Meeting at the Bar.

The weekend started pretty good, Friday was crazy busy and somehow I managed to muster up enough energy to pick up the toys. It's just a fantastic feeling to sit down on the couch and know the house is picked up - Aiden's at the 'pull out everything and drop it' phase. The balls in the house multiply over night too. 

Saturday I went for a run before Crossfit, came home and made a 1 carb waffle - Oliver begged for me to make him one with his favorite protein powder and I have to say it was DELISH! The Protizyme powder is super fine and mixes up really well, the flavor was great! 

We spent the morning swimming before Madison's soccer game, the temps are already going to hit triple digits this week. After soccer we stopped for snow cones, went home to nap for an hour before heading to dinner. 

It was Aiden's first time at Babes Chicken and he made the most of it, the corn, the potato, the salad, and the smoked chicken. He's got his money's worth!

I was meeting up with some ladies who drove in for the Cycle Bar class on Sunday - my Babes girls as I now call them in my head. I love that it was just a laid back chill dinner, nothing fancy - I didn't even brush my hair. Oliver tagged along and talked about his love the whole time - CF and macros. We came back to the house for a little shopping and gossip.

Sunday was cycle day - Cycle Bar invited me to fill a class up for a free ride. 

So that's what we did! I've done lots of spin classes at different gyms I've been too, this is my first time at a cycle only kinda place and I loved it! Having great bikes, clip in shoes, and loud music makes all the difference. It was an hour long class and I worked up a great sweat! I liked that they had a TV that shows the class stats, you can compete with each other, and they even email you the link to the Spotify playlist they used!! I'm ALWAYS on the look out for new music. 

It's a little weird for me to do meet ups with large amount of people, I always feel bad that I don't get a chance to talk to everyone. I love getting to meet so many people who follow my journey and even more when they are local! I've met so many great women and it's just a great community we have going - online and then in real life. 

I really really wanted Hash House afterwards, but the wait was insane so we walked over to Katy Trail Ice House and got sat immediately. 

The drinks were cold and the food was good - the company was a bit stinky ;) Just kidding Poppy, you smelled like roses. 

Overall it was a fun day, I got to meet new friends and try something new. I have a to do list 3 miles long this week, we leave for Flordia on Friday. I think it's more stressful to fly even though driving 16 hours sounds terrible too - trying to pack enough but not too much is hard for 4 people. Do I take a stroller? Can I rent one at Disney? What about my protein powder, bars, other need food items? I'd like to pack my essentials, but I don't want to pay for all those baggage fees on the airplane either. Then I have Oliver's fear of flying to contend with - so 3 children on the plane. 

Oliver insisted on a night flight so we leave at 8:30pm and arrive at midnight -  with a 2 year old who is not going to be happy to be missing his 9pm bedtime. Orlando does have a hotel in the airport so I rented a room there hoping that will be easier then renting the car and trying to drive somewhere at 1 am with tired kids and a drugged husband. 

I think we decided to only do one park at Disney while we are there, Magic Kingdom was the most recommended. I'm mostly excited to just see all my family, there will be about 20 of us so lots of great memories to be made! If anyone has recommendations of fun things for all ages - minus Disney - to do in Orlando please let me know :)

Diet Bet Update

I think probably the hardest part of CF right now is the heat, it's already humid and hot by 8am, adjusting to working out in it will be tough. I'm glad I decided to take my hair extensions out for the summer, no way I can go more than 2 days right now without washing. 

I'm still hitting the Y some mornings for a bit of cardio or shoulders, back, and legs. Adorable muscle tank from Brady Bands! You HAVE to try the Limeade Spark, so so good ice cold during your workout!! I just ordered a few boxes of the Pineapple Coconut too - it's limited edition. 

I've been having pain with a Baker's Cyst behind my knee, soccer is what really aggravates it, the twisting and turning. I asked my plastic surgeon to take it out, but he said I need to see an ortho unfortunately. So I'm planning to see if I can do that procedure after my skin removal so I can recover all at the same time. He did give me some steroid pills to take temporarily to give me some relief, I only took them one day and it felts a million times better! I've never been on a steroid before so he didn't recommend I get a shot until I was sure I wouldn't have any side effects.

Oliver being on the fitness/macro train with me is increasing my workout load for food - he made me search out this protein because it's his favorite and I'm having to cook more chicken weekly because he keeps eating it. 

I typically put my foot down at weighing out and logging his meals, seriously. Last night I was feeling generous because the kids were swimming at Mimi's house, but I told him not to get used to it. If you haven't tried this combo with the WishBone EVOO Basil and Garlic dressing you MUST, it's flavorful and EASY y'all. Plus low calorie for a huge plate of food. 

Zucchini {raw}

Peas

Heirloom Tomatos

Avocado

Chicken or Shrimp

EVOO dressing

Spring Piko + Leggings.

I'm below my Diet Bet weigh in goal, but have a lot of eating out planned for the weekend, I'm going to have to be very mindful of my portions and choices!! I'll probably skip on adult beverages too, my choices after consuming tend to be less than stellar. 

I think what's been the biggest change for me lately is timing out my foods. I'm trying to push back my meals to avoid mindless snacking, for example I eat breakfast around 10am, lunch around 2, snack around 4, dinner at 6:30, and Halo at 8. Planning is the #1 way you will be successful, if you go into your day having no idea what your going to eat it's going to be much harder to stay on track. That's why meal prepping is also very important, it's basically planning out your week ahead of time.  I start every morning with a 1 Carb Waffle or Mug cake - they are protein filled and keep me full for hours. Lunch and Dinner are a protein and veggies and I fill in my carbs and fats with snacks. Keeping my Yeti Rambler Tumbler  and Bubba big straws with me always and full of ice water is huge, this cup is what I attribute to my large consumption of water! 

Damn Fine.

Let's just make this a random post about all the things? First up - Kylie's Lip Kit. Getting it ordered is a hassle cause you gotta be by your computer refreshing like a boss to even hopefully buy one. The shipping was 9 bucks making one kit almost $40, but it did ship pretty quickly. I'm not a fan of the colors she offers, lots of neutrals and browns, even black and a blue. I lean towards pinks and the closest she had was Posie K - as you can see from the picture it's a bit mauve -ish - more of a Fall color for me. It's a good lasting color - not all day, but several hours. I'd give it a B-

Sweet baby Aiden is now officially Toddler Aiden. He's showing his stubborn side, favorite word is 'NO!!' and basically making me sweat anytime we leave the house. It's cool - I got you dude. It's all a phase and I'm still rubbing his baldish head and kissing that sweet baby like tummy. 

His new love is a water gun, not a huge fan of swimming just yet so he likes to squirt everyone and everything with these guns. Madison is turning into a fish, every day wanting to live in her swimsuit. She's being kept busy everyday with summer camp, soccer, and tutoring. One day I didn't take her to camp and within 30 minutes she was sitting at the top of the stairs complaining about being bored, she's not one who's able to just relax around the house. 

We spent the weekend at indoor soccer games, birthday parties, and Father's Day food and fun. I love adult parties that I can bring the kids to, I  enjoy adult time but the weekends is where we can all do things together - during the week Oliver works late so it tends to be just me and the kids. 

Oliver is really trying hard to stick to his macros, on the weekend he's chowing down on chicken saving his carbs for beer. The problem comes AFTER the beers, but honestly I'm super proud of him! The weekends are hard for everyone and he's putting in solid daily effort and is looking damn fine. 

I'm getting beat up at Crossift - I just can't be on board with this ripped hand life. At all. I'm going to continue to order gloves and grips until I find something I can use! I ordered the Natural Grip, but my hands ripped all around the grip part, this isn't even the worst of it. I'll let you know if I find something good!

And then I missed the box on box jumps - I was on 95 out of 100 so I guess the bright side is that I only had 5 left. My shins hurt like I was giving birth!! Terrible pain and now they look even worse, perfect for shorts and dress season. 

But, still loving it. Hard. 

Body Fat + Skin Removal.

My Mom sent me a toe selfie yesterday after her pedicure - the blue text is me the grey box in the middle is my Dad {they have their phones connected and it's super annoying}. Anyways I could NOT stop laughing at this, I almost pee'd myself. Shit - I'm laughing again now. 

Then Monday was trying to get me down so we had a little fun on Periscope yesterday, the last time I wall twerked I was pregnant with Aiden. 

Amanda was kind enough to make a college of screen shots for me, let's just say I have some #werk to do. 

Then I went to 5pm Crossfit and got super sweaty - my day ended on a really great note. 

This was me last Fall - I had my body fat tested and it was around 19% 

I went this last Friday and got retested and I was around 23% and I'm about 152 pounds. At first I was really bummed, but when I stop to think about it between then and now I've had surgery {boobs = fat just so you know LOL  I asked} I've had Thanksgiving and Christmas - multiple out of town trips and I started working from home. What that boils down to is I wasn't being super consistent for long periods of time. 

I decided this was just what I needed to reignite my fire, I've found a new workout I absolutely love. I love that Oliver is working out and doing macros with me, he's always been supportive but I will say it's just better doing it together. 

I was REALLY bummed I actually lost muscle mass, not a lot, but even any is frustrating. They suggested less cardio - but I can never give up on my girls. Running is more than exercise to me, we laugh, we cry, we sweat, we are friends and I'm not willing to give that up just to be more muscular. I'll find a way. I've been slacking on my Catalyst  - I ran out and kept forgetting to order - you better believe I ordered a bunch! 

I'm halfway through my Diet Bet and I'm slowly getting there, I plan to keep my lower {cutting} macros going until I go on vacation July 4th. 

After that I will be going back to maintenance to prepare for my surgery July 26th. I've decided to get skin removal surgery, I want to do it while the kids are out of school and if I don't do it now I would have to wait another year. I went back and forth on doing it for a long time, but I had a friend who did it after a large weight loss and she told me the day she saw it for the first time at the doctors she cried because she didn't know her body could look that good. After hearing her story I realized I wanted that for myself. 

I hesitated sharing it on here because I know some will of course think I'm being selfish and should just be happy with what I have. It is a selfish thing to want done, but I don't think there's anything wrong with being a little selfish in your life, I give a lot of my self to every one around me. I do things for others, I love with my whole heart, I gave life to tiny humans, I'm allowed to live the rest of my life with the body I want - I worked for it. 

So what I'm having done is called a 360 - the scar will go around my entire body. The majority of my extra skin is on my hips and thighs - they will pull the top down and pull the bottom up and the hope is that it will tighten up my outer thigh area. 

They will do the same to my stomach area, I was VERY worried about the belly button, but my doctor is confident I'll be pleased with mine. 

I'll be out of the gym for 6 weeks, but it's going to be during the hottest Texas months {another reason to do it then!} and after running + Crossfit today in the heat I won't be sad to stay home! Oliver's on board, but I'm gonna owe him big after this :) 

All the Foods.

Do you know what's the most addictive part of getting fit? Results.

Do you know what's the hardest part? Sticking to it when shits not happening.

True story. 

I haven't blogged in a week and I have so much to share, I'm going to try to focus and keep my thoughts in one place, but excuse me if I jump around. My adult ADD is running rampant today. I will be sharing my food from the weekend today, body fat testing results and thoughts tomorrow, what I've learned in my first year of business on Periscope later this week, and of course some random life things that probably no one cares about. I'm hoping if I put it out there it will happen, I'm short a few employees this week so we'll see.

I felt rushed every morning and breakfast had to be on the go - I'd do a Combat Bar while I got ready and heat up chicken to take with me. Eating chicken out of tupperware isn't my ideal meal, but it's so much easier to find fats and carbs while out so I do what I have to while sticking to my goals. 

This Krave Lemon Garlic jerky is really good, my favorite flavor so far, I found it at Sprouts.

Melanie sent me this recipe and I made it for the first time, I would've never thought to pair strawberries and zucchini! You must try - it's delish!!! I skipped the salmon and added chicken - Smoked Salmon and Strawberry Zucchini Noodles.

It was delivery day for my Zaycon chicken, you just pull up and pop the trunk and someone loads boxes. I let Oliver unpack and trim, not a lot of trimming to do, but better to get it done before you bag them. I would say we got around 35 big breasts per carton, I divided them up into ziplocks and freeze. 

Their chicken tastes fantastic and the price is much cheaper than what I pay in the store - they only have deliveries every few months so I'm hoping the 2 cartons I bought last me. 

I finally got lucky and Kroger had some Halo in stock so I got enough to last me a week, maybe two, LOL. The strawberry is FABULOUS!!!!!!

The kids went to the Lego Expo in Plano - they had so much fun! They had some really cool stuff built out of legos and I mean who wouldn't have fun in that mess?

I did a little sunrise run Saturday morning, can't beat that view even when it's sweltering outside. 

Daddy and his Sweet Pea are working on getting her to ride 9 miles on her bike - it would be the full ride around White Rock Lake. They are up to 5 so far.

We did our grocery shopping after Church - that would be Madisons church outfit hahahaha. Come as you are.

Oliver and Madison went swimming while Aiden and I ate lunch and prepped food for the week. He finished off the pineapple and pretty much all the fruit in the house. 

I'm going old school with the broccoli, sweet potato, chicken, and goat cheese.

Lunch this week is riced cauliflower mexican bowls. I spiraled some zucchini for dinner and cut up {didn't cook} some sweet potato. I also cooked some truffle chicken and some taco flavored chicken. 

A huge thunderstorm rolled through yesterday evening, the baby toddler boy is happy Mommy got dinner finished before we lost power. That Reduced Guilt Guac from Trader Joes is life.