on the swing.  I merely assumed that it was from not eating and the motion so I stole, I mean borrowed of course, some TUMS from my sister-in-law (thanks Sarah I owe you some more) and seemed to be fine, but something kept nagging me in the back of my head.  I informed Kennith as we were leaving their house that night that I wanted to stop by Walgreen's to pick up a few things.  One of which was a box of pregnancy tests.  I didn't for one second think they would be positive but I figure it would be good practice for May.  

Wednesday morning I woke up did the test and got in the shower.  Some time later I got out of the shower and almost just through the test away without looking at it because I was so sure it would be negative.  I swear you could have knocked me over with anything from a feather to a bulldozer when I looked down and it said PREGNANT.

"Huh?  No Way... We haven't even tried... I haven't used the predictor kit... this was supposed to take a year...I've had alcohol this month...Nope... there's no way!  Time for the back up test."

"Holy Crap!  I'm...uh...I suppose this means...guess I won't need the predictor kit next month."

I was a little freaked out.  I went to the doctor right away because I was not about to spring this news on my husband without some type of confirmation.  The doctor and nurse laughed at me because Kennith and I always go to the doctor together.  This time I was alone however and after one more test to confirm it was, "Congratulations!"  Huh - This means I was pregnant before my doctor told me to get pregnant.  Guess I'm just a natural "One-Upper."

I took the rest of the day off and ran to Carter's to try and find some cute onesie's to give to Kennith to inform him he would be a father.  I found some but ended up just putting the two pregnancy tests in a gift bag and making his supervisor send him outside to tell him.  He of course thought someone had been in an accident and by the time I gave him the bag he already asked me if I was pregnant.  (Punk!  Can't just look in the bag and be surprised... gotta know everything ahead of time!)  I was (and honestly still am) processing but he seemed to be doing a much better job of it.  

After that I left and tried to spread the word to those who I knew would kill me if they weren't in the first to know bunch.  It was really exciting and everyone seemed genuinely happy for us.  That night we had dinner with his family and I started feeling pretty achy on my left side.  I started to worry and by the time I got home I was spotting.  Talk about freaked out and upset.  Thanks to my mother-in-law for coming over and trying to calm me down because I just knew the world was done for.  

Thank goodness things seem to be doing much better.  I have been to the doctor several times and have gotten nothing but good reports.  My numbers are getting higher and higher and the doctor feels good about the progress.  I'm still a little wary and like I mentioned before I am holding my breath for May 17 and June 17 hoping to make it into the 2nd Trimester.  

I still have a hard time believing what is going on though the hormones definitely don't want me to doubt what is happening.  Exhaustion like I have never known (which is saying something for me), wanting to eat every piece of food within 1000miles (except fruit... still working on that), dizzy every minute of ever day, nausea in the afternoons, and good Lord do NOT get me started on the pain going on in the upper region of my body!  I'm telling you chopping them off would be less painful!  Oh and if you thought I was crabby before?  Regular crabby Sarah has NOTHING on pregnant Godzilla Crabby Sarah.  I'm either crabby to the umpteenth power or I'm crying over stupid stuff like the series finale of In Plain Sight (I'm really ticked they ended the show by the way).  Not to mention I just read that things will probably get worse over the next few weeks... JOY.  

Okay done with the symptoms (for now) I'll put up with what I need to...I do miss working out and hope to get started on that pretty soon.  My Yoga DVD came in yesterday and my very loving husband told me in a very stern tone of voice (which I didn't think was possible for my husband" that I could do that but that he didn't want me doing P90X.  LOL - He is so cute!

Now you know the beginning.  As in all things, this is a journey, and it is everything between the beginning and the end that truly matter.  We are due January 6, 2013 and cannot wait to meet our son (I say this because I want a boy while everyone else "knows" its going to be a girl.  I am holding out for Team Blue!)  I'm going to need all the help and wisdom I can get so feel free to send it my way!  

Texas_Ginger23@yahoo.com or on FB

The Updating of Things

Okay so things have changed - obviously.  This is no longer going to be my kick-behind-and-lose-60lbs-in-6-months-blog its going to be more of a survive-my-first-pregnancy-while-trying-to-stay-healthy-and-not-gain-60lbs-in-6-months blog.  Unfortunately I'm already behind as I'm pretty sure I have gained 10lbs in the past two weeks.

(If you have or have ever had Smith as your last name... I KNOW... I'm working on it.)

So with this new type of blog comes a new set of goals to go by.  Interestingly enough they almost match up with the dates of the last set of goals.

Goal 1: Get to May 17
       - May 17 will be 8 weeks of pregnancy and I have had several friends miscarry at this point so I am still very wary of that date and I just want to make it past that healthy and with child.

Goal 2: Get to June 17
      - June 17 will be the day I enter into my second trimester which is when the risk of miscarriage plummets drastically - crossing my fingers to get to this day! 

Goal 3: Eat Healthier
      - I had been eating about 1230 calories a day on my diet but I wasn't necessarily eating "healthy" so my goal is to now start eating more veggies, fruits, chicken, and fish.  This is going to be a challenge for me especially since for the past two weeks I have not only fallen off the wagon but I have fallen into a deep dark pit of eating everything within reach as long as it isn't in anyway good for me!

Goal 4: Not to look like a hippo for Jaren's wedding.
      - Looking cute and pregnant is one thing... gaining like 1000 pounds and looking like a creature from the Nile is another!  I want to look like I'm hiding a basketball in my dress... not 30 year old twins.

Of course I have all of the other pregnancy goals but I'm sure you guys don't want to hear all about those.  The cool thing however is that we should be able to hear the heartbeat around Kennith's birthday and find out the gender around my birthday.  Naturally I want a boy and Kennith wants a girl so this should be very interesting!

So in order to stay in somewhat decent shape while pregnant I have ordered two new workout DVDs.  The first, with the recommendation of Jaren, Total Body Sculpt Plus with Gilad and a Pregnancy Yoga workout off of Beachbody.com.  I have the Total Body Sculpt DVDs and my plan is to start them tonight.  I am assuming since I was able to survive P90X then I should be able to survive this.  We shall see.

I know that they say in pregnancy that you should be able to continue whatever workouts you were doing when you got pregnant as long as you don't start anything your body is not used to, so I'm sure some of you are wondering why the change.  Well as I mentioned before I'm still in the first trimester which is the riskiest one and two I've already had a few scares in the past few weeks so I'm really trying to take it easy.  The good news however is that my hormone levels keep going up and up and the past few ultrasounds haven't shown anything really concerning!  This of course makes me feel much better but I'm still holding my breath until I see my little guy.

Okay so I need to find some yummy ways to eat strawberries.  Does anyone have any good/healthy ways to fix strawberries?  I am really trying hard to like fruit but I'm not being very chipper about the whole process! Of course I haven't been so chipper about a lot of things the past few days... Between migraines, mood swings, bouts of random tears, and being tired every minute of every day, I haven't found a whole lot of time to be perky and sweet.  Something else I need to work on I suppose ~ yuck.

Happy Fruit - Oh how I loathe thee...

Well, off I go.  For the thousandth time I'm going to assure you I'm going to start eating healthy.  What I really need is a live in cook that only lets me eat healthy things!  How lovely would it be to have someone there that cooks yummy healthy meals and all I have to do is sit down and enjoy the low calorie super foods that will help grow a baby genius inside of me that will invent something great and thus allow my son to sponsor my frequent trips around the world.  sigh ~

Well send me your healthy recipes and snacks so I can once again try to get back on track.  Also I'm accepting all pregnancy advice at Texas_Ginger23@yahoo.com.  I'm looking for the tricks of the trade so to speak on how to survive the next several months!  Any other workout recommendations?

Changes All Around

Okay so I feel like it has been ages since I've been on here and I guess in the blogging world it has been!  I promise I have a pretty good excuse, but I'll get to that in a bit.  So all of you know that I was working my way into a size 6 for an October wedding.  Unfortunately I am having to alter my goals after realizing that it will be impossible for me to be down to that size in just a matter of months.  Don't get me wrong I'm not giving up, but at six months pregnant it might not be very healthy to be as skinny as I would like to be.

A bit of humor :)

That's right.  I'm Pregnant!  Now as happy as I am I'm not getting super excited just yet because we are barely into this a month and I have told myself I cannot get completely excited until my birthday in July after I have moved into the second trimester.  According to the timeline we are due in the beginning of January.  The funny thing about all of this is that my husband and I decided on April 16 that we were going to start trying to get pregnant next month, expecting it to take months due to some problems I've had in the past, but lo and behold... we were already pregnant!  So I guess it is a good thing we talked about it!  I had even bought a predictor kit to start using next month LOL!  You should have seen my face when that test was positive!  I had only taken it for practice... you know kicks and giggles... and I almost didn't look at so convinced I was it would say "not pregnant" but when I finally got out of the shower and I saw that word PREGNANT staring back at me I was like, "No... we haven't even tried yet..." I swear you could have just knocked me over on my freshly cleaned rear-end and I wouldn't have known the difference!

All celebration aside, I did have an instance of panic last week with some cramping and spotting the day I found out so this is why I'm trying not to be too ecstatic about all of this, and I probably shouldn't be making the announcement yet, but I needed to explain why I have been AWOL the past week or so.  Thus I ask that if you pray you pray for the health of my baby :)

How does this effect my diet and work out plan you ask?  Well things will change but I still plan to continue working out and eating healthy!  Remember my ultimate goal was to be healthy and in my mind Healthy Mom = Healthy Baby.  I'm going to be increasing my daily caloric intake by about 500 calories (which puts me at 1800 a day) and making sure each calorie counts for both of us!  I'm also going to be concentrating on more low impact work-outs like yoga, stretching, and such in an effort to take it easy while remaining active.  My friends Jaren and Candace told me to look up Total Body Sculpt with Gilad (Spelling?) so I'm going to do some researching this week to see what I can find!  I'm not allowed to really be super active just yet until I get some test results back from last week but let me tell you - I am MISSING IT!!  I already feel like an elephant just from missing a week of working out!

So I WON'T be doing some of these but I'll be working toward it :)

So if any of you out there have any tips/advice/wisdom for me I would appreciate it!  I'm always open for wisdom and advice but ultimately, just like anyone, I chose the bits and pieces that will work best for my family and me, and incorporate those into my life!  I'm also looking for some good, healthy recipes to try so if you have any of those please feel free to send them my way!  I'm about to start making myself eat fruit (which I do NOT like) so if you have any ideas of how to make it more appetizing that would be pretty awesome!

I'm also thinking about changing the name of my blog to: Ginger With A Bulge...  I'm still going to continue my journey through the world of exercise and eating healthy I'm just bringing someone else along with me :)  So though you may be hearing about some baby stuff... i.e.  I'm exhausted and just want to lay down and sleep... or that I, thank goodness, don't have morning sickness but I am stricken with nausea between 5:30pm and 6:30pm most nights... this is still going to be more about getting healthy than anything else!

So in closing ~ Pregnancy is obviously not the only thing in life that can change our future goals up a bit!  What challenges are you guys going through that may have caused a change of plans for you?  This is one of the many reasons that being flexible is a great and healthy personality trait to have!  Don't be so set in your ways that you can't joy the blessing that come your way while you are working toward your ultimate goals!

Thanks for all of your support and well wishes in advance :)  Just please keep us in your prayers!  I've waited for this for so long I don't think I have come to terms with it yet, but I will soon!  I'll be talking to you guys again soon!

Don't forget to keep in touch through Texas_Ginger23@yahoo.com!

Goals

Hey everybody!  I know its been a few days since I have posted anything but I thought I would give you all a break!  I hope everyone is doing well with their goals so far!  My first goal point is coming up in May so I'm pretty excited though a little nervous.  I had my mid-point weigh in for the biggest loser contest at work and according to their scales I have lost 15lbs.  I'm pretty happy with that - now I just need to get my fanny back in gear so I keep up the good work!

I'm back on track this Monday morning and I have made a few more goals for myself.  First is that I am not allowed any cheat meals for two weeks.  It appears that if I let myself go a little bit I tend to let myself go a lot and that is not good!  Its not normally this way but it appears when I'm not feeling so good I tend to let myself off waaaayyyy too easy so from now on its no slip-ups!  Also I'm planning to do better in my workouts this week!  Last week I redid my week 5 of P90X.  Week five is interesting because you introduce a few new workouts to the routine.  Well Monday's routine kicked my butt... or rather my shoulders and triceps!!

My friend Jaren had come over to workout on Monday and boy was I glad because that workout was a lot tougher than I imagined!  I couldn't move my arms or shoulders for two days after doing that workout and I am not joking when I say that at one point I was trying to do a push-up and flat out fell on my face because my arms couldn't hold me up.  Not so sexy - so tonight I'm hoping to do a little better and if that only means not face-planting in the carpet I'm content!  I'll have some help tonight from my brother-in-law as well so hopefully I'll be able to make it through!

I also found this really great recipe last week off of skinnytaste.com.  The recipe says it is a salad dressing but it can also be made into a dip and it is super yummy!  If you have ever eaten at Los Cucos and liked their green salsa you will fall head over heals for this stuff!  I'll include the link below!  Trust me you want to make this :)

http://www.skinnytaste.com/2012/04/zesty-avocado-cilantro-buttermilk.html

So I've had some people ask me about how to set realistic goals lately and I thought I would take a few minutes and share my point of view on the subject.  First of all let me say that when you are my size and you want to lose a large amount of weight it can sometimes feel impossible no matter how motivated you are.  You are constantly remember the last few times you tried to lose the weight and it didn't work etc so accepting that I will get down to that size 6 can be a tough thing to do.  This is why you set small manageable goals for yourself.

Remember losing 2lbs a week is considered healthy.  If you lose more than that in the first month of eating right and exercising remember that you are also losing water weight at first so don't expect yourself to keep losing that extra weight throughout the program!  You can't expect yourself to lose 20lbs a month and not be disappointed when it doesn't happen.  So if you are just starting to get into a program and you haven't gotten the eating right thing down to a science set a goal to lose 1lb a week until you can step up your program.


So when setting your goals make sure that you are specific.  Really give yourself something to work for!  Make sure the goal is measurable.  Either by measuring tape or by the scale.  Always make them attainable! Don't set unrealistic goals!  Everyone is different and you need a goal that is unique and reachable for you!  Put a time frame on your goals!  Don't just say, "I want to lose 50lbs" say, "I want to lose 50lbs by my next birthday!"  You can make weekly goals, monthly goals, quarterly goals - whatever works for you!  I need short term goals to track my progress and make sure I'm on track but do what works for you!

Just remember, don't expect so much that you set yourself up for disappointment.  It is much easier to stay motivated if you are seeing positive progress and feel like you are doing a good job than always feeling like you'll never get into that size 6 because you aren't meeting your goals faithfully.  If you are eating healthy foods and portions and you are burning off your calories you will lose the weight!

Don't forget!  Our main goal is to be healthier!  Make sure you are setting healthy, achievable goals so that you stick with the program and have something to celebrate at each weigh-in date!!

If you have any questions, are just looking for some motivation, or just need someone to vent to I'm here!  Feel free to fill up my inbox at texas_ginger23@yahoo.com

Oh and I have over 1500 views... thanks everyone for taking the time to read my thoughts!  You guys are great!  Have a great week and I'll talk to you all soon!

The Right Kind of Motivation

I have a confession to make.  I'm sure some of you will be disappointed in me, while others will be irritated, and still some others will probably say to yourselves, "See, knew she wouldn't make it."  Think what you will, I have to live with myself not you!  The confession is that (no I didn't have liposuction this weekend!  I wish!) I gorged myself on about a gagillion-katrillion calories this weekend.  I know, I know... after posting all those before and after pictures and feeling so great I went and did this right!  Self-sabotage... actually not really.  Let me explain!

First of all let me remind you that I have been having problems hitting my calorie count each day which means that my metabolism is probably slowing down in its rebellious teenage fashion.  Therefore having a meal once a week that sends me over won't kill me because I am in a way psyching out my body to think that it can start burning more calories.  This allows me a "cheat meal" once a week.  Friday night was my "cheat night" and I had Los Cucos... my FAVORITE mexican food restaurant.   I had chips and salsa, water, and 3/4 of a cheese enchilada dinner.  This is a positive because normally I would have finished the dish and had tres leches for desert.  I then went and saw Mirror Mirror with my hubby (which I totally recommend by the way) and we ended up going out to a dance hall.  This is where things start going downhill.

For those of you who do not know me... I'm not really a big drinker.  As a matter of fact I did not actually drink enough to become intoxicated until I was 24 years old.  Its never been something that is important to me nor a form of entertainment so when I do drink I usually have just enough so that things get really funny and I quit.  Well I haven't had anything to drink since Halloween so when we went out Friday night I wanted to test the waters... unfortunately (and I do mean this) I skipped the beach and jumped right into the middle of the gulf without a life vest!  Honestly, why anyone would want to feel that way is beyond me!  I will not get into the gory details just bear in mind I was carried to the car (my husband drove) and crawled up to my second floor apartment, and yes, I remember EVERYTHING!  Needless to say I will NEVER, EVER, NEVER, EVER do that again!  EVER... NEVER.  So just guestimating I'm pretty sure that was like 10,000 calories in alcohol.

This of course means that Saturday night when I was weak in my recovery and I met my family at Ryan's for dinner before the rodeo I said, "Forget all this good girl stuff!  I am tired and worn out and I want lots and lots of carbs!"  Apparently the part of my brain that slaps me silly when I think of mashed potatoes, mac and cheese, fried okra, and yeast rolls was not in working order so I went to town... OMG was it good... and OMG was I so sick when I finished!  I suppose my stomach has done some shrinking over the past month because what I would normally eat without a problem made me feel about 15 months pregnant.  Luckily between the horrible feeling of being that stuffed and my accountability partner Jaren being present I managed to walk around the carnival without having anything to eat!  Thank goodness because I'm pretty sure my stomach would have literally ripped open right then and there.

Sunday... a day to start over and be a good girl!  The good angel should have been stronger by then, especially with the worry that Jaren would literally kill me in my sleep if I went off the count, but alas... I wanted a hamburger... and my wonderful husband brought me home the most wonderful, magnificent, bestest hamburger in the whole wide world... not to mention the most perfect fries.  (I can seriously feel the deathly vibes coming from Jaren right now... *ducks head in shame* Oh and Jaren... You are not allowed to beat up my husband for delivering the goods!)  It doesn't end there though because when I went to my in-laws it was decided in a two person vote... one of the votes being mine... that we would have pizza for dinner.  On a positive note I chose to have one slice of cheese pizza with a salad... unfortunately I let my salad be fluff for ranch dressing.

So there it is... My weekend confession!  I was weak, I gave in to my "right now" wants instead of holding out for my future goals.  The good thing is... I'm already back on track.  I had my low calorie breakfast, I have my new water bottle sitting right next to me and I'm striving to get my daily hydration quota and I've got a work-out date with Jaren tonight!  Its been decided that I would start over my P90X week this week since I didn't do so great last week... which is fine with me because I still like working out!  My mid-point weigh in is this week so I'm hoping my weekend gorge-fest isn't going to interfere with that on Wednesday, but like I tell my kids in group.  We all make choices.  Some are healthy and some are un-healthy but they all have consequences.  When we make healthy choices we have healthy consequences when we make un-healthy choices our consequences follow.  I'm willing to own up to my choices and suffer the consequences.

Now... where does the title of today's blog play into all of this you are wondering?  Well, I've been thinking a lot about all of the different personalities that surround me on a daily basis.  Not just my own but those of my family and friends.  Most of us are working toward our own weight loss goals and are getting motivation from all around us, but is it the right motivation for us, as unique individuals?

For example... a few years ago I paid several hundred dollars to start a weight loss program that was pretty stringent.  Yeah you could eat whatever you wanted... sort of... but it was very, very strict.  I made it two weeks and lost 7lbs but then something happened that caused me to quit.  You see I used to work for Child Protective Services in Dallas and every year the units get a Fair Day where we got the day off to hang out at the Texas State Fair.  The only problem is that I was a week and a half into my diet at this point and it was raining that day... This mean that we literally spent four hours straight sitting in the food court at the fair.  FOUR HOURS of smelling funnel cakes, french fries, fried butter, sausage on a stick, nachos etc., etc.  Did I cheat?  NO!  I brought grapes and cantaloupe in containers and drank water while I was there, and for someone who doesn't like fruit, I was pretty darn proud of myself.  The problem is that when I got home that night I was out of things to eat and I wanted something sweet like no ones business so I made the choice to have a Swiss Cake Roll.  Just one mind you not the whole package.  Well when I went for my check-in at the diet place the little girl all but had a heart attack when I told her about the Swiss Cake Roll and went on and on about how I needed to do a water flush and how I couldn't do that if I wanted to succeed.  FAIL!  I was so ticked off!  I had busted my butt for two weeks eating fruit daily, when I can't stand it, and forgoing every other temptation at home, not to mention the fair, and she was going to rip me a new for a SWISS CAKE ROLL.  I didn't go back.  Why? NOT THE WAY TO MOTIVATE ME.

This process is hard for me.  It is something I have to really focus on to get it right and I'm proud of myself for the minor things I get right because where it might seem like second nature to you its a battle for me!  So this made me think of all of you out there kicking butt as well and all of the things we have to work hard at, sometimes being the only one you know going through it, and how we need to hear the motivation that really gets us going.  How do we know what that is?  Well I have a couple of theories.  I truly think that we should know what type of personality and communication style we have so we better understand what we need from those around us and to also take the time find out the same about our accountability partners so that we can also motivate them in the right ways.

There are some fun and easy ways to figure out this information!  Have you ever done the Shape Personality test?  I know a lot of you have, and if so you are ahead of the game!  If not I'm going to include a link!  Before you click on the link though you have to pick a shape... don't ask me why just pick one of the following shapes ~

Square --- Rectangle --- Triangle --- Circle --- Squiggle

Once you have chosen the shape click on the link below and read about the shape you picked.  Does it describe you?  I'm a Square with Circle as a back-up.  Don't forget no one is only one shape!  You will have a primary and a secondary :)

http://www.etals.com/pershape.html

This second thing I think is really important is figuring out what your communication style is!  If you know what type of personality you have and how you communicate than you should know what type of motivation works for you!  I did an activity in a training recently that I thought I would share with you!  I used it to identify my WORK communication style but we will use it to figure out our at HOME style because weight loss and working out occurs outside of the office!  So below is a quick activity to use when trying to figure out your style :)

Once have circled all of the words that describe you at HOME then draw a line horizontally across the paper under the words Careful, Thorough, Assertive, and Persistent.  Draw a vertical line, from top to bottom, between the words Diplomatic and Pushy.  Count up how many words you have in each square.  Once done, circle the number 1,2,3,4 that has the most selected words and read the communication style that correlates with your number. 

Did the square you ended up with describe your communication style?  I know mine did!  I am an AMIABLE closely followed by a DRIVER.  How do your personality and your communication style work together in your life?  Once you have nailed down these two things you should be able to understand a little bit more what type of motivation and support works for you!  Do you need someone to push you?  Do you need someone to celebrate the little victories and support you through your failures with a gentle hand?  What works best for you based on wheat you now know?

The trick is getting your accountability partner and your support group to understand what you need to hear!  If you are extra sensitive and you probably don't need someone yelling at you like a drill-sergeant.  If you are a super leader who doesn't spend a lot of energy on emotions then you might want someone kicking your butt all the way down the field!!  We are all unique and all need different things to get us going!  Take some time and figure out what you need from those around you then have a pow-wow and figure out how you can be best supportive of your work out buddies!  Having the right form of motivation coming your way can make or break your willpower!  We can only be strong on our own to a point so make sure when you need that extra boost it comes in the form you need it too!  

You may think this is silly and doesn't have anything to do with a Ginger's Battle of the Bulge but honestly it has A LOT to do with it!  I'm having to really identify these parts of me so that I can express to my support team what I need when I ask for their help!  Luckily I have a whole array of supporters so I know who to go to if I need some Get your hiney up off that couch and sweat it off before I kick it support (Jaren) or if I need some good ole' fashion I love you the way you are and you can do this support (Kennith) maybe some I know you can do anything you put your mind to support (Mom) and some Wow you are doing so awesome and look great support (Greenmyers).  I am a very blessed and supported girl :)

Okay, I'll shut my ginger trap and let you guys get back to it!  I hope you have fun with the activities!  I'm the biggest dork and love doing this kind of thing so I thought I would share!  Plus its fun to do them with family and friends and have those "See!  I always knew you were a square!" moments :)

Remember - if you need to some extra support, have questions, or just need a place to vent I'm at 

Texas_Ginger23@yahoo.com 

Have a great Monday guys!  

One Month Weigh In

Its been a month!  A long month of eating less and better and working off those unnecessary butt inches that follow me around everywhere I go.  One month is a big deal for a lot of reasons.  One it is said that it takes three to four weeks to create a new habit.  This means that I have made it through the conditioning phase of my eat right and exercise plan!  Is it any easier... actually yeah.  The counting calories is definitely more natural and automatic and even though I'm not a math wiz its working for me!  Exercising... still doing it!  This is the longest period of time in my entire life (no joke) that I have stuck with any kind of exercise program (this of course does not include the morning get out of bed sit-up, or the morning walk to the bathroom, leg shaving lunge, or stairmaster time to and from the apartment).  I'm actually a little impressed with myself.  I'm sure you guys know what I'm talking about!

Tried to get Gidget's Cardio Routine on video last night but
this pup is one camera shy work out buddy!

In a month I have gone from seeking the instant gratification three bites of a swiss cake roll can give me to the instant gratification of self-pride when I make the healthy choice!  Not to mention I love that feeling of saying no when someone offers me something I know I shouldn't have and they go, "Wow, you are so disciplined!  I wish I was that disciplined!!"  When really what I want to do is grab the cookie out of there hand and munch on it like the cookie monster while snatching the rest of them off the cookie sheet, hide in the corner and scarf them down while casting paranoid glances around the room like I have some kind of diet PTSD.  No my eyes aren't twitchy... the smell of cookie in the air just dries them out...

Anyway.... Moving on!  Yay for me I did P90X Legs and Back last night and though I think I came close to passing out twice and had to use my husband as a brace at one point I did the best I have ever done!!  BRING IT YOU SNEAKY LUNGES!!!!   I upped my weight on the resistance bands and completed more reps than before in the other categories.  I blame my breaks and having to use my husband to remain upright as the price for not having worked out in a week... (remember do as I say NOT as I do :)  I have however made sure that even though I haven't worked out I maintained my 1000 calorie a day deficit in order to keep up with my goal of losing 2lbs a week.

After working out last night I had Kennith take my 1-month photos but I'm pretty sure I should have had him take them in the morning cause I swear I look better when I first wake up (not the area above my collar bone just the rest of me).  Its like after using my muscles for an hour they pretty much said, "Pictures?  Really?  Fine but I'm not holding it together!  The sag is going to show!!!!  : P "  So I'm not so happy with the pics but hopefully you can tell a difference!!  I also weighed in this morning and was pretty darn happy!

So how are you guys doing on the results end?  What is working for you? Any concerns you have about your workout or "diet" program?  My main concerns right now are honestly not eating enough calories and then my water intake.  Definitely need to improve on that!  I'm supposed to be eating about 1230 calories a day and have only been averaging 1000 so I'm hoping my body isn't being horrible and holding onto the fat thinking its starving.

Smart Body Buddy

You would think my body would be smarty and say, "HEY!!!  Check out the 55 extra pounds of flab we are having to haul around!!!  Hey joints!  Wouldn't you feel better if we eliminated some of the fluff???  Yeah?  Super we'll jump right on that!  Oh, and Sarah ~ thank you so much for not eating those extremely yummy but extremely fatty foods to such and extreme that we have to work quadruple over time to compensate for it!  As a bonus we'll cut an extra 15% body fat this month!!  Great working with you!  Keep up the good work!  Oh and hey just for old times sake... Enjoy that yummylicious meal from chick-fil-a and that huge slice of Tres Leches cake... we'll handle it free of charge!!!"   That is what I call teamwork!!!

Actual Body Buddy

Naturally however my body seems to be acting like a hormonal teenager instead... "What? So you decided all on your own without consulting me that you wanted to change the way things are done around here?  You want me to clean my room?  Get rid of all fat you call "garbage?"  Well guess what that is MY stuff and you can't make me!  I'll just hide it if you try to come in here and get rid of it while I'm not paying attention!  What do you know anyway?  You just want me to work harder AND take away my allowance at the same time!  I HATE YOU!!"  This is why bootcamp is good for rebellious bodies and teenagers :)

So onto the results!!  Here are the Day One and One Month Results :)




First Day                                      One Month                                                                             

Weight: 198lbs                               Weight: 182.4                                                                                     

Left Bicep - 12 inches                                                                                      Left Bicep - 12 1/2 inches

Right Bicep - 12 inches                                                                                    Right Bicep - 12 1/2 inches 

Left Thigh - 27 1/2 inches                                                                                Left Thigh - 26 1/2 inches

Right Thigh - 27 1/2 inches                                                                              Right Thigh - 26 1/2 inches

Bust - 43 inches                                                                                              Bust - 41 1/2 inches

Below Bust - 38 inches                                                                                    Below Bust - 36 inches

Waist - 39 inches                                                                                            Waist - 35 inches

Hips - 47 inches                                                                                              Hips - 45 1/2 inches

Neck - 15 inches                                                                                             Neck - 14 1/2 inches

Can't wait to hear from you guys!!  Also if you have any questions, comments, or victories you want to share but don't want plastered on facebook feel free to email me!!  I have a couple of email "pen-pals" right not that I chat back and forth with daily!  So if you need to vent to someone about a whats going on in your life (even if its not weight related) feel free to email me any time!  I have an email account set up just for blog followers :)  I'm not an expert but I can dish out some free advice and support!

Texas_Ginger23@yahoo.com

Keep up the hard work everyone!  The results are going to be worth it!!