Rottens,Pumpkin and a Fight

Today I am just in a great mood and I just feel like sharing the things I have loved this week!

Rotten #2 being silly

I have loved spending time with Rotten #2 this week.  I always love time with my kids but he has just been so fun!  We talked him into coming to a rebound class with us and he did, he did a fabulous job too.  There is something about him that just makes me smile.  He has this little grin that just warms my heart.  He makes life good!


http://www.skinnytaste.com/



I have fallen in love with the healthy recipe site Skinny Taste.  The picture above is a Turkey White Bean Pumpkin Chili and I know you are thinking PUMPKIN but yes and it is fantastic and I love it, the Rottens and Mr. Fabulous love it and so does everyone else that has tried it so far.  It is amazing that it is this healthy...
1 cup serving- Calories:182.6 •  Fat:2.3 g •  Protein: 23.3 g •  Carb:10.9 g •  Fiber:8.8 g •  Sugar: 2.1
So click on the link and get the recipe!



Heart Sugar Cookies

Valentines is in the air!  I love it at the shop and we are starting to get ready for the next few weeks of hearts, pink and chocolate.  There is something about the cuteness of little red hearts that make me happy!


Raspberry Chocolate Cupcakes

I know!!!  You want to eat one huh?  Me too but I have managed not to, BONUS points for me!

Tomorrow we are going to watch my brothers debut fight.  He is the good looking guy on the top left ;) Excited and nervous to watch, but I know he is going to do AMAZING!
So we are off for the weekend to spend time with my family and I am looking forward to it!  Rotten #3 and I have a plan to stay on track with our food and exercise.  All in all for the way this week started it has been amazing and I am so blessed in so many ways! 
Happy weekend, go give someone a big hug!

Gravy-1 Shannon-13

Many people think that because I am a baker and I am around sweets all day long that I really have a hard time not eating them.  Well that is true and it is not true.  For the most part I have had my moments of glutenous activity with cookies and cupcakes to where I just don't feel like I cannot resist.  At this point in my life I am pretty resilient unless I bake something brand new that I have not tried before, then it is difficult.
I know that I am an emotional eater.  I try my very best to stay aware of my moods and how it effects my food choices.  My emotions and my inability to keep  them under control at times is usually the demise of my success on so many levels.  For years it was beating myself up for not being good enough or feeling like I was worth it.  I can honestly say that I have gotten past those feeling of inadequacy and self hate.  What I have not been able to conquer is letting the things around me I cannot control get to me at sometimes. Part of my New Years resolution was to work on that and I have been, really I have.  There are things that I have let slide, thought it was not worth carrying and just tried not to focus on any of it.  Well this week threw me one to many! 
You know how when people walk through a mine field in movies you sit and wait for one to just blow the shit out of them?  That was my week!  It started with getting mad at Mr. Fabulous, got past it.  Had the employee from hell act like a two year old, got past it.  Thought about cheating (on my diet silly), got past it.  Dealt with my Dad that I cannot stand right now because he is a selfish *** that has destroyed so much in our family, set it aside.  Had to listen to someone that I love lie to me and pretend like they have not been very shady behind my back, set it aside.  AND THEN my mom, my very best friend, moved.  I contribute that to my selfish *** Dad and his actions and instead of setting it aside or dealing with it I did what any recovering food addict would do... I went to DQ and bought GRAVY, FRIES and CHICKEN!
So last night I sat in the parking lot of DQ during a massive snow storm eating my mine field.  When I do this I do not even taste it really.  It is just a numb chain of actions.  As I drove away I cried knowing that once again the gravy won this battle.  You see my weakness is not the sweets, it's gravy.  I know I am at my breaking point when I want gravy.  So stupid but it's true.
This morning I no longer feel sad or bad and I am choosing to forgive myself for falling down.  My point of writing this out is to acknowledge it and move forward.  I am allowing the little gravy saving angels to come down take it away and let it dissolve into the universe.  In two weeks we will just say the score is Gravy-1 and Shannon-13 the odds are definitely in my favor.
When I had the opportunity to meet the first female Biggest Loser Ali Vincent we talked about her still having bad days.  She told me that she no longer thinks 'I will wait until monday to get it back together' she chooses the next moment to make it right.  So I am choosing my moments carefully right now, knowing I am a bit fragile BUT resilient and worth it!

Gratitude, processed food and not dying

Today has been an amazing day!  Started this saturday morning off going to the gym at 7 a.m.  Now who does that on a freaking saturday???  Rotten #3 and I do! Apparently many other people do as well, who knew.  It is really such a great way to stay on track throughout the weekend.  I am re-learning that getting healthy is not a 5 day week project ;)
We have 2 trainers Kim and Amy and I suppose I need to find matching names for them to go along with everyone else I have ever talked about on my blog so..... hmmm.... how about Kick Ass Kim and Amazing Amy!  From here on out that is what I will refer to them as and I think it is pretty fitting. 
So on saturday morning we start the day off with a meeting.  The trainers answer questions, help us with ideas and show us how to workout.  In just two weeks I have decided I LOVE this time.  There are so many ideas shared and so much inspiration to feed off of.  It is incredible what people over come in just a week and the commitment it takes to show up on a saturday morning by choice, just *sigh* so great! 
This morning 2 things really stood out.  One is that I thought I had the food figured out for the Rotten and Amazing Amy mentioned how much of it was processed.  That had not crossed my mind.  I was just thinking quick, easy and healthy (according to the package) so I threw it in the lunch box lovingly placed it in Rottens lunch box for his lunch each day.  I had no idea what I was putting in there, so our goal this next week is to make sure to used less processed food.  Really if we are going to all of the trouble to be healthy we need to think about those type of things. 
The second thing was Kick Ass Kim talking about gratitude.  She talked about how we need to have gratitude for every single ounce of what we lose even if it is a pound a week instead of 10.  How we need to be thankful that we have able bodies that CAN workout and move.  How when we are ungrateful it blocks our progress and does not allow God to help us along the way.  SO TRUE!  We need to embrace our journey and appreciate our progress, no matter how small.
Last but not least we did a crossfit workout and did not die so there is hope for all!
Happy weekend :)

This kid is on FIRE!

Today was our first weigh-in and guess what????  Rotten #3 lost 5 pounds!  (woo hoo, cheering, jumping for joy etc.)  This little man has taught me more in one week than I have ever learned on my own trying to diet for over 30 years. 
He is only 11 so the goal is to just teach him healthy choices over bad and exercise 6 days a week.  It is amazing how quick a child can change habits if given the opportunity.  He cracks me up with his words of encouragement and little talks about commitment, not to mention the bets that I have lost.  Last night he told me I had to do a jumping jack for every jump he did on the jump rope.  I agreed thinking he's a farm boy with a jump rope, how many can he really do?  The answer is 96!  I loathe jumping jacks but I had to do 96 with my drill sargent counting them down.  When I completed them he told me GOOD JOB and that he was PROUD OF ME, sigh :).  He won't let me slack on workouts and he is doing better at his food journal than I have ever done. 

To see the energy level in him change in just one week has been so very cool!  There is so much to be said about parents being an example and how children will follow suit.  Changes are good and thank heavens he won't hold the last two years of bad grocery shopping against me!
As for me I lost 4 pounds and I honestly would have never done as well without him and my FitCrew!  I have started and stopped weight loss programs a million times over and this time I know it is different.  To really see first hand how my food choices have effected him is the biggest wake up call of all and I will NOT let him down!
There is a time in everyones life that is the last time before they succeed and this is ours! 

Believe, Dream and don't let your mom tell you no!

I am just feeling so good, so proud and really just content with so many things right now.  The Rottens are growing up and I thought it would freak me out more but it isn't.  Lately Anthony a.k.a. Rotten #1 has just been so incredibly happy and that MAKES ME SO HAPPY!  He is going to be 18 in February and is almost finished with high school.  He has a few more classes to take and then he is done.  When I look at him and the choices he makes I could not be more proud. 
About a year ago we had the final college discussion.  It was something we had had many times before and I thought we had it figured out.  In the discussion he told me how he would go to college and do whatever we expect him to do but it is not sending him in the direction that he loves.  He brought up a valid point of going and spending the time and money just to graduate and have a job that he would hate for the rest of his life.  It really made me think.  His whole life I have told him he could be anything and do what ever he can possibly dream of.  He believed me and he has lived his life as such.  So who was I to come in and crush his dream just because that is the way it is supposed to be.  He let me know that he wanted to follow his heart into a career in electronic music, producing and being a DJ.  I have to admit I immediately thought of all the reasons it would be hard, all of the reasons he should probably try for something else and how many people have set out for the same dream just to have it crushed.  Then I thought of who I was dealing with... Anthony.

One thing I have known from the minute he was born is that he was very special.  I have always known he would end up in something big. He never holds back and never thinks he cannot do it.  The willpower and drive that he has is unmatched with anyone I have ever been around.  If he wants to do it he just does it and not for a second does he think about not being able to.  It is awesome to watch! 
As far as the DJ'ing goes he has been playing shows to high school crowds of around 700 kids.  When he takes the stage they go crazy in excitement.  They love him!  They love what he does and more than anything else HE LOVES IT so much!  That is what matters in the big picture of it all, loving what you do. 
Mom lesson 20245... If you teach your children to dream and believe, they will.

The right choices

This past week I decided to finally get my act together and start a Biggest Loser program at the beautiful gym that literally is through the door from my shop.  When I say literally I mean all day long I can see weights and skinny people from my shop.   Yes I know that should leave me absolutely no excuses but up until now I have found them.  So I joined.  I knew I needed an amazing over the top partner so I recruited Rotten #3


Carson on nerd day at school

This little man has kept me on track!  Choosing him as my partner was probably one of the smartest things I have ever done.  He will not take no for an answer and when I think about cheating all I have to do is remember that he is doing so well and I don't want to let him down.  Not only do I have the best partner ever I get to spend more time with him.  One of my biggest excuses is that when I do all sorts of things I miss out on family time.  Well I brought some of the family with me and it helps, a lot!  The people at the gym are just super nice.  There are about 95 people taking part in this contest and the feeling of support and excitement in the air is contagious.  There is so much to be said about group effort and the fire that it can build in people.
Along with the contest I also looked up some of my favorite blog buddies and I am taking part in Dr. Mo's Fit Crew.  Joining that crew was the second smartest thing I have ever done.  I knew I needed the help and the motivated people around me and man oh man I found them there!  Part of the Fit Crew is making sure to drink your water and take at least 10,000 steps a day.  Those are big things that I over look so easily and now I have a fabulous support group to remind me to get it done.  It's just awesome!
Off to another day of making good choices and hanging out with Rotten #3!

Commitment

Commitment.  Now that word holds some serious expectations!  In my life it has been a word that comes easy for me in many areas unless it is to myself.  I know I am not the only person that has this issue (I hope).  Along with working on Choosing Happy I am working on my committing to whatever it is I may choose to start.  Past history in my life has proven I tend to drop the ball usually on my own head with all of the things that would help me the most such as (whispering) losing weight and working out.  To say it has not been on my list of to-do's regulary in my 39 years of life would be a flat ass lie!  It's something that I put on my list, started and stopped and started and stopped, partially erased and blacked out over and over and over.  Why in this many years have I not just done it already? 

If someone else were to ask me what to do to start finally losing weight and getting healthier this would be the oh so wise words I would share with them...
It is so much easier to use everything in life as an excuse... Stop making excuses, seriously enough already!
There will always be something else to do and easier choices... Stop choosing the easy way out!
There is never enough time, EVER to really have the time to do everything... Make time for YOU!                Someday you have to finally decide that you are worth it and follow through to enjoy the benefits of completing the commitments you have made to yourself... Now is the time! 
No matter how many people help you and cheer you on if you do not help yourself then it will not work out long term... You have to put yourself first, believe in yourself and be your biggest cheerleader of all!

That is my advice.  Such great advice I offer it unsolicited to so many people so often because I know everything there is to know and I live it perfectly. 
Riiiihihihihigggtttttttttttttt!  It is time I start living what I already know, what I would tell others and spend some time cheering myself on.  It is time and I am ready to finally make the commitment to myself to make the changes I need to life a happier healthier life.  Does this mean I will never eat another cupcake????  Hell no!  It just means I will not eat as many.  It's about balance people!