Thanksgiving Blog!

To be honest, I thought that Caleb being off all Thanksgiving week would drive us all up the wall... but it ended up being okay! Monday he did go to the YMCA and hang out with some friends, so that was VERY helpful for our sanity!!

 

Dax LOVED having him home... anytime Caleb is around, Dax has his eyes GLUED to him!

 

 

Tuesday, Grammy and I surprised Caleb and took him to The Gaylord Texan to see the Ice! exhibit... BRR!!! We all had a blast, even Dax!

 

 

Thanksgiving Day!! We spent the day with Casey's family for lunch and then headed to my Aunt Dee's for dessert and games. It was a GREAT day!!!

 

I didn't really stress about food. I tired a little bit of everything and felt satisfied but never stuffed. Actually I weighed in that morning and weighed in this morning and was exactly the same on the scale. I didn't gain or lose and I am 100% okay with that.

 

 Oh and Dax sat up!!! Well, we sat him up and he sat there for about 5 minutes before falling over. We are practicing for his 6 month photos that will take place in a few weeks. Man I cant believe it has almost been half a year... WOW!!

 

 

Happy Thanksgiving from our family to yours!!!!

 

 

And of course we have to end this blog with an ADORABLE photo of this sweet boy!!

 

 

TWENTY SEVEN MORE DAYS UNTIL CHRISTMAS!!!! EEK!!!!

Depression - Guest Blog

I have this amazing girlfriend named, Eboni. We met a few years back after we started working together and I am so very thankful for her. It has been really neat the past few years because it seems that our lives are on track with each others... we were married just a few months apart and we became moms to adorable little boys a few months apart! Her son was actually born the morning I was doing my maternity photos!! The icing on the cake, our husbands get along!!!

Well, she has started her own blog and I have to say I am SO proud of her!! Yesterday she shared a blog entry that talked about the depression she has dealt with in her life... yet another thing we have in common. Depression is actually a very common thing but is not really spoke of. Everything I hear about a depression story that has been blogged, I want to share it with the world... It could change someones life and help them share their story and let them know they are not alone. Below is Eboni's blog entry... also make sure to check out her and subscribe HERE!

To BREATH, To LOVE, To LIVE: My Journey from Depression to Fighting for Life

Two weeks ago, I experience one of the scariest moments of my life. I stopped breathing due to asthma complications. I remember, praying that God wouldn’t take me away from my family. I remember right before blacking out, telling the paramedics to tell my husband how I much I loved him, because in that moment, I was certain I was dying. My husband tells me I was unresponsive for a couple hours afterwards. The doctors were considering doing a tracheotomy to insert a tube into my throat because nothing else seemed to be working. Needless to say, I finally came around and my zeal for life was on overload.

This moment of wanting to fight for life for me is pivotal with dash of irony. Here’s why, just six short years ago, I was contemplating whether my life mattered and if anyone would notice if I was gone. I recall feeling like my life was going nowhere. None of my dreams were coming to fruition. On top of that, it seemed like everywhere I turned, everyone around me was moving forward, while I remained stagnant. At the time, I was heavy in ministry. I couldn’t comprehend how I could be so unhappy, despite doing the work of God. The worst part of this season was feeling this way and nobody noticing. I remember leaving church one Sunday, noticing the ditch on the side of the highway and contemplating running my car into it. That was the moment, I knew something was wrong and I needed to seek help before I did something crazy.

What stopped me from ending it all was God showed me a vivid image of my future. He reminded me how I hadn’t even scratched the surface of the blessings he had in store for me. He showed me I would be a wife one day. I would be a mother to beautiful children. I would obtain my degree. He reminded me that if I stopped fighting, I’d never see any of these blessings I’d been waiting so long for come to pass. Plus, everything I’d endured to this point would be for nothing.

I remember the day I decided with help from my therapist that I’d keep fighting. (By the way, I highly recommend seeing a counselor if you are battling depression of any sort.) It was an early November and I decided that day I was going to be happy regardless of what the things around me looked like. I was going to enjoy life even if it didn’t turn out the way I’d planned. I decided in that moment, I would trust God’s perfect plan.  The following May, I walked across the stage to receive my degree. That summer, I purchase my first home. That August, I met my husband. Three years later, I was experiencing my dream wedding to the most incredible man. God couldn’t have blessed me with a better husband. Two years after that, God blessed us with the most beautiful baby boy I could ever imagine. My heart melts every time his big brown eyes look at me. And that smile… I am in awe.  If only I’d known I was so close to seeing my dreams…. That’s the thing; we don’t know how close we are to what we’ve been waiting for. So, we have to keep fighting, despite what it looks like.

I am in awe of what God has done in my life is these last couple of years. The breathing incident was merely a tough reminder of what is truly important in life. Let go of grudges, forgive loved ones, and spend more energy cherishing your relationships with family and friends. Furthermore, the time to chase your dreams is NOW. And to the person contemplating your purpose or if you matter, you do! As long as God has sustained your ability to take a breath, your presence is needed and vital in this world. If you feel your life is stagnant and nothing is going the way you planned, please hold on to the hope that this is temporary. Take it one day at time because it will get better. At the end of day, don’t ever stop fighting to breath, to laugh, to love, To LIVE.

–Your moment is now,

Ebby Lane

P.S. I would love to hear your thoughts, comment below or email writerswithpurpose@gmail.com

P.S.S: Email your suggestion for writing topics here writerswithpurpose@gmail.com

You can find Eboni here:

Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/Ebby-Lane-649649381819125/

Blog - https://ebbyslane.wordpress.com/

Time to hurry up & wait

Some of you who follow my personal account and/or my Instagram account may know that we have found a house and made an offer! We are still waiting to hear back to see if they accept the offer or if we will start negotiations. Basically it is time to hurry up and wait…

I am a HUGE stress eater. There hasn’t been a time in my life that I haven’t turned to food when I started to stress out over something… until now. Buying a house has been a huge stress factor for me. I have been stressed about getting pre-approved. I have been stressed about house hunting. I have been stressed about making an offer… and now I am stressed about waiting to hear back!

However, with all of this stress… I haven’t turned to food once. Instead, I have taken my stress to the gym and worked through it there. We were supposed to have an answer yesterday but then received a phone call saying it would be today before we would have an answer. I won’t lie, I was REALLY bummed out and disappointed. I went to the bedroom, got dressed for the gym and headed out the door. I felt so much better afterwards and the rest of the evening, I really didn’t think much about it.

This morning I woke up excited knowing today (MIGHT) be a BIG day for us. I went to the gym and focused 100% on me and got my sweat on, I needed to not think about it. It helped because I didn’t think about the house again until I got to work… now I am wishing I could go work out and get it off my mind again instead of searching for food to shove down my throat. Actually, food is the last thing on my mind right now and I am not even that hungry… Don’t worry, I am eating!!

I am pretty proud of myself for not turning to food during all of this… I hope that it stays that way through closing and everything else that goes with buying a house! Fingers crossed, say a prayer, and wish us the best!!

Come on Seller, we want an answer!!!

Camp Gladiator

This morning I went to my 2^nd CG workout. Monday it was raining so we were inside the gym for our workout. Today, however, it was NOT raining and we were outside. It was a whopping 47 degrees when I got out of my car and I don’t even know what the wind chill was…If I had to guess it was like in the 20’s!! One thing you should know about me, I hate the cold! I was FREEZING! Not to mention my sweater was in my car but it had just  been cleaned out the night before so I had nothing to put on over my long sleeve shirt… ugh! I did get a good workout in and was pooped at the end of the hour, but boy oh boy was I cold!!! Friday I am going to dress in TONS of layers… no doubt!!!

I really like how this boot camp is set up and how friendly everyone is… even though it is 5am! (They do have other boot camps throughout the day so if you are not a morning person, you can pick another time).  Today’s workout was set up in stations and we rotated through everything twice. With having a reconstructive knee, I have to modify a lot of the workouts but the trainer is wonderful at finding workouts that still challenge me.

Example of what we did today:

Station 1 – Mountain Climbers, Pushups, Planks on hands to elbows and back up, Shoulder taps

Station 2- Star Jumps, Jumping Jacks, Burpees, Drummer Kicks

Stations 3 – Sprints, Back pedals, Side Shuffles, Lunges

Station 4 – Weighed Lunges, Weighted Squats, Deadlifts, Little Man Jacks

I will be honest, as I was doing the warm up lap (that really didn’t get me warm) the cold was making me want to quit and go home. I kept telling myself, “Just get through today and you will never have to come back. You can go back to the gym where it is nice and cozy.” It is funny though, after I left I was pumped to return on Friday. I will just know better to wear more layers! After all, this is a 4 week boot camp, I can do this!

CG Strong… ALL DAY LONG!!!

P.S. Elsa, the cold does bother me anyways!

New Goal Outfit

I love hanging my goal outfits up in the kitchen to serve as a reminder of why I shouldn't pig out every night. It has been very helpful with keeping me on track. I have had jeans hanging up, I have had shorts hanging up, I have had dresses hanging up and now I have a new outfit hanging there to help keep me on track (and out of the fridge).

The last outfit hanging up there was my Thanksgiving jean dress. It was WAY too tight and now it its actually a tad bit loose on me. Its okay though, I am going to pair it with a chunky belt so it really doesn't matter all that much. Plus it will give me some wiggle room while I enjoy my cheat meal.

Now that I can fit into the dress, I needed something else to aim for, something else hanging there to motivate me. I ordered a shirt from OllieMarie and when I received it, it was a big snug. The arms are tight, the belly is tight, it is too short and well it just doesn't fit me.... YET! My goal is to be able to wear this by Christmas. So that gives me a little over 5 weeks to bust my ass and lose some more body fat. It helps that starting November 27th (the day after Thanksgiving) I am starting Kelsey Byers 4 Week Fat Blaster... if you want to join me, click HERE and buy the program and then email me at Fitbyjordan@hotmail.com or on Facebook and I will send you the link to the accountability group I have set up! 

When I decided to try on the top for my progress photos, I just pulled out a random pair of shorts and put them on. These shorts use to be VERY baggy on me and they were my favorite shorts to just lounge in... so I decided to add these to the wall in the bathroom to help remind me why I get up every morning at 4:30 to workout. I will fit back into these shorts too... Mark my word!

Weekend Recap

Before I talk about my weekend, I want to take a minute and pray for Paris. My heart breaks for all who were involved... such a tragedy! 

God, I come to you and ask that you wrap your loving arms around everyone that was involved. That your light will shine brightly over Paris and the world. That your message will ring loudly for all to hear. You are the way, the truth and the light.. I pray for continued protection for my family and friends (that includes all of you reading this) and ask that you be with us all and remind us daily of all we have to be thankful for and send us reminders to continue to walk in your path. In your heavenly name I pray, Amen! 

..........................................................................

This weekend was a wonderful weekend to say the least!

Friday Casey ended up working so he could have Saturday off for a family wedding. It was a nice relaxing night with the boys... Caleb was still getting over a horrible cold, sore throat, whatever the heck he had, so I took care of him and watched Scandal all night long. I love Scandal so much!!!

Saturday, Caleb woke up feeling better... THANK GOD! I went to the gym while Case kept the boys. Drove my niece to a birthday party 45 minutes away. Came home and we all rushed to get ready for my step sisters wedding.

At the wedding, my nieces and nephews talked me into letting them all stay at my house. I had already said I would keep our other nephew (on Casey's side) so that meant we would have a total of 8 kids at our house. I love that they always want to stay at Aunt Jay's house!!!

Saturday also marked Dax's 5th month!!! I cant believe it is going so quickly... Now time to start planning his 1/2 birthday photos for next month. He wasn't too pleased with me taking his 5 month photos. The looks this boy can give CRACK ME UP!!!

We have been working on his sitting up skills so hopefully by his 6 month photos, he will be able to sit up on his own. Fingers crossed!!! 

Today was full of cleaning and more cleaning. I am one of those girls that LOVE to do laundry and straighten up the house. We do it every single Sunday!

 To end the weekend, a friend of mine sent me a cute photo of her husband and their daughter. He dressed the baby and buttoned the onesie over the pants. So of course in good ole Jordan fashion, I jumped up, put on my bathing suit over my tights and sent it to her... haha!!! What I didn't realize until a bit later is the thigh gap I am starting to get back!!! I know, I know, who cares about having a thigh gap anyways... well I kind of do. I probably wouldn't have cared but knowing my body before the miscarriage and Dax, and knowing I had one, I wanted it back. Just like i want my biceps back, I want my back definition back, I want my smaller tummy back... Heck lets just say it safe to say, I want it all back!!! 

I hope you all had a wonderful weekend! Let's rock this next week!!! 

Rewards & Cheats

Before I get started talking about me ... seriously how funny is the face Dax is making?! This kid cracks me up!!!

About 4-5 weeks ago I decided to not have a cheat meal until the end of the challenge. I planned out this awesome date for me and Casey and then life got in the way. He decided to switch it up and make it a lunch date. He found a sitter for Dax and we were going to go while Caleb was in school and be back before we had to pick him up from After School Care.

Then... we got a call from the school saying Caleb had a fever and needed to be picked up and couldn't return until Monday. Wrench, meet plans!

Casey said I could go on the date alone, have some me time... but seriously I did not want to go out to eat alone. I am just not one of those people who can do that. Kuddos to everyone who can, I just can't! We thought about getting a sitter for both boys but the list was short and nothing worked out. We could wait and go another day... umm no I have already waited long enough and I wanted to EAT my cheat meal! Our last option, drag the sick kid around town with us.

Yep, I am a bad mom and put my needs before my sick child's needs! Hey, I promised him ice cream (you know to help with his sore throat and bring down the fever, haha)!

(This is Becka the store owner of Kiki LaRue and seriously one of the nicest people ever!)

First up we stopped at Kiki LaRue! This started up as a online store and she opened up her first actual store just minutes from my house and I haven't been able to go yet. We went in and I was on a mission to find a cute outfit to wear. I ended up finding 2 tops I loved and a pair of jeans...

(I forgot to take a photo of me in the purple top I bought)

Then we headed over to Babes but they didn't open for another 30 minutes so we decided to walk across the street and have dessert first at Hey Sugar. They have so much candy in there and they also have a really good ice cream bar. We all decided to get a scoop of ice cream. Casey got some Dr. Pepper Pecan flavor ice cream, Caleb got snickers, and I got Turtle! It was amazingly yummy and I licked the whole bowl clean.

We headed back to Babes, saving the best for last! I had a small salad, 1 1/2 biscuits, 1/2 a chicken fried steak, 1 serving of mashed potatoes with gravy and like 1/2 serving of corn. I had a goal of licking my plate clean and I fell short... haha! But It was amazingly yummy, just like my ice cream was!!!

I didn't feel bloated or gross when I went home and this morning I woke up and got back into the gym. It is a lifestyle now and I am not going back to my old ways!

My next cheat meal will be on Thanksgiving day and then I plan on only have cheat meals every other week until I hit my goal... 50 pounds to go!!!

Final Results for Kelsey Byers Skinny Jean Challenge!!

(Interested in the challenge... Click HERE to purchase the 12 week Skinny Jean Plan I have been doing or one of her other plans! I will be starting the 4 Week Fat Blaster the day after Thanksgiving if you would like to join, purchase the plan and email me and I will add you to our group!)

(www.GoodMorningFitness.com)

14 weeks ago I was getting ready to head out on vacation with my family and I was playing around on Facebook and noticed Kelsey and Kent Byers were broadcasting a live feed to talk about their new challenge. I was in desperate need of losing weight after giving birth, so I decided to watch it. Afterwards, I went to her page and screenshot the fitness challenge picture to remind me to purchase the plan after the vacation. When I got home from vacation, I went back and forth about buying the plan and finally I decided to just give it a try... what did I have to lose? I am currently 5 months postpartum and let me just say, that was the BEST $20 I have spent in a long time...

Two weeks into the challenge, I decided to get back into the gym. I tried home workouts and they are just not for me. I find that I push myself harder when I am at the gym. Maybe it is because I am competitive and need to be surrounded by other people, who knows, but I do know being in the gym helps me a lot more.

Four weeks into the challenge, maternity leave came to and end and I had to go back to work. I was not happy about this BUT to be honest, it was just what I needed. Being able to get out of the house and have some grown up time helped me a lot. I started to hit the gym at 5am (waking up at 4:30am) so that I wouldn't have to deal with Mom Guilt (that stuff sucks) and I could have an hour of peace and quiet all to myself. It also helps that I am a morning person!!!

5-6 weeks into the challenge, Aunt Flow decided to pay me a visit... if you have ever had a baby then you know how much fun it is to get your first period afterwards. Let me just sum this up by saying I am very sorry for the things I said, the way I acted and the foods I took it out on... I was a BITCH!!! There really isn't a nice word I can use there, sorry! I wanted to throw in the towel. I was done. I cried. I begged. I ate a whole bag of kettle corn popcorn. It was ugly! Then Aunt Flow left and Jordan started to come back... thank the heavens!!

I have been so motivated and driven during the last half of this challenge. I have finally found my stride and it seems to be easier... well not easier but more of a way of life...! I have had my ups and downs, but I haven't let the downs throw me off track completely! I have stayed on track by taking pictures and comparing them, by picking out outfits to try on every couple of weeks, by seeing the number on the scale go down and by having a wonderful support system that has cheered me on this whole time!

Before I go into my results and show you my pictures, I wanted to thank a few people that have been there for me during this past 12 weeks. Who talked me out of giving up, who held my hand when I felt down, who pushed me to be better, who support me through thick and thin... This is in no certain order at all...

KBSkinnyJean Girls - All of the girls in my group that kept me accountable

Aunt Dee - who has inspired me to lose my weight with her own weight loss journey

Mandy - My best friend who always sees the good in me, even when I don't see it myself

Lo - My trainer who pushes me harder than I push myself... and for not letting me whine about everything (even though I love to whine)

Jamie - RX2Fitness, who even though she is in Utah, has helped me so much with my food and supplements and forced me to log back on to www.MyFitnessPal.com

Caleb & Dax - Their faces smiling back at me each morning after I return from the gym is the best reminder of why I am doing what I am doing.

Casey - Y'all... my husband!!!! This man thinks I am sexy no matter if I am 278 pounds (the weight I was when I delivered Dax) or 160 pounds (the weight I was when we were married). He never gives up on me and loves me with everything he has!!! Gosh I love him!

Now on to the fun stuff... my results!!!

(Interested in the challenge... Click HERE to purchase the 12 week Skinny Jean Plan I have been doing or one of her other plans! I will be starting the 4 Week Fat Blaster the day after Thanksgiving if you would like to join, purchase the plan and email me and I will add you to our group!)

Enchilada Soup!!!

TOMORROW IS MY FINAL KBSKINNYJEAN DAY!!!! I will be posting results and pictures... stay tuned!!!!

Anyways...

This past weekend I went on Periscope and prepared some Enchilada Soup! For those of you who missed it, here is the ingredients and the nutrition information from www.MyFitnessPal.com!

It is as easy as dumping everything into the crock pot, letting it cook for 4 hours on high and then dishing it out into 8 containers evenly. I added my cooked chicken in after dishing it out so that I would have an even amount of chicken in each serving. 

It is very tasty and husband approved!! The original recipe can be found on my blog from last Thursday... (click HERE). I did tweak it some to make it a bit healthier..

Don't forget to check back tomorrow... I will be posting all about my end results from the Kelsey Byers 12 Week Skinny Jean Challenge!!!! I am so excited to share my results with you guys!!!

New Recipe & Periscope

Yesterday I decided to try out Periscope and post a video of me cooking Cauliflower Fried Rice (which autocorrect changed to 'Collie Flower' haha). It was very awkward at first but turned out to be fun after all was said and done. I prepared everything in advance and had it all ready to show you how to put it together... lets just say I felt like I had my own cooking show! 

I think I will be posting more videos about fitness and my meals to Periscope the next few weeks to see how it goes... if you want to follow me, my user name is Fitbyjordan822. If you aren't able to catch it live, I believe that the video sticks around for 24 hours, could be longer but I am not 100% sure. Hey I am new to all of this... 

Now on to the recipe I promised... Chicken Cauliflower Fried Rice!!

I cut the cauliflower off the head and put it in the food processor. Then I heat the sunflower oil up and start cooking the onions. Once those are cooked, I add in the "rice" from the food processor and toss it around a few times. Then I add the peas and carrot mixture, the soy sauce and the green onions. In the mean time, I cook the egg whites in a separate pan and when they are done cooking, I throw them into the rice mixture. 

Tip - I don't add my chicken into the meal until I have it all evenly dished out in containers. This way I make sure to get exactly 4 oz of chicken in each serving! 

I said this serves 6, so I pulled out 6 containers and a 1/2 cup measuring cup and started to evenly dish out the servings. It comes out to be around 3/4 cup of the mixture and then you add the 4 oz of chicken. It was SO yummy and my husband agreed. He was very hungry when it was time to eat and said it filled him up and that he didn't need seconds... win win! 

 I hope you enjoy!!!

Weekly Meal Plan

Below is my Meal Plan for next week (starting Saturday and ending Friday). This meal plan doesn't have as many details (the macro percentages and the sodium totals) because I have posted the links to the recipes for my lunch and dinner and I will be cutting a few things out of the recipes and adding a few things here and there. I will blog more later this next week and tell you the tweaks I did to each of the recipes. Plus, all of the totals will all depend on the brand I buy...


I am very excited about the Slow Cooker Enchilada Soup and the Cauliflower Chicken "fried rice"... like REALLY excited! I would like to admit that I am slightly addicted to making "rice" out of cauliflower.


Here you go!


Oh and a question I get asked EVERY week... YES, I eat the SAME thing all week long! Casey will sometimes join in with me but mostly him and Caleb do their own thing for meals.

Meal Plan

Gym Snack:

Premier Protein Shake (Costco)

Pre-Workout

(Calories 160/Carbs 5/Fat 3/ Protein 30)

Breakfast:

4 Eggs – 3 just whites, 1 whole egg

1 oz. Pizza Sauce

1/3 Cup of shredded cheese

1 Whole Grain English muffin

4 oz. Bell Peppers

*I am addicted to this breakfast right now*

(Calories 324/Carbs 30/Fat 16/ Protein 26)

Snack:

S’More Quest Bar

1 Apple

(Calories 232/Carbs 37/Fat 8/ Protein 20)

Lunch:

Slow Cooker Chicken Enchilada Soup

http://www.slenderkitchen.com/recipe/sunday-slow-cooker-chicken-enchilada-soup

Tweaks I know I will make for sure:

No salt, cut back on the garlic, will use cauliflower rice instead of corn meal

(Calories 226/Carbs 31/Fat 3/ Protein 26)

Snack:

Six Star Protein (Whey Isolate Plus)

1 Serving of PB

(Calories 185/Carbs 9/Fat 2/ Protein 34)

Dinner:

Chicken Fried Rice add 6 oz Chicken Breast

http://www.skinnytaste.com/2014/03/cauliflower-fried-rice.html

Tweaks I know I will make for sure:

Will only use egg whites, will use fresh instead of frozen peas and carrots, cut out garlic, use my guilt free soy sauce (will blog about that later).

 (Calories 273/Carbs 14/Fat 4.5/ Protein 45)

Total for day:

Calories: 1,400

Carbs: 126g

Fat: 36.5g

Protein: 181g

Thanksgiving Goal Dress

Back in early/mid September I pulled out a jean dress I own and decided to make it my goal outfit for the end of Kelsey Byers Skinny Jean Challenge and I decided I would rock it for Thanksgiving with some boots. It has been hanging in my kitchen since that day to serve as a reminder of where I want to be when I complete the challenge and to also help me make better food choices... It has worked!

I have tried it on a couple of times and I could tell a difference but it wasn't what I wanted to see. To be honest, I haven't touched it since probably early October. Today I decided what the heck, lets try it on and see how close I am to wearing it in public. 

BOY OH BOY WAS I SURPRISED!!!

It fits... actually I have room in it to move and grove! 

(In the first picture it was very tight on my hips and if you look closely, you can see my panty line. The picture from today, its not tight at all and there is no panty line... yay)

Casey said "Babe, Thanksgiving is 4 weeks away... I think you might need a new goal dress!" 

Oh and speaking of Casey... he is going to get his eyes checked on Thursday to see if he is eligible for lasik (fingers crossed). Well, they told him to take out his contacts and wear is glasses from today until his appointment. I haven't seen him in his glasses in FOREVER!!! He put them on and I couldn't help but laugh. I love this old man so much... he is 36 and I am 30, so I am allowed to call him old. For everyone who is 36 and older reading my blog, you are not old... just my husband is (if that even makes sense... haha)! 

Anyways, the boys are in bed and I have some TWD to check up on (shh don't tell Case that I am watching it without him).. I hope you all had a wonderful Monday!!! Here is to a wonderful rest of the week. 

Oh and PS... only 8 more workouts for the KB Skinny Jean Challenge!!! I am SO freaking excited!!!