Saturday, February 26, 2011

I felt Inspired.......

As you san see fanny-packs are very flattering  ;)

OK it's official this is the worst photo I could find........it will be the official 'Before' photo like the ones people show on the Nutri-system commercials!

Our couple picture last fall I had started 'no sugar' 4 days before this picture ws taken--I really thought standing behind the post would make me appear thinner :) Notice how slim and muscular my hubby looks :P

     I felt that to help me have continued success at my goal of losing weight it would help to do as my sister-n-law Chelsea did and talk about it on here and have some peeps to help me be accountable and I wonder lie, reading comments of encouragement never hurts! Well if I am going to be honest I will start with saying that I had put on weight after we got married and that weight was still hanging on when we started our family :) Surprisingly When I was preggo w/ Dax I was so sick I delivered him weighing about 14 lbs less than my pre-preg weight ( sounds impressive til' I mention I delivered him at a slim 202 lbs) and after his delivery and nursing my weight stabilized and I eventually made my way down about another 10 lbs-- When Dax was about 4 1/2 mon old We found out we were preggo w/ Cam :) I wasn't as sick and still did well and delivered the little guy weighing just a few more lbs than with Dax-- Welcome chasing 2 babies and pretty much eating whatever fell off the high-chair :)I got some decent regular exercise, but pair that with I REALLY Like to bake and cook and the word "portion size" was not a regular word in my vocabulary! We were very lucky to welcome Mr. Goose almost a year ago ( Ugh...my baby is almost one) And you may not have known to look at me but I weighed in at a whopping 2...2...6...when I delivered....Yikes just writing that makes me want to go "feed my feelings"--hahaha...............................Fast forward to last October and I waddling around having lost at one time 16 lbs but more importantly gaining 8 of that back :( 
   So what happened you ask? Well I started a serious 'no sugar' diet for about a month-- The first 3 days were agony..I could have kidnapped a girl scout if in return she handed over even one box of Samoa's!! But after that 3 day hump, the cravings were surprisingly pretty much gone :) I definitely was getting enough to eat ( you ate every 2 hrs to keep your blood sugar from dropping to low) and with my dear sweet husband following the program with me :) I didn't have to mope at the table eating steamed veggies & chicken while watching Dayton eating Lasagna or something :) I also dropped the carbonated soda which was rough.....I love the burn of carbonation--- Began working out 3x a week-- doing 3 sets of different weights and a minimum of 25 min of cardio-mostly the elliptical, but also doing some time on the treadmill-- What happened after one month was pretty surprising even to me! I lost 12 lbs and had wayyy more energy and knew that I couldn't keep up the "no sugar" but if I was smart about it I could continue on with eating semi-normal just paying close attention to portion size. Fast forward to Thanksgiving and after my girlfriend Bunny telling me along with my sister-n-law Miken how much they loved doing Zumba ( its a cardio workout via latin dancing infused with aerobics) I went to a free class they held on Thanksgiving morning were they claimed do this class and you can eat whatever you like today! How was I sold?? On that last part--It was Thanksgiving and I was going to enjoy myself :) After the hour class I was hooked!! This was by far the most fun thing I had done in a long time!! Started going regularly in December and not to blog every detail but today I am topping the scales at 188-190 depending on the day-- So in the last year I have gone down over 36 lbs!!!! To write that makes butterflies swarm in my tummy!! I am today a happier, more patient and loving wife and mother!! I am able to keep up with my 3 little boys and am feeling pretty good about myself!! We have our annual family trip to Mexico the first week of June so that gives me approx. 13.57 weeks to try to get to my goal of losing another 18-20 lbs so roughly losing about 1.5 lbs a week--which is not a unreasonable goal!!! I am proud to add that I'm not using any stimulants, 'diet pills', fat blockers ect. just doing it the ol' fashioned way of eating healthy and exercise! If this is going to be a life change not just a get in shape for a beach vacation, I can't think that I can use any of that crap cuz' in a half a doughnut second I could think that I could take those and not see that I can do this all by myself :)
     So I am continuing on with my working out-- I go to Zumba M-W-F and do a Weight class called Sculpt & Burn on T-TH-Sat-- I am about to step up my game since Valentines we've had chocolate in the house and time to just toss the rest in the trash :) I plan on checking in here about once a week! I in closing want to Thank Dayton for being my rock! He is so supportive of me and my goals! He's never complained about the hour I sneak off after the boys go to bed and is always complimenting me on my success!And even when I was heavier I never felt any less loved, Love you dear!
Our camera is being weird, had to have Dayton take one with his phone. Better pictures to come as more results are conquered!

Tuesday, February 15, 2011

"Dad is that Jesus Christ"

     So here is a Awesome Dax story that I need to make sure to get on our Blog. I want to get a book made once a year of our blog to have a record of the events of our lives :) And since it was Dayton that Dax asked He is going to be our "guest" writer for this post: "Okay go ahead Dear"...................................

Last Sunday in order to keep the sabbath Day Holy I popped in an old favorite movie "Jason and the Argonauts".  About 45 minutes in as Triton the giant Merman God holds apart the Clashing Rocks to allow Jason and his Seamen safe passage, Dax looked over at me and said,"Dad, I LOVE this show!".  The feeling was mutual.  About 20 minutes further into the movie we come to Jason fighting the Hydra ( a seven headed Dragon) in order to obtain the Golden plates err I mean Fleece(the reason for their voyage).  At this point Dax again looks to me pointing at Jason and asks,"Dad...is that Jesus Kwyst?" and I reply with enthusiasm,"That it is son, that it is."

Okay it's Candice again...It was awesome, we had some family over and all of us erupted in laughter :) And well... I figure "Hey the guy has a full beard, brown hair and yes looks similar to the pictures we have up in our home"-- So I am just going to say that maybe our kids are being taught a few good things here  at our house and gives me hope that they will turn out okay :)

Wednesday, February 9, 2011

Christmas, Winter and busy..busy..busy!

The Gardner Family in Christmas PJ's

I haven't blogged in almost 2 months...You know how it goes Christmas, New Years blah blah blah!! We had a fun Christmas, the boys totally got it this year..For the weeks leading up to the big day all I heard from Dax was "Mom is it time to open presents?' And after helping wrap our cousins presents all Dax wants to do is wrap up anything he can--Sidestory I picked up some wrapping paper at 75% off for next year and had kept in the back of the van, not going to bring it in til' I remembered to after kids were in bed...Dax ended up seeing it a couple weeks ago and  the other day he used up the remainder of the roll I let him wrap his daily presents with was gone, I said we were all done. He said "Mom, what about I use the paper in the van?" So the days of me thinking I can pull one over on my kids are over.....Not that Im mad/sad it's just realizing my kids are little 'people', It just kinda blows my mind away that all :)  Santa and Mom & Dad went in together this year and the boys hot a Power wheel, Dax was in heaven and with true Cam style, He took one look and yelled "No, don't want it" and ran out of the room..This is classic Cameron..You think he's gonna like something and DOESN'T and you think he will hate something and loves it..He's a little odd to say the least but it's something that just makes us laugh now! So after 2 weeks Cam was finally coming around and climbed in to drive, he had dropped a toy out of the car and leaned over the side to get it and at the same time pressed the gas pedal w/o meaning to so it sent him flying forward unexpected..So as you can maybe guess Cam doesn't want to drive the car it's 'too scary'---
This is what Dax and Cam got for Christmas for the first month Cam wouldn't go near the thing :)

Opening "star" present on Christmas Eve

"star" present --We always open PJ's on Christmas Eve--So you always look good on Christmas morning pics..No "holey" jammies

My baby won't stop climbing these bad boys!!!

 And just had to show the face Dax makes when you ask him for a kiss!! I laugh everytime!!

     Well Winter is in full effect here in Utah, It's been pretty cold so we have been staying inside keeping warm. Gus is crawling everywhere and the stairs are especially fun for the little rascal. He is enjoying solids finally and like his cousin George screams out with the current bite in his mouth as your hustling to get another ready!! He has 5 teeth now and there those cute chipmunk looking ones on top!! He is getting more hair and it's always kinda everywhere so most of the time he looks like a mad scientist :) We are REALLY enjoying our Goose, He is the star of the show so to speak at our house these days. Dax and Cam are so excited when he's woken up from a nap and Dax has discovered Gus will laugh at him so now Dax is turning into a stand-up comedian trying to get Goose to giggle!!  We are about to have some changes happen in our life, Dayton is all registered at UVU to start classes in May!! So student life here we come!! Im going to also start school, very slowly though, only a class a semester-- So I'll keep you updated as to how that goes :) Also another sidenote, We found out on Christmas that the Gardner Family Mexico trip is planned and we depart the first week in June!! So as you might have guessed, We are in full swing on the New Year work out plan!!! Swimsuit weather here we come!!! ( Please swimsuit weather just get here already!!) xoxo