Ch-Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes...

In an effort to get back into shape, I'm going to go back to doing what seemed to work for me last time...blogging about my successes, failures, and random other stuff in between. However, it's been 2+ years since I've posted anything here and these changes will DRASTICALLY effect how I run things around here, so I should probably give you an update on where I stand now.

Giving birth makes you look kinda terrible

1) I'm a mommy. My amazing daughter, Morgan, entered the world in June 2014 - she is my entire world. She is part diva, part tomboy, part book worm and part mermaid. She is my reason for coming back here and figuring out how to get back to being healthy. And she's really freaking cute. I'm kind of obsessed with her. But, she hates a stroller, so working out with her in tow is something I'm going to attempt to avoid. Also, I eat her leftovers. That's no good. In all, however, other than the affect she has had on my waistline and my bank account, it's been pretty amazing to be a mom. Also - breastfeeding is the shit - for post baby weight loss.

Morgan at 1

2) I changed jobs. Where I was once "the one in charge" at my company, I took a step back and am now working for another small company in a support role. I found myself working 24/7 and I decided that I wanted to focus more on my family. Of course, I had planned to make the job change on my own terms, but it didn't end up working out that way. I was unemployed for about 8 weeks. The job change included a big pay cut, but I've gained a lot of my positive attitude back and I wake up and go to sleep without thinking about work. It was a good change, but a tough one to make.

Family picture on Memorial Day 2015

3) My husband has lost 40 lbs recently. Just on his own. Just by not eating as much. I kind of hate him. He's got more energy though and I can tell he's happy about the changes and I'm happy for him. He can really stop doing the little dance on the scale though, that's kind of pushing it.

4) I lost my brother in October 2013. There will be an entire post coming in reference to this, but I found out I was pregnant on a Thursday, my brother passed on Saturday and I ran my most recent half marathon that Sunday. I was basically floating through the whole thing. I hardly remember it. Such a roller coaster. That race was the last time I ran (with the exception of "national running day" in 2015, but I hardly made it a mile and a half doing intervals, so I'm not counting it).

Me and my brother circa 2009ish.

It's weird to be back here - I'll admit it. I was so proud of myself for my accomplishments back in 2011 and 2012. I was up and raring to go. I WAS AWESOME. Then I stopped for some reason. Looking back on posts, I tried to get back into it, obviously and it never worked. This time, I've got some support in different ways and I've got a 15 month old little girl who will be learning to run soon, I've got to get on it. Plus, nothing in my closet fits for winter.

So here I am. 229 lbs. Let's do this.

So, this is happening.

Some friends and I have started doing a 30 day plank challenge using the picture above as our regimen. As you see, day 30 is 5 minutes. HA! Yeah, we'll see about that. However, I'm super excited to say that I've already completed day two :)

Having the support of friends and family is huge for me - my "Love Languages" are tied between "Words of Affirmation" and "Gifts" and when it comes to things like working out, words of affirmation are a major thing. I'm amazed that when I woke up this morning, one of the first things I thought of was "I gotta get day 2 in so the girls know I'm still in the game."

20 seconds today - 30 tomorrow - we'll see how it works out.

I'm excited to maybe finally have a little bit of core strength!

Monday Motivators (Father's day edition): My Daddy

This is my dad, Greg. He's 58 years old and my favorite man on the entire planet. He knows me BETTER than the back of his hand and sometimes it's like he can read my mind. When I'm having a crap day, it's like he has Dad ESP and knows to call me and let me vent or just say something awesome to cheer me up. 

I freaking love my Dad. 

My dad and I, however, share a special bond beyond the traditional ones shared by father and offspring. My dad and I are both fat and we're both "grazers." This website really hit the nail on the head when it comes to the way my dad and I both overeat:  "Grazing overeaters eat continuously all day, not letting themselves experience hunger. They eat because it's there, they eat to avoid things they don't want to do, they eat because they're bored, they eat because they're uncertain. They have a hard time telling when they're hungry, so they create a rule: when it doubt, eat." BINGO. 

Holidays at my parents' house consist of menus made a week+ in advance with what will be eaten at every meal, plus what will just be "around." My dad is a cheese connoisseur along with a crackers and dip kind of guy. We almost always have seafood dip, about 4 kinds of cheese, about 3 types of crackers, pimento cheese and quite possibly some kind of smoked meat hanging around when holidays and/or my trips home come around. It's a special occasion! Why NOT have delicious food on the counter for us to indulge in - it's CHRISTMAS! A cracker here, some cheese spread there, three Toll House cookies later and of course a delicious meal of seafood gumbo, roasted oysters, delicious london broil or hell, just a burger. We EAT.

Now - I'm not complaining. I love that my family is full of people who love food. I just wish we liked BETTER food more and we weren't the type to just eat because it's laying there on the table looking at us. I guess I should feel lucky that I also have athletic genes that make it somewhat easy for me to do physical things well. 

Our family is genetically blessed to be big. My dad is 6'3, Mom is 5'11, my brother, Brian is 6'5 (Dad's kid) and I'm the short one in the family at about 5'10 and a half. We're all just big people. There's a lot of weight on our big ole frames. I tell people what I weigh and their first comment is always "but you're so tall! You carry it well!" I might carry 230 lbs well, but I'm still a fatty, so, while I don't look AS bad since I'm so tall, it's still no bueno.

My entire life, my dad has said things like "Kid, you gotta watch your weight" and "it only gets harder as you grow older" and "you got a little gut there, baby." I typically grumbled and said "yeah, Dad, I know" - but dammit if he wasn't right - it IS harder as you get older to get rid of extra weight. And it freaking SUCKS to try to fit working out into your daily routine if you don't just make it happen. 

My dad understands how hard it is to have my body. He's had it his whole life. We call our waistlines "The Family Curse" and it's a pretty legit name. 

Now, after AAAAAAAAAALLLLLLL of that - on to why my Dad has earned a spot as a "Monday Motivator." My Daddy will call me and say "did you run today?" or "take time for yourself, go on a walk, go work out, MOVE" and I let it roll of my back because I'd much rather lay in bed and read books sleep all day. But thankfully, he's still persistent with the gentle kicks in the rear because once I do get out the door, I feel AMAZING.

When it comes to being that guy that gives me a swift kick in the ass when I need one - my Dad is it. When I want to talk about how much of a badass I feel like after a run - I call my dad. He's been on literally every diet ever and he's gone up and down in weight and it's rough and he knows what it's like to feel AWESOME and then put the weight back on like I've done. He ALSO knows what it's like to get back on the horse and MAKE IT WORK.

I'm hoping that by reminding my dad that he motivates me, he'll let me motivate him to get back into his gym room that he built for himself and hop on the treadmill and walk. Maybe one day I'll get his butt in a 5k with me. Or maybe be able to throw away his "fat pants" for good. 

LOVE YOU, POPS!

Guest Blog Post: 5 Fun Exercise Activities and a Healthy Recipe for Your Family

There's a first time for everything and I guess it's time I add some Guest Bloggers to the rotation! Carolyn from Full-On Fit sent me this great post about getting out and moving this summer - check it out!

5 Fun Exercise Activities and a Healthy Recipe for Your Family

March was National Nutrition Month, and even though we are now sweltering in the summer heat, it’s still important for families to review various ways to stay healthy. With obesity rates in children and families still on the rise, and with summer finally here, many people are especially eager to get fit. Unfortunately, this is also about the time of year when people tend to let go of their New Year's resolutions to exercise and eat healthy. Your year doesn't have to be this way. With the following exercise ideas, you can keep your entire family healthy through the warmer months and beyond.

Hiking in Sand or Soggy Ground
Hiking is excellent exercise for the entire body, and it can be an adventure for parents and kids alike. While some places are already warm enough to start strolling the beach, other locations are still drying out from soggy winters. In either case, hiking can be made more interesting and challenging. Walking on a hard sidewalk is stable and easy, but walking any distance on soft dirt or sand is another story. You'll get an excellent workout, and your kids will have a blast walking on these new surfaces.


Running
If you want to keep your entire family at a higher level of fitness, start a family running regimen. Running has numerous benefits, and there are plenty of ways to add variety to a running program, including races, track running and cross-country. For example, try charity races for a boost of positivity or even run a half-marathon if everybody is up to it. Indoor tracks can be convenient when it's too hot to run outdoors. Cross-country running at parks or nature reserves brings stimulating adventures every time.

Start Gardening
Gardening can provide exercise for everybody, and it can also bring a healthy harvest if you plant fresh fruits and veggies. By switching jobs during the workday, each family member can get a full-body workout. For example, one person can dig holes while another prunes plants. Other jobs include mixing fertilizer, sand and mulch into the soil, weeding plant beds and planting or transplanting additions to the garden. To enhance the family feelings of togetherness in this activity, include everybody in the planning from the beginning. Then, give each person the chance to work on bringing his or her idea to fruition throughout the season!

Get into Fitness

Don’t be afraid to branch out a bit and try some different kinds of fitness classes. You can visit a local gym for a class like Zumba, Kickboxing, Pilates, or Yoga. Or, you can rent some DVD’s and try some of these exercises right in your own home. My cousins love to come over and do Yoga with me on the weekends, which is great because it benefits all of us. According to orthopedic surgeons at St. Joseph’s Orthopedic Center, yoga increases one’s flexibility, balance, posture, overall strength, and bone and joint health – all things I want to increase, and definite benefits to my young cousins who are still developing!

Urban Hiking
Whether you live in a large city or small town, you can enhance an exercise program with foot treks around your area. This can be far more enjoyable than the same old circuits around the neighborhood. Walking
several miles through different neighborhoods and parks will enhance your appreciation for your area and might stimulate your interest in future long-distance walks to see what else is nearby. In small towns, you may be able to circle the town to get a fascinating feel for its scale. Afterwards, your family might feel inspired to regularly walk to the store, school and other places instead of driving.

Recipe for Exercise Recovery
Staying fit will require plenty of healthy calories to refuel the body. Here's a quick recipe that you can serve after an exercise session to keep your family nourished and happy.

Totally Healthy Tacos

Ingredients:

- Non-GMO corn tortilla shells

- Reduced-fat shredded cheese

- Frozen lean chicken breast strips

- Arugula

- Fat-free re-fried beans

- Organic taco sauce

- Extra-virgin olive oil

Heat the chicken breast strips in the oven as specified on the package. If desired, toast taco shells in the broiler. Finely chop arugula for spreading over tops of tacos. Fill tacos as desired with chicken breast strips and re-fried beans, add cheese shreds and arugula and drizzle the tops of the tacos with healthy olive oil. Serve and enjoy!

The activities above will help you and your family stay healthy throughout the year. Always focus on keeping things fresh by trying new activities that everybody will enjoy. If your regimen never goes stale, you'll look forward to your exercise time instead of dreading it. By getting started now, you can count on looking better for the spring and summer months, and your kids will start making healthy habits that will serve them for a lifetime.

Carolyn is a 20-something year old with a passion for life, fitness and overall well-being. She is an avid cycler, golfer and has been known to bust some serious moves on the dance floor. Check out Carolyn’s blog at http://fullonfit.blogspot.com!

Update: Becky is still a smilin'

Some of you may remember my friend Becky that was featured as a Monday Motivator on this here blog back in April 2012. She's still amazing - if not more (because she's LESS!) now. She was recently featured on the Today Show when she was inducted into the Joy Fit Club and has become known LITERALLY all over the world for the fact that she's "Single, and losing it!" mentioning that she's available and without a boyfriend on National TV.

I'm sorry, but she's STILL amazing. Even from the last time I saw her back in March 2012, she's lost more weight and just looks more phenomenal each time I see a picture of her. And her attitude is beyond compare - you seriously don't see this woman without her big, beautiful smile on.

In the portion of her Today Show spotlight where Becky got to tell her own story, she mentioned that she found comfort in food - something so many of us (MYSELF INCLUDED!) battle all the time. I know that just last week when I was crampy and PMS-y all I wanted was pizza and wings. My loving husband, of course, gave in to me and we got two big pizzas and 20 wings and cheese bread and I dunked it all in ranch dressing. Damn, it was good. But it didn't make me feel better - just full.

Becky has conquered her weight and is still the bubbly, sweet, caring and happy person her friends have come to know - we just all know a famous person now.

Check out some of her pictures from the show and of course, the video!

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Becky on the set with Kathy Lee, Hoda and Joy

Fellas - look at this lady - HOT - and SINGLE.

Officially inducted into the Joy Fit Club! (With 180 lbs of STUFF - she LOST that much weight!)

You can follow Becky and her adventures (and her upcoming book!?) on her Facebook Page - "Becky Sigurnjak - Single, and Losing It!"

YOU GO, BECKY! So proud, LITTLE lady!

Holy crap, I suck at this updating thing.

So, lots has been going on since my last post - and absolutely zero of it has to do with eating well and getting exercise - but it's been interesting nonetheless!

The husband and I at Easely Amused back in MS!

We moved back to Mississippi. I got a call from my old boss not long after MLK day asking who he suggested as a replacement for my boss (not him, my direct boss) - after chatting it over with my husband - we decided that person should be me. I left North Carolina pretty quickly and came back to Mississippi to start back in a job where I knew what the hell I was doing. *Note: I will NEVER work in a bank again.*

I've been living with our good friends Billy and Karen and their almost 3 year old little girl, Katelyn. It's been fun! Brian finally made it her on May 1st and we're all settled in here. We'll be able to move back into our house on July 1 as it was rented out. I'm excited.

However, back to the main topic of this here blog, I'm fat. I'm 230 lbs according to Billy and Karen's scale and I just don't feel good anymore. I mean, I haven't felt "good" in a while, but holy crap, I feel FAT every day. I need to get my ass back out on the pavement and get running.

Since I was never able to do to my Team in Training half marathon due to injury, I've re-signed up and will be running the Gulf Coast Half Marathon in Mandeville, Louisiana in October 2013. I REALLY hope I get to do it this time! I need a little push to get me going and I think this will be it. I'm excited to get going, but I'm so out of shape, it's going to be rough.

I'd also like to add, it's Memorial Day weekend and I'm starting MyFitnessPal again. This could be dangerous. We're grilling out EVERY day. Should be interesting.

It's Sunday, we'll consider this "Week One - COMPLETE!"

New kicks in the new year. Yes, technically I got these in 2012, but who cares. I didn't get to bust them out til 2013 since I've been hurt and they're new and I love them, so whatever. 2013 is the year of the bright orange shoes.

I got super lucky getting these babies, too. One of my dad's friends from high school has become one of MY friends and she won a random NikeID gift card. Since she didn't need it, she passed it to me and I made these sweet thangs. They're super light weight and I can't wait to put some serious miles on these things. Thanks so much, Ms. GiGi!

This week went okay - not anything fantastic, but nothing too terrible either. I've been on 3 different exercisey excursions and I've gone a total of about 6 miles. Nothing too serious, but good for building up my endurance and working back slowly from my stupid injury.

Speaking of my stupid injury, after talking with my Team in Training coordinator, Sandra, I set up an appointment with another Sports Medicine Orthopedic doctor to get a second opinion on this whole hip situation. If she tells me not to run, I'm going to be one unhappy lady. It's starting to feel sooooo good (even if running in the cold is my nemesis).

I've had a general feeling of "people are cheering me on" since Wednesday. A teller from work offered to meet me at the gym in the mornings, I had a GREAT meeting with Sandra about reaching my TNT fundraising goals, and a random guy gave me a thumbs up and said "keep going! You're doing great!" to me yesterday on the path behind the house. I bet that guy does that to everyone, but dangit, he's awesome for doing it. I kept up with him for a while, but then of course, I needed to breathe. Either way, random stranger on the Bicentennial Greenway - YOU ARE AWESOME. THANK YOU!

Speaking of cheerleaders - I'M SO PROUD OF MY DAD! That's us next to the Christmas tree where we had Christmas brunch this year. He's set a goal to walk on the treadmill in his own personal little workout cabin (He sells log homes, y'all. Want one? He can hook you up.) EVERY SINGLE DAY. He's been posting on Facebook when he does it. I'm so proud. He's pretty much my favorite person on the planet (don't tell my husband) and if getting his butt on the treadmill keeps him around longer, I'm all for it. I can't wait til I get his ass in a 5k or something. Love you, Daddy!

Sometimes we just need a cheerleader and if cheering on others makes it so we get on the karma train for people cheering for us, then dammit, let's do it. Be someone's cheerleader today. Seriously! What's not to like about making someone feel good? Making someone's day suck less and maybe, just maybe, giving them a confidence boost? I'll be the first to tell you that I have zero self esteem and confidence isn't exactly my middle name - but when someone gives me a little boost, it's like giving me a shot of awesome. So yes. DO IT. If you're at the gym and see someone getting tired - give them a smile (don't be creepy though, creepers). If you're out for a jog and you see someone who's obviously working on a new year/new them thing - give them a thumbs up or something when you go by. You seriously never know how it can affect someone. But again, don't be creepy. Creepy people are weird. Don't do that. Just be awesome.

'Til next time!