Progress #1

So this is my first post after "coming out" about my plans to get healthier and shed some of this weight. It's taken about 10 years to put on... and the amount of weight that I'd like to lose (and would be healthy for me) is about as heavy as an average 10 year old child, so I figure that's a good analogy! Haha.

(No pics this time, maybe I'll be more bold once I get below 200 again :p)

Starting Weight: 225
Weight now: 220
Work Out Plan: 6 days a week at the YMCA
Weights and Cardio (Cardio - Mostly elliptical, both standing and seated)
Average Work out time: 15-20 mins on cardio
1-2 reps with weights
Diet: None as of yet
Pills: Started taking Women's Once a Day Vitamins (mostly cause I have low iron)

As of right now I've not honestly been pushing myself too much. I'm mostly getting back in tune with my body and trying to understand more of what I need to do and what I'm able to do. I'd love to just jump right into like a Zumba class or something, but I also have to understand my limitations (and I know I would look ridiculous!) Because of the gut I have acquired there are things that I just can't do yet. I'm learning my limitations and what I'd like to build up to.

At this moment I haven't changed my diet. We're not the type of people who ate fast food all the time or anything, but we honestly weren't too picky about snacking on stuff either. Be it Cheez-Its or Häagen-Dazs. This is something that we ARE going to change as a family, but it's also something that I'm working up to as well.

Every other time I've tried to go on the path to better health I've made huge changes all at once. It works for some people, but it doesn't work for me. I burn out really fast and just lose interest or just get frustrated when I'm not getting quick results. It took quite a while to put all this on and I know it'll take a while and a lot of effort for me to get back to where I want to be. I'm okay with taking a slow start though if it'll mean a lasting commitment and a life change rather than just a fad to lose some unwanted weight.

I'm always open to tips, so if you have any, let's hear them!!

Can't wait to see what's in store for me and my family as we take this journey together. And as odd as this sounds even to me, I'm kind of excited to start pushing myself harder. You know... as soon as I know I won't DIE if I actually run for like 5 minutes.

Diary of a Fat Chick

Yes, this post is exactly what you think it is. This is me bellyaching about weight! And believe me, after the last decade I've got quite the belly going! :D

As of this exact moment in time I am 225 pounds, which is 10 pounds off from my heaviest (235).

And I just can't do it anymore.

                                                    Freshman Year  --------  Junior Year

Once upon a time I was in high school. And while I don't ever think I will be as small as I was back then, I hope that with enough diet and exercise I can get close. Until the middle of my junior year I only weighed 110 pounds. And then for my senior year I packed on a few. I think by time college rolled around I was about 130, which is perfect for my height (and is my "healthy weight" according to BMI). In the 3 years that followed I gained about 30 pounds. When I got married in 2004 I was sitting at about 160-170. And then.... the 3 years of my marriage happened. This is not the post to belly ache about what happened there and how not right for each other we were and we were just trying to make it work... but yeah. I gained about to where I am now in that time. Like.... 50 pounds in those 3 years.

                                                 Christmas 2011 ----------- Easter 2011

In the meantime my weight has fluctuated greatly. In late 2007/early 2008 when I moved back in with my parents I got back down to 190 (mostly because I was so depressed I was starving myself and eating like... popcorn and string cheese). And then I moved to Pierre, and then I had a baby. And now I'm at where I'm at.

And I need to do this for me, internets. I need to do it for my family. Skinny Jenny is in there somewhere and I just have to find her!

This is the first post of what I am sure will be many through this year chronicling my weight loss and my journey to be a better me.

It will start with me going to the YMCA on my breaks from work (where I am the assistant director of a daycare) and working out. That will start in February and I will report in in the middle and end of the month so we can see how that is going.

Stand with me, friends and random people reading my blog! Cause it's about to get real all up in here!

Goodbye 2011

A lot of people are blogging their resolutions for this year and I figured that I if I actually wrote them for the whole world to see that I might actually stick to them this year.

This year has been pretty insane for me. There was the flood in the summer that basically ruined our lives for a few months and then towards the later part of the year there was an incident that really made me re-evaluate what I want in life and who I want to be in it with me. Let's just say this year was a year of choices for me. And I believe I am on the right path having made the choices that I did this year.

But without further ado...

1) I am going to be serious about losing weight this year. --- Diet, exercise, pills, supplements, whatever it takes. I need to get to a healthier weight for mostly myself, but also my family. Diabetes likes to creep up on people on Mom's side of the family and after having gestational diabetes with Darion I can say that is one thing that I would really like to avoid. The membership to the Y will be my first step.

2) I am going to get out more. --- I'm usually a shut in cause of both the child and my gaming. This year I want to get out more and do more. South Dakota doesn't have loads of things to offer... but it does have nature. It has scenery and gorgeous landscapes. I need to get out more and see the beauty around me.

3) Build a stronger bond with my family. --- This goes for both my immediate family (Darion and Jake) to my family everywhere else. I don't talk to my sister, Mom, and Dad as much as I should (about once a week?). We got the iPads for Facetime and I need to use them more. This also means Facetiming my kinda mother-in-law Renee too. :)

4) Make my relationship with Jake the best it can be. --- I'm not the perfect girlfriend. In fact sometimes when I have self pity parties I'm pretty sure I suck. A lot. A lot of this has to do with #1 and the fact that he wants me to be around for a while... so I need to take care of myself. But we need to take care of our relationship too. I vow to go out on more dates and have more one on one time with my man.

5) Get back in touch with my creative side. --- It's been about 2 years since I've really sat down and dedicated any time to my art. I made my cute little card hangers for Christmas and I do projects with my kids at work, but I really don't spend as much time as I'd like to working on MY art. A tablet will fix this... MAYBE SOMEONE WILL GET IT FOR ME FOR MY BIRTHDAY THIS YEAR?! *hinthintJake*

6) Be a better friend. --- Sometimes I feel like I am not really there for my friends. Like... I care, and I love them. but sometimes I feel like I'm a superficial friend cause I'm not *there* with them when they are doing things or going through something. I also need to keep commitments to going out better.

7) Spend more time teaching my son. --- I spend a lot of time playing with Darion but he's 2 now... now is the time I really need to start spending the time helping him *learn* things. He can count to 3, he likes to (try to) sing the ABCs, can tell you he's 2, loves telling you where things are, and has started talking in full sentences more frequently.

8) Cut back on the Diet Coke. --- Anyone who *really* knows me is thinking "WTF?!" Yes, internets... I need to cut back on my addiction. I think it will help with #1 and it will be good to not be spending that much money on it either.

9) Housework.--- I don't even think I need to get into a whole explanation on this one... I just need to be better.

10) Change our living arrangements. --- We are currently in the process of getting a loan. We are planning on buying a friend's trailer (it's nice, not trailer trashy) and then moving there. Paying $600 for rent every month when we are going paycheck to paycheck basically makes no sense to my brain. We are paying into something that we don't really get too much back on. It'll never be ours. And we're barely keeping our heads above debt as it is. But... it's been what we've had to do. It was a starter thing for Jake and I. But we're going to do better now.


I'm sure there's a million and 1 things that I could think of to write but I am going to stick to those 10, 1 being the major one.

Happy New Year everyone! Happy 2012!!

It's hard to believe it's already been 2 years...

Darion's Story

Rock on, little man! Mommy loves every day she has with you (even thought it may not feel like it sometimes as I am constantly telling you "NO!")

The Flood

So I promised to chronicle the events of this summer and because Fall is upon us I decided now would just be the best time to sit down and do it. That, and Darion just went down for a nap.

At the end of May you will recall a post I made about the fear of having to move out of our house because of the mismanagement of the Missouri River by the Army Corps of Engineers in Omaha. That fear became a reality as we were scrambling to pack everything we owned in 3 days to move it all out.

Now, I am not the best housekeeper, I can be honest about that. But a completely unexpected move?! Urgh, it was chaos. Everyone was freaking out about how fast the river was coming up. Ft Pierre was a complete mess to try and get through. People were hauling sandbags everywhere. The whole neighborhood was loading up their belongings. Sump pumps started going in basements. It's not like you think there's going to be a flash flood and the water is just going to jump the banks and slam into your house or anything, but it was scary seeing the water slowly start to creep up the street towards the house.

So we got everything moved out. Most of our furniture went to the garage of one of my daycare families (they all spoil me). Some went to a co-workers house. And some still went to Jake's parents house. Wemoved into Jake's work (Comfort Inn) and let me tell you... I lived there for a month when I first moved here. And it was for sure worse this time around with a baby. He could see us so he didn't want to sleep. He heard every move we made and wanted to get up and play when it was time for him to nap. I would go into the bathroom and play Glee on my iPad on Netflix just so he couldn't see or hear me. We also had the cat and the dog. Luckily there was an animal shelter opening by the airport, so we took Mochi (the dog) there cause it wasn't fair to her to be all locked up in that little hotel room.

Weeks rolled by and we had to change rooms once cause there was an unfinished room that they said we could stay in for free cause they couldn't rent it out anyways. So there we were for a while but we knew we couldn't be there the whole time. Jake's grandparents agreed to take us in and so we moved down into their basement. Jake and I slept on 2 separate twin beds and Darion slept in the other room in his crib. It was cramped, but it was semi-private and we got all kinds of good food there. Plus I picked up some cooking tips! The only part that really sucked was no internet there.

We managed though.

And while I'm not going to go into insane detail with everything (cause you don't even want to know all the things we fought about during this time) it was probably hands down the most stressful 3 months of my life.

In September we moved back into the house we were renting before. And we've been back here almost a month now. It feels good and we got rid of a lot of junk. We still have MANY totes to go through though. But at least we have the time to do it and our own space as well. Luckily our house wasn't affected much besides the water heater dying and the water in the crawlspace.

The ONLY good that came out of this is a family that we know (from daycare!) bought a trailer house because they have to completely move their house away from the river because of the water damage their basement and foundation took. They offered to sell it to us when their house is done and ready to be moved back in to. Jake and I talked about it, looked at the place and are in love with it. We're really hoping that we can get the loan so that we can buy the place from them to finally have OUR place. That just sounds nice and paying rent really doesn't make sense in my head at all. Kind of like leasing a car... it just doesn't compute.

But in a very vague nutshell that is my summer and I am now a moving champ!