Hopeful

I just wanted to poke my head in real quick to give a quick update of things going on in the Brown life.

I'm feeling like I've got a good grip on controlling my weight. I, in no way, feel like I am on a diet and I'm still dropping (ever so slowly, but I am dropping). I've been focusing on not eating past 7 PM lately and it seems to be my secret weapon. I'm weighing around 166-167 these days and it ain't too shabby. I'm happy with how I look, but not content. I have lots of toning to do and I think 150-155 will be an attainable and healthy goal weight.

In other news, what I am REALLY excited to be blogging about is that we may be purchasing our first house. I am beyond excited about this. I've been scared to get my hopes up about it. We are by no means, "well off", and I don't think I would be surprising anyone by saying that. With a husband in the ministry and me being a SAHM we aren't expecting to be rolling in the dough. However, we have paid off LOTS of debt and are debt free besides a small car loan and student loans (EEEK!) I started researching about home loans and came across something called a Rural Housing Mortgage, a government incentive for low to moderate income families to be able to get out of the rental cycle and occupy farmland. This requires no downpayment. YEAY! I really began to have hope that this was going to work out. I was getting so anxious about our plans for our future and then I was reminded that it didn't even matter what OUR plans were anyways, so why be anxious? I know God must laugh at me sometimes because time after time I fail Him by trusting in my own plans. He's surprised me with who He picked for my husband, where we live, LUCY!!! none of these were exactly how I imagined them. Silly Me. I've always been a dreamer and sometimes forget that, while those dreams and nice and okay, I am NOT in control. God is. And so Sunday, all day, God blessed with this scripture. It kept popping in my head all day.

"For I know the plans that I have for you declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope" Jeremiah 29:11
(KJV says "Thoughts I think towards you")

So, I really tried not to get so anxious. God has a plan for me, for Thom, for Lucy, for us. And if it's this house, we are excited, and if it's not this house, well okay-I'll be honest I'll be a little sad. But, it's all small in comparison to God. Just like the story of the fiery furnace (my fave by the way-always has been) Ol' Shed, Rad, and Abed. told Neb that they believe God would save them but even if He didn't He was still worthy of their worship.

It's all a lesson. And it's all another opportunity to live out the purpose of this life, to glorify God. So for all of this I am hopeful. Hopeful because that no matter where I live, no matter where Thom is serving, no matter what surprise is thrown at me- I STILL have a God that loves me, cares for me and has plans for me. And isn't that a great thing!? (:

past due...

It's hard to believe that it has been almost two months since I posted last. Time has been flying lately! Lucy's first birthday is quickly approaching and so are my new semester of classes. Starting October 25 I will be taking 12 hrs. in 8 weeks. Ambitious? Yes. But, I'm so sick of school. I'm ready to be done. Thom and I have been talking about what's next. And we've come to conclusion that I'll probably work atleast part time once I graduate until we are ready for Baby Brown #2. We are desperate to get out of our current house and it's probably going to take me having a job to get us there comfortably.

Not too much has been happening weight wise. I'm hovering around 168-170. I've had a sinus infection and a stomach virus within the past two weeks and haven't really made much time for exercise. I'm kind of comfortable where I'm at. I certainly want to lose more but, I'm having trouble being all gung-ho about it. It's getting cooler outside which means I want to spend more time indoors wearing my red sweat pants, baking, and sipping hot chocolate and cuddling with Lucy. I used to use her naptimes as a chance to exercise but, lately I've just been wanting to cuddle and nap with her. I guess I'm getting sentimental with her first birthday coming up and all. Time goes by too fast. I believe I'm healthy and I do exercise, I just have been skipping my 1 1/2 hour walks.
I've been reminding myself of a quote that Miriam put up over at "My Country Cupboard".
"...so quiet down cobwebs and dust go to sleep.
I'm rocking my baby, and babies don't keep."
Needless to say, I haven't been too hard on myself for cherishing sweet moments with my goose. But I do need to get back in the swing of things. Particularly exercising, since it will help counteract the season of pumpkin pie! YUM!

175!!

As you can tell from the title of this post- I did it! Yeay! Today I weigh 175 lbs.
This is pretty significant.
A. I've lost 10 pounds since starting this blog
B. I've now lost 75 lbs. since November 5, 2009 (The day I went into the hospital to have Lucy)

75 pounds! You mean I used to be lugging around an elementary school kid with me!? No wonder I feel so much better now (:

I have a small tip to offer anyone watching their budget and waistline.
Thom and I LOVE to go through the drive-thru. Especially after a busy day or while we drive around so we can talk. As we all know, drive-thru adds up FAST! It gets expensive and contains loads of fat. So, we've really dove into Dave Ramsey lately. If you don't know Dave Ramsey, you should. He offers practical financial advice for any family, even if you aren't having any financial trouble. We've set the budget, and it doesn't really include money for fast food. BUT we've been saving our change. And we can use that change (and only change) to get fast food. This limits how much you spend (Because who really wants to pay over $3 in change) and in turn, limits how much you get and eat. It's really working for us. Our cravings are satisfied without blowing a healthy diet and we aren't killing our budget.

Just wanted to offer that small tip that's really been working for us.
Happy Weekend!

177.2

I'm down another half pound! Yeay! I wish I could elaborate more but...no time. Statistics, remember?

UPDATE UPDATE...READ ALL ABOUT IT!

Current Weight : 177.8 lbs

Yahoo! So, I haven't totally fallen off the wagon. I still lost a little bit while not really even trying. Hopefully this is just a great sign that I have made somewhat of a lifestyle change.

I will give 1 small person credit for keeping me on my toes. Ms. Lucy ( Miss 9 month old Lucy) has been keeping me very busy these days. She is on the move people. In a big, big way. And, it's keeping me on the move too.

I have more to update but, remember how I told you about that statistics class kicking my heiney? Well, it still is. Off to work I go!

getting back on track

It's been a busy month. Between a week at my parents, VBS, one week to recover then another week at my parents, I've found zero time to blog. I also have a statistics class that is kicking my heiney right now. Honestly, it's been necessary for me to take time off from the computer. I've really only been using it for homework.

I'm ready to get back on track with updating. This is important and I want to reach my goal of 160 lbs. by November 6. That is Lucy's birthday (and only a little over three months away) Did I just say that my daughter is only three months away from being a year old!?
If you don't feel like doing the math, I have 18 lbs. to go. That is 6 lbs a month. I can do it!

My weight isn't the only thing I'm trying to trim. Thom and I are ready to trim our budget. Here we come envelope system! We plan on not going out to eat (except for a couple dates). I'll be trying out new recipies from a new freezer cookbook I bought. I'm pretty excited about trying out freezer cooking. It's so much cheaper eating at home and so much healthier!

I've decided that during these few months of budget crunching I should just stay out of stores as much as possible. Particularly Walmart. I will grocery shop at Kroger. If I have to go to Walmart I will have a list of what I need and not depart from it. Walmart really gets me into trouble. I can go to Hobby Lobby and window shop for hours and be perfectly content. The second I step into Walmart I start shoving things in the cart. eek!

So, there is my rant. Next week it is on. Like Donkey Kong! Ha!
Although this all isn't directly related to weight, I feel that it is all connected. It's all about self-control, prioritizing and realizing what is REALLY important.

Should've known better....

This week's weigh-in : 179 lbs.

So I finally dropped that .4 that's been hanging around. I was happy about that! Turbo Jam 20 minute workout is AWESOME!

I was SO tired yesterday. I woke up, got TONS of things done around the house, bathed Lucy and all that, and made some cookies to take with us on vacation. Lucy decided to take a nap so I layed down with her. I couldn't rest at all...don't you hate in when you lay down and your mind starts racing and your body feels totally uncomfortable laying down? So, I got up and you know those cookies I said I had made....well, I ate them. About 6 in 30 seconds. I wish I were kidding. I don't know what it was... I just wasn't thinking and then once I did think about it I couldn't stop myself. I do have to say that the were chocolate cookies with chocolate chunks and they were delicious but still! I was disgusted afterwards. And my tummy hurts this morning. I tend to make bad food decisions when I'm tired.
And, I told myself not to make cookies! It starts with, "I'm just going to test one to see how they are" then it's, "Well that one looks kind of weird"....then you "accidentally" break one just so you can eat it and it goes on and on and on. Note to self: Make cakes. You can't dig into them until you get where you are going and they are other people around to help eat it.

Good thing I weighed in before that! I'm going to try and squeeze in an extra workout today to help control my cookie extravaganza. Plus, I'll be busy packing all day. Hopefully I'll just stay busy on vacation and not think about food too much.

I got a feeling (woo hoo) that this week's gonna be a hard week
that this week's gonna be a hard hard week

Weight Wise that is....

staying the same...

179.4 LBS

Stayed the same this past Friday. The week was a crazy mess and I was surprised I didn't gain! Thom got very sick and we stayed at his parents house most of the week. I didn't have to cook at all (Yay!) but I also didn't get to pick what I ate. So, Yay for maintaining!

I'm back to exercising this week. Still LOVING Turbo Jam! The 20 minute workout is awesome! It goes by so fast and I feel like I get a great workout in for just 20 minutes. I wake up and do it first thing, before the rest of the day can get to me. I have to say I'm loving this habit and hope I keep it up.

Next week is our vacation with the in-laws. We plan on spending a lot of time at the pool and shopping on the strip so hopefully this will keep this pounds from creeping up. But, I'll be honest ya'll...I'm not going to be watching it too much. It IS vacation.

I'm also looking forward to some of my momma's cooking next week! It's going to take a lot of will power to not eat everything in sight. My goal is just to continue exercising...because who can so "no" to some hot fudge sauce??

Happy Losing!

Breakin' it down!

I broke the 180's! I LOVE to say goodbye to a "group". I feel so accomplished and then vow to not step back to that number group again. It feels sooooo good.

This Friday's weigh-in - 179.4
the scale actually said 178.2 a couple times...but I'll go ahead and take the high road. Don't you hate it when your scale messes with you like that?

Today, I was going through some clothes for the yard sale coming up. I took a glance at jeans that I am now 2 sizes too small for now :) and felt so proud of how far I've come. I've been going at this whole weight loss journey since December. I haven't done anything drastic. I've cut down on portions ( most of the time) and tried to fit in exercise. This is by far the longest I've ever worked at losing weight and I'll just say it - I'm proud of myself!

Yesterday, we stopped in at a Chinese restaurant for some lunch and I just happened to notice a mother and daughter eating close by us. Since I've had Lucy I've been very concerned with being an example for her. Kids learn so much from us and I think it also a parents responsibility to show their child how to care for their bodies. Not that I was sitting there judging this mother but, it was obvious that both mother and daughter were very overweight. I then noticed that between the both of them they had 4 plates of food and both left anything that resembled a veggie on their plate. This reminded me of why I'm doing this. I don't eat perfect all the time and I don't exercise all the time. However, my goal is to eat right and exercise most of the time so that sometimes we can have sundae parties and pizza for supper. It's nice to look better in my clothes and not feel like a hippo everytime I leave the house. But, it's even better that I have much more energy to play with my little sweetie.

That's all I have for now. I've been keeping up with Turbo Jam and so far- I am loving it. Just the 20 minute workout leaves me soaked! I haven't done all of the workouts yet so, I'll save the review for when I can review all of it.

Toodles!

Up...but not down (Better late than never)

So...I was positive I had already posted this. I guess not.

Friday's Weigh in : 180.6 lbs.

So I'm up...but only by .6. I really wasn't too dissapointed about it. It was a week full of memorial day parties and I had way more hot dogs than any one person should pack in during a week. I really should've gained more but, I'm going to thank breastfeeding for that! I'm positive that BF'ding is the key to my success. I think more people would nurse if they realized the calorie burn!

I've worked out some this week so, I'm not dreading the weigh-in this week. Hopefully I'll be down and can break the 180's!

Deep Cleaning

I'd hope to start exercising regularly this week. I bought a turbo jam workout dvd a while back and have really been looking forward to starting it but, this stuffy head, cough and tummy troubles are keeping on. We have been so busy traveling this month that I haven't had time to really clean my house. So, this week, I kept myself busy and active by deep cleaning a couple rooms of the house. I mopped the floors and wash the walls and baseboards in the kitchen and bathroom. I also worked outside and push mowed half of the yard. So, while I haven't exactly been exercising I have been moving! With that being said, at this mornings weigh-in I weighed :
180 lbs.!

This week I'm going to focus on making time for exercise. My goal is to do at least 20 minutes of the Turbo Jam workout at least 5 days this week. I need to get back into exercising. I realize that if I'm going to lose (or even maintain) this weight I'm going to have to exercise because, let's face it, I can get a little out of hand when it comes to food sometimes and it's great to get that workout in to burn off some of those extra calories!

Speaking of extra calories, it's Memorial Day weekend. Thom, Lucy and I made a quick run to Wal-Mart today and it was nuts. Everywhere you looked there were under-dressed people pushing a cart filled with meats, buns and bathing suits. We always seem to pick the worse time to go there. But, I did find some 100 SPF sunscreen ( baby kind for Lucy and some for my little Irish-man).

I'm hoping to post my pics sometime this coming week and I may even post a review of the Turbo Jam workout! Have a good Memorial Day weekend!

Week One

Current Weight : 182 lbs
Total Weight loss (Since starting this challenge) : 3 lbs

I expected to gain about 3 pounds this week. It was stressful, and we were traveling which means lots of eating out. I did manage to eat more than my fair share of cake, sonic and Mexican food (YUM!) and then, I got sick. It started out as a stuffy nose, then a cough, then a sore throat and now I barely have a voice and can't keep anything in. (Gross, I know)

I really wanted to start exercising again this week. Hopefully by Monday I'll be feeling much better.

I still haven't taken any before pictures. I'm dreading it, and I didn't really think about it until now. Just be preparing yourself for some saggy arms, and a jiggly belly covered in stretch marks :l

And the race is on.....

My starting weight : 185 lbs.

I am not sure what I want my goal weight to be. My short term goal is 170. That is the smallest I've been in my adult life and, to be honest, I liked how I looked at that weight. It also puts me at a healthy BMI. I'll evaluate once I reach my short term goal, and see how much more I'd like to lose.

I still plan to weigh in on Friday morning (If we are back home by then) and post some "before" pics. This week will be tough. We are down with my family and I tend to eat MUCH more in social situations. But, that's life. And, I need to learn how to control [my killer instincs?] HA!
I have great intentions. I even packed fresh fruit (pineapple, cantelope and blackberries) in a cooler to bring down with us. However, there is an awesome Mexican restaurant and a Pizza Hut (complete with a Wing Street) calling my name. My parents house is also home to about 3 different kinds of cake right now...that's going to help a lot.

My mini goal this week is to control my portions. My problem is not that I eat a brownie. It's that I eat 2 brownies, then talk about how awesome they are as I grab another. Then I go sneak into the kitchen while I eat the next one because 4 is just WAY too many. By then I'm addicted and I just talk about how I'm a pig and I need to stop eating this way. Honestly, it makes me mad to say this. Why do I let food get me like that. I know I shouldn't be doing it, but I do it anyway; and really that's not how I should be living. So, this week I'm focusing on just stopping and giving myself time to really think about what I'm eating, Instead of cramming six brownies into my mouth then complaining about my wide hips and flabby arms.

Well, that's all I have for tonight. I'll be back friday with some pics (that I know you are just dying to see!) and a weight update!