Link ♥

This video.  OMG.  Hilarious {and true!} (Found via Summify)
A Facebook App that posts messages after you die, and keeps on posting?
Want to sharpen your skills…any skills?  Check out these free classes on practically everything!
My mouth was watering after seeing these red velvet pancakes! So not on my current diet plan.
If you believe in God, or really, even if you don't you should watch this video.  (Start with the first one, and I predict you will want to watch the other three parts: 2, 3, 4)
Considering toddler-picky-eating is becoming the norm in our house lately, I was inspired by these fantastic ideas for making food fun!
People love me! They really love me…well at least one does!

Thank you Melissa, at MameMusings for the nod, and for sharing your life with me via your beautiful blog!

If you'd like to know more about this award/the rules, etc. you can click here!  Passing this award on to 5 blogs that you should go check out, immediately!
Worth the clicks: Hanasaurusrex, AunieSauce, No Smoke Without Pryor, Babies&Bacon, & Laugh,Love,Lattes.




 

Muffintop Meltdown {v.3}

Progress, Points & Hypothyroidism
 
 
 

Progress Report:

Weight Lost This Week: 3 pounds

Total Weight Lost: 5 pounds

Inches Lost This Week: 3 inches

Total Inches Lost: 6.5 inches

Points Earned:

This Week: 76

Points Balance: 186

Weight loss really IS harder when you have hypothyroidism!

But don't despair, I've been doing a little research and these are a few things that may actually help you if you struggle, like I do, with this frustrating metabolic disorder:

1.  Cut back/eliminate starchy/simple carbs from your diet:  I must admit, although I have been very good about cutting out white foods (refined sugar, flours, potatoes, etc.) in favor of whole grains, I didn't think about starchy vegetables such as sweet potatoes & corn!  Also, steering clear of any product that has "enriched" white or wheat flour as the first ingredient….which basically means, stripped of all its goodness!  So, what should you eat?  Imagine your plate as a pie chart, half the plate should be low-starch vegetables, a quarter of the plate should be a lean protein, and the last quarter should be divided into two parts - half low-glycemic index fruit, and the other half whole grains.  Don't give up low-fat dairy completely either, just keep it within the 1-2 servings a day!  One last tip, breaking your meals into 5-6 mini-meals (300 calories or less) will do a lot to help regulate your metabolism throughout the day!

2.  Increase water intake/water therapy {I know, I've said it before!}: there are a couple of articles I have read that talk about water therapy, which is basically starting your day with a flush of water before anything else.  What I have read is that you should drink 1.5 liters of water upon waking, before brushing your teeth, or doing anything else, then wait 45 minutes before eating anything.  I haven't found any scientific evidence or really trustworthy sites, so I'm not necessarily endorsing this.  I do think that there is something to be said about increased water intake…I've heard that you should drink a minimum of HALF your body weight in ounces every day.  That is currently my goal…I may increase it to try more of a "therapeutic" approach, but for now, my goal is to get in my 80oz a day.

3.  Sadly, you WILL have to work harder than other people to lose weight:  I was really offended when I visited my Endocrinologist a few months back, and expressed my frustration at my lack of weight loss.  I had been working out 3-5 times a week for about 45-60 minutes at a time, plus eating generally healthy (this was before the holidays hit peeps).  She basically told me that I should try to add an additional 30-60 minutes of running/jogging or other cardio on top of what I was already doing!!!  I was like, "has she lost her mind? Does she not see my toddler sitting in her stroller in front of her face?"  The more I've looked into it, I'm convinced that, until you get to your goal weight, you are simply going to have to swallow the very hard pill of truth, which is you do have to work harder than someone else without hypothyroidism.  Be encouraged though, the more weight you do lose, and the harder you work, the easier it will be to keep the weight off.  Once you do reach your goal, and you stay consistent, you'll be able to let off a little bit and maintain your weight.

**I am not a certified expert on nutrition or exercise, so please, do your homework/research, and as always consult your physician before making major lifestyle changes that include diet/exercise!**

This Week:

I'm proud of these choices:

Portion Control:  I've been really focused on measuring out my portions and eating smaller meals more frequently.  So, I'll have 5-6 small meals rather than three big ones. 

Sleep:  I've gone to bed early a few nights in the last week, and because I feel more rested, I'm more motivated.

I'd like to work more on:

Consistency of workouts, a minimum of every other day.

Eating breakfast within the first hour of waking up, preferably before my first cup of coffee.

Doing my physical therapy exercises a minimum of once per day.

Cutting down to 1 cup of coffee a day {am I kidding myself here?}.

I totally cheated when:

My TOTM {timeofthemonth} came a day early, and I haven't worked out very much in the last week.    Actually I've only worked out twice in the past week, so thankfully my eating choices have been good enough to still give me a loss for the week.  I can see how I totally justify cramps/etc. as a valid excuse for not sticking to the routine, but I've vowed no excuses, so I'm not going to let this happen again.

Side note: For those of you who know I'm TTC, I was a little bummed finding out I wasn't pregnant this cycle, but hey, it was only our first attempt…lol.  And the upside is  that now I have the green light for doing Medifast in February while I'm away in Texas.

My One-For-One this week is: Soy creamer instead of half-and-half in my coffee.  I can't believe how this little change will save me quite a bit of fat/saturated fat each day!

How did you do this week?  I'd love to follow your success!  Feel free to link up below!

Missed the last update? V.2, V.1

 

Wordless{ish}{GIF} Wednesday

Oh how she enjoys her daddy…tossing her about like a rag doll.  LOL


 

Guest Spotlight: Annie from Letters to Mo!

I am so happy to introduce you to a fantastic lady I've been getting to know over the last couple of months! Annie won my Extra Large Feature Ad Giveaway for January! :)

I'm Annie. I curse too much, I can throw down in the kitchen, and I love the Muppets more than any 32 year old woman should.

I write Letters to Mo, which is a modern day baby book for my 10 month old son, whose name is not actually Mo! I started my blog when I was pregnant as a way to document our lives together. Sort of love letters for him to read as he grows up. I blog about our adventures (big and small), living as an interracial family and typical mama stuff- though I draw the line at posting about poop!

This is Cash, aka Baby Mo, and yes, he really is the cutest baby in the universe.

One thing I don't blog about is parenting advice. So instead, I'll give the anti-parenting advice here.

Here is a list of things moms should never say to other moms.

1. My baby has never had formula. Not even one drop.
I'm a total breast-feeding advocate and breast-fed Cash until he was 8 months old. Even I know this is a stupid thing to say. By all means, have a love of breast-feeding, that's awesome. But don't imply that formula is just atrocious.

2. Giving birth is the most natural thing in the world.
Maybe. Maybe not. Confession time- I used to be an advocate of natural childbirth. Until I actually went into labor that is! After suffering a series of health complications my doctor and I chose to have Cash via a scheduled c-section at 37 weeks. Between the undiagnosed gestational diabetes, the preeclampsia, high blood pressure and a 10 pound 8 ounce baby being born 3 weeks early, there didn't seem to be much natural about my birth! Not everyone can (nor should) have an awesome natural birth, and there's nothing wrong with that.

3. I would never let someone else raise my kids.
My daycare provider no more raises Cash than your kid's second grade teacher raises him. Not everyone wants to stay home. Not everyone can stay home. Don't make them feel insecure or bad about that.


4. Why aren't you breastfeeding?
I've had strangers at Target ask me if I'm breast-feeding. It always throws me off, like, "why is this your business?". It just sets up women to have to defend their choice or makes them re-live all the struggles they had.


5. You know, you really shouldn't do _____.
A few days ago I posted a picture of my 10 month old son sleeping in his crib, with his head propped up by a pillow. A "friend" immediately messaged me warning me all about SIDS and letting me know how dangerous it was for him to be sleeping on a pillow. What she doesn't know? Cash has a lot of breathing problems and the doctor recommended he sleep elevated. You never know the full circumstance with someone's family. So stay out of it.

6. Did you use IVF?
A friend of mine from high school has twins. She is asked often if she conceived naturally or used fertility drugs. By strangers. By family members. In what world is this your business?

7. What do you do all day? (to a stay at home mom)
Every Saturday I have Cash all day while my husband works. During that time, I wrangle a 10 month old, fold laundry, cook, take care of pets, pay bills, have play-dates and in the middle of all that, try to remember to shower and eat. If someone asked me what I do all day while taking care of Cash I would want to punch them. Hard.

8. Formula is so much easier than breast-feeding.
Umm....duh. Breast-feeding is hard. I even had it really easy with no problems for either Cash or I, and guess what, it was still hard! Don't remind me of how difficult it is. I know that already.

9. You are spoiling him!
I've been told I'm spoiling Cash because of everything from breastfeeding him to not doing cry-it-out, to holding him "too much" to giving him a cookie. On what planet can you spoil a 10 month old?

and finally....

10. Is she adopted?
Yes, people really ask this. Cash is a beautiful mix of both his White mama and his Black daddy. But in our society, he is seen as Black. So when I'm out with him, people assume that I'm the nanny or that he is adopted. In the first month of Cash's life I was asked three times (by strangers) if he was adopted.With all my crazy post-birth hormones, I felt everything from rage to extreme sadness. I dyed my hair a dark brown so we would look more alike.

So there you have it, stuff you should never, ever, ever say to other mamas. Really it's all about supporting each other for our choices. We have it hard enough as mamas without tearing each other down.

Annie

Letters to Mo~ Facebook~ Twitter

"Pinning!" {Wk.8} Baby It's Cold Outside!

Welcome to the "Pinning!"!!!

First timer?  Check out the RULES, then link up below!

This week's theme: Baby It's Cold Outside!

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 1.  2.  3.  4.  5.

6.  7.

8.

9.  10.

11.

12.

How are you staying warm this winter?  No winter?  That's okay, how about your dream Wintry-escape?

THANK YOU for Linking up last week!  

The Award for Pinning-est Goes to:


Joanna at Brock Paper Scissors…an easy choice!  She lost 4lbs this past week, so I'd say she is definitely MOTIVATED!!

{source}

Joanna, feel free to grab the button, and flaunt it!

<center><a href="http://www.baxtronlife.com/search/label/Pinning" target="_blank"> <img src="http://i1106.photobucket.com/albums/h377/spunkdiz/Pinning-EstAward.png" /></a></center>

Are you "Pinning"?  

Come on, everyone is doing it.  

Join me MONDAYS for weekly sharing of Pinterest finds.  

After all, together we are "Pinning!"

{Rules}

January 16th: Baby It's Cold Outside (Anything to survive the cold winter)

January 23rd: These Boots Were Made For Walking (Boots!)

January 30th: Take Me Away! (If you could go anywhere right now…)

February 6th: Partytime (Plan a party, any party!)

February 13th: RED (Cause, you know, V-day is tomorrow!)

I've linked this up with these ladies: