I know this is supposed to be about the kids...but...

I have to post the information that I learned last night. Tom's cousin Lynn who is a personal trainer, came up to the thumb last night to do metabolic testing for Tom and I and some of my girlfriends. Let me backtrack a little.....I have been counting WW points for the last I don't know how many years (at least 6). I just started counting calories religiously for the last six months. Well, the website I was using had my target set at 1200 calories per day to lose about 2lb per week. Well...I lost some, but have hit a plateau and can never seem to stay on track. I've been working my butt off and not seeing any results. This is EXTREMELY frustrating!!

Well, this metabolic testing gives you your RMR (Resting Metabolic Rate)...in other words how many calories my body would burn if I sat in a chair and did nothing all day long. Of course, I don't do that....so you need to add additional calories burned doing your daily activities and any exercising that you do. So....my RMR came in at 2477 calories, plus it figures around 741 for daily activities and another 258 for a 30 mintue workout daily. So what does all this mean??? It means that I can eat between 2477-3218 calories every day just to MAINTAIN my weight. Well, I don't want to maintain, I want to lose....so, to lose weight, I should be eating between 1983-2477 calories every day. This is totally blowing my mind....still, 24 hours later. And these numbers are not estimates, they are based on my breathing, my oxygen....this test is even covered by insurance companies, it is that accurate. So...here I've been trying to live off of 1200 calories (not very successfully, I might add), when in fact I should have been eating a lot more all along. I think my problem was I would stick to that 1200 calories during the week and on the weekends I would eat a lot more (probably in the 1900-2400 range). Therefore my body was in starvation mode most of the time. I had heard of this starvation mode before but didn't really buy into it. I'm still struggling to buy into it...however Lynn is the BEST when it comes to fitness, health, personal training and I trust her 100%, so I have to trust this test. I'm so excited to be able to eat more....don't get me wrong, I'm not going hog wild on the sweets, pizza, ice cream...all that good stuff....I'm focusing on eating the right foods that will satisfy me the longest.

It is amazing how much more refreshed I feel and what a positive outlook I have on my future health and weight loss.

THANK YOU SO MUCH LYNN WRACAN!!!!!

Caseville - July 2011

Freshen up!

I updated my blog tonight...freshened up the look a little and changed the picture to a photo of my two little munchkins!

Yikes....calendar is full for the next month straight...we have an anniversary party for Tom's aunt and uncle, a wedding, 2 Tigers games, and a camping trip! So although it will be busy, it will be fun!

The kids are doing well and staying healthy. Blake will be starting pre-school in a couple of weeks. Cora is talking more and more everyday. Her latest gesture is folding her arms across her chest when she gets mad. She's just too cute!

Tom and I are getting our metabolism tested tomorrow. Should be very interesting to see how many calories we burn at rest so that we have an idea of how many calories we should be eating per day in order to lose weight.

That's all for now. I'm going to make a conscious effort to try and update this blog a lot more often than I have been. I've got to get caught up on my scrapbooking and I know that I'm going to heavily rely on this blog for my "journaling"!!

Where is summer going?

I guess I'm falling behind again, but summer is always so busy!

Blake turned 4 a couple weeks ago, it's so hard to believe! We celebrated his birthday up at Caseville when we were camping at Sleeper State Park.

Cora is talking like crazy...her and Blake are also known as "Pete and Repeat"! She repeats everything he says and mimics his behavior as well. She really is talking more and does use some short sentences. We can usually figure out what she is saying...but not always.

I ran my second 5K in Deckerville on August 6th. My time was 32:53. I was super happy with that! I'm signed up for another on 9/17/11...so hopefully I can beat my time again!

Meet Happy & Sammy, our new feline friends!

Thanks to my mom (aka Grandma Maya)...Blake and Cora now have pet kittens. Meet "Happy" and "Sammy"...both named by Blake. These are our very first pets!

My first 5K

I ran my first 5K today in Ubly! I completed it in 35:26, not too bad for my first one. It was fun and I'm looking forward to the next one! Maybe Tom and I will run the Deckerville one....we will see!