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Live the Life

A few weeks ago I decided to do something about my health. I needed a plan that would help me eath healthily and I really needed someone to tell me what to eat and how to exercise. That's when I read a blog post by a friend who had tried the FREE 7-Day Challenge from Kristi Approved, or Live the Life. I had heard of this program before but didn't try it out at that time. I decided to give it a whirl. I LOVED LOVED LOVED it!

Basically they give you meal plans for 6 meals a day, and you eat the same meals all week long. That means you just prepare them on Sunday and then they take like 5 minutes to put together at mealtimes. So easy. And the food is all stuff I like and would willingly eat. There was more protein and vegetables and less carbs than I was used to (which is a good thing because I'm a bit of a carb-aholic) and no added sugar. I was surprised that I NEVER felt hungry. I seriously looked at my watch and said, "TIME TO EAT AGAIN" all day long.

Along with the meal plans they include resistance training that you do 5 days and cardio for 6 days. They include the specific exercises and there are videos describing how to execute them. The weights takes about 20-30 minutes, followed by 20-40 of cardio, depending on how much time I have. You can modify any exercise to fit your fitness level, of course, so I felt like I was completely in control. I've been a cardio girl for the past 8-9 years or so, but never very consistent with weights. This plan made weights a real possibility for me and I've been successful in keeping up with them since I began.

After the first 7 days, I lost 6 lbs! Crazy. I think part of it may have to do with the fact that I'm still nursing, so I'm burning calories through that as well. The second week was a 2 lbs loss, which is more what I expect. But the great thing is that the program is all about speeding up your metabolism using the 7 keys of : nutrition, water, resistance training, cardio, supplements (which I haven't really explored yet), sleep, and accountability. I decided I loved living this way and feeling this way, so I went ahead and bought Phase I of the program, which is 12 weeks worth of meal plans and exercise plans and online support. Speaking of support, the day after I bought the program, I received a phone call from one of the two founding ladies of Kristi Approved. They are SOOO willing to call or email or support you in any way possible. I felt a real personal connection and strong level of support from them. I receive motivational emails on a daily basis, and I log my results online every week.

I truly hope that this is a forever lifestyle change. I have known for some years now that I have food addiction problems, so I'm trying to re-wire my brain and eating habits into something healthy and sustainable. I want to have my health for a LONG time, so I can be around for my children to grow up and have kids of their own. I feel like I am finally learning how to take good stewardship of my body and I'm positive and energized like never before.

So this post is not meant to be a sales pitch, but I just have to share my positive experience and give everyone the opportunity to check it out for themselves. Their website can be found here and they have programs for men, women, and couples too.

Trip to San Antonio

We took some side trips during our 9 weeks in Houston.

But first here's a cute photo of Peej and Clarissa...

We visited my brother and his family in San Antonio for a week

Poor, tired brother.... :-)

Sweet cousins (I love this photo!!)

Halloween 2010 --three months later

I know this is forever late to post about these events, but this blog is mostly a journal for me, so feel free to skip anything you may find too out-of-date.

We had a great Hallowwen in TX with my parents and sister and her kids. Halloween Decorations!!

Painting pumpkins!
Trunk or treat in Austin with Matt Bradley and family

Another Trunk or Treat in Houston
Halloween was so much fun!

Epic Gingerbread House Fail

Three of these things belong together....

Three of these things are kinda the same....

But one of these things just doesn't belong here....

Come on now let's play our game!

Yeah, I could lie and tell you that one of the kids did this horrific gingerbread house, but it was ME! It started with some minor structural problems, and then I was too impatient to let the icing dry before decorating it...and then I tried to "fix" it.

To use some really trendy words right now: Epic Fail.

I bet it will still taste good.

Catching up From 2 months in Texas, Part 1

My blog has been on hiatus for over 2 months because the kiddos and I spent 9 weeks in Houston with my parents while daddy was recruiting all over the U.S.

So now I must catch up...

But I have to confess that these first few shots are actually from a MOMS Club activity at the L.A. Arboretum shortly before leaving for Houston.

Here's the waterfall.

Next is a cool hedge archway the kids loved playing in.

Posing on the turtle statue with the baby in the stroller in the background.
Another photo in the archway. It just looks like a magical, secret garden to me.

Okay, gotta add in cute photos of Baby Clarissa as she's learning to hold her head up. This is in Houston with the nurse, Rochelle, who delivered Alex 2 years ago. She was the best! My dad hand-picked her (since he was my Dr.) and I truly missed her this time around when my nurse was so cold and unhelpful---especially during the epidural!

Which one is the real baby??? (The one that's out of focus, unfortunately. haha)

Here we are with COUSINS at the Oil Ranch in Houston. We hung out with cousins practically every day and it was AWESOME.

Alex insisted on wearing his cap way down over his eyes. Silly boy.

We went on a hayride where you get to feed the cows. They know food is coming so they stick their heads way into the trailer and lick your fingers and legs and anything else they can reach. My mom is shielding Alex in the bottom right corner. He was a little freaked out.

Check out that longhorn steer!

The kiddos all got to ride ponies and they LOVED IT!!

So this is merely the tip of the iceberg as far as our Houston adventures are concerned.

Stay tuned for more excitement.....

Sunday Fun

Sundays we have church at 1pm so we do baths that morning instead of Saturday night.

This picture is actually from a different bath night when I was not planning on washing Avery's hair so we put it in a shower cap. Alex wanted his own shower cap, of course.

They each chose their own colors. Too cute.

Clara's bath. "Zoobie" hair as we like to call it.
Lunch before church. Alex wanted a placemat just like his big sister

I love this picture because Alex is totally NOT holding Clarissa!

Three kiddos on the chair

Favorite photo of the night