Tackle It Tuesday: Summer Game Plan

Slowly but surely making more TOPS progress. This week I only lost .8 of a lb. but it's a LOSS! I've been realizing that my kids only have a few weeks till school is out and last summer I gained weight. For people in different climates that may seem odd. Wouldn't you be out doing more in the summer? Aren't you MORE active? Well, we can be till about mid June. Our summer may as well be the North Pole because being snowed in would be similar. With temps that get up to 110* and one year even 115* (that was CRAZY hot), you don't go out much. So, we stayed home and were too sedentary and the kids were constantly hungry which put me in front of food more and more. We did not have money to run around doing activities or even jotting out to the ocean enough to cool off. So, it was movies in the afternoon to wait for the heat to pass and play out late into the night. I was always too tired to exercise in the evenings though.

So, this year I'm thinking ahead to have a game plan to keep my weight loss on a roll. Tomorrow I have an OB appointment and will be finding out exactly what she thinks my healthy weight goal should be. I'm pretty sure I'm getting close. So, I HAVE to keep at it. Here are some of my mental strategies so far:

• "Everybody say Wiiiiiii!" Seriously though, the summer is when we use the game systems more. Last year we only had the kids old V-Smile and my VERY old retro Nintendo original. That broke by the end of the summer and the kids were getting too old for the V-Smile. So, at Christmas we took gift money from my grandma and got the Wii. I don't think we could have done better, we love that thing. We use it for exercise, entertainment, and streaming in our Netflix online options which is awesome. You can even do the Internet on it but without a keyboard, it's too time consuming. So, I plan on making sure we do the active stuff a lot. Even getting out the dance mat and dancing with the girls on their "Dance Dance Revolution" game. I'm determined to learn that this summer. It's good for them too to be doing the active ones and not just Mario.


• Biggest Looser DVD's. I've only got one, but these are great. I have the sculpting one. I hope to do this with Princess also through the summer and am hoping she will enjoy joining me. They are 8 bucks at Walmart and easy to follow.


• Veggies and Fruits. I plan to NOT buy a great deal of the carb snacks we use during the school year. If it's here for them or me, it's not good for us. I plan to buy, wash and chop produce to have in bags on hand for snacks with peanut butter, almond butter and hummus for dipping. In the heat you don't usually feel like eating meals, you tend to want to snack but what you snack on is the key.


• I'm planning a bible time with the kids when we first come in or close up the house. I really have enjoyed reading the bible chronologically and though I don't want to hit them with the law stuff right now or some of the tough reading, I'd like to find a kid friendly plan to go through. I may just do a precept for kids study. I'm looking for something interactive. With kids in public school, it's hard to get that time in on school days. I'm hoping the summer will clear the academics for us to do this.


• Plan one beach outing a paycheck. If I can do two, even better. That would be one a week.


• Mama, get up early! This is my HARDEST part. I love sleeping in and staying up late. I'm very determined this year though to get up and enjoy the quiet and cool before the day. It's important because it's going to be my only time without the kids. I'm hoping to get out and do a morning walk outside to combat being in all day. I also want to have my quiet time out on the deck if I can.


• Last but not least, the evening family outing. I know we won't make this every night but I really want to walk as a family, or bike ride as a family in the evening. It's going to be important for the kids too because they can pudgy up just like me from vegging all summer.

That's what I've come up with so far. We usually have to come in and shut up the house by 10am and don't reopen it until about 7pm. If you have any other ideas for me, I'm listening.

Tackle It Tuesday Tunes

I said two weeks ago that I had some fitness goals. I've done fairly well keeping them. I said I wanted to walk more though and that has not gone well. I did however loose 1.4 lbs at this last TOPS meeting. I'm really desiring to stay focused so reporting here will help. Let me know you're watching cause I need that annoyance too!:)
We talked at our last meeting (TOPS) about motivation. I really liked the inspirational thing the lady speaking said. Motivation is like taking a bath, just because you get it once doesn't mean you don't need to find it again (or something like that). So, I've been thinking of what motivates me.
Music really motivates me, and I enjoy a lot of different kinds. Lately though, I've really been needing spiritual encouragement more so I find that I can't consume a lot of "candy" music (I say this because many of our worldly hobbies, interests, enjoyments are like candy, you are free to partake but make too much will effect your spiritual health).
So, I spent an hour making a new play list. Of course I'm sharing in case any of you also have a long 20 foot headphone extension cord like I do and pipe it into you most booming of boomers. If you don't, get one at Radio shack. It's worth it (try Pandora.com too!). You can also just pipe the computer sound into your headphones for workouts. I don't have an ipod like some people ....;)
Here it is...go tackle something and be refreshed as well. These are some of my tippity top favorites!

Tackle It Tuesday: The Climb

I joined TOPS this time last year. Has it helped me? Yes. I have lost 10 lbs and flirted with a few more pounds that have bounced back way too many times. Still I have to remember that going keeps me from overall gaining. Ever time I get going something happens in life to halt me. I'm sure that happens to everyone though. The surgery has really set me back again and although the nausea and appetite loss helps me at times, the estrogen patch is fighting against me and I can really tell. So, I have to get serious or I'll be in trouble soon. Time to get back climbing.

I told my friend Trish who is in TOPS with me, that we should come up with a few simple goals and hold each other accountable. I tend to go overboard on goals and bury myself in disappointment when I cannot possibly reach them. So, I'm going to start with three and go from there.

1. Breakfast: I don't enjoy breakfast and if I do it's usually carbs that I like. I kind of gag at the thought of eggs in the morning (and I have since I was a kid really). So, for a while I don't want to have to think about it at all. I purchased a big tub of Soy Protein at Trader Joe's and have tons of frozen fruit in the freezer i need to use up. I'm just going to use that and a little yogurt for morning smoothies. Thankfully the weather is warming up!


2. Walk: The most important thing I can do is get more walking. I really wanted to be running a 5k by now but I'll have to be patient and build back up now. My goal is 20-30 min 6 days a week.


3. Evening Eating: I'm making a goal to only have herbal tea or water after 7pm except for one night a week (Monday's when I go to TOPS and don't eat until I get home).

It's hard to believe I only have about 20 lb to the top end of my healthy weight. The last 20 are so hard and I know they are going to take sheer warfare! I'm praying my hormones don't get in my way too much either. I'm drinking lots of ginseng, decaf green, and tension taming herbal teas to help with all that.

Every time I come back to this goal I am encouraged by this song. It reminds me of many good things. It's a good walking warm up song too. Though it's a cute little teen song, it's got a lot of truth to it. There is always going to be a struggle, a goal, a battle. Thinking that getting through one will make everything in life good is not true but that doesn't mean it's not important.

Starting To Make Good On 2010

I spoke about my dreams for the new year a while back. This year I really want to blog about how they are coming to be. That helps keep them at the forefront of my mind as well. So, I have a few updates and then some pictures to share.

I said I wanted to run....

I've been invited to join a friend running a 5k (3 miles) through wine country on March 21. I've chosen this running plan to train once I'm feeling better, which I'm hoping will be in just a few days. I think this will be a great motivator for me to start and 3 miles does not sound too scary yet.

I said I wanted to read the bible chronologically.....

I have started this and have a widget on my side bar here on the blog with that reading plan. Feel free to follow along with me if you like. I just use the references, I don't like to read from the computer screen.

I said I wanted to remember birthdays and do something about it....

Today I'm not feeling well so I'm taking that time to pull out my 2010 calendar and write down upcoming birthday dates. I've all ready started a box for things I find, and am saving containers for things I can make.

I said I wanted us to be an active family....

On Sunday we had our first outing day. We took the kids to the coast for a long walk and beach combing time. At first it was great but as they got tired they started to get whiny about walking so long. They were also begging to get wet which I was not sure was a good idea at this time of year. Despite the dynamics not going so well as we got use to this type of outing together, I do think it was a good day and I know the kids will build their endurance as we do more. It was a long walk for starting out.

Just starting to get a bit tired...can you see the change in facial expressions?

Stopping for a break and some beautiful facial pictures.

I just can't believe she is this tall...I really can't.

Buddies.

There is something magical about Emma in piggies.

Another break, and another time to just enjoy the view.

A request to climb a few trees.

....and rocks.

They finally got to get their feet in at the end.
I was sitting watching them and thinking a lot about the sea. I just forget how much I love it.

Every time we go we say we need to come more often and this year we intend to make that happen.