Fit by 40

I turned 39 at the beginning of September. Not a milestone by itself, but it is the last stop before a big milestone. I got to thinking during the days after my birthday that I was tired of being fat and tired. I decided something needed to be done, but I've tried making big changes in the past to only end up back where I am. We were pretty successful with the 17 Day Diet back in 2012 when I lost about 30 pounds, but that weight all came back and it brought some friends. We've tried to do the 17 Day Diet a couple of times since then and we just couldn't make it work a second time. I was up to my heaviest weight and largest pants size on my birthday. I hate outgrowing clothes, but I hit the point that I really couldn't wear most of the pants in my closet and a lot of my shirts were getting tight. I had to go up a size for my polos and my dress shirts were starting to tug at the buttons on my belly. I knew something needed to change.

I decided that if I'm going to lose weight and get in shape (and stay that way), I needed to make more gradual changes rather than trying to lose the weight quickly. I found the Runs for Cookies blog a while ago and one of her strongest recommendations is to start by making small changes that add up to a big change in the end. I also don't want to give up all the good food options :). My plan is to make a series of healthy changes during the year leading up to my 40th birthday. I've read that new habits take about 40 days to really stick. I don't want to wait that long in between changes, so I'm going to introduce a new change every two weeks. Some of the changes will be giving up a bad habit. Others will be incorporating a new healthy habit. The first changes focus on food because a healthy weight starts in the kitchen. So far I have ideas for 9 of the 26 changes. I might decide that I need to devote more time to make sure some of the changes become permanent before moving on to the next one on the list.

Here are the ideas I have so far. I would certainly welcome suggestions for other healthy habits.

• Give up pop
• Fix breakfast
• Pack lunch
• Stop eating out
• Eat at least 2 fruits a day
• Exercise 30 minutes 3x a week
• Exercise 30 minutes 5x a week
• 10,000 steps a day
• Bodyweight exercises 2x a week

 Starting stats:

•  Weight: 228 lbs
• Pant size: 38 in waist
• Shirt size: XL (16.5/17 in neck)

Gunnar's 2nd Birthday - Part 2

Here's the party!  It was a monster theme.  Lots of pinterest projects and a whole day to get ready.  I'm happy, for the most part, about how everything turned out.  Some projects were better than others. It was the first time we had people over to the new house so I was stressed beyond belief.  I got all ambitious and invited people I work with...including my boss.  Everything had to look great.  I think people had a good time.  Gunnar made out like a bandit again this year.  

Cheers!

Here are the details:

These looked like bacteria to me

The goodie table.  The stuffed monsters were from Ikea and were a $1!

Monster bubbles.  So easy!

I'm going to try and make a photo number every year.

Both entries were turned into monsters.  The big orange monster is our bookcase covered in fleece.

Not the best picture of the cake, but there were monsters around the food and the frame with his picture was a monster too. 

This was a complete pain in the butt to make...

Here's the Photo Booth this year!

And here's the fun!

Like I said, spoiled!

Opening presents is serious business!

Gunnar's 2nd Birthday - Part 1

For Gunnar's second birthday, we took the day off of work to go to Sea Life Aquarium at Great Lakes Crossing.  We had never been there before and I heard good things about it.  It was small but they had really nice exhibits.  There were quite a few of those bubbles that you crawl into that put you into the action of the animals.  The touch pool was nice but my favorite was the tunnel and the big bowl that had the stingrays.  Some were trying to jump out!  

After the aquarium, we walked around the mall.  Gunnar played for a while on all the riding toys that cost a fortune.  We had A&W for lunch and he played in the kids playground and had a lot of fun there.  Then we went home.  It was a good day.  :)

Cheers!

Gunnar's First Birthday - Part 2

On the eve of Gunnar's second birthday, I realized that I never showed the party from his first birthday!  I was so proud of it.  We worked so hard to make my vision come true.  The theme was " Time Flies" so it was all about airplanes.  Almost all of my projects came out the way I wanted and we had a great group of people to share the day with.  I hope Gunnar looks back on these some day and sees how much he is loved.

Cheers!

Here comes the photobooth!!

Gunnar's First Birthday - Part 1

Better late than never...

I can't believe my baby is one year old.  You never know how fast time goes by until you have a child.  They grow so freaking fast it's amazing.  I can't wait to see more of Gunnar's personality develop, but I miss the little bundle that used to just snuggle with me all the time...

I took the day off from work to celebrate Gunnar's birthday on his actual day of birth.  Kevin and I took him to the Toledo Zoo.  None of us had ever been to the Toledo Zoo before and Gunnar had never been to any zoo.  We had nice weather, a bit hot but not too bad.  And the zoo wasn't too crowded because it was during the week.  All the animals were out and about and we got to see a bunch up close.  I think Gunnar really liked looking at all of them.  When we were looking at the hippo, Gunnar blow raspberries on my cheek for the first time.  It was one of those mommy moments you don't forget.  Kevin was able to snap a picture.  It was a great day.  :)

Cheers!

We started the day with birthday balloons!  Best $2 I've ever spent.