30-20-10

and with shedding 30 lbs has come melting away 21 inches. As a part of the X-Weighted challenge that begin in January (which I kind of drifted away from), taking measurements was a part of the start up process. Today was the last day of the challenge and I got an email prompting me to take my measurements again and low and behold I lost lots of inches!

Chest -7.5 inches
Waist -7.5 inches
Hips -6 inches

= -21 inches

That's a nice extra boost that certainly helps fuel the fat burning fire! You always hear people recommend taking measurements and I'm really glad I did. I did take some pretty horrid "before" pictures at the time too and maybe when I get back to my goal I'll post them up with my new after pictures.

And to celebrate, I think I've gained enough confidence in hitting the pavement that I've signed up for a 10k on November 5th. 

It can't be all bad, there will be WINE offered at all the rest stations :-D

-30 lbs

A funny thing happens when you establish the "right" mindset to committing to lose weight and it's kind of ironic.

The entire time it takes you to moan and groan about how hard it is (going to be) and how much you are dreading it and "wish" your mindset was where it needs to be to actually commit is the actual hard part. It's not apparent until the mindset actually takes root and you realize that the time seems to be flying by as the pounds are dropping and it's apparent that the hard part is not the actual act of staying on track like you were dreading at all!  I agonized over this for months and months as a new Mom and I cannot quite tell you how great it feels to feel like I finally have it together and getting this deed done already.

I'm running again. RUNNING. And it's glorious. I'm still much heavier than I was when I was running before and I didn't think I "could" run at this weight (currently 213.8 lbs), but I'm doing it and I have to say that I don't think I'm that far off of where I was before. I still have a bit more work to match my old speed (I use the term "speed" very lightly because I'm NOT a fast runner by ANY stretch of the imagination!), but I honestly think that it's just the extra pounds holding me back and as they continue to shed, I feel like conditioning myself at this stage as I return to my goal weight will only make me a better runner when I get there. It's like running with a weighted vest and getting to run the race without one.

10-15 pounds ago it was too much impact for my knees to handle (I've had knee surgery in the past for an ACL/Meniscus repair), but I'm happy that I'm back to a place where I can run again.  I've decided to sign up for a few races - nothing big or nothing to get me into a tizzy over, just something to keep moving toward.  Something to push me through my runs and some finish line to picture in my head, ya know?

I'm totally digging Katy Perry "Firework" as my "power song" and I love it.



What is your favourite running songs? What is your "power song" for running or working out?

Will Friend for Snacks

If you only watch one video today, let it be this. So far Lucy pretty much wants nothing to do with Cameron. She avoids him at all costs and runs away when he tries to chase her around. She of course hovers around him at his highchair during meal time and I started letting him eat some snacks in his snack cup on the floor and it was quite the scene when he figured out how to make Lucy his friend!

If it stops playing after a few seconds, replay & it should work after it buffers.  I hope you enjoyed!

Tiny Toes

You know when you're a new Mom and you're sleep deprived and there are days when you feel like you might actually be losing your sanity from lack of sleep? It's not cliche, it's actually a real thing. I'm not joking.

While it was the most challenging thing I have ever done in my entire life, I think somehow it only amplified my excitement for every tiny little development he would make, every tiny little stride forward and I took every second of it in and inhaled it because it was those little tiny things that I would thrive on that kept me going.  The first real smiles. I still remember those as plain as day and I hung on to those with everything I had and waited with baited breath waiting for him to giggle and smile at me in the morning. That, my friends was worth the world. I remember crying when that happened. It was like being thrown my first bone.

Thankfully (and I emphasize the THANKFULLY), my little Peanut started sleeping through the night 11ish hours around the 8 mth mark and it changed my life completely. Now that he's rounding the corner into an ELEVEN month old, he's going down to sleep completely on his own (no rocking or wakings!) and even though we are currently going through an extra early wake up in the 5 o'clock hour, I'll gladly take it.

All of that was a precursor for my photo above.  Why the strange segue you ask? The best part about being a Mother is the new perspective of rewards you thrive on in your day to day life. An entirely new perspective of the world and what brings me joy.  While any Mom can appreciate pretty shoes or hats or spa treatments (not knockin' because Mama can always use a nice hat or a spa treatment!), there's one thing that sticks out in my head about what got me through eight straight months of interrupted sleep and it was feeling of his incredibly soft, warm, tiny little hands brushing across my cheeks in the dark.  It sounds so cliche & corney, but it was the most gratifying feeling in the world.  There was just something about his chubby, soft little hands. No matter how tired I was, no matter how frustrated and tired I felt during that time, he' d touch my face with that little hand and I always knew I was making the right choices for him.  I just wish I could go back in time just to reassure myself that was the case the whole way through. I agonized over if I was making the right decisions about nurturing sleep habits and I can honestly say that having that reassurance back then would have helped me a lot, but I guess that's all a part of the learning process of motherhood.

So now my little baby is resembling more and more like my little boy as he turns the corner on his twelfth month and even his tiny little toes are starting to show me that he's turning into a little boy, poking their way through his footie pyjamas...