slowly changing...

i always have felt that losing weight is a lifestyle change. a lifestyle change that i am horrible at adjusting to... a lifestyle change that can be miserable. but, over the years, i have learned to "change" slowly. i usually fall off the band wagon pretty quickly if i try to change my eating/exercise habits all at once...

so i take small steps. i have yet to do any exercising...i'm still pondering how i am going to get it in and what exactly i am planning on doing... but figured i would start moving more in a week or two. if i tried counting calories and starting to exercise at the same time... i know i would be miserable. so i will wait to start an exercise plan... i will slowly change.

since tim and i have yet to grocery shopping, i have to continue going through my cabinet for quick lunches. today for lunch, i settled on a bowl of cream of wheat... i made it with a cup and a half of milk and four teaspoons of sugar... my whole lunch ended up being around 350 calories. and it was perfect on this chilly january day. 

(still in pajamas and slippers at noon!)

what changes have you made to your lifestyle to start losing weight?

seven months.

It was a quiet sunday... we had some family visit Landon today for another round of christmas... and i think this last get together should wrap up all of our christmas festivities. now, it is time to start taking down christmas in our home...

tonight i ate a tuna fish sandwich for dinner. i am a HUGE tuna fish fan. i'm not talking about the real fish. i am talking about the kind in a can. i have mastered the tuna fish sandwich. i mix a little mayo, hot sauce, pickle juice, and relish into my tuna. i also use a Thomas' everything bagel thin... it is one of my favorites and such a quick fix for dinner!

after dinner, i had a little photo shoot with this precious face. he is seven months today! i can't believe i was holding a tiny baby only seven months ago... 

kick off to the weekend.

i made it through friday night. friday nights are usually the nights i eat my face off. we usually order out and eat pizza, hoagies or chinese food. and i finish off the week with some kind of creamy martini made by tim. last night, tim brought home two salads from saladworks. it worked. it filled the hole. but in the back of mind all i could think of was sesame chicken with an egg roll...

this morning i woke up with a grumbling stomach. i made my coffee and did my usual morning routine.... as i was sipping my coffee and reading some news, i heard tim shout something from upstairs...i couldn't quite hear him and i decided to get up and check to see what all his excitement was about... with a grin on his face, he proudly said he lost four pounds already. really?

most people would be cheering for him. but you see, i am competitive and i have a really hard time losing. and for those of you who know me, know EXACTLY what i am talking about. this immediately made me more determined to stay focused. no way, no how, will he lose more than me... (oh, and most importantly, weigh less than me too!) 

after his weigh in, we were lucky enough to have my parents watch landon for an hour. we went shopping at BJs to stock up on formula and diapers... afterwards, we decided to run next door to Wegmans' and enjoy a nice lunch together... i chose to eat an amazing cup of buffalo chicken chowder. it was seriously Ahh-MAZING!!!! 

wegmans' is great for people who are counting calories... EVERYTHING in their marketplace is marked clearly with a little calorie card. tim put together an indian meal using the calorie cards and we figured his meal to be about 600 calories.

 finally, we ended the day eating gluten free... wegman's bruschetta is delicious!

coconut cookie oatmeal

i really enjoy reading other blogs... but surprisingly, there are only a few that i check in and read every day... one blog i have been reading since 2010, keeping up with katie (link is on the side of my blog website), when i wanted to lose weight for my wedding... her blog was featured on yahoo for her weight loss and i have really enjoyed reading it since...it is great to get quick and low calorie recipe ideas from her blog every once in a while.

yesterday, as i was starving for lunch... i opened up the fridge and only saw a leftover container of pea soup...

i was not in the mood for it so i decided to see if there were any quick things i could make... well, i found it on Keeping Up With Katie! i whipped up some coconut cookie oatmeal! i scrounged around my kitchen and gathered all the necessary ingredients... i just added a teaspoon of sugar and vanilla and a tablespoon of chocolate syrup at the end...

not going to lie. it was just okay. it was like eating chocolate oatmeal but less sweet. but it was a total of 363 calories for lunch so it stayed perfectly within my allotted amount. and it was super filling!!

Coconut Cookie Oatmeal Recipe

i couldn't dodge the pea soup for long... tim reheated it for dinner, but added a piece of garlic, parmesan bread to dip with it instead... i don't want to hurt anyone's feelings (uh hum, Tim) but i am happy the soup is gone... i was a little peed out. 

and i'll finish this post with a funny picture i saw on facebook this morning... i am not one to put these kind of things on my blog... but this made me chuckle.

pee soup.. i mean "pea"

well, i made it through the first day. tim and i both admit it was really hard. it is always hard going from easily 5,000 calories a day to the normal amount. i have learned that getting through the first two weeks is always the hardest. so... ONE DAY DOWN!!

this is the first time that tim and i are losing weight together. he also just download the Loseit app... so funny to have him doing this with me... i am hoping he sticks to it for a long time and not just january. 

we have yet to start planning and shopping for meals. we decided to do all of that over the weekend... so for now we are just emptying out our fridge and freezer. we had a big bag of frozen peas in the freezer from when i was on my pinterest casserole kick. tim found a pea soup recipe and whipped that right up for dinner last night (he is REALLY good at making a dinner out of nothing.) it was okay but we added a few bacon crumbles on top to make it more enjoyable (well, as enjoyable as pea soup can be...) we have a ton of leftovers in the fridge so i am thinking we will be eating peas for the next few days... here is the recipe if you are interested in a quick dinner. i figured the calories to be about 450 for the bowl since it did have some cream and bacon in it. 

Pea Soup Recipe
(Disclaimer- Tim usually changes recipes... i think he added extra onions and left out the leeks)

(The color definitely freaked me out a little...)

on the landon front... he is acting a little off today... a little more crankier than usual. and his face is covered with clear snot and drool... and he can't stop putting the corner of the dumbo book in his mouth... the book has seen way better days! Teeth?! for the past four months, every time he acts funny, i ALWAYS blame teeth. but the little guy doesn't even have one yet!!! 

Operation Lose Baby Weight

Helmet Update

landon and i started off the new year with a helmet appointment... his head is coming along but we got the confirmation that he will definitely need a third helmet at some point down the road. i am totally okay with this... i was planning on him wearing a helmet his first full year of life and it seems like it may be the case.

his helmet has been quite the conversational piece... i can't tell you how many stores and other public places i have been that a person comes up and tells me their child wore a helmet... most of them add that it was worth every second and when they looked back at it, the time went fast! i don't want to rush his first year away, but man i wish i could have a baby head to kiss and rub every once in a while.

Operation Lose Baby Weight Update:

i have decided to count calories like i did in the past using my Lose It app on my iphone. after doing the math, it looks like my daily intake will be 1,350 calories to reach my goal by July.

i also am going to start implementing some kind of exercise routine in the next month or so...i am still trying to figure out how to work out with a baby in tow. money is a little tight since i am not working this year so buying a gym membership or a treadmill is out of the question... i do have The Shred, but my knees KILLED after using it to the point where i couldn't even sit without being in pain. so i will continue to chew on that until i come up with a plan.

weighed in this morning... check My Journey page see weekly updates. i will be weighing in every Wednesday this time around.

How do you get in exercise every day?

Goodbye 2012... Hello 2013!

2012 has officially come to an end. it was the year of babies. many of our friends and family have had new babies enter their lives. and of course, we had Landon. who would have thought that a baby could bring so much joy and happiness to a home. tim and i have been constantly laughing and smiling as landon is growing and discovering the world around him.

here is the BEST of 2012

Bringing in 2012 with family and friends.

 The arrival of my twin nephews Charlie and Jacob in January.

The arrival of Landon Robert on June 6th.

Driving home for the first time.

Getting settled in our home.

 Landon's Baptism-August 6th

First dip- July 29th

Getting dressed up for Aunt Lauren and Uncle Harry's baby themed Halloween party.

Landon's first Christmas.

The Stokes Annual Pollyanna party with all the cousins.

i can't believe how fast six months have gone since Landon was born... tim and i squeezed each other tight at midnight... we had a lot of bumps in the road but looking at all these photos made me realize how fast time goes and how blessed we are to have a happy and healthy family to kick off 2013.

May you have a wonderful 2013!

the ultimate goal.

this is it. the time has come. starting tomorrow tim and i are on our way to losing the pounds... i have never in the past ten years started my resolution on new year's day... that is just ridiculous since i still have dinners and parties that day... so i usually start on january 2nd or the monday after the new year's. i have decided to start losing weight by counting calories... and once i get started maybe join a weight watchers meeting around the corner from me once a month.

my ultimate goal is to get out of maternity pants... pants that i love. pants that will be very difficult to let go. they have been my friends for just about a year but the time has come to lay them to rest. i am no longer pregnant and shouldn't have this wonderful luxury. i had my time. i had my glory. and now they must go.

tim and i had a wonderful new year's celebration together. landon made it to his usual time of 6:45... i doubt he will be joining us for a ball drop until he is about ten years old! tim and i ate some snacks and dips. we also had a few drinks to bring in the new year. we were planning on making an absolute horrendously unhealthy meal of fettuccine alfredo in a heavy cream garlic sauce but we were too full from snacking. but don't you worry... it won't go to waste. we are ending our 2012 today by eating the meal with my parents for a lovely new year's day dinner.

(new helmet design... i am having way too much fun blinging his helmet)

wishing everyone a happy, healthy and safe new year!!