Holiday Challenge (Nov 21 - Dec 21)

Happy Friday! Since my Fall Challenge just ended I figured I’d keep the momentum going with a little Holiday Challenge! 

Challenge Tasks:

• Drink 90-120 oz of water daily

I am carrying this goal over from my Fall Challenge because it’s totally necessary!

• Walk for 60-90 minutes/week

To be honest, 90 minutes/week was a lot easier expectation when the weather was nice. So I’ve adjusted this task to a range of 60-90 minutes each week!

• Track nutrition daily, 5/7 days each week

Tracking nutrition is key! I’m going to be more realistic in this challenge and say 5 out of 7 days each week!

• Blog weekly challenge updates

This is my favorite accountability tool and will help keep me focused! It also provides a time to readjust expectations when necessary!

Weight Loss Goal:

Since it’s the holidays, my weight loss goal is to maintain my 10lb weight loss for 2025! I started the year out around 240lbs and now just I’m under 230lbs. Maintaining this is my first goal! My “shoot for the moon” goal is to lose 5 pounds!

Starting weight: 229 lbs.

Goal Weight: 224 lbs.

Fall Challenge Outcome (Oct 20 - Nov 20)

Hello! It’s been about a month since I started my Fall challenge and today is the last day! So, let’s check in on how I did!

Fall Challenge Goals

• Drink 90-120 oz of water daily

I wasn’t perfect with this but, I drank more often than not and so that’s a win for me!

• Walk for 90 minutes/week

This was really fun to do in the beginning but as the weeks went on and it got more cold out, it became less fun and more challenging. I still got some movement in each week which is a win, but this is a clear area for improvement moving forward!

• Track nutrition daily

I ended up doing this most of the time, which is so helpful! I’d say on average I did 4/7 days each week.

• Blog weekly challenge updates

This is the one goal I accomplished fully and it’s such a great accountability tool!

Weight-Loss Goal

On October 20th, I weighed in at 233 lbs. I’m was hoping to get down to 225 lbs by today, November 20th but that didn’t happen. My official weigh in today is 229 lbs. That’s 4 pounds lost, which is half of my goal! I am happy with this, and I want to keep pressing on!

Omelette Wrap

Have you ever made an Omelette Wrap? It’s my go-to breakfast this week and so I thought I’d share it with you!

It’s an easy and filling 300-calorie breakfast idea, providing about 20 grams of protein! Here’s how I make mine:

Omelette Wrap

1 egg

1 egg white

1/2 sausage patty (1 oz)

1 slice marble cheese

Cook the eggs like an omelette, add the cooked sausage patty and slice of cheese. Fold it all together and enjoy!

I’m sure you can add even more protein to this dish by adding another egg white and a side of cottage cheese. You could change out the sausage patty for ham or make it a veggie wrap. If you have some baby spinach on hand that would be a good addition, too. 

I love using base recipes for our meals that you can easily change up with just a few ingredients.

Creamy Chicken Pot Pie Soup

I used some leftover rotisserie chicken to make a chicken pot pie soup and it was such a win that I wanted to share it with you!

Come to find, one rotisserie chicken can be split into two soups. I love it when I find a new way to stretch our dollar. I initially bought a rotisserie chicken for Chicken Gnocchi Soup. I didn’t need the entire rotisserie and so I stored it away until the other day when I made this soup!

Chicken Pot Pie Soup

1/2 of a rotisserie chicken (fully cooked and separated)

4 cups chicken broth

1 - 14 oz can cream of chicken

1 bag frozen mixed vegetables

1/2 cups heavy cream

2 cups whole grain rice (cooked separately)

Salt and pepper to taste

Add the rotisserie chicken, chicken broth, can of cream of chicken soup and bag of mixed vegetables into a slow cooker. Cook on high for 2 hours. About 1/2 hour before serving, add the heavy cream. Serve the soup over rice and enjoy!

I really like using whole grain rice for this soup because of the texture it adds to the dish. I made the rice separately, and served it separately. This helped with portioning since I could scoop out the amount of rice I wanted. I did about 1/2 cup of rice to 1 cup of soup ratio.

I did end up adding more broth after taking this picture to make it more “soupy” but I wanted to show you it this way so you could see what all was in it.

As I was eating it, I thought that next time I could make this with cauliflower rice instead of whole grain to make room for some carbs. I was thinking more carbs in the form of biscuits on the side! Wouldn’t that be great? I think so!

The Week Before Thanksgiving

It’s the week before Thanksgiving week, which means it’s the last week before Thanksgiving break for my kids! I can’t wait to have them home with me for the week!

We may just stay in at home, cozied up all week doing Christmas crafts in effort to turn our house into the North Pole (similar to the Elf movie). 

Or, we may venture out and go to the movies, the children’s museum, and/or trampoline park. We have a lot of fun options to pick from for the week. Either way, I just can’t wait to get some extra family time together.

We began decorating for Christmas a little earlier than usual because the dreary weather called for it, however we’re still waiting to fully decorate the Christmas tree until after Thanksgiving.

Even though the holidays can be a busy time, I am finding more of the slow moments that this season brings and soaking into them with intention. I am working on being more present in each moment, and I’m feeling so grateful for it all.

It Caught Up to Me

Happy Saturday! I don’t usually post on the weekends but I wanted to post the past few days and I just wasn’t feeling well enough. I’m feeling much better today!

Needless to say, there was no progress on my challenge this week. The sickness that was going around my house caught up to me. The good news is that I did maintain my loss. I’m just not sure how much progress I’ll see by Thursday this week when my challenge officially ends. 

That doesn’t mean that I’m giving up; I’m just acknowledging that I likely won’t reach my goal. Instead, I’ll try my best to get as close to my goal as possible, even if that means just maintaining the loss I’ve had so far!

Fall Challenge: Week Three Update

Hello! Week three didn’t go as well as I thought it would because sickness came to visit our house, but it also didn’t go terribly bad either.

Goal Progress

• Drink 90-120 oz of water daily

My water goal was met about 4/7 days, again. This is something I can improve on!

• Walk for 90 minutes/week

I didn’t do as well with my walking in week three, but I did make it on the treadmill once specifically to try and get some minutes toward this goal. I’d say I walked for about 40 of the 90 minutes that I wanted to accomplish.

• Track nutrition daily

I tracked my nutrition 4/7 days. This remains an area I could continue to improve on!

• Blog weekly challenge updates

This is my update for week three!

Weight-Loss Goal

I’m still hanging around 230 lbs. I’m happy to have lost 3 pounds during this challenge. There’s about one week left in my challenge and while I likely won’t reach my initial (8lb) weight loss goal, I’m going to try to keep this 3lbs off, and shoot for a couple more lost before this challenge is finalized and done!

It’s not over until it’s over! Time to keep going!

A Spontaneous Adventure

Happy Friday! This week took a bit of a turn when our kids got sick but it’s November and so that’s not a big surprise. They are doing pretty okay, now!

Before the sickness came, we took a spontaneous adventure to Coolspring Ranch in Hermitage, PA. We spent half of the day there, walking around enjoying all of the different activities for the kids. It was our first time visiting and we look forward to going back next year!

Piper was wearing her Santa shirt because we also went to Kraynak’s Christmas World that day to walk through their light display. This was all on the day after Halloween. I know it may be early for some but this mom was ready for the transition to Thanksgiving and Christmas for sure!

The rest of this week was more relaxed. We spent a lot of time cozied up at home while our girls recovered from their sickness. 

It’s 9am on Friday morning now and Laney is still sleeping after being up most of the night. It’s chilly outside, with the wind blowing and I’m enjoying some quiet time in our warm house, as Piper and Nick are both out for school and work. Laney will be waking up soon and so I’ll grab myself a cup of coffee and wait.

I’ll update on my week 3 challenge results sometime soon!

Fall Challenge: Week Two Update

Hello! I’m sharing a recap of the second week of my Fall challenge. All in all, I did much better in week two than in my first week of the challenge and I anticipate week 3 to go even better still!

Goal Progress

• Drink 90-120 oz of water daily

My water goal was met 4/7 days. Not perfect but better than week one!

• Walk for 90 minutes/week

Thanks to a walk around the park, a trip to Zoo Boo, an afternoon at a pumpkin farm, and trick-or-treating around town with my family, I went way beyond my walking minute this week!

• Track nutrition daily

I tracked my nutrition 5/7 days. Major improvement from week one!

• Blog weekly challenge updates

This is my update for week two!

Weight-Loss Goal

Last week, I weighed in at 232 lbs and this week I weighed in at 230 lbs. I’m happy to have lost 2 pounds this week!

5 more pounds to lose before this challenge ends. Let’s do this!

Halloween 2025

Hello! The second week of my challenge ended up being much better than the first week, even with Halloween in the mix. Sure, I’m having more sugar than usual but I’m trying to be mindful about it. 

Last night, we went to my grandparents house to celebrate my grandpa’s birthday with meatballs and cupcakes. I made some sourdough bread to take, as well.

After dinner, we took our kids around the block to trick or treat. This year, Laney wanted to be a “blutterfly” and Piper found an awesome chicken onesie to wear.

We are loving this season of life with little kids!

I’ll be sharing my full week two recap, soon!

I Love Walking

I’m trying to keep my goals on the front of my mind this week. One of my goals is to walk for 90 minutes each week. This hasn’t been too hard to do because I love it. The hardest part is remembering how much I love it before I begin. So, let me share a bit.

I’m so glad that I started walking outside again. I didn’t realize how much I have missed it. It’s convenient to have a treadmill but nothing beats walking out in nature.

Watching the trees change in color is such a treat this time of year. The smells of the season are something not be missed, as well. I love the sweet smell of the grass as the sun hits it, and the smell of the fallen leaves on the ground.

As if I needed more of a reason to go for a walk, I will also mention how much to helps me feel better physically, too. I was feeling a little overwhelmed this morning. There was a lot of tension in my body, and so I went for a walk. What a release!

Why am I sharing all of this? Well, sometimes I forget how much I love going for a walk. Sometimes it’s chilly out, and I’d rather stay inside where it’s warm and cozy. However, I haven’t ever taken a walk that I’ve regretted and that’s what I want to keep in mind as I work to meet my walking goal this month!

I Love Cooking

I’m happy to say that week two of my Fall Challenge is off to a much better start. If you missed my week one challenge update, you’ll want to check that out, here: Fall Challenge: Week One Recap.

Yesterday, I reached my water goal and I tracked my nutrition. I made a roast with mashed potatoes and vegetables for dinner, which was amazing! I love cooking, and even more so this time of year.

I also made an apple pie this past weekend for a family event. We finished off the last of the pie last night, which was tracked and ended up topping out my nutrition range for the day. 

I love to cook homemade goodies for my family, but I try not to have things like pie on hand too often because my self-control is very limited right now. It’s a balancing act, for sure!

Fall Challenge: Week One Recap

Hello, and happy Monday! I'm going to be honest with you. The first week of my challenge could have been considered a warm-up. I didn't meet my goals, but I also didn't completely throw in the towel. I'm going to celebrate the little wins! For Lauren, and whoever else is joining this challenge, I hope you can find some little or big wins to celebrate as well!

Week One Goal Progress

• Drink 90-120 oz of water daily

My water goal was met 3/7 days. I did make sure to drink at least 64 oz. on the other days!

• Walk for 90 minutes/week

I completed 60 minutes of walking, outside. It felt so good! 

• Track nutrition daily

I tracked my nutrition 2/7 days. This was pitiful, and a major area of improvement for the week ahead! I did, however, make some amazing homemade meals this week which tasted way better than eating out! (Little wins)

• Blog weekly challenge updates

This is my update for week one!

Weight-Loss Goal

Last week, I weighed in at 233lbs and this week I weighed in at 232lbs. I only lost a pound but I'm happy to have lost it because I didn't put in my full effort in week one. Looking to buckle down more this week!

7 more pounds to lose in 24 days. Let’s do this!

Fall Challenge (Oct 20 - Nov 20)

Hello! It’s Monday, October 20th and I’ve decided today is the day to set some new goals and give myself a deadline. 

I’ve decided to challenge myself for the next 31 days. For reference, I’ll call it my Fall Challenge.

Fall Challenge Goals

• Drink 90-120 oz of water daily

My water goal is set to daily, with a range of 90-120.

• Walk for 90 minutes/week

Preferably my activity goal of walking for 90 minutes a week will be done outside. If it’s done on the treadmill that will be okay, too.

• Track nutrition daily

I decided to make my nutrition goal more about consistency. That’s why the goal is to track “daily” instead of a goal for staying within my nutritional range. This will help get me back in the habit of tracking while also providing grace if I go over my desired nutritional range. The goal is to simply track it. The desire is to meet my nutritional range more often than not.

• Blog weekly challenge updates

Blogging weekly challenge updates will help me to stay accountable, and keep the challenge fresh in my mind!

Weight-Loss Goal

Today, I weighed in at 233 lbs. I’m hoping that by completing the challenge goals, it will help get me down to 225 lbs by November 20. That’s 8 pounds in 31 days. Let’s do this!

Busy Season

Happy Thursday! How are you doing? I’m hanging in there. It’s been a busy season, but this season is about to change a bit soon. 

Our oldest daughter has been going to basketball 5x/week since mid-August. When there is not a game, there’s practice. I was hesitant about this at first because I value balance in all things, but it’s been good for her. She has improved in her skills and confidence!

Since we are often at basketball games in the evenings during the week, my work schedule has been a little different each week. I have been scrounging for work time in my little bit of free time these past few months. I am very much looking forward to getting back to a more predictable evening work schedule in a few weeks as basketball season comes to a close.

It’s also been book fair season for me! I’m the Scholastic chairperson for our elementary school and we decided to host our fair mid-October instead of mid-November this school year. This will be my seventh book fair that I’ve hosted for our school! The book fair takes a lot of thought and careful preparation. I’ve been training someone to take my place as far as all the prep-work goes next school year which has been bittersweet.

This past weekend my sister came into town and brought with her this cute glass from where she’s currently stationed. It was so nice to have some sister time, and also so hard to say goodbye!

I’m working on keeping balance in my diet as best as I can which has helped me to maintain my weight. I’d love to get into a better routine to kickstart my weight loss again soon!

What I Ate Monday: Sept 29

Hello! On Monday, I took a picture of everything I ate throughout the day and so I wanted to share it with you!

Breakfast was one of my favorites! I had a slice of rye toast and an egg with mushrooms and capers. This flavor combo with the capers is a must-try!

For lunch, I was in a snacky mood. I had a few ounces of fresh mozzarella with some salami and chips. Then, I had a couple pieces of Hershey’s chocolate to satisfy my afternoon sweet tooth.

For dinner, we had leftover tuna noodle casserole from my mother-in-law. 

In the evening I had some apple straws and later on I made myself a quesadilla.

I didn’t count calories for the day as I would like to be doing, so this was just a day full of intuitive eating. If I had to guess I’d say I was within 1400-1800 calories for the day. What do you think?

A Monday Morning in My Life

Happy Monday! I had to take the rest of last week off from blogging because I wasn’t feeling well, which made everything a little backlogged in our life. I’m feeling much better now!

This morning, I got myself and my girls ready for the day. Piper caught the bus first, and then I drove Laney to pre-k. After that, I went back home to get some of my volunteer and work stuff done. I create a book fair volunteer sign-up for the fair coming up next month, and started recruiting for volunteers on our PTO page. Then, I spent an hour catching up on some work emails.

After I picked Laney up from preschool, we visited “swamp road” where she likes to talk to the turtles and geese. It’s so beautiful and peaceful there!

When we got home, I made a snacky lunch for the two of us. I put some laundry in the wash and then snuggled with Laney on the couch while I wrote this blog post from my phone.

My Monday morning was pretty great, and I hope yours was as well!

What I Ate Tuesday: Not Feeling 100%

My breakfast from yesterday morning, pictured below, might not look very appealing but it was actually delicious. I was fighting a cold yesterday and so I was extra tired in the morning. I was going for something quick and tasty!

The pumpernickel and rye bread was prepped with a bit of butter and was all warmed up. So good! The sausage patty was local and bought from an Amish grocer.

For lunch, I had leftover potatoes and green beans from the night before with a chicken breast and slice of Munster cheese. This cheese is my absolute favorite and I don’t know what took me so long to find it!

I love it when we have some leftovers in the fridge to add to lunch! It was so filling and came together super quick!

For my afternoon snack, I had a yogurt and some alphabet cookies because we don’t have many sweets in this house and this was the best I could do at the moment.

For dinner, we had mashed potatoes roast and vegetables from the slow cooker. This really hit the spot since I still wasn’t feeling 100%. A warm meal and eating around the table with my family was exactly what the doctor ordered for me in this busy season we’re in!

After dinner, we went to Piper’s basketball game. I was completely wiped out when we got home because of whatever sickness I’m fighting. So, I didn’t have an evening snack and went right to bed for the night.

I’m still not feeling great today. I’m feeling so dry and congested. I’ve got a constant mix of water and Gatorade zero in my water bottle. One benefit is that reaching my goal of a gallon of water each day has not been a problem lately!

Dinner Meal Plan + More Often Than Not

Yesterday was a success! I ate within my nutritional range and drank between 90-120oz of water. I didn’t go for a walk, but I still have the rest of the week to fit in some walking. I’d prefer to walk outside and it was raining for most of the day yesterday. If the weather doesn’t end up cooperating I will walk on the treadmill.

I wanted to take a picture of everything that I ate but I didn’t have my phone nearby most of the time when I was eating and so it didn’t happen. Maybe I’ll take some pictures of what I eat today! I love to do that so I have examples to look back on.

I know it’s Tuesday, but it’s not too late to share my dinner plan for the week, is it?

Monday - Fish + Broccoli + Mini Potatoes

Tuesday - Roast + Veggies + Mashed Potatoes

Wednesday - Chicken Sausage + Sun-dried Tomato Pasta

Thursday - BBQ Pulled Chicken Sandwiches for Life Group

Friday - Homemade Pizzas

Tonight we have a basketball game for Piper and it’s actually a home game! So, it will be nice to have dinner cooking away in the slow cooker. I’ll just have to make sure I make the mashed potatoes in time for when she gets home from school. 

Since it’s a home game we should all be able to sit at the table together for dinner! Some nights that doesn’t happen but it’s important to us that it happens more often than not!

A Shift Needs Made

A shift needs made; a shift in the way that I care for myself; a shift in the ranking of my priorities. I don’t know why self-care is always the first thing to go out the window when things get a bit wild around here, but it is often the case. 

I am writing today to say that my health is in fact a priority that I am going to no longer neglect, and I’m going to make the necessary shift to make that the case moving forward.

I did think about this earlier in the month but I honestly didn’t feel like I had enough bandwidth to make the necessary shift in my mindset and routine at the time. 

A lot has shifted in the past month within our family routine with school, sports, and work. Now that we’re all settling in to all that is new to us in this season, I am ready to start shifting my mindset and routine in the right direction for my health, as well.

This week, I’m going to make it a goal to eat within my nutrition so range; drink 90-120oz/water each day and go for a walk at least 3x this week! I’ll check back in to share my progress!

A Long September Update

Whew. It’s been about a month since I’ve posted, and what a month it’s been! The start of school is always a bit of a whirlwind and takes some time to adjust. I feel like we’re pretty much as adjusted as we’re going to get at this point!

Piper started 5th grade and is thriving! She loves her teachers and always comes home with a smile at the end of her days. This has been very refreshing and a relief!

Piper is also playing basketball this season and so she is on the court 5x/week either at a game or practice which has had our family running around quite a bit. Last week we had 3 away games and I think we’re starting to get in the swing of it all. We have a bag we pack for Laney with things to keep her occupied while hanging out in the bleachers during the games. It’s been busy but also fun and rewarding to watch!

Laney is in PreK 3x/week and I am usually working remotely during that time. Laney loves her preschool, and she is learning so much already! She started the school year in a wrist brace and is already out of it and doing well!

So much has happened in the past month! I know I won’t be able to cover everything but I will share some pictures of a few of the things we’ve done!

Earlier in September we made a trip to the spillway to feed the fish. We went to the Cleveland Zoo! We had a fun fair week in our hometown! Piper walked in both the fair parade and homecoming parade. My husband and I just celebrated 16 years of marriage this weekend, and we went to the pumpkin farm for a day of fun with our family today!

It’s been a fun and full September, and we’re all looking forward to a fun Fall together as well!