Coke

Over the past few days I've been having the great inner debate...or struggle as it were. Towards the end of my pregnancy with Ammon if I were to drink caffeine any later than 1 PM I would be up all night! Caffeine had never affected me like that before and so at about 6 months pregnant I stopped drinking all caffeinated drinks together.

At times I wanted to drink a coke, a lot of times to be honest. But I was good and strong, even after I had Ammon. Again I was so worried that the caffeine would then affect him in my milk...long story short it's been way over a year since I've had a delicious coke. A couple of interesting things happened...

When I don't drink Coke, I tend not to drink soda in general. This also leads to Brandon drinking less soda because he just gets water with me. So overall we're healthier. Win/win right?

Drinking less soda equals less money going to my silly wanting of a drink every once in awhile, so yay  more money in the budget.

Lets be honest though, summer makes me think of Coke. Cold delicious Coke, especially Vanilla Coke. It reminds me of hot days hanging out with my friends, and warm nights playing night games. It makes me think of a day at Thanksgiving Point with the Keele's trying out FREE Vanilla Coke all day. YUM! Can you tell I miss it? Sometimes I even smell Brandon's when he gets one, haha, I'm a loser.

Anyway, a couple of weeks ago I stopped nursing Ammon. It's a complicated time, very emotional. I was done, he was done and ready. But I knew I would have a hard time missing that snuggle time with him. So as soon as I stopped Brandon asked the ultimate question, wanna Coke?

I don't know if I'm honestly pleased to announce I still haven't had a Coke yet. Honestly I'm kind of scared, as silly as that sounds. I'm still working on my weight loss goal, and drinking soda always makes it harder for me. Currently I've lost 9 lbs, but for the past couple of weeks I've pretty much fluctuated with where I'm at by a pound or two. Not cool. I guess my diet has gone so far and I actually need to consistently work out!

Here's the problem, over the past couple of days I've had a non stop headache. I'm still drinking a lot of water, I guess that's been a good habit I got from nursing. I've been taking ibuprofen to help with the pain, but it hasn't been helping either...I know a Coke would help, but I'm worried I'll get addicted again!

So what do I do? Give in and jump out of the wagon, or continue my streak of being good?

Counting Calories and Stuff

I can honestly say I never thought I would count calories, but having an app for it definitely makes it easier. A few things I've noticed while counting calories. 1) I am a huge snack person. I tend to eat smaller meals in order to be able to snack through the day. This probably is due to my hypoglycemia, or I just love to constantly eat. Probably both. 2) After using the app for a week I already have a pretty good idea of when I reach my daily caloric goal intake. Am I the best at it? Probably not, did I not input some meals, darn tooting! But I'm seeing results so that's pretty cool

Work outs for last week were fairly non existent. I went to the gym once and felt like I did a pretty easy lifting, plus walking/running on a treadmill. Later that day I took the boys for a 1.5 mile walk as well. As the day progressed my body started to get more sore. OUCH! I guess it worked. I wish I could've gone more, but with school stuff and lack of sleep, there was a lack of motivation.

This week for work outs it is supposed to be my turn to hit the gym M/W/F...With my 2 hours of sleep for Sunday, and then finally getting sleep last night I was going to sleep in a bit before going to the gym. Well, thirty minutes later, and both munchkins awake I'm still hoping I can go when Brandon gets home. We'll see, maybe we'll go on a family walk instead.

Complete side note: If you ever want to feel old, go to your local university and take their math placement test along with your fellow freshman (who all happen to be 18)... I walked into a teeny, tiny room with about six computers against the wall, all next to each other. Five of the computers were occupied, and students were already working on their test. When I came in, the proctor asked me a few simple questions, one being, "how long has it been since you've taken a math class?" I mentioned it had been roughly ten years and those that were testing stopped what they were doing, turned around and looked at me. To make things more awkward, I smiled and said "hello," as they all returned to their tests. The proctor then went on to ask if I was able to remember my student id number...Really? Yes I'm an older student, but I'm not ancient.

So that was my fun, I'm getting old moment last week. I didn't do the best at testing, math isn't my strong subject and I've already put it off for two semesters. So for summer I get to take a lovely math class to hopefully refreshen everything I took in high school. Haha, we'll see. I'm trying to stay positive and hope I can do well!

Rough Week and Weight Loss Challenge

This Monday Brandon and I officially started our weight loss challenge...Just a heads up, if you're planning a weight loss challenge, don't start it the same time mother nature comes calling! This whole week all I can think of are burgers, ice cream, cookies, etc. Yesterday wasn't a the best of days either when I woke up the day with a clogged milk duct...OW! Also Connor split his lip open...so we've had quite the adventure this week.

Good news though - Connor's lip will heal on its own, no stitches!

With the weight loss challenge Brandon is really pushing me to count calories. All I have to say is thank heavens there's an app for that! It hasn't been that bad to calculate everything when it does it for you, I can even scan in the barcode of items (for example, a container of yogurt), and it'll pull it right up. Boom. I had to do a bit of researching first because I'm nursing and my caloric intake still needs to be higher. So currently I'm eating 1800 calories a day and we'll see if anything works. If I start to loose too much after a few weeks, or my milk supply goes down I will increase it to either 1900, or 2000 calories a day. So far I think it's going alright.

So for the weight loss part of it I need to lose 14 lbs for pre-pregnancy weight. However, since I'm hoping to lose a bit more, I'm shooting for 29 lbs! If I lose my goal lbs, and Brandon loses his we'll reward ourselves with a night at the Anniversary Inn!

I've only been able to go to the gym once this week and I mostly lifted weights (Brandon's days were MWF this week and mine were T/TH...but I had to skip the gym to take a math test today on campus). Usually when I would go I would hop on the treadmill and walk/run a couple of miles, however I'm thinking this time around I need to do both. So right now I'm going to focus on weight lifting more, and then taking the kiddo's on walks during the day (since I have my lovely double stroller...however the tires need air).

That's been my week this week...rough, but we're making it! Lets just hope I can make it through the next couple of days. Brandon is in SLC all day for work and will be there late, so I won't have him to help me all day. Then tomorrow he has to take the buyers from work back to the airport. Boo :(

I'll keep you posted on our journey, we are taking pictures, measurements and weight weekly. But I'm not sure if I'll just wait till the end to post things, or do it periodically.

Biggest Loser: Holyoak Couple Style

During my pregnancy with Ammon, Brandon was doing a Biggest Loser competition with a bunch of his old high school friends. There was a $5 buy in, making the total prize being $100 at the end of 3-4 months. Brandon was amazing, especially considering the fact that the competition started a week or so before Thanksgiving and went through the holidays. I was so proud of him, but emotionally it was very hard for me. It was already hard for me to get bigger, which is obviously normal during pregnancy, but to see my husband get skinnier as I got larger was definitely harder than I expected.

Brandon ended up winning the competition, but due to the fact that everyone in the competition didn't pay their buy in money he only received $40. Obviously the real prize was the weight he lost, and he looked and felt amazing. Of course with my horrible pregnancy cravings, and his lack of being in a competition he gained it back. I'm selfish, and I feel bad he gained that weight. So to make things better we're making some changes!

In a few weeks Brandon and I are starting our on weight loss challenge. We're not rewarding a winner, our reward will be the lost weight. I'm thinking this will be really good for us, since we'll only really have each other to cheer each other on, and I'd like to think we're our biggest fans.

Biggest problems right now are, we eat out too much, portions, and my personal lack of exercise.

Game plan for me: We ordered a jogging double stroller and I can't wait till it gets here, it arrives Wednesday! Since the weather is getting warmer I can't make the excuse that I can't get off my tush and walk/run it out. Plus it will get the boys out for fresh air. My hopeful plan is to go on a 30-60 walk/run each day, or Mon-Sat. Another thing I will be doing is counting calories...I have never done that, but Brandon swears by it. We are going to eat healthier meals, more fruits and veggies, and smaller portions (we ordered a food scale to help us weigh those as well). I'd love to lose at least 15 pounds, that would get me down to pre pregnancy weight. If I lose more, fantastic! Goal is to lose at least 1 pound a week.

Brandon's game plan: Get up earlier and work out at his office gym. This will take effort from me, I may or may not have to kick him out of bed. ;) He'll also count calories, and be watching his food portions, and eating healthier.

We aren't starting our actual competition until after General Conference weekend. We're going to be traveling to Utah County the next couple of weekends, and we always tend to eat horribly while we're out and about. (Who can say no to In - N - Out, Sweet Tooth Fairy and Zupas? I sure can't...I see a problem here, haha).

So that's that! I may or may not post my progress on here... I'm still deciding. We are going to weigh ourselves weekly as well as take measurements. Here's to losing weight and becoming fit!

Temples

Our Connor is very energetic and can be very stubborn at times, it takes a lot for me to even keep up with him, and his stubbornness can ruin the mood very easily. On the flip side he is also very sweet and tender hearted. He has a very special bond with his brother, and is always trying to make him laugh and smile, Connor even has given one of his Lightening McQueen cars to Ammon, which is HUGE! (Connor used to never share any of his Lightening McQueen's with anyone...and yes he has multiple ones).

One thing that Connor loves is the temple. It honestly doesn't matter which temple, but he loves to look at temple pictures, to go up and walk on the temple grounds and to touch the temple. Connor even loves watching The Mountain of the Lord, which is a movie about the building of the Salt Lake City temple. Connor is also starting to learn the different names of temples, the top two he knows are Salt Lake City and Logan. When it's warm enough outside he asks to go say goodnight to the temple, luckily enough for him if you go to the sidewalk by our house you can see the Logan temple. At night  during his bedtime routine we also have to sing I love to see the temple, and he joins in with us, as well as points to the picture of the temple that is on his wall next to his bed. 

I love his bond with the temple, and I hope it continues to grow as he grows. His testimony on temples builds mine up and I am so lucky to have my sweet Connor forever.

Winter Blues

Does anyone else get the Winter blues? Also known as January blues? I totally do! After the holidays, when things start to settle down and schedules starts to get back to normal I get in a huge slump! I feel like it has gotten worse since I've had the boys. Not that they bring me down, it's just I can't take them out to play, and we can only do so much inside. Can I say cabin fever much? I thought things might change since I'm in school, I would be more focused and on task, but sadly that has not been the case. I am an amazing procrastinator.

Another thing I'm not a fan of, is the post winter/pre spring in Utah. I hate the murky brown everywhere. Gross. Someday Brandon and I will live somewhere warm and fantastic, that...or we're going to have to go on vacation a lot. ;) Anyone else feel the same way?

But! Things are going fairly well for us. Connor is in a pre-school/fun school on Monday and Wednesdays that helps me to get some schooling done. Connor has learned pretty much all of his shapes, and is currently working on the alphabet! He sure loves Miss Kim, but who doesn't! Ammon is growing so fast and loves food! He is wearing 18 month shirts and 12 month pants, and he's 8 1/2 months. This chunker will not crawl though! Poor kiddo has thunder thighs which makes it hard for him to get on his knees and move his legs. Haha, I love his chunk though, and we're working on it.

I better log off and go back into Mom mode! I've got cleaning, cooking, baking, homework to do!