thanksgiving 2011

happiest thanksgiving!
our day was perfect!

started the day off by walking the thankful healthy blogger 5k with my son peyton.
it was a fun & a great event created & hosted by anissa @ a journey to thin.
so a special super-duper thanks to her!
the rest of the day was spent in the company of my most favorite peeps on the planet -- my wonderous (yet crazy) family!














i hope your day rocked & was filled with love, blessings, family, & some wine!

♥cyn♥

THinGs I am L♥VIN' Thursday

HaPPy L♥VEfest!

OMGosh what a crazy week it has been! Seriously I still have to look at the calendar to know what day it is…
Please tell me I am NOT the only one.

Anywho…

I have to start the L♥Vedom with my new workout/walking partner – my 14 (soon-to-be 15) year old son Peyton.

My sweet kiddo deserves a medal for being so determined to get healthy that he is willing to workout with his old Mom. But he has in fact agreed to do the 30 Day Shred (I started over at Day One yesterday to do it with him) and to walk with me as well as hit the gym when the time comes.
GO PEYTON!
(I am so stinkin’ proud of him!!!)

Getting his walk on…


Let’s continue with some amazing features from a couple of my fellow KICKASS bloggers…






I have posted items from Lesley (of Fabulously Flawed fame) before – because – well she rocks – enough said. But this par-tay she is hosting EVERY Thursday is just coolio and makes me SO wish I was the crafty sort. I do covet it all – check her out!








Destiny aka ★Rockin’ Mama ★ & her multi-media hop – I love one-stop-hopping – cause I am lazy as doo-dah. Well not really, but kinda.
*smirk*
Anywho – her blog is fun and her current 10 Days of BS challenge is one I am participating in and L♥Vin’!

L♥VE this little girl’s room – and look – it’s already monogrammed for Skylar! *heh*

This FABULOUS room was made possible by feltsocute via tip junkie. I L♥VE her – check out her Facebook page as well – I L♥VE the daily feeds!

L♥VE my new bamboo plant!

Believed to bring prosperity – I will keep ya updated – as it has yet to happen!

Oddly enough I am L♥Vin Lauren Conrad’s rainbow hair…

It’s fun and if I were a wee bit (okay A LOT) younger I would so rock this look ALL summerlong!

L♥VE L♥VE L♥VE this trend!

Talk about channeling your inner Wonder Woman!

L♥VE shoulder tatts…

Must.have.one.soon!

L♥VE potty training!

Okay blatant lie – but I do L♥VE my darling Skylar and how hard she is trying. She had it nailed and decided yesterday this whole potty thing just wasn’t for her.
Who am I to tell her otherwise?
So we give it some time and try again soon!

Last but not least...
I L♥VE Brian…

My soulmate and the best Daddy I have ever known.
You are wonderful!

There ya have it -- and I promise to be a better blogger -- holidays totally screw me up!

xxoo
♥cyn♥

HoLLa: Weight Loss Update

Happy Saturday BloGland!

So this has been a wonderful week for me!
Down 2.8 lbs!
*w00ts*
For a grand total of 11 lbs gone since JOINING the gym two months ago!
*w00ts*

I made it to the gym four days last week mixing up weight training and cardio. In all honesty – I had a hard time motivating myself to get there most of the time this week? No real reason – but thankfully I talked myself down from that ledge!
The point is I made it there – doesn’t matter how much *cheerleading* beforehand!

Today makes three weeks since I have eaten meat and Monday will make a week with no dairy.
I am not craving either really – but I have felt a little bit more hungry this week. So I have upped my protein and fiber in hopes to feel fuller longer.
Any vegetarians/vegans out there with advice or input on this – feel free to leave me a comment!

Bottom Line: I refuse to go back to my old ways of eating meat and dairy and being sedentary I feel SO dang good since choosing a vegetarian lifestyle and making exercise a priority in my life again!
GO ME!

♥cyn♥

Oh yeah!

Oh a side note:
I made an awesome vegetarian version (I used a vegetable broth) of the Weight Watchers Zero Point Soup this week. YUM!!!


Also I logged in an additional 6.2 mi on the Virtual Trans American Trail for a total of 92.1 mi -- 4.43 mi to Ashland, VA.

HoLLa: Weight Loss Update

First of all – in case I missed anyone (which sadly I am sure I have because my weekend has just been insane) – thank you ALL so very much for the wonderful comments and birthday wishes. Simply put – I am touched!

Next…
Let’s discuss weight loss.
Or in my case weight gain.
Yeah, I gained this week at my weigh-in on Friday.
BUT…
I consider this past week a MAJOR success even though I did technically gain .8 lbs.
For a week that had Easter at one end and my birthday at the other – a less than a lb. gain is pretty dang good.
Added to the fact that PMS and Mother Nature were in play – I did REALLY dang good!

Gym wise – I worked out six days last week (even on Easter and my Birthday) and give my dedication to the gym ALL the credit for the miniscule gain on such a *FOOD CRAZY* week.
I added some additional weight training to the mix and changed up my cardio a bit by adding the stationary bike and upping my level on the hill feature on the treadmill.

I also have logged in 85.9 mi on The Virtual Trans American Trail and am 10.58 mi away from Ashland, VA.

I am still going strong with my pledge to eat vegetarian! Yesterday made two weeks sans meat and this week I am cutting out dairy.
I admit that I am a wee bit nervous about saying adios to cheese; as I have a lifelong love affair with anything cheese related. We shall see how it goes. I am determined and feel confident about being successful!

In other non-diet news:
Today was FABULOUS outside and I actually sat in the backyard in my bathing suit to get some sun while Skylar played!

We had a *family* bday dinner/party for me tonight (my Barbie Party!) – so sweet! My Mom made me my all-time favorite dessert -- banana pudding (fat-free I might add) and Brian made us a wonderful spaghetti and meatball (his speciality) dinner. I, of course, had vegetarian sauce but it was still SUPERB!!! I got a new watch (on top of all the amazing things I already got this past week) and a GORGEOUS marquesite peacock ring. I ♥ peacocks!

My family is just amazing for allowing me to have a weekend ALL ABOUT ME and they really out of their way to make my birthday extra special.
I am without a doubt SPOILED!

Bruce the Spruce (along with a cousin I aquired from my Mom) was officially planted – aren’t they adorable!?!?!

I won a most excellent giveaway! I will of course *blog it* when it arrives – but a shout out to Lesley @ Fabulously Flawed and a most gracious thanks for hosting such a killer GiVeAwAy!
Please check out her blog – she is sassy and hysterical! I love a gal who isn’t afraid to say it like it is!

Tomorrow I return to work after having a week out of work. I didn’t intend to have a week out – it just worked out that way. While I don’t loathe my job (love what I do actually) – I was sorta hoping I would hit the Powerball so I wouldn’t have to EVER go back and could spend every single day with my kiddos in the sunshine…
Alas…

Last but not least...just because she is so stinkin’ cute and my little pride and joy (and possibly my BFF because we spend SO much time together) – Miss Skylar Rockets and her little almost two-year old mood swings!

♥cyn♥

HoLLa: Weight Loss Update

HeLLo aLL!

What a wonderful week I had in regards to my quest to regain and maintain a healthy lifestyle!

First of all – the weigh-in!
I am down another 2lbs. this week!
*w00ts*

That’s 9lbs gone total since joining the gym eight weeks ago. So I am currently averaging slightly over a lb. a week – but I did have two weeks in there that I TOTALLY slacked and regained a few lbs.
Either way…
YaY!

Once again I fully owe the great weigh-in to the gym (I made it five days this week!), tracking my food, and eating strictly vegetarian.
Tomorrow will make a week with NO meat and very limited dairy.
I feel amazing.
Maybe it’s all in my head?
But I swear not eating meat and limiting my dairy even for just six days has made an immense difference in how I feel overall.

I cannot say I miss the meat – at least not at this juncture. I may feel differently in a week, month, year – hopefully never!

I will say this much. I thought I would be really tested when going out to lunch this week, but it was easier than I imagined to make educated vegetarian choices. I ordered food that I would have most likely NEVER choosen and what an eye opener to know that all these years I have shorted myself on such amazingly delicious HEALTHY food!

One interesting thing is the reaction I have gotten about making the 30 Day Vegetarian Pledge.
Most is supportive; but I have had a few “I could NEVER give up meat” responses as well. And hey, I get that. It’s not a choice for everyone. But it is my choice and something I am becoming increasingly passionate about.

I am not trying to change the eating habits of the world (yet) – but I would like to prove the benefits and importance by showing it CAN be done. Even by an ex-smoking, fast food eating, rum drinking, non-exercising, *I will live forever no matter what I do to my body attitude* type like myself!

My longtime friend Angela even made a comment that all my *clean living* was pretty shocking.
Agreed!
Who would have ever thunk it?
But it’s time to grow up and become accountable!

If my life had a theme song it would be James Brown’s “I Feel Good”!

Other Updates:

Virtual Trans American Trail: 73.3 mi done -- 7.71 mi to Mechanicsville, VA.
Yep… still in VA!

Wedding: As I previously reported, we set the date for September 9th and despite the grandest of intentions – I have yet to pay the deposit on a venue. THIS WEEK FOR SURE!

Birthday: The 20th Anniversary of my 21st Birthday is this coming Thursday (the 28th) and I am taking some MUCH needed time out of work to just BE and celebrate being a year older and wiser! I will be spending the day with my family having a lovely picnic at one of my MOST favorite places (weather willing!!!) and having a lavish vegetarian dinner out with my hunny at a WONDERFUL Japanese restaurant! Some other fun stuff planned as well! And I have a day of beauty (boy do I need it) coming my way next Saturday as my birthday gift from Brian. Absolutely CANNOT wait for that!!!

Work: Meh… and let’s just leave it at that.

Life is good!

And there ya have it…
Happy Earth Day Ya’LL!

♥cyn♥

HoLLa: Weight Loss Update

Holla! So the last time I made a “HoLLa” post was March 27th (wowie, really?) and I was up 2 lbs (after being at a standstill for a couple of weeks with no loss/no gain) and slacking at the gym. Well, I continued to slack at the gym (a flu/sinus/cold thing that I allowed to manifest into exhaustion combined with SUPER DUPER long hours at work) up until four days ago. I am proud to say that I am working hard on balancing all the chaos and putting myself and my health in the front instead of squeezing it in when I can. I have been faithfully weighing in every Friday and last week I was down a ½ a lb. (YaY!) Today was another weigh-in and I am overjoyed to report that I lost 2.5 lbs. – so I am back to being ahead of the game with a total of 7 lbs. lost! *w00ts* I totally attribute it to the gym and tracking my food! Funny how that whole tracking your food and being accountable really DOES work! OTHER UPDATES: The Virtual Trans American Trail -- I have walked 54.7 mi and am 5.87 mi from Glendale, VA. Once again I ask – will I ever make it outta VA?!?! MY WEDDING: We set a date – September 9th! Yes, a Friday night, but I am diggin’ that fact. I have a locale and will be forking over the deposit one night this week. Impressive aye? WORK: Still crazy with this weekend being the cusp of our cutoff date to have portraits by Easter and next week being Spring Break. A week from now I will be toasting to another peak season survived!!! (Assuming I make it to then… *heh*) OTHER STUFF: I had an appointment with Dr. W (my ob/gyn) today to discuss birth control. I went in there with every intention of making arrangements to have my tubes tied. But hearing her discuss the details just made me feel weird and I began to seriously second guess my decision. To make a long story short – I am opting for an IUD. While I am 99.9999999999% sure that our family is complete – there is a HUGE difference in choosing to not have a baby and being unable to have a baby. And thus is my life… ♥cyn♥

HoLLa: Weight Loss Update

Holla!

I should have made this post Friday… but alas we are in the midst of *Easter Season* at work (I work in retail photography) and are completely SLAMMED! My bank account is beyond happy but the long hours and not seeing my family ALL weekend really for a lack of a better word – SUCKS! Such is life, aye?

Anywho… Here we are at the beginning of WEEK FIVE – WoWie!

So to update: I had my worst week to date – and honestly it wasn’t a bad week, just not as good as the previous four. Kinda typical for me – I have four or five good weeks then I slack. But sometimes I need a slack to smack me back into reality. I only made it to the gym three times this past week and I did the bare minimum even when I was there. I have no one to blame but myself – because I had the time and chose to be lackluster about my workouts.

Boo hiss @ ME!

Added to the fact that good ol’ Mother Nature is up to no good in the form of WICKED PMS – and well, the scale reflected it perfectly.

I was up 2 lbs. this week.

Honestly, I was almost expecting worse.

I am not saying that I am happy with a 2lb. gain but considering the amounts of chocolate I consumed to ease my PMS – it could have been UGLY! But it goes to show that if I hadn’t gone to the gym even those three times – my gain probably would have been worse!

Bottom line: I know better. I can do better. I WILL do better!

Like I said… sometimes I need a dose of reality to get me in the groove when I slack. And the reality is I need to be at the gym giving it my all. I deserve an hour to do this for myself and I need to stop denying myself this time to get healthier and in shape!

In other semi-related news:

Not sure if I mentioned that my Mom has been going to the gym with me for the past couple of weeks?

Yes – my 63 year old Mom who has never been to a gym (The Jane Fonda Workout circa 1985 does NOT count!) her entire life!

She walks on the treadmill for 40 minutes and then bikes 20 minutes!

I am so proud of her!!!

She is really doing amazing on her weight loss journey!

YaY Mom!

Anywho… I shall finish this post with some startling facts that I hope motivate me this week as my goals are to make it to the gym four times and to keep my paws outta the snacks!

My 41st Birthday is a month from tomorrow!

*gulp*

Our pool is opened in less than two months!

*gulp*

Happy Sunday and I hope you all have a FANTABULOUS week!

♥cyn♥

PS… I have completed 47.7 miles on the virtual Trans American Trail and am 12.88 miles away from Glendale, VA.

Will I ever get out of VA?!?! *heh*

And I will post an updated pic in the ♥fifty-two♥ tab ASAP!

HoLLa: Weight Loss Update

So…
Here we are at the beginning of week four – WoWie!

So to update:

I am still on track, made it to the gym four times last week -- aiming for five this week – and I am loving how the gym is becoming a part of my life.

I did 10.8 miles of walking putting me at 36.8 total on the virtual Trans American Trail! (I am 3.6 miles away from Charles City, VA!)
At weigh-in yesterday morning I was exactly the same – not a loss or a gain. I am okay with this considering we had date night last week, went to Friendly’s for burgers and ice cream on Monday, and I was PMS’n something fierce which equates to one killer sweet tooth!

I am thinking of changing my weigh-in day to Friday though. I have always been a Friday weigh-in kinda gal – it feels right and I want every aspect of this to feel right. So I will make another update on Friday or Saturday.

I posted my weekly progress pic in the tab named ♥fifty-two♥. Surprisingly I don’t want to jump off the nearest bridge even though I allowed myself to be photographed in a WHITE shirt. Yeah I have room for improvement – but I am working on that!
*big smile*

I bought this bikini today. It’s nothing extreme – although I do like it and personally think the picture doesn’t do it justice. I splurged (a whole $24 at Wal-Mart – they carry a line of Op bathing suits – who knew?) and hope it will be the incentive I need!
They had an ADORABLE purple string bikini but I need a little more coverage on the bottom. Even at my thinnest I have never felt super comfy in a stringed bottom.

Pool season is just months away – matter of fact our pool is scheduled to be opened the week before MEMORIAL DAY – as in the end of May – as in 2 ½ months away!!!

And I refuse to be uncomfortable in my own skin AND a bathing suit by the pool this summer!

All in all – I am in a really good place in my own head and skin right now. I feel in control and quite happy to be me – and that is NEVER a bad thing!

Blessed Be…
♥cyn♥

HoLLa: Weight Loss Update

HoLLa: Weight Loss Update!

So can you believe that today is the beginning of week three since joining the gym and getting back to a healthy lifestyle???
I will be posting some pics later tonight when Brian gets home from work and can take a few of me.

I finally got the scale situation remedied and guess what?
I have lost SIX lbs and feel like a bajillion dollars already!
GREAT NEWS – YaY!

I also learned that my scale was oh-so-wrong – I thought it was adding weight and it was actually subtracting!
So sadly when thought I had regained 9 lbs. since my last *official* Weight Watcher meeting/weigh-in I had actually regained 15 lbs!
OMGosh…
*breathe in – breathe out*
It’s gonna be okay – I am on the right path now and this is a fixable thing.
And did I mention that I have lost SIX POUNDS?!?!

The point is this – I feel a million times better than I did eating junk non-stop and not watching my portions. And let’s not even get going on how good the gym makes me feel.
Okay let’s…
The gym is my sacred place…
My Shangri La…
My therapy in more ways than I can ever relay!

Even if I never reached my goal weight (which of course I will) the way being at the gym for even just an hour clears my jumbled, over-stressed head is worth it alone!

So things are going really well and I feel myself changing from the inside out on a daily basis!
And…
I have gotten over that *guilt* I tend to feel when it comes to dedicating any significant amount of time to something solely for me.

Why do we gals do that?
Am I not worth an hour and a half a day?
Am I not worth being the healthiest I can be?
The happiest I can be?

Oh I most definitely think I am!
And so do those that love me.

I am worth being the best ME I can be!

Blessed Be…
♥cyn♥


PS...
I am still tracking my food and activity faithfully on Sparkpeople and virtually walking The Trans American Trail! I have completed 27.5 mi and am 1.50 mi away from Chickahominy River, VA!

*w00ts*

HoLLa: Weight Loss Update

Some time ago (TWO MONTHS AGO EXACTLY)…
I made a post about wanting to virtually walk The Trans American Trail.

Well…
Since rejoining the gym and getting back into the swing of all things active and exercise related (Man do I feel AMAZING for doing so…) – I am back to my original plan and am happy to report that I am 19.2 mi (I am still including the 7 miles I accumulated in January OF COURSE!) closer to my goal and am virtually only 1.85 miles from Jamestown Virginia!

*w00ts*

I am loving the gym!
I promised I wouldn’t let one ignorant comment detour me and I haven’t. I vowed to go at least three times a week and I went five this past week. YaY!

Tuesday marked the end of my first week back in the full-swing of a healthy lifestyle and sadly my scale has decided to die so I couldn’t get an *official* weigh-in.

Does *feeling* thinner count?

I will try to have the scale situation remedied ASAP because as much as I don’t like to be ruled by the scale – I do like to see results in terms of numbers!

I am still documenting my progress via photography and got Brian to shoot a full-body of me on Tuesday.
Eeeeks!
You can see my progress in the tab labeled *fifty-two*.

Blessed Be…
♥cyn♥

Life is Spiffy...

Day 161
♥~♥~♥~♥~♥~♥~♥

Friday Blessings!

I really wanted to get around to writing yesterday, but alas…
So let’s recap a bit…

Goddess Group Tuesday night was awesome!
We have kinda been in a slump for the past couple of weeks; I think everyone was just so overwhelmed by the holidays – I know I was!
But we are back on track and working on some really amazing techniques to empower ourselves. Things involving the moon phases, colors, and meditation. I think everyone is falling in love with group all over again – awwww!
AND we had some new Goddesses attend our group – that is always so cool to me! I am always wishing our little group would extend to a larger group… dunno why?
Anywho…

Skylar had her library reading group on Wednesday – after a three week hiatus for the holidays. She was so elated when we pulled into the library parking lot – it was priceless; her little smiling face! I am so glad life as we know it is getting back to *normal* since the holidays!

I am still über motivated about walking – I earned more AP’s (Activity Points for your non-Weight Watcher folks) this week than I did for ALL of last month!
That is both sad and extremely awesome!
But I am proud to say that I walked five outta seven days this week – GO ME GO!
I logged in 9.9 miles for The Trans American Trail cyber walk and am only a mere 3.25 miles from Williamsburg -- *w00ts*!
I FULLY expect good results on the scale at my weigh-in and Weight Watcher meeting this morning – by golly!

Last night’s dinner with Hunter’s new girlfriend Ariel (she gets MEGA points for the name alone as I am just IN LOVE with the Little Mermaid) went nicely – I think at least. I did my best not to interrogate the poor girl, as much as I may have wanted to… I will save that for the next time we meet.
*heh*
Honestly – she is just adorable and giggles non-stop. I am not sure if that is because she is smitten with my son or if that is just her personality? I am guessing it is Hunter because he seems equally smitten – and it is so damn cute!
Ahhh… to be young again…
I think she is a positive force in his life – so thank you to The Powers That Be for that!

This evening we are attending the 2nd Birthday party for my best friend’s daughter – Skylar’s first real birthday party to boot!
Okay, we technically she has been to a couple of b-day parties – but not a kiddie one since she has been old enough to comprehend the whole process.
So needless to say… this is going to be a SUPER FUN new experience for her!

Work wise –
Well… it’s a super slow time of year for my line of work. So basically I am not really working that much. As the *low gal on the totem pole* I am basically on call and work when I am needed. Sadly, I haven’t been needed this week. I thought I might work tomorrow but with a significant snow fall forecasted for tonight into tomorrow – cancellations galore!
DANG!
I still have hope… maybe I will get called in and can earn some dinero!

If nothing else… working back in retail photography has reignited my passion to shoot pictures again. I barely take a step without my camera – my brandy-new super cool and fancy camera – in tow! I even have been taking it on my walks and yesterday I got some amazing shots – which over time I will post. I am working on a few subject related posts. And I am really digging the Photo scavenger hunt my boss posts every single day… that is really helping me think outside of the box again!

I think that about sums it up…
As you can see…
Life is pretty damn spiffy these days…
I am blessed with so much and by so many!

Blessed Be…
♥Cyn♥

I Walk the Line...

Day 158
♥~♥~♥~♥~♥~♥~♥

With my new outlook on weight loss and exercise due to gaining 5lbs and being jolted into a *now or never* attitude -- I have actually been out walking this week!
YAY ME!
I walked Friday, Sunday, yesterday, and have every intention of walking the rest of the week as well.
YAY ME!

So this morning I was reading some of my favorite blogs and came across a post from a friend where she wrote about virtually walking The Trans American Trail and shared a link to the site she is using to track her progress.
Sounds like fun!
So why not give it a whirl?
So I am!
As of today (and yes, I did count the walking I have done so far this week)… I am about 7 ½ miles away from Williamsburg, VA!
*w00ts*

The Trail is about 5,000 miles long – so I have NO clue how long it will take me to complete it.
It’s not a race; just a personal goal!
Updates to follow…

Blessed Be…
♥Cyn♥