Days 11 and 12~Carrie

  I can't even keep track of my days anymore.  I thought it was Thursday all day today.  Kinda nice to know it's a day later. : )

  I finally went to the store today.  I never got a chance to go to the store after Tuesday night's brownie fiasco.  I wonder if I would have gotten through those couple of days easier, without so many mistakes, if I hadn't had Fall Break and Brad's trip, ALL at the same time.  When you're on a diet and the hardest day of the diet coincides with the hardest day of your month, that's a lot stacked against you.

  Yesterday, Day 11, I ate breakfast (eggs, spinach, onions, and tomatoes) and a snack (celery, sunflower seed butter, and raisins), and didn't eat a real meal the rest of the day.  The kids had sandwiches for dinner and I had a few handfuls of carob chips.   I babysat my friend's kids and had to hold the 10month old pretty much the whole time because he was screaming.  I think he's scared of me.  I do NOT have a way with babies.  I'm really quite bad with kids.  That's why I don't love babysitting when Brad's gone.  Kids LOVE him and hate me.  I was counting down the minutes until they came home and right when I thought they should be arriving, she texted and said it would be a few more minutes.  It was another hour.  Luckily he calmed down about the last 20 minutes.

  So that wasn't a great day.  Skipping meals is very typical of me.  Sometimes simple things seem like too much trouble for me.  I know if I can get in a better habit of eating throughout the day, I'd have more success, but it's just hard for me, for some reason.

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  This morning the boys used all but one egg to make french toast, so I made that one egg and 2 slices of bacon.  I hadn't gone to the store at this point, so I didn't have any avocado.  Then I noticed there was a little more cinnamon egg in their french toast bowl.  I didn't want to eat the egg alone, with cinnamon in it, so I made my own french toast, with ezekial bread we still have in the freezer, and put my other egg on top.

 The mom of one of Colson's school friends called at this point, and wanted to pick Colse up in a few minutes to have him play at their house.  That got me moving.  I felt like it was my chance to get something done.    Right when he left, I did a quick DailyHiit workout.  I was going to do Gillian Michaels but I get so bored when I've done the same workout just a couple days ago.  I have to switch it up more (I'm like that with movies, too.  I can't watch a movie unless it's been years since I've seen it last, but I prefer to always see something new).  So I did a quick 12 minute workout and then we went to Sprouts.  The kids HATE going to the grocery store with me, so having one less kid was great.  Got back home RIGHT as Colson was pulling up to our house with his friend.  Perfect.  And I had a Larabar on the way home from the store.

  Yesterday the kids went to a friend's house too, so I invited those friends over to pay their mom back.  So we have three boys here now.  I've just been cooking up all of my meat.  Some steak for tonight, turkey burgers for lunch (which I just finished eating), and chicken for tomorrow's salad.

  Aww, it's nice to feel prepared again.

B: 1 ezekial french toast with another egg on top, 2 slices bacon
S: Cherry Pie Larabar
L: Turkey burger with 1/2 apple and goat cheese
S:  (planned) Blueberry Muffin Larabar
D: (planned) bacon wrapped filet and mediterranean veggies

"DAY 11"

Ok girls!  Today is day 11 . . . On her blog, Robin says it's one of the hardest days!  I think if we're conscious of that, then maybe we can push through it successfully.

Yesterday, day 10, was a tough day for me.  (I know it was for Carrie too).  I craved baked goods ALL day!!!  So I ate lots of Larabars.

B:  paleo blueberry muffins
L:  left over filet and asparagus
S:  larabar (chocolate brownie)
S:  (yes, a second snack in a row) larabar (coconut cream pie . . . Kept telling myself it was a coconut macaroon . . . Was really yummy!)
D:  salmon and sautéed spinach and onions
+ two and a half squares of dark chocolate

Good luck to you all . . . I know you can do it!!!!!  :)

Day 9 and 10~ Carrie

oh my.

Day 9 was fine but I think I'm just so. bored now.  At the end of the day, I made a batch of the most junky brownies ever.  Like, the most unhealthy recipe you could possibly make.  9x13 and it's all gone now.

So I guess what I'm saying is Day 10 was not so great.  Didn't exercise either.

yikes.

I'll try to recommit tomorrow.  I feel gross and disappointed.  I think I'm drowning my sorrows in food because Brad won't be home until Monday night and I'm not looking forward to this week. : (

Day 10- taryn

I am starting to notice my clothes fitting differently and I even wore my old true religion jeans, meaning they actually fit and buttoned up and zipped and everything! Still a long ways to go but fun to see some changes.

I tried to eat a little less fruit today, which will probably result in me eating more fruit tomorrow, ha! I didn't love the eggplant brushetta as leftovers. I did love the tuna patties and I even made my own mayo for the alioli (or whatever it is) sauce! Fun to try and it tasted good! The real test will be if Brady will eat it. If I ever see him again I'll make him try it and let you know what he thinks :)

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B: Quiche
S1: paleo muffin
L: eggplant brushetta (leftover)
S2: apple w/ sun butter
S3: almonds
D: tuna patties with sauce

Day 9- Taryn

Not much to report today.... I really liked the eggplant brushetta. I felt like I had a lot of fruit and snacky type things today, ie blueberry muffins, apple, larabar, chocolate. I kind of felt bad about that but oh well. Its still all "on the diet" but I know if I'm wanting to loose weight I need to cut back on all those fruits. I'll try again tomorrow!

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B: paleo muffins
S1: Apple w/ sunflower butter
L: tuna w/ avocado, carrots
S2: Larabar
D: Eggplant brushetta, 2 chocolates

Day 8- Taryn

I made plans and shopping lists last night. I had my quiche for bfast, then dropped Liv off to preschool and me and Scootie drove to Trader Joes for some almond meal! I LOVE TJ's but realized that it is so dangerous! They have sooo many treats and you trick yourself into thinking everything in there is healthy, but its not. It was good that I had a list and that I'm eating clean because I love their treats. I was able to get the almond meal, eggplant, strawberries, blueberries, veggie straws (for the girls), pomegranate seeds, tomatoes, grass fed raw whole chicken, some new varieties of Larabars, and some fresh Fall flowers :)

We picked Liv up from school, then I still had to run to walmart because TJs only sold zucc and squash in packages of 3 and i was nervous to get so many but i need it tonight for the veggie bake. I didn't really want tuna and avocado but I bought a bag of avocado at the beginning of this challenge and I don't want it to go bad, so I had to use it. I actually did like it to my surprise, I just added some things to give me a little variety and because I was really hungry after all those errands.

I filled myself up, put the girls down, and did my workout. It was cardio recovery so no real cardio- a lot of yoga and squats. I felt good! I had so much time after that while the girls were still sleeping, it was weird, but I cleaned and then started making the paleo blueberry muffins to save for bfast this week. And then I got started on dinner.

I couldn't resist eating a muffin so that was my 3rd snack. Dinner was chicken and veggie bake, then I gave everyone a muffin for dessert, but I just watched everyone eat it since I already had one :) And I forgot to eat my chocolate square which was probably for the best since I already ate an extra snack :)

Question: what did you cook your veggies in? I don't want to buy white wine, so I used apple cider vinegar and it was waaaaay over powering. Brady liked it but I could barely handle all that vinegar flavor. If I do it again I might try chicken stock  or something.

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B: quiche
S1: Larabar (apple pie)
L: a little of the leftover broccoli and spaghetti squash, tuna w/ avocado, and 1/4 c cashews
S2: 1 Tbs pomegranate seeds w/ 1 Tbs sunflower butter
S3: paleo blueberry muffin
D: Chicken and veggie bake

Week 1 Update . . .

Sorry I haven't posted in forever . . . it's been pretty busy around here.  But I did want to report that I have stuck to the diet, and am very proud of that.  Exercise however, is another story.  I worked out 4 days last week.  My weekend just kind of got away from me though.

Saturday I woke up at 6:30 to get Luke ready for his football game at 8am.  So we were out the door early, and really only came home to change clothes, grab a different kid, or drop a kid off, and then we were on our way again.  We had two football games for a total of 5+ hours, and a soccer game, and went to a Dallas Stars hockey game that night with some friends.  We were pretty much gone from 7:45am to 10:30pm.  But luckily there were enough stop ins at home, that I was still able to eat well.

Breakfast:  protein shake (don't know if this is paleo . . . but I made it with almond milk)
Snack:  Larabar  (at Caleb's football game)
Lunch:  Leftover tuna cakes with garlic lemon aioli (between football and soccer)
Dinner:  Leftover salmon with sauteed spinach and onion. (between soccer and hockey)
Snack:  Half of a larabar (at the hockey game)
Dessert:  apple and sunflower butter

I was really spent, on Saturday.  I'm not sure if it was lack of sleep, lack of carbs and sugar, or lack of water, or the weather.  Maybe a combination of those things.  It rained on us at Caleb's football game, and the temperature dropped dramatically -- even though I had a sweatshirt on, and had and umbrella . . . I was shivering almost the whole time . . . expending energy.  The soccer game was super cold and windy . . . but by then I had on my winter coat, and a blanket to wrap my legs, so it was better.  Of course, I had kids with me at all of these events too, so I also had to take care of them, and all of their needs.

We slept in on Sunday . . . hallelujah!  And awoke to Luke coming into our room to tell us that there was a lady at the door who wanted to talk to us about our dog getting out.  So upon speaking with her, it turns out that when Fritz got out, our three youngest stinkers left to chase after him . . . and she found Anna sitting on a park bench, all alone, at the edge of the woods, around the corner from our house.  SOOOOOOOO embarrassing (and SCARY)!!!!  And all Anna had on was a winter coat, and a dirty diaper, and that's it.  Oh my.  Anyway, Conference was great . . . and I stuck to my diet well . . . other than skipping a meal because we had more of a brunch than breakfast and lunch.

Brunch:  Two eggs, two bacon, 1/2 avocado (while the fam had pancakes, bacon, and eggs, strawberries, and chocolate milk)
Snack:  Green apple and sunflower butter
Dinner:  Greek chicken, sweet potato hash, steamed green beans (the fam ate this too, but they also had biscuits)
Dessert:  2 squares dark chocolate

I made pumpkin bars to take over to our nice neighbor to thank her for returning our children and three-legged dog safely . . . and for not calling CPS.  ;)

It turns out that when she was walking the kids home, Claire was telling her how we usually went to church, but today we got to stay home and watch Conference on TV, and listen to the Prophet.  The lady asked Claire what the prophet was, and Claire looked at her like she was crazy, and said, "you don't know who the prophet is?????"  Soooooo, we got to have a nice discussion about Mormons and the church, and our basic beliefs.  She was cute and said that she believed all those same things that we did (God, Jesus, Spirit -- 3 seperate beings; families exist beyond the grave; ancient prophets, etc.).  She kind of started freaking out and said, "I think I'm a Mormon!!!  I think I've been a Mormon all these years and didn't even know it!!".  Then she asked if we drink beer, and when I told her that we didn't, she was like, "oh, well, maybe I'm a 'closet Mormon'."  :)  So funny.

Anyway, another interesting day . . . but more structured with food.  But also more tempting . . . having more free time, and yummy treats around.

But I stayed strong!  Didn't go to bed until after 1am, though.  I hate that I can't seem to get in bed earlier.  :(

Yesterday I was up at 5:30 to get Liam off . . . but I didn't exercise.  Too tired.  Up at 5:30 again this morning, and again too tired to exercise.  But I have stuck to the diet both days.  I would list my food for today and yesterday . . . but I have to run.  Gotta drop Liam's swim bag off at the school, and take his friends to Seminary . . . he's staying at school to ride the bus to the swim meet.  Soooo, swim meet tonight and soccer practice, and all the other mommy stuff.  Let's see if I can get in bed at a reasonable hour tonight!

I've loved reading your updates!!!  And kind of wish we could talk . . . I agree with so much that has been said, and our experiences are so similar.  Congrats to everybody for their improvements!!!!!  I took measurements and pictures on the first day . . . and took measurements again this morning, but when I went to compare them . . . found that I must not have saved them that first go around.  So I have no idea if my measurements have changed . . . but I've lost about 6 lbs.  And I do feel different in my clothes.  Not sure if I look any different though.  It may be just that I feel different, so I'm carrying myself differently.  Anyway, all in all, that's good!!

Love you all!