5 lbs down!

Admittedly, not much difference in the side by side, but I lost 5 lbs this week! 

Logged every meal this week and my Apple Watch makes logging exercise a breeze. MFP is so great and I really appreciate all its functions the more I use it.

We have spent the last full week staying with my inlaws in Sioux Falls. We've definitely hit that wall. You know, the wall where they want you to go and you're gonna die if you don't have your own space back? They have been WONDERFULLY hospitable, but it's time.

We close on our new house in Micthell, SD on Monday (tomorrow!!) at 10am. I am SO excited to get in there and make some plans!!

Having brunch today with my mom who is visiting at our favorite spot,"Spezias." Already logged calories!

Happy Sunday!

Dead-On!

When you're tracking calories, it's super hard to hit right on target. So I always aim for about 5-50 under and know I did alright (still can't bring myself to see that - in MFP). 

I started doing IIFYM about 3 years ago after Owen was born and it was hard for me. I just never felt like I was hitting my macros close enough! Cause if calories weren't enough to worry about; protein, fat and carbs rounded out my diary anxiety. 

And then a funny thing happened today, MANY days after falling off the IIFYM wagon: I did it.

And I had milk, and cheese at lunch, a butter fill with breakfast and dinner dessert, but I also had grilled chicken and eggs and turkey. And it balanced. Within 3 on the macros and 20 on the calories is a WIN!!

In other news we made the kids watch Honey, I Shrunk the Kids and it was glorious.

C25K. Again.

The perk of moving up north is that, for the most part, summer is not a blazing unbearable inferno for 3 months. Of course the trade off comes in winter, but let's talk about that in February, ok?

So went I left the house after dragging my butt out of bed 8:30am, (Owen woke up at 4:50am and hung out for 30 minutes...) I was pleasantly surprised with the weather! 72 degrees, with daylight?!!! What is this sorcery?!! Oh, yeah, it's not Texas 😂.

I was planning just to walk for 45 minutes but I was spurred by the weather and decided to walk/jog. And one jogging session in, I realized I'm much more out of shape than I give myself credit for and probably ought to restart Couch to 5K. 

Man, I love this app. I was challenged but not terrorized. Enough so I almost did another run tonight! Almost.

Also used my Apple Watch run app for the first time and it worked great! Even synced with my fitness pal no problem!

And my car-loving 8 year old found this today. Important thoughts! 😊

The business of truth

There's nothing better than using Instagram to craft your perfect little life. People see what you want and not what you don't. This is me on Instagram currently:

(Buying lotion post tattoos-filtered and headshot)

(Sister's wedding shower-filtered and partially hidden on the sides)

(Playing golf-taken from above, tummy in, t & a out)

But this is the photo I didn't expect and it hit me like a train:

Yikes.

Not what I want to see. In my head when I picture myself (you do it too), I see this:

Whoa. Those look like 2 different people. This is from almost 2 years ago. I miss my hair (it's growing back) and def miss that bod, which I hated at the time. 

How did I get here? Of course, I could lie to myself about that accidental picture (bad light, no filter, taken from below) but it really just confirms what I already knew.

I'm unhealthy. I've gained 20 lbs in the last 2 years and that's not cool, peeps. I was SO unhappy at work and in life and I was just eating my way through the days, weeks and months. Exercise even fell away for me this year, which I really used to love and now I just feel uncomfortable when working out. I can FEEL the weight. 

So it's time to stop. Stop lying to myself and start being accountable for my actions. Remember that it's my responsibility to make me better, and there is no trick or magic potion. Put in the time, stop eating the junk and fix it. If not now, when? We just moved across the country! Blank slate! Now is the time. Stop the lies and let's make America great again! 😂

For real though. 185 lbs? Oh hell no. 

Post Cross/Pre Summer

We were in Mexico for a wedding last weekend (Bryan and Angie) and it was amazing in so many ways. Beautiful water, fabulous beaches, booze, food, booze, friends and booze. On the grooms side, it was a group of us who have known each other between 15 - 30 years and the crew from the bride's side was just as cool. 49 people, no drama. :)

And while I enjoyed so much of it, my fun was slightly tempered by my appearance. I look fine. I know that. I'm not delusional here, I'm not trying to be 120lbs or something. But having 9 months of warning that I would be spending a week in May in a swimsuit with some of my fittest, funnest friends seemed to do nothing to spur me on to be my best self. If anything, the time window seemed to large and like I had "plenty" of time. And once crunch time hit (April) I realized I didn't have enough to be where I wanted so I just said "whatever." Heaviest I've ever been. So, radical overhaul or just deal with it...Hmmm.

I've been doing CrossFit with Tim since Feb. I just don't love it. I want to. I'm doing ok, progressing a bit. The people are nice, but it just doesn't feel like me. I was like that in volleyball in MS/HS. I was ok at it. Played A Team, good serve and great at back-row. But I was never going to start. Never going to be the best. CF feels that way. I've got at least 20lbs on every girl there and and very scaled when doing my workouts. I know it's a process and I'll get there eventually, but with our move to SoDak and my knowledge that there isn't a box there has tempered my excitement.

Going in to summer, I'd like to just be consistent. Consistently good eating, consistent workouts, consistent housework. School is BANANAS busy right now, so I'll be glad when that's done. But we need to get the house on the market and plan the move. It's a lot of balls to juggle right now.

One day, one step at a time!

Bronchitis + Running = No Fun

The Cold & Flu season has hit the Randall household HARD in the past 7 days. Last week, Ben had a fever Monday - Wednesday and had to stay home because of it. You'd think that since I got an extra day off out of the deal that I would have put away the laundry before it had piled up to 2 weeks worth of clean baskets. You'd be wrong. :)

Tim has been home sick. The last 2 days which is how you KNOW it's bad. 'Cause in the 12 years we've been married, he's been sick twice. Literally. So I've had a few extra chauffeur duties this week, but otherwise the start of school after break has been pretty great.

Saturday, we had Area All-State Auditions in Abilene, TX. I go to this every year so it always seems like old hat. But THIS year, I had my OWN students singing! Because we've opened as a 4A campus, they were able to compete as a small school and it was AMAZING. In the end, 2 of the 3 kiddos that traveled with us made the Texas Music Educator's Association Small School All- State Choir. It's a HUGE deal! One of the best parts of the day was this Facebook message posted by a friend:

How cool is that?! She had 7 singers make it from her school, so she knows her stuff! Love my choir colleagues. 

This past Friday also marked the 1 year anniversary of my application to Northwest ISD for my new job. I didn't hate my previous position, but it was long since time for me to move on and it was a big step to admit that to myself. When I saw this today it reminded me of that feeling to take the first big step.

Happy Tuesday, y'all!

Short Runs

I started CrossFit in Feb. Mostly because the hubs was pushing me, partly because I've always wanted to. And really, I'm enjoying it. These were my On-Ramp workouts, which are designed to get you acclimated and slowly work up to the sheer insanity that is a box workout.

I'll be real though, I don't love it yet. I miss running long distances. Long runs are like therapy and I haven't done one since the Cowtown 1/2 in Feb. I suppose when I can see results though, I'll be happy. Yesterday for a "cool down" I was supposed to run an "say 1.5." I was like, SURE! LOVE to run! 

And then I sucked at it! Totally different muscles. But it was nice to get out there, even if it was just for 10 minutes.

I started logging my food again on MFP - That hasn't happened almost all year. And that is ALSO a struggle. I mainly blog for myself so I'm not surprised I've been so sporadic in the last 18 months. Truth is I haven't wanted to talk about me. I've been a mess. Work stuff mostly. And although my new gig at EHS has been great for SO many reasons, it didn't erase a lot of the issues. So I ate. Like a lot.

Like I've gained 15lbs since last March. Ladies and gents, that's a lot on a person my size and height.

We have a wedding coming up in May. Cancun. All-inclusive with our 5 closest couple friends from college. And most of the mamas still look like that. It's not that I'm jealous or embarrassed, I just want to feel comfortable.

I don't need a time machine, I just want to be my best self!

So, here I go. One day at a time, one step at a time.