shrinkvivor challenge week 1

This is it! Week 1 of the Shrinkvivor Challenge over at Shrinking Jeans! I almost wish I had waited and started back to Weight Watchers a week later since I'm down 4.2 pounds this week!

I am teamed up with some great gals for this challenge including Ann and Heather! We are part of Team Pink - AKA the Pinkbury Dough Girls! Cute, huh?
















This week's physical challenge is exercise minutes - time devoted to exercise specifically. So I will be working on that and continuing to keep track of my foods and staying within my daily Points Plus target for Weight Watchers.

The best part about this past week? (Excluding a nice loss on the scale, of course.) Energy. I actually am not dragging my butt, exhausted all the flippin' time. Guess my body was trying to tell me something. Obviously I'm hard headed occasionally. Or all the time if you ask my husband.

I am really looking forward to seeing what I personally and the Pinkbury Dough Girls as a team can accomplish not only this week but throughout this challenge.

Until next Wednesday...

i confess...

...that most of my days are so busy I have no idea what time it is until the alarm on my phone goes off and reminds me to walk to the bus stop to meet my son.

...that when it comes to being healthy and doing what I know I should be doing I've not been doing it.

...that I am overwhelmed with life and I have let that stop me from, well, a lot.

...that the excuses need to stop and I need to figure out my game plan. I'm meal planning. Now I need to either count calories or go back to Weight Watchers. Whatever I decide to do I need to do it and not look back. Period.*

*I wrote this post over the weekend. I re-register at Weight Watchers on Wednesday morning. Wish me luck!

menu planning

I have a love-hate relationship with menu planning. Okay, it's a mostly hate relationship, but it must be done. If it's not done we eat out, we eat crap and spend money that could better be used in other areas.

I love the idea of linking up our weekly plans and sharing them with our friends to keep us accountable and give us ideas for future meals. Because I, for one, need both the accountability and ideas!

Here's our meal plan for this week in no particular order. I try to decide the night before what we're going to have the next day. If I forget then I pull from something easy on the list (example - the Cheese Ravioli Bake, because it's quick to make from frozen). Side dishes are listed in parentheses.

Country French Chicken & Veggies (garden salad)
Cheese Ravioli Bake (tomato ranch salad)
Shepherd's Pie (broccoli steamed for me and with sour cream sauce for the rest of the peeps)
Balsamic Pork Chops (rice pilaf & cantaloupe)
Taco Burgers (warm ranch potato salad)
Pizza Loaf (garden salad)
Grilled Turkey Tenderloin (green beans & baked cauliflower)

I will say that one thing I really need to start doing is planning breakfast and lunch. We always just wing it with those meals (leftovers, salad, sandwich for lunch and breakfast is quick with lots of options). If you have any ideas to help me get into a groove with those meals I'd love to hear them!

Now go visit the link-up over at Shrinking Jeans and see what everyone else is eating this week!

my boy

My little guy, commonly referred to as K1 on Twitter, had his first baseball practice tonight. He's never been the kid that plays in the dirt, mud, etc. That would be my 3 year old girl. Heh. But tonight? Sweaty, dirt everywhere and a big smile is how he ended his first practice. He's been looking forward to this for weeks and apparently it lived up to his expectations.

goodbye, summer

Goodbye, Summer. Hello, school, baseball, preschool and back to being on a schedule!

I have to admit - Summer spoils me. I enjoy not having to be anywhere at any particular time. We don't really have a routine and I like it. But I also like routine. (I know, I totally contradicted myself in one paragraph.)

Here's the thing...The ability to do whatever, whenever, spur of the moment is fun. Sun shining and warmth? Pool time! Rainy day? Let's play board games and read books. Rough night? Let's stay in our pajamas until 3:00 the next day! But the lack of routine almost always sometimes makes me crazy.

Enter September. School starts on Tuesday for my 2nd grader and my 3 year old starts preschool the following week. Getting up and doing the same thing on the same schedule is actually easier on me mentally. I don't have to think about it I just get up and do it. Hence the reason I like routine.

I will REALLY miss having my oldest at home. My little one's preschool is 2 mornings a week and I will be volunteering at the elementary school during that time so while I will miss her (of course) I won't be coming home to a quiet house (which would totally feel strange).

We're finally settled. The garage still needs to be unpacked and organized seeing as it's handling the overflow. However, the inside of the house is done with the exception of hanging pictures and placing "little things" here and there. I've started on my standard room makeovers that I do each time we move. My son's room has one teeny tiny thing for me to finish and then it's done. The rest is still a work in progress (mainly because I am not sticking to one room at a time and jumping here and there).

Have I mentioned the husband LOVES his job? Yeah. He has a pretty amazing boss and seems to be working for a really good company. Neither of us have that same warm and fuzzy from our relocation company but the new employer and new position we're definitely giving "2 thumbs up!".

The kids have made friends with our neighbors kids that are the same age. They seriously beg to play with their friends every. single. day. And from my conversations with my neighbor her kids do the same thing! It's such a good feeling for me because friendship with other kids is so vital to my kids happiness. I love seeing them laughing, running, playing, screaming (okay, not the screaming so much but the reason they're screaming) with other kids their age.

So while Summer is fading away too fast, Fall is almost here and a new chapter in our lives is starting. It's exciting and it's scary. How many times have we done this??? But we're together as a family, Daddy is home more and loves his job (bonus!) and it's starting to feel like "home"...