The Begining & the End

I love my couch. Hardcore love it. I begin my day at 5:30am and it's nonstop from the moment I open my eyes. Kids to get ready for school, me to get ready for work, kids to drop off, 45 minute commute, long sedentary work day, 45 minute commute, kids to collect, then home. Same as many. I know. When I get home, the routine continues. Dinner, homework, commitments, baths, showers, reading, bed. Then there's a moment when rear meets cushion and it's indescribable. My couch cuddles me, hugs me, tells me to relax and momma listens. No big deal, right? SIKE! Big deal. Big rear. So...Big deal.

I am horribly overweight. I have bouts of healthy eating and daily exercising where I lose weight, but I always return to the couch. It's so bad. I'm only 5'3" and currently, I am the fattest person I know. The thing is, I know all of the nutrition information. I know all of the exercise information. I know what my calorie intake should be, how to create a "caloric deficit", what foods react in certain ways to your body. I've spent about 150 hours studying nutrition and exercisce techniques.  There is honestly NO excuse for me to not lose the excess flesh that is just hangin' out all over my short frame.

So here's the deal...I get a text last night for my best friend that says, "Tomorrow I need to do some type of exercising. I'm groooossss." I replied stating I was just as gross and we agreed meet and walk. We did and it felt great! It was pretty cold, but the sun was shining and the conversation made the 2 miles fly by. With a walk under my belt, it helped me make really awesome food choices for the entire day. I was noticeably relaxed, had more energy, was in a much better, more playful mood than I'm usually in on a Tuesday.

My son Dawson mixing our granola.

For our snack this evening we made "Gluten & Nut Free Pumpkin Pie Granola" which I found on a wonderful site, www.dashingdish.com whose creator, Katie Farrell is as delightful as she is inventive.  This site is a new find for me, but I have been completely obsessed with her recipes since I stumbled on it. In fact, my families 3 squares & 2 snacks for the next month have been pulled from her site. All of the recipes are made from ingredients most of us use every day, but Katie has figured out how to make them healthier without killing the delish factor, which I lurrrve!

I don't only want to be "smaller", I want to be healthy for myself and (obvs!) my 3 babes. I have been drinking Kimberly Snyder's "Glowing Green Smoothie" every morning since New Years. Kimberly Snyder is the creator of The Beauty Detox Diet and is this pint size mountain of nutritional information. I read her blog everyday without fail even if she hasn't made a new post because the detailed tidbits of genious are worth repeating. I learned so much from her book, and I plan to continue to incorporate some of her methods in my daily food intake (like no sugar/HFC/agave/Etc). She's honestly inspiring.

So that's the deal. Take things one day at a time, MOVE a little every day and work up to a lot every day & make smart food choices so I don't have a heart attack/get diabetes/die before my time and such. I'm hoping that putting this online will make me more inclined to stay focused, as if I have someone to answer to. Aaaannnnd hopefully, I will stay off my lovely couch.