seven months

My baby is now seven months. So many emotions. I want him to be my baby forever. Children don't replace children. Lincoln will always be our baby boy. He is so happy, healthy, and energetic - everything I wanted in a son. I had no idea how proud I would be. He loves to cuddle. He head nudges me a lot. He loves to be tickled and to play. He loves his daddy. Every day when we're home without Caleb, I catch Lincoln quickly looking to the desk Caleb sits at for studying. We walk into the room and he whips his head around and smiles in that direction. Then he just stares. My heart swells because I love how much Lincoln loves his dad. When Caleb gets home at night Lincoln gets breathing fast and is so excited. Having Lincoln has taught me more about our relationship with our Father and Mother in Heaven. How they love us and must miss us! Love means more now. Love is doing what is best, even though it might be painful right now.

Lincoln loves so unconditionally. I was sad the other day about some poor choices I made. I walked into the Kitchen and looked at Lincoln in his exersaucer. He gave me the biggest smile and almost chuckled. He has a naturally happy heart... just like his dad. I needed Lincoln for a son. He has made me see the world with new eyes. I get excited about going on walks. Everything new he sees, feels like I'm seeing it for the first time too. When I was pregnant with him I remember turning on the radio to a song that I usually listened to. There was no swearing or anything obviously wrong with it. Then I would think,"but I don't want my baby to listen to this". And I'd change it. Its the same now. He has made me so much better. I've grown more in this last 7 months of having Lincoln than I think I would have in a lifetime. These precious babes are such a blessing.

Happy 7 months my little Prince

Monday Report

Happy Monday! 

Lincoln loves his aunt Hayley. This picture was at little Hudson's blessing Friday.

Linc isn't feeling too good lately. He has always been the best sleeper but lately he keeps us up at night and his naps are terrible. We're blaming teething. I've felt like a zombie this last week and I'm determined to not feel like that this week. :D So far not so good.

SO... How are my no-(something) friends doing??? Its been 4 days and I'm holding out strong! No chocolate in four days. Don't think that has happened once sense I got pregnant over a year ago. No sugar has been difficult because before bed I just want to go make chocolate chip cookies SO BAAAADDDDDDDDDD!  Keep it up! We're going to feel great on April 20th!


On to the report

Goal: Three days at the gym, an hour each time (or equivelant). 20 push ups on non gym days. Get 13 miles in
Report: By my calculations... I got 11.6 ish miles in last week. Push ups still need improving.
This week plan: Same

Goal: Eat food intentionally. Listen to my body! plus NO SUGAR

Report: I rocked this one!
This week plan:  No sugar.

Goal: weight 153
Report: I was 154 this morning
This week plan: By next Monday I'd like to be 152.

Although I'm usually not perfect at my goals, It's still worth it to set goals.im still making progress. 

Secret weapon

Before getting to the details I'm going to share a story. 

  When I started 7th grade I weighed about 100 lbs. I was 5'5 ish. By the end of 7th grade I'm guessing I was in the 120's. I don't actually remember exact weights at certain times. We didn't have a scale at home. 8th grade was a rough year for me. Lots of family drama, adjusting to a new school (we moved to Clinton the end of 7th grade), and starting the awkward stage of puberty. Sometime during 8th grade my mom bought a scale. One day I got the courage to weigh myself. I remember we were about to go to a ward activity... So it probably was December. I hopped on and the scale said 144 lbs. I remember I didn't eat hardly anything that night. I was so so so sad. I was devastated. I had never been a "chubby" little girl. I was always active. I loved to play outside. I loved vegetables. I couldn't believe how out of control my weight got. 

I remember that evening I got in the bath. I looked at my body in disgust. I was not made up of muscle. I was pure fat. I didn't know what to do. With all the stress I had faced that year, I just comforted myself with my mom's home cooked meals. I have a gazillion sisters, each of which know how to mix up a scrumptious batch of homemade cookies and brownies. Every night of the week there was some fresh warm dessert available. I had no concept of portion control. We ate the desserts till they were gone. 

Although I was very sad about my weight, I just stayed away from the scale and continued to eat more and more. One day at school a boy said to me, "is it hard to move your legs when you're that fat?" I left class and called my mom. I told her I had cramps and I needed her to come get me. When I got home I went downstairs and tried to make myself throw up. I looked in the mirror after my unsuccessful attempt. I thought, "I'm not fat. I'm a daughter of God and he loves me. I'm not going to be mean to myself just because that boy was mean to me!" So the bulimia plan was thwarted... Thank heavens. 

In February my family went with my moms cousin's family to stay in a nice condo in park city. My darling, beautiful, skinny, sweet, gorgeous (you get the idea?) cousin was there. If I didn't love her and admire her so much I probably would have hated her... Ha ha. Seriously, she was the sweetest person, but being around her made me feel more like I really needed to lose weight. While we were there I overheard the parents talking about my other cousin. He had quit sugar. He didn't have desserts, treats, sodas, or anything like that. He asked his mom if she would pay him if he went off sugar for a certain amount of time. He said he had lost 10 lbs, I believe. 

When we got back from our trip I asked my mom if she would let me do the same thing. We agreed that if I didn't eat sugar for ONE YEAR, she would pay me $250. The first two weeks were torture! My sisters caved the first week, bless their hearts. Ha ha. My mentality was with each temptation I would say, "that cookie or $250?" Obviously no cookie was worth more than $250. I figured I'd lose a little weight, but I spent most of my time thinking about what I was going to do with the money. A couple weeks went by and my clothes were falling off me. Everyone noticed. One day I was getting ready for school and all my pants didn't fit. My confidence returned. For the first time in my life, I felt like I had control over myself. At dinner I would get full on the main course - pasta, vegetables, and meat. Sometimes still having two servings if I was hungry. Then after dinner if everyone was eating dessert I just listened to my body. If I felt hungry, I cut up an apple and ate it with peanut butter. If I wasn't hungry I didn't eat. It was that simple. The benefits I didn't expect were that reading my scriptures got better, I didn't waste as much time, my grades improved, and I gained the confidence to do track and try out for madrigals. I didn't spend my time at parties at the food table. I socialized and focused on having fun and getting to know people. I remember getting home one day from school and seeing the scale in the bathroom. I was excited to weigh myself. I jumped on and couldn't believe my eyes. I weighed 126 lbs. That was a minimum of 18 lbs weight loss. I think it was even more because I stopped weighing myself.

I spent the next year off sugar. When time came for me to eat sugar again, I worked out a deal with my mom to make a little more money and go a little longer. Finally, she realized I was making too much money off something I had mastered. Ha ha darnit! 

When I returned to sugar, I could hardly have two bites of a dessert before I felt like I had had enough. Slowly, I got to where I was having one serving with everyone else and I didn't struggle with my weight again until recently. 

Some other things I learned

Aside from the lessons of self mastery, I learned a lot about our culture surrounding eating. Sometimes it was mind boggling to me how upset people got when I couldn't eat a treat or drink a soda. They would say, "Did you know that isn't good for you?", " you're crazy!" , "sucks to be you", "that's not healthy, you need sugar" ... I would wonder why they cared so much. I was happy and I certainly was healthy. I didn't lack for food. I was in no way a broom stick. I still had what my sisters called, a "ghetto booty". I also was baffled at how much people just throw food at you. At mutual, school, family parties, friends houses, people just hand you food. I realized that just out of being nice I would have consumed so much junk that I otherwise never would have been tempted to eat. I'm a chocolate lover. Don't get me wrong. I am not a safe person to leave any chocolate treat with. But if it doesn't have chocolate in it, it wasn't worth the calories. Yet when a cute old lady handed me some pie, or a friend give me half her starbursts, I'd eat it out of being curteous. Why do we have a culture where someone is considered rude or they're up for taking shots at if they don't want to eat the junk everyone else is eating? Why is it a sign of manners for you to eat any treat you're offered? This is a problem people! 

The point

My point in saying this isn't to get everyone reading this to throw out all the sugar in their house. But sometimes we need to step back from whatever were consuming too much of. Maybe for you it's more salty stuff. Maybe you're just like me and can't go a day without a handful of chocolate chips (sometimes a cup of chocolate chips...I wish I was joking. Ha ha) Maybe the Catholics are onto something with Lent. Once in a while it's good to give up something you think you can't live without so that you can see how good life can be without it. 

Who wants to join me? You don't have to do sugar! It can be anything. I'm starting today and going till April 20th. Please let me know if you're in. Accountability is so much greater when you share it with someone! I'm excited to hear your stories. :)

*for me no sugar means no desserts, treats, soda, chocolate milk, sugar cereals, fake juice, etc. 

Ps. My fenugreek problem resolved and I was 154 yesterday :) progress! Yay! 

   

Nursing troubles

Prior to having Lincoln I would come across articles on nursing (breastfeeding). It honestly didn't catch my attention. I knew I would nurse my little guy. I thought it would be super intuitive and not something I needed to read an article about. I also thought it was a weird idea- that I'd eventually get over, to get the benefits of my baby receiving mother's milk. (I'm almost laughing now at what a little know-it-all I was!)

Nursing can be a wonderful experience, but this 4 month learning process taught me compassion for mothers who have to jump hurdle after hurdle to nurse their precious babies. With all the information about why breastfeeding is best, some wonder why any mother would choose a different way. I have deep empathy for those mothers and hope in no way any mother reading this would feel even more added guilt for her decisions. Breastfeeding is such a personal matter. This post is not to add to the heartache women feel when they have to quit nursing, but instead to provide encouragement and tips that helped me. 

Beginning 

Right off the bat, Lincoln was given a bottle from the nurses at the hospital following my cesarean. Then later that night I just minded the nurses. They brought in pumping stuff. I figured at some points I would do some pumping because I was going to be going back to school. Anyway, I didn't really feel like they explained to me the point of pumping at the hospital. I didn't really think through any of that. I got a hot pad and put that on. I tried to nurse and I pumped. I thought this was going to be cake for me... Ha haha. Bless my heart...

Beginning of my troubles- tongue tied

Lincoln was tongue tied. I asked at the hospital if we could have his tongue clipped in something called a frentonomy. This is where they snip the frenulum under the tongue. At the hospital I was told over and over that we should wait to see how bad it was before jumping to surgical intervention. They said sometimes it doesn't need to get corrected until they can't talk properly. I was bothered by this in the hospital since the nurses kept commenting on how his tongue was tied. Not till after I got home and my milk supply was gone did I realize Lincoln was not sucking properly. I turned to the internet for information and discovered that having a low milk supply often is the result of the baby being tongue tied. Then I had to worry about taking my newborn into doctors offices with sick people to get it fixed. It took us a few days to get a doctor who would do the procedure. When you're talking about problems with nursing, problems need to be fixed ASAP. (I had to take fenugreek several times to get my supply back) I realized that hiccups like this were probably some of the reasons that mothers quit nursing.

Extremely time consuming 

I felt so bad for lincoln and knew that nursing was so difficult for him, I just let him nurse as long as he needed ( or I thought he needed). My nursing sessions were usually over an hour long... About every 2-3 hours. One day I realized I spent 12 hours nursing! No joke. As a new tired mom, this was causing extreme fatigue.

Painful beyond painful

The only advice I remember being given about breastfeeding was, "just stick with it. It's painful for a few weeks but just when you want to quit it gets better. Those who quit, quit before that time"

Awesome.... That advice did NOTHING for me. I got to where I was literally curling my toes and banging my head. I would cry while nursing sometimes. I would express this to my mom and other women but their reply's were the same, "it gets better. Use lanolin. Just stick with it." Um... Okay? Finally Caleb said he didn't want me to nurse anymore if it was going to be this difficult for me. He said he supports me 100% in stopping. I had a melt down one day (sorry Caleb) and I decided to do exclusive pumping. That was the beginning of October I believe. I pumped until Christmas time. (I will do a whole other post about exclusive pumping) 

Finding answers

I looked around me and realized there has to be more to this nursing thing that I'm not getting. How can so many women do it for thousands of years. Did they all "just stick it out?" I thought, if they can do it, I can do it! I missed my time with Lincoln. I felt like Caleb, grandparents, and other people were getting all the sweet special moments because i was glued to my pump. (Which, still was 10x easier than nursing was). I missed nursing him. My whole life I've thought breastfeeding was a weird thing. I was embarrassed when others talked about it. I felt like it was inappropriate to discuss. But here I found myself missing it. I felt like it was a beatiful thing that was just for him and I. To me, it wasn't especially bonding because of the act of breastfeeding itself, but because it forced me to slow down and give him all my attention. It forced me to take time-outs to spend with this baby who was changing by the minute. Those minutes would never return and it helped me to soak in them. 

I started researching. I found hope in that so many women had switched back from exclusive bottle feeding to breastfeeding. I got serous about learning the proper technique. I was set on teaching Lincoln to nurse properly.

What I learned that helped me nurse properly

- it was CRITICAL that Lincoln's whole body was facing me. Somehow even his legs are connected to his tongue. We needed to be belly's touching. 

- Lincoln needed to make effort. He needed to LIFT his chin and open his mouth wide. (This was the most difficult technique to implement. His "rooting" relux left fast when he began bottle feeding and he was content with us shoving a bottle deep in his mouth without any effort on his part) if he has to turn down to get latched, he needs to be brought more to the opposite side. Having their body positioned too far to the side you're nursing on causes them to put their chin to their chest which will cause improper latch. 

- When he opened his mouth I needed to pull him close to me and make sure it was a very deep latch. If not, it rubs agains his hard palate and causes nipple damage... AKA excruciating pain. 

- I needed to hold my breast from underneath, in a cupping (U) shape. This hold needs to be away from the nipple. Do not try to manipulate the latch by putting your fingers close to the Areola. I don't know exactly why this helped so much, but my hunch is that when I wasn't holding my breast, the weight of it would pull it out of his mouth, thus creating a shallow latch. If you're well-endowed this trick is for you! Once he had been nursing for a while, I could let go and he continued in proper technique. 

- if you move to reach for something or stop paying attention, you could ruin the good latch you originally created. If you're thinking you aren't latched right for whatever reason, put one finger inside their mouth to break the suction, pull out, then re-position. 

Switching

For me, switching back was not easy. I had a huge learning curve. I thought, now that I knew how to do it, I could just make the switch. What I didn't expect is how upset Lincoln was about it. He got hysterical every time is attempted to nurse him. So I kept doing both. He was a hit or miss for about a week. When it was a miss I just pumped. It seemed with each bottle feeding he was even more reluctant to go to nursing. I realized that if he was good at nursing, then for whatever reason I pumped and let him have a bottle, it was a nightmare to switch again. I quite pumping cold turkey because of my tendinitis. I had no choice. I either needed to nurse Lincoln or switch to formula. I was running out of stored breastmilk. Lincoln got so hysterical while trying to nurse him that it broke my heart. Caleb and I wondered if we were traumatizing him. 

The long process

I decided this was going to be hard work. I had come so far between nursing and pumping I just wanted to give it my best shot. I started just cuddling with Lincoln - skin on skin. That way he didn't think he was going to be nursed and he could get over some of the triggers that were terrifying him, I would even bottle feed him skin on skin. If ever he got crying we just stopped. I made sure I was doing all the feeding. Important: I took deep breaths and just calmed down. If I was stressed, he would be too! After a week of that, and almost quitting, he finally starting wanting to latch. It was so hard because I was afraid that if I repositioned him, due to being improperly latched, that he would get upset and not nurse. Sometimes this was the case. But I learned that if I talked to him in a really gentle voice and smiled, the reposition didn't upset him. I had to be diligent about good technique. We would get to two nursing feedings without a bottle, and then finally a whole day without a bottle, then several days without a bottle. I still brought milk everywhere because I was nervous that he wasn't going to nurse, but eventually I gained more confidence in him and myself. 

Conclusion

Now Lincoln nurses for 5-10 minutes every 3 hours. One side each time. It has been a wonderful experience and I am enjoying it. I believe that cultural norms are sometimes not conducive to an environment of learning about nurturing your baby through nursing. Although I appreciate the encouragement to "stick it out" there is so much more to nursing then just blindly putting yourself through so much - physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. I learned so much going thought this process. I couldn't possibly share all that I learned in this one post. I will be doing one soon about exclusive pumping and what I learned. Feel free to share insights or suggestions. Also, if you have any questions, I would be happy to answer. 

My favorite website for information was http://www.llli.org

Monday report

Happy Monday! I'm really working on having kind feelings towards this day of the week. I thought once I graduated, I would love Mondays. Turns out I'm just as sad that mr right is going to be gone all day. So I've decided to make Mondays better by spending the day planning family night and not forcing myself to have a super long to-do list. :) 

Nursing and losing weight has been difficult for me. I have noticed that if I cut my calories back too far, or do a long run, the next day my supply is pretty low. This last week Lincoln has been a terrible sleeper. He normally will sleep 8-10 hours. This last week he was averaging 3 hours at a time. I thought the time change might have played a part, but I think the main culprit was my low milk supply. So I took my miracle drug; fenugreek. This bad boy works! Seriously crazy how much it works. (You have to be careful taking it if you have blood sugar problems or other health conditions. So ask your doctor before using it) I took it Friday. It didn't kick in till Sunday. By last night I was in so much pain. Lincoln slept through the night because he was finally full (guess he really was feeling the effects of my low supply), but I couldn't sleep cause i was in so much pain. :( ya win some and ya lose some. Anyways, due to the magic of fenugreek I was 156 this morning. Hard to know if I'm losing while taking this stuff. 

Goal: Three days at the gym, an hour each time (or equivelant). 20 push ups and walk on non gym days
Report: I did everything but the 20 push-ups. I seemed to only remember those when I was cozy in bed at night ;)
This week plan: same but get 13 miles in this week. 

Goal: Eat food intentionally. Listen to my body! 
Report: I don't really think this goal fell in line with my "smart" goals. But no, I wasn't 100% on this one. 
This week plan: keep to one helping of food and desserts. 

Goal: weight 153
Report: i was 156 this morning (read post above)
This week plan: By next Monday I'd like to be 153. :D 

Get moving!

So I got all inspired by Jessica Simpson this week. Anyone who loses a bunch of weight in a healthy way is a rock star! I was reading about her weight loss. One of the first things she did was start counting her steps in a day. She had a goal to take so many steps. Her trainer, I believe, said it was near impossible to get the calories in/calories out just right so someone could lose weight, if they spent most of their day sedentary. This gave me added reason to just get going...

So this week I have made it a priority to get going... One step at a time. Yesterday I was dreading going to the gym. I just hate running on the treadmill. It's seriously a torture chamber for me. I get so dizzy and almost fall off if I watch the tv's provided ( not to mention I'm not a fan of TV these days) but  if I just stare at the treadmill, I feel like I'm going to pass out. Weird... Anyways so yesterday I decided to run to the gym 2.6 miles then do some weights and have caleb come get me. It was so fun! The ladies at the gym probably thought I was crazy coming in the door all out of breath and leaving 15 minutes later, but who cares ;). This morning I went on a hike with my darling husband's cousin's wife. We had so much fun chatting. We just look Lincoln and found a fun trail. I love this time of year. It feel so good outside. I challenge you to find an exercise to do in the outdoors this week. The air has a perfect crisp breeze that feels so good when you're getting all sweaty! 

Whatever you want to do or become, just get going. The sooner you start, the sooner you get there. A few months ago I thought I was going to have a heart attack running for three minutes. Yesterday I did 2.6 miles. YOU CAN DO IT! 

Good luck! Please share your new adventures! 

My favs lately

1. 4-grain Breakfast pudding: From my darling friend Amanda's blog Call me Betty. Amanda is a registered dietitian.  I love all the recipes she's put on there so far and I am excited for more to come! This recipe is so filling and so packed with fiber and other nutrients. I add a little milk over mine right before I eat it. It is so creamy and yummy. Recipe Note: I did double the cinnamon and add more fruit than it calls for, the second time I made it, so my sweet husband would eat it.
2. Tortilla Soup: Click here for original recipe.    This soup is so comforting... and healthy. That is if you don't eat it with a cup of cheese and a bag of tortilla chips. :) This soup is really good without the cheese and chips, but if you're going to add it, go light.
      Recipe Note: I am the worst at following recipe's exactly so my twist on this soup is I always double the recipe. I bake the chicken first. I always add a can or two of beans, usually black. I cut all or most of my tomatoes to decrease the amount of stuff coming from cans.  And I usually get the low sodium broth. I use vegetable broth sometimes along with the chicken. I get as much vegetables as I can in this thing. Its amazing!
3. Cajun Chicken over Lettuce: Recipe for the chicken. This chicken is yummy! Put this over a bed of your favorite lettuce with lots of slices Roma tomatoes and you will be in heaven.
   Recipe Note: I only use half the Cajun Seasoning it calls for.
4. Honey Lime Chicken Enchiladas : This is my honey's favorite Recipe lately. He loves it.
   Recipe Note: I DON'T ever use cream. I have used a little milk or a little lite sour cream, but this recipe is so yummy it really doesn't need either. I always use whole wheat tortillas and serve with a side of Black beans and lettuce with diced tomatoes. 

Listen to your body. I'm not a fan of eating such "healthy" meals that you don't feel like you can eat normal food. I'm an advocate for "normal" food that is eaten in moderation. I love adding more vegetables or fruits to recipes and less of the "bad" stuff. I've found that it's not only edible after I do that, but even better than the original recipe. 

Meal time should be fun and enjoyable. Sit down and enjoy these meals with your family and let me know what you think. What are some favorites at your house lately? 

Monday report

I decided that on Mondays I'm going to report on how the previous week went as far as my goals. Also, I will evaluate them if any changes need to be made. 


Goal: Three days at the gym, an hour each time
Report: I did two days and one of them was not a complete hour. I hike waterfall canyon on Saturday though. (Substituted that for going to the gym) I'm having IT band problems so I cut back my miles this week. Soon I'm going to do a post about what to do about IT band troubles.
This week plan: Same goal, plus on the days I don't go to the gym I want to take Lincoln on long walks in the stroller. (minimum of a mile) Also, on the days I don't go to the gym I would like to do 20 pushups at home. I know this sounds really easy, but with a little guy around my day slips by so fast. I want to start simple. 

Goal: Better control of my eating habits. LISTENING to my body. 
Report: I'm feeling VERY good with this one. I really don't recall over eating this week. I think I'm going to change this goal a little bit now that I feel like I'm not over eating.  I also have been better at listening to the kinds of foods my body wants to eat. 
This week plan: Only eat food intentionally. I have meal planned for everyday. I'm going to stick to that and continue with last week's goal. 

Goal: Get to 145 by my birthday in April. I have seven weeks to lose 10 pounds. Which equals about 1.5 pounds a week. 
Report: I am at 155. 
This week plan: By next Monday I'd like to be 153. :D 

slow and steady wins the race

Update

Since January I have had times when I feel overwhelmed and unmotivated. I knew those times would only end if I continued, but if I quit, I would be left to continually feel that way. 

Right now I'm feeling great. I finally have noticed a difference in how I look and feel. I recommend to anyone who embarks on a weight loss Journey to DO MEASUREMENTS. Often times the scale hasn't changed much or hasn't changed at all, but if you are losing inches you're winning! 

I left my card with all my exact measurements at the gym I attend, and I keep forgetting to copy it. (You leave it there) But last week I rechecked all my measurements and everywhere lost a little bit (0.25 inches or more) but one place lost A LOT - My waist. It was originally 36 inches when I measured myself at the beginning of January and now it is 32 inches. That is 4 inches off!! Also, now I know for my own experience that it is true what they say about belly fat; it comes off easier than other fat. read about it here. Or here.

I am fitting into old clothes (not in the lose way I'd like) but I'm fitting into most of my clothes. Most importantly I feel like I'm trusting myself again. I feel that I am on the right track. I'm patiently waiting for more weight to come off as I continue the lifestyle I've chosen. 

Are you making progress? Please share!

My goals

So I'm going to set a Long term goal that is constant and short term goals that will frequently change or be added to. Short term goals are suppose to help you get to your long term goal.

LONG TERM GOAL : Maintain a weight of 130 - 135 lbs. (Start out my next pregnancy at 130)
MidTERM GOAL: Get to 130 lbs by my son's first birthday


Short Term Goals:
- exercise 3 days a week at the gym, an hour each time
- gain better control of my eating habits by eating slower and listening to my body's cue's telling me its time to stop. 
-Weigh 145 lbs by my Birthday in April. 

I am scheduled to run a half marathon in May. Currently, I can only run 2 miles in 18:45. I have A LOT of work to do. So this is a separate yet connected short term goal. My goal for the next time I'm at the gym is to complete 2.5 miles in however much time it takes. 

To back up and tell you how I got to 2 miles... 

2 miles might not sound far, but after having Lincoln I could barely run for 3 minutes without feeling like I was going to have a heart attack. 1st I just ran till I couldn't any more. Then I walked till I felt like I could run again. I did this till I did a whole mile. (took me over 10 minutes). Next time I came I told myself I was going to do a mile in 10 minutes or less. The my goal was just to not stop running till I reached a mile. Once I ran a mile, without stopping, under ten minutes, I started just improving my time. I got to eight minutes and thirty seconds and decided I needed to really start upping my mileage. I went to 1.10 miles... all the way to 1.5 miles. Then I did two miles straight no matter how long it took. Last time I went I tried to keep the two miles in under 19 minutes. 

I think it is very important to set a goal EVERY time you exercise. You will never know the great things you can accomplish if you never set your sight high. 

Please feel free to share your own tips and successes! 

Goal setting!

Losing weight is difficult. Very difficult. It not just a physical thing. Its a mental, emotional, and spiritual endeavor. To lose weight, run a marathon, win a baking contest, or to learn to give a public speach, it is important to set goals. SMART goals are the best. They are SPECIFIC, MEASURABLE, ATTAINABLE, RELEVANT, and TIME-BOUND. Smart goals help us become who we want to be!

Specific Goals: For example, the goal to be "skinny". Well what is skinny? Is skinny eating only ice cream but still fitting in a size 3 pants? Probably not, but when the going gets tough, you're going to need a better goal than that.

 Measurable: If your goal is to "be in shape"? That could mean a lot of things, and how do you know when you're there? Its very important to have goals that you can objectively say you've made it or you still have work to do.

Attainable: this one is very important. Are you setting a goal to be in a certain size that would never fit you even if you were starving to death? If so, you're setting yourself up to be disappointed and discouraged. Sometimes this part of setting goals needs to be re-evaluated. If you get going on a goal and just can't make it happen in the allotted time, maybe you need to change it up a bit and try again.

Relevant: Are you setting goals that have nothing to do with what you want to accomplish? Usually this one isn't very difficult, but if you find that your goal won't help you reach your dreams, its time for some alterations. 

Time-bound: All goals need to have a time in which you expect to be finished. Otherwise you keep telling yourself, "Tomorrow I'll start!" Setting goals on time tables also helps you gain a more accurate picture of what it looks like when you're doing your best. 

When we set goals it is very important that they meet this criteria. Goals are not suppose to discourage you or weigh you down. They're suppose to empower you. 

Starting

"A Journey a thousand miles begins with one step.... " and might I add sometimes a million more steps?

I wrote this whole blog post already. I wanted to add one more thing, and I'm not sure what happened but the whole post disappeared. So here I am... starting again. The irony. The post I wrote was all about just starting; that starting is half the battle. But what just happened taught me a lesson. Starting IS half the battle - but you might have to fight that battle SEVERAL times. 

Anyways, about starting (sometimes over-and-over)... There are lots of reason why we never start. I believe all those reasons are rooted in fear. Fear of failure, fear of how our life might change, fear of being humiliated, fear of the unknown. 

I love the following quote. 

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, and fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people will not feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It is not just in some of us; it is in everyone and as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give others permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others. - Marrianne Williamson

Do you know that you are a child of God? You are a literal offspring of the most powerful person in the universe. Just like you have the genetics to be like your earthly parents, you have the spirit to be JUST like your Heavenly Parents. There is so much you can do, that you haven't even dreamed of doing!

This means that you not only should start, but you should move forward boldly. Who cares if you don't think you're the stereotypical "runner". You are a one of a kind human who can be whoever you want to be. Believe it! Besides, if you've ever been to a marathon finish line you will find that all those people come in all shapes and sizes. The only thing runners have in common is they're all crazy enough to think they can! (and they're right!!)

So get going. Realize who you want to be and how you're going to do it. Set those goals and BEGIN! 

My new journey

* I wrote this post over a month ago. I didn't want want to rewrite them all, so I just published all of them today. My journey started in January... 

 Let me share why I wanted to do this blog. I have been a runner pretty much since 8th grade when I joined track. Since then I have consistently gone several months where I run a lot and then drop off to pretty much nothing and then start again. Since 8th grade my weight has fluctuated between 128- 140 lbs. When I got married I was a solid 138 lbs.  I was 18 percent body fat and I felt great! I got married and on top of the busy college student I already was, I wanted to be a little Martha Stewart. Instead of living close to friends and sisters to exercise with, I lived far away and felt alone whenever I wanted to go for a run. (bless my husband's heart... he hates running.) Needless to say, I found every excuse to not exercise and just kept baking away. Fast forward two years post marriage and I was approaching 150 lbs. By the time I found out I was pregnant I weighed 152 lbs.

When I learned that I was pregnant I vowed to myself to only gain 15 lbs. Morning sickness struck (which should be called all day sickness) and I lost 5 pounds. I thought, Whew... good I wont gain lots of weight. Somehow, probably with the help of chocolate, I found my self at 190 lbs at my last weigh in before having Lincoln. 

Luckily, with nursing and my insane schedule to finish my degree after having my little guy, 30 lbs practically fell off. 

So I had my little guy in August. December found me at a whopping 162 lbs. I had work to do. I signed up for a local gym and started going.  A month ago I was 29 % body fat and Barely fitting into my "chubby clothes". Today I am 157 and 27% body fat (my chubby clothes have loosened some). I have plenty of work left to do. My goal is 130 lbs. I've been wanting something to help me be accountable and stay motivated. So, please feel free to join me on this journey!