Getting Started

I'm gonna give this blog thing a try. :)

Last night was the first time I was able to get back to working out with my Kinect Biggest Loser program  after a medical delay on Tuesday.  Spent most of the Tuesday in the ER but after several days of rest I am feeling much better and ready to try my hand at something new....blogging.

A bit about myself... I'm a full time Mom to two wonderful kiddos.  My daughter is 10 and my son is 3.  They are one of the main reasons I decided it was time to take my health to a new level.  I want my children to learn good habits by doing what I do rather than just having them doing what I say.

Since I started my path to better fitness in January of 2011 I have seen a big difference in my kiddos.  We are all getting outside and playing together (not just watching em play), we are taking daily walks (we call em our adventures as there always seems to be some place new to explore. The kids are very happy and look forward to getting out and exploring each day.  There have been days when I didn't feel like walking but the kids have keep me motivated and we have only missed two walks when I was in the ER and the following day and was unable to get out.

In November when my daughter had her annual checkup her doc said she was at risk of becoming overweight if she keep going in the direction she had started heading.  I really didn't want that to happen so I got lots of sports stuff for the kids to play with and more wii and kinect games for them.  In December I started to realize the reason my daughter had started gaining weight was because I was eating mostly junk and we were eating out more often than we were eating at home.  We were on the computer or watching tv way to much.  My kids were just following along and doing what I was doing.  I didn't want my daughter to suffer her whole life with weight issues because of bad habits I had developed so I decided I would have to get in shape so she could just follow my example. 

In January I started our family fitness plan along with my sister's help and wisdom I know we can achieve our goals.
 I started out very slow and didn't cut out all the junk at one time.  I knew I was drinking to much soda and the kids would drink what I was drinking.  I also knew I needed to cook at home more and use less packaged foods. 
We started cutting down on soda ..turned out to be much harder than I expected!
I also started having more fruit ready for snacks and started cooking vegs more.  We could watch shows on tv about getting healthy to motivate us.  I saw the bodymedia fit band at Costco that tells you how many calories you are actually burning so I picked one up.

The first day I started my food log I was eating over 4000 calories per day on average.  For the first few weeks wearing the band I just logged what I was doing and watching to see where our starting point was.  I was drinking over 2000 calories per day with my soda.  I knew this was one of my biggest problem areas so I started cutting back on soda and replaced it with club soda mixed with juice.  I also keep cold water at hand all the time so when I reached for a drink it would not always be soda.  It's March now and I'm happy to report that I've cut back the soda intake to just sparkling water with 1/4 cup of juice per 2 liter bottle. 
I do still drink soda once a week while running around getting things done around town or when we are eating out. We only eat out one time per week now and  I don't buy soda and keep it in the house anymore.  At some point we will have to stop drinking soda totally but one day at a time is what keeps me going :)

My kids didn't like the foods I offered at first but they are getting use to less packaged food and more fresh vegs.  My kids and I have always had fun cooking sweets.  I noticed my daughter was enjoying planning meals and cooking so I will let her plan and cook as often as she likes. The only rule is it has to be healthy. She is really enjoying being able to make healthy meals.  I know this is something she will be able to use for the rest of her life. :)
We do still make brownies, cookies, bread, and cakes but we are using less sugar and we only make them once in a while rather than several times a week. 
We have slowly gone from eating pork or beef most days to eating meat from an animal with four legs only once a week.  The rest of the time it's fish or birds with lots of fruit and vegs.  Chicken and turkey at this point.  Yesterday I picked up turkey bacon for us to try since we are all missing having bacon and eggs each morning.  The turkey bacon only has 40 calories per slice rather than the 100 calorie per slice the bacon we had been using has.

I have been doing toning with the Biggest Loser workout on the Kinect.  Sometimes I will also do the Zumba fitness or the Your Shape on the kinect.  I'm still working on getting my cardo up to at least 30 minutes per day.  It's one small step at a time. 
In November 2010 I weighed 217.  I started taking my thyroid meds again (I didn't like the side effects and had stopped for a year I was at 182 before stopping my meds in November 2009).  On January 1, 2011 I weighed 210 pounds.  On Feb 12 I was back up to 217. But I had lost several inches and was down a whole pants size.  I finally started losing again and on Feb 28th I was down to 203.  :)  I was not able to work out much this week from being sick and as of this morning I am at 205.5.
The great thing is my sister told me about a great handy dandy scale that not only tells you how much you weigh but also how much of that weight is bone, muscle, fat, and water.  I can tell that the weight I gained is all water :) 
I'm gonna bring this first post to a close now as my son is ready to play...which means more chances to move around and get fit.  :)

Remember: Keep Moving and take it one day at a time....You CAN do it!  Whatever it is that you are trying to achive you CAN do it!