Grocery Shopping

grocery shopping is not my thing. i lived at home with my family until i married tim and i never had to plan meals or cook. i seriously had no interest to learn. my brothers BOTH went to culinary school in high school and now one of them owns a successful pizza place. my grandmother is an amazing cook... my favorite meals are her pasta dishes and her turkey soup! i wish i had that desire to learn to cook and get to know food. but i never did and i think this is why i struggle with meal planning and grocery shopping.

(This is my first shopping trip being married with Tim!)

one semester in college, i meal planned and grocery shopped with my roommate. but honestly... back then... when we were dirt poor... we were more concerned on saving money than planning healthy meals... i could make an amazing chocolate chip pancake (who knew they shouldn't be gooey in the middle!) 

when i go shopping, i stick to the same foods. the same snacks. the same breakfasts. the same lunches. the same dinners. boring. i had a goal this summer to try to follow a recipe and make a new meal every week. but honestly... it is so hard to prep and cook a meal with a 1 year old who is either cranking at my feet or getting into something he shouldn't be. 

i also am not a fan of grocery shopping because i swear they have candy, cookies, and sweets of all kinds hiding around every corner! there was a BIN of chocolate sitting next to the vitamin/slimfast aisle! it is like someone is purposely trying to sabotage any healthy plans i have... by throwing a snickers bar or reese cup right in front of my cart.

i will continue working on this whole meal planning/grocery shopping/cooking thing. i will continue to try to dodge the candy jumping at me throughout the grocery store. i will try my hardest to try and enjoy grocery shopping...because i do think meal planning/grocery shopping is such an important piece to not only losing, but maintaining a healthy weight.

July Update

The month of a June was a busy one. we had three birthdays. vacations. and picnics galore. i went a little sugar crazy on my vacation... but pulled myself back together for the picnics.

i had a smart friend tell me she picks a date to make special and eats healthy until that date arrives. tim and my 7 year anniversary is quickly approaching at the end of july. i booked us a babysitter for july 29th and i plan on eating healthy until that night... and then i will eat my favorite foods and drink my favorite drinks!

i weighed in this month... i gained weight! 153.2. normally i would be pretty upset and crushed... but thankfully i measured myself on June 3rd too! and i am down 4.5 inches and did not gain any inches anywhere on my body! Believe it or not... my arms each lost an inch! i am feeling pretty confident waving at people now... so if i wave at you... it's because my arms are MUCH smaller!😂😁

i started running using the Couch to 5k app... and i am halfway through Jillian Michael's Ripped in 30. i am probably the fittest i have been in 6 years. i feel skinny.... but i feel really strong too! for those of you running, shredding and getting ripped... thank you for motivating me! i am looking forward to exercise... when not even two months ago i hated it.

i'm happy with my 40 pound weight loss... i am happy right where i am. i will update my weight every month, but i will no longer be so focused on dropping pounds. i'll be focusing on getting stronger and continuing to make time for exercise.

i am finally the healthy, happy mom i have been wanting to be for years!

The Fitbit

i like a good competition. in fact, i am probably the most competitive person i know. i get teary eyed losing at a game of bowling... and i am TERRIBLE at bowling. i put 100% effort into every competition. when i was a kid, i would get upset if i lost at any game. i would get frustrated and angry at others if i was on a losing team. i decided at a young age to run cross country and track because i couldn't handle other competitive sports. if i lost... it was my own fault. i had no one else to blame. 

fast forward to my birthday... tim gave me a Fitbit. in the beginning, it was neat. i loved how it monitored my sleeping and my heart rate. it made me aware of how active i was through the day. 10,000 steps seemed easy for me to get... and it was easy because i am pretty active chasing a toddler around and going for daily walks twice a day. i noticed at the end of the day i was usually around 13,000 steps a day. Sometimes i was higher because of the Couch to 5K and those thirty minute walk/runs can really increase the step count!

on monday, i entered my very first Fitbit challenge... the "Work Week Hustle." it is with some family members... one of whom is my brother. i figured, i had the challenge in the bag since i knew my step count daily was pretty high. i figured i wasn't behind a desk all day and was able to move whenever i wanted... i was really confident... i totally had this. 

man... was i wrong. i am walking/dancing/running and still barely holding on. all day long, i am getting notifications that i am falling behind or that someone is tiptoeing past me...my legs ache every night trying to keep up with the crew. i took advil two nights this week just to fall asleep. 

yesterday morning, i woke up and my Fitbit wasn't working. it was frozen. i could feel myself panicking. my heart was racing. i was getting angry because every step i was taking... wasn't "counting!" After a restart... and an hour of wasted steps... my Fitbit started to work again. However, this morning i woke up... and the same thing happened. i tried restarting. and tried again. nothing. it would constantly freeze and miss so many steps. i had errands to run and things to do so i left the house freaking out that every step i took meant nothing. when i got home at lunch, i restarted it again and prayed it would get working... and it did. but i knew i could never take the lead. i was upset. frustrated. angry. i would have to work extra hard to even get close to my usual daily count. 

and then i realized this has become ridiculous. i am killing myself and exhausted. i NEVER sit. my body hurts. i was not even going to try to make up the steps. i am not going to win. and it will be okay. so... to wrap this post up... this will be the very first and last challenge i do. i am too competitive and i just can't handle it. my name is theresa and i am NOT the winner of the "Work Week Hustle."

Vacation Confession

Well... here i go. after going more than 140 days without fun sugar, i cracked. i had a piece of ice cream blizzard cake on Landon's birthday. then i had another piece the day after. and another piece the day after... which pretty much lead right into my birthday...

i told tim i wanted one of my favorite donuts from my favorite bakery at the beach... i swear... they are the BEST. vanilla cream powdered donut. they stuff that baby with more cream than you can even imagine. i ate the whole thing in like two minutes. and then i ate ice cream cake.

the next day i went for the oreos. double stuff. i ate one. and then another... and then two more. oh. and tim bought me another vanilla cream donut. heck... i ate FOUR of those in a week!

i ate brownies covered with icing to celebrate my brother's birthday on thursday at the beach. and then on friday i bought a bag of chocolate covered peanuts and devoured them all within an hour... oh and washed them down with some pepsi.

i woke up this morning and had to make a decision. do i continue on this path of eating all this delicious sugar again? or do i go back to my original plan and stay away from the stuff that packs pounds on me quickly. thanks to some of you already starting the next 30 day workout... i was able to commit myself to stay sugar free again. this is so hard for me to do. i feel like i failed and over ate things i haven't touched in months!

we had a father's day picnic today... i didn't touch the dessert. a huge success after the ridiculous week i had. focusing back on being healthy and making healthier choices. weigh day is still planned for july 3rd. i got this...

and i'll end this post with some beach memories... the week was exhausting... my kids were up around 5:38 most mornings because of the bright sunshine... but we took lots of afternoon naps and had a wonderful time!

June Update

Wow. What a month! i decided back in april to get this body moving in may. and what a crazy month of may it has been. i HATED working out in the beginning. DREADED hearing JMike's voice... was MISERABLE during every circuit... but then something changed around Day 19/20. I started to ENJOY it. i started to look forward to the quiet time in the basement to focus on me. i could feel myself get stronger and stronger as i approached Day 30. i wanted to get my workout in. i was determined. for those of you who are shredding... hang with it! I promise it will get better after the halfway mark!

i weighed myself today after a month of keeping off the scale. i was surprised by the results since i thought i was gaining muscle during the 30 days. but the new number is 151.2.  A loss of 6.6 pounds... for a grand total of 43.6 pounds since January 3rd! that's more than Landon! it's an average of 8.5 pounds a month!

i measured myself after i completed 30 days of The Shred...

Day 1

Hips-39.5 inches

Waist-33 inches

Left Arm-12 inches

Right Arm 13 inches

Butt-40.5 inches

Chest-38 inches

Left Thigh-22.5 inches

Right Thigh-22.5 inches

Day 30

Hips-37 inches (-2.5)

Waist-31 inches (-2)

Left Arm-11.5 inches(-.5)

Right Arm-11.5 inches (-1.5)

Butt-38.5 inches

Chest-36 inches

Left Thigh-20.75 inches

Right Thigh-21 inches

i lost a grand total of 13.75 inches off my whole body! i was shredded!!

And finally some updated pictures from the January to present... i've always loved seeing weight loss transformations... so hard to believe i am one now!

no exercising for me tomorrow... i'm taking the day off! 😁

A Shred Update

Hard to believe the month of May is almost over... it seems like just yesterday when i decided to try and exercise again after not moving a muscle in years!

for those of you who are not familiar with the Shred.. it is a 30 day program with 3 levels. each level is 10 days. when i started on may 1st... i literally hated everything about it. even down to the nice, smiling girls in the back.

the first ten days (level 1) were torturous. it could have been because my body was weak and everything was hard. i mean... how can there not be a jumping jack modification? level 1 just went on and on...it was a long 10 days.

as i moved into level 2, things got a little easier. they say it takes two weeks to start or break a habit...i'd say by the middle of level 2, i started to look forward to exercising. i started to feel stronger... i started to have a more positive outlook on getting in shape. i could feel a difference in my body.  the next 10 days (level 2) went much faster!

and finally level 3. i'm five days in... and those five days flew. the 25 minutes don't feel very long. there are some ridiculous, tough moves in level 3 (scissor crunches!!), but it seems much easier now than when i started level 1.

five more days until the next weigh-in. five more days of the shred. i'll update the measurements on june 3rd... and maybe some pictures....final stretch!!

(Landon and I shredding on Day 10-Last Day of Level 1!)

Pre-K Graduation Day

this has been a bit of a crazy time in our family. landon has been wrapping up his preschool years. and today was his pre-k graduation day. it is a little bittersweet moving on to kindergarten. i am excited for the changes to come... but, i know once school really hits... life will get extremely busy with sports, activities, and homework. time will fly.

it seems like just yesterday i was waiting for him to make his appearance. he was due around this date five years ago... how has it been five years since i began this journey of motherhood. a journey that has not always been easy. a journey that is exhausting and rewarding at the same time. a journey that i LOVE being on... but also need a break from too.

it has only been recently that i figured out how important it is to take a break. a moment to myself.  like a pit stop. whether it be out to dinner with a friend. a date night. a pedicure. a quick happy hour. writing a blog post. or even a thirty minute exercise session.

i'm looking forward to summer. a summer to enjoy my young children. a summer which will include time for myself.

a summer to continue on this journey... and of course i'll be adding in some pit stops.

Halfway

back in april i decided to start moving my body for the first time in a LONG time. i set the goal of doing the Jillian Michael's 30 Day Shred Challenge every day in May. because of many of you joining me, i was able to get myself exercising for fifteen days already!

fifteen days doesn't sound like much... but it is a big milestone here. i wanted to quit at least three times already. the first time was before day 1 even started. i didn't even want to begin working out. the second time was after day 5. i was miserable and feeling gross with myself on a friday night. and the third time was right before day 8. this was when i had to stop exercising for three days because of both nolan and me getting pretty sick. i thought i should just quit because i wanted to do 30 days straight during the month of may and now the streak was over. 

after the third time of wanting to quit, i realized something about myself. i am a perfectionist. i wanted to quit the third time because i didn't meet the "goal" of  30 days consecutively. it was no longer going to be followed perfectly. but that was a really difficult goal to even set for myself. for someone who hadn't moved a muscle in years. for someone who is busy being a wife. being a mom. being a teacher.

i think this is why it has taken me so long to drop all my weight. it was always all or nothing. i have gone on diets off and on over the past five years. i even tried cutting sugar this time last year... but i ate 1 donut on vacation and thought... well... that's it. might as well have another donut... and another.. and hence falling off the wagon. if i don't do it perfectly, i give up.  and pretty quickly.

giving up fun sugar for 100 days was a tough goal to achieve. it got easier as time went on and as more and more people knew i was doing it. i had so much support around me. the perfectionist in me didn't want to let myself down!  i didn't want to feel embarrassed by not succeeding. sometimes setting goals is a great thing... but sometimes they can disappoint too... especially when you set them a little to high... especially when you are a perfectionist and don't want to fail. 

i have learned now to share my goals with others. to let them know if i fail. or if i succeed. this motivates me to keep moving forward even when i feel defeated and want to quit. it is so much better to have friends along the way. i hope i continue to motivate you like you are all motivating me.

A wacky week...

it has been one crazy week. it started off fine... everything going according to plan. and then nolan was sick. and then i got sick. i can't even remember the last time i felt so sick. i'm thinking like six years ago...

i had a fever of 102... and was just super nauseous. my whole body hurt. i couldn't eat. i couldn't move. but just for 24 hours. i kid you not! i felt my fever break early on wednesday morning. and then i was just tired from what my body had gone through. so i rested. and i drank fluids. and i rested some more. i took a four hour nap on wednesday! i paid for it that night though because i couldn't fall asleep until way after midnight. which in turn made me extra tired at work on thursday... but i made it through the week!

i finished Level 1 of the Shred... i took measurements on Day 1. for those of you shredding with me, definitely try to do this! i sometimes don't lose weight doing this program, but i have shredded inches! i'll post final shredded measurements at the end of Day 30... which looks to be around June 3rd... the next weigh-in!

If you are interested, Click HERE to see the results of the first time i Shredded... YEARS AGO! (Excuse the messy room... 😁😁😁😁😁)

the week ended with a lovely mothers day with my family. i was spoiled with lots of hugs, kisses, and a cleaned-up playroom!! wishing all you wonderful super moms an amazing Mother's Day!

Thoughts

i'm almost a week in to this whole exercise thing. and i am going to share with you all the thoughts that have popped in my head since the first day.

Day 1:

• why am i out of bed right now?
• i wish i was under my covers...
• is the baby up?
• i think i am going to die.
• holy... I am not sure i am going to be able to make it the whole 25 minutes
• i hate myself for not exercising in years... why did i do this to myself?
• my whole body hurts... 
• thank goodness it's over!

Day 2:

• why am i out of bed right now?
• man... I miss my pillow.
• is the baby up?
• i am only doing this because of all the others joining me... otherwise i would be in bed.
• i can't believe so many other people are joining me.
• my body hurts. 
• my armpits hurt.
• this is terrible... i can't breathe.
• thank goodness it's over!

Day 3:

• why am i out of bed right now?
• i wonder when the baby will get up?
• jumping jacks first thing in the morning suck.
• i hate all this jiggling going on... so gross.
• i wonder if i ever will get rid of this soft, mushy tummy?
• jillian michaels is getting on my nerves. 
• why do they use skinny people in the videos... i want to look like Anita.
• i think i only have like eight minutes left...
• thank goodness it's over!

Day 4:

• why am i out of bed right now?
• i can't wait until this is over...
• lunges are hard enough to do... why do i have to use hand weights too?
• how is this only Day 4?
• keep going... you have others doing this with you.
• thank goodness it's over!

Day 5: 

• why did i not get up this morning and exercise?
• it is so much harder to workout at the end of the day.. what was i thinking?
• i should be relaxing on my couch.
• i can't wait to relax on my couch.
• its friday night and i am exercising. ugh.
• i am over all this sweat.
• thank goodness it's over!

Day 6:

• thank goodness the kids are in bed.
• i can have some quiet time for me and exercise.
• huh... i was able to do all the push ups today.
• wow. i was able to get through jumping jacks and jump rope without stopping.
• i almost made it through the whole video without stopping for a break.
• that wasn't so bad tonight.

i realized last night how completely negative i have been with this whole exercise thing. i have negative thoughts go through my head during the whole 25 minutes! i had a friend comment yesterday that she felt good doing Day 5 of the Shred! i had to start looking at the bright side of moving this body... i want to run again some day. i want to be healthy and not feel like i am dying when i chase after my kids. i went into tonights workout positive... and it went so much better! I'm going to try be positive about these thirty days... or should i say 24! 6 days down... only 24 to go!

May Weigh Day

i want to thank everyone who jumped on the 30 day shred challenge... i can honesty say that if it wasn't for many of you doing this with me... i probably would have never got out of bed on Monday morning. getting out of bed to exercise is so hard. i am hoping this will start to feel like a habit and not so torturous! having you guys along keeps me moving though... THANK YOU!

i stepped on the scale today. the new number is 157.8! i lost 5.6 pounds this month! i was so surprised... and super excited! i am one pound away from my pre-pregnancy weight with landon. i never thought i would ever see the 150s again. the old saying nine months on, nine months off didn't apply to me. it was more nine months on, 5 years off.

i've lost a total of 37 pounds in four months. i am officially in the healthy BMI zone... another goal i was hoping to make!

i finally feel better about myself. i am happy at this weight. i remember how desperate i was to be in the 150s again and how i would appreciate it if i ever got there again... and I APPRECIATE IT!

i'm hoping now to get into a good exercise routine. it would be nice to tone everything up a little and start to enjoy running again.

On to another month of no fun sugar... scale is put away until June 3rd. Thank you to everyone who has said kind words and cheered me on! It has been such great motivation!

(Day 1)

 (Day 112)

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 (Day 112)

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 (Day 112)

A May Goal.

it has been almost four whole months since i gave up sugar. i'll be posting a weight update on may 3rd... but until then i wanted to share that i have been having the "itch" to exercise lately. i've been going on walks with landon and nolan on trails around my neighborhood... and i can picture myself running through them. i haven't had the feeling to want to run in years. not sure if it is because i have more energy and running doesn't sound exhausting... or maybe deep down i know that i won't have to run with an extra 30 pounds on my body anymore...

but, before i decide to hit the pavement, i need to strengthen my body. the only exercise it has gotten in the past year is picking up nolan. i've tried running a few years ago at 190 pounds and it caused a stress fracture in my knee. and i don't want to go to the orthopedic doctor again for MRIs and knee braces. 

i am going to take some time and do some strength training before i start running again. i am going to do the 30 day shred starting on May 1st...Monday! i plan on working out for those 25 minutes for 30 days straight and wrapping up the program by the end of may. 

i am sharing this because i hope it holds me accountable to get my exercise clothes on and do the shred every day in may! i've had great results in the past... and hoping to tone this body and maybe prepare it to start running again. 

here is to getting this body moving for the first time in a WHILE... it's going to hurt. bad.

Boring dinners.

dinners are tough in this house. i pick up the kids around 4:30 at my mom's house... by the time we get packed up, loaded and then unloaded from the car... it is 5:00. At this point, Nolan is usually starving and CRANKY. 

dinners have to be quick. i have a menu i pick from weekly when i go shopping. tacos, pasta, chicken, ham steak, and mac and cheese are always in the rotation. i usually throw in a veggie which can be cooked carrots, corn, peas, or beets. and i end dinner with some kind of fruit and a small sweet treat. 

dinners are boring. i am not a cook. i wish i was. but i don't even know where to begin to become a better cook. i've tried pinterest. i've tried doing other people's recipes. i just don't have the talent to brainstorm and concoct wonderful family dinners. 

tim is a good cook. but he isn't home until 6:30. and the kids have no patience and will absolutely become hangry if they have to wait until 7:30 for dinner... not to mention it is bedtime! so i try to feed the kids simple, quick meals and then tim and i will eat leftovers of the dinner when the kids are in bed.

tim gets bored of the same dinners so he suggested a dinner delivery service (Blue Apron) so we could have a change in our menu. i agreed... and am very thankful i did! the dinners are really delicious. sometimes i think the dinners could be served in a restaurant! and the even better news... they don't take long at all to make! Tim usually cooks them up when i am giving the kids' baths and putting them to bed. 

last nights dinner was spiced beef pitas and garlic labneh with some arugula... it was one of the best things ever made in my kitchen!

it is so nice to sit, relax, and eat a delicious dinner after the kids go to bed... it is also nice not to be eating leftover and heated up ham steak, mash potatoes, and corn.

**Day 113 with no fun sugar! Monthly Weigh-in is coming soon!**

Candy cravings.

this has been a very difficult week for me.  i wanted to eat sugar more this week than any other time during the 100 days. there is so much easter candy in this house... and it is killing me. i just love ALL easter candy.

easter baskets sat on our counter all week. those baskets ended up pretty full because of family giving easter candy and of course all the egg hunts landon has gone on over the past week. i kid you not... he has done four egg hunts! i think the kid found 10-15 eggs at each hunt. oh. and nolan of course toddled around and picked a few eggs up too!

so this left a MASSIVE amount of jelly beans, reese cups, chocolate bars, and peeps.

i have been tempted to grab a loose robin egg so many times out of the basket... and the stale peeps! those things has been staring at me ALL week.

i decided today to dump the baskets and put all the candy in a bowl out of sight. best decision i made. out of sight. out of mind. or so i hope.

this made me realize just how much of an addiction to sugar i have! the cravings have been so intense. and i thought the cravings were pretty much gone...

come on may. i am ready for you. i am ready to move on from chocolate bunnies, cadbury eggs, and jelly beans.

More than 100.

the hundredth day has come and gone. i celebrated with a night out with a friend... we went to one of my favorite restaurants (On the Border) and a movie... Beauty and the Beast... which was OUTSTANDING. i didn't want the movie to end!!

when i made the goal of eating no sugar for 100 days, i never expected to see the results i did... i can honestly say that i feel healthy. my body feels so different in a good way. i have energy. i have hardly any cravings anymore. i can walk away from sweets and sugar.

and because of this, i think i am going to continue with the not eating fun sugar. i know if go on a binge, this would tempt me to eat more. and then more. and then get back in the old habit again. its an addiction i know i have. i am amazed at the people who can eat a just a dessert at night. or treat themselves on the weekends. i've done diets before where i do that... and then i seem to fall off the wagon again shortly after. i don't want to get off the wagon... i want to stay on for as long as i can.

it has gotten so easy to just not eat the sweet stuff. so i am going to stick to it for as long as i can. i'll continue to do monthly weigh-ins so i can earn my monthly leggings! i will also be taking the daily photos because that holds me accountable as well!

finally, the easter bunny stopped by tonight... he got the memo that i was no longer eating sweet things anymore... even though easter candy is my favorite! he put a pair of leggings, mascara, chapstick, and a couple candles for me in the basket this year!

Happy Easter Everyone! 

Day 99

the final change i saw with my body is weight loss. i keep telling people if i would have known that not eating "fun" sugar was the secret to fast weight loss... i would have tried it five years ago. never did i think my body could drop over 30 pounds in 100 days. i assumed i would always be on the heavier side and i almost kind of accepted the 180s/190s. 

i think losing almost 18 pounds in the first month alone made me want to stick with it. i was so shocked to see that number... it even scared me a little! the next few months i think i lost an average about 1 to 2 pounds a week.

i am so happy to be a few pounds from a healthy BMI! probably no blog update tomorrow... i'll be out celebrating with a friend!

i did it!

 (Day 2)

(Day 96)

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(Day 96)

 (Day 2)

(Day 96)

Day 98

Oh boy... only two days to go! i'm getting excited to hit the big 100 day mark! this is one of the biggest accomplishments i have ever had... it is almost up there with training and running a marathon!

another change i wanted to share about going "fun" sugar free is my appetite. i had a problem with feeling full. i seriously never ever felt "full." i could eat and eat and eat. and then eat some more and never have a satisfied feeling. this is probably why i could consume huge amounts of food. this is probably why i was never able to lose weight and instead just packed it on.

my appetite has completely changed. i FINALLY feel full! just tonight, i had a pretty solid dinner and left the table pretty content. i also am understanding better when my body is hungry. i am no longer eating out of boredom, stress, or exhaustion. i am eating because i feel hungry. this is all new to me since giving up sugar. when i did weight watchers, i felt hungry and stayed hungry because i ate my allotted points...  i am no longer counting calories or points, i am listening to my body and the hunger cues... something i have never done before!

Day 97

Hard to believe it has been 97 days... it really did go so fast! well... maybe from the month of March on. the first few weeks went slow, but once i hit Day 50... time seriously flew.

another change that i have recognized over the past 100 days is how much better food tastes. so many people have asked me about how do i drink my coffee without sugar. i can honestly say that i think it tastes BETTER without the sugar. and this is coming from a girl who dumped at least 6 teaspoons in her mug. or added six or more sugar packets to my travel cup. 

healthy food has also been tasting so much better to me. fresh vegetables have had such a refreshing taste. avocados have been a craving... instead of a reese cup! there is nothing better than a creamy avocado!

i also have been enjoying fruit for the first time. i honestly have never been a fan of fruit. the fruits that have been standing out to me over the past 100 days are strawberries, blueberries, oranges, grapes, and grapefruit. i will have a strong craving for a grapefruit some mornings instead of a donut! and that grapefruit tastes amazing!!

finally, cheese. i think if i didn't have cheese in my life, giving up sugar would be really hard. all cheese has tickled my tastebuds over the past 100 days. i have done cheese sticks, cheese and crackers, cheese and olives... if it is cheesy, I LOVE IT. 

giving up sugar has definitely made my tastebuds appreciate foods that i have never enjoyed in the past... expanding my palette has definitely been successful over the past 100 days. healthier food just tastes better without the sugar in my life.

Day 96

My plan this week is to blog about the different changes that happened to my body over the past 100 days. and there were many!!

one of the biggest changes i have had over the 100 days is my body and brain having more energy.

this could be because i am sleeping better at night. this could also be because sugar just made me tired and gave me no energy.

before the challenge, i would barely be able to keep my eyes open when i got home from work. i would race to bed after the kids were tucked in. it was so difficult to enjoy the boys in the evening because i was so tired.

one night in march i was telling my mom how much more energy i have at night. i do laundry, clean the kitchen, wipe bathrooms down...  i told her i thought it was because of my student teacher taking on more responsibilities in the classroom. she said she thinks it is because i am no longer dragging extra weight around. i NEVER even thought about that being a reason. but it makes sense. Nolan is a little under 30 pounds... i couldn't imagine dragging him around all day without a break. good point mom.

so giving up sugar has given me extra energy at night and i am a much more productive human being at home. this change has helped me be a better wife, mom, and teacher.

Weighing-in

Weighed in this morning. the new number is 163.4 pounds. i lost six pounds total in march. that means i lost 31.4 pounds over three months... this is the most weight i have ever lost in my thirty something years!

i am only 7 pounds away from my landon pre-pregnancy weight. i am also only three pounds away from being in a healthy BMI range. i have been hesitant to set weight goals because i have not been focusing on the numbers this time around...but it would be pretty great to see 159 pounds by May 3rd.

scale is put away until the beginning of May. i am starting to have a plan on my sugar eating habits as i inch closer to the 100th day next thursday.  will i eat every coconut egg i see on easter sunday? will i nibble on a chocolate bunny? or toss a handful of jelly beans in my mouth? will i house a whole bag of cadbury mini eggs, you know, the ones in the purple bag? stay tuned........

what is your favorite easter candy?

Final stretch.

I made it to april with no fun sugar. no cakes. no cookies. no candy. no ice cream. no added sugar. it will be day 90 tomorrow. it will also be 3 months exactly that i took on the challenge. i'll be posting a monthly weigh-in to see how it went over the long month of march.

today, we had an awesome get together with family. and anytime there is a family get together... there is food... and LOTS of it. i stuck with the veggies and dip for snacking. i ate a pretty solid meal with fried chicken, cole slaw, and asparagus. and for dessert. fruit salad. and that fruit salad was the LAST thing i wanted to eat for dessert. it took all my might to walk away from cupcakes, cookies, brownies, and candy. 

i came home tonight and told tim how hard it was today. and i think the hardest part were the cupcakes. they were beautiful cupcakes. an amazing amount of icing. and the colors. oh the colors were so bright and vibrant. i wanted one of those suckers so much. but i ate a grape. 

on to the final stretch. ten more days and i have met the 100 day sugar free challenge!