Monday Motivation...Weigh in before Thanksgiving!

It's Thanksgiving week!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I love the holidays. Since we've had kids it's become even more fun....Making our own traditions and such...

BUT before all the eating and napping that WILL happen this week I needed to measure up!! It's also the end of my 30 day Paleo Challenge...I'd say I followed it about 80% of the time and it did make a huge difference.  

LEFT: October 16, 2013

Weight 177.0

Left Over Baby Belly: 38

Waist: 41

Hips: 45

Thigh: 25

RIGHT: November 19, 2013

Weight 169

Left Over Baby Belly: 37

Waist: 37

Hips: 43

Thigh: 24

That's a total loss of 8 pounds...and the MOST IMPORTANT PART.....8 INCHES!!!!!!!! It has been a LONG time since I've lost that many inches!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

BUT the BEST NEWS OF THE ENTIRE MONTH!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!

THOSE are the jeans I wore BEFORE I was married!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! And I actually wore them in public!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! And pealed them off as soon as I got home but still they are ON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I'm also 10 miles from my goal of 55 miles in November!!!! 

I run...a lot. And it's actually incredibly peaceful to run in the early morning.  However there are a few downfalls of my love of running.  I've stopped drinking alcoholic beverages..........GASP! I know...lame...But here's why...

1. I have 3 children with the oldest being 4....there's a 100% chance that I will be up no less than 2 times each night and a 99% chance I'll be required by my little gremlins to throw some cereal in a bowl and turn on a show BEFORE 7 a.m. I have not slept through the night since our babe was born 10 months ago. 

2. My love for running and feeling my clothes get looser and looser is SO MUCH MORE FULFILLING!!!!

3. A night of boozing it up with my friends ends in standing in our pantry...eating every cracker, cookie, or loaf of bread I can find...pants optional...........................................................................

Another downfall of my love of running is I miss nap time quite often...Being as cold as it is I don't like taking the babes with me as much so I go on Dana's lunch hour...mid nap time...by the time I run, shower, and eat lunch..the babes are up and ready to gremlin it up for the rest of the day. 

But it's so worth it.

I ran the 3 mile loop I run 3 days a week with my pace in the 8's for the FIRST TIME EVER!! Being that only 7 months ago I could hardly run ONE mile in 15:30 without puking after.............................That's pretty freakin good. 

I've been doing 5-1 minute planks for the last weekish...It's the longest minute of my life. That shit is hard. And Tyler thinks is GREAT fun.  

This challenge has ALMOST made me feel bad for the 3 minute plank I may or may not have made my volleyball team do...almost.......GI Jane wouldn't feel bad for them...

This is a new game...I put each kid on my legs and do leg lifts...I start with Tyler who is about 20 pounds and end with Zack who's pushing 45........ Tyler is to easy....Zack is to hard...Max is juuuuuuuust right. And he LOVES it. But Zack is the one that calls me out if I don't do them..."Mom...you didn't do your exercises with us....come on! It will be so fun!"

Having a membership at a gym with no childcare was NOT a good idea...So I make do with what I have...which is A LOT of small children...

Up next in the running department is a Turkey Trot on Thanksgiving Day...that's totally going to justify the shit ton of pumpkin pie I eat............... Holiday Hustle the first weekend in December...This one will be fun. We're taking the kids...I'm pushing 2 and Dana's pushing 1...I'm still going to beat him don't worry..........And we run through neighborhoods that are all decorated for Christmas...our stroller will have Christmas lights and jingle bells and be BLARING some Christmas music.  Then the following weekend is my first 10K!! Who says you can't run during the winter!?!

Here's some challenges I'm currently doing if anyone wants to join in the fun.

1. Plank...They suck..big time.

2. For the next month I am counting every single thing I put in my mouth on My Fitness Pal...Follow me! Sandrewsabc

3. Running...and more running. At least 12 miles/ week to be exact.

4. Starting the day after Thanksgiving and going through New Years Day I am streaking. Get your mind out of the gutter.............................................................Every day I will run and or do 30 minutes of some sort of workout.  I would really like to run and see how much of a streak I can do BUT I ran 6 days in a row last week and my knees were NOT happy with me. I feel better going every other day and doing something more low impact on the off days.   I read a blog the other day about a man that started a running streak and just celebrated his 2 years of streaking!! 2 full, solid years. Never missing a day.  He started as a 225 pound, out of shape dad and is now going strong as a 180 pound marathon running extraordinaire. It was pretty awesome. So streak on streakers!! 

Next week's post is going to be my New Years Resolution...basically how kick ass 2014 is going to be!!

Monday Motivation
Left: 169 Pounds...Exactly 40 pounds from when I started this blog.
Right: I stopped weighing myself a few weeks before when I tipped the scales at 225...And I still had a month before that sweet babe came into the world.

And yes...almost all of my "before" pictures I'm pregnant....If we don't have any babies in 2014 it will be my first calendar year of NOT being pregnant since we were married in 2008.......................................