Fitness and Dieting

I've been continuing to work out, in fact I'm starting to get to where I can walk faster and farther and still feel good afterwards. I also have been seriously cutting back the calories I eat, and the combination is working! Dieting makes me tired and cranky, but it's so worth it when I step on the scale and see that number going down. I bought a belt so my shorts and pants will stay up. A couple of days ago I stepped on the scale at the Y and I was down to 205! My weight tends to fluctuate a lot but as long as it keeps trending down and I keep losing inches I'm happy! I hope it's that low or even lower at my next doctor's appointment. 

I really want to add more strength training to my cardio but I'm not sure how to go about doing the with the machines at the Y without hurting my back. I found a workout that's designed to help strengthen my core without being tough on my back that I can do at home so I'm adding that to my exercise routine. Once I get that down I'm going to try out the weight machines. I know it's all about being healthier, but I really can't wait to fit into my pre-pregnancy jeans again. I was at about 190 when I got pregnant with Alicia, and 175 when I got pregnant with Jaydra, so those will be milestones for me, but I don't want to stop there. I'd like to be really in shape and do a triathlon, and fit into 9/10 jeans. Right now I'm wearing size 20's, and while they're loose on me I have a long way to go. That's why I have lots of short term goals. I need little celebrations along the way to keep me going.

Potty Training Progress

Jaydra is ready to graduate to big girl panties! We've been doing a gradual switch from diapers to pullups to panties instead of the crash course jump straight to panties that some parents do. I thought about doing the crash course 3 day potty training plan, but this is working for us. She's telling me when she needs to go, and is able to use the big toilet with her seat on it all by herself. It's such a relief to be able to just take her to the bathroom and let her do her thing! When she's done she's so excited to ask me to look at her pee or poo, and I try not to laugh to much. It is so hard not to crack up when she says, "Do you want to see my pee pee mommy?" She really resisted pulling up her own pants and pullups, and I had to refuse to help her until she at least tried to do it herself. She used the potty at the Y kidzone (something she'd been resisting so yay) and the lady working there said she walked out of the bathroom with her pants down. She's still got some learning to do but she's getting there.

Alicia is a little over a year younger than Jaydra and is going through a phase where she's really resisting using the potty to the point that she won't even tell me that she's wet herself. I'm continuing to encourage her, and I'm not freaking out about this like I did when Jaydra went through the same thing. I also have a trick up my sleeve: I'm getting Elmo's Potty Time from Netflix. The nice thing about going through things like this with her is that I don't stress about it as much because I know we'll get through it and have more experience so I know what to do. Truth be told, not everything works the same way it did with Jaydra because their personalities are so different but at least I have a clue about what to try this time.

Combating Laziness

Well, it's been a while since I've written so I've got a lot to talk about, so I'll probably do a few different posts. The girls are doing pretty well, but I haven't been doing as many activities with them as I would like. Blame the heat of the summer, blame lack of funds in our budget, blame whatever I like but the main culprit lies within me: laziness. I have a ton of reasonable excuses, the neighbors pit bull is never in their yard and always in our front yard, the girls need their nap time, when we go out it disrupts the potty schedule. The reality is that I don't seem to have any motivation to do anything but  take care of the girls, exercise and do the cleaning and cooking. I'm even falling behind on the laundry all the time. I'd like to do more with the girls and just more in general but lately everything seems so hard. How to find more inspiration and motivation? I just want to get away on a vacation, or even have one day that someone else is responsible for the girls and I can just recharge. Keep dreaming Jessie!   

Finally, Some Progress!

I've been going to the Y pretty regularly, and in the last month I've lost 6 pounds! Okay, if I was a contestant on the Biggest Loser I'd probably be kicked off the show, but I think it's glorious! I need to get a belt because my pants are getting to loose, and that is a wonderful problem to have. I'm not done yet, but at least I'm starting to get somewhere. Besides exercise, I've gotten better at cutting back the calories. Despite the fact that it's so hot, I've become obsessed with soup. It makes me feel so much fuller than most diet meals, and I've figured out a decent recipe for french onion soup that I could probably eat every day!

YMCA!

Last week we got a membership to the Y, and I can't believe I didn't do this sooner. I can do some cardio, swim, sit in the steam room, and get a nice workout. Meanwhile the girls go to the kidzone, which has an outdoor and indoor playground. They can spend time with other kids while I can be around other adults. I'm so out of shape I'm only going every other day and keeping an eye on my heartrate, in fact the cardio machines have heartrate monitors built right in so it's super easy. Well it's still hard to do the actual exercise, but I've lost two pounds this week and feel pretty damn good! My back is not real great, but after cardio I sit in the whirlpool and that seems to help. I hope I'll have less pain after I get into better shape but at the very least I'll be healthier and have more energy. I have my ups and downs about losing weight and it feels good to know I have access to a gym with childcare. I like my workout videos but I can't make it through one without having to stop a million times to take care of the girls.

Fun with tents

We have a megaland play tent that includes three tents and a couple of mini tunnels that can be connected in a variety of different ways and came with a bunch of balls and a storage bag. This was only fourty dollars and the girls love to play with it. It's got a basketball hoop, soccer goal and a beanbag throw/ball toss. It's super easy to set up because the tents just spring open and twist flat when we're done with it. The only hard part about cleaning up is finding all the balls because they go everywhere. It's a great way for the girls to be active when we can't (or just don't want to) go to the park.
In these pics I set up one tent with their music stuff, which is so cool I'll probably write a blog about just that. The biggest tent got filled with stuffed animals for them to roll around in. I even got in there with them for a bit, and they laughed and crawled all over me. They also gave me their favorite stuffed animals to play with. It makes me smile just thinking about it. So worth squeezing into a little tent.

Activities With The Girls

I mentioned the dry erase crayons in an earlier blog and found another activity to do with them that the girls absolutely loved! After making sure that the curtains were out of the way we decorated the windows with the crayons. Maybe it was the novelty of drawing on something other than paper but both girls were enthralled with this and clean up was a snap. This would be even better if you had glass patio doors, which would make a much bigger canvas.