Yeast Free Challenge Update, Our New Home & Our New Church

Today marks the 11th day of the 30 Day Yeast Free Challenge and day 13 of my weight loss challenge at work! I am happy to say that at my first weigh in last Friday at work I had lost 4.1 pounds! WHOHOO!! I would love to tell you that every day it gets easier but, I would by lying. Maybe if I were home and could cook all my meals but I am in Baton Rouge, LA right now staying in a hotel and eating out 3 meals a day. Next week will be tough too...I will be in California. Everyone always says "Oh you can do it, just order salads and fish & veggies; it's not that hard." Umm, that is a nice thought and all but that is much easier said than done. But, so far I am doing a pretty good job of self-control. I have been eating a lot of seafood, grilled chicken and eggs this week. And I worked out in my hotel room and hotel gym 3 times so far. This past Saturday I had my 2nd session with my trainer and he nearly killed me again...I actually think he was TRYING to make me puke. He almost succeeded! I will meet with him again this Saturday too. I can already tell I am getting stronger, my clothes are getting a little lose and I am feeling so much better! This whole "yeast-free" thing is not something I plan to stick with after the 30 days but it is really helping me not crave sweets and carbs and teaching me a lot about self-control. :)


Our new house is officially DONE!! Now the inspections will start and go for the next week or so. Chris & I have our first walk thru next Friday the 3rd. So, depending on how that goes, we will HOPEFULLY be moving in the week of the 6th!!! Here it is this past Sunday: (please ignore the leaning tree in front...that is being fixed!)


We have been visiting Fellowship of The Woodlands (Woodlands Church) for the past few weeks and so far we are LOVING it! Many of you may have heard of the pastor there or seen him on TV...his name is Kerry Shook. His sermons are televised every week. I grew up Baptist and Chris grew up Methodist. We both have our churches we grew up in, in The Woodlands but we talked about it and decided to try out a couple others too. FOTW is non-denominational but it is still a Bible-based church and we believe in what they believe in. The services are full of energy, entertainment and always a great message that we can relate to. My husband loves it because the the pastor is pretty much as sports-obsessed as him! The first Sunday we visited, the pastor interviewed Lance Berkman, this past weekend The Flying Walenda's were there, this weekend Herschel Walker will be there and the next weekend, RG3 will be there! The men are LOVING this! And, we even got married in the Chapel there and went thru some pre-marriage classes there that we loved. So, this church holds a special place in my little heart :) I am excited to be getting back involved in a great church and can't wait to see what the next several weeks will hold!

30 Day Yeast-Free Challenge

Goodbye yeast, dairy, sugar and alcohol...see you after Valentine's Day (maybe)! Today is day 1 of Stephanie's ( www.thehowardsbeautifulmess.blogspot.com ) 30 day yeast free challenge. Whohoo!! This is going to be a tough 30 days but I am determined to stick with it. I have a friend at work doing it with me and quite a few other friends and bloggers...accountability is definitely something that I need.

My meals and snacks will consist of a lot of protein, veggies and nuts. In case you are interested in joining the challenge or just want to know a little more about it, check out Stephanie's post last week: www.thehowardsbeautifulmess.blogspot.com/2012/01/lets-get-skinny-win-free-stuff-cool.html (sorry, I can not link these websites to my blog from my work computer!)


I am also participating in my companies weight loss challenge. It started last Friday and ends on March 30th. I paid $5 to join and that will go into the reward pool. Every Friday we have to weigh in and if you miss a weigh in you have to donate $1 and if you gain any weight you have to donate $1 per pound you gain...all of that goes towards the reward pool too. So, on March 30, whichever man and woman have lost the most weight will split the reward money! And if you make your goal you get a gym bag and a couple other things. My goal is 20 pounds...although I am really going for 30.

I joined 24 Hour Fitness over the weekend and my hubby got me 14 sessions with a personal trainer so I think I am well on my way to my goal =) These first few days are going to be tough but I just have to get through them and keep going.




Happy Monday!

The "Newlywed 15" diet & Steve Jobs

Remember in college when almost everyone gained the "freshman 15"? Well, I have gained the "newlywed 15." In the 5 months I have been married I have definitely put on some pounds. I have not been eating good and pretty much stopped working out/running so I completely understand why I have gained wait. Well, last week I went to a doctor appointment and got my yearly blood work done. First I got a call on Wednesday morning that my Triglycerides were really high...they were 280. Normal is 150. BUT, luckily they were only that high because I had eaten about 5 hours before the blood work. I had not fasted because I had forgotten I would have blood work done. SO, that made me feel a little better but they still wanted to re-do my blood work after I had been fasting for at least 8 hours so, I got it re-done and got the results back yesterday...my triglyceride levels are 186. They are still high, but not nearly as high as the first test. This was a pretty big wake up call for me. Having high triglycerides greatly increases your risk for heart disease and other health issues. The doctor said they were high but not high enough for them to put me on medicine or take any drastic measures. He said I just need to get back to exercising regularly and cut back on the carbs, sugars and high fat foods. Thankfully this is a fairly easy fix. I have known I needed to start eating better and start exercising again but I just have not done it. Now, I am going to do it.

I read something yesterday really stuck with me... I don't remember the exact quote but it was something saying that when you worry about something, that is pretty much all you do about it- worry. But, when you are concerned about something, that is when you take action. Well, I am officially concerned. I am a healthy (minus this issue), newly married 29 year old who wants kids eventually and a long life. So, it is time to make some serious changes.

Here are some of my goals:
-Exercise a minimum of 3 times a week, but my goal is 5 times
-Cut out the sweets bigtime. I eat entirely too much bad sugar.
-Cut back on the carbs...especially the white ones. I am not going to be unrealistic about this. I am still going to eat bread and pasta here and there. But, I am going to limit it when I can and instead of 2 pieces of bread at dinner, have 1. Stuff like that.
-Stop drinking a Dr. Pepper or Red Bull in the mornings. I usually have one or the other in the morning...I need caffeine and I hate coffee. I know everyone is going to say' "Drink more water". Well, I literally can not drink more water...I drink about 10 bottles of water a day, every day. I drink more water than anyone I know. I have that going for me :)
-Consistently take my vitamins. I have always been good about taking vitamins but I do tend to forget to take them sometimes or will not take them for a month or so, then start again. I need to consistently take them every day, every week.
-I drink alcohol a couple times a month and usually only have a couple drinks because I get sick easily so when I do drink, stick to low sugar options.
-Eat A LOT more chicken, fish & veggies!!!

Have any of you ever been in a similar situation? What did you do?
My hubby is on board too so that will make it easier. So, that's my story & my plan :)


Next, I saw these quotes from Steve Jobs on Facebook this morning and love them so I have to share....

"Your time is limited so don't waste it living someone else's life"

"If you haven't found it yet, keep looking. Don't settle. As with all matters of the heart, you'll know when you find it. And, like any great relationship, it just gets better and better as the years roll on."