Rediscovering Oatmeal

Oatmeal is seriously Hudson's favorite food. He would eat it three times a day if I would allow him to eat it. He asks for it all the time. I like a hardy bowl of Oatmeal but don't eat it very often. Since Hudson eats it so much I usually just buy the Original instant pack for him. I don't care for instant oatmeal but it just seemed convenient for Hudson. I would boil some water in my teapot, pour it over and in a few minutes viola! it was made.

The other day I ran out of instant oatmeal but I always have real old fashion rolled oats too; I prefer these for cookies and baking and for the rare occasion that I eat oatmeal. I read the side and found out that I could make the oatmeal in the microwave. It was easier than making instant and tastes so much better that I may never buy instant again.

Yummy Oatmeal
1/2 C rolled oats
1 C water
1/2 tsp butter
(Microwave for 2.5 minutes)

Add TBSP of brown sugar or agave nectar and 1/4 C of milk

This is a big serving. I usually split it with Hudson or with Reese. So you could make it less. It was so good. Hudson loved it too. I have now been craving Oatmeal and eating it for a good, hardy breakfast. I actually made this oatmeal faster than I could boil the water for instant. I really want to try steel cut oats too but I know they take a lot more time and usually it is time I don't have. I am not a breakfast eater, I have to force myself. So making something quick is great for me.

Shred It-Level 2

So last night was my first night of Shred It, Level 2. To say these workouts are challenging for me would be an understatement. This DVD will kick your booty yet its only 20 minutes, it's fun, doable, and I think the exercises themselves are interesting — things like skaters (a motion like speed skating), plank jacks (plank position/jumping jack hybrid on the floor), squat thrusts and high-knee kicks. This video has me dripping in sweat, cussing the TV and even feeling a little sore the next day.

It is a 3-2-1 system. 3 minutes of strength, 2 minutes of cardio, 1 minute of abs. Level 2 is by far harder than level 1. I am going to keep at it though. I know I am getting stronger and that a year ago I would not have been able to do level 1. Every time I successfully complete a session I feel more and more confident. I seriously need to give her workouts an A+ as a winter workout. In the summer you can go for a jog on the greenbelt and do more active stuff such as swimming, etc. but it is hard in the winter. The days are shorter, it's cold outside and working out is the furthest thing from your brain. However, just pop in the shred and 20 minutes later you're sweating like it's August.

I have two other friends that are also shredding with me. It has been fun to chat with them about it. Its like a have a pseudo workout buddy. Tonight I am going to do level 1 again and then level 2 again tomorrow. I have CPR tomorrow night so will be missing my time with my trainer. I also need to get on the treadmill and do some walk-run intervals. I'd really like to be able to do the fun run and be able to at least do intervals of walking 1 minute, running 1 minute.

Heading Back to Chicago

So I will be heading back to Chicago in March. I am very lucky to have an all expenses trip paid to go. I will be staying in the heart of downtown on Michigan Avenue for a National annual meeting for an organization that I am involved with. I am really looking forward to it even though I am really sad that my family can't come with me. Just don't think the little kids are quite ready for such a big city and I will be pretty busy with meetings and educational offerings. I am finding time to fit in some fun activities though. A group of us are going to dinner at a top chef's, Stephanie Izzard, restaurant called the "Girl and Goat" and me and girlfriend are going to see a Broadway show.

I was just there in September and made friends with several people. There aren't many of us in our thirties in this group so all of us guys and gals just bonded. It will be fun to see them. Any who, a couple of weeks ago I got a Facebook message from one of the people I met last time. I had worked out with them a lot at the hotel and they asked if I would be interested in doing the fun run. The organization I am involved in is having a 5K run one of the mornings that I am there. I responded back yes and their response was "I can't wait to see how great you look". I had told a few people about my weight loss when I was there in September. So to make a long story short....I have a race to prepare for and I need to lose 10 more pounds before my trip. I haven't done as well as I thought I would have from Sept-March and I want to make sure people can tell a difference.

I am also excited about getting a new dress. There is welcome reception as well as the dinner/show night that I'd like to dress up for and wear something new. I like to dress up and now days I don't hardly ever get an excuse to. I am looking around and going to my friends to see if she might have something I can borrow. I'll be sure to post pictures. Here is to 10 more pounds!!

Super Bowl Sabbotage

So for those of you that know me...you know that I love to throw a good party. It is seriously my gift and I am proud to say that I am the "hostess with the mostest". I can come up with all sorts of excused to throw a party and the super bowl is one of them. Now, I love college football. I keep up with the rankings, watch the games, read ESPN but I do not watch pro football at all. I have no team that I really care for and to be honest I couldn't even tell you who was playing in the superbowl until about 24 hours before my party (after I googled it). But...I love to party so we had a get together with some friends.

It was a great time but as you all know Super Bowl Parties are not nice on the waist line. I totally over did it. It wasn't that I ate so much (however I did eat two cupcakes) but that the food was calorie dense! This is why I always say that you can't exercise off a bad diet. It took me less than 10 minutes to probably consume over 1000 calories; chicken wings, ritz & dip, chili, cupcake, etc but it would take me 2.5 hours to burn that off on the treadmill. I am not proud but I totally gave in and indulged...over indulged.

Tonight I am definitely doing the shred! It is my daily goal to do both level 1 and level 2 with no more than a 15 minute break between the two. This week I have got to be spot on! I have to drink my water and log my food. I'll be posting my weight on Sunday.

If you too over indulged I encourage you to just start fresh today. Don't beat yourself up about it. You can't change the past. Just do good this week and try to get in a little extra exercise.

3 Things to keep me going

This weekend I had 3 great things happen to me:

1) A person at church came up to me and said "wow, you are like melting away"...felt nice to have the compliment and for someone to say something

2) I ran into my grandparents at the grocery store, I was wearing my new 14 jeans and a new shirt. My grandma immediately said "Wow Cheryl you're really starting to look like your trimming up. Look at her Russ (my grandpa) can't you tell she is losing weight"...This is huge! My grandma rarely says much about my weight loss. It was kind of aggravating cause it seemed like when I was gaining we talked about it every time I saw them but when I start losing no one said anything. It was just nice to know that they both could tell.

3) A friend at church told me that she had a dream about me that I got down to my goal weight and was "super smokin hot"....I hope that her dreams come true!

Almost.....

Well I didn't quite make my goal but I am still really happy. I lost 5 pounds in 15 days. That is still a lot so I am not going to pout. I am just going to leave 179 written on my arm and shoot for it next week!

I have been sick. Sunday I didn't leave the couch all day and didn't move much yesterday either. Really bums me out cause I am so excited to try out my new shoes and the weather has been so great. I hope I am getting better. For now the plan is to work out with my ladies and Tammye on Thursday night and then again on Saturday for "Power Hour".

Confession: My treadmill has cobwebs on it. Well, not literally but I have not been on it in forever. I have done the "Shred" videos and the circuits at home but my cardio has really slacked off. My goal for this week is to get on treadmill at least 3 times, even if it's only for 20 minutes. I've just got to find my groove again. I did have a friend that has an eliptical and we talked about trading for 90 days. She is burned out from it. I thought this was a great idea. Don't you remember when you were a kid and you got a new pair of roller blades, you roller bladed 24-7 for several weeks, then you don't wear them for months...well I thought that if I got something new that I might get excited about it again. I'll keep you posted on how my 3 days go and if or if not I do the trade.

A good day

So yesterday was a good day. The weather was beautiful, in the 60s and we enjoyed a day at the park with the kids. Had a babysitter for the night so got to enjoy a dinner a Pei-Wei and some kid free grocery shopping and shoe shopping. I have not bought a new pair of tennis shoes in like 5 years. The last pair I bought was a pair of ASICS and I have never been happy with them. They squeeze my foot, the laces were not long enough, etc and they made my feet look like "The Hobbits"...short and stumpy. Nevertheless, I have been needing new shoes badly. Several of my friends that are avid runners or exercise enthusiast have sworn by a brand called Saucony. Hudson has had a pair of them and they seem to be good shoes. The man at the shoe store was very convincing as well. I have the weirdest feet. My right foot is a narrow-regular 5.75 and my left is a regular-wide 6.5, this can make shoe purchases a little interesting. So after running laps around the store, calls to friends, and more I ended up with these. While I don't wear very much pink, all my workout pants are black or gray so I am thinking these will look pretty sharp. I am very excited to try them out. Wish I could today but the whole family is under the weather. We all have colds and slept really crappy last night. Sad, since it is 65 degrees outside. It would of been fun to go to the zoo (half off prices in the winter) today. Oh well.

Another great thing happened yesterday! I bought my first pair of 14 jeans in probably 10 years. I had bought the 16s last week and they were loose. I was skeptical about the 14s but just bought them without trying them on. I assumed that I would have to really squeeze into them but it would keep me motivated. However, when I got home and put them on, they just slid right on, no problems at all. Hence, they do have quite a bit of stretch to them but I didn't even have to do my regular 10 squats to stretch them out. They fit just right, brand new, never stretched. Made my day. Hopefully tomorrow I'll get Travis to take my picture wearing them. Not looking so hot today since not feeling well.

I am worried about my goal of 179, I am going to post weight on Feb 1. I don't think I am going to make it and it has been very discouraging. I worked out on Monday but was so sore that I took two days off, we had our trip to Chattanooga, date night, etc. However, I know I'll be posting a loss and that is what really matters. Slow and steady wins the race right? The good news about slow and steady is that it has been proven that those that lose weight this way by making lifestyle changes instead of some get quick fix have a lower chance of gaining it all back and their skin does better where you don't have as much excess. I am just going to celebrate a loss; I am keeping my 179 written on my arm until I attain it though!