Parties, Pools, and Arm Fat

Happy Monday!  Kind of a contradiction in terms, isn't it?  Oh well.  For me, this Monday follows a very busy, yet fun weekend.  This weekend, we took the 3 hour drive up to northern Indiana to visit Tim's family.  Our nephew, Kaleb, recently graduated from high school and we went up for his graduation party.  I am not even gonna talk about how old this makes me feel.  He is one of the little ring bearers in one of the wedding pictures I posted last week.  Now he is all tall and an adult and stuff.  Time sure does fly.

All in all, I had a really good week.  I was active -- I did my morning runs and some Zumba.  I kept myself accountable as far as my food went.  Everything was going fine, until the weekend hit. I have been doing pretty well when my weekends are spent at home.  It is when I travel for the weekend that I really unravel.  It is literally like I have the little angel Courtney on one shoulder supporting good food decisions and the little devil Courtney on the other doing the opposite.  Devil Courtney tends to win the battle.  It ticks me off, but I have no one to blame but myself.  I went to the party and ate cake.  I went to dinner that night and told myself I would only eat salad, but ended up eating 2 pieces of pan pizza with extra cheese along with it.  Thank God, no one decided to go to Dairy Queen, because I know I would have eaten that too if given the chance.

I am going to make a conscious effort to enjoy the people in social situations and make the food an afterthought.  It is, in fact, the people at these gatherings that are most important.  I have 2 BBQs to go to over 4th of July, and I am already looking up some recipes for things to bring along that I can eat and not feel guilty about.  It is time to give myself the tools I need to be successful.  I am denying myself that, so it really is much harder than necessary.

Besides the food issues, everything was great!  We went to my brother and sister-in-law's house to take a swim in their pool.  It felt awesome on such a hot day.  I have been getting better about just putting on my suit and enjoying pool time.  I used to sit on the side, sweating to death, and watching everyone have fun -- all the while wishing I could join them.  I could have joined them.  I was just too uptight about being seen in a bathing suit.  The reality is that I look more conspicuous sitting on the side not taking part in the fun.  I still have several moments of insecurity, but I am getting better at it.

Saturday evening, my mother-in-law took me shopping to get my birthday gift (my birthday is this coming Thursday).  She works at Meijer and has a employee discount.  There was also a mPerks coupon deal going on. I asked her if, for my birthday, she could take me there and use her discount to buy me new clothes to exercise in.

I was able to get all this stuff for only about $30!!  Nothing gets me more excited than a good deal. I also made the move to tank tops.  I HATE MY ARMS.  They are horrible.  I have arms that define bat wings.  They are almost hypnotizing.  I bought tank tops though because I am outside running and it is freaking hot!  If I lose all the weight I want to, I can honestly say that I would consider surgery on my arms to get rid of this issue.  I am a big girl and it isn't my butt or stomach that make me insecure.  It is my damn arms.   You know in the old cartoons where a character would flex and get the big muscle only to have it fall and dangle under his arm instead?  Yeah, that would be me.  We all have our body issues that we struggle with...this one just happens to be the most dominate one with me.

Me.  I cannot wait to watch this body shrink.  Hopefully this hard work will start to show soon.  :)

Let's follow that up with a sweet picture...

Darcy and her grandma having story time.  She loves her grandmothers so much.  It really is so sweet.  I love capturing these little moments.  

Now, it is time for....

1. I started my week off right with a run! It is getting so hard...not gonna lie.  I know running is supposed to be a mind over matter sort of thing, but I am not sure how to get that under control.  A shirtless Ryan Gosling could be at the finish line waiting for me with magic calorie-free peanut butter cups, and I STILL would be in agony as I tried to get through it.  The reality is that it HURTS.  Me thinking happy thoughts isn't going to keep it from hurting.  I just have to get to the point where I push through the hurt.  I did pretty well this morning.  I kid of pooped out during my last running interval though.  I am not going to let it get to me though.  Tomorrow is another day, and I shall try again.
   
   
   
   
   
2. We went to the movies today.  I brought our own snacks because I am not going to take out a 2nd mortgage on our house to buy snacks and drinks for a family of 4.   This was my snack --- even though I REALLY wanted chocolate. 
   
   I know that dry fruit is not as healthy as the real deal, but it was still a sweet treat with a fraction of the calories.
   
   
3. I have a good meal plan for this week.  I even plan to make a knock off of the Chipotle burrito bowl -- one that is lighter on calories and with more veggies than carbs.  I will update with how that turned out later.  I plan to make it tomorrow night. 

To end today's post, a picture of my cute children awaiting their screening of Monsters University. Darcy was so excited to see Mike "Kowsky".

My Random Weekend Re-cap

I had a lot going on this weekend.  I actually had plans from Friday night on, which never happens!  EVER! So, there is a lot to recap albeit random "adventures."  Don't get too excited though.  My definition of an adventure is pretty loose these days.

On Friday night, I went out on the town in downtown Cincinnati, with my aunt (who was in town for work).  I never get to go downtown, so this was a treat.  We ate at Nada -- a sort of trendy Mexican restaurant and walked around Fountain Square.  There was live music and everyone was dressed up, out and about. I had a great time!

I was trying to plan ahead for my meal, so I made smart decisions.  Of course, I ventured to the "drinks" menu, because I am going out without kids.  I am havin a drank!  Anyway, I go to click on the drink section of the menu, and this little My Fitness Pal window kept popping up.  WTH??!!  Was this an omen? Does my fitness pal know when I am clicking on naughty parts of the food internet?  

I chose a very sensible meal that also happened to be delicious!  It was roasted chicken with a chili rub.  It was served with roasted vegetables and a habenero salsa.  The salsa also had a sweetness to it.  I could not tell what kind of fruit was in there, but it was so good!

I did also have a couple sangrias.  They were FANTASTIC.  Hey, there was fruit juice and floating fruit pieces in there! TOTALLY healthy!  They were a treat and worth the calories.  I barely ever drink and I had it in my calorie budget after all the exercise I had done that day.  Also, the My Fitness Pal spies did not come and cart me away in some unmarked van because I ordered this...

Saturday, I went to visit family for our Father's Day barbecue.  I saw a lot of people that I don't get to see often enough, so it was great.  My mother gave me the task of bringing a food that people could snack on before dinner was served.  Instead of bringing some kind of sour cream/cream cheese concoction, I opted to  make my own fruit tray -- which I was proud of.  I thought It looked so pretty, I decided to take a picture.  Little did I know that the crass Father's Day card that my sister bought my dad (featuring a near-bare hairy man ass) was strategically placed in the background.

Hey, this is how my family rolls.  Usually a prerequisite for a card for my dad has to involve some kind of fart joke.  I couldn't find any good Father's Day cards featuring flatulence, but I did find a good one featuring a chimp wearing a suit and tie.  I was actually pissed that my sister found the hairy man ass card and I didn't.  Keepin' it classy, as always! God, I love my family...

This is actually just a picture that someone else took of me at the party and it was actually a picture of myself that didn't make me want to to toss my cookies.  So, I thought I would throw that in there.  

Sunday we went to Kings Island with Tim's mom and dad.  We have season passes and were able to hook them up with $10 tickets for Father's Day.  We had a really nice time, but I was exhausted when it was said and done.  I love going to Kings Island, but it drains every last ounce of my energy.  Maybe it is waiting in line for 30 minutes to ride a 30 second ride.  Maybe it is the hillbillies abusing their children in public, barefoot kids on leashes, or the classy folk wearing tiny clothes on their not so tiny bodies.  Whatever it is, it wears me the heck out.  

We went to the dinosaur exhibit this time. Most of the dinosaurs are animatronic.  This one was awesome and supposedly true to size.  That little speck by its leg is Aidan.

I really wanted a picture of the kids with their grandparents, but we made the mistake of taking this at the end when the kids were in foul moods.  Aidan is ticked because we told him we would not take him to the pizza place of his choice for lunch, and Darcy is just being an over-tired 3 year old.  Oh well.  We tried...

Tim and I.  Right before his mom took the picture, I told him to pretend that he loves me and this was the best he could do.  Fail!  hahaha

So, as you can see I had an eventful weekend!  Since it is Monday, I am going to go ahead and throw in...

1. This week I was very active.  Not only did I get outside and do my Couch to 5K program multiple days this week, but I kept active with the kids.  I don't think I was lazy one single day.
2. I ate very well.  I kept close tabs on my food and was very much in control of my intake and I had incredible control over my cravings.  I was very pleased.
3. I maintained a positive attitude and am committed to keeping it up this week
4. This really isn't something I did right, but something I should mention.  I did not weigh in this morning, just cause I forgot.  I like to weigh in at the same time of day in order to be consistent, so I will weigh in tomorrow morning and see how I did!

That's it for now!  Until next time...

First weekend of summer...

Well, I am FINALLY on summer break and am thrilled to have the extra time to spend with Aidan and Darcy.  My goal is to keep us all active and doing more than parking our butts in the living room.  I am trying to get myself organized and actually plan activities...

Yesterday was a lazy day.  I am not going to lie about that one.  I was exhausted after a kind of bizarre week -- I will give details on that madness on my Monday post.   Saturday was honestly kind of a headache.   The kids, well Darcy, was more than a handful, we had to wait over an hour at the vet to get Josie her shots, and I just felt sluggish.

Anyway...some highlights.

I am addicted to this stupid game and have spent a week or more on level 23.  It seemed damn near impossible to beat.  I kept getting that "You did not clear all jelly" message.  Story of my life --- whether the jelly is attached to my ass or in Sugar Crush.  <Sigh..>

I am proud to report, however, that mere minutes ago, I beat the damn thing!  YES!!  Take that, stupid creature like thing that I cannot seem to identify who is so obviously happy for me and my victory.  No, but seriously, what is that little thing?  (I am referring to the little mascot like thing under my score...)

Ok, moving on...

I did some cooking today, so that I have healthy options during the week.  I have been worried now that I am home and food is much more accessible.  Just hoping to make smart decisions in that area.  I made a beef pot roast with veggies (inspired by Jenn @ Fat Chick to Fit Chick) and some banana blueberry muffins (from the Master Your Metabolism cookbook).

Just layered a bunch of veggies and the beef roast in the crockpot.  I plan to portion it out and eat it throughout the week.  It is still cooking, so all I have is the before picture.  Lots of color...looks yummy to me!

One of my favorite recipes since trying to cook healthier is the recipe for banana blueberry muffins.  I will post the recipe for those on another post.  They are super tasty!

And to sum up my weekend, I leave you with this picture of Darcy.  Darcy, my lovely daughter who is going to be the reason that I get grey hair way too early.  The reason that I will likely have a nervous twitch.  The daughter who strips her clothes off and runs through the house yelling, "I LOVE BEING NAKED!!"  <sigh>  She and Aidan are my pride and joy...but she is much more work.

Darcy while we were waiting on our dinner last night.  Compare this to Aidan while he was waiting...

Look at him!  He is sitting so nicely and filling out how many states he knows on his little kid menu.  These kids are truly night and day.  But, you know, I wouldn't have it any other way.