We're still here!!

I can't believe it's been so long since I've posted on here, most of my updates recently have been on Twitter so I hope that you'll come follow me there too. I feel like I owe my readers some sort of an explanation because it certainly has nothing to do with motivation or commitment to change.

Over the past month, there has been a huge load of stress in our house so we've focused on maintaining our progress (which we have) and spending time as a family. In a nutshell, our son was diagnosed with cancer 2 years ago and had finished his treatment this last January. During routine scans a couple of weeks ago, we found that it's back and we just started chemotherapy again this week. Hearing the news that this is already back only 11 short months following his treatment made us feel the need to focus back on our family for a while, at least until we could see how this would effect our lives.

We're doing good, we're eating well, but unfortunately we haven't been going to the gym regularly and I'm really starting to feel it. The little man is doing well so far and I'm hoping that he will continue to so that we can find a routine again in our lives. Keeping up physical activity really helps me handle stressful times, it's finding the time that is difficult, but I'm really determined to fit it back in!

The difference so far....

I've been asked on multiple occasions to post pictures and unfortunately I'm about the worst picture taker ever! (I'm getting better.) So, in an effort to please the masses, I pulled out our camera and started finally downloading pictures only to be met with disappointment. I'm really pretty good at capturing the important moments in my kids lives, but I was totally bummed when I found not one picture with both of us in it. I was close to resigning myself to the fact that I would have to use our family picture that was taken 17 months ago just two short weeks after giving birth (I still can't remember why I thought that was a good idea). That picture is posted at the bottom of our blog.

But today I stumbled across these two gold mines that were taken by friends and to be honest, I was both thrilled and shocked. It's the first time I've really been able to see the change! I mean, I know I've lost 20 pounds; I know Michael has lost more than 20 pounds; I know how I feel and I know that all of my clothes fit differently, but when I saw these two pictures side-by-side I could really see the difference.

Seeing yourself in the mirror everyday tends to blur what is actually happening because change is gradual making it harder to see. I wanted this to be a lasting change so I haven't done anything extreme, unhealthy or crazy in order to see results; it's been small changes and baby steps all along the way. So, like I said, I have mostly been going off of how I feel, but seeing it has really upped the motivation factor.

So ladies and gentlemen, without further ado... here we are!

This was taken just a short time before we started on this journey. Lunch was awesome.... the company was better! :) But I didn't like how I felt back then.

And here we are, twenty (or more) pounds lighter.... YAY!! This was taken just today at Michael's work Halloween party (I think the costumes gave that away).

All I can say is... this was very motivating!! Can't wait to see what another 20 pounds looks like!

Week Five Results...

Okay, so I don't officially have results for week 5. Michael and I have both only weighed at this point and I maintained and Michael lost another four so Michael has officially past me at 21 lbs weight loss and I'm at 20 lbs.... that took me 6 months and Michael only 5 weeks. Of course some of that can be attributed to the fact that he is a guy, but I'm really amazed. He is dedicated to the gym and is putting on some serious muscle so I'm interested to take the time to figure out what his net weight loss is. Meaning how much fat has he lost? Muscle weighs more than fat so knowing the changes I can see, has he actually lost more than 20 lbs of fat?

As you can see from the fact that I got zero posting done last week, I'm frankly amazed that I even did the weigh-in. I said that I would share the good, the bad and the ugly. Well, there's not really any ugly and when I put things into perspective things are really quite good. But I would have to say the bad part is that when I get busy, I get nothing done. I didn't go to the gym, I didn't post one single day and I didn't feel organized at all! With all that said, that is one thing I do like about Monday's. I feel like it's a new chance to do better. Many people focus on January 1 for making changes in their lives... I focus on Monday's. I get 52 opportunities throughout the year to make new goals and to re-assess what I need to do in my life. So, it's a good thing it's Monday because although I do great at the eating part of this, I suck at going to the gym!

A friend of mine gave me a tool to try; it's the Nextfit Trainer and I absolutely love it. It's like having my own personal trainer to work out with and it totally kicked my rear end last week when I used it. I can't wait to get back to the gym with my "trainer" and see what results I can see by the end of this week!

What do you want to change this week? What is one thing you think you could do better at? Make one goal for the week (or for the day) and see how you can do. We'll compare notes at the end of the week and see if we were able to pull it off!

Week Four Results....

This last week was a hard one for both Michael and I. It was a stressful week at work for both of us and we didn't plan well, so eating kind of went out the window as far as high protein went. We didn't backslide completely just didn't follow our meal plan.

Michael was 100% with the gym. I think I went twice... (yeah, I'm not proud.) As for results, I managed to lose 2 more lbs and 1.5 inches and .5% body fat. Michael maintained weight and inches, but lost 2% body fat. This shows that Michael is losing fat and gaining muscle so good job Michael.

Last night, I was running a low blood sugar so we were searching the cupboards for something sweet to bring it back up quickly and Michael made the comment, "We sure did a good job cleaning out the junk, there is literally nothing here." That has been one of the biggest keys to staying successful, even on a stressful week where we didn't plan, is that we just don't buy the stuff we shouldn't eat. My mom used to say, "I like to make the decision once to not eat the stuff that I shouldn't and it's just easiest to make that choice at the store." I would have to agree with mom on this one. Funny how she seems to get wiser as I get older. (Love you mom!)

This week we are focusing on refining our diet again. Back to high protein and getting quality complex carbohydrates (see the previous post about refined sugar). As for me, I'm getting to the gym! I have a device that a friend gave me called the Nextfit Trainer. I'm excited to see what it can do for me!