BlogHer. Who's Going?

And are you doing the 5k Fun Run?

Me Thinks This Fat Lady Is About To Sing

I hate to say this...but this blog has died, people. I just have too much going on to devote to it. I can't even find the time to devote to my own weight loss.

If someone would like to take over, please let me know. I will gladly pass the torch. (email me at aschmittylife(at)aol(dot)com.)

Otherwise, I will be putting it to rest.

It's been fun. Good luck on all of your journeys!

Wordless Wednesday

Tick Tick BOOM!

There's this -




- and this.

New Recipe Posted

Check it out!

I'll let you know how it works out when I make it for dinner tonight alongside bone-in pork chops in Hawaiian marinade. Mmmmm...

I Look More Like Cartoon Ticker Leslie Every Day

And I'm acting like her, too. I signed up to run my first 5K at the end of May.

Drastic times call for drastic measures

Folks, I'm trying something new. My weight is up close to my highest non-pregnancy weight and I'm not happy about it. Not one bit. But I have decided that I'm over Weight Watchers. It's just not doing anything for me these days and I couldn't find a nearby meeting that fit my schedule. So, to heck with them, I say. I'm going freelance. Well, not exactly. I am getting some online help, at The Daily Plate, which if you aren't familiar with it is a great system to help you track calories, exercise, etc. Check it out! (It's free! Woo hoo!)

I am also joining the Shred Heads, a group of bloggers who have chosen to let Jillian Michaels from The Biggest Loser kick our collective you-know-whats, with her 30-Day Shred program. I'm a little late to the game. The original Shred Heads are well past the 30-day mark and focusing on finding ways to stay motivated. I, on the other hand, am on Day 1. But you gotta start somewhere, right? And looking at Kristen's before and after photos was all the motivation I needed.

20 minutes a day for 30 days. I can do that! Right? I mean... right! It's going to be a long 30 days, but if my results are even close to Kristen's (she of Motherhood Uncensored fame, btw), I'll be one happy girl.

To go along with my new, drastic commitment to exercise, I'm implementing a similarly drastic diet regimen that limits me to 1300 calories a day. At least to begin with. I really don't know how much 1300 calories is. I just used a calorie counters from a couple different sites to come up with a rough estimate. I may or may not stick to 1300 calories, but I probably won't stray far from that mark.

I'm not using any one "diet" plan. I'm combining a few actually. Originally, I thought I'd do Slim Fast shakes twice a day, with a light morning snack, a Special K bar for an afternoon snack and a "sensible dinner," as they say. And technically, it's the Kirkland Diet Shakes from Costco and the only reason I chose Special K bars is because they were available in bulk at, you guessed it, Costco. But after Day 1 of the diet plan, I have determined that there has to be a better way to get my 230-ish calories at lunch time than a shake. Because I was fracking hungry all afternoon. So clearly I need something more filling.

The thing I like about The Daily Plate is that it counts up all the calories for me. And they have tons of foods in their database. Plus you can add in your own foods if you know the nutritional value for them. Tonight, I had a filling 326 calorie dinner of chicken in an Asian marinade over whole wheat pasta, with stir-fried spinach. The marinade was ridiculously salty -- just two teaspoons gave me more than 1000 mg of sodium, so while I'm very, very thirsty tonight, I'm not hungry. I could eat. But not because I'm hungry. So I'm blogging instead, to keep my mind off of food.

And if it wasn't snowing outside right now...in April, for the second time, with two more days of this crap forecast... but I'm not bitter or anything... Sorry... Anyway... If it wasn't snowing right now, I might have taken my dog out for a walk after dinner. Anything to keep me from eating out of stress or boredom!

I'll keep you updated on my progress. I'm looking to lose at least 20 lbs, and keep it off this time. My longish-term motivation is that my 20-year high school reunion is next year, but in the short term, I'd just not like to look like my "Before" picture for very much longer!

Wish me luck!!

xoxo,
Jill

Fitness Friday: It's Jared from Subway!

Tab Ramos, Laila Ali, and Jared Fogle at the NIH/Subway event

I was invited to a PEP rally for the launch of the We Can! program by Subway Restaurants and the National Institutes of Health this week. While I was there I met Jared, the Subway spokesperson; Laila Ali, boxer and Dancing with the Stars finalist; and Tab Ramos, Olympic soccer star.

We Can! is Ways to Enhance Children's Activity & Nutrition

PEP is Play More, Eat Right, and Push Away the Screen

Subway Restaurants commitment to helping families eat healthier is evident from meal offerings as part of the FRESH FIT meal. In addition, Subway will spread the We Can! message through a marketing campaign in restaurants and through the Subway Kids website. For more information on the We Can! program you can visit the NIH website.

As a mommyblogger I will spread the word about the We Can! program.

As a mommy I will commit to exercise more, feed my family healthy meals and snacks, and find things to do that don't involve a TV or computer screen.

What are you going to do for your family? Leave a comment.

Jill blogs at www.writingmylifeoneblogatatime.blogspot.com

Back To Business

Let me preface this by saying hi and that I am so excited to be here with all of you! I am looking forward to getting to know you and celebrate our victories together!
~ Pam a.k.a. FL Mama : )

Every once in a while, you have to stand back and breathe and give yourself a break.

My weight loss has slowed considerably. Hubby's has been non-existent for about a month. Its frustrating. In the past, this is the point where I would throw up my flabby arms and just say forget it. But, not this time.

I took a breath, and looked at what's been going on. Our household has been turned on its ear for a few weeks while Hubby put in overtime at his day job. Yes, my poor heard working man works two jobs so I can stay home and raise our son, bless his heart. Instead of being home in the evenings to spend some time with us, get a walk in, just be a family, I'd have to hurry up, make sure dinner was ready when he walked through the door so he could eat and go to bed. I was a total work widow for a few weeks. That was emotionally hard on me, and physically hard on him.

I looked at our eating. I had been consciously making every calorie count, making sure I fed my family nutritious meals. That flew by the wayside a little, for some convenience since time was a precious commodity.

Instead of beating myself up, which is what I would have and have done in the past, I breathed. I allowed myself the courtesy of being human. We all have life get in the way of our best laid plans. It shouldn't completely derail our tracks to a better us. While breathing, I regained focus, cooked up some things to have in the fridge this week so I wouldn't have time or lack thereof as an excuse. I cut up veggies and fruits for hubby's lunches. I made a menu for dinner, full of fresh veggies and salads.

After all, its not back to square one. It's just back to business.

Motivation Monday

4 more days until Spring...March 20th!

Get out there and walk, run, ride!!