Memorial Day Treats

I can’t believe that memorial day is this weekend.  Where did Spring go?  Our peonies have just bloomed, the hydrangea is still just covered in buds, and the forecasted cicadas still haven’t found it warm enough to come above ground. 

This time last year, I was a bloated 7.5 month pregnant lady who could barely move…so I just turned on the sprinkler and let T go nuts.  This year it won’t be nearly warm enough for water play.  What gives?

Anyway, RxFitnessLady has called for a DIY/Tutorial for her Week-Long blog challenge, and I thought it would be fun to celebrate the start of summer and with a couple of old patriotic-themed posts from last year:




Find out how to have your toddler make your patriotic party décor, with this simple patriotic vase tutorial



Got a hankering for something sweet?  I made a Strawberry Basil Granita last Memorial Day that was extra tasty and perfect for summer weather!

Want to see more Patriotic ideas?  Check out my “God Bless America Board” over at Pinterest.

I hope everyone has a fantastic Memorial Day weekend.  Don’t forget to remember those who have fallen for our country, and to take a moment and thank a Veteran or Military service member.

{30 Things} My Most Embarrassing Moment

Hi there everyone!  I’m combining two series today in one post!  Today will be my second entry in RxFitnessLady’s week long Link Party with my very first VLOG!  It’s also time for another installment of 30 Things My Children Should Know About Me.  This week’s prompt is “Your Most Embarrassing Moment”.

I have a LOT of embarrassing moments in my life, but there’s one that really stands out to me.  It happened years ago, and I’m STILL embarrassed.  Watch the video to find out what my most embarrassing moment was!

 

{Weigh In Wednesday} Week 20

It’s Weigh In Wednesday … which means it’s time for another installment in my roller coaster ride of losing weight without really dieting.  After 20 years of yo-yo dieting, I decided to put down my calorie counter and focus on getting healthy the right way.  There are a lot of ups and downs, and it’s a painfully slow journey; but this isn’t only about the scale, it’s about real life.
These are the times that make you want to crumble in a ball and weep.  After working so hard, this is what I’m rewarded with:



How I am winning this week:  We didn’t eat out at all last week, and I started doing more strength training.  Specifically, I’ve incorporated this workout from Fitness Magazine.  It’s old, but it’s tough.  I was sore for three days after my first workout!

As far as other changes made so far:
      Candy Jar watch: 5 Weeks with my hand out of it!
      Vegetables: Minimum 3 – 4 servings per day, all eaten before the rest of my meal
      Nighttime Snacking: Admittedly, when the husband breaks out a snack, I might have one or two…but that’s still a HUGE improvement from last year!

Areas of improvement:  I’m slowly improving on keeping the junk out of my mouth. That said, I’m deep in planning mode for L’s first birthday next month- which means recipe testing-and that means calories.  Now I just need to keep my testing to just one small taste!
Weekly Workouts:

How I feel:  I know that there gains and losses when trying to get healthy, but this recent weight gain really has me down.  Hopefully the scale will be a bit kinder to me next week.

How do you battle the weight gain blues? (Post format gratefully adapted from The Busy Mom's Diet)

Searching for Self Control

Good morning everyone!  Be prepared to see a LOT of posts from me this week, as I am participating in Rx Fitness Lady’s Week-Long Link up Party.  For those of you who don’t know who I’m talking about, Rx Fitness Lady is your health and fitness guru.  By night she doles out prescriptions and drug advice in person, and by day she doles out fitness and health advice on her blog.  She’s incredibly knowledgeable, super sweet and a great bloggy friend.  She’s hosting a blog party all week long, and I’m hoping to participate just about every day.  Head on over here for more details.

Today, we’ve been instructed to solve a problem for our readers.  Well, I won’t pretend to have any answers, but after looking back at last week’s posts, I noticed something incredibly ironic.  Did anybody else catch it?  Let me spell it out for you: insanely rich chocolate cake followed up immediately by a Weigh In Wednesday post.  And I even had the audacity to complain about being too tempted by sweets in my WIW post!  (hanging head in shame)

Anyways,  the wonderful Dost Girls commented Monday on the calorie content of the cake and then agreed on Wednesday about being addicted to too many sweets.  Let me hold my hand up and say I am right there with you!  So I decided to do what any other blogger would do: I browsed Pinterest for Self Control Inspiration, and I’m sharing all of it here with you!

(Sources (top left to bottom right): Comfy and Confident, Hellas Inhabitants, Source Unknown Pinned via Cupcake Kitten,  Source Unknown Pinned via Emily,  Source Unknown Pinned via Lucy, Source Unknown Pinned via Great Minds Think Fit, Source Unknown Pinned via Arlissa,  Teacher’s Paradise)

Would it be horrible if I replaced all the pictures of my kids in my cube with these printouts?  (Find these and more over at my Health and Fitness Board on Pinterest).