Extreme Makeover--Me Edition Week 2 Update

For those of you who are just joining me this week, Amber started a weekly Extreme Makeover--Me Edition. If you would like to follow along head on over to her blog and link up. You'll find the rules there as well. This week started off pretty good. I decided it was time to get serious and no more excuses. No matter what. I didn't want anything to stand in my way of getting back on track with working out and losing weight. Whether it be sick children, a workaholic Dada or even a tired Mama. It didn't matter what the excuse was because I wasn't listening anymore. All excuses fell on deaf ears. Forcing myself to turn the lights out at 9 p.m. was especially hard when I was watching Dancing with the Stars on Monday night. I've been going to bed early so I won't have any reason to think I was too tired to get up and work out. Last night I didn't get to watch the results of DWTS. Going to bed early bums me out a little but I'm proud to say that I worked out six times since last Wednesday. My groove is back with working out in the mornings before any of the kids get up. Leaving for the gym at 4:45 a.m. is hard but getting easier by the day. Of course I have to give myself a little pep talk each morning to actually get my foot out of bed. It's been working so this is a good thing.

This morning I went to Weight Watchers to weigh in and my scale at home said I lost 1 lb. Weight Watchers' scale was a tad bit different stating I lost .4 lbs. It seems like I put in a whole lot of effort for that measly little bit of weight but I'll take it. That weight loss is comparable to more than 1 1/2 sticks of butter. It sounds much better when put that way! I have always thought slow and steady wins the race as far as losing weight goes. Didn't get to watch The Biggest Loser last night which is where I get a lot of my inspiration and motivation from. Thank goodness for DVR's!!

Amber's question of the week is "What are some methods you use to stave off temptation and/or keep from overeating?" I recently started chewing Extra sugarfree gum which is what Jillian Michaels, the trainer, on The Biggest Loser suggests. It helps but I don't like to chew gum so it might not work for me in the long run. If I see that I'm having too many Weight Watchers points in any one day I'll either check my blogs (which I do quite frequently!!) to try and divert my attention or look through recipes to start planning our family's dinner for next week. I try to talk myself out of eating something if I can as well. It works if you want it to. Sometimes I'll grab a microwave bag of popcorn. It gives me a lot to munch on. I'm a big snacker. That's one of my biggest problems. I bought some Weight Watchers candies today too. They're cappuccino cream and cherry flavored. Each whole pack is 1 point. Not sure how they taste but I'll let you know what the verdict is next week.

Here's a rundown of my week as far as everyday life goes with a little bit about weight loss or exercising thrown in here and there. Early Friday morning, I woke up with the stomach bug. I'm sure no one is surprised by this fact being that the boys had it for 2 weeks. Brady's finally back to normal but Kyle still has the icky bum. Mine was not the same mysterious virus. Whereas they were/are feeling just fine and dandy, I didn't feel well at all. Luckily it was a quick thing and didn't deter my thoughts from the focus and motivation of eating healthier and working out.

By Saturday morning I was back to normal. I took the boys to their first movie. A few years ago we tried this but ended up leaving before the previews were over. They were scared, screaming and crying. Here I thought we were going to have some wonderful bonding time. It took me a long time to muster up the courage to do that again. My town offers free movies on Saturday mornings for the kiddies. This was a win-win situation so I decided to give it another shot. We ended up seeing Wall-E. The boys loved it and although Kyle said he was scared and it was too loud I cuddled with him the entire time and he ended up being fine. They were happy. Once we got home he said he was just kidding about being scared. Um right, ok, of course you were. The movies weren't as loud as they normally are as the theatre turned the volume down specifically for the children. The boy listens to toontown and youtube with his earphones on and blares the music. It was nowhere near as loud as that! He's 6 so I cut him a break. :-)

Saturday night we went to dinner at Arthur's St. Moritz. My husband's birthday was yesterday so we went out for an early celebration. Last time we ate out it didn't go very well and I was a little apprehensive. Luckily this was a new day and everyone behaved smashingly. We had a really great time although the food wasn't very good. I enjoyed one glass of pinot grigio alone as my husband didn't feel like drinking. The company and atmosphere were perfect. So happy. My kids behaved the.whole.entire.day. I wanted to shout it from the rooftops!

On Sunday my parents came home from Florida after staying there all winter. I made a loin of pork with a rub they brought back from one of their retired friends. It was so tasty!!! I have no idea what was in it but I would love to find out. After dinner, my mom, the boys and I went to Blockbuster to rent some games. Somewhere between Sunday night and Monday morning at the gym, I lost my Am Ex card and driver's license. I turned my car and purse upside down and inside out but could not find them. I called Blockbuster and the YMCA. No honest citizen turned them in. I cancelled the credit card and went to the DMV to get another license yesterday. My Mom kindly offered to watch Peyton for me. So off I went with my InStyle magazine in hand prepared to sit and wait. Since it's the end of the month, I thought for sure I was going to be there for awhile. Much to my surprise and delight, there were more staff than patrons. I was in and out in 10-15 minutes. The ladies behind the counter laughed at me when they saw my magazine. They said I could sit there and read it anyway as they wouldn't throw me out until closing time at 4:30 p.m. The whole experience was easy peasy.

At dinner on Sunday, my Dad informed me that he kept a log of how many miles he walked since November. In 5 months he walked 500 miles. This wasn't even walking 7 days a week. Usually it was only 4 or 5 days. The man is almost 71 years old. He's such an inspiration. I'm so proud of him!! Makes me feel like a bit of a slacker but my only excuse is he has more free time than me. :-) See there it is...an excuse. I forgot, we'll have none of that here.

This post wouldn't be complete without pictures. These are some from a week or so ago. The weather was gorgeous so I decided to take the boys out for some action shots. They loved it. The first one is my favorite.

This next one looks like Kyle is pushing Brady off the rock but he's really not. Not this time anyway. :-)

It seems I was a bit wordy today. Hope you could follow it all. I'm so happy to be doing this weekly update as it keeps me honest and accountable. Have a great day!

Much love from NJ,