Birthdays are the Best

Sometimes the idea of getting older is a little upsetting. But some years your birthday is a perfect reminder of how loved you are and what wonderful people you have in your life. 

My 32nd birthday was by far one of the best yet! 

 I started celebrating Friday when Gary had these beautiful flowers delivered to me at work:

Saturday, my actual birthday, the celebration continued with a party at our house. My parents, Em & Gerald came. Erin, Andy & Hendrick. Ashley & Jeremy. Amanda, Justin, Becca & Angie. And Maria even came. We all had so much fun just hanging out and enjoying each other's company. We ate & drank and laughed & talked... A perfect day!

WLW - Week #14

Starting Weight:  155 lbs
Today’s Weight:  136.6 lbs
Total Loss:   18.4 lbs

Diet

Let's be honest.... the way I ate Thursday and Friday.... I can't believe I lost anything! 
In other news, Em and Gerald let me have my birthday present a week early.  A blender to make smoothies.  I bought some vanilla almond milk and have been mixing it with frozen blueberries for smoothies in the morning.  Its so good!  I'm out of blueberries, so tomorrow I'm going to try something else.  I peeled and froze some halo oranges so I might try that or I have frozen strawberries too.

Exercise

I guess all the running around at the water park and helping Ashley and Jeremy move on Saturday was enough exercise to help with not gaining too much weight with all the eating.  Exercise doesn't always have to be on a treadmill or with weights... sometimes its just living your life!

Lifestyle
I loved eating junk last weekend.  But really after a couple days I was craving healthy foods again.  That's probably a really good sign! 

Splash Lagoon

Gary & I surprised Lyla with a little trip away. It's been a long winter & we needed some fun!

The surprise started with us picking her up early from work. Then we convinced her to take a nap in the car while we drove to Erie. 

When we got to Erie we went to eat at Golden Corral. Lyla loves buffets so she was really excited!  And they had cotton candy!!

When we were done stuffing our faces we went & checked in to our hotel & got ready for the water park. 

She was amazed when we got in there!  She didn't go down any water slides which was a little disappointing but she had fun & that's all that matters. 

After a few hours we went back to the hotel where Lyla swam in their pool for another hour!

For dinner we went & bought a pile of junk food from the lobby & ate it while we laid in bed watching tv... It's a mini vacation. Don't judge!  :)

We slept in this morning then got ready to swim some more. 

Now we are on our way to grandma & pappys. I think this means she had a fun day:

WLW - Week #13

Starting Weight:  155 lbs
Today’s Weight:  138.0 lbs
Total Loss:   17.0 lbs

Diet

We fired up the grill over the weekend and it was wonderful!  We made Hawaiian chicken with pineapples and rice.  And we make steak kabobs with peppers and mushrooms with spaghetti.  Its going to be a fun summer trying new healthy summer recipes! 

Exercise

I decided to go back to the kettlebells DVD last night.  I like the Jillian Michaels and I think its good for switching things around every now and then, BUT I think I get a better workout and build better muscle mass with the kettlebells.   

Lifestyle
It was a pretty uneventful week.  The next two weekends will be busy and keeping the eating in check will be a challenge, but hopefully things don't get too nuts and I can recover. 

WLW - Week #12

Starting Weight:  155 lbs
Today’s Weight:  138.4 lbs
Total Loss:   16.6 lbs

Diet

I would have done better with the weight loss this week, except I gained a pound and a half on Easter..... lol....  I sort of just ate everything with reckless abandon!  Hershey kiss at 6:30 in the morning, why not?  Two rolls with butter, yes please!  Oh, homemade potato salad.... yum!  BUT I recovered from my sugar coma Monday morning and got back on track.  :)

Exercise

Life has been really busy lately.  Its hard to keep on much of an exercise schedule so I'm just trying to fit something in whenever I have a chance.  I did the Jillian Michael's DVD on Saturday.  I was sore, but NOTHING like the last time.  I did the treadmill last night, hopefully I have time to do the DVD again tonight.  Lyla has soccer on Mondays and Thursdays now, so I'm not sure how to fit much else into those evenings.  And weekends are getting busy now that winter is over.  But I'm doing the best I can.   

Lifestyle
I'm really proud of myself for what I have accomplished in 12 weeks.  I'm going to keep going and see if I can get down to 125.  That's really where I want to be.  And I have researched and for my height that is a healthy weight.  If I can get to 125, then I just want to maintain and stay there.  This isn't a "diet" for me where I see an end in sight.  I don't plan on reaching a certain weight and then letting the flood gates open and eating like crazy and going right back to where I was.  I don't want to be that heavy and out of shape anymore.  This is the new normal for me and I'm good with that.  Yes, there are some days I just want to throw in the towel and just forget the whole thing.  But I just push threw them and the next day I don't feel that way anymore.  The biggest part is planning ahead.  If you plan ahead its so much easier to make good choices.  Otherwise you just eat whatever and that's usually not a good thing.

It's official.... I'm a "Soccer Mom"

I think I'm ok with it though. As long as mom jeans, minivans and big buttons with my kids picture aren't involved I think I can handle it!

In all seriousness though Lyla had a blast!  The coach seemed very nice as did the other parents. And added bonus- this was the easiest bedtime I have had in quite a while!

Happy Easter