Slow Cooker Black Bean Chicken Tacos

This meal was maybe the biggest hit so far.  It was super easy and full of flavor.  I didn't even start the crock pot until 2:30 and dinner was still ready by 6.  The rotel and black beans were combined and put on the bottom of the crock pot and the chicken seasoned and laid on top of the beans and rotel.  It cooks up very quickly, then you shred the chicken and add it back in for a little longer.  While we were at gymnastics, my husband made some brown rice and broccoli that was ready for us when we got home. The kids had their meal taco style in whole wheat tortillas with a little cheese and avocado.  They had rice and broccoli on the side- everyone cleaned their plates- and two of the four even had a second taco!  My husband liked it even more than the soup we had last week.  I had mine minus the tortilla- so rice, chicken, a little cheese and avocado.  Very yummy and will definitely go on our list to have again.

Today was a little different.  My plan today was to get up early and run because my littlest had a doctor appointment.  The problem with that always is that I don't want to wake anyone up any earlier than they need to be woken up.  So, after some thought, I decided to wait until after her appointment- I thought I'd have plenty of time between the appointment and when it was time to pick up our monkey from preschool.  Well, the appointment took a lot longer than I thought it would and as I was driving home, I was really having a mind battle- trying to talk myself out of doing the run.  I did have about an hour and a half so I did have enough time to do it, I really think I just didn't really have the desire to do it.  I hate when my mind gets in the way like that.  But, despite that, when we got home, I got the littlest settled in with a show and some milk and got on the treadmill.  I had a 45 minuted run scheduled for today, still following the 2 min run:1 min walk ratio and ended up averaging a 12:20 pace- very exciting!  So, my time is improving, and I'm anxious to see what my time looks like at the Tinker Bell half next weekend.

After tucking the kiddos in bed this evening, I also did JMBR workout 4.  Lots of squats and lunges in that one....always fun after putting my legs through that run just a few hours earlier....

Baked Chicken Parmesan Review

This was my first time trying out this meal and it turned out great.  It was very easy to put together and took less than 45 minutes from start to finish.  I love easy meals- it makes my life so much easier.  We had the chicken parmesan with a small serving of fettuccine and some sautéed yellow squash and zucchini.  While the kiddos were more than happy to finish off the chicken and noodles, they were hesitant on the veggies.  One of my kiddos even said "Mommy, where did you get the squash- I thought your plants were dead?"  He's referring to the squash and zucchini that we grew over the summer- I thought he'd be over the amount of squash he ate over the summer :)

This morning I ran intervals and cadence drills and then did a couple more miles.  I am still working off the Half Marathon with Jeff Galloway app for my phone.  That gives me 3 runs per week and then I am just adding in another run or two to make up the extra miles to complete my moon jogger miles for the week.

I have been wanting to get back to the Jillian Michaels Body Revolution for a while, but timing has not really worked out until now.  Tonight my husband joined me and we did our first workout in a while.  We had finished weeks 1 and 2 several weeks ago, so we decided to start with workout 3.  I forgot how tough that workout was.  Thankfully I do remember that the odd numbered workouts are harder than the even numbered workouts, so tomorrow should be easier :)

The Last Couple Weeks

Wow!  It has been so busy around here!  I kind of thought that when school started and we were in a routine that things would be a little more calmer.  A little more sane....well, nope!

I started my Jillian Michaels over again....ready for another 90 days of this challenge.  I'm loving that while doing the first couple weeks I feel so much stronger than the first time I did this challenge.  I love how much stronger I am feeling.  I really do like this program. So much that this is the third time I have done this program.  But the really nice thing about it (besides the fact that it is just 30 minutes a day) is the variety.  I have not been doing the cardio workouts because I have been running, so I just have the strength workouts, which I really like.  I will be doing a full 90 day before and after of inches and pounds lost.

I've been running 4 times a week, following the plan laid out for me by my TNT coach.  She's been great at working with me to meet my goals for the Tinker Bell half marathon in January, while also taking into account the half marathons that I have planned for this fall.

Speaking of half marathons this fall, I have two more coming up.  The first one is in less than two weeks!  I'm very excited to be running in the Inaugural Crawlin Crab Half Marathon on October 7.  I'm loving the cool, fall weather that we are starting to have in Virginia.  I am hoping that we are in for a great race in a couple weeks.  Next up will be Disney's Wine and Dine Half Marathon.  I'm really looking forward to being back at Disney to run, and this will be my first nighttime race.

I've been back to meal planning, which has been so helpful with helping me keep a little more balance in our busy schedule.  So far we've been pretty good at following a plan.  I have to say- I love how much easier our evenings seem to be when we have a plan.  And I am finding that my crock pot has become a permanent addition to my countertop- I've been using that most- I love being able to fix it and forget it!  Last nights Crock Pot Chicken and Rice was another big success.  I'm really lucky, my kiddos love broccoli, so I can pretty much make that our side vegetable every night and they'll eat it up. But, when I try out new ways to cook chicken, it can go either way.  This one they liked- the littlest one especially loved the rice part!

Other news- my great pal at Run Find your Happy Pace and I decided to start our own business Running Happy.  We make non-slip headbands and also extremely adorable runner decals!  Stay tuned for more....and if there is something you'd like to see us carry, suggestions are welcome :)

So, the kiddos and I are finding our balance again amidst school schedules, after school activities, homework, running, JMBR, and meal planning.  I am still working on what seems to be my best weekly schedule so that I can use my time wisely and not end up just wasting it....those 12 hours to myself a week really go by fast!

And on track...

At least so far (it is only Monday!). I stayed up way too late last night and had a little trouble waking up, but I am glad I ran first thing. It definitely helped me wake up. This evening I started week 1 of Jillian Michaels Body Revolution again. I felt really good during the workout. I used heavier weights to have more of a challenge. I am looking forward to seeing what kind of results I see over the next 90 days.  For the first JMBR that I did (up to week 10), the total loss is 22.6 pounds and 28.5 inches.  I'm pretty happy with this considering that I did fall off track part of the way through and did have trouble getting focused. So now I am starting new with numbers and we'll see where this second attempt at the full 90 day program goes.  I'm hoping that a more relaxed summer schedule (well, at least the kiddos don't have school!)  will help me be able to keep up with the workouts and be ready for fall half marathons!

Starting Again....

So, I've made it to JMBR Phase 3. But, I've had a really hard time keeping up these past two weeks. I think that Jillian may have over-estimated my abilities when she designed phase 3 :) So tomorrow I will be going back to phase 1 and work through the 90 days again. This will put me finishing around mid-September. I am hoping that by starting again when I get to phase 3 this time I will be able to complete the whole 90 days. I do have a final weight loss and inches loss for the time I did JMBR this round. I will post that soon- not sure of the totals right now. I am planning to start a new set of measurements for this round. The plan is still to do running in the morning and JMBR in the evening. I got in several miles last week and I am still focusing on speed and I am planning on a long run at some time this week or weekend.

I don't have a meal plan laid out yet for this week. I've got a couple things that didn't get cooked last week, so I may be cooking a couple of those recipes. I am planning on some zucchini pizzas that I found on skinnytaste. I am actually having some success with my garden (for the first time ever!), so we are starting to have some yummy veggies to eat. Though my younger boys are starting to make faces when I tell them we are having zucchini....they do seem excited to start getting tomatoes though- the first of those should be ready this week. As the weather really starts to heat up, I don't usually like to cook as much. This summer I am planning on more salads. I have one kiddo who really loves salads, so just 3 more to win over!

Sunday Meal Planning

So baseball is done- we had a great season, and Caleb really enjoyed it, so I am so glad that we did it even though it did make our lives a little hectic over the past couple of months. One of the things that suffered the most was our meal planning. I tried in the beginning but when we started with rainouts and make up games it just got to be a little too much. I'd have a plan and then it'd get changed at the last minute, so eventually I decided that it was better just to do the best we could.

But this week we are back to normal-ish, so back to meal planning.....

Monday: Broccoli and cheese stuffed chicken

Tuesday: Quick dinner (open house for the two oldest at school)

Wednesday: Crusted honey mustard chicken

Thursday: Leftovers

Friday: Chicken Cordon Bleu

Saturday: Hot dogs (hopefully following a fun outside day!)

Sunday: Leftovers or Kids' choice

This week also starts a new summer schedule for me. My kiddos still have 2 weeks left of school, but I am going to start a new training schedule for the fall halfs that I have coming up. I also have a couple things planned for the summer months, I am still planning on a half a month. Those halfs will be very low key- I am really working towards more of a time goal for my fall halfs, so that is what I'm concentrating on. When it comes to my summer halfs, I am thinking that I may split the distance over a couple different runs- maybe in the same day, maybe two different days. I just don't want to push so hard that I can't meet my ultimate goal that I have in place for the fall.

I am also going to go back to evening workouts for JMBR. I have found that time works so much better for me when it comes to that. So starting tomorrow I am planning on running in the morning and JMBR in the evening. I am really hoping that will work well for me.

It's Diva Weekend

Another month, another half :) The car is packed and I'm ready- well, the car is packed...

In just a bit, I'll load up my littlest one (and the real diva of the bunch!) and my Find Your Happy Pace friend and I will go and pick up my other monkeys from school and start out on our drive. We'll be meeting up with my mom (who will take over the monkeys) and my sister around dinner time and then Mom and monkeys will head back to my parent's house for the weekend and sister, friend and I will continue on to Run Like a Diva. The race is Sunday, so we'll have time to explore the expo and hang out for a bit on Saturday before consuming our pre-race fajitas (a new tradition that started in Disney World) and getting to bed early. If you are running this weekend, good luck! Can't wait to hear about your experience :)

In other exciting news this week, I completed Phase 2 of JMBR. It was a good phase, not a great one for me. I really hit that lull during this phase and definitely did not put forth my best effort all the time. But, not quitting really is key sometimes- just getting it done is what matters. Phase 3 will start on Monday. But, here are the numbers: this week, I lost 3.2 pounds, total for phase 2- 10.6 pounds and 9.5 inches overall. I'm still really liking this program, it is challenging and I am really excited to have the consistent results :)

Weigh In, Meal Planning, Week Planning.....

Sometimes it all seems to run together-especially in our house. Friday I did weigh in, down 2.6 pounds- brining the total to 40 pounds in 19 weeks. I am proud of that, but I am still fighting my lull. I'm hoping that this week will be a turning point. The Diva half marathon is only 2 weeks away, so I'm still preparing with that along with starting week 7 of JMBR and that means the second half of phase 2, along with two more workouts.

Meal planning for the week:

Monday- baseball practice so an early dinner- stuffed chicken with broccoli

Tuesday- gymnastics and then baseball game so dinner on the go

Wednesday- spinach lasagna roll ups

Thursday- gymnastics and a meeting, so dinner on the go again

Friday- turkey burgers

Saturday- kids' choice

Sunday- leftovers

Hopefully I'll have a little more down time this week, but it's not really looking that way...so with that I'm headed to bed early to prepare for tomorrow's workout.

Friday Weigh In

Down 2.2 today, total is 37.4. I know that the meal planning has really helped this week because my mind has not been on exercise. I've done the workouts, but I have not really given my all. The week started off strong on Monday, but fell apart a little starting Tuesday and went completely downhill from there.

Workout 6 was also pretty good. The running man exercise showed up as one of the cardio intervals- yuck! Although- when I do try to do the workout when my kids are awake, they do love that one. Not sure why!

Sunday is the March of Dimes walk (still time to donate if you'd like!). I hope my older two are ready for the 5 mile walk- there are a lot of kids walking with us, so it should be a fun time! Then I am hoping for a better week next week- everyone has an off week now and then- the important this is what you do after the rough week, right?

Workout 5 and an interval run

Wow- it was tough. I've been reading some other people's blogs as they post about JMBR and also checking out the JMBR Facebook page. It seems to be the consensus that odd number workouts are harder than even numbered ones. I'm thinking that is proving to be true. My arms are really going to feel this workout tomorrow. She also added in a yoga stretch warmup and that was interesting to me. I've never done any yoga, so I don't have anything to compare it to, but I felt like it was a nice warm up.

I was fortunate today to get to talk with a friend that I've know for several years. We were able to catch up for a bit after dropping our kids off at preschool. Yes, our kids go to the same preschool, but we rarely get the chance to catch up. Thanks to carpooling neighbors, I am usually only at the school once a week. And until recently I only picked up kiddos once a week, so the craziness of getting5 kids into the car after school did not lend itself to getting to hang out and talk a bit as you can imagine.

We were talking about running and I was telling her that I am wanting to really concentrate on speed improvement. She mentioned that she also does a running interval workout that has really helped with her speed. So I tried that out tonight after finishing workout 5. Each interval is one minute and this is what I did:
4 mph, 5 mph, 4 mph, 6 mph. 4 mph, 7 mph, 4 mph,6 mph,4 mph,5 mph, 4 mph (repeat)

This was not easy. I was very excited to get through the 7 mph minute. I barely made it through that minute, so I will attempt a faster speed at a later date! After thanking her for the suggestion, I asked if that was right (it'd been several hours since we talked about it and I tend to jumble numbers on occasion). She actually said that what she does is this: 4.5, 5, 4.5, 5,5 4.5, 6... Continuing up to 9 mph, and going back to 4.5 as the base but increasing at half mile increments instead of mile ones. And then repeats. So I'll try that next. Still not sure about over 7 mph, but I do know with time I will get there!

Sunday Thoughts and Refocusing

So I'm meal planning for this week. It's been a while since I actually did a meal plan for the week. My oldest's baseball schedule has really thrown a wrench into the meal planning. This week we still have a very busy week around here, but I know I need to have a plan in place to continue to be successful. So, here we go:

Monday: Baseball practice- means picnic dinner for the kiddos and a salad on the go for me :)

Tuesday: Gymnastics- Taco night, something easy and quick to have when we get home.

Wednesday: Baseball game- Chicken Pot Pockets from Hungry Girl for yummy fuel before the game

Thursday: Gymnastics followed by Baseball game- This will be a dinner on the go for the kiddos and then I will plan to eat when we get home from baseball.

Friday: Broccoli and Cheese Stuffed Chicken from SkinnyTaste a favorite for all

Saturday: I have a 31 party and the kiddos will have a babysitter, so they luck out and get to choose what's for dinner.

Sunday: Leftovers

Ok, so onto my thoughts...I have completed 4 half marathons this year so far. My next one is in 4 weeks. I am thinking that I may take a break for the summer. I don't have any official races on the schedule- I haven't found any offered locally during the summer (don't know why- I think it's fun to run when it's 90 degrees outside...). My original plan was to go out and run the 13.1 distance, time it myself and that was going to count as my personal half. The plan was to do it in the evening (a little cooler) or early morning. I still may do this, but I really want to concentrate on speed and when I do a half, it has usually taken me about a week to get motivated to train again. Which then only leaves me about three weeks to get ready for the next race. With that happening, I have found it hard to focus as much on speed as I would like to. So, I am still trying to make a plan and now focusing more training time on my next half, the Diva Half Marathon in N Myrtle Beach.

Tomorrow I start phase 2 of JMBR. I'm looking forward to seeing what workouts 5 and 6 are like this week as well as starting a new cardio workout. My plan is to run tomorrow (long interval day) and also do workout 5 of JMBR.

What do you do when you feel like you need to change up a plan (and a goal) you've set for yourself? I am having a little trouble- feeling like I am not up to the challenge I set for myself, but I also want to do my best to improve speed and I am not sure how to do that when I am missing about a week of training every week because of recovery. Thoughts?

JMBR Phase 1 Complete!

I am so excited to report that I am done with phase 1 of JMBR and thrilled with the results so far! The way the program is designed I have not gotten bored with the workouts at all- it's been fun and a lot of hard work. I did cardio 1 along with the strength workouts most days. Either that or I did my running intervals. I am ready to see what workouts 5 and 6 are like along with a new cardio workout as well.

This week I am down another 3.8 pounds (one of my highest weeks ever in this journey). This makes my total for 17 weeks 35.2 pounds! I wish I'd taken measurements when I very first started, but I didn't think about it. But, I did take measurements when I started JMBR, and on phase 1, I have lost 9.2 pounds and 19 inches overall! Very exciting and I am looking forward to phase 2 and to becoming closer to my goals!

Dismal Swamp Stomp Half Marathon

For me personally, it was not great. Somewhere between Thursday when I posted and Saturday morning (race day), I completely lost all motivation for this race. I just was not mentally prepared and that really messed this race up for me. Like always, I got all of my stuff together the night before. The only thing I didn't check was that my ipod was charged (big mistake!). The kiddos had spring break this week, so I've been a little off schedule with training and we had the long weekend out of town. Not to mention, I had been at the doctor twice with the littlest one who ended up with an ear and sinus infection. I had a little of a pesky cough earlier in the week that had become pretty regular by Friday. So I was not feeling 100% to begin with, making this race hard to get into mentally.

Saturday morning I went next door to meet my neighbors who were running also. We got to the race site at about 6:30 am (race time was 8:00), since we were so early, we just hung out in the car for a bit because it was 37 degrees outside. This was the smallest half marathon I've done with only 774 finishers. We got out of the car and headed to the start (after a stop at the porta potties). No fireworks at this start- just a countdown and we were off.

The course was a straight out and back. And I mean straight- when I plugged in my watch to download my times, the gps of the course is a straight line. It was a nice area to be in- I'd never visited the dismal swamp area before (and with a name like that, I don't know why?!). I was coughing a lot on the way down in the morning and my throat was starting to hurt. But I got started and went to turn on my ipod- nothing. Absolutely nothing. Never again will I think that I've got enough charge on it to not charge it before a race. I tried to be positive. I've never run a race without music- maybe it would be okay. The first couple miles were ok- I wasn't too bored, got to chat with a few people along the way. Then between coughing and one of my knees starting to hurt I began to set aside any ideas I had for this race (I was thinking I'd have a new PR after this one- after all, I've improved with every race). I decided to walk until I felt better and then try running again.

I settled into a good walking pace and was able to actually look around and enjoy the scenery around me. I saw so many butterflies- that was really neat. I passed a porta potty with a "no dumping" sign beside it (I took a picture, but the camera messed up on my phone and it was lost). Someone had a sense of humor when placing that porta potty. It was a nice day to be out for a run or walk, which made this no music 13.1 miles a little easier to stomach. I ended up mostly walking this one, but still finished at 3:29:47. Not great, but I didn't quit (something I considered more than once). Evidently I only set PRs at the ocean or at Disney :)

I started week 4 of JMBR. It is the final week of phase 1, workouts 3 and 4 again. I did workout 3 yesterday and it was rough, but I'm very glad I worked through it. I will start running again on Wednesday. I did not run as much between the shamrock half marathon and the dismal swamp and I really do want to set a new PR at the diva in May, meaning I have a little over 4 weeks to get more training in. So I am going back to running first thing in the morning and then doing JMBR in the evening.

Weigh in was Friday, and I was down 1.4 pounds. Not bad considering our weekend out of town. I am really looking forward to my weigh in and measurement on Friday since that will be the end of JMBR phase 1.

100 Days In

Today marks 100 days into the deployment. 100 days, 30ish pounds, 90 some miles, 3 half marathons, week 3 of JMBR. One day at a time- that's really the only way to do this. Today was day 18 of JMBR. Workout 3 again- it really seemed so much harder than on Tuesday when I did it last. I was considering doing cardio 1 again today, but it didn't happen- I was completely beat after workout 3.

Tomorrow I will be picking up my packet for the Dismal Swamp Stomp and getting all of my stuff prepared for the race on Saturday. I'm not nervous for this race at all- the weather is supposed to be very nice, which is always a plus for race day! I have a goal time in mind, but I'm not sure how that is going to pan out this time since I haven't been running as much as I usually do between races. But we will see!

I found this today: Joggermom Marathon 2012. Basically it is a virtual marathon. You don't have to run it all at one time (thank goodness!), but you log all 26.2 miles within the month of May. I figure I'm already running the Diva half near the end of May, so I'll be halfway there with that! I wanted to pass this information along to anyone else who might be interested though! Let me know if you decide to do it.

Days 15, 16 & 17

We were out of town over the weekend for Easter, it was busy a busy weekend and I didn't get a workout in while we were out of town, but I've caught up on the workouts for the week. Day 15 was week 3, workout 3- it was a tough one. It was a real step up from workouts 1 and 2. I added in cardio 1 because I missed it over the weekend (supposed to have done that on day 13). Day 16 was week 3, workout 4- I'm not sure if it was easier or harder than workout 3. Also added in cardio 1, which caught me up on all of the workouts up to this point. I really like that the program is designed so that you do each workout 4 times- it definitely keeps it interesting. I'm lucky this week- my youngest sister is here visiting and she's been doing the workouts with me, so it's been fun to have a partner in these couple days- makes the doing the cardio workout a little more fun- that's the only one that is getting a little old, but what wouldn't get old when it's been done 14 times?

Saturday is the Dismal Swamp Stomp half marathon. I'm hoping it is a good run- I haven't run as much as I usually do following the Shamrock half last month, but with doing the cardio from JMBR, I have noticed better stamina when running the intervals this past few weeks. The course for the dismal swamp is supposedly flat- that should help a lot :)

Days 10 & 11

Yesterday was a cardio 1 day.  I was able to get up and get that done before getting the rest of the day started.  I like cardio 1- it is broken up into three parts (at least that is how I see it).  You go through a rotation of 8 exercises and do each of them 3 times each.  So I look at each set of 8 exercises as an individual part.  So as I am going through cardio 1 I am just focused on getting through each part.

This morning was workout 1 again.  I don't mind workout 1- this will be the last time for this workout for this session.  I am looking forward to seeing what kind of workout takes the place of this one.  I'm closing in on finishing week 2, next week brings new workouts- no chance to get bored!

One thing I am finding after these two weeks- I think I will have to go back to doing the workouts at night.  I have found that I am having a hard time waking up and in turn I am having a hard time giving my all in the mornings.  During week 1 when I was doing the workouts at night I was having a little trouble falling asleep at the beginning of the week, but as the week went on I was not having as much trouble.  I always thought I would be a morning workout person and I am still finding that when I run, I prefer to run in the mornings.  But, there is something about JMBR and my journey with it that I am finding that evening workouts are going to be better.  I think it may have to do with the amount of concentration it takes on my part to complete the workouts.  When I run, I can start off a little foggy and then become more focused, but with JMBR you really need to be focused from the start.

Kiddos and I are headed out of town tomorrow morning (after I finish my workout), and I am planning on taking JMBR with me along with the extras needed to complete the workouts.  Because of heading out of town, I did my weigh in this morning- getting everything ready and packed and all, there is a chance I would forget in the morning, so I did it this morning.  Down 2.6 this morning, making the total for 15 weeks 30 pounds :)

Finally Woke Up

This morning in time to do my workout in the morning! I was having a hard time falling asleep at night after evening workouts. So as hard as it was to pull myself out of bed this morning, I finally did it and was able to do my day 9 workout (workout 2 again) before having to get kiddos out the door to school. I don't mind workout 2 much- I don't know that I would say it was easier than workout 1- just different muscle groups. My plan was to also do cardio 1 again this morning, but I did not have time to get that in. I was considering doing it tonight, but I want to be able to fall asleep at a decent hour and get up in the morning to do cardio 1 and an interval run, so I am going to skip that this evening. Doing double workouts past week 1 is not part of the plan, I was just planning on adding in the extra cardio on days I wasn't running just for a bonus workout. So tomorrow back on schedule- we have an evening free from our crazy schedule, so I plan to take advantage of that by cooking something healthy and yummy :)

Day 8

So today started week 2 of JMBR. The first week was filled with double workouts. Yesterday was a very nice break and much needed day off! Today was back to workout 1. Since there was no assigned cardio, I went back to my running schedule. Bonus of the week of cardio workouts- I was able to do short interval workout #1 running at a 10 min/mile pace :) I'm thrilled with that! Looking for another personal record at the Dismal Swamp Stomp half marathon in less than 2 weeks!

Friday Weigh In

Down 1.4 today.  I was thinking it might be more with adding in JMBR, but I'm not disappointed at all- I'm also tracking measurements that I will share at the end of phase one and those I'm very pleased with this week!  I'm just so excited that I've been eating right and I've managed to get in every workout as well so far this week.  Next week I am looking forward to getting my workouts back to a morning schedule.  I really wanted to start on Monday, which threw me into nightly workouts for this week, but I am one who really does better with morning workouts.  I don't like getting up early, but when I work out at night, I have trouble falling asleep.  Not because I'm not tired, because I am- I just can't seem to turn my brain off!  So, two more days and I will be done with week 1- a very fast week all things considered!

4 Down, 86 To Go

Day 4 of JMBR is behind me. On the schedule tonight- workout 1 and cardio 1, basically a repeat of Monday's workout. I am happy to have it behind me. This workout was by far the hardest for me to get started. This evening we said good bye to one of the great families on our street. They are off on a brand new adventure, and I am very excited to follow them via facebook and their wonderful blog. I will miss them, but that isn't why it was hard for me to get started. This little guy was the reason:

We said goodbye to our neighbors and headed home (no tears, just happy goodbyes). I got Sophie changed and tucked in and went to tuck in Tyler and Garett and poor little Garett man was just crying. You see, he loves Miss Sue (she gives gum, has a tape measure in her purse and tells awesome stories- what more can you want?). I don't think he understood until today that they were moving and that she wasn't going to live just down the street and would not be able to take him to preschool and gymnastics. We talked, I hugged him and told him that we'd still be able to read about what Miss Sue would be doing on the computer and that she'd probably even share pictures once in a while. He seemed ok. I hugged Tyler and then went to tuck in Caleb. I got my clothes changed and soon all I heard was Garett crying again. I went to try to comfort him, gave him hugs again and he seemed to be settled. I went downstairs to get started, got my water and I heard him crying again. I was really at a loss as to what to do next. So, even though I didn't want to bother our neighbors (they were trying to get everything out of the house), I felt like the only thing I could do was to let him say goodbye again. So, I walked Garett down the street so that he could get one more hug from his special friend. She gave him a pack of gum (totally awesome in Garett's eyes!) and they talked for a minute or so and we headed back home. It seemed to work, he was able to be calm enough to go to sleep.

So after all that, I finally forced myself to get started. I was a little drained after watching my little one cry- I hated that part. But I worked through and I am glad I did- I really want to commit to everyday of this 90 day plan. I know that things may possibly come up outside of my control, but I am not planning on missing one. Weigh in day tomorrow...wonder what that will bring...I've been following the JMBR page on facebook. It is encouraging to see the progress of people who have been doing this longer, I am anxious to see how my body changes during this process as well.