Hey Skinny Brianne - I know you're out there somewhere!

Last night was our third weigh in for the Weight Loss Challenge. After two full weeks of working hard on improving my diet and learning how to count calories and one full week of body boot camp, I was a little anxious to get on the scale and see what kind of progress I've made. Kit constantly tells me that being too patient is a problem I'll never have to worry about, so I was definitely in need of some instant gratification last night.... I needed to know that Skinny Brianne is still there somewhere within me and willing to come back out!
I stepped on the scale and saw the following number pop up: 183.5   WHAT? THAT'S IT? Only down half a stinkin' pound? Ugh. Talk about feeling a little defeated... But I told myself, "Be positive. You still have to have all of your measurements done for the week. You are building muscle. You are doing a great job." So, on I go to the next room for measurments. By this point I am thinking to myself, "As long as I am down at least a little bit in inches, I am ok."  After all of the measurements were taken, I was thrilled!!
I lost a total of 4.5 inches in one week. I lost an inch at my waist, at my hips, around each thigh and .25" on each arm. Even though my weight wasn't down much, it's obvious that I am losing fat. Go ME! I was really excited and even more motivated to keep going. Boot Camp was killer this morning, so it's a good thing I was motivated. We did over 200 crunches and push ups as well as cardio. It was brutal, but I feel great today!
Hope this helps inspire you too!If you want to join me on this challenge, feel free to e-mail me your numbers & goals, and I will start tracking us together every week.

Week 1 Results

Well, we've gone through Week One of the twelve week challenge and had our first weigh-in tonight. I will admit that I was nervous (and sore from yesterday's first boot camp!).

The week went really well overall, and I am happy with how the first seven days went in regards to the foods we ate. I lost 1.5 lbs and an inch around the hips and 1/2 an inch around the chest. I added an inch around each thigh, but she said that was normal since we worked our legs so hard yesterday. She was very happy with my progress in the first week and thinks I have the potential to hit my 12 week goal of 20 pounds total weight loss, maybe even more!!

I will post all of my measurements and stuff when we do them at the 4, 8, and 12 week checks so that we can see the progression (hopefully a steep trend downwards!).

Day One of boot camp went well, but we have Day Two tomorrow so we'll see how my soreness adds into another workout. I am feeling great, both mentally and physically, so I think I am already on my way to a better, healthier me!

Stayed tuned until next week and hopefully we'll see a much higher weight loss number!

The Newest Addition to the Halfmann clan!

We are so excited to welcome Abigail Grace Phillips to our crazy Halfmann family. Abigail was born on Saturday at 4:49 p.m. to my cousin Jill and her husband Aaron. . She weighed in at 6 lbs, 9 oz and 19 inches long. We are so excited and can't wait to meet the sweet little angel!

I'll post some pictures when we get them. Congrats again, Phillips family!

We took this picture as soon as we found out Abigail was on her way... We didn't know a name yet, but wanted to send a special Happy Birthday picture!

The Journey Ahead

About half way through college I learned some very important information, most of which wasn't in a classroom. (If you knew me back then, that probably isn't much of a surprise since I wasn't IN the classroom as much as I should have been. ha ha) Nevertheless, I learned some life lessons that have stuck with me since then, and we just started a series at church about keeping things simple. The Easter service spoke a lot about being a living example of your faith and that there is a direct correlation between where you devote your time and what path your life follows because of those decisions. People who spend their time, money and attention towards drugs and other vices tend to follow a path that leads them to more of the same, while followers of Christ who devote their time and attention towards Him will find themselves surrounded by His love. I am not the "preachy preachy" type, but this message really stuck with me, and I felt that I really needed to mention it here.

This long intro leads me to the real reason for my post today, and that is about simplifying my life and devoting my time and attention to things that will have a positive impact in my life and that of my family. So, what better place to start than with ME! I have been unhappy with my physical appearnce for a long time, longer than before Rayleigh was born, which has effected my emotional and mental state as well. After thinking about simplifying my life and remembering a valuable lesson I learned in college (I am the only person who can change my path, my attitude, and my actions.), I decided to do something about it, so I signed up for Body Boot Camp and a 12-week weight loss challenge. We had our first weigh in on Tuesday, April 13th, and we will weigh in every Tuesday until that last one on June 29th. Boot Camp starts Monday morning at 5:15a, and we'll meet every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at that time for four weeks.

I know myself well enough to know that at some point during the next 12 weeks, I will probably come up with every excuse in the world why I can't get up and go work out or why I didn't eat the way I should have that day, which is why I am recruiting YOU to help me through this journey as my personal cheerleaders! I truly feel like this is not a diet but a lifestyle change. I want to be healthy and hot again, and the only person that can make that happen is me!!

A friend of mine sent me this quote, and I found it inspriring and very fitting for where I am right now.
"Some people make excuses about why they can't do this or that, or that they don't have the time or energy to workout and eat healthy meals. That's bull. The time is there, you just have to make exercise and nutrition a high enough priority to make room for it in your life. If you make excuses and complain that you don't have time to take care of yourself, then sit down and reorganize your priorities. Excuses get you nowhere, and no one cares about your excuses but you! At the end of the day all those excuses go right out the window: you've either succeeded or you failed--end of story! If you are not willing to get up a little earlier and/or change your schedule around so that you can take care of yourself, then at least admit that it's because you don't want it bad enough to make the effort." John Stone     Well, I want it bad enough now, and I'm done with excuses.


So, as humilating as it is, I am going to post my weekly weight loss challenge numbers here on my blog so you can track my progress and hopefully inspire you to do something for yourself too, be it weight loss or whatever "it" might be for you.

(I am sitting here now hoping that I don't chicken out and erase all of these numbers for the whole world to see before I lose the nerve to hit post...)

April 13th Weigh-In (Week One)
Weight - 185.5 lbs
Pants Size - 14
Shirt Size - Large
Body Fat % - 34.3% (I won't know this number every week, but we will redo it about half way through and again at the end.)
I will also post all of my measurements that we took last week on here when I get them again next week. We did arms, legs, hips, waist, and chest.

The first fews days of Week One have been good so far, but I haven't really started working out yet. I've only started on the nutrition side of things, like eating less fat, less calories, and lots more protein. I will admit that I mentally feel better this week just knowing that I have made a good decision for myself, which is one that hopefully will carry over to a healthier lifestyle overall for our whole family. I am hoping to see some physical results soon. I will keep you all posted on who things go and update the blog with my numbers on Tuesday!

Livin' "la vida loca"!!!

Ok. I know... I'm terrible. I haven't updated our blog in FOREVER, and people are starting to wonder if we have disappeared or if aliens abducted us. I promise though, we're still around! (And let me apologize in advance for such a long post!)

2010 has been a whirlwind of a year for us so far. Rayleigh has gotten SO big, so quickly. It's hard to believe how much she has changed and grown, just since Christmas. I don't have any current pictures to upload right now, they are all on my other computer, but I promise I will get them posted soon.

Kit has been working lots of hours in his first full year as Ninth Grade & JV baseball coach here in Granbury. While I know he really loves working with his students & players, I am ready for baseball to be OVER and get my hubby back! I've missed him a lot this spring. I have to say though, I am very proud of him and the great work he has done this year. The team is doing really well, and the parents (for the most part) really like Kit and the work he is doing with the kids. He has gotten a little flack from some of the crazy parents, but you have to assume that as a coach, that's going to happen! We also just found out that his contract is being renewed for next year, so I guess the school district is happy with him on the field & in the classroom too!

My world has revolved around Rayleigh the last few months. I did manage to sneak in a girls weekend trip to Houston in March, but other than that, my life has pretty much been like this:
wake up, get ready for work while getting Rayleigh ready for day care, work, pick Rayleigh up from day care, come home, play with & feed RayRay, put her to bed, scrounge up something for myself to eat & attempt some housework/laundry, and then get ready for bed myself. Kit is usually home around 7:30 ,except for game nights which is about 10:00, but then he also has lesson plans & grading to do. (Who knew being a teacher/coach was so time consuming!) Some days I love my job, some days, not so much. But one thing I LOVE about my job is that I get to play golf with members/potential members. It is very relaxing and a lot of fun, even when I'm playing terrible. I am working very hard on a few projects at work right now, so hopefully all of my hard work will pay off with a bunch of membership sales!

Here are a few updates in the world of RayRay:
~Started really crawling around a lot in late February
~Started pulling up in early March
~Cut 4 more teeth over the last two weeks, bringing the total teeth to eight and Mom's sanity to almost 0
~With her newfound teeth, she has started biting a few friends at daycare. I'm told that she isn't doing it to be mean or when she gets mad; I guess it just feels good!
~Said her first words over Easter weekend; first was DaDa (of course...why can''t it be momma? So not fair!)
~She is also trying to say fish, BaBa (bottle), and kitty (which comes out as "titty" and is REALLY funny)
~She'll eat pretty much anything you give her, but she really loves bananas and any kind of pasta.
~She is sleeping through the night, as has been for a while. Sometimes the hard part is just getting her to go to sleep. Once down, she almost always sleeps for 10-12 hours. Yay!
~She's finally starting to get some more hair, and it's getting lighter too. It even has a little bit of curl in the back.
~She played her first full round of golf over Easter with Mom & Dad, Granny K & Doodles, and Aunt Kemma. She was a trooper and really liked being outside!
~With her added mobility, Rayleigh has started to become way more independent, but also a handfull. She gets into everything.
~We've also discovered a little bit of attitude. Unfortunately for her, I think she inherited her mother's patience, so sometimes she gets a little frustrated. She learned how to turn the TV on and off byb pushing the button on the tv set, and she thinks that's a pretty fun game.
~Overall, she is a GREAT BABY! I guess the Good Lord wants us to have more kids since he gave us such a good baby the first go-round.

My little future golfer

"Cheese, Mom!"

Dad & RayRay