It's about time...

Alright.  The boys are 5 months old, and I'm still carrying around some of their baby weight.  It's time to crack down and lose it.  Jeremy has also put on a few pounds, and so we have decided to do things a little differently around here.  First thing that we are changing is the way we eat.  I'm not a big fan of "diets" because they're restrictive.  They don't let you eat things you want to, and therefore you are more likely to eat them, because you are forbidden to have them.  Instead, we are just going to eat healthier, with a huge lists of things that we should be eating everyday.  That way, it's concentrating on foods that we can eat, instead of foods that we cannot eat.  Jeremy originally suggested this "diet", as he had gotten it from his favorite chef, Alton Brown.  Alton has completely changed his way of eating and lost around 50 lbs in 9 months.  We are going to give this thing a try. 

This will be my "before" picture...All my extra weight is concentrated in my hip/belly area, and I have about 15-20 lbs to lose.  (I debated a long time about whether or not to post these pictures... they make me pretty self conscious, but I think it's good...it'll motivate me.  knowing that they have been put out there, for everyone to see.)

We are also each starting our own exercise routines.  Running is my passion, but I don't like to go out running while the boys are awake, I feel like I should be spending time with them instead.  I still take them out on runs occasionally, but it's sometimes hard to find a good time when I don't think that either of them will get pissed and start screaming when I get halfway around the block, and also, it's starting to get too cold outside to take them out in the wind for that long anyway.  I would go when they nap, but their nap times are so unpredictable, that I never know if I would have time to finish my run before they wake up.  SO I have a different strategy that I'm going to do for a while.  I got a few different Jillian Micheal dvds, as I've heard and read that they are uber good work outs.  I plan to do those (rotating through 3 of them) for 5 days a week, and then P90X yoga one day a week.  I can easily do these while the boys nap because the Jillian Micheal work outs are only 20-30 minutes (we're almost always guaranteed that amount of nap time), and the yoga I can do after they go to bed at night.  

Here is the AB lists of foods to eat that we are now following:

Eat everyday:                     Eat 3x a week:                         Eat 1x a week:                Never eat:

        Fruits                                 oily fish                                  red meat                          fast food

   whole grains                            yogurt                                     pasta                               soda

   leafy greens                            broccoli                                 dessert                        processed food

       nuts                                  sweet potato                            alcohol                        canned soups

      carrots                                 avocado                                                                  "diet" anything

    green tea

 *I'm not calling this our "New Year's Resolution" because those always get broken, and we started it before the New Year anyway.  We started this on Christmas, and have each lost 3 lbs so far. Hooray for progress! 

In other news...We have made a few new decor changes to our home...

My awesome friend Amanda sewed this really cool design for us before the boys got here.  I recently got it framed and it's now hanging in our family room.  (notice the empty leaf...for future children!)

I often get groupon deals for pictures that can be turned into canvases.  I am a sucker for them, and have gotten a few for the boys' room:

Vote for us?