Wednesday Weigh-In: Week 3

Ok.  So a wee bit of good news this week.  I've lost .6 of a pound.  Part of me is happy to have finally lost something, but I'm still kinda frustrated that after 3 weeks of being dedicated to the gym and a reasonably healthy diet, that I've hardly lost weight.  But I'm going to keep at it with hopefully an hour of cardio tomorrow.  We shall see.

My Workouts:

Friday -

65 minutes of cardio including the elliptical machine and stationary bike

Saturday -

20 minutes of cardio on the elliptical (non-gym day)

Monday -

45 minutes of walking (non-gym day)

Tuesday -

45 minutes of cardio including the elliptical and stationary bike

Thankfulness

O give thanks to the Lord, for He is good; for His loving kindness is everlasting.

- I Chronicles16:34

A very Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!  As I get a little bit older (just a bit older), I start to realize how truly special Thanksgiving is.  And I'm really starting to understand how truly blessed I am.  I've read so many blogs and Facebook posts this month focused on thanksgiving and writing about what people are truly blessed by.  It's been so insightful to read what people are truly touched by and I've noticed that it's about the people in their lives 99% of the time.

I'm beyond blessed by the people in my life.  Foremost, I'm grateful to have Joel with our family, safe and sound this year.  It was great to sit around our table and spend part of today together.  I'll never forget what it's like to celebrate holidays apart - they will always be more sacred now.  I'm also so thankful for the family in my life - we have a wonderful family and each year I learn to love them better and appreciate their place in my life.  This past year, I've been incredibly blessed by friends.  Good friends.  True friendships.  So for those who walk life with me, pray with me, cry with me, laugh with me and love me - thank you.  God has blessed me beyond anything I could have ever imagined with so many wonderfully loving friends.

Finally, I'm thankful for my readers.  This blog has been a great outlet for me and I'm thankful that you take the time to read about my life.  But most importantly, I'm thankful for your comments and emails that encourage me, make me laugh and teach me something new.

I hope that you've had a blessed day!

Much love & thanksgivings,

Jill

Source: shabbymomma.blogspot.com via Rhonda on Pinterest

Wednesday Weigh-In: Week 2

Happy Wednesday everyone!

I'm finished with my second week of workouts and better eating habits.  It was a frustrating week for me - mostly because a flare-up of hives kept me from getting to the gym twice.  But, I can say that the time I was at the gym was worth it.  My endurance is already picking up pretty significantly and I've noticed I'm not as exhausted as I was when I started this two weeks ago.

Week 2:  So that's the good news, the bad news is I still haven't lost any weight.  It's a major bummer and a slight blow to my enthusiasm.  But I'm going to keep going and I know my efforts will pay off down the line nonetheless.

My Workouts:

Thursday -

60 minutes of cardio including the treadmill and the stationary bike

Friday -

40 minutes of walking (non-gym day)

Saturday -

20 minutes of walking (non-gym day)

Monday -

60 minutes of cardio including the treadmill, the stationary bike and the elliptical

15 minutes of weight training

Tuesday -

30 minutes of walking (non-gym day)

Wednesday -

30 minutes of cardio on the elliptical

30 minutes of weight training

Wednesday Weigh-In

Hello everyone!  Hope you guys are having a great week.

Well, I've been a faithful little patron to the Y this week.  I'm really surprised by how quickly I'm becoming addicted to the gym.  I've never been a gym person, but there's something about having 1 1/2 hours with a friend while child-free that makes working-out a bit less painful.

As you may remember, I tracked my weight loss while Joel was in Iraq last year, but I didn't give too many specifics in my weekly posts.  But this time around, I'm hoping to share more of what I've been doing - a way for me to keep accountable for my workouts but also, I hope that it'll help those of you who are losing weight, too.

One thing that I've found incredibly helpful is to track my workouts and calories/nutrients.  I'm using the My Fitness Pal app on my iPhone and it's really easy to use.  I entered my current weight, my goal weight and how much I want to lose each week - it then determines, based on my activity level, what my calorie intake should be per day.  It's a great tool and is helping me to keep on track.  Oh, and it's free!

Week 1:  No weight loss to report.  Sad, but true.  However, I feel more energetic than I've felt in a long time.  To me, that makes the fact that I haven't lost weight kinda okay.

My workouts:

Friday -

30 minutes of cardio on the stationary bike

25 minutes of weight training

Saturday -

45 minutes of cardio, including walking and stationary bike

Monday -

76 minutes of cardio, including jogging, stationary bike and walking

25 minutes of weight training



I have a 5:30 date at the gym tomorrow morning.  Hopefully Joel can motivate me (*ahem* push me out of bed) when the alarm goes off.

MilSpouse Friday Fill-In: Veterans Day Edition

First off, a very happy Veterans Day to all of those who served our great country.  I'll admit that this day had very little meaning to me until I married Joel and began to understand who a veteran really is and how treasured they are.  I am beyond proud to not only be married to a veteran but to have so many in my life that I can call friend.  We are all better because of what they have done and continue to do for us - with complete dedication, focus and sacrifice.

Hop on over to Wife of a Sailor to read what other military spouses had to say.

1.Freedom is never truly understoodd until it is taken away .


2.Veterans are quietly dedicated to a cause not many of us really understand.  They are sacrificial, self-less, loyal and one of our country's greatest treasures .

3.This country is the only country I ever want to live in .

4.Veteran’s Day means that we all have an opportunity to give back to those who have given us the most, and if anything, just say thanks .

5.A hero is someone who is so dedicated to the cause that they will put themselves on the line to fight for it, no matter what the cost .
 

Source: alittlecrafting.blogspot.com via Jill on Pinterest

Wednesday Weigh-In: Oh, Hello Again!

Yeah.  It's been a really long time since I did a Wednesday Weigh-In post.  If you're new to my blog, I used to do a weekly post to track my weight loss, exercise and healthy eating.  I did it while Joel was in Iraq last year and lost nearly 30 pounds during his 7-month deployment.  The posts pretty much stopped once he came home, mostly because I stopped working out regularly, starting snacking at night and started making more stick-to-your-ribs kind of meals.

So although I was beyond thrilled to have my husband home, I pretty much lost track of my new healthy lifestyle.  It happens, right?

I have worked out off-and on since he came home.  But not at all regularly.  And because of that and my new-found love of nachos, I put on about 10 pounds.

Right now, Joel and I are beginning to talk about baby #3.  We don't have a timeline or anything in place, but I know before I am really ready to get pregnant again, I want to lose about 10-15 pounds.  Mostly because I want to have less weight to lose post-baby and also because I just want to be in a really healthy place before I get pregnant again.

And that is why I'm back with my Wednesday Weigh-In posts.  I'm ready to get back on track and I hope that sharing with you all my highs and lows, that I'll have some accountability.

I got a membership to the Y this week and I have a friend who's going to go with me to workout.  Wish me luck!!

10 Things to Smile About: October

Hop on over to EmmyMom and join in on the fun!

1.  I'm so happy that the new TV season is here and there are some really good new shows out there.  I'm loving New Girl on Fox, Once Upon a Time on ABC and Fox's The X Factor.

2.  Fall colors... seriously, I love this season and our neighborhood is lit up with every shade of red, orange and yellow.

3.  Date nights.  Joel and I went with some friends of ours to a Third Day concert.  We had so much fun... I haven't laughed that hard in a long time.

4.  Autumn is walking!  Oh, and she's getting into everything, but she's so stinkin' cute that it kinda makes up for the disasters she leaves behind.

5.  Hummus.  I love the stuff.

6.  The New Testament.  A friend and I are reading through the NT this month - picking out the different names of God.  Even though I just finished reading through the whole Bible this summer, I've loved reading 15-20 chapters a day and having some accountability with it.

7.  Family time with trains.  Joel and I joined another family and took our kids to a local train historical society.  We got to check out a bunch of cool stuff and ride a caboose.  The girls had so much fun... and Joel did, too.  Of course.

8.  Praying friends.  A few friends and I started to get together this month for prayer and accountability.  It's so nice to know that there are those who love you and are praying for you daily.  It helps me to keep perspective when I'm lifting others in prayer.

9.  Financial progress.  As Joel and I continue on our path toward financial freedom, we are so relieved to have a solid budget, so when life happens, we don't get anxious.

10.  Halloween = kid cuteness.  I mean, seriously.  These two are beyond cute.  And it being Autumn's first year trick-or-treating, she picked up on the concept immediately.  Now we'll have to train her not to take candy for strangers.... until next year.