weigh in wednesday ::: hope

pound by pound.

inch by inch.

 

so i am a week behind.

 

i did weigh in last week and was 1 pound down but didn't get a chance to sit down and blog until friday and by that point i thought "might as well just wait and see if i can lose another pound by next wednesday.

 

would you believe i did lose another pound?

 

unfortunately that pound found me again, so i am still down that 1 pound from last wednesday.

what i didn't tell you is that i haven't been consistently working out the past week or so.

 

i also didn't mention that at one point i was up two pounds.

 

it seems the slacking off in the gym combined with not always eating the right thing caught up to me.

 

i freaked out a little.

 

i'm not gonna lie.

 

but then i kicked it into high gear.

 

i have worked out for the past 3 days and have watched what i'm eating.

 

and it paid off.

 

i'm down a pound this morning.

 

i'm feeling confident that i know what to do for my body.

 

i know when i'm not feeling as good as i could be and I now know what to do about it.

 

it's not always easy, but it's always worth it.

 

there was this funny thing that happened this morning.

 

i got on my scale to weigh in and it said 181 (down a pound)

so i went to eat breakfast and get the kids ready for the day.

 

i decided to hop back on the scale and it said 179.5 (I even took a picture of it).

 

i got off, got back on. got off, got back on. got off, got back on.

 

i did this about 20 times.

 

it still said the same thing.

 

i moved the scale around the bathroom thinking it wasn't on a flat surface.

 

it still said the same thing.

 

finally, i left the bathroom and came back in a few minutes later.

 

got on and it said...181.

 

darn. :)

 

i'll be at that 179.5 soon enough, but how awesome would it have been if i lost a pound and a half in 20 minutes?!?! :)

 

here is a picture of me from last week.

 

i'm getting there.

pound by pound.

inch by inch.

 

The Saturday Skinny ::: Robyn

I’ve been thinking this morning about this little blog and how and why it began. Why did I ever want to do this? I don’t think that I ever really considered all of the “whys”. The thought just kept popping into my head and wouldn’t go away. Originally I thought about how Hope and I could support and motivate each other. Really, Hope and I could have done that privately though without the world watching. This blog however, creates a huge accountability for us.  It has also created a much bigger support system. I believe that we are all children of a loving Father in Heaven. We are all coexisting in this sometimes confusing, difficult, scary, and incredibly wonderful world. I believe that as we share our journeys together we find strength and understanding because we have so much in common regardless of any of our differences.

There is a part of me that is embarrassed to share my journey. I haven’t done as well as I thought I was going to do and I am definitely moving at a much slower pace than I anticipated. I wonder though, if more of you may identify with these struggles that I am having than if I had just plowed through with success. The ability to share my story and thoughts with all of you keeps me motivated and is an incredible outlet for me. So, I hope that you will continue to follow our journey. I’m not giving up.

The last couple of weeks have been incredibly busy for me and incredibly fantastic (well, not weigh wise) J.  We went to Cali again. We spent 4 days at Disneyland and a day at the beach. Our summer has been too much fun if there is such a thing.  Then this last week I went to Washington D.C. as a parent advocate. I attended a conference dedicated to public school choice and went to meetings with some legislators from my state. It was exciting and so fun.

The truth though, is that I haven’t been to the gym in the last 2 weeks. I have been active though. The other truth is that I have eaten whatever I want. I have been careful about portion sizes though. So, guess what happened? I went on a road trip, vacationed with my little family. I flew across the country, associated with adults and had way too much excitement for a stay at home mom where other people controlled my food options. I maintained. Maintained!!! Maybe I shouldn’t be excited about this. But, it seems like a huge accomplishment to me.

I’m still 26.5 pounds down.

We only have 2 and half weeks of summer left. That is crazy. I have a million things to do to prepare. For the first time though, I am planning my schedule. I’m figuring out the best way to fit exercise into my school day schedule. Although, my weight loss is slow. I am feeling positive. I still feel confident that I can do this and that I will eventually reach my goal.

I have a couple of weeks before school starts and we don’t have any travel plans. It will be nice to be home and get my booty to the gym. I plan on lots of exercise and lots of healthy food. I’m optimistic that I can lose some weight. I think I can, I think I can. Bend at it, sweat at it, smile at it too. 

Fun at the beach and burning calories too!

A momma fighting for her beliefs at the capitol. Dreams I never knew I had coming true. :) Life is so unpredictably amazing!

Weigh In Wednesday ::: Hope

Did you miss me?

 

Sorry about not blogging last week,

but I literally couldn't find a moment to sit down and do it!

 

 

I couldn't wait to blog today because I wanted to tell

you all my super exciting news!

I weighed in this morning and I am down 1.5 lbs.

Of course that's 1.5 lbs in 2 weeks, not 1 week, but that's ok!

I am happy with that!

 

And now for my exciting news:

I am officially down FORTY POUNDS today!!!

WOW!!!

 

I actually looked back on my "starting weight" picture and compared it to my picture from today. I got a little emotional. It was proof of how far I had come. But to be honest, I never really saw myself how I see myself looking in that before picture. I knew I needed to lose some weight and get healthier, but I didn't hate my body.

 

A friend and fellow photographer, Megan, posted this yesterday on facebook:

 

So today, while swimsuit shopping for me, with my oldest, a number of things crossed my mind. Despite some of those feelings, I said out loud so she could hear me, "I love my beautiful, powerful body. Birthed my three children naturally, enables me to take care of my children." And in a few minutes I heard her say to herself, "I love my beautiful, powerful body." I think we owe it to our girls to appreciate what we have, at all shapes and sizes along the way.

 

I loved this reminder that our bodies are strong and powerful no matter what size. Right now I see my body transforming and I think how incredible my body is. But it has always been incredible. I have given birth to 4 children (while not naturally, still amazing) and it keeps up with my crazy schedule.

I am loving this time in my life when I can push myself and do things I never thought I would.

So here's to 40 lbs down and continuing my journey to losing 30 more!

 

40 lbs down!

The Saturday Skinny ::: Robyn

When I was a little girl my mom would have us memorize and recite scriptures. They were some of her favorite scriptures that she thought we would need throughout our lives. Every once and a while I find myself reciting them in my head. The last couple of weeks I have been reciting 1 Corinthians 3:16-17 Know ye not that ye are the ^atemple of God, and that the^bSpirit of God dwelleth ^cin you? If any man ^adefile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is ^bholy, which temple ye are.

I don’t think my mom’s reasoning for teaching us this scripture is exactly the reason I keep reciting it in my head. But, either way I’m thankful for it. In my college years I had a dear friend who always said “my body is a playground” J I feel like I continually have to adjust and improve my attitude towards myself. If I can think of my body as a temple and treat it accordingly I will have greater success in my pursuit of health and weight loss. I laughed when I saw Hope’s shirt for her 5k last week. Great minds think alike. I have been reminding myself often that my body is a temple.

My mom also taught us a poem as children. I’m not sure where she found it, but when I searched for it I found that it has been quoted several times in the general conference for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (the Mormon church). Our dear prophet Thomas S. Monson has shared it more than once during conference. Which means to me it is scripture. I love this poem and have been reciting it in my mind often. I say it as I’m running on the treadmill, or as I am trying to find something in my closet to wear that helps me feel good about myself, or while I’m finding something healthy yet delicious to eat for lunch. It has become my mantra. J

“Stick to your task ’til it sticks to you;

Beginners are many, but enders are few.

Honor, power, place and praise

Will always come to the one who stays.

“Stick to your task ’til it sticks to you;

Bend at it, sweat at it, smile at it, too;

For out of the bend and the sweat and the smile

Will come life’s victories after a while.”

—Author Unknown

My favorite part is “bend at it, sweat at it, smile at it, too”. That is exactly how I feel. It’s what I say to myself over and over. I’m still learning and growing and struggling. This week I made lots of good choices and some bad too.

I am exactly the same weight as last week. Which means I’m 26.5 pounds down since January.

If I’m being totally honest, I am a little discouraged, it’s true. But, I am also happy that I have lost and that I’m not giving up. I have a million blessings to be thankful for and I had another beautifully blessed week with my little family. I am trusting that my good choices will pay off and that my body will respond. I am reminding myself that my value is not measured in pounds. I am chanting in my head, “booty bling, booty bling” and I am reminding myself to “bend at it, sweat at it, smile at it too” because my body is a temple. I am realizing that smiling at it is just as important and sweating it. 

My daughter Gracie and I on 4th of July, 26.5 pounds down

P.S. I’m going to weigh in on Saturdays for a few weeks. Summer is busy. 

Weigh in Wednesday ::: Hope

It's Wednesday!

 

This has been a big week for me!

 

On Saturday I ran in my first 5K.

My goal was to run the whole way...not to walk. The course was at our local park that has trails and lots of hills. There were times when I was pretty sure the walkers would lap me, but I still ran. I didn't care about how fast I was running, all I cared about was not stopping. It turns out I finished the 3.1 miles in 36:50, 11:53/mile. That 11:53 a mile is what shocked me. It was the fastest I've ran so far; not that I have extensive running experience, but I was really proud of that!

 

The coolest part, for me, was that Carl was supposed to come during the race and bring the kids so that they would be there when I crossed the finish line, but he surprised me and brought them at the beginning before we started.

That was super sweet and just the encouragement I needed.

 

After I crossed the finish line, he hugged me and told me how proud he was.

That was awesome, although all I could think at that moment was

"get me to the bathroom now!" {just keeping it real, people}

 

Having my family there at the end was priceless!

Here I am after I finished the 5K, sporting my awesome new tank:

"Because My Body Is A Temple".

Love it.

Check out Cross Training Couture

 

For any of you who might be starting out in the running world, I got some good advice from a friend. She told me to increase my food intake the rest of the day after the race and drink tons more water because you lose a lot of sodium when you run. She said this will save you from feeling like you have the flu over the next few days. This was good advice. I definitely still hurt, but I didn't feel sick.

 

This morning I weighed myself and I lost another 1.5 lbs!!!

I've lost 38.5 lbs over all!

 

I have to say that the weight loss is awesome, but something I did after I weighed in was even better.

Sometimes looking at your body each day, you tend to lose perspective about how much 38.5 pounds actually is and how many inches off your body that is. So this morning I got out the measuring tape and instead of taking my current measurements, I held it around my hips at the measurement I started at! WOWWWW!!!

Now that's a visual!

It was really eye opening and showed me just how far I've come!

 

All in all, this has been a great week!

I hope it has been a great week for you, too. And if it hasn't, there is always next week.

 

Don't give up!