Our Christmas Tree, A Beautiful Fail

This year we faced a dilemma with our Christmas tree.  We have a fake one that looks nice enough, but it was just too big for our little home.  We went to plan B which is to buy a smaller fake tree.  But I got to thinking and thought it was kind of silly to buy a smaller fake tree just to suit a house we will only be in for a few years.  So maybe we should live it up, buy a real tree and let the kids enjoy it for once! 

So this past Monday night for FHE we went Christmas tree shopping.  We picked out the perfect Frazier Christmas tree.  This tree was gorgeous with super soft thistles, and in the lot it looked a decent size.  It wasn't until we got it home that we realized instead of getting a smaller tree, this one is the same size if not bigger!  Even though I don't have the room for this behemoth beauty, you have to admit it sure is pretty...

Bumps in the Road

So...I've hit a bump in my Accountability Project.  I'm getting bored with this diet, and I'm not seeing the results I would like.  Sure I lost those 7 pounds 2 weeks ago, and you the reader know this as day 16, BUT I've been on this diet since November 1st.  Yes, 7 pounds is good, but I tend to have a 10 pound buffer.  I bounce around within 10 pounds, up and down constantly, so unless I get under a certain number I'm not sold on a diet.  I'm not going to post my eating for awhile until I get a new game plan. 

I don't want to totally give up on the Project, I just want to tweak it.  It's already proven effective, but also not so effective.  What I mean is, at the beginning I was very motivated to do this, but after almost 3 weeks I'm not really getting the feedback I was hoping for.  I've had a few people comment, either with tips, advice or encouragement, but it's so sporadic and scarce I feel like this is just glorified food journaling.  I don't feel very accountable.  Maybe I'm doing everything right?  I've had my blood work done, my thyroid is fine, my B12 is good.  The only thing wrong with me is low Vitamin D which is easily corrected with a pill. 

I've gotten in contact with a Dietician and hopefully I'll get put on a more productive diet.  I'm still training for my Half marathon in January, so my workouts will stay the same, but as far as eating goes, I don't have a plan right now.

I'll keep you posted as to what happens in the near future.

Apple Bandit

This is what I found this morning, a brand new bag of apples with at least half of them eaten on.  My kids LOVE fruit, which is a good thing I guess.  It's just that it's a costly one.  It's much better than fighting with them about chips or candy, it also helps that I don't buy that kind of stuff either. 

Have you seen this thing?  Gymnastics Dora, it's all Hannah wants, and this thing is like the Tickle Me Elmo of 2002!  People are already jacking up the price on Amazon, but Theo found it on line at Wal-Mart for a good price.  I told him to get it, get it NOW!  But he started to do something else and I started to drift off to dream land.  Right before succumbing to slumber, I asked if he got it or not.  He said he was and I was out.  The next day he tells me that apparently it went 'Out of Order' as he was trying to buy it!  I was so upset!  I know we have a few weeks, but I'm kind of freaking out.

Accountability Project Day 15:

Pre-Breakfast:
1 cup warm water, lemon and honey
1 cup water with White Flood
Breakfast:
Kefir Smoothie
Lunch:
Apple
Chicken and Cabbage
Monster
Dinner:
Turkey pattie
Fried egg
Stir Fry Veggies 

No workout today, it was a cold and rainy day and I was not in the mood to run 5 miles on a treadmill in the basement.  I can handle the cold, but I can't in good conscience run with the babies in a double jogger in the rain.  Hopefully the weather will change for the better and I don't have to face this slacker-ness attitude on Thursday when I'm suppose to run the other 5 miles.

Reporting Week 2 of the Accountability Project

Well it wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be, but it also wasn't a loss.  I actually gained .8 of a pound. (I have one of those Weight Watchers scales that tells me ounces.)  But I'm back on track today, except for some Hot Chocolate for Family Home Evening.  Other than that I feel really good about my day.  Here's my report:

Pre-Breakfast:
1 cup warm water with lemon and honey
1 cup water with White Flood
Breakfast:
Kefir Smoothie:  1 cup coconut milk, 1 cup Kefir, 1 cup frozen berries blended together
Post Workout:
1 cup coconut milk
1 scoop Whey Protein
Lunch:
Chicken and Cabbage
Monster energy drink, Zero Calorie, Zero Sugar
Snack:
Activia
Dinner:
Flank Steak
Stir Fry Veggies
Dessert:
1 cup Hot Chocolate
1/3 cup mini marshmallows

Workout Routine:
20 minute Interval run
Lower body weights and abs

Hopefully this week will be more productive.

Accountability Project: Day 13

I'm going to list my food and then talk about something in particular, so here goes:

Pre-Breakfast:
1 cup warm water with lemon and honey
1 cup water with White Flood
Breakfast:
Apple
Activia
Lunch:
Mushroom, onion and red pepper omelet with 2 eggs
Post Workout:
1 cup coconut milk
1 scoop Whey protein
Dinner:  Date night with Theo at Applebee's
7 oz. Sirloin steak
Steamed veggies
Herb roasted potatoes
Roy Rogers (my favorite drink, Diet Coke and Grenadine)
Dessert:
Starbucks Gingerbread Hot Chocolate, Venti

Workout Routine:
9.2 mile run

So what I want to address here is my date night.  I don't know if you have noticed something, but in the past 2 weeks of reporting my eating I have not once eaten fast food.  I'm just not a big fast food eater.  I eat what I have at home, and only go out occasionally with my husband.  We do eat out with the kids if we are out and about, but it is rare since feeding a family of 7 fast food is very expensive!  It's just not in my nature to hit up a fast food joint just any time, I guess it's the way I was raised.  Being the 5th child in a family of 9, going out to eat was a special occasion and very rarely done.  Which brings up another point of why I started this "Accountability Project", you see all over the place on the news how obesity is out of hand BECAUSE of fast food.  Well I'm living proof that isn't always the case.  Don't judge the fat person, you don't know what they truly eat.  You've seen what I eat for 2 weeks now, how is that different from a thin persons diet?  What am I doing that's off?

Also I wanted to talk about my habits when I do go out.  Because it is so rare and a treat for me, when I go out I usually indulge.  I just can't think I'm going to go out and get a chicken breast with some broccoli!  Oh no!  I'm going to get something that fulfills that sinful deprived side of me that just wants to eat like a fiend.  But because I don't go out very often I convince myself that it's okay to eat like that, it took me a long time to realize that I didn't need to find the most fattening item on the menu when I went out. Tonight I think I did a good job, I was very conservative, and it sure was good!  I didn't feel deprived at all.

I'm a little nervous about the weigh in tomorrow.  I love 'Biggest Loser' and I know all too well about the 2nd week curse.  If you watch the show you know the contestants always loose real big the first week, then the 2nd it just plateaus.  It also didn't help me that Thanksgiving was this week!  If I maintain, I'll be happy, but I'll be even more happy if there is a loss.  We'll find out tomorrow!  Have a blessed Sunday everyone!

Chicken and Cabbage

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving yesterday, I ate to my hearts content, but didn't over do it.  We spent the day at a friends house eating with her family, and the kids had a blast!  It's so nice being here in NJ I immediately was welcomed here and the friendships that I have made in the few short months feel like they have been life long.  And for that I am extremely Thankful.  I hope everyone else had as good of a celebration as we did.   

I tried to be conservative in the amount of food I ate, I didn't deny myself if I wanted more.  I did go on a 4 mile run to try to off set all the extra calories I knew I was going to be consuming, that way I didn't feel too guilty for eating 2nds of anything.  Regardless of what I think I did right, I'm afraid that the scale won't reflect a negative number this week.  Hopefully it won't be hard to jump back on the diet.  Today was not that day, it was all about the leftovers!  I tried to be good, but there was just too many good leftovers that needed to be eaten.  Luckily we didn't have much left so I won't have to worry about falling off the wagon tomorrow.

This is how I did today:

Pre-Breakfast:
1 cup warm water with lemon and honey
Breakfast:
Apple
Activia
Lunch:
1/2 Sweet Potato casserole
1/2 Green bean casserole
Turkey, no skin
Slice of Cranberry sauce
Layered Pumpkin dessert
Dinner:
Chicken and Cabbage over Mashed Cauliflower
Dessert:
Pumpkin cream cheese pie, that I shared with Theo.
1/2 cup Milk

I love making up my own recipes, tonight I made my Chicken and Cabbage dish that I was influenced by when we went to Hawaii.  Here's the recipe in case you like cabbage as much as I do:

Melt a tablespoon of coconut oil in big pot, I used to use Olive oil, but I love coconut anything and now Costco sells these big tubs of the Organic kind for the same price as a small jar from Wal-Mart!  Bonus!

Tenderize chicken by pounding it out a bit with a mallet.  I used 5 chicken breasts, but I also am feeding a small army.

Chop chicken into bite size pieces and throw in the pot with the melted coconut oil.  Season with salt and pepper.

Once the chicken is cooked, remove to a bowl.

Add 2 cups water.

Add Teriyaki (I don't measure when it comes to cooking, but I would say approximately 1/2 cup - 3/4 cup), and about 1 tsp of ground ginger

I chopped up a whole head of cabbage while the chicken was cooking.

Then add it to the pot with the liquid mixture.

Wilt it down, stirring frequently to distribute the sauce all over the cabbage.

Add the chicken, stir, cover and cook for about 30 minutes.

 I've eaten this over rice usually, but since being on the diet it is awesome over Cauliflower mash.  I just steamed the cauliflower, then added some lite sour cream, salt and pepper.  Then with my hand blender I just puree it all together till it's smooth.  It's sooo good!  I hope you'll try it, and mostly that you will like it.

Ready For Turkey!

Turkey day is almost here, and I am psyched!  We get to enjoy Thanksgiving with friends, and I can't wait to indulge in food and also my blessings.  I've been torn in regards to my diet, one part of me wants to be restrained and eat a scarce share, the other part wants to set up a diving board in my friends dining room and dive head first into pie!  But it is all about appreciating good friends and good food while focusing on the things we are most thankful for.  So I think tomorrow the plan is I am just going to do what feels right and enjoy my day.  I won't be posting my food journal tomorrow, but I will be back on Friday.

In the meantime here is today, Accountability Project Day 10:

Pre-Breakfast:
1 cup warm water, with lemon and honey
1 cup water with White Flood
Breakfast:
Steel Cut Oats with 1/2 cup berries
Activia
Post Workout:
1 cup coconut milk
1 scoop Whey Protein
Lunch:
Grapes
1/2 cup Brown Rice
Ground turkey
Steamed asparagus
Dinner:
Chili
FF Cheese
Lite Cream cheese

Diet soda
Sausage ball (just 1, I had to check for poison...heehee...)

Workout Routine:
20 minute interval run
Upper body weights

Ikner Thanksgiving Thankful Tree

 Tonight we had FHE.  I had seen an idea on Pinterest to make a Thanksgiving thankful tree that they mounted on the wall and added leaves with things the kids were thankful for each day leading up to Thanksgiving.  By the end of the month you would have a tree full of leaves all with things the family says they are thankful for.  It's a great idea, but for someone who is steered by instant gratification that just seemed a little drawn out for me.  Instead I got the idea to do the tree and use everyone's hands as the leaves, the idea is to keep the tree displayed all year round, then next year make a new one and compare to the last years.  Over the years we can see the kids growing through their hand prints.  They loved the idea of tracing, cutting out their hands.  It will be fun to see how big their hands get next year!  Here is what was written on the hands:
Charlotte:  Binky, Special Blanket
Hannah: Friends and Family, Sisters and Brother
Emma: Family, Grandparents
Miriam: Family, Mom and Dad
Tobie: Video games, Legos, Internet, Mom and Dad
Kara: Happy Children, A Wonderful Husband
Theo: Family, Scriptures

Then we ended the night with some hot chocolate with marshmallows.  All in all, a good night with minimal yelling at the kids to be quiet and stop beating each other up. Success!

Accountability Project Day 9:

Pre-Breakfast:
1 cup warm water with lemon and honey
1 cup water with White Flood
Breakfast:
1/2 Grapefruit
Activia
Lunch:
Chicken and Cabbage
Post Workout:
1 cup Coconut milk
1 scoop Whey Protein
Snack:
1/2 Grapefruit
Choffy with Truvia and FF creamer
Dinner:
Taco salad (minus the taco part)
Diet Soda

Workout Routine:
5 mile run

First Week Results are In

I am so excited, I had a VERY successful first week of the Accountability Project.  I woke up yesterday morning, went to the bathroom, weighed myself and I was...

Drum roll please....-7 lbs! 

That's right!  I lost 7 pounds!  Woo-Hoo, go me!  I guess there really is something behind being accountable.  =)

I think I did pretty well yesterday on my day off, I didn't go too crazy.  But it wasn't what I did eat that I thought was horrible, it was what I didn't eat.  I reflected on what I ate last night and realized I hadn't eaten a single veggie all day!  Not even for dinner, since we had a breakfast dinner we had plenty of fruit, but no veggies.  I like vegetables, but I've learned about myself that I don't like vegetables raw and cooking them can be a little time consuming.  I would rather reach for the easy stuff in the pantry than wash, cut and cook a bunch of veggies.  That's what I like about this diet, it makes me be more aware of how much veggies I consume.  I was actually happy to get back to my routine today!

Accountability Project Day 8:

Pre-Breakfast:
1 cup warm water, lemon and honey
1 cup water with White Flood
Breakfast:
Apple
Activia
Lunch:
Sauteed mushroom, onion, red pepper 2 egg omelet with salsa
Diet Soda
Snack:
Kefir smoothie with frozen berries and coconut milk
Dinner:
Carrots
Pizza, supreme pizza with mushroom, onions, red bell pepper, turkey pepperoni topped on a gluten free crust

That's it for me today, no workout routine unfortunately.  I was up until 2 a.m. with a sick baby, and then spent all morning at the doctor's office and getting medicine.  I was pooped by mid afternoon and ended up cat napping on the couch snuggling Hannah while she was watching movies. Hopefully tonight I can get a full nights sleep and be ready to workout in the morning.  I just hope my baby is feeling up to it.  If not, it's always good to have a treadmill, I just wish treadmills had a down hill setting. =)

Accountability Project First Weeks End

Tonight ends the first week of my Accountability Project. I think it was pretty successful, and I'm pretty proud of my ability to stick with this.  And all because I have to post it on here.  Tomorrow is the day to see if it worked on the scales.  As soon as I wake up I will weigh myself and then on Monday I will let you know if I lost, gained or stayed the same.  I seriously hope it's good news.

Tomorrow is also my day off, and I ain't going to lie, I am really fighting the urge to just pig out!  I don't think I will only because Thanksgiving is on Thursday and I plan to celebrate, if you get what I mean.  So here is today's report:

Accountability Project Day 6:

Pre-Breakfast:
1 cup warm water, lemon and honey
1 cup water with White Flood
Breakfast:
Mandarin orange cup
Activia
Post-workout:
2 cups Coconut milk
2 scoops Whey Protein
Lunch:
Mushroom, onion and red pepper omelet with salsa
Snack:
Chicken Lettuce Wrap (leftovers from dinner last night)
Dinner:
Turkey Pattie
Sauteed carrots and asparagus
Diet Soda

Workout Routine:
9 mile run

I'm still feeling hungry right now, and my sweet tooth is starting to get a bit out of control, but hopefully after tomorrow I won't feel too deprived.

Tune in Monday to find out my progress!  Also, if you would please "Follow" my blog, just go to the bottom right side where it says "Followers" and click 'Join this site'!  It's super easy this way it will notify you when I make a new posting!  If you want I also reciprocate and will follow others, just shoot me a comment. :)

My Favorite One

Oh my gosh...what a rush!  So awesome!  I won't go into much detail because I don't want to give anything away, but seriously, this is by far the BEST one!  This one is a far cry from the first movie, which I couldn't get over how horrible it was HERE.  How far we have come, LOL!  I hope to see it again in the movie theaters before it goes to Blu-Ray just to get the reaction from the audience again.
I highly recommend it.

It has been really hard for me to stick with the diet today.  I get this mentality that the weekend is here and therefore it's like a mini vacation and I want to just eat everything!  I am battling a major sweet tooth right now.  Although that may have something to do with the Pumpkin Pie I had in Miriam's 2nd grade classroom.  They did a Thanksgiving party today, and the teacher had the students serve their parents first and I would have felt really awkward turning it down.  Plus, I don't think life is about deprivation ALL the time.  I just wanted to start this project to see if I can find a happy medium, losing the weight but still enjoying good food.  So here is today's report:

Pre-Breakfast:
1 cup warm water, lemon juice and honey
1/2 grapefruit with 1 packet Truvia
Activia
1 cup water with White Flood energy powder (no calorie)
School snack:
Slice of Pumpkin pie
Lunch:
Salad with salmon
FF dressing
Grapes
Snack:
Choffy with 1 packet Truvia and FF creamer
Dinner:
Chicken lettuce wraps - sauteed mushrooms, onions, red bell pepper and garlic in Coconut Oil, add canned chicken and salsa.  Top onto Romaine lettuce leaves, add Light Sour Cream and RF cheese.  Eat like a taco.  Super delicious!

Workout Routine:
Upper body weights

I actually feel like I didn't eat enough today.  I need to do better with my snacks.  Any suggestions on some high protein snacks, maybe with a little bit of probiotics thrown in?  I'm suppose to have 2 servings of probiotics, and I'm finding it hard to get that second one in.  Or just any other kind of healthy snack suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Day 4 and Running

I have to post this earlier than I usually do, because tonight I'm going to see the last Twilight Movie!  I can't wait to see it, but as always I'm apprehensive as to how good it is.  Let's hope it's a good one!

Today I'm not feeling so hot, I got a flu shot on Tuesday and I woke up this morning with my arm throbbing and I have been achy all day.  I'm not expecting to get full blown flu, but today hasn't been very fun.  That didn't stop me from getting my run in this morning.  Actually I didn't start feeling like crap until this afternoon.

This morning, other than my arm I was feeling okay, so I got out there with my double jogger and did 5.5 miles.  It's funny how so many people think it is crazy to run even if I tell them I ran a couple of miles.  They all say the same thing, "Oh, I could never do that!".  But what's funny is that I used to be like that.  If you knew me in High School you would know that I was just a Chorus nerd who used to tell people it was against my religion to run.  I absolutely hated the idea of running, not that I had given it a try, I had already made up my mind that I hated.  Although internally I used to dream that I was this amazing athlete who was too afraid of failure to give any kind of sports a try. 

That all changed when I married Theo, who was way into fitness.  He still struggles with weight management like I do, but the difference is that he wasn't afraid to get out there and pound the pavement, or go to a gym to pump some iron.  I would tag along with him and he showed me the ropes.  My love for weight training began to develop, but I still had a hard time getting out there and running.  Until my Dad introduced us to a program called Body For Life.  The food was decent, (and you were allowed a free day to pig out) and the weights was easy enough, but it wasn't until I did this cardio program did I really begin my passion for running.  Here's the concept, you don't have to do a ton of cardio to burn calories, if you practice interval training you burn the same amount of calories, if not more, in less amount of time.  My cardio days were only 20 minutes, that's it.  And I started off slow, and I mean s...l....o....w.  Here is the breakdown:

Minute                  Speed
1                            3.0
2                            3.0
3                            3.5
4                            4.0
5                            4.5
6                            5.0
7                            3.5
8                            4.0
9                            4.5
10                          5.0
11                          3.5
12                          4.0
13                          4.5
14                          5.0
15                          3.5
16                          4.0
17                          4.5
18                          5.0
19                          5.5
20                          2.5

Obviously I did this on a treadmill so I could keep track of the exact speed.  I couldn't believe how quickly I advanced in speed.  Soon my speed wasn't even making me winded.  Now my top speed is 6.5 with a constant incline of a 2 on my treadmill, and it makes a world of difference in my running.  I can tell it has really been helpful in my training as I am trying to get faster and go longer.  So my advice to anyone wanting to run, or those who think they can't do it, just start small and build on that, and before you know it you'll be running for miles and miles!

Here is my report for Day 4 of the Accountability Project:

Pre-Breakfast:
1 cup warm water with lemon and honey
Breakfast:
Apple
Activia
Post-Workout:
1 cup Coconut Milk
1 scoop Chocolate Whey Protein
Lunch:
1/2 grapefruit
Salad
2 boiled eggs
Chicken
Low Fat Dressing
Snack:
Diet Soda
1/4 piece of Turkey Bacon (doesn't that sound silly!  I was at Costco and it was from those food peddlers.  I passed up a Cream Puff!)
Dried Coconut pieces
Dinner:
Salmon
Stir fry veggies

Workout Routine:
5.5 mile run

I think that is going to be it, I don't plan on eating anything else, but I guess if I do I'll add it on to tomorrow's report. 

Accountability Project

I gave my little experiment a name, the Accountability Project.  It seems pretty obvious, I don't know why it took me 3 days to come up with the idea. 

Can I say that this actually feels like it is impacting me in a positive way?  A friend of mine offered me some kind of brownie brittle, which sounds awesome, but I declined because I didn't want to have to admit it to everyone on my blog that I ate it.  Then when I got home I was faced with doing my workout in the afternoon or taking a nap.  Hannah has Joy School on Monday and Wednesday and I keep trying to motivate myself to workout in the afternoon, but usually I end up snuggling with Hannah and taking a power nap as she watches t.v.  Charlotte still naps in her crib, so it's precious time that I always aggrandize that I'm going to get so much done.  But I usually always end up taking a quick nap, today though I had to get on the treadmill because I knew I was going to have to report.  I always feel better after a workout, but this project was more motivation for me to get down there and get it done.  I guess there is something to this accountability stuff after all.

Here is my 3rd day:

Pre-Breakfast:
1 cup warm water with lemon and honey
 Monster Calorie and Sugar Free
Breakfast:
Apple
Activia
Lunch:
WW Vegetable Soup
Post Workout:
1/2 cup Coconut milk
1/2 cup water
1 scoop Whey protein powder
Snack:
Diet Soda
Dinner:
Rotisserie Chicken - no skin
Salad with low fat dressing
Marinated Mushrooms, olives, garlic and Mozzarella balls
Dessert:
Choffy with FF Coffee creamer

I am aware that Diet Soda isn't a very filling snack, we are low on food, but tomorrow is my shopping day so I plan on loading up on more healthy snacks.

Workout Routine:
20 minute interval run
Lower Body weights

That's my day.

Hydration Situation

Day 2:

Pre-Breakfast:
1 cup warm water
Lemon juice
Honey
Breakfast:
Apple
Activia
Lunch:
Turkey pattie
Mashed Cauliflower
2 Fried Eggs
Grapes
Snack:
1/2 cup Kefir
1/2 cup Coconut Milk
Dinner:
Chicken and stir fry veggies with Lite Soy Sauce

So, that's my day.  I didn't run today, I had two long runs pretty close together and I could feel some uncomfortable tightening in my neck and right hamstring the last time I ran.  So today was a recovery day.

I promised to talk about my hydration situation.  I used to worry that I wasn't hydrated enough, but looking into research as to how to tell if you are hydrated or not is as simple as looking in the toilet.  Yes, I'm going there....depending on the color of your urine will easily tell you if you are skimping in the liquids department.  The darker yellow hue it is, the more dehydrated you are.  The lighter in color, you guessed it!  The more hydrated you are.  A pale lemonade color is just right, but mine is more on the crystal springs color.  I could sell mine to Evian it's so clear!  Which brings up another point, did you know you could be over-hydrated?  I just read about it in Runner's World, and it's pretty dangerous stuff.  So I don't feel like I need to up my liquids. 

Plus, I don't think I could handle going to the bathroom more than I do now.  It's border line ridiculous, I have actually contemplated adult diapers.  Just ask my sister, we would go out somewhere and I would pee before we left, pee at least 2 times at the store and then have to pee by the time we got home.  It's very inconvenient.

That is where I stand, I know it was more than you were expecting or even wanted, but I told you I wasn't going to hide anything.  I bet now you are going to start inspecting the toilet every time you go.  Well at least you will be aware of your hydration level, and knowing is half the battle.

Snow and a Report

 Wednesday to much of our surprise it began to snow!  Theo didn't think it would stick, but by the end of the day it was starting to look like a Winter Wonderland.  That night I had to take Tobie and Miriam to their piano lesson, a little over 10 minutes away.  The lesson was under 2 hours, but when we left that night the place was completely covered!  I had to scrap snow off my windshield so I could see, and the tires were having a hard time gripping the road.  I got really nervous and saw cars in the ditch, or some that had just slid over to the other side of the road.  I took it super slow, and thankfully made it home...it may have taken 30 minutes, but at least we were all safe!  That was probably the scariest drive I have ever been a part in.

 By morning, the ground had already warmed most of the snow so there wasn't any difficulty in Theo getting out in the morning to work.  Although I was hoping for a bit more just so we could snuggle a little longer, sorry for the TMI. ;)

 The girls were out the door, dressed by 8:30.  They were so stoked to build their snowmen they didn't bother sleeping in on a day that they didn't have to go to school!

 This is Charlotte's first experience with snow, and she loved it!  She was all over the place, but when she discovered the snow melted water puddles and started digging in them with her bare hands, I decided it was time for her to come inside.

 Miriam's snowman creation.

 Emma's snowman creation.

Hannah was the warmest of them all.  She was all decked out in the left over winter clothes we have accumulated from our winters at Lake Tahoe.

 Charlotte looking idly on from the front window, while her sisters use her for snowball practice.

 Isn't she just too cute!  We keep being told this was a complete fluke that it was snowing and that this NEVER happens, but other than the car ride of death I was so happy we got to experience this!

******************************************************************************

Ok, so here is my first report of what I ate today and my exercise routine:

Pre-breakfast:

1 cup warm water, with lemon juice and 1 tbsp. honey

1 cup water with White Flood energy powder

Breakfast:

Apple

Activia

Post-Workout:

1 cup coconut milk with 1 scoop Whey protein

Lunch:

Weight Watchers Vegetable Soup

Grapes

Diet Soda

Snack:

1/2 cup Kefir mixed with 1 cup Coconut Milk

Dinner:

Baked asparagus with a little olive oil, salt and pepper

Turkey pattie

Mashed cauliflower with light sour cream

Sauteed mushrooms and onions in coconut oil

Workout:

6 mile run, then upper body workout

So that's it.  I didn't include my water intake, but I did drink at least 7 cups worth of water today.  I know I'm hydrated, so drinking enough water is not an issue for me.  Maybe I'll have to write a post about my hydration situation (did you like that? heehee...) tomorrow.  In fact, that is going to be the post title!  Hydration Situation....okay, back to this post.  Tell me what you think, what can I tweak, but be gentle with me. :)  I think I did really good, but I'm always on my game on Monday, it's just when I get further on in the week you may see my menu tend to wane.

Also, I think I need a name for this experiment.  I got nothing, any ideas? 

Accountability

I don't usually post on Sundays, but I'm going to try something new, a project or experiment, whatever you want to call it.  If you are a follower of my blog you know of my struggle with weight.  I have tried all kinds of diets, Weight Watchers, South Beach, Body for Life, 40-30-30, Low Carb, Clean Eating, Counting Calories, and have yet to find that winning diet that helps me loose the fat.  I don't consider myself a yo-yo dieter, maybe a pinball dieter, I bounce from one to the other if I don't see results fast enough.  But not only am I dieting I am training for my 3rd Half Marathon that will be in January.  I injured my foot at the last one and I'm afraid it was because of my weight.  I have been determined to loose the weight before the one in January but it just isn't happening.  I'm on day 11 of the 17 Day Diet and I haven't lost any significant weight.  I'm running on average 20 miles per week, so I'm not just depending on the food for weight loss.

So I'm trying a different approach, one I learned in Weight Watchers.  This isn't their quote, but they had this idea:  "Where there is no accountability, there is no progress.".  That's what the meetings were for, being held accountable.

But I don't want to pay for meetings, or a gym membership.  Instead I'm taking my journey to a more public arena...my blog.

I've heard that you should keep a food journal, I have two notebooks, one that is full, of food journaling and now I am going to journal it here.  I'm going to post on line what I eat every day along with my workout.  I'm hoping that by posting it here for everyone to see, nothing to hide I will be held more accountable and I will be able to better commit to better eating habits.  I also welcome any criticism as to what I am doing wrong so I can change it.

I have contemplated doing this before, but always chickened out.  Now I'm really ready to commit to this.  It's like a light bulb went off in my head, before I couldn't get over the thought that it isn't fair that there is so much good food out there and I can't eat it.  I felt like I was missing out on the good stuff.  Now I feel like life is too short to live it always unhappy with my appearance.  I'm ready for my appearance to reflect my hard work.  My friend Lainie would say, "nothing tastes as good as skinny feels.".  I'm ready to feel that way.  Starting tomorrow I will start posting.  I will still take Sundays off, which is also my weigh in day.  On Monday I will report as to whether there has been a loss or gain, but I'm not confident enough to let you know my actual weight.  And I'm not going to post any pictures of me in my underwear....you're welcome. 

I'm excited and apprehensive at the same time, wish me luck!

Theo's 35!!! And a Halloween Parade

 Hurricane Sandy couldn't hold back his birthday boy from celebrating his 35th birthday!  He requested another cookie cake, I guess I did something right last year!  I made it another Double Dozie cake, but this time instead of my vanilla buttercream Theo asked for cream cheese icing.  So sandwiched in the middle is cream cheese icing.  I kept it simple decoration wise, but I had never done a pumpkin so at least it wasn't a repeat.  Singing Happy Birthday above.

 Theo cashed in this year!  I got him a 3DS XL with 3 3D games.  They had a sell at Target where you buy 2 and you get the 3rd one free, sounded like a deal to me!  I also got him a case to protect it with, but if that didn't work I also bought insurance.  With 5 kids who LOVE electronics it's important to have insurance.  We try so hard to keep the electronics away from them or hidden, but they can sniff them out like hound dogs!  This way with insurance, better to be safe than sorry.

While I was wrapping Theo's presents Miriam started to complain, "How come Daddy gets so many presents?" to which I replied, "Because Daddy is a hard working man who deserves this...also this is his money, so....".  LOL!

 All the while we were opening presents and I was busy taking pictures Charlotte was taking advantage of our misguided attention and was going to town in the cake before I was able to cut it up.  This is her "I just got caught!" look!

 Today the kids had their Halloween parade.  Because of Hurricane Sandy everything was postponed, even a major holiday.  We still haven't gone Trick-or-Treating, hopefully it will happen this Monday, but today as the parade at school and their class parties.  It was FREEZING!  And my girls would NOT let me dress them warmly.  With the exception of the tights, Miriam and Emma wouldn't allow me to put long sleeve shirts under their costumes.  Miriam actually started crying this morning when I tried to put a long sleeve shirt on her.  They won out and I didn't force it.  To tell you the truth I don't even think they noticed the cold.  I don't know how I did it, but my southern babies are built for cold weather.  We've been hearing that this winter is suppose to be pretty bad, so I guess that is going to come in handy!

 Tobie is Harry Potter this year.  He really does resemble Daniel Radcliff a bit.

 Emma is some kind of Mermaid Princess, not to be confused with Ariel!  She will set you straight if you try to call her Ariel.  Apparently they had a buddy system and she was paired up with Superman there and I thought it was hilarious she was holding his wrist, not his hand and was practically pulling him along.

Hannah and Charlotte, freezing but they loved the parade.  Happy Halloween Y'all!