Seriously, take the stairs.

I can’t stand this.

Lazy people taking up elevator space.

If you are a person under the age of 80, well bodied, and are not traveling around with a stroller or 5 kids in tow.

YOU SHOULD NOT BE USING THE ELEVATOR!!!

The elevator is not there for people you.

Seriously.

Now I understand the use of an elevator in hotels where you are lugging around luggage, or in buildings with more than two floors.

That is not my problem.

My problem is the mall or establishments that have escalators for people too lazy to walk up the stairs but they still choose free effortless ride.

Escalators were created because we are lazy.

Use that.

Don’t clog up the elevators for people who need them.

It is just irritating.

And we cannot do anything about it, but just know, when I am waiting for the elevator with my infant strapped to my stomach and pushing my toddler around in a stroller and four able-bodied middle-aged people tumble in before me making it difficult for us to fit and there is a perfectly good, working escalator five feet away.

That makes me not like you.

And life is too short not to by liked.

Get off the elevator.

I need to stop eating.

This is a true story.

Pregnancy is over.

The days of stuffing my face in the name of I’m getting “fat” anyways needs to end.

My first pregnancy was good.

I worked out like a freak.

It was summer, I didn’t have any kids yet, and I had all the time in the world.

I would wake up every morning, go to the gym, and then lay my pregnant belly out at the pool.

This pregnancy,

not so much.

It was winter, I had a one year old, I was working, and I ate like it was a hobby.

And it tasted good too, I’m not going to lie, eating everything in sight without abandon is rather scrumptious.

But it needs to end.

Summer is approaching,

And I am bigger than ever before.

I love the pool and I love to play with my kids.

And there is nothing worse than feeling self-conscious.

I need to down-size for my kids.

I owe it to them to be able to play with them without thinking about how big my rear end looks in my swimsuit,

Or how flabby my arms look in a tank top.

I need to have photos of them when they are young and not worry about Victoria (the pet name for my double chin) showing to the world.

So here is the plan…stop eating so much.

I don’t think weight loss is complicated, the concept is easy.

It’s the execution that is tough.

Eat less.

Put down the cookie.

Stop shoveling in mexican food.

And no, you don’t need that candy bar on your way out of the store.

 

Picture from: snspost.com

Super Food Smoothie

I try to drink at least one of these a day, they taste delicious and I know I get tons of good vitamins that the rest of my diet lacks plus some extra protein.  Great for after a workout or for an energizing breakfast.

Ingredients: (If you put these in the blender/Bullet in this order it blends a little easier)

Scoop of Vanilla Whey Protein (I think vanilla is the best in smoothies but I have also used strawberry or chocolate)

1/4 cup frozen strawberrys

1/4 cup frozen blueberrys

1/4 cup frozen rasberrys

HUGE handful of spinach (the more the better and you can’t taste it at all so don’t worry)

1 Tblsp of ground flaxseed (if you have it around)

1/4 Cup of plain greek yogurt

Blend the ingredients together and POOF, instant health-packed snack!  And it tastes good, seriously good, better than anything you could buy in my opinion.

*** Just a note, I don’t typically measure my ingredients.  This is not that serious.  Eyeball them and pop ’em in.  You can also substitute any of the fruit in and out, but I always add a few blueberries no matter what.  They are just too good for me to skip out on them.

187.8

Will I did it, I forced myself onto the scale.

I am heavier than I want to be, it is not a mystery.  But the thing that really gets me is how my body has changed since having Lincoln.

I really haven’t gained a lot of weight since being pregnant, I am maybe 5 to 10 pounds heavier, but my body…

It just looks different.

I am bigger even though I am not heavier.

I am flabbier than I have ever been.

I look in the mirror and I just feel gross.

I have never felt that way about myself before.

The good news is that Isaac put together the treadmill.  I had to work on Monday of this week and did not want Linc to go to daycare because I didn’t want to pay for a whole week of daycare when I was only going to be working one day.  So he was nice enough to take off a day and watch Stinky, and while he was home he put together the treadmill that I had sitting in a HUGE box on my living room floor for a couple of weeks now.

In my defense, I was moving.  It did not make sense to take it out of the box yet.

But…the bank still does not have a clear title on my home, so moving really isn’t in my near future I guess (I still don’t understand how you can legally sell a home you don’t own, but that is a whole other story).

But I came home one Monday, and BAM treadmill in the living room.

I don’ know if this is him being sweet or a really bold hint.

Just kidding, I know it is not a hint.

But that was awesome to come home to.

I feel so relieved that I can workout while Lincoln is napping.  I know I can go on walks with him, and I do.  And I know I can go to the gym, which I don’t because I decided being with him was more important and time is limited when I am working.

So this is perfect.

Lincoln naps, I workout.

I am psyched.

I already feel better about life.  Some of my stress has drifted away.

I can workout again!

Project Slim Down Update

Well…

The treadmill is still in the box, I move in two weeks so that was expected.

But for some reason I keep telling myself that I will start when the treadmill is out, when my life balances out, when all of my stuff isn’t in boxes or all over the floor, when school finally gets out (4 more days!!!).

I mentally can’t get over the craziness of my life right now and start doing what is best for me.

This is a huge mental block I am facing.

Mentally, I don’t feel like I can begin working on my health until I eliminate some of the other stressors in my life right now.

Is this normal?  Am I making excuses for myself?  I just really feel like I can’t handle adding one more thing, but is choosing an apple over a frozen pizza really one more thing?

Why am i so conscientious about what my son eats but I let myself eat crap meal after meal?

I have never been crazy healthy but I have always had a pretty good balance.  But there is not a balance anymore, I fill myself with crap and then feel guilty later.

Ughh, I need to do better.

The treadmill has arrived…operation slim down may commence.

Dear goodness…it is here.

It arrived early this week and a huge box has been sitting in my living room ever since.

My treadmill has arrived.

I ordered it two weeks ago because I was not going to the gym.  I belong to an amazing gym, but I was really having a lot of trouble justifying spending my afternoons in the gym, while Lincoln was in the gym daycare.   That is time I could be spending with my son.

I love him too much to have him in daycare all day, just so that I can get off work, drive 20 minutes, put him in another daycare, workout, pick him up and drive another 20 minutes, just so that I can get home in time to get him ready for bed.

Not okay.

It ended up giving me about an hour a day with my kid or letting him stay up later so that I could be with him.

Neither of these options worked for me, so  I did the only logical thing.  I stopped going to the gym.

Several months ago.

This was absolutely the best decision for me and Lincoln, but not a super great decision for my waistline.

I lost all of my baby weight pretty quickly, but I have some extra pre-baby weight that needs to disappear.

But now that I have stopped going to the gym I have gained a couple pounds on top of that.

Yuck.

Summer is here, I need to do something about this.

Solution: treadmill.

This way I can get my lazy booty on the treadmill after Lincoln has gone to bed.  It works great for both of us.  I can get a workout and still spend all the time with my son that we both need and love.

I just hope I can do it.

It is going to be pretty tough, I am very tired at the end of the day and it is certainly going to take some will-power to get on that machine.

But I can do it.

I am hoping to find some people on the same mission.  Maybe we can help motivate each other.  You in???

My plan is to give Operation Slim Down updates every weekend.

***By the way, my treadmill is going to stay in the box until the end of the month.  I am moving and I think that this will just be easier.  But after that…it is on 🙂