Battle with the Post-Bridal Bulge: Week 1

I apologize for the length of this post, but it will be the start of a series and a little background information is necessary....

Like every bride, I wanted to look my best on my wedding day. It's the day that I will think back on with the fondness of memories, a day that will be documented by countless photos that will, undoubtedly, gain laughter and criticism from my children one day. So it was important to me to look and feel my best on this special day.

With this in mind, I started Memphis Adventure Boot Camp to get into shape. To be truthful, I, along with my husband, was not sure I could to it. So to ensure my success, I recruited my two ever-faithful neighbors to join me and hold me accountable (read: join in my misery). Together we went to Boot Camp (most) mornings at 5:30 a.m. June through September. And while I detested getting up at 5 am in the morning, once I was there, I loved it.

Our instructor is tough, but no drill sergeant. He pushes us to do better and listens to our whining (for a while), but keeps us focused on our goals. Each of us had different goals; mine was to have a "beach body." I wanted to look good in that picture of Ryan and I on the beach for our honeymoon*! So while doing an exercise or drill that was difficult or annoying, I just kept telling myself "beach body, beach body!" as a reminder of why I was putting myself and my body through this.

So, to fast-forward a bit, at the end of my 4 months at Boot Camp, I had great results. I looked great, I felt great and I had made significant changes in my measurements. I was on fire. See?

Then I got married.

Then I got fat.

I guess I shouldn't say that. Perhaps I should say I got lazy. I stopped going to Boot Camp and now I'm the proud new owner of a stubborn muffin top that has forced me to go buy (larger) jeans. I've used every excuse in the book not to go to Boot Camp (it's too cold outside, I didn't sleep well last night, etc) but the excuses didn't make my muffin-top go away. I had to go back.

See, the interesting thing about my relationship with Boot Camp is that I really do love it. It's a challenging workout, with a great group of women who encourage and motivate one another. I really enjoy it once I get there and feel recharged and energized once I'm done. I just struggle with getting me and my muffin-top out of bed and out of the house. Once I pick up the neighbors to go, I'm totally fine.

So last week I started back to Boot Camp. Our instructor Dexter and the other women that I suffered err, worked out with, last summer were so encouraging when Lori and I returned. And it felt good. The workout was great and I didn't freeze my buns off, so that's a plus. I felt amazing. After Boot Camp I returned home and had so much energy, I started cleaning the house and jumped right into my work for the day. I was so productive on Monday. I just wanted to bottle that feeling because I knew that around 3 pm, I would crash. And of course I did. But that's ok. Because I went to bed early that night and woke up refreshed for Boot Camp Tuesday morning.

So let me get to the point (while glossing over the fact that I skipped working out on Wednesday because I was just too sore to move). I know myself and I know that I will let myself off the hook if given the chance. I will rationalize and justify so much it's shameful. So that's the point of sharing my journey on our blog. I need your help to keep me accountable. I will share my progress and slip ups, challenges, goals, and fears right here. Because I know that if I have to write that I skipped out on Boot Camp for a week, you guys will (lovingly) call me out. Right?

So here goes.

Beginning measurements:

• Weight: up 11 lbs since September!
• Arms: 22 mm
• Waist: 32 mm
• Legs: 22 mm

Oops, I....:

• Fast Food Indiscretion: Thursday: McDonald's #10 (Southern Fried Chicken Sandwich + cheese + yummy fries)

Proud Because I...: 

• Accidentally slept in on Thursday, but went to the 5:30 pm class to make it up
• Opted for Subway instead of Wendy's while Ryan was in the ER.
• Ate yogurt twice this week as a snack
• Asked the waiter to take away the hush puppies that came with my meal
• Worked my arms at Life Time Fitness on Friday because I missed that workout on Wednesday

Goal for this week:

• No fast food. (This will be hard because I'm supposed to take Michael Chick-Fil-A at school on Monday. What can I get instead?)

Fat Fact: 

• According to Experience Life magazine, in less than two decades, more than 85 percent of our population will be overweight or obese.
  

If you are interested in Memphis Adventure Boot Camp, please check it out here. Or find them on Facebook. I'd love for you to be my guest as you try it out!

Thanks in advance for your support!! I WILL have (more of) a beach body by our trip to Aruba in March!

*Ironically, we never took the "beach photo" I'd worked so hard to prepare for! We definitely will in Aruba!

Happy Birthday, Lola Jean!

So you may have noticed, this is the season of birthdays for our family. And that includes our four-legged members.

Today is the 4th birthday of my first child, Lola!

Photo courtesy of Lindsey Lissau Photography.

You're stinky, hairy and pretty lazy, but we love your fat ass anyway!

Here are some photos of Lola growing up:

My co-workers threw me a puppy shower for Lola!

Just a little bitty thing!

Who can resist that face?!

 

 

 

Not a big fan of Santa!

Princess in her pretty tutu!

Snow fun with Daddy!

Snaggle-tooth

A Touching Tribute

I just saw this and had to share. A touching birthday gift from a husband to his wife for being his most precious gift.

GUILTY!

I am definitely guilty of this...how about you?

How Name-Brand Discount Stores Trick You Into Spending More: The Discount Store Paradox

Sometimes there is great irony in being in debt. I can't tell you how much money I frittered away needlessly in the name of being a "savvy shopper."

This trap is particularly perilous at my favorite haunts: Marshalls, TJ Maxx, HomeGoods - you know, all of those name-brand discount stores that do their best to fool you into thinking that the more you spend, the more you save! It's a great paradox, and sadly, one that I have grappled with for much of my adult life.

If you're like me, you get carried away with those retail vs. markdown price tags. Take this purse that I took a vague interest in for a second. Turns out its $49.95. But... the original price was $89.95! A purse that expensive must be something great (even better if I'm familiar with the label)! And here I'm getting this good deal on it, almost half off! And certainly I will use this purse at some point, even though I have more than a few perfectly serviceable ones at home, right?

This pattern of thinking (or not thinking) is how so many nice but completely impulse-driven items made their way into my cart, my closet, and my credit card statement. Ahh, the rationalization of luxury...

Now that I am two years into "learning my lesson the hard way," I have come up with some coping skills to get through my occasional shopping trips. They are especially handy at this time of year, for sure. Here is the mental checklist I go through before committing to a want-based purchase:

• Evaluate the item on its own merits. Am I considering this item only because it's on clearance, or because I actually really want it? Would I buy this thing if it were full price? Was I looking for this item before coming in the store, or do I just want it because I'm looking at it? Is it on my "to-do" list in terms of purchasing priority?
• Determine quality. Sometimes discounted items are dinged, missing buttons, have a loose hem, etc. I ask myself if it's something that will hold up over the long term and is something I will wear or use frequently enough for the price it commands.
• Picture where the item will be in a month's time. This strategy really, really works for me. Often I conclude that the item will clutter my life more than integrate into it. And I have enough clutter, thank you very much!
• Walk away for a bit. If the item is not something I had intended to buy in the first place, I try to leave the store without it, promising myself that if I still want it in a week (and it's still there), I'll go for it. Do you know how easy it is to forget about "stuff"? Try it.

At the end of the day, I still do appreciate (and frequent) these discount chains because I have scored some excellent things at a reasonable price. Like anything else in life, just don't go nuts. Anyone have similar strategies? I need to arm myself as the shopping season gets underway full-tilt!
 

A Birthday Wish for my brother

Brothers and sisters are as close as hands and feet.
-Proverb, (Vietnamese Proverb)

For all of the years you have tormented me by publishing unflattering pictures.....

Happy 32nd Birthday, Matt!

Payback is a biotch. Love you!

We are the Heimkes and we are addicts.

We can admit it, we have a problem.

And like most addictions, ours did not come on suddenly; a chain of events slowly led us to our drug of choice. It was fun at first....something we just experimented with. But eventually our addiction began to take over our lives. We began to crave our drug, even dream about our drug, so much so that we began to withdraw from things we loved to do, just so that we could feed our addiction. And the worst part? We felt little guilt. It was something we could do with one another in the privacy of our own home, without the fear of exposure.

But now, I feel it's time to come clean.

My name is Meghan and I'm addicted to Weeds.

If you have not seen it yet, please:

1. Finish reading this post
2. Go to Netflix
3. Get a subscription
4. Add all 5 Weeds seasons to your Instant Que
5. Get a blanket, snacks and catheter and snuggle up on the couch
6. Proceed to watch all 5 seasons.

We just realized that as we wrap up Season 5, we might be jonesing for a while until Season 6 becomes available on Netflix. As soon as it's out we will, inevitably, overdose on our precious drug, throwing any semblance of moderation or self control out the window. Then we'll go through major a withdrawl until it's time for our girl Nancy to thrill us again with the drama of her habitual poor decisions, Celia realizes that the world, in fact, does NOT revolve around her, and Esteban realizes that Nancy is going to take her kiddos and run, real soon.

But it's ok, it's just a little pot, right?

Happy Birthday, dear....ummm

So, our family has a lot of birthdays close together:

• Wesley 11/17
• Sissy 12/8
• Mary Elizabeth 12/14
• Momma Sue 12/26
• Mimi 12/28
• Gamma 1/8
• Uncle Ryan 1/11
• Matt 1/19 

So you can see why Wesley was just a bit confused as to who she should sing to!

Happy Birthday Ryan!

Happy 28th Birthday to the love of my life! 

I love you so much and will love you even if you look like this one day:

I Love You!

SNOW DAY!

We were warned about this "snow storm," but being the jaded Memphians that we are, we took the weatherman's warnings with more than a grain of salt. Call us "Doubting Thomas" but we have gotten our hopes up too many times to wake up with little more than a light flurry. This time, however, was different. The snow started at our house around 9:30 last night and we woke up to this winter wonderland this morning.

We were pleasantly surprised that not only did the Snow Fairy come, her mere presence excused many from work and school.We still had to work, but not before some snow day fun!

Let's hit the highlights:

This was Oscar's first experience with snow, so we wanted to be sure to capture the moment. (Lola is an old pro.)

Ryan likes to play in the snow too.

Our entire cove came out and worked on a snowman! Here are two of our cutie neighbors.

Little Lilly was not a huge fan of the snow. Or cold. Or our dogs.

Lauren is all bundled up and looking for trouble!

Ryan is rolling in the snow. Again.

Our Cove Captain Kevin takes on the responsibility of creating Frosty's belly.

But we all pitched in. Lola is really good at packing the ice in.

We took some time out for a snowball fight...

...and Ryan decided it would be fun to tackle Oscar in the snow.

Here's our resident flirt, Zain.

And his handsome older brother. Check out his hat. I totally wanted to steal it.

We ate, of course. Building a snow man is hard work! (Kendra: thanks for the gingersnap cookies!)

And Zain oversaw the project operation from his red wagon.

We had lemons for ears, LifeSaver gummies for eyes, a dog treat for a nose, wine corks for a mouth, a chocolate pretzel stick for his pipe and charcoal for his buttons.

And of course, I am bossy and have to pose everyone.

Ah yes. Does everyone have a window?

Oh wait! Where's Lilly? Ah, yes; there she is. Not happy, but present.

After Frosty was finished, we all went to Lori's who graciously hosted us with a warm house, hot chocolate and delicious chili. During last year's similar snow day, we did the exact same thing. I think we are starting a cove tradition- and I love it!

I hope you all were safe and had a wonderful snow day too!