Scales and Apple TV

Stace purchased the new Apple TV ($100) recently with the money he earned on his own. While we were waiting for the nice UPS people to bring it, we joined the gym. That night we laid in bed and Stace said he wanted to make little benchmark goals & rewards for himself to work towards so that he could stay motivated. He said his first goal was to lose 12.5 pounds to get down to a certain weight. I suggested his Apple TV for his first reward. He cringed, but knew it would definitely motivate him, so he went with it!

I am so proud to say that he hit his goal yesterday! He has lost 13.5 pounds! So tonight he is enjoying his new little gadget! Yay Stace!

And I'm excited to say I've lost 8 pounds and have gone from a size 6 to a size 4! I couldn't believe it when I walked into Banana Republic and Gap and the size 6 jeans were too big! YEAH!

It is so fun to work towards a goal, even though sometimes you hate your life and you just want to eat a dang cookie. ha! The funny thing is though, neither of us have really cut out sweets and we still most definitely eat bread! We enjoyed delicious cupcakes last weekend at our friends' little girl's birthday party, and ate our weight in cake the weekend before at Julian's! This newfound ability to still eat "fun" stuff but not lose the motivation to workout and still strive to eat healthy is like a whole new world for me! I'm lovin' it. (HA! For the record: I hate McDonald's...;)

That being said, I'm a little nervous to get around all of the delicious holiday foods that I know await me this weekend and beyond. And I may or may not have just eaten WAY too much homemade bread my visiting teacher brought over. (I mean, way too much.) But, that's ok!!! I can't believe I'm saying that and that I actually know it, too! Sorry if it seems like I'm making this more of a big deal than it actually is. This is a lot of fears and years and tears worrying about food conquered y'all. It IS a big deal.

I would like to thank a few people for helping me to realize this:

photo credit: Kimbe Photography

My sweet Rachael! She is one of the most inspirational people to me ever when it comes to being consistent and staying motivated. I LOVE her so much for that, and for so many other reasons. She has taught me by her example what it means to maintain a healthy & active lifestyle, while still allowing yourself to have fun baking in the kitchen and giving yourself treats. I have watched her disappear before my eyes, and I am so proud of her! When she allows herself those treats, she just gets right back on it like it's no big thang. Thank you so much, Rachael. You are amazing.

photo credit: K. Lunt Photography? ;)

This is my sweet friend Amelia! Amelia, Amelia, Amelia. You are the best! She was so welcoming to me as soon as I joined the gym and even beforehand! (She invited me to go with her as her guest while we tried to decide whether or not to take the plunge.) I used to think I didn't like having workout buddies, like it was something I needed to do by myself. (I had in my mind that it was my time to think and, if I was out of breath, I wouldn't be a very good conversationalist anyway, right?) I have learned how wrong I was because of Amelia. She is so much fun to workout with, and she inspires me! She also allows herself to eat the "fun" things and just gets right back on it! (I'm noticing a pattern here. This must be the way to do it! It's still novel to me, y'all.) Thank you, Amelia! I love you!

photo credit: Lindsey Lou Photography

Katie Newman!!! Katie is also an awesome example to me of consistently exercising, yet she keeps chocolate around the house! It's FANTASTIC! Katie is such a good mommy and is setting such a good example for Kiley of what being healthy means through her daily actions. She runs pretty much everyday. Katie is a professional tennis player (literally), and as soon as quit her job to be home with Kiley, she signed up for a tennis league. She doesn't waste any time when it comes to being healthy! Thank you Katie! Your actions speak louder than you know! I love you!

My sweet Stace! I want to thank Stace so much. He always makes me feel good about myself. Many times when he looks at me, he acts like he's never seen me before...that makes me feel so special and so loved. He helps me stay on the bandwagon with him, even though sometimes I'm kicking and screaming, but I appreciate him so much for that. I love you Stace! I am so glad you got your Apple TV! You deserve it!