Sleep and Weight Loss

Do you ever feel like you don't get enough sleep? I do, all the time!! My family is HUGE into sleep! We all have some form of narcolepsy, kindly passed onto us from our Dad. But because of this, we don't get deep sleep and we have very vivid dreams, and we never get into the REM cycle. All of my siblings and Dad can sleep anytime, anywhere!

Studies have shown that if you don't get enough sleep, then you are more likely to gain weight. They say it is because you are more likely to go to comfort foods when you are tired. Also, it is said that your metabolism gets off when you don't get enough sleep.

So here you have it, why you need your sleep!! Good enough reason for me to put my kids to bed by 8 p.m. so that they get good sleep, and so do I!

Frustration

I have been oh so frustrated with my weight loss journey for several weeks now. It seems that after I lost my 35 pounds, that my body has decided that 35 pounds is all it is willing to give up. I don't really understand it. I am doing everything that I know how to do to lose the weight. I count my calories every day. I eat mostly fruit and veggies. I work out between 4-6 times a week. I even gave up sugar for a week(one of the hardest things ever) and I actually gained weight at the end of that week. I am more than frustrated! I don't really know what to do anymore. It seems like my body is just comfortable at this weight. The problem with this is that I am not comfortable with this weight. I still have a goal for losing at least another 20 pounds. I just have no clue how to go about it.

My husband and my mom keep telling me just to be patient, that I need to love my body regardless what the scale reads. This seems impossible for me to do. I have never loved my body. So I am trying hard to change the way that I think about my body and my weight loss. This will be a hard thing for me to do.

My goals for this next month are:

• Try to be kinder to myself and think uplifting things about my body
• Continue to train for my 5k that is scheduled for the beginning of September
• Find some family friendly healthy recipes that not only I love but my children will eat too.
• Continue expanding my raw diet. I have started sprouting beans, lentils and grains and I am really enjoying it. I have been learning about eating raw and I am convinced that it is one of the best things that you can do diet wise for your body.
  

• Get my thyroid checked and my birth control changed. (I have a sneaky suspicion that my weight issues are probably thyroid or PCOS related.)

I hope that I can get my butt back in gear and be more motivated. How are YOU doing with your weight loss journey?

Favorite Ab workout

I like to work out my abs. Right now, they are invisible, but I like the feeling of pain when you move your chore. My favorite ab workout is doing crunches with my kids sitting on my chest. They think it's super fun to sit on my chest while I try to sit up, and I like it because I have two 40 lb kids and one 20 lb kid, so I get to mix up my weight a little. What is your favorite ab workout?

Cooking

I know we often think of cooking as just preparing ourselves for calorie consumption, but it also burns calories. As long as you're making something low in calorie, it can actually be pretty beneficial for you! Yesterday, my oldest, Brejden, requested some homemade strawberry jam. So as I was making potato salad, macaroni salad, hamburgers and hot dogs, I whipped up a 4 cup batch of jam. It took me two hours to get this all done! (Luckily my husband was home so I didn't have "help" from my children!) But, with those two hours of cooking, I burned 348 calories! At least it has some perks! The cooking doesn't include clean up or getting the kids ready for bed.....

 (The strawberry jam turned out pretty darn good!)

Bike Race

I had the opportunity to go to Beaver, Utah this past weekend (that's why I didn't post Thursday.... totally dropped the ball) and got to help with a huge bike race. It was a combination of professionals, amateurs, and beginners. It was 69 miles starting at an altitude of about 6000 feet and climbed up well over 10,000 feet. I was amazed and awed at these bikers! I have new respect for bike racers.

 Leisure biking burns 522 calories per hour. The fastest racer averaged 20 mph UP HILL!!! So he was burning somewhere around 1000 calories per hour. The  biker's legs were so toned, it made me jealous and guilty! It was a great experience and can't wait until next year to help out! (Next year I'll take sunscreen so I can avoid getting fried and blistered!)

Some good news!

I have now been working on this weight loss thing for almost a year! I can't believe it has really been that long. Sometimes I feel like I just started, and then I feel like I should be smaller then I am. I have some undiagnosed stomach issues that I have been dealing with since the summer between my Junior and Senior year of High school. I am still trying to figure out what is going on. Fortunately, I can't keep any food in me. But that also means that I have zero energy and I can't eat if I plan on going anywhere. Well, my stomach issues have started acting up again and I have been doing some testing to see what it is. I have been having this problem for about 8 weeks now. On the plus side, I have dropped a complete pants size in this time! I have also gone down in t-shirt sizes as well. I am excited for the loss, but frustrated at the lack of being able to exercise. I hope you are all doing great! I would love to hear about your successes as well!

A fun little swimming challenge

I had the opportunity to go to the lake with my family for three days. I have always enjoyed the lake (other then being in a swimming suit) and enjoy starting my kids into this family tradition. I had a few good opportunities to exercise, but in a fun way, so I thought I'd share and challenge you to enjoy your workout!

• I went kayaking with my Dad. My arms are so soar from it! I had Cartr between my legs and had to work extra hard to not hit him in the head with the bar on the paddles. We really had such a fun time! We were in the kayak for about an hour just traveling around the area.
• Kicking your feet while swimming. My sister and I decided to try and kick above the water! We were just trying to create a bigger splash, but it sure works out your legs!
• Swimming with using just your arms, or just your legs.

I hope you all are enjoying your summer! Thanks for your support!

Happy 4th of July!!

I hope you all enjoy your holiday! Just remember to count your calories!
Have a great day though!!!