End of the Month Review

It is almost the end of the month and granted that I started this project half way through the month I feel pretty good about the way it has started. I understand that portion control will always be my struggle because face it we all love to eat what we like. Plus making the healthier choices when I get the chance to eat and not fall back into bad habits. I hope to continue making meals at home and once we get to eat at the same table it will be nice to have family meals again. That is what I am looking forward to when we move.

The next month is De-Clutter Month for me, on top of this on going Healthier Me month. So I won't be posting my daily food log but instead how the declutter project goes. I will be keeping my food log but going back to the good ol' paper and pen method. So I will try to keep everyone update how life goes and I am really excited to start the declutter part because hopefully soon we are going to move. So if anyone wants any of our stuff, I will post some of the things that are still good condition that we just have to get rid of so it is up for grabs. If you can haul it you can have it, but it has to go before we move in :-)

Tuesday's Weigh In, Wk 2

I went to my mother's again for Jayna's preschool day and used it as my usual weigh in day....143lbs. As usual I had the struggles with the scale as before, but this time it was fluctuating between 142 and 143, so I will take 143 as the weigh for this week. Happy with that progress even if I haven't been doing the treadmill yet, but I have to say doing the stairs in the addition is a work out by itself too. I guess it will pay off to have the laundry on the second floor. I just hope the school nights and late night study sessions don't overtake my eating habits.

A New Chapter In Life

What a difference a week really makes in your life. I started my classes yesterday and was a bit scared before starting them because I haven't done a chat online class before. Well I have come to the realization that online classes are just like physical classes. There are still a few students that like to talk to hear themselves talk, except this time I have to read them in a chat room. It will be interesting how this works out.

I hope this time around classes will be more interesting too. Chris says this is my last time in school so do it right. I guess you can say that and two year seems like forever, but really time flies now...look January is almost over and the weather is getting warmer too. It is weird to say that I am in graduate school. The pressure is on even more to succeed because with this economy jobs are slim. My class has 21 students in it, so that means there are 21 other people to fight for jobs when I am done here. My only luck is that half of them already have jobs and need to licenses to keep them.

So I have to focus now and live one day at a time right.

Tuesday -- First Weigh In

Even after my disastrous weekend and self doubt, the scale read 144 lbs today at my folks house. So it would seem to be that I still was able to lose 1.5 lbs. Not sure how I feel about that one but I also have to mention the scale dilemma.

The first time I got on the scale it said 143 lbs and then I remembered my mom saying that you should weigh yourself twice so I stepped on it again...143 lbs again. YEAH!!! Okay just to make sure it wasn't a fluke, I weighed myself again before I left...146.5 (WHAT). So I did what every person would do, I went to the bathroom and took off my hoodie. Then the scale said 144 lbs and to make sure again I weighed myself twice (144). Not to be paranoid, but then I weighed myself with the hoodie on again 146.5 and with it off again 144. So I am officially going with 144 lbs.

I know most if not all of it is water that my body is shedding but your body has to get rid of the icky stuff right? I will take it no matter what it is...1.5 lbs is better than nothing. Now I have to just keep focused and not get stressed about starting classes again.

First Weekend

I have come to the realization that I can not start this transformation if my treadmill is not down. Cutting back on what I want to eat just isn't cutting it when I don't get to see any results either. I knew from the start that exercise was needed if anything was going to happen and I knew that. Plus this weekend without Chris around was going to be extra difficult because I wouldn't have any help with the kids and you know what? That is exactly what happen, I was able to focus on getting anything healthy on the table so I resorted back to bad habits, but I did realize on thing about myself. Portion control is an issue but snacking really isn't.

I think that is why watching what I eat is so difficult. I don't snack between meals which then leaves me hungry at lunch and dinner and then I overeat then. So in actuality, my calories probably are that bad off just not eating the healthiest things. So I think if I can get those healthier things on my plate then it really wont matter if I am overeating, because I will be overeating on the healthier stuff. I think I might have to try the volumetric cookbook again. That book has great recipes because the portion sizes are HUGE. I like the healthy things too, but they are time consuming and when time is pinched fall back premade meals are easy to grab.

Final thought...after a week of eating really good, I have found that I had less headaches and as soon as I ate crap again I had a headache right away. This could be because Chris came home too :-)

Kids + Cleaning = Headache

I know kids are hardwired to hate chores. Boy do I know I did, but where is the line between slackers and being too demanding? I get to hear all about not paying your kids for chores and how chores should be enforced but in a positive way. Heck, chores are chores and even adults don't want to do them. So how am I suppose to get kids to help out?

During my girls' time away, I put together a chore chart for the kids to work with to earn rewards. Each chore has a ticket value amount and the rewards also have a ticket value. The kids get two tickets a day just for their regular morning school routine; like getting up from bed in time without whining and getting out to the bus without my constant nagging. I figured this was a good amount for Nick who likes to play video games and so forth. Plus I built in larger rewards for Jasmine to work toward like a sleep over with a friend.

My question to that one....do you think it will work out? I know there is some work on my part but if this helps me with the constant nagging for them to help around the house and helping curb the excessive video/computer game time I can suffer through the handing out the tickets. I had tried working the allowance thing like Suzie Orman said to do with Jasmine, because I don't believe just handing out money to the kids for whatever. I think there should be some responsibility to how it is earned and spent, but once Jasmine found out that she would have to work to buy things she realized quickly she didn't want to buy anything. Then she found a way to get Grandma and Grandpa to buy them or Chris would just give her money. He doesn't think kids should do chores for money.

I am not saying I am having the kids work to get their essential things in life, but if Jasmine wants a pack of gum or more Bella Sara cards, why not work then. I am not making them work to get food on the table or to have toothpaste to use, but if they want the fancy toothpaste maybe.

I figured if I tie their rewards to what they wanted to do everyday then they would maybe do a chore or two because they could get instant rewards. I hope this works because watching the dirt and grim build up is frustrating. Plus I know it will only get worse once we get into the addition. Plus I remember growing up having a list of chores that I was in charge of doing when extra help is needed and I think that is okay too. There is no reason kids can't help out when extra help is needed because something special might be happening too without getting a reward. I hope I don't fall into the dread, "well do I get a ticket for doing that" scenario.

Day Five :-(

Not the best of days when it comes to watching what I am suppose to eat, but Hey it could be worse right? Or am I really fooling myself. Everything is way more stressful when half of your partnership is gone and the responsibility of the family totally weighs on your shoulders. I know even when Chris is here I still have to do all of the cooking myself, but at least I have the help of distracting the kids. Plus Chris is my financial conscience and when he is away my wallet flies open. At least when he is home, I feel obligated to stay home and cook a meal, not get fast food.

Like tonight, I had double duty to do; to entertain the kids as well as feed them. So what do I do? I head out to a play land and grab fast food on the way there. I know I could have gotten a healthier choice meal at the fast food place, but when you have four kids yelling their orders at you and a line of people behind you wanting to order time is an issue. Don't forget the cashier taking your order that has the "welcome to Wendy's, how may I help you" monotone speech and an expression that screams kill me now or my arteries will. So I due what every typical mother does in this situation...I order as quickly as I can (making sure Jasmine doesn't get that double bacon cheeseburger she wants) and order the first thing my eyes land on, and that so happens to be my comfort, having a bad day, eat in my car chicken sandwich #7 on the menu with a coke.

Before I knew it, half my sandwich is gone and I am working through my fries, but this time I catch myself and stop on the fries AND toss the rest of my coke. But that chicken sandwich was GOOD!!! All I can say is the night was fun, and trying to squeeze myself through the play land (Eagle's Nest) obstacles was challenging but at least I did that a little. I think if I try to keep up to my kids just half of the time they spend running around, this exercise thing will be a piece of cheese(cake :-).

Day Four

Thursday...what can I say some times being a wife is just like having another kid. I know that the life of a wife isn't glorious and the things we need to do are things no one else will do. I thought it was enough to have my four kids in order...that includes clothes, baths, and eating. Why do I have to make sure my husband gets packed for HIS weekend away from the family. Frustrating how that works and then it is my fault when his clothes don't make it into HIS suitcase. I don't remember him packing my bags for my weekend away. Oh well enough venting, getting ready to move is already weighing us down.

The entire basement has become our dumping grounds but once we no no let me rephrase that I start organizing things where are we suppose to put it? The kids stuff can't go in their rooms yet and as well as the rest of the house. Isn't the purpose of cleaning is to find a spot for everything? So what happens when the spot for the stuff is in our addition, then I am left just shuffling things around and getting more frustrating as the seconds go. Plus having to do it with little kids under feet doesn't go well since Tony repeatedly shows us that stairs are still too dangerous for him. Once again when I though Chris was watching him, Tony tumbled down the stairs.

I have to let it go, because stress isn't suppose to be good on the body either. So deep breaths!!! Okay I am good again...too bad I am not suppose to have that glass of wine:-)

Day Three

Hump Day is that what they call it for the work week...well I am naming that for my starting week. Still haven't gotten on my treadmill, but I have a wonderful Aunt that has offered to watch my crazy kids for a few days a week so I can get out and exercise. (There goes my excuse now :-) Now I am hoping to schedule something out that works. I also bought the latest BL 30 jump start book and they give you some great ideas of workouts that doesn't include machines. I figure if I am really hard up I can always walk the stairs for the 10 minutes for the cardio the book suggestions.

I am going to be really creative to get this cardio in, I am motivated to get some success this year. I am not disappointed by last years results by all the means. I lost 11 lbs last year in the first two months and have kept it off even with me falling off the wagon and the holidays. So anything else I can add to that total is great.

Day Two

Okay here it is starting weight...145.5 lbs but you have to remember I am only 5'1" and shrinking folks. I think along time ago I looked at one of those BMI things and I should be somewhere around 120-130. So that is my goal (oooops task) to be 10% smaller soon and we will go from there. I think it is due able and as soon as I can get some cardio into my days we should be set.

My ideal day would be to wake up before the kids and get the cardio in, get some peace & quiet, and me time in before my day starts. I think this will help a lot toward clearing my head, and I am for sure know that will happen once the addition gets done. So until then I just have to be creative on how I am going to get the cardio in on my days. I think I am going to have to mall walk it for now. If anyone has suggestions, that would be great.

So here we go...

Day One

It is the beginning a new Dynasty. I will have to let you know where I am starting tomorrow because I don't own a scale and probably never will. I don't want to turn into a obsessive person weighing myself every time I go to the bathroom and I know that I have to ability to do just that. So I usually use the days I have to go to my mother's as weigh in days. The first day is always hard trying to change a bad habit.

I didn't get a chance to use my treadmill...okay I can't use excuses because for me it is 100% pure laziness. Looking at my treadmill and having to move my lazy boy chair and plug that darn thing in is it like asking me to climb a mountain with a boulder strapped to my back. I know I have to start doing that to ensure any progress in this journey and Jess T from scrapbooking had a wonderful idea to do the corepoweryoga thing, but I can't get pass the kid thing. My folks are leaving for the next three weeks and I can't really count on Chris to come home at a decent time, so I have to suffer through my dislike of the treadmill for now.

Happiness Eve

I just got back from a great weekend of scrapbooking and relaxing, and now I have to get prepared for my journey that starts tomorrow. Now I just have to get Chris on the same page. I came home to find that he had disappeared with two of my kids, and Jasmine didn't know where he was. It is kind of frustrating to come back to reality and see that nothing has changed and to see my detailed list of things that needed to be accomplished didn't get finished. Now Nick doesn't have his project finished for Monday and they aren't going to get any sleep either because they are stuck up in Virgina.

It was pretty much the same from all of the girls at the retreat about their husbands, but why is it that we let them off the hook or that we figure we have to live with it? I hope that I am able to refocus on my project here and get this train wreck back on course. I, for sure can, tell you after a weekend away I really missed my kids and Tony is a riot.

Snowy Days

It is never easy to do anything when you try to plan out your days. Something is always coming up like the snow today. Getting all the kids together and Chris set up for the weekend was going to be a challenge enough, but now you throw the snow into it and Yuck. Not really in the mood to set up the meals so I know the kids get meals to eat or make the lists of what Chris needs to do inorder to get the kids off to school tomorrow. On top of all the planning needed, poor Nick got one of his bloody noses in the middle of the night. So he didn't get the sleep he needed for school today. I am hoping getting into the new house helps with that too. The blowing air of the furnace really reeks havoc on the nose.

So today I still had to fun errands but didn't really feel like running to a bunch of stores with the two younger ones. So I opted to go the the versatile Target and spend a few extra dollars to get it done in all one spot only to spend more than I wanted on stuff we didn't need yet. Why does Target do that to you. It is almost like it has a way to open your wallet for you. Then I get home to find out that my IPOD doesn't work anymore. So no road tripping music for me, and I am not sure if I want to buy another one or not. I guess that can be my January Resolution reward if I stick to my plan. We will see...it just so happens that my treadmill has an ipod dock on it to listen to your music. So as I am frustrated that a $300 piece of technology doesn't work anymore, Tubby Tony gives Jayna a right hook to her face and gives her a bloody nose. Wows er we have blood everywhere. Tony is a bruiser!!

Now I guess I need to focus on my driving and making it to the the cabin for my much needed break. See you guys Sunday for the next leg of my journey.

Monday Fun Day

A typical Monday around here for me goes like this...restless night because of Tony's squawks and Chris's nightly trip to the bathroom. For some crazy reason, this night we actually got a okay nights sleep with the exception of the cold. During those moments of awareness, I would shiver and try to find the warmth in our bed. I would begin to think how nice it would be to have thermal sheets and a comforter that did look like Swiss cheese, but then I do a double check because that would cost money. Before I knew it I was awake with a long To Do list forming in my head and the darn thought of thermal sheets started it all. Thankfully my weaken eyesight doesn't let me know what time it is and I can fall back to sleep.

Unfortunately my sleepiness doesn't last as the alarm clock shouts out and Chris's failed attempted to shut it off strips the bed of all the blankets and I get a blast of cold air. WOW...now I am awake, but Chris isn't so I have to endure the alarm clock repeated attempts to wake him up as he continues to hit the snooze button. As part of my New Year's Resolution, I am going to take advantage of waking up with Chris and get a few moments of peace and quiet before the kids get up.

After I finally get warmth back under the covers, the shrill sound of Chris's phone pierces the house and wakes Baby Tony up. Pulling the covers over my head, I pray that Chris will get done in the bathroom quickly so he can deal with Tony without waking up the rest of the kids. It's 6:30am and it isn't worth going back to bed because I have to be up with the kids at 7:30 anyway, but with no where to go in the small house I go back to bed anyway.

Now my alarm clock goes off at 7:38am but it is my turn to snooze the alarm clock, but my fear of waking up the non-school kids keeps me awake. The first day back to school after a very long Christmas vacation is always the worst so I prepare myself for the worst. I gingerly walk out to the living room/bedroom and whisper "wake up time". No response as expected, but there are movements. Nick is actually in a good mood and gets dressed and going fairly well, but Jasmine is another story. AAAaaaarrrgggg she is a bear in the morning. I get a glimpse of what I use to be like in the mornings and can only wonder now how my parents got through it. Jasmine is going to be JOY to be with through the next 7 years. Pay back is a BITCH right?

I get to fight Jasmine and try to keep them quiet so the rest of the kids can sleep, not a fun task at all. After a 20 min. fight, the kids are finally out to the bus stop. YEAH, two down and the other two are still asleep, but no peace for me. Oh yeah did I mention, Chris takes this moment to call home. NOOOOO afraid the phone is going to wake the kids, I don't get a chance to talk to him in a civil manner and only after hanging up the phone realize that I have now missed my opportunity to talk to my hubby for the day :-(

Tim has just arrived to work on the addition so I don't get a chance to relax in my warm addition so I scurry back into the old house to hide out. Back to bed I get to go (not really wanting to). Cleaning is out of the question because that usually wakes the kids and we have no TV to watch. I am out of books to read and nothing to write with and I left my computer out in the addition. So there I go back the freezing tundra of our room.

Monday Fun Day starts once the other two wake up...when does Chris come home??? I am not cut out to be stay a home mom!!! That is why I have started this journey of Happiness 2010, I have to find a way to make the most of these years that I am at home and cherish them because kids are only young once.

2010 Project

Okay I know that everyone makes New Year's Resolutions and almost everyone breaks their New Year's resolution with in the first two weeks of the new year. So why am I doing this? Because I hear that goals written out and/or spoken have a greater success rate of becoming real. So actually my new year doesn't start until January 11, 2010. That is after MY weekend away or as I am now referring to it as my detox weekend. My weekend away from family and stresses of life.

After that fine weekend I have the rest of the year to look forward to, SO I am tackling this year a little different. I am officially entering the next decade of my life...the 30's and I want to change a few things in my life. I haven't officially laid things out yet but I know change is coming. This blog is 100% about me, myself, and I. I know that sounds a bit selfish, but yeah if you don't put yourself first who will right?

So hopefully the next time I blog it will be a nice detailed plan of

JESSICA CARVELLI'S HAPPINESS PROJECT 2010

Stay Tuned....