the pictureless blog....

Okay, maybe that's kind of a lie... there's at least two pictures at the end :)

How's your weekend going so far?

Yeah, so I didn't take a picture of one single thing I had to eat yesterday or today so far! BAD blogger, Mandy! Breakfast & lunch were repeats of Pumpkin Pancakes and Mellow Mushroom pizza leftovers... and dinner was out at Panera with JR & Maddie, where I had the incredibly yummy Chicken Strawberry Poppyseed salad and a multi grain baguette.I think it said on their menu that this salad is only out for another three weeks... so I am sure I'll be back to have it once more before then! The only other thing I had to eat was a larabar for a snack!

JR took Maddie home to get her to bed... and I stayed out and went to TJ Maxx and New York & Company to look for a dress to wear to my brother's wedding in a couple of weeks. Being honest - this was not a great experience :( I've discussed my weight gain recently on the blog... and have really tried not to let it get to me. I have felt like I've been trying hard with my food and with my work outs - not to try to lose all the weight I've gained... but enough to feel comfortable with myself again. I was staying away from the scale...but finally gave in and weighed last week. It had been almost two weeks... surely I had to lose SOMETHING, right??

Wrong.

Not only did I not lose anything - I went up two pounds.

Again, I've tried not letting it get to me... but last night, it all hit hard. I had a mini breakdown in the dressing room. I couldn't believe how many sizes I had to go up.. and how things that would normally look good on me, I couldn't even begin to wear in public.

I feel pretty defeated... I left the stores empty handed and broken-hearted.

I headed home and tried to unwind and relax a bit. I had two big glasses of wine... which hey, after a night like that, I deserved it! It definitely did the trick... I hung out with my honey and had a great rest of the night.

I do have to go find a dress still... I may wait until next weekend. I'm hoping to have a better experience!

As for today, I've been quite spoiled. I got to sleep in till 10 am!!!!! Whew! I haven't done that in a LONG time! It was great... woke up and didn't have much of an appetite. I had one small square of the coffee cake around 11 and about 30 minutes later - I had a turkey club sandwich (Trader Joe's turkey bacon, TJ's sliced turkey, 1 slice low fat swiss, Sabra's hummus, spinach, tomato on Publix Multi grain bread)....

JR and Maddie laid down for a nap, and I had to talk myself into working out. I did of course, Level 2 of the 30 Day Shred. I REALLY struggled through it today. I had no energy in the first circuit at ALL. I almost stopped it there and called it day... but made a deal with myself that if I kept going, I would just do what I could... even if that meant all the beginner options or just walking in place. I got a bit of a second wind in the 3rd circuit... and even wanted to do some extra cardio after I was finished. I put on a Firm dvd - Cardio Sculpt Blaster... some step and floor aerobics with light hand weights... I used some portions with a 6 inch step and some with an 8 inch step. I felt much better after I finished... and burned 505 calories.

RIGHT after, I made a smoothie...same as earlier this week... 1 cup unsweetened chocolate almond milk, 1 tbsp cocoa powder, protein powder, 1/2 tbsp almond butter, 1 frozen banana... good stuff :)

Dinner was easy.... the hubby grilled some steak, I fixed up some salads and some leftover steamed veggies with sweet potatoes.

I'm sure there will be dessert.... JR is trying to talk me into Dairy Queen - SHAME! I'm hoping I don't give in!!! :)

We are just hanging around this weekend... being lazy!! What do you guys have going on?

Hello!

Where to start?? Ah yes... finishing up Wednesday!

I didn't need an afternoon snack... and Maddie was ready for dinner pretty quickly after she woke up around 5... so I thought we'd have an early dinner and some kind of dessert later. I decided to make a bbq chicken salad. I basically threw together some leftover chicken with my new Annie's smokey maple bbq sauce (LOVE it!), kidney & pinto beans, corn, tomato, red onion, carrots, spinach and some mixed greens, topped it all off with some cheddar cheese... had some blue corn chips and hummus on the side!


And then I got busy in the kitchen... I pre-made our favorite lasagna for JR's parents so that all they had to do was pop it in the oven for an hour. This is a seriously good lasagna, folks! It's quite a bit of work... but SO worth it in the end!! Then I the chocolate coffee cake (which oddly enough has no coffee in it whatsoever) but that wasn't ready in time to head to their place. I have to say I'm happy it stayed here... haha kind of ;) As busy as I was, I never got hungry again... so no dessert or any other snacks last night!

I got to bed around midnight... and woke up again around 3 am... never got back to sleep again until 4:30.. I HATE that! I woke up at 8 to start the day. I stayed home one last day with Maddie so JR's parents could get things situated with hospice for his grandmother.

I was craving the pumpkin pancakes I had yesterday... sorry for the repeat! I didn't take a new picture... since I had on yesterdays post!

Snack was part of the coffee cake I mentioned earlier... guys, I'm not kidding.. this is SO good!!!!!!! Maddie loves it so much she has had 3 pieces today! This child is picky... so you know it's good when she is STILL asking for more! Knowing the awesome ingredients in this recipe, I was happy she was asking for more :)

I actually cut it into 20 little pieces... in an 8X8 pan! I had this small square and half of another after lunch that I shared with Maddie. Sorry it's SO blurry... I took about six different shots and it would NOT focus!

For lunch, I toasted up a flat out wrap filled with ground turkey w/ mexican seasoning, green peppers, tomato, cheddar cheese, hummus and onions... a side of pinto beans and corn and my last nectarine. Good stuff :)

Maddie and I then popped in the video of JR and I getting married! She had not seen this yet and it was fun talking to her about everyone in the video. We had a blast when it got to the reception part of the video... we did the (dreaded) chicken dance and the hokey pokey... haha...

Maddie then wanted to serenade the puppies... she got out her drum and made up a song for each of the dogs :)
After that, it was nap time for maddie and shredding time for mommy! Day 4, Level 2 of the 30 Day Shred. I was really craving some extra upper body work after... so I pulled out The Firm's Jiggle Free Arms and did some heavy lifting along with some step aerobics. I burned 488 calories between the two vidoes.

After I finished, I made a very chocolately protein shake for my post workout snackage! This had 1 cup unsweetned chocolate almond milk, 1 tbsp dark chocolate cocoa powder, 1 frozen banana, 1/2 tbsp almond butter, protein powder and some ice... again, sorry for the blurry picture!
We met some friends out for dinner tonight and Maddie requested Mellow Mushroom... we don't usually go there so close together as we did the past week... but I'll never argue if someone suggests it! I don't have any pictures... but tonight, JR and I got our own small 10 inch pizzas...Mine had grilled chicken, spinach, fresh basil and roma tomatoes. I had maybe 1 1/2 slices (there are 4)... but before that, I had some appetizers... one bruchetta and two small pieces of whole wheat garlic bread... plus about 3/4 of the salad that came with Maddie's pizza that she didn't eat. So yeah, I had plenty before the pizza even arrived! I was proud I didn't make myself stuff down the other 1/2 of that slice! I feel satisfied... not stuffed! NEVER happens with mellow mushroom!

I came home and soaked my muscles in a warm bath... My upper body is already seriously sore from my work out today! Although I have liked doing the Shred... I miss my heavier lifting! Things I would normally use 15 lbs for, I couldn't use more than 10-12 lbs today. So I am going to try working this in more for the next two weeks along with shredding!

I honestly could work my upper body every day of the week if it was safe :) I LOVE upper body work! Especially working my biceps :) I think hammer curls are my favorite bicep exercise!

What about you?? What is your favorite exercise for the upper body? Or do you have a favorite upper body routine or video?

Night all!

It's the weekend... and some new loot!

Sorry I haven't been around... I've had way more important things to do than blogging... like showing off my mad coloring skills...

No need to be jealous :)

It's the weekend!!!!!!!!!!!! I was so ready for this weekend to come!

Backing up to yesterday's food...

I made JR and I smoothies for breakfast... my favorite combo of 1 banana, 1/2 cup frozen cherries, 1 cup chocolate unsweetened almond milk, protein powder and some almond butter... good stuff :) (I had this today, too... I'll spare ya a repeat of that!) For lunch, I ended up at a place called Roly Poly sandwiches...it's funny they call it sandwiches because really, they make wraps... hmm...
I got their Cider House Melt... which is...a Whole Wheat Tortilla, Smoked Turkey Breast, Baked Ham, Reduced Fat Swiss Cheese, Spinach, Mushrooms, Onion, Grilled Golden Brown w/Side of Fat Free Apple Ranch Dressing

I had it with about half a bag of harvest cheddar sun chips and a bowl of cherries, strawberries and blueberries....


It was really yummy!!! I always forget about this place!!

My 3 year old, Maddie, called JR and I in the middle of the afternoon yesterday asking if she could stay the night with grandma and grandpa... so JR and I ended up having an unplanned date night!!!

We headed off to see a movie... which we haven't done in um... months... and finally went to see "The Hangover"! Told ya we are behind with our movies!!! It was pretty darn funny!!!

Then we headed off to our favorite pizza place, Mellow Mushroom for dinner!!! Yummy! We started off with the bruchetta (and a big glass of red wine!!)... I had two of these...
and then we each had two slices of pizza... my side had spinach, chicken, mushrooms, onions and green peppers :) Yum... check out that CRUST... droooolll...

I have got to get going and jump in the shower... so I will be back later to report the rest of date night food but before that... I haven't had the chance to share this with you all as of yet! I received my Annie's prize pack from Danica on Monday! We got LOTS of great stuff!
Maddie RIGHT away claimed what she wanted!! She loves her "bunny fruit"!
I am planning on using the bbq sauce this weekend for a couple of meals! Same with the new Mac 'n Cheese :) Annie's brand of macaroni is the only brand I buy for Maddie to eat... Awesome ingredients!! Thanks Danica!

Okay! I'm off to shower and then we're heading to the mall so I can get some new work out shoes... I'm thinking of getting some Nike Shox... Lisa and I have been doing Zumba classes (my new LOVE!) and I've heard they're awesome for that and all around workouts... so we're heading to the Nike Outlet in hopes of a good deal!

How is your weekend going so far? Any plans?

Make Up Monday... and a confession....

Happy Monday everyone :) I hope it was a good start to the week for ya!

Make Up Monday will be short and sweet :)

First... here are a few fun pics that my sister, Brittney sent me! She's great with playing with bright colors!! I so wish I could do that!

Thanks Britt! :)

I thought instead of posting my mug all over the page , I thought I would share with you one of my can't-live-without products!

My favorite mascara - L'Oreal Voluminous!

I have tried many expensive and inexpensive mascaras and ALWAYS go back to this! In my opinion, mascara is one of those things you can save your money on when buying make up. I think there are some that really stand up and even pass the quality of the high end make up lines!

Why this mascara ROCKS:

• It's cheap! It's around $7... I can usually find coupons for any L'Oreal eye products, too... and if you watch Walgreens or CVS, they have lots of buy one, get one free sales. When I find this, I buy one, get one for free and use my coupon... and usually end up only paying $3 for two tubes! Bonus!
• The volume and thickening is amazing! I only need a couple coats... makes my lashes feel so luscious!
• I put it on in the morning and no need to worry about touching it up throughout the day! It has great staying power!

I absolutely recommend this mascara!!

One great tip that every lady should follow before you put on your mascara is to curl your lashes! It will make your eyes look ten times bigger!

What about you? What is your favorite mascara? Please share! :)

Confession time....

I have mentioned before in the past few posts that my eating hasn't been so great as of lately. I don't know what has kicked me off my normal healthy routine! I am not going to go into how badly my eating has been... but will say that it's consisted mainly of sweets (big cookies, ice cream) at least twice a day, and not a ton of veggies or fruits at all... lots of junk food that I don't normally eat or want! And lots of it!

That being said... I was already up about 7 pounds from my "happy weight" that I had been at for over a year... and now just from the past two weeks, I'm up 13 pounds.

I even had to go out and buy new jeans and a couple of new shirts! I don't have the money to be doing that right now!

Ugh...

I wasn't having an issue with my workouts... until Brittney came.. .then our schedule was CRAZY! We were out of town and I was up much later every night than I normally am and it threw me way out of whack. I didn't work out for about two weeks! I finally started up again on Saturday... thank goodness!

It's been a constant hate battle with my self confidence. I have been avoiding mirrors and tight clothes at all cost because I'm so mad at myself! I've kept off over 100 pounds for almost 10 years now... and at my "happy weight" for quite some time after having Maddie (and in better shape than I was BEFORE having Maddie) and that weight seemed to come naturally and I had no issues feeling satisfied with food! But now that I've gained so much weight and so quickly... I am ashamed to let family, friends, co-workers see me! Most people who know me as "the weight loss girl"... the girl they come to for some advice when trying to lose weight... I feel like such a failure right now!

I'm trying to take a step back... and look at things in the long run - I haven't gained back all of my weight - just 13 pounds. Yes, it's a good amount... but not 100 pounds!

I need to stop yelling at myself! The guilt does NOT help!

I can either choose to continue to eat this way and make things worse... or I can keep my eats simple for now to help me "detox" a bit and get back on track...

This is all about my health... not JUST losing weight!

Now, I don't have a HUGE plan to change things...but wanted to be open and talk about all of this here... since I wanted to be honest and share what's REALLY going on with me!

I will talk more tomorrow about my small "plan"... it's nothing outrageous or a crazy, intelligent plan... but what I think will work for me!

I'm sorry for all of that... but thank you to whoever listened!!

The batteries in our camera are dead.... and we are out of batteries! I keep forgetting to snap pics of my food today because I'm not used to using my cell phone for it!!

So for breakfast, just imagine a whole wheat bagel, with cheese, eggs and a slice of turkey bacon...

For a snack, a banana/pb sandwich... half with PB&Co's Might Maple PB and the other with PB&Co's Bee's Knee's PB :)

Lunch was leftovers of my pizza from Saturday night... and a big side salad with four small strawberries, onion, tomato, carrots, and a sprinkle of feta cheese... I got some pics with my cell phone of this...

Afternoon snack was a big ol juicy braeburn apple... YUMMM... and a small serving of Trader Joe's Trail Mix... good stuff!

For dinner, I just threw together a bunch of things that needed to be used up.... I sauteed some onions, peppers, mushrooms, tomatoes and asparagus.... threw them in with some quinoa and some leftover chicken sprinkled with some parmesan cheese... simple but yummy!This morning, JR and I got up and did our Day 3 of Level 1 of Jillian's 30 Day Shred... then we added on 20 extra minutes of cardio... I burned a total of 446 calories!

Now I am off to do some more work... and then going to bed. I have a horrible headache!!

How did your Monday shape up? I hope it went by quickly!