Half way there!

So I thought I would start this blog out with the picture that made me realize it was time for a change!

I will say that I love this picture!  My wonderful friend and photographer captured everything that I wanted and more.  She captured the love that we have as a family in a picture.  But when I saw these pictures there was something in my brain that said...ok its time to get serious.  While there have been some lapses in my journey to fitness the last 45 days have been very serious for me.  There have been a couple of days where I have missed working out but I don't punish myself for those days I just BRING IT that much harder the next day! 

THE CHANGES!!

I have lost a total of 38 lbs since Ava was born.  Granted it took me over a year but WHO CARES!  I am a happy breastfeeding mama that has worked hard to be a good example to my little Ava baby!  

Day one of P90X: 152 lbs

Day 45 of P90X: 144 lbs

The last eight have been over the past 45 days and let me tell you, it has been hard but I am loving what I am seeing.  I think once I realized that I am not going to look like I did before I gave birth I hit a turning point.  I may not look like I did pre-baby but I can still look smoking hot!  I can still be fit and fabulous and make my husband proud to have me stand next to him for the rest of our lives! 

New Outlook...New Goals...New Ideas...

I am starting to put together some ideas about either starting a website for women about fitness.  Much like "Fit for Life with Jessamyn" but I want it to be a place where people can go and we can all be on this journey together.  Jessamyn's page helped me immensely and I want to help people too.  She lost over 100 lbs with diet and exercise alone!  

I want it to be a place where everyone can share experiences and frustrations and VENT about the issues they are having!  It would be a safe place of support and encouragement.

I have already started planning what I am going to do next after P90X is over.  Right after I finish I want to do a 60 day Insanity challenge!  I feel like I am at a fitness level that I can finally keep up better than my first go around with Insanity (great program but HARD AS HELL).

Well that's about it.  

Good night!

Day 30 Progress (Or Lack there of!)

Day 1

Day 30

So here are the pictures that I promised and I will admit I don't look any different! I am so frustrated with myself that not one thing has changed.  I thought my clothes were fitting better but I can't help but wonder if maybe it was just wishful thinking on my part!  I am so

Day 30

Day 1

angry!  I have followed my diet, worked out every day for 30 days and there isn't one change!  I still plan on continuing on to see if anything happens but after today I don't know if anything will.  Right now all I can do is be angry and all I 

Day 1

Day 30

fell like doing is crying!

Day 29 Thoughts & Struggles

Core Synergistics...

Wow, that was hard!  I forget how rough it is when I stop working out for a couple of days!  It is so easy for me to get out of the habit without even realizing that I have.  

Tomorrow come my day 30 pictures and I am really looking forward to seeing some changes that hopefully are there!  I find myself getting frustrated with my lack of results in the weight department!  I want more than anything to be back to the Fit and Fabulous woman that I used to be.  It seems like when you add the "mommy" part in there it cancels out the Fit and Fabulous part.  I don't want to look back in pictures and wonder what happened to me or have people say to each other, "Wow she really let herself go!"  I want to be able to keep up with my child and future children and have people think, "Man, how does she do it?" 

I am hoping that P90X can bring me back to the old me or even help me create a new and better me. Now that I know how to take care of myself hopefully with the next pregnancy getting back to normal won't seem so unattainable!

Lately when I have been looking in the mirror I see my Mother looking back at me.  I have her face and sometimes its scary!  I think back and wonder will Ava look in the mirror and see me and be afraid and unhappy that she looks like me?!  

I have been thinking about my Mother a lot and I want Ava to know all of the good stories.  For those of you that don't know my Mom lived a very unhealthy lifestyle and inevitably paid the ultimate price for that lifestyle.  That lifestyle impacted me in so many ways and has made me want to be something more, something that Ava would be proud of.  

I want her to be able to look in the mirror and when she sees that she has my nose, or my eyes, or that she looks like me and be happy and proud because I went out of my way to be the best I could be for my daughter.

P90kickmyselfinthebuttX and Other Updates!

Well here I am back again!  The last couple of months have really been busy with the wedding, Ava's first birthday, then trying to find work.  I know that is really no excuse but really its all I have!  

The wedding was the most amazing day of my life (next to having my daughter of course!)  I Aaron and I felt so BLESSED by all the love and support that our family and friends showed us the entire day!  Although it was rather hectic getting there and a few surprises were thrown in there we made it through.  The surprises being that a couple showed up while the chairs were being set up and got married which caused our wedding to be slightly delayed.  After that I married my best friend and had a huge celebration with our amazing support group!  It was such an amazing day!

On September 10th we had a celebration of our gorgeous baby girl turning one year old it was exactly a year to the day that I went into labor with her!  I still remember those days before I had her like they were yesterday and I cannot believe that she is a walking, talking, little girl not a baby!  I have loved watching her grow and thrive and change every day!  I thank God for the honor and privilege of getting to witness every day of this gorgeous baby girl's life!  
The other day I was devastated to hear from a good friend that her friend has lost their 2.5 month old son to SIDS.  I had never realized how much I would be affected by a loss of someone I didn't even know.  I the realized it was my own fear or losing my precious girl that had me weeping for this little life that was so suddenly lost.  My heart ached and still does for the family of this little guy!  I am trying to remember to talk to God every day and Thank Him for all that he has blessed me with!  He has given Aaron and I amazing friends, an amazing daughter, and the best family support system anyone could ask for!

Today was one of the best days that we have had in a long time!  Aaron and I decided that we were going to take Ava to a pumpkin patch and pick us out a couple of pumpkins!  I was really looking forward to the horse drawn hay ride and the pick your own pumpkin like I have always experienced in E. Washington!  While we still had a great time there was no horse drawn hay ride it was an old farming tractor which was really cool but they weren't running it for another hour and we didn't want to wait that long and the pumpkins were already cut and layed out in rows for us to pick from!  They were some B-E-A-UTIFUL pumpkins it was just very different from what I was used to!  As you can see from the picture Ava had a great time and I cannot wait to dress her up for Halloween and take lots of pictures!  I wasn't really excited about it until today while at the pumpkin patch that I got excited for fall!


Ok now on to P90X...
Today is day 28 and I will admit that I have only missed the last two days of working out and one of those was only a rest day!  I plan on kicking myself back into gear this week with a vengeance and am really looking forward to seeing even more changes.  I haven't lost any weight which is really frustrating!  I KNOW the numbers don't mean anything but for some reason they mean a LOT to me!  I want to look on the scale and see the prepreggers numbers!  I am hoping by day 90 that that will be the case but as long as the prepregnancy clothes fit then I suppose I will be happy!
My diet has completely changed (again with exception of the last couple of days) and I am loving it.  Part of me is wondering if I am slightly anemic again (I was during and after my pregnancy and I was put on iron pills but slowly got out of the habit of taking them).  So I am going to start back on Iron pills and try and work more Iron into my diet so hopefully I get a little more energy!  I am found so many recipes and have realized how easy it is to eat healthy and cut out the fat and unnecessary calories!
The first month of P90 has flown by and was surprisingly easy to stick with up until these last two days!  I love how much energy I have and how it seems like each day I am noticing more and more changes!  I am defiantly stronger and my stamina and tolerance is getting so much better.  
Earlier this week I was told by someone who doesn't see me everyday that they couldn't get over how good I was looking and that made me really excited.  FINALLY people are noticing and finally I am starting to feel like my old self not just "Mom".
On Tuesday I plan on posting my original day ONE photos alongside photos from day 30!  I feel like by posting them there is more of an accountability and I will work that much harder to get myself to that final goal.
I am really looking forward to raising Avalynn to be a healthy and active individual!  I want her to understand how important it is to live a healthy lifestyle with healthy habits.  I feel that that is something I lacked as a child, granted, when I was growing up it was a different time and kids were just more active in general and we weren't allowed to sit and watch endless hours of television like some children are now.  


Anyway I think that that is about it.  Its really late so I am sure that some of this may be somewhat confusing and I do not plan on proofreading!  Thank you for reading!

Updates on EVERYTHING!

First of all I want to start out by saying I am sorry for not getting with the program and keeping this updated and going.  Being a mommy and planning a wedding has taken just about all of my time lately but I am going to make an effort to try and keep this going.

I have finished my 60 days of insanity.  Really I finished 45 days then fell off the work out wagon.  I am pretty disappointed with myself but luckily I didn't gain any weight or inches back.  I lost 15 lbs (I currently weight 150) and a total of 10.5 inches.  Not too bad if I do say so myself.

Yesterday I started P90X (Lean) and I plan on continuing that through the wedding and beyond.  I was surprised today during my cardio workout that I was able to do the whole thing with minimal rest.  I am not sure if that is becasuse of Insanity preping me so well that my stamina is better or if it is just easier in general.  My shirt was soaked through by the end of the video so I am guessing it did what it was supposed to (THANKS YOU INSANITY!)  Today I took "before" pictures to keep for myself to see the progress I will make over the next few months!

For those of you that don't know I bought a wedding dress a couple of weeks ago!  Pretty much my DREAM wedding dress.  I found it at a pawn shop if you can believe that!  A bridal store out of Olympia had gone out of business and the owner of the pawn shop bought all of her inventory and was selling ever dress for $250!  My dress was retalied at $1500 but I payed a little more that $250!  Can you believe it?  Wedding planning is going pretty well (with little drama, THANK GOD).  I have pretty much everything done that can be done right now.  Trista one of my MOH came over yesterday and we discussed cakes and bridal showers!  I am so excited everything is coming together.

Well, thats all I have for now!  I am tired but I have to get my butt to work before Ava wakes up from her nap!  It only took her my entire workout to fall asleep (45 minutes of screaming)!  Thanks for reading!

Finally Some Results!

Today I measured myself again for the third time!  Last time I didn't see much of a change!  But today I am ecstatic!
Weight: 8 lbs lost
Thigh: 24 inches (1 inch lost)
Butt: 41.5 inches (.5 inches lost)
Hips: 37 inches (1 inch lost)
Waist: 39.5 inches (2.5 inches lost)
Bicep: 10.5 inches (1 inch lost)
Calf: 15.5 inches (.5 inches lost)

How friggin amazing is this?!  I am so excited to finally see some changes.  Today I am on Day 23 of Insanity.  I should technically be on Day 30 but I got lazy last week so I decided to have a "do over" week and pretend that last week didn't happen. I am definitely paying for it in soreness!  But I feel that the time off really did me some good because today while doing Plyometric Cardio Circuit (my arch nemeses) I actually pulled through most of the work out without stopping for water!

I am starting to feel really good about myself.  Aaron said last night that he has noticed a difference in my body as well!

Now onto Ava who is crawling around underneath the desk trying to scale my legs!  She is such a PILL!  Her favoritest thing to do right now is to run her fingers along the heater vent so it makes noise, she will literally do it for hours if I let her.  I have been introducing small solid foods slowly to get her used to picking things up!  She loves her fruit puffs, cheerios, and also got some bread at Outback the other day on our Mother's Day date!

Speaking of Mother's Day Ava-baby made me a fabulous picture (with daddy's help).  I got a nice long nap and had a wonderful dinner at Outback with our little family!

Ava is growing so fast!  I swear she has grown at least 4 inches since her last Dr. Appointment!  She is into everything and I find new things that I need to baby proof every day! 

Well that's about it...baby and I off to take a shower then start dinner for daddy!  :)

Insanity Update!

Well I am on day 11 of Insanity!  I will admit that I skipped a couple of days after our crazy weekend but I am back at it.  I am starting to feel stronger and have been told by a lot of people that I am looking thinner.  I have mostly changed my eating habits, (this is my biggest battle).  Sunday kind of messed my diet because of a birthday party that I went to.  I just need to remember self control next time and I will NOT eat 3 cupcakes! 

I am pretty proud of myself for sticking with the workouts!  I am already feeling my pants fit differently.  I weighed myself yesterday and I have actually GAINED 2 lbs which is EXTREMELY frustrating but I am trying to stay positive.  I wish that it was easier like it seems to be for everyone else! 

Avalynn is going through some amazing little changes!  She has started hollering and squealing and I will not lie this is a huge test to my patience! She likes to fuss and yell and squeal right when I am getting into my workout.  I have asked very nicely to please be quiet for 40 minutes while mommy work out but talking to a seven month old about working out is like talking to a wall about spaghetti!  So to change things up I am trying to work out during her long afternoon nap this is somewhat dificult because my downstairs neighbors are usually home by that time and I am sure they dont appreciate listening to me jump and hop around up here, oh well they are gonna have to deal with it because that is the only time that seems to work!  Ava is also beginning to say Dada, yaya, and hi.  Yesterday I took her outside to play in the grass with Heather Schwetman  and her kids and she seems to really love playing outside.  The best part is when I bring her in she falls right to sleep and usually will take a good long nap :)  I am loving watching her grow and change everyday!

Well that was a boring post, hopfully tomorrow I will have something amazing to talk about!

Day 4 of Insanity

Today I did the Cardio Recovery video for the Insanity Series!  It was nice to have a little break from super hard fast paced cardio BUT it was still very hard.  My legs are super super sore but not nearly as sore as I was a couple days ago.  I am really hoping that these workouts pay off, I know I am only on Day 4 of 60 but I am so stinkin frustrated.  I wanted so badly to weigh myself this morning but I know that it wouldn't be any lower and it would just stress me out.

Ava turned 7 months old yesterday!  I cannot believe that she has grown so fast.  I still remember the day that I first held her in my arms and I kept thinking, "is this real"?  And sometimes even after all of this time I still wonder if I am dreaming or not.  I remember the first time I was alone with her I took her out of her swaddle and I looked at all of her, counted her toes, her fingers and just stared at her in complete amazement.  How did we create sometime so perfect, so amazing?  I was thinking the other day about life before her and while I remember it, I wouldn't go back to it for anything.  Avalynn is my world.  She makes me remember there is a reason why I am here and gives me the motivation to live every day to the fullest.

I went into her room last night and stood in her room listening to her breathe and watching her sleep.  Even with all the stress, poop, puke, crying, teething, bruises, etc. I couldn't and wouldn't have it any other way.  My baby girl means so much to me!  Seven months of amazingness! 

Today Ava decided to try and stand (unsupported) while we were in the shower.  She somehow gave herself a black eye.  Sometimes I feel like a terrible mother because she falls so much but what can I do when all she wants is to walk?  I can't even leave her toys on the foor anymore because she refuses to play with them on the floor, they have to be on the coffee table.  What a crazy little baby girl I have!

I have been thinking about the wedding lately and I cannot believe its so close.  I cannot wait to be with Aaron forever!  He has sacrificed and given up so much for both Ava and I.  What a lucky woman I am.  I talked to Barbie about my dress and I couldn't be more excited.  We have a place, a photographer, and a wedding party!  Every day I get more and more excited.

First Blog Ever

So I have fianlly given in and decided to get start a blog.  Seems silly but I do have a dream of someday having a blog for new moms.  I figured I would start with just blogging about everything going on in my life (i.e. wedding planning, mommyhood, weightloss, etc)

First off Avalynn will be 7 months tomorrow!  It seriouslly seems like I brought her home two weeks ago.  She is the most amazing thing in my entire life.  I love watching her grow and learn.  She says, Dada now and makes all kinds of other noises and babbling.  In some ways I cannot wait for her to get bigger and start really talking but in other ways I wish that I could slow time down so she grows slower.  As I am typing this she is sitting on the floor playing with an old Play Station 2 controller babbling away and I am loving every minute of it.

Today I weighed in at 158 lbs.  That is 22 lbs of pregnancy weightloss.  I was 180 when I went in to have Avalynn.  How is even possible that I gained 50 lbs while I was pregnant.  Today is Day 2 of pregnancy weightloss.  My goal is 135 (only 23 pounds to go).  I must say that recently I have gained a whole new respect for people who have a hard time for losing weight.  Before pregnancy I never had a problem with weight gain and when I felt like I weighed too much I was able to get a few pounds off with no problem at all.  After Ava was born I expected that to be the same, I would have the baby and within a couple weeks I would be back to my normal thin self.  God must have been laughing histerically because I haven't been able to drop any weight other than the initial 20 lbs that I dropped right after Ava came out. 

So here is what I am going to do about it...I have started the insanity workouts.  I finished day two of Insanity, the reviews are amazing.  I am putting everything I have into these workouts.  Today was Plyometric Cardio Circut.  I took way more water breaks and could barely make it through each move but I did every one of them.

My plan is to wiegh myself every Monday morning and redo my measurments every other week.  I will be listing them on here every time I take them to document my progress.  My goal is to look good not to actually lose numbers (though that is a plus!)

First Inches (Day 2 on Insanity)
Thigh: 25 inches
Calf: 16 inches
Butt: 42 inches
Hips: 38 inches
Natural Waist: 32 inches
Bicep:11.5 inches