Peyton Kathleen

November 27th- 160.8 December 4th- 159.8 December 11th- 158.8 December 18th- 157.3 *black hole of illness and injury* February 4th- 152.4 Ideally I would be 150.8 right now, but I'm pretty happy with losing 8.4 lbs the last few weeks, all things considered. I think I can make up for the 1.6 pounds that I am behind on this month! 2020 got off to a ROUGH start in our little family.

November 27th- 160.8 December 4th- 159.8 December 11th- 158.8 Goal Check In: My weight loss has slowed down a bit, but I am really happy with -1 pound a week!  Working out 4x a week has been more difficult than I anticipated, but I am getting it done! Beach Body has a streaming service with all of their videos ($99 for a year!), and it is the ONLY reason I get my workouts in! I love that I don't have to leave the house and worry about childcare for Henry. On weekends I have been fitting in runs that are between 3 and 4 miles. Breastfeeding and pumping at work are going really well. I am super optimistic about making it to a year.

Wednesday November 13th- 163.8 Wednesday November 20th- 162 Wednesday November 27th- 160.8 Goal Check In: Lost exactly 3 lbs in two weeks, so definitely on goal with an average of -1.5 pounds per week.  I did really well on my workout goal during Thanksgiving Break! It was so nice not having work and having Andrew home to watch Henry while I ran or did a workout video. Andrew is going to really help me this month to make my workout goals happen. Not just for weight loss, but also for my mental state! I need the 30 minutes to myself to not be a teacher, a mom, a girlfriend, a homemaker, and just be Peyton.  Still going strong on breastfeeding! We introduced Henry to purees, per our pediatricians instructions, but we are still feeding like champs over here. Hoping to make it a year, I can't believe we are about to be at 5 months!

Wednesday November 6th- 166 lbs Wednesday November 13th- 163.8 Goal Check In: I lost 2.2 pounds this week! The optimist in me hopes this will be a pattern, while the cynic in me thinks it means next week I won't lose any weight lol we shall see.  I worked out 4 times this past week- alternating between running (2.5 and 3 miles) and 21 Day Fix videos. I have a hard time finding time to workout, and 30 minutes seems to be the max amount of time I have, so these videos are really perfect. Still breastfeeding and pumpin' like a champ! I read somewhere that every ounce of milk you produce burns 25 calories. If that is the case then I'm burning like, 500-600 calories a day. I nurse when Henry wakes up, before I drop him off with my mom, pump twice at school, nurse when I pick Henry up, and before he goes to bed. I think I produce 20-24 ounces of milk a day. It is a fine balance to eat enough to keep my milk coming in strong while also trying to lose weight.  Two week...

I was 39 and a half weeks pregnant with a 9 pound baby in the dead heat of a Texas summer, and I was miserable. So when I showed up to what felt like my 100th OB/GYN appointment, and my doctor told me I wasn't dilated and she didn't think I could deliver without having a c section, I started bawling. I was terrified of having a major surgery and not getting to experience vaginal delivery. We sat and discussed everything and came up with a plan- she would induce me one week from the appointment, let me try to labor and deliver on my own, but we would go through with the c section if things did not progress. The day before my due date, July 13th, Andrew took me in to the ER because I hadn't felt Henry move that day. When they hooked up the heart monitor and I heard he was fine, I cried tears of sheer relief. (a lot of crying went on my last week of pregnancy) The monitor also showed that I was having contractions, and the nurse told me I was dilated 1 cm. They decided to ke...

When the beautiful, hilarious, and iconic Jessica Simpson posted about her 100 pound weight loss after having her baby, for the first time in months, I felt hope. I gained so much weight while I was pregnant with Henry, and I felt like the only one. So for a celebrity to come out and openly talk about her struggles with weight loss was exactly what I needed to get motivated. I'm not sure what my weight ended up being, I refused to let the nurses tell me (lol), but I am pretty sure it was somewhere around 210 pounds. Yikes. Now, my babe is 16 weeks old, I am back at work, doctor cleared to work out, and ready to get in shape! I am currently 165 pounds, so I think I have already lost about 45 pounds. I am still about 20 pounds heavier than I would like to be, and after 9 long months of pregnancy, I can't wait to feel comfortable in my own skin again.  The past couple months I've been keeping track of my food on My Fitness Pal, running, and doing Beach Body workout...

I'm in a transitional period in life and it is uncomfortable. My entire existence I have had goals with timelines, dreams I could work to achieve, and a life-plan that was conventional and certain. I graduated high school, went to Texas A&M. I studied to be a teacher. I graduated, got a teaching job. I fell in love, got married. While married, I laid more goals with timelines (have children), dreams I could work to achieve (perfect my educational craft), and continued to pursue the conventional and certain. But then my husband left me. My goals, dreams, and desires left me as well. I was not longer "Peyton". I was Sadness. I was Despair. I was Grief. There was no future to look forward to. No life I wanted any part of. Things that used to interest me seemed pointless. I couldn't bare seeing friends. I would wake up, go to work, come home, go to bed. Everything felt painful and dark. I am no longer living in those dark days. However, I am still ...