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My Weight Lose Journey: What I eat and how I workout

After getting on the scale after the holidays I realized I had gains 6 pounds and I was very upset with myself, but it motivated me to get my butt in shape. I really had no clue where to start so I started writing down everything I ate and started pay more attention to how many calories and fat were in the foods I was eating. I'm going to start with some helpful tips that have helped me loss weight:

1. Drink lots of water!!

I had pretty much cut sodas from my diet when i was pregnant so it was easy to not drink them.  Sodas are "the devil"  and if you are drinking more than 2 a day, I promise cutting them from your diet will make you lose weight.  A friend of mine cut them from her diet last week and has lost 8 pounds already!!! 

2. Eat three meals a day!!

For me this was easy because I already ate three meals a day (but I know many people who don't) I also have two snacks in between my meals (I will go into more detail later in them post)

3. Cut out evening snacks!!

This one is hard for me and some nights I still have a snack but it's not my usually fattening ice cream.  If i decide to have a later snack I try to make sure it's low in fat and calories (Like sugar free, fat free pudding)

4. Exercise!!

Before starting this journy I have never workout, I have walked, but thats pretty much it.  I decided to sign up for a Zumba class (on Saturdays) and it was the best thing I could have done.  IT's so much fun and a great work out (I will go in detail about what exercises I do during the week late in this post) The hardest part is get motivate and getting off the couch.  I am so tried most days but to my surprise exercising gives me extra energy and the endorphin's are amazing!  I feel so much happier once I work out  :)

5. Eat fruits and veggies

This is a given, fresh fruit and vegetables are great.  They full you up with out tons of fat and calories and provide you with essential vitamins. 

6. Portion control!!

I love to eat big meals and stuff my belly, so this was a hard one.  Try to make sure you are eating smaller portions that way you are eating less calories.

7. Don't fall for the "healthy" meals!!

There are SO many foods that claim to be "Healthy" but they are NOT. Those frozen "healthy" meals really aren't good for you (and too me don't tasty that good)  I fell for a few of these so called healthy foods. for an example veggies chips... yeah they look like they are healthy then other chips but they aren't, the serving size is just smaller.  

For the first two weeks I wrote down everything I eat and drank and it really helped

So here what a usually day looks like for me

Breakfast:  I usually have 2 cups of coffee (and I use a lot of creamer but it's how i like my coffee) a banana, and either a small (1 cup) of cereal or a breakfast bar.

Morning snack: I either have a yogurt or a cut up apple (sometimes with a tbsp of peanut butter)

Lunch: I usually choose between a sandwich (turkey or chicken) with a salad or a bowl of organic veggie soup (it's high in sodium but I don't drink all the broth) with a salad.  Sometimes I will go out for lunch and I try to choose then healthiest thing on the menu which is usually a wrap.

Afternoon snack: hard boiled eggs or a low fat string cheese

Dinner:  This is the only meal that sometimes is high in fat.  I do my best to make dinner as healthy as possible but if it's not I eat a smaller portion the i use to. I try to make a lot of chicken (baked chicken with streamed broccoli and rice w/ a light cheese sauce or chicken fajitas)They have some awesome recipes on Pinterest.

Evening snack: If I'm bad and have one i usually have sugar free, fat free pudding or jello.  Also my favorite is the troll house semi-sweet morsels (you can have 24 of them and it's 70 calories)  this helps with my sweet tooth and gives me my chocolate fix (I am a huge sweets lover and if why i gained those 6 lbs over the holidays)

Working out:  I try my hardest to work out everyday.  Since I'm new to the whole workout thing I've started in small steps. At the moment all I do is 10 mins of cardio (my cardio is dancing, I shake my booty and do some zumba moves I've learned) If you are sweating and breathing hard you doing a good job.  Like I stated earlier I do a one hour Zumba class every Saturday.  I try to walk as much as possible (like parking at the end of the parking lot at the store) If you do a little more than you have been doing it will help.  I would love to be able to workout for an hour everyday or even have a gym membership but for now this is working and it makes me feel good. 

I hope this helps you with your week loss journey and just remember you didn't put this weight on over night so it's not going to come off over night! We all want to see results right away but here's a picture of just four weeks of changing my eating habits and exercising did for me.  I still have a long way to go but I am so happy with my results. 

Please note I am NOT a doctor, a nutritionist, or a personal trainer!  This is what is working for me and I wanted to share.

Two Lumps of Sugar: Oven Mitt/Pot Holder & Apron Review & Giveaway

http://www.twolumpsofsugar.net/

 Two lumps of sugar is a great company that make products for your home and children.  They make the cutest products and they were kind enough to send me some products to review. 

The first product I received was this apron in the fabric 2 x 2 squares.  This apron is lightly coated to product it from strain and easily cleans up.  It has a large pocket on the front and a button (for you can attach a dish towel or the coordinating oven mitt.  It also has adjustable straps.  I don't own an apron but I have always wanted one, this is going to be prefect for baking Christmas cookies (since I also make a big mess of my clothes)

The next item's I received were the oven mitt and pot holder set in the same fabric 2 x 2 square fabric.  I LOVE this oven mitt, it made so well (100% cotton with quilted lining) and it fits my hand prefect. I was in desperate need of a new oven mitt and pot holder set, the one's we have are so old and not stylish at all.

TLS has so many different fabric choices and all of them are so cute!  I highly recommend you checking them out. Like I said before they sell so many great products, such as baby bags, children's aprons, storage tots, and garden supplies.

Two lumps of sugar were kind enough to sponsor a giveaway for my subscribers.  One lucky winner will receive a oven mitt & pot holder set of your choice.

Rules:

1. MUST be a Follower of my blog (publicly) 

2. US ONLY

3. Please go over to their website and choose what fabric you would like your oven mitt in if you win and comment below.

http://www.twolumpsofsugar.net/ProductList/In_The_Kitchen/Oven_Mitt_&_Pot_Holder_Sets.html

Head over to my YouTube channel and enter for a bonus entry

Giveaway will close on January 20th, 2012 at Noon EST

Winner will be chosen by random using ClassTools.net

FTC: I received these products for free to review, I am not being paid for this review and my opinions are my own

Update of Sean sleeping

I have no clue what day we are on, I lost track, but I've had a few people asking me how things are going so I figured I would update everyone

So not much has changed...  Sean is still not sleeping through the night, but things are a little better!  The bedtime routine has worked wonders and Sean now falls asleep on his own (in his crib) usually within 5 minutes.  Of course he has his nights where he really fights he's sleep.  Just having him go to sleep on his own is wonderful, I use to dread bedtime.  Having to have the whole house quiet as I nursed and rocked him to sleep for an hour (only to have him wake up as soon as I put him in his crib) Some nights he sleeps better than others but He still wakes 3 to 4 times usually.  Some nights I'm able to get him back in his crib, others I'm out on the couch with him.  As much as this is a pain, I really don't have the energy to fight with him and try to break this habit.  I look at how fast Shay grew up and I know Sean won't be like this forever and it may come a time he doesn't want to have this snuggle time, so I'm trying to look on the positive side and enjoy this time.   Of course I would love for him to sleep through the night in his own crib, but I know this won't last forever and this too, shall pass :)

I am still working on getting a daytime routine in place, it;s hard right now because of the holidays and all the running around we have been doing, but my main goal this new year is to get a daytime routine in pace and stink to it.  

I promise to keep everyone updated if anything changes, I just stopped blogging because I didn't want to write the same thing over and over.  If you have any question feel free to ask, or leave any tips or advice below.

Night Seven & Eight (Sean's sleep routine)

I had a total brain fart last night and forgot to post a blog, sorry!

So night seven went awesome!  Sean fell asleep in 7 mins and slept for 7 hours.  I couldn't have asked for a better night.  Even though I would love for Sean to sleep longer, I will take whatever I can get!

Night eight didn't go as smooth as the last few days, but that's my fault. I had a dentist appointment at 6pm (I made the appointment weeks before starting the sleep training and couldn't reschedule) So because I didn't get home till 7:25pm we started 25 minutes late and he was over tried. We got Sean down at 7:55pm and He was asleep by 8:17pm. 

I have to say this sleeping training method is working great for us, but I hope everyone knows that I am not saying this is the "right" way to do this. The method is not for everyone or every child.  My best advice is to research, research, research!

Please know I have never or will ever push my beliefs on people, so please be kind as well and not push you beliefs on me.  I started this blog just to share our journey and reach out to other moms for support and advice and hopeful help someone along the way. 

Much ♥ 

Night 6 (Sean's sleep routine)

Last night was another bad night...  
Sean slept from 7:53pm to 10:23pm.  I was determine to get him back to sleep and back in his crib.  That was a  FAIL.  Every time I would put him in his crib he would wake up and start screaming (not crying, screaming bloody murder) To make this short I fought with him for hours and ended up losing the fight at 2am and sleeping with him on the couch.

From what I read in the book, after two weeks of sleep training he should start to sleep through the night!  I am hoping and praying this is true!

On the plus side Sean is falling asleep at night with ease!  Tonight he barely cried.  We put him in bed at 7:31pm and he was asleep by 7:39pm. I couldn't believe it! 

This momma is exhausted so I'm taking my butt to bed early tonight, even though I enjoy spending quality time with the hubster, tonight I'm going to spend quality time with my pillow!

Night Ya'll 

Night Five (Sean's sleep routine)

The sleep training is going pretty good, every night Sean is going down a lot easier.  We are still waiting for him to sleep through the night or at least for a longer stretch.  Last night Sean slept from 7:24pm to 11:45pm.  I was unable to get him back in his crib so I slept with him on the couch once again.  I know it's a habit I need to break but it's so much easier to lay with him on the couch in the middle of the night was I'm so exhausted.

Sean was in such a great mood today and took his two naps.  Overall today was awesome, I LOVE the weekends!  Seems like he's always better when daddy's home.  We started his routine at 7pm and had him in bed by 7:40pm (ten minutes long then usually, but he nursed longer today) by 7:53pm he was asleep.  only 13 minutes of crying, That's a new record!! 

I'm hoping since he doing so well with his sleep training that sleeping through the night will start soon! 

I hope by write about of experience this is helping someone out there who is having similar issues. If you have any advice you would like to share with me or my readers please comment down below.

Thank you to everyone who has already done so :)

 ♥ Love ya guys ♥