We're workin' it!

Yeah baby!  Here we go!

So, since my last post a lot has happened.  We are no longer in the hotel.  He have and are settled into our new home courtesy of the Army.  I have been doing CrossFit again three days a week at a local box (gym) since October.  We have a schedule!!  And....we have a fully functional paleo kitchen which we have been maintaining very well too!

I cannot express to you just how much moving with four children, living in a downtown condo for two months, unable to establish a routine, dealing with two terrible two year old's and two bickering older sisters, is taxing to the brain of a mother.  Add to that not eating healthfully or exercising, and it gets taxing on the body too!

Needless to say, it was quite a relief when we were able to move into our house and get settled.

My nerves got some relief as well once I got settled back into a routine of going to the gym.  It is amazing what a difference exercise makes for a person's mood!  Really!  EVERYTHING was better; my mood, my outlook, my response to my children and husband, therefore their response to me!  Simply amazing!  Have I mentioned I love CrossFit?!

So given these wonderful changes to our world, I have seen wonderful changes to our health as well!  I am now back into my size 14 jeans!  I have energy again and everyone is looking bright and healthy.

So here is the good stuff.  In January I decided to bump up my workouts to 5 days a week.  (So far, I have only managed to get 4/week.  I am still pressing each week to get at least 5 workouts in. This will be the week!!)  My box (gym) is also starting a 50 day Paleo challenge which is to begin on the 15th of Feb.  I will be posting before pics (some previous and some current) as well as pics of my food.  I will also share some recipes that I feel are goodies.

All this goes in conjunction with our upcoming Warrior dash.  In March Michael and I will be participating in a 5k that has many outrageous obstacles throughout, to include climbing walls, jumping over fire, and crawling through mud under barbed wires.  With the event I have chosen to fund raise for St. Jude as well.  If you would like to donate the link is on the top left of this page.

As you can see, we have a lot going on around here.  I am excited to see how the short term goals turn out and I am excited to share them with you!  As time allows I will be sure to include how we got on this path to begin with, but for now I have to get back to schooling the girls. :o)  I hope to see you back soon!  Please leave a comment and let me know you were here!

P.S. The first recipe is to follow shortly. :o)

Confessions

This is a day for confessing, coming clean, in more ways than one. I have a big huge F on my forehead. F for failure. Given the stressors of traveling and moving, with four children, two of whom have wholeheartedly entered the ever dreaded 'terrible twos' stage, I have most definitely failed at my first attempt to go full Paleo. So much so, I have the evidence around my middle to prove it. I also feel sluggish and unmotivated.

As easy as it was at the time to just "go with it", it is going to be so much harder to start over again. You see, when we set out to visit family it was so much easier (and polite) to just eat what they served us and not ask for special treatment. The food was delicious so it was an easy choice to make. Our reasoning that "it's only for a couple weeks, it won't hurt us", made it even easier. Wrong choice!!!

What happened to that "couple weeks"? It turned into over a month of eating the SAD (standard American Diet) and a struggle to return to our mostly Paleo ways. It combined with a complete lack of exercise also resulted in my gaining back almost all the weight I have lost over the last 2 years!!! I say almost, because I have have lost some of the muscle I had gained and it hasn't resulted in that much of an increase on the scale, just in the way my clothes are fitting. I had finally gotten down into a 14 and now my 16's are getting tight again.

This is what it is all about folks. Not the numbers on the scale, or the # of calories, or even the cost of the food. It is all about the way I feel. When I was even just Paleo-ish I felt SOOOO much better. When I was doing crossfit I had energy. The combination of the two left my clothes loose and comfy! I want that back. I want to get back on track, get CLEAN from the junk I have put into my body, and I want to be healthy, strong, and full of energy!

The time for excuses is gone. We may be living in a hotel, but we have a kitchen. I may not be able to workout the way I want to right now, but my diet is a good place to start on this self made road to success. To ignite this renewed exuberance I am reading: The Primal Blueprint. I highly recommend it! That and the Paleo Solution (but I haven't read it yet just plan to). They will open your eyes to the evils that are whole grains and other "health foods" and turn your idea of healthy eating upside down. It will rock your world!!

Here is to take 2!

Whole30 FTW!

And we're off!!! After about 2 weeks of being 80-90% Paleo today marks the beginning of my Whole30 to official begin our new lifestyle. I am the only one in the family doing the Whole30 since I am the only one in need of shedding a little of my excess body weight. I took pictures and measurements this morning and will not step on the scale again until July 12th, a full 30 days from now. I have to say, I am very excited! All stats and pics will be posted at the end of the 30 days.

So far, after our pseudo-paleo start, I have to say that this is the best 'diet' I have ever tried. I never have been one to jump on any one diet bandwagon. In the past I have just cut back portions and lowered my fat and sugar. (which left me feeling HUNGRY!!) Well, count me in with the crowd on this one, cause I heart REAL food!! This my friends is no 'diet' in the usual use of the word.

For those who are curious, here is a sampling of some of our meals as of late.

Scrambled eggs, pork chops, and berries

fajita salad topped with guac, cheese, and sour cream

Stuffed portabella mushrooms with broccoli on the side

Just a side note: the dairy products are not strict paleo. They are referred to as 'lacto-paleo' which is what we will lean towards. I will not have any for the next 30 days, but as long as it doesn't affect me after that, there is no reason to take it out of my diet. Paleo is all about what works best for your body, so if it ain't broke, don't fix it! :o)

The hardest part of this diet isn't going to be focusing on what we can't have. It is going to be the cost. We just went to the store today and spent about $180 for maybe 5 days worth of food for our family of 6. That is the best trip so far! I have also learned already that it is best to cook big batches with leftovers in order to keep from feeling like all I do is cook. Having the leftovers makes for quick lunches (and sometimes breakfast!). As I type this I have a crockpot full of carnitas cooking away and some kale drip drying so I can make it into kale chips. It's all about the prep-work. You have to put some effort in early to make it easier later. This is definitely going to get me more organized with my meal planning, shopping, and prep.

I am eager to get settled in Hawaii. I am positive that we will be able to bring that cost down to a manageable amount. Not only will we have two large refrigerators to work with instead of one tiny one, we will also be setting up a garden, looking into a CSA for our other produce, and possibly some of our meat as well. With a larger family it does make it more difficult. I am not going to let it get me down. I am stepping up to the challenge and am going to make this work. After all, it's for the good of my family's health!

So, if you haven't seen my FB page, we are going Paleo! I have been doing some research on it and I am excited to get started.

It has been 9mo since I began my new lifestyle that included crossfit and healthy eating. As I was told once, "It is only a matter of time before you go paleo." Well, thanks to Michael, here we go! He has been doing crossfit for a few years now so he is overdue for the change. ;o) To his credit, it is hard if not impossible to pull off such a drastic diet change if you don't have your spouse (and main meal maker) on board.

In my 9mo of crossfit I have bounced around with my weight. It hasn't been steady only because of my diet. My biggest loss was during a detox which was a bad idea for my body type. I lost 12 lbs in one week! Turns out it was all muscle, a no-no for crossfitters. I promptly put all 12 lbs back on the following week in the form of belly fat. (It would only be fair to the detox to include the fact that I did not follow the strict rules for coming off of it though.) I'm confident that going Paleo is going to accomplish the goal of detoxing my body without any bad side affects. In fact, it is only going to give me more energy and help to regulate my weight and optimize my crossfit goals (another blog in itself.)

So to date my lowest weight was 186. I am currently at 200 even. This is due to two weeks of unhealthy eating and only working out twice in two weeks. (I was 195 before the two week break.) I am down only 8lbs since September but 20lbs since I had my twins in 09. I have dropped 2 dress sizes since beginning crossfit. I can squeeze into my 14 jeans since vacation but my 16 are still a bit loose. (I have been an 18/20 for years) I will post some pics when I get a chance.

Michael just got home so I am off to make lunch for the fam. Happy Thursday!

Roller Coasters...

Wow, it has been one roller coaster of a day. Here are the highs and lows:

LOW:

Started off fairly normal, other than having to dose the twins with motrin for a fever. Shayna has been in a funk recently so I had some drama from her this afternoon.

HIGH:

I was given the opportunity to talk to Hannah about salvation (not for the first time, but for the first time that I think she actually GOT it) She closed her eyes and said her own prayer!! I didn't get to lead her in a prayer, but hey, she got the jist of it herself. :o) We then talked about baptism. She may get baptized after her Daddy gets home!

LOW:

Heard we will be in a communication lull for a while with Michael. I guess he does have a job to do...

HIGH:

Prayed with both my big girls to protect their Daddy and to give us the strength to carry on till he can come home. They are so precious! I just know that God was listening with a swelling heart and moist eyes as I was.

So now with tear stained eyes I am off to watch some Pushing Daisy's and finish my wine. I'm getting off this coaster for the night. :o)

p.s. Now that I have posted this, I see that Roller coasters seem to be my theme. Maybe I should change the title of my blog?

Wheee!!

What a roller coaster of a day. It started off well enough, the kiddos were all happy when they woke up and the big girls cooperated (with some 'encouragement') with the morning chores. I rushed everyone along in cleaning up after breakfast while I got a grocery list together. As they were finishing up I jaunted over to my neighbors apt to see if she needed anything from the store. (She doesn't drive and her hubby is deployed too.) She got me a list of a few things together while I loaded everyone up in the van.

Everything is good, we're on our way...Then we get to Wal-mart. Gosh darn I hate that place. Why do they have to be so darn convenient? Anyway, as I get the twins out and loaded in the double cart I notice that my eldest is BAREFOOT!!! This is the second time in less than a week that we have arrived somewhere public and she did not have any footwear! She was scolded very well the first time so I am flabbergasted that she had the gall to do it again. This time she got grounded right away. I decided to go straight to the back of the store and pick up a cheap pair of flip flops so I wouldn't have to answer to the authorities for neglect.

Great! They have some on clearance for a dollar! Score! We go back up to the front to pay for them and some water and, wouldn't you know it, the stores credit/debit system is down. Well, I took the tag off the shoes and put them on her feet and decided I would just hand the tag to the lady when I was done with all of my shopping. Midway down the isle on our way to the back of the store to get started (I work my way to the front), I realize that I have left my phone at home. My phone that has this wonderful app for grocery shopping. The one I used this morning to make my list.

Wow! I am pretty frustrated by now. I see the soda isle. Kim wanted me to get her some Diet Dr. pepper. I'm not going to let this be a wasted trip. I'll just get her stuff and come back later for mine. Wouldn't you know it, they are all out of Diet Dr. pepper. Grrr! Of course, I do not have her phone number, since this is a newly formed relationship and I don't have my phone with me anyway even if I did@!@! (That was a typo but I will leave it for effect, it fits.)

Well, I went to the front of the store, not bothering to ask if the system was back up, went to self-checkout and used one of my two dollars in my wallet to pay for Hannah's flip flops and home we went.

On the way home I managed some deep breathing and prayer. Knowing it wouldn't do any good to let this all get me down for the day and just give up, I pressed on and tried to make the best of what was left.

By this time it was well past the twins regular naptime. I had planned to put them down for one long nap after lunch. Instead they got a cup of milk (the last of the gallon in the fridge) and went down for a nap at 10:45 AM. I had the big girls work on school while I caught up on the Esther bible study I had just joined in on this week. We have calm and peace in the house for about two hours. It was great!

A little before one this afternoon I decided I was hungry and should probably get everyone some lunch so we could make another store attempt. Rhian is the first to wake up so I get her and I fed while the big girls are finishing up their school. By this time I realize that if we don't get out soon, we won't make it in time for Hannah's jujitsu class at four o'clock. Rush, rush, rush! I make sandwhiches for the other girls and load everyone back up in the van and off we go, again.

This time, instead of me going and getting the cart and bringing it to the van, I carried the twins to the door and had Hannah fetch it. Today was our first attempt at not using any strollers. The twins sit up very well so I figured they are big enough to use the double child carts the stores provide. It would work if I didn't have to 1) leave all the kids in the van while I search one down or 2) stand there holding my 20 and 18lb twins for an eternity waiting for my 7 year old to find one that doesn't have any broken straps! Grrr!!

"Deep breaths Laura, deep breaths...calm...It doesn't do anyone any good to see an insane mother go off on all of wal-mart because her day isn't going as she had hoped. In fact, it would do much damage, to your conscience, your children, and for all self proclaiming Christians. It just isn't godly."

Whew! We have a cart that has at least 3 of the 4 needed straps. We will make it work, lets get going!

So the actual shopping portion went pretty smoothly. Everyone was in a good mood, the big girls behaved for the most part and we were able to get everything on the list.

Hey, what do you know! Their debit/credit system is back up and running. That's good because we now have less than an hour to get back to the house, get the groceries unloaded and the cold stuff put away, everyone changed (Hannah for jitz, Kayla for dance, and me for walking during jitz class) and over to the gym for Hannah's class. Rush, rush , rush again!

Can you believe we made it with one minute to spare? I was even able to get all 8 laps in that I wanted to with a little bit of running (yes, I said RUNNING!) thrown in for good measure. Everything is peachy. After Hannah's class I get us all over to the church for Kayla's 30min dance class. I really can't complain, it's free and she loves it. I chat with a friend and run after the twins (they are restless by this point) while Kayla has her class. We come home. I take another deep breath and sigh. I am tired from the day and my walk but I am relaxed because it is almost over.

I get dinner made, the girls clean up while I get the twins a bath. It isn't quite bedtime yet and their room need some attention. I get the big girls started on putting clean clothes away and picking up the dirty ones while I lay on the floor and let the twins use me as a jungle gym. They are being very cooperative. Hannah is just finishing up clearing out their closet floor when she threw a dress-up shoe out. The good Disney ones that are solid plastic. Yeah, it hit me square in the forehead.

Home Sweet Home

They say home is where the heart is. That is certainly true for a military family. As such we have come to adopt that philosophy. And here we go again. No, we aren't PCS'ing (changing duty stations), we are just moving here in town.

When we moved here last year We were anticipating my mom living with us. Because of that I looked for a four bedroom house. I tried to budget so that we wouldn't need any income from her in case something were to happen and we couldn't count on it. When I chose the house we are in now I knew it was on the high end for rent but I thought we could make it. I was wrong. Last summer our August electricity bill was over $300. Yeah, the only way we made it was because we did have her contributing.

Well, now my sister is in need of some assistance and mom has moved in with her up in New York state. Good for her, bad for us. :o) We most definately cannot afford to stay in this house without a little help. So we are now looking around for a cheaper place.

We are looking at a couple more places but I am sure we will have a place picked out by the end of the week so I will be putting in our 30 day notice later today. Also, We want to be all moved into the new place by the end of July since Michael will be leaving sometime after that for Afghanistan again.

This is also all just a year out from us making and actual PCS move! As is stands right now we will be moving with 7th Grp to Florida next summer. Michael has tried to get in with a different unit here on Bragg. Everything is working against him though and it doesn't look like it will happen. So, three moves in three years here we come!