Weigh in Wednesday and a Giveaway!

Hello ladies and gents... It's that time again, and this week, we're also wrapping up my 30 day challenge with Adie. Here's today's number...

Here are also my measurement's from beginning to end

I know... Awesome editing here.

And my before and after photos

Of course, you know I had a bad week in there and gained... significantly. But thanks to Alicia (Brew Mama) and Candra (Camo & Lipstick) I got right back on track and had a 2# loss as of last Saturday! THANK YOU LADIES! I didn't do all that I had hoped for with the challenge, but sometimes it just doesn't go as planned.

Speaking of Brew Mama... She has an awesome giveaway going on!

She's contacted some amazing blogger ladies and we've all chipped in a little here and there for a fantastic giveaway! If you don't follow Alicia already, DO IT NOW! She's such an inspiring lady and she's done an amazing job eating right and losing weight! She even dropped two pant sizes recently (that's right, TWO) and is rocking some awesome new clothes! If I hadn't been contacted about helping out on the giveaway, I'd be the first person signed up! ;-) Make sure you head over and read all about her, and about the other wonderful women that are making this giveaway possible!

Alicia from Brew Mama

Nicki from Beautifully Awkward

Candra from Camo and Lipstick

Darci from Strongly Feminine

Trista from Life According to Trista

Aubrey Leigh from ALG Uninterrupted

Tia from Hands on. Pants off.

Adie from Four Fit Sisters

Desiree from Macke Monologues

Crystal from Crystal Michelle's Mess

Jasmine from Fleurty and Fit

Niki from Heavy Cupcake (HEY! THAT'S ME!)

Ang from Mean Ang

Sami from Simply Sami

Val from Fab Chick Gets Fit

Stacie from Stacie Rogers Training

Erin from Homemade Happenings

Analisa from Sunset 79

Get to ENTERING!!!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

And as always, I'm linking up with Ashlee over here for Weigh in Wednesday!


Remember! There won't be one next week as I'll be in Vegas... and hopefully staying off of the scale! There will be lots of walking involved... but also lots of food and drinking.  Don't judge.  We all need a vacation every once and a while!

That's all for today folks... How did your weekly weigh in go?! Link up and let us know!

Weigh in Wednesday

It's hump day again, and I'm back at it and feeling much better than last week.  THANK YOU to everyone that felt my pain and left words of encouragement, or that emailed and checked in on me.  I appreciate it all.  Seriously.  I've realized now, more than ever, that I DO have people supporting me, even thought they're people I don't see every day! THANK YOU!

So here's this week's number...

Sorry it's blurry... I only took one shot and was in a hurry. Also, I did NOT weigh in this Sunday for the challenge with Adie. I forgot all about it that morning, and by the time the birthday party was over (more on that later), I had had such a bad week, I knew my weight would be WAY off. So, here's today.

I have to give a shout out to my honey on here today.  He apologized for what he commented, and that took a lot.  I know he didn't mean it the way I took it, but apparently, when you're in a position like I am, every little thing can discourage you. He's a joker, and that's how his comments were meant. We're good.  I'm better, he's better.  I'm getting this ball rolling again.

I had two amazing ladies contact me yesterday to help me as well... I've learned so much over the past 24 hours and am so grateful to them for helping to pick me back up! Thanks to them, I'm now switched over to My Fitness Pal... Yeah, I know, I know. I'm behind on the times.  But, I've used LoseIt for so long, it was hard to make the change. But... it's done. Look me up if you want to "friend" me... NickoleM123

Speaking of names... Should I change my MFP to HeavyCupcake? Or my IG? or should I just get a second account? It's all so confusing! But, my concern is that I wonder if I put my IG as Heavy Cupcake if people will get tired of seeing me and my boys... ALONG with my healthy stuff too, of course. Thoughts?

Anyway... short post for now.  Know that I AM doing better eating this week and again, am grateful for each and every one of my supporters.  Chime in, say hello! I'd love to get to know you better!

Weigh in Wednesday Day 17 of 30

Hi Folks! It's weigh in Wednesday, again! I'm here with an update about the 30 day challenge that I'm doing with Adie.
Sunday's weigh in with her was this:

Which means I only lost .6# last week with the challenge.  I know that my workouts sucked due to the cold weather, but most of it was just because I was too damn lazy! I didn't do any flights of stairs at work, I didn't take any walks, I didn't do a stitch of yoga either.  I've had a lot going on, and while I know that isn't an excuse, my head just hasn't been in it.

Well, that all changed on Saturday.  After some morning shopping and a great lunch with my honey, I went home and worked in the yard for a couple of hours, then detailed out one of my cars for a couple of hours.  Even went and washed and vacuumed it! After, I may or may not have eaten a peep... or two.  But I earned it!

I also started party prep for my sons birthday.  Superman is his party theme this year and I've made the chocolate dipped pretzels and kryptonite krispies.  We're also going to do a black bean and corn salsa, and cheesecake stuffed chocolate dipped strawberries. MMMM...

I try to go all out for my kids birthdays.  Mostly because I remember what a bummer my birthdays were, and I don't want them to feel that way.  Then again, my birthday was always in the middle of the simmer, so kids were less likely to come. Oh well.  Until they say they don't want it, we'll just keep on partying! 

Sunday was SUPER nice (#seewhatididthere?) and I ended up taking the top off the front half of the jeep! 

 

It was so nice! I can't wait till I can leave if off all the time.  Right now, the mornings are chilly, and we're entering tornado season... so that means RAIN. All. The. Time. Speaking of chilly mornings... 

Monday morning, I forgot to put the top back on... so it was a very chilly ride to school! Oh well... I was def awake at work that morning! The top got put back on around noon since it was going to rain.  Still haven't taken it off since then. C'mon nice weather! I'm ready to go topless all the time! (HA!)

Monday night I came home and push mowed the back lawn. It was a workout that I swear lasted an hour... it was only 20 minutes. Blah... Oh well, I came home and moved. That's what's important. Right? 

Tuesday... SUCKED. Seriously.  I've had this kick ass attitude since Saturday and it all went to hell yesterday. I won't go into detail again, but know that it sucked all the way around. I ate so terribly. I felt terrible. I didn't workout. I just didn't.  But, I also DIDN'T have the big old greasy cheeseburger that I wanted either. I DID however eat tacos... with cheese, cheese sauce AND sour cream.  I also ate 15387654324 rice crispy treats.  Yup.  And they were so good.  I ain't even gonna lie. Unfortunately, neither does the scale.

This blows... and I don't even want to talk about it. Seriously. An unfortunately, this is my weigh in at the beginning of the month. Blah... 

Linking up with Heather and Ash over here...

And I also wanted to tell you about a Swag swap going on over with two of my favorite bloggers, Candra and Alicia!

These two ladies have put this group together for people that want to swap some swag that is for fitness or just plain old Diva-ness. All ya gotta do is send an email with your name, pick of category and your info for social medias.  They'll link you up, you swap info with the person you're paired with and then get to swapping! I can't wait to get this thing started!

Hope you all have a happy hump day and that you're doing MUCH better than I am on this whole thing! What do you do when you fall off the wagon? 

Weigh in Wednesday: Day 10 of 30

It's that time of the week again... I'm having a really hard time NOT weighing daily it seems.  But with a weigh in on Sundays with Adie, and a weigh in on Wednesdays here, it seems like I should weigh in every morning! With that being said, while I'm in this 30 day challenge, I think I'll do my weekly weigh in with her, and just post is here on Wednesdays. Deal?
Alrighty then... here it is for this past Sunday, the 23rd, 7 days into the challenge:

That's down 2.4 pounds. I finally feel like I've broken that plateau I was in for the whole month of February! I'm sure that being more careful with the grains (gluten) has helped because I've stayed even farther away from anything bread related than normal.  And maybe I DID need to cut out my cheese. Even though it was only about 6-10 tablespoons of shredded cheese a week, maybe it was just enough to not let me get past what I needed to.

This is our second week of grain/dairy free, and like I said, I've tried to go as gluten free as possible as well. I'm not sure it's something I'll stick with forever, but it does make me stop and think more.  And like I said last week, I don't FEEL any better.  I know that it can take weeks and months for your digestive tract to heal from most problems, and who knows... once I reintroduce those things into my diet, I may THEN feel the difference.

Over the weekend I had a couple of meals out. I took my brother to dinner, and my sister to breakfast, both at a buffet. This was a good option for me, since I could pick and choose exactly what went on my plate.  I tried to stay with the salad bar, fruit and meats as much as possible.  I did have a baked potato (no sour cream) and I think that was the majority of my NON salad veggies. I had a baked chicken breast for dinner and for breakfast I had sausage. mmmmm.... All in all, I'd say I did pretty good. For eating out of course. I stayed within my calorie range, so it's a WIN!

My walking suffered over the weekend, but a cold spell moved in Friday night, so I didn't do much.  I did get in a small workout at Sam's Club Sunday though... Them baskets are HEAVY! It's still chilly, but I'm hoping to get a few walks in this week. Or some yoga. I could use some yoga. If I could find the time.

Anywho- as always, I'm linking up with Ash and Nina... if you don't read their bogs, you should. IJS.
Also- Monday I posted about the Woolzies I won from FoodFitFab.  They've got another giveaway going that you should totally check out, here.

Happy Humpday y'all! Make it a good one!

Hi there, hey there, ho there... Lots of links in this post!

I'm (obviously) a little behind on this weeks posts. Please forgive me.  I'm sure most of you will if you know whats been going on, but still, please.

So lets get down to it!
Monday started my 30 day challenge with Adie of Four Fit Sisters. So far, so good.  I'm loving the daily "homework" she posts to our facebook group, although, I'm not as impressed that I'm in a group of mostly repeaters... I feel like I'm asking stupid questions pretty often, and don't feel like other people are "participating" as much since they've already asked most of the questions they're going to.  Oh well.

Our first assignment was to figure out our average RMR (mines 1844). You can do that here... This number tells you how many calories your body should burn just sitting around. Not doing anything additional.  You should try to eat at or just under that number of calories per day.  Uh... hello! That's about 400 MORE calories than I've been eating for the past two months! So, I've adjusted my calorie intake on my LoseIt App around 1725. I just couldn't make the dive to over 1800... Just couldn't.

Our second assignment was to take pics and measurments of ourselves. Now, I had just done that on the fourth for the month, but I went ahead and did it on Sunday as well. Here they are:

 

 

Hey Look! I got new clothes to take pics in! Not really, I was just tired of those grey pants... they made my ass look terrible.  And that cheapo bra was driving me crazy!

Anyway, I posted mine on the facebook group page.  I'm pretty sure she said we were supposed to... but I'm the only one that did it. :-/ It's there... No take backs now!  Anyway, we're supposed to cut out wheat and dairy for the first two weeks.  So far, so good I think. I'll know more in two weeks! I don't feel any different as of yet, but I tried not to consume wheat anyway just because its usually in bread and so high in calories/carbs.  And the only dairy I really eat was shredded cheese on my eggs and salads... I do kinda miss that.

So... after two days of being in the group, this was my weight for weigh in Wednesday... I'm not sure if it's actually due to the group or he lack of wheat/dairy or just a better day for me.

And of course, since it's a weigh in, I've linked up with Heather and Ashlee

And Nina here...

(Sorry it's a day late guys!)

Back to the 30 day challenge group, Another assignment we had was to fill this out.  

This page was so emotional for me, given the circumstances I've been in the past couple of weeks.  After dropping my son off at the airport on Sunday, this hit home so much more than on just a weight loss level. Each one of these answers both pertain to me losing weight, as well as things I need to work on for myself emotionally. Ugh. Talk about a tough day.  And I'm super glad that it wasn't Monday's homework.  Cause I was a wreck that day.  I didn't make it to work, I laid in bed a cried.  I'm at work today, I'm trying my damdest to make sure each assignment is done and that I put on a (semi) happy face.

Two of the ladies that most inspired me to jump in to Adie's group challenge are hosting a linkup today for healthier foods.   Alicia at Brew Mama

 and Candra at Camo & Lipstick

.Since so many of us are on diets of "clean eating", "gluten free", "low carb" etc, I think this linkup will be SO beneficial to so many.  Even if not all of the recipes appeal to you, ONE of them will.  I'm so excited for this and have already been scouring the recipes for myself! Unfortunately, I don't have a recipe to add this week, but you can have a gander over here...

Anyway, that's all for now. Hopefully I can whip out another post tomorrow. Thanks for the understanding on the late posts, and hopefully, you'll stick around. Happy Thursday folks! 

Tuesday... a happier post

Hi y'all! Sorry about yesterdays Debbie-downer post, but I needed to get it out, and Facebook doesn't allow that many words, or pictures. ;-)

It's Tuesday, and a new day. I'm not bawling... yet. And am seriously trying not to today.  I had a great talk with Ayden's teacher this morning, and am so glad I have her as a friend.  We've been blessed with some of the best teachers in my kids lives, and Ms. Ramsey is one of them.

I mentioned yesterday that I've signed up with Adie of Four Fit Sisters, (yes, those are two separate links) for a 30 day challenge/accountability group. We got our first welcome letter last night, and assigned to a Facebook Group this morning.  It's called the Spring Slim Down group and it starts up Monday, the 17th.  After flying my boy off on Sunday, I'm going to need all the help and motivation I can get for the first week, I'm sure.

Anyway, she'll send out information on better foods to eat, things to cut out of our regular diet, hopefully some meal planning help and she's all about accountability.  We've already got homework of taking measurements and pictures for the start of the challenge! Now, if you've read my blog already, then you know that I just did photos for the beginning of the month, but because this is a new challenge I'm doing, and because I want to really see just how much this helps, I will be doing new photos, weight and measurements on Sunday. I may move my weigh in day around a bit, just so I'm not weighing too much during the week.  I'm a firm believer that if you weigh daily, it can bring you down. So.. Sunday night or Monday morning I'll have a new post up for you, with my starting... well.. everything.  I'll be changing my "before photo" outfit up a bit, as I want to see all of what it helps... BEWARE! lol

So today... and the rest of this week, I feel like I need to be doing some prep work.  Recipe searches, grocery lists, meal planning.  I need to not fail y'all. I NEED this to work. With Ayden leaving, I almost feel like I know I'll fail if I don't have someone pushing me. I'm an emotional eater. I don't want to pack on 15 pounds of crap just because my son is gone for 9 weeks.  I have vacation coming up. I need to drop 5-10 before it gets here. (especially if I want to have any money to spend at Tiffany's like I told y'all about) I have another little boy that I need to be healthy for... and for Ayden for when he comes home. I NEED this, so badly.

Anyone have any gluten free, dairy free recipes they want to send my way? Or healthy make-ahead snacks?