For Real This Time... I Hope

Sunday night I finally packed away my maternity clothes. They've become too convenient to wear. There's a reason we don't wear stretchy pants all the time :)





Notice the nice organized and fancy label :) Anyway... Tuesday was my first official day back on my diet. Stepping on the scale Tuesday morning was not pretty but I guess you have to start somewhere. I signed up for Weight Watchers online to help in the process. I love going to meetings but can't get to any right now with Marshall. I need to lose around 75 - 80lbs in order to get into a healthy weight range. I'm going to try and approach this by targeting some mini goals rather than the final goal. My first mini goal is to lose the first 5% of my weight. My weigh in day is Tuesday so I'll post my progress in my Tuesday posts whenever possible.

Beginning Stats
Goal 1: 0/13.8 lbs
Total Lost: 0/84 lbs

Now about that exercise thing. I tried to do my WII yesterday but my precious little bundle of joy would not stay asleep for more than 20 minutes at a time. So, I've order a couple DVDs that incorporate baby into the workouts. I figure using my 12 lb little boy as a weight should help a little :)

Speaking of my little chunk...





~AKO

A Look Back on the Holidays

When I logged into Blogger today I noticed that this is my 100th post! When I started this blog last year I really didn't know what I wanted to do with it. I still really don't. I just play it by ear each time I sit down to write a post. I never imagined I would still be blogging after 100 posts. Yay me!

I have a few pictures to share from our trip to Michigan over the Christmas holidays to visit my family that I've finally gotten a chance to upload. We were planning on returning to New Jersey on Sunday, but due to the storm that buried the East Coast, we didn't leave until Tuesday. Marshall's schedule was all out of whack from being on vacation so we were up most of the night Tuesday night and didn't get too much done on Wednesday as planned.

We decided to drive so we had our little Focus jam packed full of stuff to make sure we had enough supplies for Marshall. In the end I think I overpacked but I figured it was better to have too much than not enough.





We weren't home for 24 hours before the spoiling of the baby began. Marshall didn't spend too much time out of Grandma Marshall's arms.





I had just missed the smile in this photo. Marshall has been smiling a lot lately in response to people talking to him. He especially smiles a lot after he's been changed. I guess he enjoys being in a clean diaper :)





Marshall also met his Grandpa Marshall for the first time. In addition, I also met my new Step-Brother and Step-Sister for the first time since my dad's marriage to his girlfriend, Sue, in October. Unfortunately I wasn't able to make the wedding since I was getting close to my due date.





My brother and sister-in-law's first Christmas in their new home.





And what would Christmas be without...





Super Mario Brothers!! And yes, that is my sister playing Mario while holding the baby.





Still on the quest for the smile shot. I was very close with this one!





And this was one of my favorite shots of the week...





All in all a pretty good Christmas this year. I'm pretty excited for next year when Marshall will be a little more aware of what's going on. We all got lots of cool things this year. Plus Marshall got to meet my extended family for the first time since he was born. Most importantly is that I don't think I'll have to buy any clothes for Marshall for a really looooong time.

Then all of a sudden 2010 is almost over. This year went by pretty quickly. I think, for me, it went by quick because I was pregnant for most of it. Marshall is 2 months old today and growing like crazy. I'm definitely looking forward to 2011 and watching him grow and learn new things. Something I'm going to do this year that I haven't done in the past is write down some realistic goals that I would like to acomplish in 2011. Then, at the end of the year, I'll be able to look back and see how much I was able to get done that I wanted to. So you can expect a New Year's Goals post in the next couple of days. I don't want to call them resolutions because I feel that calling them resolutions doesn't make them real. I mean, really, who honestly completes their New Year's resolutions???

Hope everyone enjoyed their holidays this year and are looking forward to 2011!

~AKO

SHOW US YOUR LIFE - Diet, Exercise Programs, Weight Loss Ideas

I haven't particiated in one of these in awhile, but since it is a huge focus in my life right now I thought I would join in the "Show Us Your Life" topic this week which is hosted by Kelly's Korner.

The topic this week is "Diet, Exercise Programs, Weight Loss Ideas." I'm one of those people who have struggled with my weight since I was in junior high. I've tried most of those fad diets out there and the thing that works best for me when I'm actually following the program is Weight Watchers.





I was very successful at losing 20 lbs back in 2006 but then stopped following the program. It does really work... if you follow the program :) A lot of people I talk to always say they don't want to have to waste the time to write everything down. Well, that's really the only way you're going to know what you're putting in your mouth. In addition, if you're counting calories you need to write everything down so what's the difference?? One thing that I read in their literature a couple weeks ago was "Only track during the weeks you want to lose." That is so true for me. During the weeks that I track I can guarantee a loss.

We attend meetings on Tuesday evenings in the city and I actually look forward to them. Our leader, Aransas, is awesome. She is so outgoing and supportive of everyone. She also makes a point to get to know everyone and introduce herself if she sees someone she doesn't know. The receptionists are great as well. The key is to find a leader that you like.

I've started tracking my losses in my side bar to the right. So far I've lost 3.4 lbs in the past two weeks. My first mini-goal is to lose 10 by St. Patrick's Day. I'm not going to post my ultimate goal because I'm trying to not focus on that. I'm working toward mini-goals which will hopefully lead me to my final goal. Since I've never been skinny as an adult I really don't even know what my final goal looks like!

As far as exercise programs go, I've never really stuck to one for more than 2 - 3 weeks. I do enjoy my Wii Active. It has a 30 day program that really does force you to work up a sweat. I'm hoping to get back on that this weekend. I love doing the Yoga on my Wii Fit as well. It really helps to stretch out my back. In addition, my husband is going to help me train for a 5K once it gets a little warmer. We have a track by our new apartment so I'm looking forward to that. I have to buy a good pair of running shoes first :) A few years back I told Freddy that I wanted to be able to do PT and at least hit the minimums the Army has set for women. I still want to hit that goal and hopefully this year it will happen.

So, nothing spectacular or anything you all don't already know :) Turns out the key to losing weight is diet and exercise... still... I was hoping at some point I wouldn't have to do anything :)

~AKO

Time is Running Out

So, my friend Nicci is getting married November 1 and I am one of her bridesmaids.


So, I'll be wearing this dress ...



And these shoes in red...




Starting today I got back on this to try and tone up a little before the wedding...





And here is my support structure while I'm working my WII Fit and WII Active...





I'm toying with posting my progress but we'll see how that goes first >:p

~AKO

*Cough, Cough*

SO... that was me coughing through the dust that has accumulated on this blog over the past three weeks. I have been a very bad blogger this month, but not for lack of wanting. It seems like there is so much to do just to get through a day and not enough hours to get it done. As a result my poor house has suffered greatly in the cleanliness department :(

I've got some pictures to upload, which I will do soon, but in the meantime, here are some hilights of the past few weeks...

1. I finally saw 4th of July fireworks live for the first time since moving to NYC in 2000! We had a nice evening relaxing at Liberty State Park in Jersey City, NJ.

2. We've started the house hunting process for our first home purchase.

3. I got a WII Active and have started the 30 day challenge. I completed workout #6 today and am starting to feel the soreness.

4. I continue to be irritated by the ever-growing inconsiderate people who live in my neighborhood. Seriously! Who lets their kids run around in someone else's yard without knowing them. And why does everyone feel that everyone on the street needs to share in their bad taste in music? The only consolation was the cops arriving and breaking up the little block party that was happening right in front of my house last night. And I didn't even call the cops this time!!!

5. SSG Olvera started his 16 day AT yesterday. The positive is he is state-side, which makes the phone calls a little easier. Navigating the time difference when he was in Germany a few years back was not fun.

6. And what is up with this weather??? Not that I'm not enjoying low 70's and only 40% humidity in July, but when is the other shoe going to drop? Does this mean that August and September are going to be melting on the pavement disgustingly hot???

And, with that, I will try to write more often and leave you with the following pics...



The fireworks from Liberty State Park in Jersey City, NJ:



My little helper, Hadley:



And... buddies when they think no one is looking, C-Lo and Hadley:




~AKO